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Running the sound for a live band is one of those thankless jobs where it’s your assigned task to make yourself invisible. If you’re doing it well, no one notices you — everyone’s attention is focused on the music. But should you fail, you become very, very visible, and you do it very quickly.
I spent an awful lot of Ladytron’s 6/27 show at the Sonar acutely aware of the sound guy.
In fairness, I think they’re probably an extremely difficult band to mix live. The squealing, shifting synths and super-processed guitars that form the center of their sound seem like they’d be hard to get good separation on, especially given that the ‘tron refuse to use any sequencers and so every keyboard is actually being played live. Additionally, neither Helen Marnie nor Mira Aroyo are super-powerful vocalists, but the lyrics demand to be heard well enough to be understood. There’s an awful lot of information there crammed into the mid-range; the album that Ladytron are touring behind, Velocifero, is on my record-of-the-year shortlist, but it almost demands a high-definition sound system.
Anyway, I spent the whole first half of the concert listening to a lot of bass and not much else — “Ghosts,” the brilliant lead single, sounded like it was coming out a stairwell. It got a little better towards the end, but not enough. The problem was compounded by the fact that this was possibly the loudest show I’ve ever been to, and the speakers almost sounded like they were clipping; the Sonar is also a building with harsh, unfriendly acoustics even when it’s full, which it was. Read more »
Our newest feature - the superstarcastic writers all review an album with a mere sentence each. Presenting the collected thoughts on Vampire Weekend’s freshman effort:
“Vampire Weekend is to mediocrity what sugary deliciousness is to Ready Whip brand whipped topping.”
~Tyler
“Dear indie snobs: no, it’s not as good as Pitchfork! at the Disco says it is, but it’s not anything like as bad as you keep saying it is either; the truth, like so much Boston Creme filling, lies somewhere in the middle.”
~Sam
“Will someone please put a stake through Sting’s heart for inspiring this reanimated version of the Police?
~Dave
“It’s got something, just not quite enough of it.”
~Zak
“Don’t let the tight pants ruin it for you; pop it in, grab a beer, sit in your lawn chair in the backyard and let the day roll by.”
~Melby
“You’ll be hearing the pap of these pseudo-intellectual gas bags on SUV commercials within the year.”
~Amber
“Someone tell me when the hell Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ became a
seminal indie-rock template for the sweater-wearing Columbia U house
party set, because i’ll gladly program my time machine to head back
there and strap a bomb to my chest for the greater good.”
~DJ
“I like the CD, but I feel like a toolbag by association after listening to it.”
~Daniel
“I find the music boring; I think the only aspect of this band that hasn’t been hyped to death is the fact that these are a mighty fine looking bunch of young men.”
~Leah
“This is a concept album that takes the listener on a journey where Rob Schneider invites himself over to their house for just one drink, and ends up staying long after the beer is gone and everyone’s tired of his jokes.”
~Borch
“I’m not sure what I think about rich city kids ripping off Paul Simon ripping off West African melodies and i don’t think it deserves all the hype, but it sure makes for lighthearted, fun, summery listening.”
~Joie
i used to feel really sorry for athens, georgia’s band now it’s overhead because i am a punctuation geek and people are stupid and kept leaving that apostrophe out, which changes the whole meaning, people…geez! but anyway, back when i was in my saddle creek phase, this was my favourite band of the lot, and i still quite enjoy their albums, especially their first self titled endeavor. and andy lemaster himself was kind enough to answer our five questions - check ‘em out and then go to their myspace to check out the tunes.
ps. best answer to question 2 EVAR.
1. when historians listen to your most recent CD 1000 years from now, what will they say?
“Good thing the World Court passed the law of 2286 that made mandatory the bio-engineering of melancholy out of the human genome .”
2. if you could play a show with any band/musician living or dead, who would you pick and why?
Paris Hilton and I’d choose dead.
3. what is the strangest band-related dream (one of) you have had?
No one in our band is actually related, but it’s a dream of mine to marry a band-mate one day. I’d choose Curtis.
4. what do your fans look like?
Angels of mercy.
5. what bullshit do you run into at most every show that makes you think “man, this bullshit again?”"
Sodomy laws.
bonus question: why won’t you forget to tip your bartender?
Karmic blackmail.
Hi, everybody. As you know, we here at Superstarcastic frown on blatant self-promotion, but i’m making a rare exception to post a video we at IfIHadAHiFi HQ made in April for our upcoming album:
IfIHadAHiFi: “Success! Success! Success!”
