tinyways » live music

Kutiman @ the Guggenheim

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:49:26 +0000

I have been following Kutiman for a while now. It’s such a pleasure to give so much respect to an artist who deserve it so much. Big up for Kutiman!

Imogen Heap: Ellipse World Tour

Julija — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:57:30 +0000

[See post on tinyways.com to listen to audio]
Imogen Heap – Bad Body Double [MP3]
Imogen Heap – First Train Home [MP3]
British songstress Imogen Heap has just finished a successful two months long North American tour and is heading back to Europe for more shows. If you’ve been following Imogen’s career, you probably know she is an avid social media user who engages her listeners in her creative process. For the Ellipse tour, promoting her latest Grammy winning album, Imogen created a real adventure for her audience. With clear voice, live sampling, rather unusual and quirky instruments and her absolutely charming stage presence her show is quite a spectacular and memorable experience. Different in every city, her two hours set list in Seattle included fans’ most favourite songs from Ellipse (2009) and Speak for Yourself (2005) as well as Frou Frou repertoire. Check out Imogen’s directed party version of “First Train Home”.

Links:
Official website

Thao & Mirah: How Dare You

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:05:32 +0000

Thao & Mirah, two favorites, giving a stay-at-home at sunny San Francisco performance. Sweet.

Mediterranean Fever: Balkan Beat Box

Julija — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:24:01 +0000

[See post on tinyways.com to listen to audio]
Returning in April are Balkan Beat Box with the new album Blue Eyed Black Boy. Recorded in Tel Aviv and Belgrade, the album ranges from Balkan inspired rhythms and Greek melodies to urban and hip hop beats. Blue Eyed Black Boy (2010) brings fresh yet familiar Mediterranean vibe that keeps your feet moving from the first beat. As the band is currently touring and promoting their upcoming record, we caught one of their famously energetic shows in Seattle. On stage Balkan Beat Box incorporate the catchy beats, drums, saxophones and bass into a dynamic and colourful show. The audience, as eclectic as the band’s musical influences, was full of energy and well prepared for a night of non-stop dancing, jumping and clapping — something we haven’t seen a long time. No doubt, Blue Eyed Black Boy is a perfect soundtrack for your late summer night party. Let the Mediterranean beats draw you to the dancefloor.

Live dates:
Apr 13 2010 Cafe de la Danse. PARIS
Apr 14 2010 Dingwalls LONDON, UK
Apr 15 2010 Aeronef Lille
Apr 16 2010 AB BRUXELLES
Apr 17 2010 Cargo CAEN
May 4 2010 Knust HAMBURG
May 5 2010 Festsaal Kreuzberg Berlin
May 6 2010 Paradiso Amsterdam
May 7 2010 Ampere Munich
May 8 2010 Ringlokschuppen/WDR birthday party MUHLHEIM (COLOGNE)
May 13 2010 Au Fond du Jardin du Michel BULLIGNY (NANCY)
May 14 2010 La 7eme Vague BRETIGNOLLES SUR MER (Vendee)
May 15 2010 Wiener Festwochen Vienna, Wien

Links:
MySpace Profile

Efterklang Disovering the World in Reverse: America first, Europe second

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:14:33 +0000

Modern Drift [MP3]

Considering their season themed video for Modern Drift, it seems only natural that Efterklang embark on their seasonal migration now that spring starts to peek from under the blankets (or maybe not?). One can only hope that they will bring this so well-deserved touch of sun and grass to wherever their visit. This is a great excuse to see see how it all started. The tour dates, by the way, are at the bottom of this exceptionally long post.

Efterklang’s first album was Tripper, a brilliant exploration of organic textures and vocal instrumentation. Tripper, as its name suggests, was a repetitive orchestrated trip, diving deep into fractalic musical arrangements.

Under Giant Trees (only a mini album this time) was a direct continuation of this explorative epoch. The direction was vocals. I feel like have to say it with some caution, but my feeling is that religious music provided much of background. The backdrop for the growing fascination with vocals was still repetitive electronic music, building landscapes and exploring them. One more thing about Under Giant Trees, it was softer than Tripper, hinting towards the future in a sense.

Parades already has a full fledged plot. To me the first track already throws you on a explorer’s ships, recalling the age of the great explorers that crisscrossed our world with their expeditions. Efterklang left behind much of it click-ish background and switched to softer somewhat operatic sound. This is an exciting album, not only because it’s a change of direction, but mostly because this change is well grounded into their development until this point.

So what do we have? What can come next? One movement that I believe is evident in Efterklang’s music is towards the organic and natural. If Parade’s was the explorer’s voyage, maybe Magic Chairs will be their the explorer’s joyous arrival to the virginal land.

