by Andrew Overton
Follow @AROverton |
 |
| Justin Vernon, of Bon Iver performing live at 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. |
I see a lot of shows. Besides beer, it's about the only thing I will shell out cash for without a second thought. 2011 was a banner year for me: I moved to a new city with great public transportation and I was able to see more shows than usual -- 21, in fact. Who had the best shows of the year? I thought you'd never ask.
Honorable Mention: Black Keys at Virgin Mobile FreeFest @ Merriweather Post Pavilion, Colombia, MD 9/10/11
5. Bright Eyes (w/ First Aid Kit) @ 9:30 Club, Washington, DC 9/4/2011
My expectations were not high for this show. I had seen Conor Oberst supporting his self-titled record and was very underwhelmed; plus, I still wasn’t sold on his 2011 effort “The People’s Key.” Boy, was I in for a treat. Oberst busted right out of the gate with a high-energy rendition of “Another Travelin’ Song” (my favorite track), and the tempo just never let up. The 21-song set hit all the classics and breathed new life into “The People’s Key” tracks for me. Once I heard Oberst scream “MAKE SOME NOISE!” at the end of “Road to Joy,” I knew the night was complete.
4. Phish @ Merriweather Post Pavilion, Colombia, MD 6/11/11
Say what you want about Phish, but I love them. Their live shows are legendary. This was the first of a two-night stay at Merriweather Post Pavillion. Although by Phish standards it wasn’t a mind-blowing show, by layperson standards it would probably be just that — mind-blowing. Twenty-seven songs. Three hours. The highlight was a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll” followed by a creative six-minute jam.
3. Lisa Hannigan @ 9:30 Club, Washington, DC 10/13/11
If you’ve never heard the name Lisa Hannigan, you’ve probably heard her voice. Hers is the beautiful, rough Irish voice you hear accompany Damien Rice on both his fantastic records. The two have since split, and she’s pursued her own solo career. I would have totally missed this incredible show had my friend not won free tickets to this show.
Hannigan’s voice is soft and gentle, but still maintains the hoarse, sexy quality to it. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her the entire show; she’s absolutely transfixing on stage, and her stage banter was genuine and funny. For at least a month afterwards I couldn’t stop listening to her. Take a look at this NPR Tiny Desk concert filmed that same day, you’ll probably understand my obsession.
2. Jeff Mangum @ Town Hall, New York, NY 10/29/2011
“In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” is top one of my 10 albums of all time. No question, it belongs up there with “Blond on Blonde,” “Sgt. Peppers,” and “OK Computer.” However, after Jeff Mangum and the rest of Neutral Milk Hotel released this gem, Mangum pulled a J.D. Sallinger and disappeared from public life for over 10 years. When he announced a handful of solo shows, I felt like Lennon had risen from the dead — I couldn’t miss this chance.
It was just Mangum and his guitar in a very intimate venue. As he strummed and wailed, you could feel the audience hang on every word. No one spoke unless he addressed the audience. When he asked the audience to join him on particular songs, I belted the lyrics I had sang so many times before. His set was short, but flawless. I left knowing I had witnessed something truly special.
1. Bon Iver (w/ The Rosebuds) @ 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. 8/1/11
I was curious as to how Bon Iver’s new sound would translate into a live show. “For Emma Forever Ago” is stripped down, but “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” Justin Vernon’s 2011 masterpiece is very grand in scale. Well let me tell you: It’s f#&%ing epic. Halfway through a heavier version of “Blood Bank,” Vernon dropped to his knees just pounding the guitar. To end the set, Vernon strummed “Skinny Love” with the rest of the band providing rousing background vocals and coordinated clapping (just like this). And if that wasn’t heart-wrenching enough, this may have been the best encore ever — an audience catharsis unlike any other. For a taste of what I experienced, you can hear NPR’s recording of the concert the very next night, which had a slightly better setlist, if that’s possible to imagine.
