Caribou, Junior Boys, The Russian Futurists; Northsix
It's rare to for two great bands to be on the same bill (think back to N Sync/Britney Spears), but three! Why it's enough for me to, the night before my Masters of Literature Humanities final, skip down to Brooklyn! So instead of studying (reading style.com/lamenting the idiocy of my LitHum classmates), Sara and I succumbed to Dan Snaith's sweet beckoning.
Being from New Jersey, everything reminds me of a mall. But the Russian Futurists really remind me of my freshman year, the smell of fake Cajun food, and change fountains. In Let's Get Ready to Crumble, Matthew Hart's voice lost all personality under the upper register, and the low production value gave everything a charming, inoffensive aesthetic. Like mall construction: cheap architecture + lots of skylights = gold. Our Thickness, from what I can tell, lacks this charm. So does the Russian Futurists' live show.
I saw the Russian Futurists at the Knitting Factory during CMJ, but dismissed their lack-luster performance as a product of the Old Office's shitty sound system. I erred. For one thing, Hart and co. were aligned perfectly horizontally. For dyhnamic personalities, like for example the Arcade Fire, this works. There was forward momentum. For the Russian Futurists, it doesn't. It feels as if they're playing to themselves, and head down, all their energy stays rather visibly at the band's feet. The screen behind them mistakenly said 'Junior Boys' in a hideous script, and the whole set seemed rather careless.
Junior Boys is a sexy group right? So you can imagine my surprise when Matt Didemus comes out looking like the principal from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. But the set was a lot more subtle than recorded, even at points reminding me of modern gothic ballroom dancing. But the keyboardist is attractive, so whatever. Good, long set, with sparse, evocative imagery.
But the most impresive thing about the set was this four-person line of dancers that haphazardly came together in the front row.From left:
1. Total bridge and tunnel, with fully gelled hair, a striped button down and Ray Bans circa 1995, moving like he was at an Usher show.
2. Next to him, full out head bopper, Jew fro and all.
3. 5'6, 110 lb. man wearing a tight red jacket, skin tight pants, two studded belts and a faux hawk. Very deliberately and confidently doing the robot. And when he opened his mouth: NOT GAY.
4. The last guy totally broke it down. He did what looked like a Jane Fonda work-out so hard his pony tail came out.
The Northsix Village People.
In between the Junior Boys and Caribou sets we chatted with this kid Mike (Matt?) who raved about the show to come. But his noise was called the Master Control Program, and thus his opinion was open some scrutiny. Nice guy though: support the show!
The Caribou show was in fact great. The centerpiece was a video, to which their songs--no matter how different the albums may be--led coherent, cohesive soundtrack. Excellent animation, hilarious storyline including senior citizens, marshmallow men and decapitation. Matt (Mike?) insisted the show was better the day before at the Bowery. I believe it; the sound at Northsix is pretty shitty. But at the Bowery (I refuse to even link to it anymore), we wouldn't have gotten so close, they wouldn't have served minors alcohol, and all of fucking NYU would've been there. Thank you, Northsix; Fuck you, Bowery Ballroom.
Being from New Jersey, everything reminds me of a mall. But the Russian Futurists really remind me of my freshman year, the smell of fake Cajun food, and change fountains. In Let's Get Ready to Crumble, Matthew Hart's voice lost all personality under the upper register, and the low production value gave everything a charming, inoffensive aesthetic. Like mall construction: cheap architecture + lots of skylights = gold. Our Thickness, from what I can tell, lacks this charm. So does the Russian Futurists' live show.
I saw the Russian Futurists at the Knitting Factory during CMJ, but dismissed their lack-luster performance as a product of the Old Office's shitty sound system. I erred. For one thing, Hart and co. were aligned perfectly horizontally. For dyhnamic personalities, like for example the Arcade Fire, this works. There was forward momentum. For the Russian Futurists, it doesn't. It feels as if they're playing to themselves, and head down, all their energy stays rather visibly at the band's feet. The screen behind them mistakenly said 'Junior Boys' in a hideous script, and the whole set seemed rather careless.
Junior Boys is a sexy group right? So you can imagine my surprise when Matt Didemus comes out looking like the principal from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. But the set was a lot more subtle than recorded, even at points reminding me of modern gothic ballroom dancing. But the keyboardist is attractive, so whatever. Good, long set, with sparse, evocative imagery.
But the most impresive thing about the set was this four-person line of dancers that haphazardly came together in the front row.From left:
1. Total bridge and tunnel, with fully gelled hair, a striped button down and Ray Bans circa 1995, moving like he was at an Usher show.
2. Next to him, full out head bopper, Jew fro and all.
3. 5'6, 110 lb. man wearing a tight red jacket, skin tight pants, two studded belts and a faux hawk. Very deliberately and confidently doing the robot. And when he opened his mouth: NOT GAY.
4. The last guy totally broke it down. He did what looked like a Jane Fonda work-out so hard his pony tail came out.
The Northsix Village People.
In between the Junior Boys and Caribou sets we chatted with this kid Mike (Matt?) who raved about the show to come. But his noise was called the Master Control Program, and thus his opinion was open some scrutiny. Nice guy though: support the show!
The Caribou show was in fact great. The centerpiece was a video, to which their songs--no matter how different the albums may be--led coherent, cohesive soundtrack. Excellent animation, hilarious storyline including senior citizens, marshmallow men and decapitation. Matt (Mike?) insisted the show was better the day before at the Bowery. I believe it; the sound at Northsix is pretty shitty. But at the Bowery (I refuse to even link to it anymore), we wouldn't have gotten so close, they wouldn't have served minors alcohol, and all of fucking NYU would've been there. Thank you, Northsix; Fuck you, Bowery Ballroom.
3 Comments:
You are a douchebag.
You should work for SPIN
Do you go to concerts to see what people wear or to see fuckin music? Why write shit about music, your interests obviously lie in fashion.
You Suck massive balls
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