It’s also nice to see how their cover art developed through the years. I think you will find that the musical development is well mirrored in the visual art. From left to right, top to bottom – from Tripper to Magic Chairs.

Following Americo – North America:
Mar 2 2010 First Unitarian Church w/ Balmorhea Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 3 2010 Le Poisson Rouge w/ Balmorhea New York, New York
Mar 4 2010 TT The Bears w/ Balmorhea Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mar 5 2010 La Sala Rosa w/ Balmorhea Montreal, Quebec
Mar 6 2010 El Mocambo w/ Balmorhea Toronto, Ontario
Mar 7 2010 The Crofoot (Pike Room) w/ Balmorhea Pontiac, Michigan
Mar 8 2010 Lincoln Hall w/ Balmorhea Chicago, Illinois
Mar 11 2010 The Triple Door w/ Balmorhea Seattle, Washington
Mar 12 2010 The Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, British Columbia
Mar 13 2010 Doug Fir Lounge w/ Balmorhea Portland, Oregon
Mar 15 2010 Bottom Of The Hill w/ Balmorhea San Francisco, California
Mar 16 2010 Spaceland w/ Balmorhea Los Angeles, California
Mar 18 2010 TBA – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2010 tba – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2010 tba – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas

Back to the old world – Europe:
Apr 7 2010 Korjaamo w/ Heather Woods Broderick Helsinki
Apr 8 2010 Von Krahl Theatre w/ Heather Woods Broderick Tallinn
Apr 10 2010 Hornstull Strand w/ Heather Woods Broderick Stockholm
Apr 14 2010 Voxhall Aarhus
Apr 15 2010 Studenterhuset Aalborg
Apr 16 2010 Brewhouse Göteborg, Västra Götalands län
Apr 17 2010 Store Vega Copenhagen V
Apr 20 2010 Concorde 2 w/ Heather Woods Broderick Brighton
Apr 21 2010 Shepherds Bush Empire w/ Heather Woods Broderick London, London and South East
Apr 22 2010 Oxford Academy w/ Heather Woods Broderick Oxford
Apr 23 2010 Cabaret Voltaire w/ Heather Woods Broderick Edinburgh, Scotland
Apr 24 2010 Black Box w/ Slaraffenland Belfast
Apr 25 2010 Whelan’s w/ Slaraffenland Dublin
Apr 27 2010 Metropolis w/ Slaraffenland Bristol
Apr 28 2010 Nouveau Casino w/ Heather Woods Broderick Paris
Apr 29 2010 Grand Mix w/ Heather Woods Broderick Tourcoing – Lille
Apr 30 2010 VIP w/ Heather Woods Broderick Saint Nazaire – Nantes
May 1 2010 Centrifugeuse w/ Heather Woods Broderick Pau
May 2 2010 La [2] de Apolo w/ Heather Woods Broderick Barcelona
May 4 2010 INIT w/ Heather Woods Broderick Rome
May 5 2010 Covo Club – Rocker Festival w/ Heather Woods Broderick Bologna
May 6 2010 1. Stock w/ Heather Woods Broderick Basel (Münchenstein)
May 7 2010 TBA TBA
May 8 2010 Astra Kulturhaus – Friction Festival Berlin
May 9 2010 Rodeo Live Club w/ Frederik Teige Athens
May 11 2010 Gebäude 9 Cologne
May 12 2010 Knust Hamburg
May 13 2010 Rotown Rotterdam
May 14 2010 Doornroosje Nijmegen
May 15 2010 Cirque Royal – Les Nuits w/ CocoRosie Brussels
May 22 2010 Babel Malmö, Skåne län
May 28 2010 Immergut Festival Neustrelitz
Aug 6 2010 Off Festival Myslowice
Aug 14 2010 Haldern Pop Festival Rees-Haldern

Shamans and Saints: Wildbirds & Peacedrums and St. Vincent — updated with mp3s

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:58:04 +0000

[See post on tinyways.com to listen to audio]
St. Vincent – The Strangers [MP3]
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – I Can’t Tell In His Eyes [MP3]
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Doubt/Hope [MP3]

There’s a clear hierarchy between the warm-up band and the main act. It’s this kind of clear separation that makes revolutions so sweet. It’s not that St. Vincent wasn’t good. She was the exact rocked-down sweetness that we all came to see. She is charming on stage as she is in my headphones. However, in this night, she wasn’t alone. She wasn’t overshadowed by Wildbirds & Peacedrums, but she was definitely matched by them. This night was balanced, and that’s what made it so great. This balance was part harmony between the amazing energies of both St. Vincent and Wildbirds & Peacedrums, but was also characterized by one moment of contradiction. When early in her act St. Vincent started to talk about calm waters and yoga (it’s Seattle after all), she didn’t take into account the shamanic energies that Mariam Wallentin left behind her. Nobody, was into yoga at that point, people were into dancing in trace around random fires. However, St. Vincent was bold and it paid off when she started her deep version of the Nico’s These Days. At the moment, the crowd belonged to her, we were all yogists just for her. A few random words about Wildbirds & Peacedrums live music: fire, tribes, frost, drums (tons of them), pure energy, wacky ancient spirits possessing a crazy singer on stage. Don’t miss this gig (dates below).