I was curious as to how Bon Iver’s new sound would translate into a live show. “For Emma Forever Ago” is stripped down, but “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” Justin Vernon’s 2011 masterpiece is very grand in scale. Well let me tell you: It’s f#&%ing epic. Halfway through a heavier version of “Blood Bank,” Vernon dropped to his knees just pounding the guitar. To end the set, Vernon strummed “Skinny Love” with the rest of the band providing rousing background vocals and coordinated clapping (just like this). And if that wasn’t heart-wrenching enough, this may have been the best encore ever — an audience catharsis unlike any other. For a taste of what I experienced, you can hear NPR’s recording of the concert the very next night, which had a slightly better setlist, if that’s possible to imagine.
MY Top Ten Albums of 2011
by Sam Mantell
I’ve done some thinking and I've compiled a list of what I think are the best ten albums of 2011. I feel very strongly about it, as there are clear standouts. They struck that chord, that sudden onset of recalled senses from a time when I was hearing something and understanding it because it highlighted everything I was doing right then. I’d get all filled up inside. Knowing that I’d made the right music choice, right then, was enough to strike all of those senses into my memory. That time was memorable because of music. I can attribute more good memories to these ten albums and artists more than any other album that came out this year.
by Sam Mantell
I’ve done some thinking and I've compiled a list of what I think are the best ten albums of 2011. I feel very strongly about it, as there are clear standouts. They struck that chord, that sudden onset of recalled senses from a time when I was hearing something and understanding it because it highlighted everything I was doing right then. I’d get all filled up inside. Knowing that I’d made the right music choice, right then, was enough to strike all of those senses into my memory. That time was memorable because of music. I can attribute more good memories to these ten albums and artists more than any other album that came out this year.
Of course, it wasn’t all good times.
Dear Bon Iver, did you intend for me to struggle with you? Did you know me too well? Did you invite my loathing, knowing that the trial and tribulation that was my journey with you would make my love stronger? Did you see me making Watch the Throne my Number One? Well, I love you, darling, but you’re a real bitch for it.
Dear Bon Iver, did you intend for me to struggle with you? Did you know me too well? Did you invite my loathing, knowing that the trial and tribulation that was my journey with you would make my love stronger? Did you see me making Watch the Throne my Number One? Well, I love you, darling, but you’re a real bitch for it.
1) JAY Z & KanYe West- Watch the Throne
2) Bon Iver- Bon Iver
I don't want to talk about it. All I'll say is, it is a masterpiece and I think there's still a large portion of that album that is beyond my understanding. But, I had a strong dose of that understanding once, in October I believe, because Mindy Stephan had mentioned reading lyrics along with listening. So I did that, and I nearly wept. My emotions were that of regret. Regret at my betrayal, regret at time wasted because it wasn't what I wanted, not knowing that I couldn't have wanted what I had been given because I hadn't known something so grand existed. They put a vision in my head, a landscape before my ears. For the trouble, it gets number two. Sorry.
3) Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
This album is amazing top to bottom. Robin Pecknold is laying himself out for us to see. The whole effort speaks a tale of longing for the impossible. Time can't be turned back, and so the things that bring the sharpest hint of pleasure to the mind exist only in memory. It speaks of an unwillingness to move forward or anywhere at all, stuck, afraid to get any further from the time when the memories were made. But it's not without a light at the end of the tunnel. A beautiful tale.
4) The Weeknd- House of Balloons/Thursday
I include both because we knew there was going to be a trilogy from the beginning. The mystery and fantasy shrouding House of Balloons in darkness captured my attention (and Tweeting) for a long time. I don't think I'd heard anything like it before, although it's out there. It led me to SBTRKT as well, and added hype and appreciation for Take Care. Thursday serves as a great second installment and Echoes of Silence is looking dangerously dark. Amazing job by an amazing artist.
5) Toro Y Moi- Underneath the Pine
Chazwick Bundick pulls together all of his awesomeness glimpsed in previous albums and gives us a real groovy third. There's a slipstream running through Underneath the Pine, and if it catches you unawares, don't fight it. Suuure, it might be a little weird, but hey, so were The Doors. It's a comparison, but simply a suggestive one. Give it a try.
6) Cults- Cults
Cults gets stuck in your head and it follows you wherever you go. If there's sunshine and a little breeze and some Cults, things can't be that bad. I had a lot of fun listening to this album and I'm excited for what they have next. And at least it's actually a girl singing, and not a guy that sounds like a girl.
7) The Antlers- Burst Apart
After Hospice, I was prepared to be through with this album after a listen or two. I was proven wrong, however, and by the end of hearing Rolled Together for the first time, I was converted. Different sound, better mood.
