Erasure Breaks It All Down

After experiencing the highs of an Erasure concert a few weeks ago – which literally put me in a good mood for days – I just got around to buying their new album Tomorrow’s World (it’s cheap on amazonmp3.com, jus’ sayin’) and am happily embraced in their very Erasure-esque sounds.

  Things change. But it seems Erasure stays the same. And I’m absolutely fine with that. (Grainy bbery pic attached).

  I think this is my favorite track….a fun/ happy and very Erasure sounding remix (I’d place it in the I Say I Say I Say era) of “When I Start To (Break It All Down)”.

  Erasure – “When I Start To Break It All Down)” Steve Smart and WestFunk Remix

 

Sufjan in Brooklyn – DayGlo Icarus

So I headed to the Prospect Park Bandshell to catch Sufjan Stevens last week. The weather was perfect and despite the intimidating line, we were quickly inside the venue, spread out on beach blankets on the grass (ok, more like rocks) with a snack and a margarita to share.

The Brooklyn show was the culmination of his tour in support of the Age of Adz which I had seen at The Beacon last Fall. And it was fun to see college age kids adorned in glowtape mingling with the crowd.

Sufjan arrived on stage like a day-glo Icarus, huge white angel wings splayed, and dug into the music. The whole experience is schizophrenic – he’s like a hyper sincere folkie crossed with George Clinton. The enormous band carries all the sonic sonic heft of a P-Funk concert. The stage is lit up with black light (Does he have some sort of LED light on his pants? why yes he does.) and your smacked around by the hyper-trippy visuals playing onscreen at the back of the stage.

I’m helplessly fascinated by Sufjan’s move into this musically adventurous, but often atonal and difficult, territory. Adz is a much more electronic-based album and I think it reveals itself best in the theatricality of a live setting (it’s almost too much on headphones).  Buried amidst most of these songs remains the pop sensibility and gorgeous melodies he’s known for but they are blanketed by odd/minor chords and key changes. Within all that noise though, there’s still that nugget of melody, and when the instruments finally break we’re often left with just Sufjan’s quiet and haunting voice. The major chords reappear and wash over you. And it’s utter relief. The tension making the harmonies and vocals that much sweeter. (I’m repeating myself but you get the idea).

It’s as if he’s aware of how twee and lovely and strummy his earlier music was and is now constantly fighting it. This will all sound a bit over the top but I think of the scene in Amadeus where Mozart is furiously scribbling different variations of the Requiem. Sufjan treats his band like a huge orchestra, changing movements and rummaging through a series of styles and drum patterns like the setting on one of those 80s casio keyboards.

The concert as a whole had the same overall structure of the Beacon concert, culminating in the 25 minute joy/balloon explosion of “impossible soul” (this time with those enormous swaying balloons that seem to only appear outside of car dealerships) before he gave the audience what they seemingly wanted,“Chicago,” and some solid sincerity from Illinoise.

I really have no idea where he’ll go from here. But I find him an endlessly fascinating artist and I can’t wait to see….

Pro photos were cribbed from the Brooklyn Vegan article (the crappy ones are mine) which you can see here.

Sufjan Stevens Lands at NYC’s Beacon Theater

Wow. What to even say about Sufjan Stevens’ recent NYC show.

The pitchfork intelligencia has been gaga over him ever since 2005’s Illinoise. I saw him in concert once before when his BQE piece, commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, was performed here a few years ago. The BQE portion was a little frustrating (with its accompanying film project and hula-hooping extras) but he performed a more conventional concert afterwards and I was completely knocked out. Accompanied by a full orchestra, his performance of “Majesty, Snowbird” is perhaps one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

Other than BQE, he hasn’t really released any ‘new’ work and the blogs were growing restless. And then he suddenly spat out an EP and full-length album in short succession.

