Sunday, August 24, 2008

Concert Review: Yo La Tengo @ McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn (8/24/08)



The fact that Yo La Tengo has been together as a rock band for over 20 years should lead most people to naturally assume that they lack the spirit and raw energy of their more youthful days. Let's face it, we've all seen so many aging bands attempt and sadly fail to match the musical prowess that they once had. There's no question that the spirit of rock and roll will always inherently be linked to youth. However, Yo La Tengo proved today at McCarren Park Pool that the ability to rock, I mean to
truly rock, really has no age limit.

Yo La Tengo hit the stage at McCarren Park Pool today in Williamsburg for what may very well be the last summer Pool Party event that the venue hosts (with the almost definite plan in the near future to renovate the pool area into...that's right, an actual pool). Moments before Yo La Tengo took the stage, I was beginning to get worried that they wouldn't be able to match the ruthless energy delivered by the previous act Titus Andronicus (which included a bizarre beard trimming incident and multiple beach ball stabbings by lead singer Patrick Stickles). However, all fear was quickly washed away by one of the most musically bombastic live experiences I've witnessed in the last few years.

The set opened fairly innocuously, with the light-hearted, smile-inducer "Mr. Tough" that bounced along into the eardrums of hundreds of attendees that had no idea what was about to ensue. It was during the third selection of "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind" (also from their newest, fantastic 2006 release
I Am Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass) when Hurricane Yo La Tengo finally rolled in. The band quickly showed why they are often claimed as one of the key players in the discretely reckless 90s indie rock movement.

It was mesmerizing to watch how well the trio is able to play off one another's talents. First there's frontman Ira Kaplan, who can easily be deemed as the true spirit of the band, often emanating his inner-Hendrix with every ferocious and incredibly authentic attack of his guitar. There's also bassist James McNew, who seems to the the gentle giant of the band until lending a killer bass line to the mix. Lastly, Georgia Hubley supports every song with incredibly confident percussion as well as heart-melting vocals on about half of the tracks.

But it wouldn't be right just to limit their roles this simply. The band essentially played musical chairs throughout the entire set, with each member showing off their incredible versatility with the common exchange of lead vocals, keyboards, lead guitar, and percussion. While Kaplan adds a healthy dose of rock ferocity to their stage presence, all three members certainly share the spotlight together.

Despite a much too short set (just under an hour and a half), Yo La Tengo certainly ended the Pool Parties of '08 with a tremendous tidal wave of sound that filled more than just the pool itself. The band is still just as bold and brilliant as they have ever been, and appropriately still cherished by rock enthusiasts and critics alike for their consistent ambition and unrelenting sonic experimentation. We can only hope that their allegiance to the true, youthful spirit of rock continues for another 20 years.


Yo La Tengo - "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind"


Saturday, August 23, 2008

Album Review: The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely



With
Consolers of the Lonely, Jack White and his accomplices take another stab at making the rock-God-status-achieving album that they were hoping for with their first LP Broken Boy Soldiers two years earlier. However, as much as Jack White ("Jack White III" being his new, hopefully temporary moniker) wants people to think that the Raconteurs aren't just a "side project" for him, it's hard not to think of it as anything but this. Despite this second effort being much more musically and conceptually ambitious than their first, it still pales in comparison to anything the White Stripes have put out.

After the first few tracks, it becomes immediately obvious that White and Brendan Benson (who alternate both songwriting and vocal credits) are reaching for something much more hard-hitting than their mostly wimpy debut. The album definitely kicks with an engaging start, opening with a pair of great, raw rock diddies. While the first half of the album is fairly consistent with material far more exciting than songs from Broken Boy Soldiers, the second album begins to wane a bit with a few easily skippable tracks ("Attention", "These Stones Will Shout"). It's not that they're particularly bad songs, it's just they simply lack the kinetic, raw drive that Jack White is known to carry along with him whenever he's got a guitar clenched between his albino-white fists.

Now, please don't let this criticism scare you away. In fact let it excite you that the worst songs on the album are only "kind of boring". Which leads me to safely deem many other tracks as pretty freaking awesome. White and Benson definitely hit their stride on many tracks, and not just the ones that sound like White Stripes songs. "Old Enough" is probably the shiniest gem in the jewel box, with an incredibly hooky melodic with a country flare. There's also the triumphant "Many Shades of Black" that implements horns and a great vocal performance by Benson to achieve about four engaging climaxes throughout the song's duration (not to mention a wicked White solo thrown in as well).

And finally, I couldn't go mentioning the stunner of a closer, "Carolina Drama", which finally legitimizes the band's name choice (save yourself some time; def: raconteur = storyteller). The song manages to tell a harrowing and incredibly detailed tale of a boy that steps up to protect his family from his mother's abusive boyfriend, and in doing changes the lives of his entire family. The songcraft is brilliant, lulling us deeper after each verse and building to an incredible finale.