St. Vincent and Wildbirds & Peacedrums:
Feb 6 2010 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, Oregon
Feb 8 2010 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California
Feb 9 2010 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, California
Feb 10 2010 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, California
Feb 11 2010 Rhythm Room Phoenix, Arizona
Feb 13 2010 The Bluebird Theater Denver, Colorado
Feb 15 2010 Bottleneck Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 16 2010 The Blue Moose TapHouse Iowa City, Iowa
Feb 17 2010 Turner Hall Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Feb 18 2010 Metro Chicago, Illinois
Feb 19 2010 The Pike Room at The Crofoot Pontiac, Michigan
Feb 20 2010 Outland on Liberty Columbus, Ohio
Feb 21 2010 Diesel Club Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 23 2010 Jefferson Theatre Charlottesville, Virginia
Feb 24 2010 9:30 Club Washington DC, Washington DC
Feb 25 2010 First Unitarian Church – Sanctuary Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

St. Vincent (without Wildbirds & Peacedrums):
Mar 12 2010 Yu Gong Yi Shan Beijing, Beijing
Mar 15 2010 Recital Studio, Esplanade Singapore
Mar 18 2010 Pacific Blue Festival Club Wellington, Wellington
Mar 28 2010 Big Ears Festival Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 30 2010 Highdive Champaign, Illinois
Mar 31 2010 MusicNOW Festival – Memorial Hall / University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio

Wildbirds & Peacedrums (without St. Vincent):
Feb 26 2010 Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Feb 27 2010 Bruar Falls (Williamsburg) Brooklyn, New York

Mixed Feelings: Regina Spektor, On Tour

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:42:45 +0000

[See post on tinyways.com to listen to audio]
It took me a while to fall for Regina Spektor a few years ago. Her anti-folk sound of Soviet Kitsch evoked Ani diFranco, Suzzane Vega and a bunch of other Contemporary Folk female artists. It just belonged to a different time. It was actually the more pop-ish sound of Begin to Hope that “discovered” her for me. Come to think of it, it was the visual language of Fidelity. I admit her last album, Far, is not one of my favorites. It’s a good catchy album, but it lacks the spark of Begin to Hope and the quirkiness of Soviet Kitsch.
The first time I saw her live was about 2 years ago. She performed solo in Tel Aviv. It was a real treat and gave way to all her quirkiness galore and piano virtuosity. Last night I saw her for the second time, in Seattle’s Paramount Theater this time. This time she performed with a proper band and it felt like the Regina-only charm was somewhat lost. Her piano just didn’t express itself the way it can and should. This all changed halfway through the show when she was left alone on stage and I just fell for her all over again. This is one darling that does it charm best when left alone.

The crowd, by the way, in both gigs was made up of an incredible amount of iphone-itweet-teens. Singing with her (did I come to listen to the screaming sweet sixteen next to me?) and screaming to her whatever came to their mind (there were quite a few “love you”s and a few suggestions regarding children). In some odd way, Regina has been positioned by her record label to attract this crowd.
Another note of warning: do yourself a dear favor and try to skip the warming act of Jupiter One. It varied from plain boring to just being pathetic.

Future tour dates:
10 Nov 2009 20:00 Verizon Wireless Theater Houston, Texas
11 Nov 2009 20:00 Stubbs BBQ Austin, Texas
12 Nov 2009 20:00 Nokia Theatre Dallas, Texas
14 Nov 2009 19:00 Pershing Arena at Truman State University Kirksville, Missouri
16 Nov 2009 19:30 Ryman Auditorium Nashville, Tennessee
17 Nov 2009 20:00 Thomas Wolfe Auditorium Asheville, North Carolina
19 Nov 2009 20:00 Louisville Palace Theatre Louisville, Kentucky
30 Nov 2009 20:00 O2 Academy Birmingham
1 Dec 2009 20:00 Academy Glasgow
3 Dec 2009 20:00 Apollo Manchester
4 Dec 2009 20:00 HMV Hammersmith Apollo London
7 Dec 2009 20:00 Cirkus Stockholm
8 Dec 2009 20:00 Cirkus Stockholm
10 Dec 2009 20:00 Rockefeller Oslo
11 Dec 2009 20:00 Lisebergshallen Gothenburg
13 Dec 2009 20:00 KB Malmo
14 Dec 2009 20:00 Huxleys Neue Welt Berlin
16 Dec 2009 20:00 Gasometer Vienna
17 Dec 2009 20:00 Kaufleuten Zurich
19 Dec 2009 20:00 The O2 Dublin

