sometimes the best is at the beginning

Helmut.Is and Beirut, Columbiahalle, September 19, 2012

O fuck me it’s Wednesday.

I bought tickets to see Beirut back in May, and after obsessively listening to the latest album Riptide (see an earlier post that is laced with lots of hyperbole) it seemed perfectly reasonable to buy tickets to show five months in advance. However, let's just say prior to the show I was not feeling it, what with it being mid-week and all, and plus I believe Columbiahalle may be one of the worst venues in Berlin.  Saying the acoustics are better inside my oven may be an insult to my oven.  A sold out show at Columbiahalle is like a boat evacuation of a war torn land: everybody wants on and there is only so much space. However, yours truly is a brave little cadet and shoves all the workaday things aside to maybe go hear something transcendental that will make stepped on toes and arguing in German worth it.

Beirut

And...I will cover the headliner first because the pleasant surprise was the opener, Helmut.is.  So Beirut came and readily admitted they were ragged after lots of touring.  The wear and tear was definitely evident, while the playing was excellent (the lead is definitely a virtuoso, and they have three horn players AND an upright bass) the band seemed to lack energy and enthusiasm.  They treated us to many gems off the latest album, including "Santa Fe," "A Candle's Fire," and the wrist-slitter "Goshen."  The highlight was "East Harlem."  What this band needs to be appreciated for is how they incorporate Eastern European influences without descending into camp.  Beirut knows how to make horns sound plaintive and needy, the soundtrack to nostalgia.  Put this on when far from home, and when Zach Condon tells you there's "a thousand miles between us," you have permission to yearn.

And the special guest and pleasantly surprising opener was Helmut.is.  No, he's not from Iceland, he's from Berlin.  Taking the stage before the sweaty, antsy throng that is the Beirut crowd, with the requisite combed over bangs and facial hair, Helmut.is is the modern one man band. Sitting before a buffet of effects pedals, he starts by strumming a chord, then looping it back, snapping his fingers, and repeating that track, building up a song piece by piece.  Normally wary of tons of effects which can mask crap musicianship, I am here to tell you this is the real thing.  Let's call it the layer theory of song building.  Highly recommended the seven minute jam "sepi," which tells you to "stay put/to regain control."  Put this EP on when the sky is gray and close, and you can't decide if getting up is at all possible. The album will decide for you.

Helmut.is

all liquids must be 2 oz or less

Berlin Festival, September 8, 2012

Oh, when did twentysomethings get so pushy?

Second day of the festival, fourth straight day of shows and bands, and I enjoyed some displays in the Art Village section. These pictures were taken inside the emotion maker, which was a refreshing space to slip into while gearing up for more standing.

Edo and Paul getting emotional

touching the membrane

I walked out on The Crocodiles set, it was nothing original. 

Laing 

On to Laing, a girl group that distinguished itself by being the ONLY band to address the crowd in German. Seriously, the only band!  3 beautiful women in front of a drummer singing about how they are “So Verliebt” ("so in loooove") .  They have coordinated outfits and dance moves, and even blew some closed minds with some air cello.  While I appreciated the feel good German pop and robot dance moves, the were essentially singing over a pre-recorded track which in my mind detracts a little (no wait A LOT) from the whole point of a live show. Either way, Marisa the dancer was additional eye candy while Atina, Johana and Nicola sang about getting up in the morning, falling in and out of love, and other sundry topics over drumbeats laid down by their Schlagzeuger (see you now know how to say drummer in German) Ketan Bhatti.  Standard stuff, but done with great style.

I Heart Sharks

ohmygodwewerethat close! not really

An indie rock band that quotes itself as being from the U.K. and Germany, this three piece came out in matching blue shirts and black slacks, and what can I say I love a band in uniform.  The heartbreakingly pretty frontman is Pierre Bee, and singing in a distinctly British way that echoes back to all your UK favorites like The Wedding Present. I was reminded of early Arctic Monkeys, these guys owe a lot a Brit Pop.  They played “Monogamy,” “Summer,” “Suburbia,” and, wittily introduced a track this way “This song is called Lies. It’s about lying.” (Oh, that German tendency for over-clarification). Why are these young and beautiful boys so heartbroken?  Check out their album Summer, and you’ll get over the break up, she’ll call soon, I promise.

