Live: Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band @ Amoeba Records

Bright Eyes is one of those bands that I feel most of its fans don't understand. If you looked at the fanbase for the Conor Oberst moniker, it's mostly teen girls, but if was to describe Oberst's song writing, the one phrase that always comes to mind is "beyond his years." The music never really fit the age that followed it; I always figured that the girls were locked onto his appearance and hadn't really understood his music. Critics maligned Oberst for his youth following, and for never following through on his "next Bob Dylan" tag they stuck on him when he emerged from Saddle Creek at 13.


In 2005 Obherst released two albums of material on the same day, offering two directions his career could go. Down one road was Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, featuring collaborations with Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, electronic meddling, and a more youthful record. Essentially it was the album-length equivalent of the experimenting Oberst did on "Lover I Don't Have to Love" from his previous record, which had earned him legions of young, lovelorn fans just beginning to grip the "emo" label. Down the other road was the Emmylou Harris backed I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, a folksy, mature record that just felt right for Oberst. Not to say Digital Ash didn't have it moments, but it was clear that Oberst had finally found the clear direction he needed on IWAIM. Tracks like "Train Under Water," "We Are Nowhere and It's Now," and my personal favorite "Road To Joy" sounded like a contemporary of Harris, not a twenty-something.


On his follow-up Cassadaga Oberst attempted the growing up he needed, and fell just a bit short. He had shifted to more folk-rock, but the youth-courting hit "Four Winds" hung on the album like "First Day of My Life" did on Wide Awake, both good songs, but both carrying the lingering tag of young singer/songwriter.

Now Oberst is on the verge of the release of his first "solo" album in years (technically Bright Eyes is a solo band, but the shift from moniker to his actual name carries some weight). He's gone soft, gone quiet, retained the midwestern sensibilities, and hopefully has completed the shift to being seen as an adult songwriter. He may be embracing the Dylan comparisons a little bit, but it was an unfair connection to draw from the start - Oberst does the electric rock and acoustic folk in about equal numbers, but he has a more personal and less universal aura about him. That's just my opinion though.

For the album Oberst went down to Mexico, recording with the Mystic Valley Band, and that's exactly who showed up with him when he played an in-store gig at Ameoba Records in downtown San Francisco this past weekend. They tore through an 8-song set of exclusively solo material (with one Dylan cover, but come on, its Conor Oberst), and it was satisfying to see so many multi-ear-piercing-and-dye-job kids looking disappointed with the adult direction he's taken as a musician and a songwriter. I really hope this is the record to give him recognition as the almost 30-year-old man he is, and not stuck permanently stick him as a teenager who refused to grow up in his songs.

Take a look at the last song of his set, and check out the setlist below.



Setlist:
Moab
Cape Canaveral
NYC - Gone, Gone
Souled Out!!!
Get-Well-Cards
Smoke Signals (Non-album track)
Corrina, Corrina (Bob Dylan cover)
Lenders in the Temple

Mid-Week Special: Arcade Fire & Nada Surf bring on the New Order

With Control entering theatres, I saw the track listing for the soundtrack that came out on iTunes on Tuesday. I have to say, I’m significantly disappointed in the cover of Transmission "Shadowplay" by The Killers (edit: I mixed the song up...turns out the cover was so forgettable that I didn't remember which Joy Division song they were ruining...my bad). I loved Hot Fuss, hated Sam’s Town, but I like some of the b-sides on the forthcoming Sawdust rarities album (small side note: how can a band release a b-side and rarities album after only 2 LPs? It’s not as though these guys never leave the studio…). I’ve never really heard a good cover of a Joy Division song that wasn’t “Love Will Tear Us Apart” so for today’s post I’m pulling out two of my favorite live covers of New Order songs.

The first is a “Blue Monday” cover by Nada Surf. I’m not a huge fan of the band, considering they don’t really sound different from bands like Death Cab For Cutie (whose guitarist produces their albums), but I still really like this cover.

The second is a cover of my favorite New Order song “Age of Consent” by Arcade Fire. I remember the first time I put Power, Corruption, & Lies into my computer and fell in love with it. I also remember my surprise when the song was used in the first trailer for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. Win Butler is perfect on the vocals here, and the string section is wonderful as well.



Nada Surf - Blue Monday(New Order Cover)
Arcade Fire - Age of Consent(New Order Cover)

Mid-Week Special: Nirvana Live at the Metro

There are times in your musical life where you remember the exact moment you first heard a song by a certain artist. My introduction to Nirvana was one of those moments. Without getting into too many details, the first song I ever listened to by them was "About a Girl" off of their first LP Bleach. I was so obsessed with it that I started playing guitar just to be able to play it. It's still one of my favorite songs to play and perform, and one of my favorite Nirvana tracks. Every time I play it, I like to imagine what Kurt Cobain said at the beginning of their MTV Unplugged in New York album: "This is off our first record, most people don't know it." This version comes from a live set at the Metro in 1991, and is accompanied by a few other choice songs from that set. Enjoy.