Instrumentation Journey: Marissa Nadler, Live Tour

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:51:04 +0000

[See post on tinyways.com to listen to audio]
River of Dirt [MP3]
Marissa Nadler’s “busy mind”, as she puts it, recently released a fourth album. Titled “Little Hells” it continues Marissa’s haunting tradition, layering it with more and more complex music. This comes to show on stage as well, when she at times steps back from the microphone, into the shadows of her instrumental realm. In general this album continues Marissa’s exploration of musical instruments and effects. It seems like the natural next stop for her journey that started from such a vocal place. It’s definitely a fun ride so far.
Marissa performs with Alela Diane (one after the other, not collaborating) throughout her tour.

Tour dates:
October 27th – Rickshaw Stop – San Fransisco, CA. – w/ Alela Diane
October 29th- Echo- Los Angeles, CA. w/ Alela Diane
October 30th- The Loft – UC San Diego – w/ Alela Diane
November 1st – Rhythm Room- Phoenix, Arizona – w/ Alela Diane
November 3rd – Cactus Cafe- Austin, Texas
November 4th- The Fort Worth Modern Museum- Fort Worth, Texas – w/ Alela Diane
November 5th- Chelseas- Baton Rouge, LA – w/ Alela Diane
November 6th- Bottletree- Birmingham, AL. – w/ Alela Diane
November 7th- The Earl – Atlanta, Georgia – w/ Alela Diane
November 9th- Arts Center- Carrboro, North Carolina – w/ Alela Diane
November 10th – DC9 – Washington, DC – w/ Alela Diane
November 11th- World Cafe- Philadelphia, PA – w/ Alela Diane
November 13th- Le Poisson Rouge – NY, NY – w/ Alela Diane
November 14th – Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY – w/ Alela Diane
November 15th- La Sala Rossa – Montreal, Quebec – w/ Alela Diane
November 16th- Legendary Horseshoe Tavern – Toronto, Ontario
November 17th- Schubas Tavern – Chicago, IL. – w/ Alela Diane
November 18th- 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN- w/ Alela Diane
November 20th- Hi Dive – Denver, Colorado – w/ Alela Diane
November 21st- Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, Utah – w. Alela Diane

Indie Supergroup: Monsters of Folk

Julija — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:18:57 +0000

[See post on tinyways.com to listen to audio]
Don’t be fooled by the seemingly ridiculous moniker Monsters of Folk. Thursday night live at Paramount Theatre, Seattle (third show of their U.S. tour), the supergroup featuring M. Ward, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and Bright Eyes‘ Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis proved to be real folk monsters, bursting with energy for their nearly 3 hours long show. The show varied from folk to Americana, from rock to country sounds. During the performance the band members would come and leave the stage and change dozens of guitars. MoF kept things dynamic and musically intriguing by joining each other for duos, trios, solo efforts, just as well as for their songs written together as Mosters of Folk. Oberst’s, Ward’s and James’ vocals and guitars blended flawlessly in a variety of styles and rhythms, while the group’s multi-instrumentalist Mogis could play pretty much everything from keybords to mandolin. From up-tempo tracks (“Whole Lotta Loosin’ “) to breezy playful folk tunes (“Goodway”) and Southern vibes (“Man Named Truth”) the Monsters of Folk enchanted the audience.

Fall Tour Dates
October
13 Vancouver, BC- Orpheum
14 Portland, OR- Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
15 Seattle, WA- Paramount Theatre
17 Oakland, CA- Fox Theater
18 Los Angeles, CA- The Greek Theater
20 San Diego, CA- Spreckels Theatre
21 Phoenix, AZ- Orpheum Theater
22 Santa Barbara, CA- Santa Barbara Bowl
28 Omaha, NE- Holland Center
29 Minneapolis, MN- Orpheum Theatre
30 Chicago, IL- Auditorium Theatre
31 Louisville, KY- Louisville Palace Theatre

November
02 Toronto, ON- Massey Hall
03 Boston, MA- The Orpheum
06 New York, NY- United Palace
08 New York, NY- Beacon Theater
09 Philadelphia, PA- Academy of Music
12 Stockholm- Philadelphia Church
14 Berlin- Huxleys Neue Welt
15 Copenhagen- Vega
17 London- Troxy
18 Paris- Elysee Montmartre
19 Koln- E-Werk
21 The Hague- Crossing Border
22 Antwerp- Crossing Border