WhoMadeWho

 Now, I was initially skeptical of WhoMadeWho, one tends to be wary of bands that appropriate another band's album titles.  The festival guide in the front the newly launched Greatest Berlin magazine mentioned they were from Denmark. (As an critical editorial aside, the guide was one of the worst written things in the whole magazine, literally WhoMadeWho was described as "They are from Denmark, which is were Lego comes from, and we used to play with Lego."  WHO WROTE THAT SHIT?)

so classy they have to be in black and white

Again, we have another band in uniform, except these men are dapper gents in grey tweed suits, period hats, well trimmed beards, and a drummer with a bow tie. You have to be so rock n roll to pull that off.  With musical chops to match the fashionable attire, guitarist Jeppe Kjellberg executed a brilliant slide with a champagne glass while bassist Tomas Hoffding walked on the monitors and danced out into the crowd for a bit.  Enjoy a Spleen United remix of "Every Minute Alone."  Let's call it progressive electro disco rock, if Aphex Twin cut an album with Captain Beefheart in the Safe as Milk era.  Most notable are the strong bass lines and musical skill, which could be found lacking in other bands at the festival (in  other bands in Berlin, in a lot of new music in general...I could go on.)

Franz Ferdinand

I won't waste my energy reviewing this band since they all probably drive Bentleys now but enjoy this photo.

Soundtrack of Our Lives

Okay, my notes get kinda hazy at this point, I would say this is what a band looks like when fat Jesus in a tunic and scarf and Frank Zappa's bastard son form a band. Looking like a band of outlaws from the Wild West, the guitarist even had a sherrif's badge.  This band of misfits from Sweden follows all kinds of hazy, pseudo-new age philosophies which I can't be bothered to read, I'll confess my mind wandered a lot even as the front man wandered out on stage. Sounds like pretty run-of-mill post-prog rock.  

In conclusion

Do we buy the club ticket next year? Do we just buy a music week ticket? Or do we say "no more corporate!" and only stick to small, local festivals or the ones that showcase real up and coming talent? So many decisions to be made...and whole year to do it.  Thanks to all the people who said "Excuse me" before they shoved us.

Edo, Paul, Barbara & Kika

Nordic by Nature

Scandinavian Showcase at Fritzclub in Postbahnhof, Berlin, September 6, 2012

So it's the second night of Berlin Music Week, and a short walk from Ostbahnhof finds us in Fritzclub, a posh(er) club with a rock and concrete block landscape outdoor area under red umbrellas provided by this philanthropic tobacco corporation telling me not to "be a maybe", and the brilliant touch of not one but two stages, so waiting around for soundcheck is a thing of the past.  

Sandra Kolstad: Norwegian electro pop that is the aural equivalent of ear sparklers

Sandra Kolstad and Swedish noise musician
Francis Peter Eldh (I think...) 

I caught the last three songs of this Norwegian gem, think of Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, except blonde and busting out some solid danceable electro.  With an explosive stage presence and the musicianship (of classically trained pianist) to back it up, Kolstad is hard to pin down, tracks that are slow and introspective to start can explode into disco themed pop that begs to be danced to.

LCMDF

telling it like it is

Then it's off to the next room, a larger space that for some reason reminds me of a high school gym, except like so many Berlin shows people are too cool to get right up to the stage, but I like my fellow American who soaked it up close (dude it the striped shirt, I knew him from the Danish Invasion night, where he asked Schultz and Forever "Where are you guys from?" Earnestness masks our true ignorance, folks).  

he's a fan

The initials stand for Le Corps Mince De Francoise, and this is like if Salt and Pepa grew up in Finland with a lot more synthesizers.  The bass is so loud you can feel it your ribcage, and it's thumping pop with a rap that is surprisingly not annoying.  Made up of two sisters,  Mia and Emma Kemppainen, LCMDF busted out electro-pop with some polished catchy hooks. And who knew Finns could rap...