Nirvana - Drain You(Live)
Nirvana - About a Girl(Live)
Nirvana - Breed(Live)

Live: Daphne Loves Derby & This Providence

Saturday night I took the El into Chicago to see my favorite band: Daphne Loves Derby. I'm actually kind of surprised that it's taken me this long to write a post about them, but seeing as how they don't exactly fit into the rest of my music taste, I guess I'll go with that reason.

I used to cruise around PureVolume a lot, and one day back in 2004 while I was hitting the random band button Daphne Loves Derby came up. I listened to a few of their songs, and noticed that their entire 2003 debut album was available for download. They'd also put out a studio-produced EP called Closing Down the Pattern Department, which I picked up as well. For some reason, those songs struck a chord with me, and I've been listening to every song they've ever recorded since. I think that I've basically got every single track they ever put to tape, but I can't be totally sure.

The band is from Kent, Washington, which is outside of Seattle. They formed about five years ago when the members were still in high school. At the time I happened upon them, the band consisted of Kenny Choi (vocals/guitar), Spencer Abbot (guitar), Jason Call (bass/vocals), and Stu Clay (drums). Since then, Jason left the band to go on his Mormon mission, and was replaced by David Sparks on bass. They signed to indie label Outlook Records, which is owned by former Denver Bronco Trevor Pryce, and have released two full albums, On The Strength of All Convinced in 2005, and Good Night, Witness Light this past February. I have no qualms about saying that GNWL is one of my favorite albums of the year, I think it's just luminous.

They have a sound that is a lot like some other bands I know from the softer, emo/alternative/indie rock genre, mostly bands like Copeland. Even still, I think Kenny's voice is just amazing, and his lyrics are so layered, steeped in lush imagery, and so emotive that the band is one of a kind. They've really progressed from garage/punk mixed with solo acoustic songs into full-fledged arrangements over the course of the few years I've followed them, and the transition suits them.

On Saturday night they were playing with another Seattle-based indie/emo band, This Providence. The very first time I saw Daphne Loves Derby back in the summer of '05 they were touring with This Providence. That band has seen some lineup changes as well, but now have seen the release of two full length album, the most recent being an eponymous sophomore disc for Fueled by Ramen Records. They have a lot of great guitar work going on and some really good shout choruses, and I really enjoyed seeing them for a second time. They didn't play my favorite song "To Kill This" - which is essentially the theme song to my middle and high school years - but the set was really great. The venue was really small, so we could get up close and see the band, hear them perfectly, and not have our ears blown out.


Daphne came out at around 8:00 and played about a 45 minute set that included some new, some old, and some very old songs that I was glad to hear. I've now been to 5 Daphne Loves Derby shows, and I think the crowd last night was right up there with the best I've been a part of. Everyone was really into the set, the band was feeding off the energy of the crowd, and things just got better from there. Kenny played the acoustic gem "Pollen and Salt" from their debut, as well as older favorites "Guerra All Interno" and "Closing Down The Patern Department". They also threw in a great cover of Third Eye Blind's "Jumper", which was sort of the icing on the cake of the set. What I've noticed over the course of two years watching the band is that now instead of simply going straight ahead with songs, Spencer layers his guitar playing a lot more, and adds much more depth to the sound of the songs. Even songs that were on their EPs in 2004 now sound better with the hard work the band has put into sounding better and getting better as musicians. I'm really glad to have seen this band grow, and they're without a doubt my favorite band right now. Here are a few sample tracks from their career to give you an example of how they've progressed. If you like it, please go buy a record or see a show. I promise you will not be disappointed.


Daphne Loves Derby - Closing Down the Pattern Department
Daphne Loves Derby - Middle Middle (Post Post EP Version)
Daphne Loves Derby - Pollen and Salt
Daphne Loves Derby - That's Our Hero Shot
Daphne Loves Derby - Jumper (Live) [Third Eye Blind cover]

Live: The Hives

Tonight I saw The Hives at the Metro in downtown Chicago. It was my first concert since arriving at Northwestern, so it was pretty exciting. The Metro is 2 blocks north of Wrigley Field, so I got my first glimpse of the infamous sign on the stadium, and snapped an obligatory picture of it.

After making the crowd wait for about 15-20 minutes past the time their set was supposed to start, the bloodred lights dimmed and out walked The Hives to thunderous applause. The Metro isn't that big of a club...so it was stupendously loud for the entire performance.

The Hives don't look like your average garage rock revival-era band. Essentially the only two bands still around from that early 00s period are The Hives and The White Stripes, what with The Vines and The Strokes having somewhat spun out (The Strokes clearly have the better potential for getting back on track though...). Singer/Guitarist duo Pelle and Nicholaus Almqvist go batshit crazy on stage and it got the crowd really pumped up, and they all dress is matching black suits with an "H" crest on the breast.

"Howlin" Pelle Almqvist reminds me a lot of a young Mick Jagger. He struts, he rocks out, he climbs stages, he is supremely confidant in himself and his band, and he is a fantastic live singer. At one point during the night he quipped that if everyone there told a friend who told a friend who bought their album in a few weeks, they'd be back playing Wrigley Field this time next year. I wondered at one point during the set if he was going to start singing "Start Me Up" because he was flailing around onstage just the way Jagger used to in the videos of the Stones' huge stadium tours.


