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The Aura of the H-Man
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I like that Super Furry Animals are represented, but kind of a strange selection. Guerrilla was released in 1999, and has three or four better tracks than the one they chose.
Nice to see them squeeze all the elements of the song into half the time for television. Their Chicago show last week was, as expected, pretty extraordinary.
With Kevin Robinson of Viva Voce/Blue Giant on drums.
That’s actually NOT what I thought they were before looking at the picture.
There’s ways to get LGM in discrete tracks, either through DIY cutting, or just paying a few extra bucks for a version with the tracks separated. I tended to find that it was a better album for background listening at first anyway, so the “four suite” approach didn’t bother me. At this point, it’s my favorite Spiritualized album, and I can’t think of a song I want to listen to that isn’t worth sitting through the one or two right before it, though it does have some great “singles” (Run, I Want You, If I Were With Her Now). Probably the best thing I’ve ever seen at any show I’ve ever been to was their version of You Lie, You Cheat, just totally descending into chaos, leading into Shine a Light.
I was thinking this morning that this album sort of reminds me of LaGWAFIS if it they just released the demos, like before they cleaned up the production. I think the more raw production really works at this stage of his career though. You can kind of hear the desperation in his voice a little better.
Sounds like a slightly cleaner production, which I’m not quite sure is a good thing, but a pretty minor quibble overall. I like it. They didn’t play this at their last Chicago show. I tend to like their up-tempo stuff better, and most of the new stuff I’ve heard is a bit more subdued.
Le Butcherettes!
They were just in Chicago, though. So were the Walkmen, and Dum Dum Girls, and the Black Keys, Chairlift, First Aid Kit, Tune-Yards, M83, Alabama Shakes, etc. There’s like 6 bands I would actually go out of my way to see, and at least five of them have played here within the last 12-18 months. I suppose it’s a great festival for people from out of town who don’t have access to good shows, or who would rather see a few good bands in the same weekend, but in the latter case, you’re playing schedule roulette.
Afghan Whigs would be cool, though.
They sounded great the other night in Chicago, but this album is taking a while to grow on me, and so far this isn’t one of my favorite songs. Would have rather heard them play I’m Not Me or Everyone Can’t Be Confused. They put together a great setlist, though.
Looking forward to the after shows.
This song typifies exactly what I was hoping this album would be. A collection of the fun, poppy stuff that you’d occasionally get on a Fiery Furnaces record, with just a touch of the weirdness.
Sorry, man. Didn’t read your post before I posted mine.
I was disappointed with the initial announcement, but it’s filled out pretty well. Better than last year overall, in my opinion, but not as good as 2010. Though if Atlas Sound AND Lotus Plaza are playing, I almost just wish they’d spring for Josh and Moses to come along and play a Deerhunter set again.
Wonder what happened to Geoff Bucknam?
I saw them on all three of the tours he mentions, and I’d saw the crowd reaction (at least in Chicago) was pretty good, though on the TA tour, they also played with Best Coast, so the crowd for Free Energy’s set was a little sparse. They seem to have a pretty good following here.
Also, hearing him bring it up really makes me miss Foreign Born.
That show was awesome. Two and a half hours, no openers. Pretty much perfect.
I like album and song, and the concept for the video is fine. But there seems to be a weird sync issue between the audio and video that ends up making her mouth look kinda strange.
Only if they all grow devious looking beards.
“Thank you for defending my finger” is gonna be my new go-to catch phrase.
The Moose’s Tooth has pretty awesome beer and pizza. Halibut on pizza is a rare thing in Chicago. My brother lives up there, so I get up there to visit every so often. And Midnight Sun Brewery is probably one of the best breweries in the world. They get the occasional big act up there. Andrew Bird and St. Vincent have played fairly recently. If you get a chance to visit, take a trip down the Kenai River. The color of the water is amazing.
Sincerity in criticism is frowned upon. That, or there are a lot of Hunger Games fankids around here.
One more thing: I think there’s a certain element in the crowd at Atlas Sound shows that have heard Shelia, Walkabout, and Mona Lisa and think that Atlas Sound is a pretty straightforward indie pop act. Those are all great songs, but they’re also pretty poor representations of the rest of his catalog. I could see why those people may be upset, but I also don’t have much sympathy for them.
I have no problem with this, as I noted earlier, especially in light of the fact that he had already played a full set. However, as a concert goer, I kinda hate these long, extended jams (for lack of a better word) because I’m always torn between wanting to leave and being afraid that I’ll miss something, like another song that I wanted to hear. For a Friday night show, assuming there were two openers like in Chicago, I’m guessing it had to be about 1:00 am by the time he launched into that. At that point, anything goes.
Moreover, as a solo side project, and one that’s already kind of out there to begin with, I’m not sure what people expect at this type of show. There are certain acts where you know what you’re going to get, and certain acts where I have no idea what will happen. A Fiery Furnaces show could be an hour of three minute pop songs, or an hour of them playing the recorder and singing in foreign languages. There are acts where you just don’t know what you’re going to get, and I’d put Atlas Sound in that category. It can be really annoying, but it can also be part of the fun. If you want to see Bradford Cox do something straightforward, go to a Deerhunter show.
Well, he only played eight songs in the first hour of his Chicago set. But it was still an hour, which is pretty much the norm for a sub 500 person venue.
No backing band on this tour. I think he called out the openers to join in for this particular night, but for his set, it was just Bradford looping everything together.
No Resurrection? I thought given the circumstances that would be pretty much a given. Cool that they played Mersey Paradise, though. Their b-side material at that time was still better what anyone else was releasing as singles.