Metric at the Electric Ballroom
I saw Metric for the first time last week. The new album Fantasies is incredible and I’ve been listening to it a great deal, so my excitement level for this concert was very high. But, Metric saw my expectations, matched them, then pogo-sticked over a rainbow with them. I would feel remiss not to share some small bit of the wonder and inspiration that is a Metric show with the awesome, spectacularly attractive, music-loving readers of Camp Revival.
I am going to force myself not to turn this into a completely mushy admonition of love for Emily Haines. That said, she has the innate stage presence and extraordinary musical talent that some people (including me) would give their right arms to have even just a fraction of.
The show opener was Connan Mockasin. He started out by apologizing for his shabby dress, because he was homeless. If that was a joke, it was a bit too believable for anyone to laugh. Throughout the show, I noticed something I’ve never seen before in an indie crowd: growing genuine concern for the band’s health and well-being. On the scale of show admiration, I think that this rates after boredom, but well before enjoyment. His voice is indescribable (in positive terms). I’ll just say that maybe his music is ahead of my time. You know that saying, each generation just doesn’t understand or like the music of their children? Yeah, maybe it’s like that. As if that musical adventure wasn’t enough.. he started bleeding too (notice his hand).
I can't play the guitar, my hand is bleeding.
Thankfully, Metric came on eventually and played a lot of songs off of Fantasies and some old classics. Here are some images and general Haines wisdom I gathered from the excellence.
You guys are home to the two greatest bands of all time. No, not the Klaxons and Bloc Party.
We need to honor the past and live in the present. And our generation needs a hybrid of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Like a romantic fool, I intend to spend the rest of my life pursuing the dream of having Metric become just such a hybrid. I can't think of anything better to do. So, that's my dream.
The Drug Generation in the Age of Fear. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. What doesn't kill you, makes you us.
My tall, talented friend Kahran took the picture above for me.The last song played was “Live it Out.” Soooooo gooooooddd. This is “their Freebird.” The end of the video gets a bit hairy as I dive in to touch Emily. I mean, it was well worth it folks. You’d do the same.
I hope the inundation of images somewhat simulates the feeling of going to a Metric show and inspires you to do so. As for me, I am basically never going to miss a Metric show when they are within 150 miles of me.
Metric has killer music videos for Sick Muse, Help I’m Alive, Gimme Sympathy, a free mp3, AND full streaming of Fantasies which you can find here. Drowned in Sound is hosting a great documentary called The Rawside of… Metric. It is worth a watch! And Metric will be in Seattle June 4th at the Showbox, it is sold out, but Sweet Jesus, if you don’t have one and an opportunity to get a ticket comes up… don’t walk, run.
Indie Charity Compilations: Excellence
I’ve been listening to two epic charity compilations to near ear excess: Dark Was the Night and War Child: Heroes. You do not want to be without these tracks, trust me.
Good music + good causes = a damn good reason to buy and listen to some music.
This is a two-disc compilation by the Red Hot Organization to benefit AIDS awareness, which was released in February. The tracklisting of Dark Was the Night reads like a who’s who of current indie all-stars and hell, it sounds it. Witness Yeasayer above! For the full tracklisting, charity description, some song previews, and purchasing info check the official website. Contributors Bon Iver and the Decemberists will both be playing at Sasquatch! on Saturday, May 23rd and Grizzly Bear and Beach House will be playing on Monday. Kismet!
War Child: Heroes is marketed as the ultimate cover album. No arguments here! War Child asked legendary artists like Bob Dylan, The Ramones, Blondie, and Bowie to pick a favorite song to have a “new act” cover. Proceeds go to benefit “children affected by war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.” How cool is that? And the results are magical. A cover of Iggy Pop’s Search and Destroy by Peaches? Yes, please. TV on the Radio covering Heroes by Bowie… somebody pinch me! Lilly Allen singing Straight to Hell – WTF, but AWESOME. For more info on this project and ways to purchase this compilation go to the War Child website.
School of Seven Bells
School of Seven Bells are the embodiment of what I’ve always imagined sirens sound like. Much like sirens, they lure the hapless listener inexorably forward with their beautiful, ethereal voices. Only, instead of being lead to an untimely end, SVIIB leaves us with Alpinisms; a collection of 11 haunting, yet groove-worthy songs released in 2008. Their infusion of harmonic chanting with beat-driven rocktronica (err.. rock/electronica… dig it) is assuredly a note-worthy feat. Clearly, SVIIB cannot be easily categorized.