Directed by Jay Bauman
Featuring Dixie Jacobs of white, wrench, conservatory on guest vocals
Shot at the Borg Ward, Milwaukee, WI
From the album Fame By Proxy out Sept. 23rd on Latest Flame Records
Drink it in, y’all!
… I indulged in the pleasure of seeing last Friday night Phil Lesh & Friends, that is, the bassist for the Grateful Dead and his new band. So in my years, particularly those within and immediately following college, I amassed a hefty knowledge for the Dead’s catalogue, and found Phil & Friends the Dead offshoot most likely to deliver the deep-cuts.
Friday night was, for the hard-core at least, a pleasure to behold. Of course, I don’t get the feeling that there are many visitors to this site of that ilk, so I’ll spare you the tales of the mind-fuck it was to hear ‘Viola Lee Blues > Big Boss Man > Viola Lee > About Cell Block #9 > Viola Lee’, and that was just the end of the first set.
Nor will I delve into Levon Helm’s opening set, which made a case for The Band’s endurance as the quintessential ‘American Band’ (never mind that they were Canadians, not counting Helm), and also the Grammy he scored for last year’s Dirt Farmer. But I didn’t come here to tell you about that…
I love deodorant, okay? The hippie contempt for hygiene was one of many things that I could never understand that would eventually turn me off of the scene. Seriously, my buddy and I stood next to a dude (he resembled a tattooed bean-sprout) who reeked so bad that I had to bum one of his own cigarettes to keep the funk at bay. There’s that, and the issues of remaining solvent and functional had something to do with my change of lifestyle. Nevertheless, I continue to like the music.
But across town at Schuba’s was something much closer to the mid-60’s Frisco scene from which the Dead sprang, and the hopeless Heads endlessly romanticize. I’m talking about a Mexican-American-psychedelic pop outfit that operates under the name of Alla’.
So a 1/2 hour after P&F closes, I stumble into the CD release party of Alla’s debut Es Tiempo, an impressive disc seven-years in the coming. Trust me, go see the very next show, listen to their music… not later, but now. The hybrid of mind flower noise, pop melody and Mexican folk may, on paper, seen like too much to handle, just as to read their instrumentations appears overwhelming… not so. It is disciplined w/o being sanitized, and is full of astonishing feats that don’t beg for attention. The guest string section, appearance by the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International, and the zillion other friends that provided musical muscle to the night’s set were recipe-perfect parts impact, body and balance.
The lyrics, I’m told, take on bold topics, but they are sung in Spanish and, without the benefit of a translation, uni-linguists such as myself are at a disadvantage. Still, listening to an opera in English is nary as powerful as that which is sung in foreign or even ancient tongue, and so too do Alla’s songs take on a mystical tone as sung in the members’ native language. It seems highly unlikely that the songs, were they sung in English, would have such a momentous affect. They are too pristine, veridical, captivating in a way that can only come from great vision and love for heritage without slavishness to the past.
But the unfortunate ethos of Now is to see a band because they’re about to be big. That may be the case with Alla’ (pronounced ‘Aie - ya’, means “over there”), but that’s not the reason to perk up. Go now because they’ll torque your mind and their show is a thing of beauty (which applies to their lead singer Lupe Martinez as well). Latin music tends not to be my thing, being exposed to it largely against my will from the open windows of passing cars, but this has nothing to do with that madrepore of commercial drek on La Ley. In the hands of the Ledezma Brothers, Martinez, and the many other members and guests, the Mexican folk traditions are particularly potent. Alla’ makes me want to know more about the source of their inspiration, and also the extent to which they take this extremely promising experiment.
And in an era where businesses and bands are trying everything they can to get the buyer’s attention w/ gimmicks, it’s refreshing to see a band doing so with pure music.
you know what, people? since we’re all about gypsy music on superstarcastic these days, i gots to tell you something - way before gogol bordello became the hottest thing in balkan indie rock, there was this kickass band called firewater. they’ve been off the scene for awhile because the singer, todd a. (of cop shoot cop fame), was traipsing around the planet avoiding republicans and gathering inspiration. and he found it somewhere, in turkey or indonesia or another exotic locale, because now they’re back, and they have a swaggeringly badass new album called the golden hour. it’s darkish and interesting and inventive and kind of world music-y without being annoying. if you know what i mean. and hey, judging by the cabaret-noir sound of it, tom waits would like it and what more do you need to know?
you can check out some of the tunes (the song ‘hey clown’ is quintessential firewater, reminding me of my favourite album by them, 1998’s excellent the ponzi scheme) on their myspace. do it.