Spleen United

Okay, and the last of the groups to round out my budding love affair with all things Scandinavian, here comes Spleen United.  Yeah, I was expecting maybe metal band (!) because of the name, but instead enjoyed some (post-industrial, does that exist?) electro rock that won me over when they sampled the Flaming Lips "Do You Realize???".  Another brother-led (what's with the musical families?) this band from Aarhus, Denmark is made up of Bjarke (Vocals/Guitar) and Gaute Niemann (Bass/ Synth), Kasper Nørlund (Synth/Backing vocals), Rune Wehner (Synth) and Janus Nevel Ringsted (Drums).  (Yeah I copied that part because who the fuck knows where those weird letters are.)  If industrial techno had a post-apocalyptic aftermath, you know when everything is covered in ash and life is changed forever due to fallout, it would sound like Spleen United.

meet me at baggage claim: Berlin Festival 2012

mainstage

good use of the adjective "fucktastic"

Fresh from the front and two previous nights of Berlin Music Week (Nordic by Nature review coming soon yes it was good), yours truly was mildly haggard getting to the festival grounds today, must be noted that as soon as you get off at Tempelhof and start to see the big banners welcoming you, all sort of week-related cares melt away. This year the entrance it through the old airport, so you come out on a staircase overlooking the art village, backgrounded by the hazy and gray afternoon sun.

Of Monsters and Men

Ahh, these Icelanders, my love affair with Scandinavia continues. The set included lots of hand claps and "ooh aahhs" if you can visualize that.  They played a decent set, including "Mountain Sound" (about flying over the ocean on the back of a witch, only people from Bjork's country can do this kind of thing) "Lakehouse" "Six Weeks" and their hit, "Little Talks."  Highlight was "Skeletons" a cover of a Yeah Yeah Yeahs song, always admirable that in a short set a band chooses to honor an infuence. All in all though I found it pretty standard and watered down indie-folk, but a nice calm way to start an epic two days of music.

Clock Opera

This band....this band is ...huh? wait I can't hear you the set was so loud the cloth skirt on the stage was shaking.  Even with earplugs, you feel this set in your sternum.  This four piece band from England loves, I mean LOVES, their percussion.  The mildly spastic frontman also helps keep your attention.  Clock Opera recorded is to Clock Opera live as turning on the light switch is to being electrocuted.  They ended with a rousing "Once and For All" and, to quote the frontman, "Pretty good for a Friday at 4 pm."  Be sure to see them at Bii Nuu this September if you are in Berlin.

Friends

Jasmine took some uppers

weighs the same as her guitar

You know sometimes I think they need to rename this Festival the Brooklyn festival, New York is annoyingly well represented.  Lead singer Samantha Urbani comes out looking like Jasmine from Aladdin had she been kidnapped and brainwashed by hipsters, with flowing white pants, a huge belt, a black and white harlequin pattern top and hair in a top ponytail that is perfect for belly dancing and whipping around in all sorts of lewd dance moves that throwback to early, and I mean early, Madonna.  Their set of danceable, disco glitter pop was rounded out nicely by a Urbani walking out into the crowd, to the utter delight of the grim faced security guards. She put her hand on his shoulder and told him "It's okay, you can have fun." 

security guards do not like

Grimes

let me just fix this one...thing

Okay much hype has been blasted through the universe about this Canadian musician/artist, and video director.   The show consisted of her before a table of various mixing elements, and a sunglassed gentlemen on an electric drum.  Add four mildly frightening dancers dressed like hallucinogenic jellyfish, with lights and all, and you have the setting: a sort of trippy, smoke filled nightmare that blends perfectly with Grimes breathy vocals and electronic jams.  And there was a surprise visit from our favorite exhibitionist from Friends. 

Samantha Urbani keeps it tame and modest

Miike Snow

Sweden's darlings in black and white

Well, to my surprise this Swedish electronic indie pop rescued me from the Jaar induced coma.  The lead singer looks like some strung out version of Andrew WK, dressed entirely in black.  Their set included "Bavarian #1 (Say You Will)," "The Wave," and an excellent version of "Paddling Out."  Like Clock Opera, this is a band that is about 9,000 times better  live.  And, please, musicians, this is what we go to shows for, to see songs done differently! Or else we would just stay home and listen to your album in the comfort of our own homes!