8) Kurt Vile- Smoke Ring for my Halo
Turned off by his name at first, but randomly decided to give this album a listen. This music is far from defined by it's creator's name.
9) Feist- Metals
Great stuff, just right for the fall.
10) Drake- Take Care; The Dodos- No Color; Tune Yards- W H O K I L L; Girls- Father, Son, Holy Ghost; A$AP Rocky- LiveLoveA
These guys all got heavy consideration, but in the end, finding any reason to take them out at all kept them out altogether. Each one was a tent pole in my various and sundry "kicks". There are gems to be found in each one, but there were also things I kinda went "huh?" at. Except for Drake, A$AP Rocky, and The Black Keys. They just came on too late in the year to pass the longevity test.
So there you have it. I tried not to look at any other lists before I made mine. I snuck a peak at NPR's 50 best of the year, albums A-B and that's ALL. Feel free to blast me. I put a lot of thought into this. Coming soon, a list of all the year's albums regardless of year of release.
Fave Fall Bands
3) Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
This album is amazing top to bottom. Robin Pecknold is laying himself out for us to see. The whole effort speaks a tale of longing for the impossible. Time can't be turned back, and so the things that bring the sharpest hint of pleasure to the mind exist only in memory. It speaks of an unwillingness to move forward or anywhere at all, stuck, afraid to get any further from the time when the memories were made. But it's not without a light at the end of the tunnel. A beautiful tale.
4) The Weeknd- House of Balloons/ThursdayI include both because we knew there was going to be a trilogy from the beginning. The mystery and fantasy shrouding House of Balloons in darkness captured my attention (and Tweeting) for a long time. I don't think I'd heard anything like it before, although it's out there. It led me to SBTRKT as well, and added hype and appreciation for Take Care. Thursday serves as a great second installment and Echoes of Silence is looking dangerously dark. Amazing job by an amazing artist.
5) Toro Y Moi- Underneath the Pine
Chazwick Bundick pulls together all of his awesomeness glimpsed in previous albums and gives us a real groovy third. There's a slipstream running through Underneath the Pine, and if it catches you unawares, don't fight it. Suuure, it might be a little weird, but hey, so were The Doors. It's a comparison, but simply a suggestive one. Give it a try.
Cults gets stuck in your head and it follows you wherever you go. If there's sunshine and a little breeze and some Cults, things can't be that bad. I had a lot of fun listening to this album and I'm excited for what they have next. And at least it's actually a girl singing, and not a guy that sounds like a girl.
After Hospice, I was prepared to be through with this album after a listen or two. I was proven wrong, however, and by the end of hearing Rolled Together for the first time, I was converted. Different sound, better mood.
Turned off by his name at first, but randomly decided to give this album a listen. This music is far from defined by it's creator's name.
Great stuff, just right for the fall.
10) Drake- Take Care; The Dodos- No Color; Tune Yards- W H O K I L L; Girls- Father, Son, Holy Ghost; A$AP Rocky- LiveLoveA
These guys all got heavy consideration, but in the end, finding any reason to take them out at all kept them out altogether. Each one was a tent pole in my various and sundry "kicks". There are gems to be found in each one, but there were also things I kinda went "huh?" at. Except for Drake, A$AP Rocky, and The Black Keys. They just came on too late in the year to pass the longevity test.
So there you have it. I tried not to look at any other lists before I made mine. I snuck a peak at NPR's 50 best of the year, albums A-B and that's ALL. Feel free to blast me. I put a lot of thought into this. Coming soon, a list of all the year's albums regardless of year of release.
Fave Fall Bands
F
by Sam Mantell
I can’t tell if it’s a funny thing to do, to compare music with a season. I’ve never seen anything written about that connection, but there are plenty of articles out there I’ve never read. Anyway, it’s fall here in the Northern Hemisphere and fall has become a most compelling season since college began for me (for us). Of course, attending a beautiful institution like Marist, in a beautiful area like the Hudson Valley can do that to you. After all, it’s hard to ignore a million leaves ablaze with a million different hues. Fall is here, and there’s a certain mischievousness in the air. It’s the scary season. Jack-O-Lanterns may still be aglow somewhere. The breeze, more noticeable now that it carries lower temperatures, brings to my nose the smell of rotting leaves and dew drying on the grass.
