| In the dreary light of the morning... |
[Mar. 28th, 2009|11:44 am] |
I think I was probably a little hard on Nomo in my last posting. Or maybe not. I just wanted more electric kalimba. In any case, I was playing one if their older records in my car this morning (picked it up at the show), and was pleased to find that it was pretty great as well. Nomo may just not be a live band for me...or maybe I just need to see them under different circumstances. Next, Asobi Seksu. Posted via LiveJournal.app. |
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| The Music Curmudgeon |
[Mar. 28th, 2009|01:11 am] |
Perhaps it's fitting that my first post in months will consist of curmudgeonly bile.
So, tonight, it was off to the Rock & Roll Hotel to see Nomo. Two opening bands, which always irritates me (ONE OPENING BAND, ONE MAIN BAND. THAT'S ALL ANYONE NEEDS IN ONE EVENING)> The results? Well...
Band #1: Funk Ark - A perfectly serviceable jazz funk ensemble. They did about a 30 minute set of pretty competent music, marred only by occasional slight rhythm difficulties.
Band #2: Ra Ra Rasputin - Local favorites, evidently. They made me feel like a party-pooping asshole for not enjoying their set, since they seemed so into it, and so did most of the (pretty young) crowd. However, as far as I could tell from the bookends of the set (it drove me upstairs to kill time in the newly renovated RnR Hotel upstairs bar), EVERY trick these kids had was cribbed from the NYC art-rock-electro scene of the 70s and 80s, with occasional nods to bands like Pylon. It was like listening to someone doing Talking Heads/Liquid Liquid karaoke. Not for me, thanks.
Band #3: Nomo - The main event, and the reason I was down there on this rainy, nasty night. And...I was disappointed. Nomo's Ghost Rock record blew the top of my head off when I heard it last year, being a potent brew of afro-beat rhythms mixed in with some absolutely awesome weird instrumentation in the form on electrified African thumb pianos. So, my suggestion to a band like that is, when you have such an awesome element as part of your sound, it might be good to learn how to play it live, rather than simply having it pre-recorded and playing over it. Seriously, it was terribly disappointing.
Not that Nomo were bad or anything...but a bunch of white kids from NYC playing Afrobeat needs a serous hook, something that makes them more than just art school students with a bunch of Fela records. The album has that hook. The live show just didn't. The few songs that did feature the live thumb-piano stuff were great, but it just wasn't enough. When you are a crazy-ass jam band, your live performance needs to either A. replicate the album sound perfectly with live instruments or B. be something else entirely that is still awesome. Nomo were, sadly, neither. I'll continue rocking out to the albums, but I doubt I'll bother with the live manifestation anymore.
Tomorrow night, I'm at the Hotel again, this time for Asobi Seksu. Hopefully, this show will be a bit more worthwhile. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for Mice Parade to blow my mind in May. |
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| Bad News |
[Mar. 12th, 2009|11:35 am] |
Gee, I don't postin months, and this is what I come back to report. *sigh*
My high school buddy Mike Dobbs died really suddenly yesterday. If you knew him, or you know people that knew him, pass the word on.
We'll miss you, Mike. You were a good man. |
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| RIP, sweet lady |
[Dec. 12th, 2008|12:06 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | melancholy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Adele - Best for Last | ] |
Rest in Peace, Betty. You'll be in the dreams of millions forever. |
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