BAT FOR LASHES - WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO?

THE CHROMATICS - IN THE CITY

M.I.A. - Interviewed on CBC's The Hour

Beirut feat. Owen Pallett - Cliqout
October 2, 2007
The Danforth Music Hall

BEIRUT
w Alaska in Winter and Colleen
October 2, 2007
Danforth Music Hall


Went into this show with very high expectations, I missed Beirut's debut Toronto show at the Horseshoe last fall due to a scheduling conflict (Joanna Newsom played the same night at Mod Club). The night couldn't have been more perfect, the venue is probably my favourite seated venue in the city and the performances were excellent.

Alaska In Winter opened the show. Not a band, but a one-man show which took on the feel of a performance art piece. Multi-instrumentalist Brandon Bethancourt graced the stage alone, backed by pre-recorded instruments and a large screen where multiple small frames of video were projected of him playing the various instruments. It was interesting to say the least, he sung live and I could connect with his material, it just seemed a bit self-indulgent at times. The music can only be described as guitar-less indie-rock in a similar vein to Postal Service or Small Sins. Next up was Colleen, a solo artist that did a 40 minute set of looping various instruments a la Owen Pallett to create experimental soundscapes. I found her set a bit tedious and boring.

Zach and his crew of merry makers began their set with A Call To Arms, the first track on The Flying Cup Club and from their first note, totally won over the capacity crowd. People went pretty crazy for Beirut's old world gypsy indie-rock, they danced in the aisles and eventually took over the stage. It blows my mind how young Zach, and that he can produce such a high caliber set of songs (two full albums no less!). So many highlights, see below for a video of Scenic World (my favourite track off The Gulang Orkestar), Cliquot (which I also have video of and features Owen but I'm having problems getting the video off my camera), Postcards From Italy and the title track of their first album. Simply amazing.

THE SOUNDTRACK OF MY LIFE

A couple months ago, A Soundtrack for Everyone published a detailed list of his favourite albums of all time. Here are my favourite thirteen albums of all time. Some like Hayden's Everything I Long For and Eric's Trip Forever Again have been mainstays in my collection since I was fifteen. Others like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible and Antony and the Johnson's I Am A Bird Now are relatively new (released in the last two years) but still make the list due to their sheer brilliance. The list is in no particular order.

Part One


Radiohead - Kid A (Parlophone, 2000) - Radiohead became an obsession of mine in 1997 with the release of OK Computer. Close friends were big fans of the earlier work, but it wasn't until hearing the first single from OK Computer "Paranoid Android" that I took notice. The album was critically/commercially acclaimed and launched the band into mainstream. Tons has been written about the album, it was named best British album of all times by Q Magazine (beating out the entire Beatles catalogue) and due to the overwhelming response put a lot of stress on the band. Three years later they released Kid A, gone were the guitars (well almost gone) and in came the samplers, keyboards and other electronic instruments. A very different album from its predecessor, the recording process almost broke up the band due to lead singer Thom Yorke taking charge and forcing the band to look at music in an entirely new way. The album is heavily influenced by the records released by IDM label Warp, Yorke pledged his allegiance to Warp artists Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Autechre and used their music as a source of influence for Kid A. As an album, Kid A flows perfectly, each song bleeds into the next in an organic way, the songs are less structured and poppy than their older material but still contain all the right elements (sad, bleak lyrics, adventurous melodies). Favourite tracks: How To Disappear Completely, Idioteque, and the gorgeous Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now - The first time I heard this album, I hated it. Antony's voice was really hard to adjust to (similar to Joanna Newsom's), it sounds like a man trying to sing like an old female soul singer. But the awkwardness and weirdness of his voice fits perfectly with his tales of heartbreak, death, and insecurity. I Am A Bird Now is a masterpiece for the socially awkward and isolated, Antony himself is a performance artist and cross-dresser who seems to have lived on the fringe of society for the bulk of his life. His life experiences has led him to write one of the most heartbreaking, emotional and real albums I have ever heard. This album won England's Mercury Music Prize and turned him into a cult hero. Favourite Tracks: Hope There's Someone, You Are My Sister, My Lady Story, Fistful of Love.
Eric's Trip - Forever Again - I discovered this album kind of by accident, I came into Toronto one afternoon with a couple friends in high school to attend a benefit show at Lee's Palace (can't remember what it was for) and Eric's Trip was on the bill. They had just released this album, I didn't know anything about the band (other than that they were from Moncton) and after seeing them live, I fell head over heels. Known as the post break up album (lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Rick White and the gorgeous Julie Dorion), Forever Again is full of lo-fi tunes about lost love and longing for another. Eric's Trip became a mild obsession for me, I really connected to Rick's songwriter and production. This album made me feel that I was listening to someone's audio diary, something private that shouldn't be shared. Of all their albums, this one is still my favourite. Stand out tracks: December '93, My Bed is Red, Viewmaster, Girlfriend.