Black Strobe and Arnaud Rebotini

As I said in the previous post, on the night of my third day in Montréal, I went to an Elektra party. The venue was the amazing Usine C, the former Raymond factory turned into an arts centre (a smaller version of London's Tate Modern). Apart from a series of digital arts installations scattered throughout the building, the main event of the night was a dance party in the main hall of the building. 

When I say dance party, I mean dance party. The band in charge of rocking our bones was Black Strobe, an exciting mix between the sounds of a 70s rock band (with a brightly distorted Les Paul), experimental sounds a la Kraftwerk, the urgent riffs in Marilyn Manson or even Rammstein, and a consistent stream of 80s synthethisers that made everyone feel like a role player in a Nintendo classic. Confused? Well, just watch the video below first, and then listen to the song "Italian Fireflies" here. Their act was complemented by a visual show projected on the enormous wall of the hall and, of course, dozens of strobes and black lights.

But the big surprise came when Black Strobe got off the stage. The band's front man, Arnaud Rebotini, stayed on stage, brought out a half dozen keyboards and samplers, and played an elegant live analog synth set that rocked my world and turned the place upside down. Thus began the REAL dance party. 

Rebotini looks like a French version of Elvis with the body of a bouncer. With his slick black hair and enormous sideburns, the man commands a stage presence that would make Mick Jagger bow in awe. When he's not busy playing with his six instruments with the precision of a Honda robot, he looks up to the crowd to give them a suave look. The man is literally surrounded and trapped by his keyboards, and he frees himself from time to time by blasting his french accent into the microphone. Standing at more than 190cms, he looks like the Goliath of DJs.

As the clocked moved towards 2 am, Rebotini tripled the intensity of the beats to a point where the bass made my neck vibrate so that my vocal chords started speaking without my consent. I left the place literally shaken and stirred. I'm not an electro fan, but this live act quickly became the highlight of the trip. 

Ting Tings vs. Los Campesinos

What to do, what to do?? Both bands are playing tonight in Vancouver and I'm torn... I have them both in my iPod, they're both playing at Coachella, they're both B+ bands in my book, and they will both attract similar scenester crowds. 

Given that I have no preference for either show, I suppose I'll have to resort to the good ol' principles of rational choice theory and go to whichever show is a little cheaper. My Econ profs would be proud. 

What would Lennon do?

Radiohead full concert (o una probadita)

Fistful of Love

Yes, a very late review of the Antony and the Johnsons is in the works. In the meantime...

Junos!

Apologies to all my readers for this long absence. I have no excuse except for a bad case of writer's block that was aggravated by the rain. In any case, I have now found a great reason to post again! 

As you all probably know, the Juno Awards are happening this weekend in Vancouver, and there are a number of festivities around the city. There's even a Juno Fest. I must warn you that of the more than 100 bands playing in this fair city this weekend, there are no more than 10 that deserve your attention. And by your attention, I mean the attention of people that have musical tastes similar to mine and enjoy the music I share in this blog and the tales of concerts and musical adventures published here. 

I personally think that the credibility of the Juno Awards as a measure of high quality music suffers tremendously from the fact that Nickelback (or the worst band in the world) is nominated for five awards. One of my top ten favorite moments in Vancouver happened yesterday as I was doing some grocery shopping: Nickelback was playing in the background and I walked next to a man that said "every time that Nickelback sings, the Lord weeps." Hahaha. There's even a Facebook group called "Every time Nickelback is played, God kills a Llama". As for the term Nickelback, here is a precise definition.

Having said that, here are the bands that I wish I had seen yesterday night at the Media Club:

Said the Whale

Hey Rosetta!

And these are the bands that I'm excited to see tonight at the Railway Club:

Eldorado

Deep Dark Woods

Plants and Animals

p.s. hoorray for all the "green" band names.

Reminiscing Radiohead

I'm sitting in my Vancouver apartment, suffering from a terrible cold. I can feel the antihistamine drowsiness kicking in as the first notes of There There burst out of my speakers. The runny nose and persistent cough are a modest price to pay for one of the most fantastic weekends of my life: Radiohead TWICE in Mexico City!

Flashback to September 10, 2001. It's 9pm and I'm at the Santa Maria Novella station in Florence, waiting for a train that will travel all night to Berlin. I get off the train at Bahnhof Zoo at 5pm on September 11 and I see hundreds of people staring at the television screens. The Twin Towers are burning, people around me are shouting in German, and the only word I can register is "terroristen". A couple of hours later, I'm standing at the Parkbühne Wuhlheide with my friends Jan, Raúl, and Tatiana, listening to a very angry Thom Yorke singing "Come on, come on, Holy Roman Empire". The metaphor is too fitting. "Come on if you think, come on if you think, you can take us all." (This historic concert is now the I Might Be Wrong: live recordings.)