I had heard the album, The Age of Adz, was ‘challenging’ and I admit that I still hadn’t delved into it before going to see the concert. Sufjan’s music is known for being twangy and intellectual and uber earneast and wildly over-arranged. He’s like Rufus Wainwright if he were a straight, crunchy, Christian hipster. Adz is a marked departure from his past successes and a total stylistic shift. The music is buried in a nutso bed of blips and bleeps and defiantly rejects the normal verse/chorus/verse structure for something much more obtuse. In an interview he said that working on the orchestral pieces for BQE blew open his idea of what a song should be. And in a digital age where music is no longer confined to the 40 minutes of an LP or the 80 minutes of a CD, what is the album anymore and what is a song? Should songs be 30 seconds or 25 minutes? Does it matter?

The show itself was like watching a P-Funk concert of white, straight-edge Brooklynites. Sufjan was adorned in neon tribal paint (tape?) that made him look like Ke$ha’s goofy older brother. During the course of the evening, he danced amidst “Ray of Light” projections, and a spaceship literally landed onstage. It was nothing short of bonkers. And I was endlessly fascinated.

He spoke at length about his inspiration for the album: a crazy New Orleans preacher who shunned his family and posted all sorts of nutty billboards on his house before degenerating into schizophrenia and a world of religiously freaky comic book drawings.

The concert drew mainly from the new album. The lyrics are grandiose and inscrutable, but his trademark vulnerability still pops through in passages that pierce through the clutter of all the dense instrumentation with absolute clarity. The band was AMAZING: multiple drummers, backing vocalists, vocoders (*gasp*), horns, drum machines, ribbon-twirlers. This guy had everything.

Listening to the new music was like falling down a rabbit hole. The beats, at times, purposely fighting the songs as if to represent a tumultuous mind. Is this a breakup album? An ode to psychosis? Is he struggling with his sanity? Or just referencing the New Orleans dude (Royal Robertson)? Is this representative of some sort of religious meltdown? And where’s all his twee acoustic guitar?…..What interplanetary FREAKSHOW descended into the Beacon theater and why am I so GOSH DARN into it?

The title song, “The Age of Adz”, crashed through the theater like some insane apocalyptic reckoning. It’s very difficult to ascertain the ‘point of view’. Is it being sung from this crazy preacher’s perspective? Or is it about the end of a love affair? This is going to sound strange but the closest artistic correlation for this concert to me was Prince. Prince always mixes the sacred with the profane and there’s a definite tension and anger in Sufjan’s new work that causes lots of the same kind of friction. Grim euphoria.

“When I die, I’ll rot.
But when I live, I’ll give it all I’ve got.”

Ratatatat drums. Chanting vocals. And it just adds and builds: layers upon layers. A female choir sings exultations of  “Gloria”  and “Don’t Cry”, followed by a burst of horns and a quiet finale: “i’ve lost the will to fight.”

There are other videos on Youtube that give you a better sense of the visuals. But this one sounds the best:

“Age of Adz” –

“Impossible Soul”, another track from AoA, was perfromed towards the end of the night. A 25 minute suite, enough to test the patience of any audience, but at about the 15 minute mark the song turns surprisingly perky – “it’s a long life. could it get much better? do you want to dance?” and before you know it the contemplative audience is on their feet as a sea of balloons drifts from the rafters. “Boy, we can do much more together.” Positively surreal.

Here’s the happy portion:

balloon drop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UByH8RZE8Qg&feature=related
refrain : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-lJ3qA-zBE&NR=1

The encores, fittingly, were from Illinoise and everyone sung along gleefully to “Chicago” and watched rapt as he performed “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” I left the theater utterly impressed. Since the concert….I can’t stop listening to the record. It feels personal and global and vulnerable and angry and completely surprising and I’m totally in love with it.

Check it out. If the whole album is too intimidating, try “Age of Adz” and the two more commercial songs, “Too Much” and “I Walked.”

Robyn at Terminal 5

So I can’t believe I still haven’t written anything about Robyn’s Terminal 5 show last week. Bad Grant. 
 