School of Seven Bells has quite an interesting history. They formed when Benjamin Curtis of the Secret Machines and the identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza of On! Air! Library! met on tour and decided to quit their respective bands and make beautiful music – a solid choice. The band is named after a mythical South American school for pickpockets. Their process is very lyrically driven as Benjamin comments in an interview with NPR “the sound is usually inspired by the words, rather than vice versa,” Curtis adds. “We always do the vocals first in this band. That’s a really big deal for us.”
I happened to see them live with Bat for Lashes about a week back. SVIIB sound great live and it was quite amusing to watch Benjamin entirely engrossed in rocking the guitar in-between the relatively calm twins. I am considering seeing them again in a couple of weeks, they were that good. They are currently touring Europe, but will begin an American tour in late May. Indeed, they will be playing Sasquatch! Festival. Sigghhh. Missing Sasquatch! is one of the major disadvantages to London life. You can see SVIIB’s complete tour schedule on their lovely myspace as well as a cool tour blog on their website.
The Veils – Sun Gangs
I’m smitten.
The Veils have blessed us anew with Sun Gangs. I love this band and near everything they have made available for me to listen to. In a certain melancholic mood, The Veils have an uncanny ability to say exactly the right words and deliver them in a strikingly beautiful, cathartic way. However, they can still rock your brains out, make no mistake. This is music worthy of more than just wanting, or liking, but of needing to hear.
The Veils have achieved a delicate balance between waves of simple, haunting melodies and unapologetic, rampaging rock wails. Finn has a distinctive and versatile voice. Sun Gangs seems to showcase Finn’s voice along with more jangly piano bits than in the previous two albums – Nux Vomica, and Runaway Found – both of which are brilliant.
The Veils have roots in New Zealand, but reside in London. I happened to see them live in February, front row of course. And yeah, Lead Singer Finn Andrews is that dreamy in real life. He was not particularly chatty, but he seemed liked a modest, genuine, nice guy. Oh, and talented, of course. And Sophia (on bass) exudes pure cool, as bassists sometimes do (if they’re lucky).
Find out for yourself! They are touring to promote Sun Gangs, which came out April 6th. Currently, the tour is in Europe, but according to their myspace “We have a tour schedule growing at a frankly sex-inducing pace – if your country is not currently in the live dates section we’re pretty sure it will be soon. Current semi-confirmed things include further shows in Italy, Germany, Austria and Portugal, and a tour in America penciled in for sometime in late June.”
You can download a free mp3 of “The Letter” from The Veils official website homepage. Listen to other tracks on their MySpace page. And if you find that appealing, why not exchange some of that hard-earned, but so very expendable currency and buy the album? Think of it as an investment in your musical health… or the economy, whichever pleases you more.
The Black Whales
Driving back to Seattle from Federal Way last December I was faced with a musical quandary. Should I listen to Andrew Bird for the 83rd time in a row, or hope that there is something decent on the radio? With hopeful trepidation I tuned into kexp – a very solid choice.
The Black Whales were playing some irresistibly catchy and well-crafted songs. And they had some top-notch banter, which is always a pleasant bit of knowledge to have about a band, right?
This Seattle-based foursome describes their music as “Flowers on drugs. Warm hearted spaghetti-westerns.” Yesssss. And it sounds good.
They have some shows coming up in the NW – check their myspace. And they have an ep available for free download on their website.
Books on Tape
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The Diamond Divide
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Dag för Dag
Is it just me, or is there an awful lot of pure rock n’roll coming out of Sweden? The Hives, Mando Diao, Soundtrack of Our Lives – are all pretty darn Swedish. Dag för Dag, pronounced dog for dog, is another such outfit. This brother and sister duo’s music has a psychedelic, yet minimal feel. I saw them opening for Wolf Parade in London and they deliver a great, colorful, and engrossing live show.
Indeed, they will be playing some shows at SXSW this year! Any lucky sods attending SXSW may enjoy checking them out live. Their first album will be entitled “Shooting from the Shadows” and will be released May 1st in Europe. Sadly, there is no info yet on an American release date.
Why not console yourself by giving them a listen?