Major Lazer

Now, here is way to end the show of shows. Yeah, we could have seen Orbital, but I it's not 1998, and we could have seen the Killers, but I haven't liked them since Twain and I made out to them before my Cotillion ball (this is a heavily laced American reference sorry.)  So, Major Lazer! And we chose well.  In one hour, this group included (but no limited to): confetti cannons, glow sticks, pool toys, sexy dancers, a group of women from the audience dancing onstage (to "Bubble Butt"), a guy getting on stage and dry humped by two of the sexy dancers, a blow up ball so Diplo could crowd surf, and dance instructions ("To the left! to the right!").  High energy is a bit of an understatement.  Samples included, but not limited to, Paul Simon's "You Can Call me All," Belafonte's "Day-O," Prodigy's "Smack my Bitch Up," Azelia Banks "212" and dancehall classics like "Jump Up."  Showmanship people, it counts.

Bubble Butt dancers

the boy in the bubble

best bombs are confetti bombs

looking out into the crowd

The Disappointments

No, they weren't in the lineup, I am just going to title this section about the sets I gave up on.  We Have Band began with "Where are your People?"  It reminded me a little, one millionth of a bit of Gang Gang Dance, but GGD does it better.  Barbara and I got way up in front for Nicolas Jaar, who I did not realize is the son of Alfredo Jaar, who's (tragic and depressing) art show was enjoyed by me at the Berlinische Galerie this summer.  I left the barricade after ten minutes because I was falling asleep.  What is so off putting about just guy behind a laptop?  The music was long and pointless, and just at point when you thought it would crescendo or at least change it just kept going.  Thankfully Miike Snow brought me out of the coma.

two yahs! and two blahs: Danish Invasion at Rosi's Berlin

Danish Invasion

Fresh from the Danish showcase at Rosi's, to kick off the five days of no sleep and ringing eardrums that is Berlin Music Week.  Rosi's is a sweet club a short walk from Warschauer Strasse, down a bit on Revaler Str.  The setting is sort of Berlinesque standard crap-washed-up-from-a-shipwreck mixed with what a crackhouse puts out for a yard sale, meaning an outdoor area with strand lights, couches, ping pong and sand.  The mish mash of outdoor furniture includes a thoroughly soaked swinging chair. Note: There was a guy wearing a shirt that said "No one reads your fucking blog" which maybe was a sign.
The lineup was Boho Dancer, Schultz and Forever, Waldo and Marsha and Tako Lako. I will cover the blahs in another post, but first let's drink to the amazing stuff coming out of Denmark. So be warned if you visit a Danish showcase, be prepared to stand behind some tall people and some high cheekbones.  How is such a small, homogenous country putting out so many quality bands?  Maybe there is some hidden socialist subsidies encouraging young music.  Spoke a bit with Morten, one of the (many) guitarists of Waldo and Marsha, and the consensus is that it's the English language stuff coming out of Denmark that is attracting attention (the panting over Iceage last year probably chummed the waters, leading all to assume the next and best is there.)

 Schultz and Forever

Five guys who look barely old enough to buy cigarettes, who proceeded to invite the whole club to join them for beers at their hostel.  Their EP is available for free download.  The lead vocals voice (Jonathan Schultz) is one of the more unique voices to be heard on the scene in days, sort of a mix of early T. Rex and Devendra Banhart in his amped up mode, with raspy addition all his own. Once again when he would address the crowd there is that weird discrepancy between a person's singing voice sounding completely different than his/her spoken voice.  The songwriting is solid, impressive when a musician manages well-wrought songs in his/her second language, and the rest of the band backs him up.  This just proves once and forever that yours truly will be a sucker for lush and sweeping all-male harmonies.

Waldo and Marsha

Okay so if Schultz and Forever looked young these guys looks embryonic.  An eight member band with four guitars (my notes: "4 guitars?!?")  they came on and laid down some solid pop with good rocking distorted edge (one guitarist's Beatles Help! album guitar strap belies their obvious influences). Favorite part of the set was a prolonged feedback and effects pedal rout that would do any noise fan proud.  Long live sets that exceed expectations.

two guitars good, four guitars better

Patti Smith, For Noise Festival, Pully, Switzerland

I briefly came into possession of the set list for this show, but I gave it away to an eager French person who wanted it for his girlfriend. I should have told him I was representative of all friendly Californians and that this should clear up our crappy reputation with the French but I forgot. Also neglected to get a photo before I gave it away for a kiss on BOTH cheeks. Cheap I know.