Fast forward to Florence, July 9, 2003. I'm at the Piazzale Michelangelo with Jessica, Aranzazú, and Andrés, desperately trying to find a scalper. Outside the concert fence there is a mass of ticketless fans trying to catch a glimpse of the stage by standing on top of cars and trashcans. We roam around the entrance like blood thirsty predators, until the music begins, forcing us to sit outside in resignation. The sense of community is unavoidable in this large group of outcasts, as we all tap our feet and quietly murmur the lyrics of the show we can't see. Thom is almost cruel when he says "There's a gap in between...where I end and you begin."

Then it's August 19, 2008. I cross the street from my apartment in Vancouver and arrive at Thunderbird Stadium with Pablo and Ignacio. A perfect new album and a great venue promise a perfect show. But the sudden combination of rain and an imperfect crowd make it all uncomfortable. O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied? 

Not for long. 

It's March 14, 2009. I arrive unannounced at my father's 60th birthday party in Mexico City and my sister informs me that, by mere chance, Radiohead is playing this weekend. My heart leaps out of its chamber as I work through my phone list to get tickets (gracias Diana, gracias Pablo). Twenty-four hours later, I'm standing at the Foro Sol, listening to the opening beats of 15 Step and shouting at the top of my lungs. The concert is insuperable, the setlist tailored to perfection. A day later I'm at the exact same spot, next to the central console, listening in disbelief to How to Disappear Completely. I suddenly realize that after two years of living in Vancouver, I forgot what it's like to experience a concert in a Mexico City crowd. The amount of passion, the noise, the warmth are unexplainable... DF, "You're all I need, you're all I need". 

As I grab yet another tissue and blow my nose, I stop and remember the weekend. I close my eyes to relive the euphoria, the shouts and chants coming out of 55,000 voices. My cough interrupts the memory of the bright led tubes just as the last notes of Videotape echo from my ongoing playlist. It suddenly hits me that I will never listen to this (or any) song in the same way. 

(p.s. This is what a real crowd feels like. Or this. And again. At 1:38)

David Byrne in Van!!

I'm simply speechless. This seldom happens to me... but I can't even begin to describe the magic of David Byrne's show last night at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. And given that David Byrne needs no explanation or introduction from your blogger, I'm not even going to try.

Suffice it to say that David Byrne managed to get a Vancouver audience out of their seats!! The first six or seven songs were mainly from the new album and from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which kept the audience sitting down at their most polite. But then, after this delicious appetizer, he suddenly reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out "Once in a Lifetime" followed by "What a Day That Was"...what an entrée! Then, when our mouths were asking for dessert, David Byrne gave us a tasty "Take Me to The River" followed by the finest rendition ever of "Burning Down the House". He finished with the beautiful new "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today", followed by a good seven minutes of handbreaking applause.

As a sidenote, David Byrne's posse included not only incredibly talented musicians (Redray Frazier, Jenni Muldaur, Kaissa, Forro in the Dark), but also a trio of dancers that kept the visuals interesting.

For another opinion (and a photo and a video) see BunkleLife.

Or read the more thorough review by Ken Eisner.

A Capella!

Tonight is the David Byrne and Brian Eno concert, which made me feel very musical this morning, which made me go online on a long music search, which eventually led me to this:

The Carleton Singing Knights

The Daft Punk song is magic...but my favorite is by far the Gorillaz cover. Enjoy!

Guitar Hero

Like many kids of my generation, I used to be a video game addict. From Mario Bros. to Contra, to Final Fantasy, and Grand Theft Auto, my addiction touched every genre and console. However, for various reasons, I stopped gaming about 4 years ago. This means that I felt completely untouched by the wave of Guitar Hero madness that has swept over the world...until now.

Last Thursday, I volunteered to give a guitar lesson to inner city kids in an East side elementary school in Vancouver. I spent about two days preparing for the lesson, thinking of simple chord progressions to teach to the kids, or easy riffs to keep them entertained. Memories of my first guitar lessons flashed through my mind and I thought about teaching them an easy Beatles song to get them excited about learning a full song in a single class ("Obla di obla da" was obviously the first choice). But one thing I never thought about was studying the songs in the game "Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock"!