It wasn’t quite the knockout that the Webster Hall show was and some of that undoubtedly has to do with the venue. I see more shows at Terminal 5 than anywhere else. It’s great that it’s only a few blocks from my house but the sound and acoustics of the venue are just terrible and the sight lines are weird.
 
Robyn seemed a bit distracted at the top of the show: changing shoes between songs and futzing with her mic pack. She cancelled a few dates due to illness shortly after the concert so I wonder if she was already coming down with something.
 
Vocals were customarily strong and the crowd was absolutely in love. I was thrilled to hear “Dream On” and “Konichiwa Bitches.” The finale, a tender coupling of “Dancing Queen” with her old chestnut, “Show Me Love” was dynamite.
 
You’ll have to forgive this stranger’s singalong….but who can blame him?

 

Liza at Rosebar

Had Mom in town recently which meant we were running around the city like fools and there was no time for posting. But I’m back now and wanted to share this nifty little experience from Monday night. I was lucky enough to catch Liza Minnelli at the Gramercy Park Hotel’s Rosebar. It was a very small room and we were perched dead center to see the legend at work. What a trip.She has a new album, Confessions, that’s out now on Decca and this was the intimate NYC launch event. (Oprah was the significantly less intimate launch event last week).

Her voice may be a bit raggedy and syntax a bit strange but she’s a gifted storyteller, heavy on the eye contact and acted things perfectly, even if the notes aren’t quite there. She has that uncanny ability to make you feel like you’re the only person in the room.

Tony Danza, Sandra Bernhard, Mary Louise Parker, Michelle Lee (?) and Alan Cumming (of course) were all in the audience. Kind of a magical experience.

 

Down in front, Alan! (that’s him in white).

Charlie and I enjoying the show.

The Lady herself at work.

Let’s turn our clock back a bit to yesteryear (1990 I think). Here’s a performance Liza did promoting her Pet Shop Boys produced album, Results. This is actually my favorite track. Look at her go!

Liza Minnelli – “Love Pains”

And this one too! She even starts disrobing at the end!

ahhhh, Seattle

well it’s good to be back in NYC after a trip out west. the temperate, misty Seattle weather now replaced by sockyouintheface 90 degree heat.

it felt like i hadn’t been to seattle in ages so it was wonderful to visit somewhere where you actually felt like you had some history and roots.

i borrowed my godmother’s car and was jazzed to learn it had a cassette deck, which meant i could unearth some of my zillions of tapes from yesteryear. only trouble was…what went into the tape player did not come out. so i heard an awful lot of “Promise of a New Day”.

as well as this little nugget…

Blue Pearl – “Can You Feel The Passion”
i toured a lot of old haunts, tons of places i lived, as well as some favorite haunts such as….

Grant’s (Second) Danceclub (after The Underground), The Oz (now defunct): 

 which makes me think of this song, btw…

 Lil Louis – “French Kiss”

 Grant’s first gaybar (totally underage, mind you) Neighbors: 

 I  was lucky enough to hit a current homo hotspot with friend Kerry and got our dancegroove on 90s style (can’t remember the name of the place).

NYC/Barracuda mainstay Candis Cayne was even there to make me feel more comfortable.

The DJs were a bit rough…but they played a song I was totally grooving to. I had never heard this gem before…but I found it later after some hunting (though I feel like it was a slightly different mix, or is there a funky cover? anyone know?). Props to Seattle for exposing me to something new again (even if it’s from 1979)

 Delta 5 – “Mind Your Own Business

Seattle also looked typically beautiful. The Experience Music Project, a bit of a monster far away, is a glimmering beauty up close…. 

I’ll miss you Seattle – thanks to all the people who took the time to see me!

  

I Heart Robyn+Kelis

So I’m not sure I even have words for the Robyn and Kelis show last night. Could’ve been one of my favorite concert experiences.

First off. This helps things:

 

Turns out this was the last show of their “All Hearts” concert and I feel like they (and we) really rose to the occasion.