Sure, it’s not a strong smell of leaves. And maybe the grass the dew dried on didn’t actually grow where it stands. But it’s enough to call up memories, in my mind, of a time and place where seasons actually occur. Truthfully, fall isn’t much different than spring in Los Angeles. Although this is the first time I’ve lived here through the autumn months, it’s the second time I’ve lived through this temporal setting. And that’s got me a little depressed, which is fine because I’ve got lots of things to cheer me up. Pumpkin spice tea, Trader Joe’s pumpkin flavored granola, football, college football, and a fantastic collection of mournful-yet-endearing bands to sort through.
Yes, I’ve finally gotten to the point! If you’re still with me, here are my top bands for the fall. Initially, I was going to do a write up of each one, but there's a few on here that may make my Top Ten (coming soon!) for the year, and two write ups in a two month span is just super ambitious. So I've stuck with a list and a smattering of my favorites. Enjoy!
These bands and albums flavored my fall this year:
Dumbo Gets Mad- Elephants at the Door (2011)
F eist-Metals (2011)
Girls- Album (2009); Father, Son, Holy Ghost (2011)
Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation (2011)
And here's some of the oldies that just made me want to go for a drive and cry a little bit:
Other years:
Brand New - The Devil and God Raging Inside Me (2006)
Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line (2008), The Orchard (2010)
Gayngs - Relayted (2010)
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)
Vampire Weekend- Contra (2010)
Alright there's those, and they're not to be listened to without some sort of second layer on and a bit of gray in the sky. Now, stay tuned for more information that you were never looking for. I'll leave you with some appropriate lyrics by the very interesting Tony Joe White:
"I wanna talk to you about the time of the year we call it the fall
It's a time when you can feel a change coming
Like sometimes late in the evening
You can feel a little brisk air nipping at the back of your neck
Kind of make you wanna scrunch up your shoulders
And put a blue jeans jumper up around you
You can feel it in your bones, you know a change is gonna come
A litte change never done nobody no harm
It's the time always makes me think about
Old hobo's sitting out around the camp fires at night
Fall and some more coffee in an old tin can trying to keep warm
Listen to them
But it is also a time when I get a restless feeling
Makes me wanna just get on a freight train and ride somewhere
Like there is something somewhere
Saying come see about me and check me out
You can feel it in your bones oh yes you can
You know a change is gonna come
A little change never done nobody no harm
It's a time if you go out in the woods
You can see the turning of the leaves
And a kind of smells good to you, yeah, but it don't last long
For you know it winter's come clamping down on you.
And you are hovering in your coat, trying to keep yourself warm
But it's a good time, it's a good thing, it's a change
You can feel it in your bones, you know a change is gonna come
A little change never done nobody no harm. "
Vampire Weekend- Contra (2010)
Alright there's those, and they're not to be listened to without some sort of second layer on and a bit of gray in the sky. Now, stay tuned for more information that you were never looking for. I'll leave you with some appropriate lyrics by the very interesting Tony Joe White:
"I wanna talk to you about the time of the year we call it the fall
It's a time when you can feel a change coming
Like sometimes late in the evening
You can feel a little brisk air nipping at the back of your neck
Kind of make you wanna scrunch up your shoulders
And put a blue jeans jumper up around you
You can feel it in your bones, you know a change is gonna come
A litte change never done nobody no harm
It's the time always makes me think about
Old hobo's sitting out around the camp fires at night
Fall and some more coffee in an old tin can trying to keep warm
Listen to them
But it is also a time when I get a restless feeling
Makes me wanna just get on a freight train and ride somewhere
Like there is something somewhere
Saying come see about me and check me out
You can feel it in your bones oh yes you can
You know a change is gonna come
A little change never done nobody no harm
It's a time if you go out in the woods
You can see the turning of the leaves
And a kind of smells good to you, yeah, but it don't last long
For you know it winter's come clamping down on you.
And you are hovering in your coat, trying to keep yourself warm
But it's a good time, it's a good thing, it's a change
You can feel it in your bones, you know a change is gonna come
A little change never done nobody no harm. "
No comments:
Post a Comment