All in all, I'd have to say that Consolers of the Lonely is a big step forward for the band. It certainly has a good amount of tunes that completely blast away their debut LP. However, with a duration that runs almost twice as long, it's frustrating to think how much more solid of an album this would be if three or four songs were left as B-sides. Either way, the album has a lot to offer, and certainly no one can be upset when Jack White is continually putting out material while still in the height of his creative arch.

Key Tracks:
Old Enough
Rich Kid Blues
Carolina Drama

Final Verdict: 8.0

Monday, August 18, 2008

Concert Review: Radiohead @ Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto (8/15/08)


I've said it once and I'll say it again, seeing Radiohead live today is the closest you're going to get to an experience like seeing The Beatles play live in the 60s. Over a decade after their genre-defining, post-modern masterpiece OK Computer, the band is just as important now as they ever were, and debatably the most important band of the last 15 years. With the most recent release of the cryptically beautiful In Rainbows, they are still prepared to both melt your mind and your heart with an onslaught of outstanding new and old material.

After situating myself onto the front of the lawn at the Molson Amphitheatre, I prepared myself for what would surely be one of the better musical experiences of my life. After having already seen Radiohead perform at Bonnaroo 2006 (and what a way to set the bar high that was), I had an idea of what I was in store for. The Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear opened the show with an eerie, The Wall-esque sound that was really no match for the set on deck. Despite getting absolutely drenched with a torrential downpour for over an hour, as if deviously planned all along by Yorke himself, the clouds parted and a pair of rainbows appeared over the Toronto skyline
just before Radiohead went on.

And so, at about 8:45pm the lights dimmed and the crowd was mercilessly thrown into the gripping and fragmented opening measures of In Rainbows opener "15 Step". Although I should have expected no less, their magnificent sound was equally matched by a stunning lighting arrangement completely encompassing the quintet. It was probably the most beautiful array of light and color I've seen since seeing the Northern Lights wisped over my head three years ago outside of Montreal after a Beastie Boys concert.

Anyways, the roughly two hour set was filled mostly with material from their latest LP, including all 10 songs from the album in varied order. This just goes to show that the band is one of the few still-touring classic acts that doesn't need to rely almost entirely on past hits to keep their performance afloat (e.g. The Police, The Who, etc.). Of course, there was a solid mix of older treats that were more than welcome. Classics like "Airbag", "Planet Telex", and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" enabled Yorke and Greenwood to show that they really are still the blood, sweat, and tears of the band.

If you can't tell by now, Radiohead clearly met all of my monumental expectations and more on this beautiful Friday night in Toronto. While they still have the ability to achieve rock-God status (as they are universally acknowledged of having achieved in the late-90s), there does seem to be a noticeable shift in their recent affect on the listener. To me, Radiohead is becoming less a tangible rock band and more of a musical entity, especially emphasized by the material from In Rainbows. Rather than playing my typical role as the foot-stomping, head-banging rock show attendee, I found myself more often simply standing motionless, completely and utterly absorbed in the visual and audio culmination being delivered to me. They seem to have slowly departed from their past rock demeanor into one more delivering sheer music majesty. Seeing Radiohead live does not just give you more of an appreciation for the band, it gives you more of an appreciation for the beauty of life itself.



Radiohead - Planet Telex

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Album Review: The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement


When considering the typical output a modern singer/songwriter tends to put out nowadays, it's safe to say that Alex Turner is one ambitious guy when compared to his peers. Already having put out a pair of fantastic LPs with his UK-conquering, garage-rock revival act the Arctic Monkeys, he's already putting out a side project at 22. And don't let the album's title fool you, this is certainly no light affair. Turner, with the assistance of The Rascals' Miles Kane, has assembled a sweeping and rousing ode to late-60s symphonic pop. The album seems like it would be more appropriately placed during the opening credits sequence of a Sean Connery-Bond outing, rather than frequenting college radio stations.

Turner and Kane muster up much of their lush sound with the tremendous help of the London Metropolitan Orchestra (how's that for being ambitious). While the songs sometimes pale a bit in comparison to the infectiously catchy rock of the Arctic Monkeys, there's no doubt that the sound here is consistently intriguing. Some may be put off by the epic scale that Turner and Kane shoot for here, with a diverse sonic template that never really eases up until the beautiful closer "The Time Has Come Again". However, in the end The Age of the Understatement
succeeds on many levels as another credit to add onto Turner's increasingly impressive musical resume.

Key Tracks:
Standing Next To Me

Meeting Place

The Time Has Come Again


Final Verdict: 7.8