Kelis looked totally HOT in an Olivia Newton-John spandex suit and Donna Summer wig– Absolutely ferocious — and she totally worked the crowd. “Acapella”, as usual, reduced me to a screaming lunatic. And her “Holiday” (Madonna, naturally)/”Milkshake” mashup was also a highlght.

But Robyn was undoubtedly the main event and the crowd went absolutely berzerk for her. It was amazing to have a bird’s eye view of the main floor, where people (okay, mostly boys) were shouting back, bouncing about, just revelling in the moment. And I’m not gonna lie, I was right there with them.

 

Her voice sounded amazing. And she danced with complete abandon, unselfconscious and lost in every moment and every lyric. (She basically careened across the stage during “Don’t Fuc*ing tell me What to Do”). In the other moments…well, what can I say, Robyn epitomizes the best of our current crop of resurging dance floor divas.

Disco’s gotten a bad rap over the years — but in its purest form, disco can be defined as dance music with its emotional core turned up to 11. And I’d say Robyn is our era’s purest personifiction of this. Someone must have really broken this girl’s heart as nearly all the songs are about rejection or regret or yearning or even the desire for comfort (“Dream On”). During these songs she sang to the rafters and danced as if the emotions of the music were literally taking her over.

The “With Every Heartbeat” finale was completely overwhelming. Hearing this song with the crowd dancing and singing along, it was an amazingly communal experience.

Someone’s already posted a video from the back of the house and this gives you a great idea of the energy in the room (without quite doing it justice.

#!

It was a thousand degrees in Webster Hall and we were all sweating like drowned rats. But what an amazing experience.

As a bonus, here’s the beginning of “WEH” from Jenn’s iPhone. How it didn’t pick up my screaming voice singing along – I have no idea.

GaGaMSG

So Gaga was characteristically resplendent last night in a concert that was basically a souped up version of the radio city concert she played earlier in the year.

 

 

The sets were bigger.

 

 

There was a loose narrative (Gaga and gang leave brooklyn, take the subway into Manhattan…and then the narrative pretty much falls apart) to help organize the show – one can’t help but wonder what wonders Gaga could do with some sort of narrative concept album. Gaga needs to do her own Wall, a la Pink Floyd.

 

The crowd was ecstatic. And she loudly articulated her ‘be who you wanna be’ ethos. This being her first performance at Madison Square Garden, she took the time to absorb the crowd (and her success) that felt inclusive and quite moving, and only a bit indulgent.

As my friend Jenn said, Madonna gave birth to this girl. It was especially clear during “Alejandro” when a large statue of Mary (which had been dripping water) suddenly began shooting off sparks 4th of July-style. What does all this religious imagery have to do with the song? I still have no clue.

This was one of a few big set pieces that really showed how gaga was bringing the arena spectacle. She also appeared in a plastic-y opaque looking dress/hat concoction that was almost alarming to watch – the headpiece MOVED on it’s own. Opening and closing, contracting and undulating in an almost insect-like manner. She was Glenda the Good Witch meets Kafka. When she turned around (and before she was carried up into the sky), you could sing wings on the back of the dress. More bug than butterfly. But somehow beautiful nonetheless…and right in line with her ‘Sexy Ugly’ motto.

 

 

 

 

My favorite part BY FAR  though was when an fish enormous emerged from the darkness, stripped her almost naked and then consumed her.

 

 

 Look out behind you, Gaga!

Only to have her emerge a few minutes later in a metallic bar that spat at flames from the nipples.

[Those curious about her new record were given a treat earlier in the night when she previewed a song – “You and I” during the slowed down “Speechless” set (playing the piano with her right heel on top of the keys, natch). I LOVED it: Very 70s-inspired, an Elton John melody with Janis Joplin vocals. Even ended with some “Hey Jude” style vamping.]

I’ve seen her at practically every venue she’s played in NYC, and it’s nuts to remember her small club-style show at the Highline Ballroom. It wasn’t long ago at all.