So... Patti Smith! Having just finished her book Just Kids, and having owned the album Horses for awhile, I was looking forward to this.  Now, I have been sorely disappointed withe reunion shows and also stars of the 60s and 70s still performing (Beach Boys at 02 World, that review will get written soon) so I was a bit wary, but I can securely say Patti still has it. Strolling onto stage looking like a train-riding hobo in fingerless black gloves, a black knit beanie, baggy jeans, work boots and an oversize black jacket over a white Eletric Ladyland tshirt, she pretty clearly had androgynous rock star down.  Patti still has her edge, just more wrinkles, and her crow-ish, think appearance suits her songs.  One passage of the book she relates how Allen Ginsberg fronts her some money when she comes up short paying for dinner, and didn't realize until they started speaking that she was a woman ("I'm sorry, I took you for a very pretty boy.")

Anyway, as her band came on, the audience experienced a shift as young 'uns fell back and an older crowd pushed to the front, one Swiss gentleman armed with a long stemmed sunflower.  I am reminded as I watch Patti that she was a poet first and musician second, and it come through in her lyrics. She referenced some current political situations (like imprisoned Pussy Riot) and called for unity before some new songs, like "Banga."  Believes that if everyone learned the song it would foster understanding for all.  There are human moments in the show, when she flubs and opening, and you can see how much fun she is having as she steps back from the mic and laughs with her bandmates, proclaiming "Hey, it's art!" To balance serious social commentary (songs like "Rock n Roll Nigger") and odes Amy Winehouse ("This is the Girl") we have a rarity in the field: a female musician, staying true to her original artistic intent, totally in her element, directing a group of talented and tight knit musicians. Like Lenny Kay said "It's a nugget/if you dug it," and, by the sound of it, we all dug it.

L to R: Jackson Smith, Tony Shanahan, Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye

Jackson Smith and Tony Shanahan

Tony Shanahan

Grandaddy Set List, For Noise Festival, Pully, Switzerland

a bit delayed but here is the set list. Thanks to Thibault for sending some more photos of the show.

Intro (Welcome Back Kotter theme song)

El Caminos in the West

Now it's On

Yeah is What We Had

Crystal Lake

AM 180

Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)

Lost on Yer Merry Way

So You'll Aim Toward the Sky

The Go in Go-For-It

12-Pak-599/My Small Love

Levitz

Chartsengrafs

Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake

Hewlett's Daughter

Summer Here Kids

[Encore]

Cover of Pavement's "Here"

He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot

Distortion Festival 2012

you know what you need to do? 

you need to write a review of the distortion festival almost two months after you went.  

okay.

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Niels Bohr kicks it in Copenhagen

30 May to 3 June, 2012, Copenhagen, Denmark, Europe, the world 

In 5 days, the “celebration of Copenhagen’s nightlife” aka the South by Southwest of Europe, aka a roving street party that systematically destroys and enlivens successive neighborhoods in this modest Scandinavian city, you can hear bands, you can hear DJs, you can get really drunk, you can get really high, and you can hear the sounds of tomorrow. I heard of it when reading about Iceage, who broke big at the Dogmeat Showcase during Distortion 2011.

action then lights

Chosen night is Thursday, May 31 in Norrebro, Spillestedet Stengade, with the subheading NOISE. Hosted by Posh Isolation, this show featured Helm, Dig og Mig, Age Coin, Forza Albino, Lust for Youth, Puce Mary, Vanity Productions and Euroboys. 11:30 pm arrival and I ask the tall, blonde (nooo, here?) next to me where we are in the lineup, we are watching Helm, sitting before a mixer, lit by Christmas lights, drone away. Find a nice review of his album here.  So standing, drink in hand, watching Luke Younger manipulate and obfuscate the aural landscape, Danish guy introduces himself thus “I’m M____....yeah I’m on ecstasy right now.”  And this is just in the first 15 minutes. Other tidbits of wisdom, reactions to my first time in Scandinavia, are “It’s your first time in Scandinavia? You know what you should do... you should get really drunk.”

Lust for Youth followed Helm, which is more my taste when it comes to the spacey, go-where-your-mind-takes-you sonic release that noise should be.  Tending more toward dark wave/post punk, they played tracks from the album Solar Flare.  From Sweden, it’s a boy-girl duo that are the soundtrack to your walk around a melancholy dark city at night, wearing lots of black and not expecting to see the sun.

final party