April 28, 2004 - 10:51 PM

Music Makes My World Go

I can't get this new song of Sam Phillips' called If I Could Write out of my head. It's so simple, intimate, and charming while being extremely catchy. Even though I have yet to pick up the new album, A Boot and a Shoe, which came out yesterday, the songs I've heard her perform and the samples I listened to off of her Nonesuch website have absolutely, totally caught my fancy. Matt and I were at Largo last night for the first of her three night stand there, and she delighted me with the same setup and almost the same setlist as the last time I saw her a month ago. She'll be swinging out towards the East Coast in June, so I'd recommend for you readers out there to go see her.

Other recent concerts have included gigs by the Animators at the Hotel Cafe (Matt and I started off the show sitting towards the back of the room and found it to be a world of difference for the better when we moved up towards the front because, dude, the ass monkeys in the back just would NOT shut up); Rachael Yamagata also at the Hotel Cafe (Tony really really liked that show while I found it to be a bit bland, but my mood was swayed negatively by, again, the crowd, which had me uncomfortably pinioned against the sidewall as there seemed to be double the fire-code allowable capacity shoved in there, and many of them had the stanky sass of industry/record label hypesters); and Jonatha Brooke at the Knitting Factory which Tony and Margaret flaked on because of Margaret's just getting in an hour before showtime from Seattle and Joan flaked on because it was Maundy Thursday (I'll accept God as an excuse, but a flight and traffic? nuh-uh).

The Jonatha show was possibly the best sounding show I've ever attended, with the band being extremely tight, the live-sound engineering being spot on, and the acoustics of the venue (aided by our seats being in a very good spot) blending to give a clear, dynamic, and powerful sonic experience. JB's voice was in top form as usual, and her new backup singer (who also provided accompaniment on keyboards, guitar, and clarinet) harmonized seamlessly with her. I was pleased that her setlist had a good mix of songs from all of her albums since her latest still hasn't risen up to make my ears take notice. What did get my attention at the show was the manbitch sitting behind me who felt it necessary to obsequiously voice his opinion of everything Jonatha did. In that nanosecond pause between when a song ends and the audience begins to clap, without fail, he would stage-whisper a contented sigh or some inane comment like "yes!" or "beautiful!" or "where's the beef!" (no, not really on that last one) as if he NEEDED to tell everyone what the proper critical response to the performance should be. You just KNOW that he wanted people to hear him when he made his comments or he laughed his giant, fake laugh. Hey, fuckstick, there's no need to be so loud, and there's really no reason for you to be hitting me in the head while you stand and clap for an encore. Calm the fuck down.

Or I'll fucking kill you.

Going back to Rachael Yamagata quickly, while I thought the show was not entirely special, I listened to the EP that Tony bought and found THAT to be quite a different story. The songs were produced by Malcolm Burn, who has done a lot of work with Daniel Lanois, the soundmaster behind Peter Gabriel's "So" and several U2 albums, and he really beefed up Rachael's songs. What I heard called to mind artists such as Fiona Apple, Bjork, Heather Nova, and Leona Naess. There are song samples on her website, and, barring shenanigans with her record label, her album should be out in June.

Future concerts include (perhaps) several shows from The Like, one at the Troubadour this Friday, and then every monday of May at Spaceland; Susan Werner (booyah!) at McCabe's in Santa Monica this Saturday at 7:30; Snow Patrol with Carina Round opening at the Troubadour on the 6th (carina will be at the Hotel Cafe on the 7th); and Erin McKeown at Largo on the 11th and 12th.

If y'all wanna tag along for any of these concerts, what are you waiting for? C'mon down!

Now Listening To : Aztec Camera (thanks matt...you're right, The Trashcan Sinatras do sound a lot like them)
Random Thought : Someone got here by searching for "Who are hilary duff's backup singers"? What?!

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