The set was filled with old and new material, my favorites "Diabolic Scheme" and "Walk Idiot Walk" getting played in the middle of the set. Songs from the new album sound like a baby step in terms of sonic development, but when you have a winning formula I guess you don't really need to mess with it. They have razor-sharp guitars, a great vocalist, and enough bravado to eventually fill stadiums. They have a hope of making the world forget that ABBA ever came out of Sweden. Here's the first single off The Black and White Album, which comes out in November. It's called "Tick Tick Boom" and they closed their set with it. I think it's fantastic, and they do a great job imitating a ticking time bomb. Here's hoping that the popularity of The Hives is about to explode as well.


The Hives - Tick Tick Boom

Mid-week Special: Live Echo & the Bunnymen

Even though Richard Kelly didn't orignally intend to use Echo & the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" in the opening credits of his cult classic Donnie Darko, the track fit perfectly with the mood and tone of the film, and that opening sequence was one of the reasons I first picked up one of their records.

All of the reissues of Echo records come with a bunch of bonus tracks, and sometimes there are live tracks. Here are three of my favorites:


One of my favorite tracks of off their debut record is the title track, "Crocodiles". Like most of the album, it has a real punk sound to it. To me this entire album always sounded like the band before they jumped down their creative rabbit hole and started experimenting more with larger arrangements and less mainstream punk sounds.

Echo & the Bunnymen - Crocodiles(Live)


My favorite complete album from the band was their second, Heaven Up Here. It's got an amazing cover, the songs flow from once to the next very nicely, and it kicks off wonderfully with "Show of Strength". This live version is a little faster than the studio track, but McCullouch doesn't spare any volume in his wailing.

Echo & the Bunnymen - Show of Strength(Live)


Of all Echo songs, my favorite has to be "My Kingdom" off of Ocean Rain. The pinnacle album of Echo's popularity and creativity, the entire album is chock full of huge arrangements, but I like "My Kingdom" for its simplicity, it doesn't have nearly the sonic arsenal that "The Killing Moon" does. Notorious for his arrogance, Ian McCulloch declares this song is from "the greatest album ever made" early in the track. Yes, he's cocky, but there are a lot of people out there who would agree with him.

Echo & the Bunnymen - My Kingdom(Live)


There you have it, three live tracks by one of my favorite bands. I'm posting my five favorite albums of the summer by September 1st, so stay tuned.

Mid-week Special: Ben Gibbard Covers Avril in NYC

Ok, so for the second week running I'm hitting 2/3 on the live, cover, and b-sides that are the intentions of these posts. This time it's Ben Gibbard playing at the Knitting Factory in NYC in November of '02. He's covering the "song of the summer" at the time, Avril Lavigne's breakout hit "Complicated." At the time, the song was kind of catchy in an "Mmmbop" sort of way, but it descended into bubblegum pop hell as it was overplayed on the radio and was plastered all over the entire country in a few short months.

Now, given my discontent with the song, why am I posting this cover? For a few reasons:
1. It's still a great pop song, no matter how annoying it is to remember that time back in '02, and I feel no shame in admitting that. Even Hanson had its merits in that little bit of '97.
2. Ben Gibbard turns the song into a light, comedic acoustic track live. It has a different feel when it's just one guy and a guitar crooning while winking with his voice and trying to keep a straight face to a crowd that knows he's trying to be ironic.
3. The banter after he finishes the song is priceless, commenting on what is going on in the song, and how ridiculous it actually is if you pay attention to the lyrics.

Also, as a little commentary on this track, I found an interview with Owen Pallett, who is the violinist for Arcade Fire as well as the act known as Final Fantasy, a snippet of which can be found here .


In the Q&A, he takes a stab at Gibbard for the way he comedically does his cover of Avril, and positing that covers should be serious and without irony because an artist should really love they song they're playing if it's by someone else. Now, the idiocy of naming yourself after the Squaresoft video game series aside, I actually like some of his music as Final Fantasy, but saying that every cover must be straightforward and serious is just being ignorant and stuck up in an attempt to be "holier-than thou". As a matter of fact, Final Fantasy's best two songs are live covers of two other bands: Bloc Party's "This Modern Love" and Arcade Fire's "No Cars Go," so I'm not sure what genius artistic ground he's coming from here way up on his pedestal whining about how bands should perform covers. I think they're a lot of fun, and if the song merits a little tongue-in-cheek comedy and winking at the crowd, such as this Gibbard track, then power to the artist.

As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I don't remember anything about how you go about imitating a certain song being a part of that, which is something Pallett should do well to keep in mind. Parody is still in itself honoring the original artist, as any band that's had Al Yankovich do a song of theirs can attest. Some greats have been humbly honored by the man who's made a career out of making fun of other people's songs, can't Pallett tone down the artsy ego for a little bit so we can just enjoy his music?



Ben Gibbard - Complicated(Avril Lavigne cover)