And now she’s playing arenas. Ra ra indeed.

 

 

Thanks for letting me steal your pics, Blake!

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon was a truly breathtaking experience and probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

  The hike down was almost 8 miles and the hike up was about 13 but it was gorgeous and satisfying.

  We stayed at Phantom Ranch at the bottom, your only option for accomodations. Sleeping arrangements were dorms/bunk beds, equipeed with snoring roommates and a 5AM wakeup — but still incredibly worth it.

  A mental control-alt-delete. Much needed and very beautiful.

NYC Haunted House

I don’t know what it is about a haunted house that just gets me grinning. I’ve been to “Nightmares” downtown (theatrical, vignette-driven), “Blood Manor” in Chelsea (more traditional/clowns jumping out and scaring you) but this year there’s a new kid on the block; and I, along with friends Tyler, Tracy and Sage, checked it out last night.

I can truly say I wasn’t  prepared for this little mindfu*k. And although it was over quickly – I probably came the closest to genuine fright that i’ve ever experienced in a haunted house. Also, they insist that you go through the house ALONE. Which completely empties out all the giggly fun parts. And there are some intense rules 1) you must follow the path 2) you will be touched 3) you have to wear weird stuff 4) the safety word is “safety”.

So here’s what happens: You walk in, They give you a shot of whiskey (good so far), then they put a surgical mask over your face (uncomfortable). When I pulled it down off my nose so I could breathe a little better I was chastised. Then they put those plastic individual cuffs (that police use) on each one of your wrists. After an intimidating preamble, the guy gives you a flashlight (about 2 inches in size) that completely doesn’t work and you’re told to follow the path (basically white glow tape that’s impossible to see). Since you can’t see anything you are practically crawling on the ground to find your way. After many twists and turns, people seem to jump out of nowhere. You’re grabbed, told to walk up and down stairs, THEN they bind your hands together (hence the plastic cuffs), put a burlap sack over your head (!) while grabbing at you some more (going up and down stairs), and generally freaking you out. I had to kneel. Apparently my friend Tyler had to bark. And then you just wait for what happens next. Crazy.  

I was NOT prepared to have a burlap sack over my head and admit I had to “talk myself down” a bit as you were stuck waiting for a few minutes to be told what to do next — which felt like an eternity. [too hot! can’t breathe!] After pulling the bag and bindings off (GASP* thank God), you’re roughed up a bit more, then walk through some weird maze stuff, until you find yourself in an enclosed  Buffalo Bill themed room with a big “EXIT” sign over the opposing door. Of course when you go to open the door –it won’t. And then you see that there’s some crazy man/woman creature emerging from a rocking chair that you basically have to fight in order to escape.

There is in fact a smaller door, with a padlock. He has the key to the lock. and you have to get it from him. Oh, and he’s naked from the waist done  (–this is likely fake, though I admit i couldn’t quite tell in the moment). Then once you are able to get the key and let yourself out (which is sort of a physical battle), you crawl down this claustrophobia inducing weird tunnel type thing. Then it was over.  

Very experiential. All psychological. And all-in-all a trippy experience. Tho I think it would have been better if they continued with that scary torture intimidation theme that was so unsettling at the top. As I was contemplating my own suffocation (Get me out of here) with the bag over my head, I thought for sure they were going to ‘walk me to the gallows’ or put me in some sort of guillotine contraption. Or why not put you in a room in the dark. They could put you in a chair and bind your arms to it, then throw on the lights and you could be staring at yourself in the mirror, realizing that your stapped into an electric chair. Queue mad scientist throwing switch, houselights way up, then blackout. Etc. I’m just sayin’! 

Here’s the link to the Vortex haunted house http://www.nychalloweenhauntedhouse.com/ 

Attached pic shows me wearing the surgical mask after we got back to my house. The crew and I had pizza and watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (brilliant/disturbing/why did I watch it again). A nice preable to the main event.

Happy Halloween, everyone.