As I walked into the class and introduced myself to the kids (fifth graders), I tried to begin a conversation about their taste in music. A teacher has to find some common cultural referents, so I tried namedropping some bands...to no avail. The kids stared back at me as if I were speaking in tongues! I namedropped some more, even began to play the intro of Wish You Were Here...but the result was the same. I stopped and realized that I was staring down into a deep and authentic generational gap.

And then a hand shot up in the air. It was a twelve year old with an awesome mohawk that made me and my knit scarf look like a Backstreet Boy. He looked at me in the eyes and delivered the magic words: "dude, don't you know any song from the new Guitar Hero??" Ha! Suddenly the whole class was talking of the songs, and of the levels, and if Slash was the hardest to beat, or if Jimmy Hendrix was faster. I was taken by surprise...shocked. It suddenly dawned on me that the musical tastes of a whole new generation are being shaped by the playlists in Guitar Hero! Elementary kids everywhere are connecting with long foregone music legends through the colored buttons of their plastic guitars. This, more than anything, more than its record breaking sales, is the true success of the game.

And, of course, as the lesson proceeded, I did NOT mention the Beatles song.

Her Morning Elegance

Gracias a Uno y uno son demasiados por esta maravilla de video. Me acabas de abir el bote de las ideas para mis intentos de animaciones....

Coachella 09 lineup!

The lineup for Coachella 2009 has finally been published, which means it's time to start saving money and making plans for the magical mystery roadtrip to the depths of the Palm Desert in California! As happens every year, the lineup gave me a confused mix of excitement and disappointment.

Excitement because I'll get to see Beirut, Antony and the Johnsons, and Band of Horses again! Excitement because I'm dying to see Sebastien Tellier, Los Campesinos! and TV on the Radio! Excitement because it will probably be raining in Vancouver while we're under the desert sun listening to these amazing bands.

Disappointment because The Killers are headlining (I seriously hope they're not the new Jack Johnsons of this year...with his boring surfer guitar headlining every festival in 2008)! Disappointment because Andrew Bird and Yeasayer are not on the list. And disappointment because they could have definitely found someone younger, more innovative and infinitely more fresh than Paul McCartney to headline Friday night.

---------------------------------------update--------------------------------------------

As always, Rodrigo was quick to point out that McCartney has a new project called The Fireman...which pretty much leaves me without an argument for a more innovative, fresher sound. Much obliged.

Imitosis

Andrew Bird returning the violin to center stage. Yes.



(here is a playlist of this concert @ La Maroquinerie)



p.s. I regret that this blog has suddenly become very "copy-paste a cool video" intensive...but I truly have no time to sit and write.

2080

(yes, my OCD is kicking in)



I can't sleep when I think about the times we're living in
I can't sleep when I think about the future I was born into
Outsiders dressed up like Sunday morning
With no Berlin wall what the hell you gonna do

It's a new year, I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring, so let's sing
In 2080 I'll surely be dead
So don't look ahead, ever look ahead
It's a new year, I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring, so let's sing
And the moon shines bright on the water tonight
So we won't drown in the summer sound

If you find me I'll be sitting by the water fountain
Picket signs, letdowns, meltdown on Monday morning
But it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
It's alright
Cause in no time, they'll be gone, I guess I'll still be standing here

It's a new year...

Yeah, yeah, we can all grab at the chance to be handsome farmers
Yeah you can have twenty-one sons and be blood when they marry my daughters
And the pain that we left at the station will stay in a jar behind us
We can pickle the pain into blue ribbon winners at county contests

...

Arrrggghhhh!

It's been three days now and I'm still boiling inside. Every time I think about it, my skin dries up and my little stomach releases...well, stomach juice of course. "What on God's name are you blathering about?" Well, I'll tell you what I'm blathering about.

I missed the Yeasayer concert last Thursday...

...because I had to write a term paper. Arrrghhh. At the moment I thought it was the right choice, the responsible one (considering my final countdown). But then, at midnight that same night, I got a 5 day extension. Arrrghhh!

Anyway, the symptoms of my post-ImissedYeasayer stress disorder have only increased because now I can't stop listening to their music. AND, almost every music review that I've read compares them to David Byrne! So double arrrgggggh. (I'm tempted to call it "divine punishment")

So please join me in my frustration by pressing play and realizing what you also missed:





And yes, we should all listen to Rodrigo more often.

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

I'm proud to share that today I pulled a "fan from hell." Well, kind of. I didn't wait for hours in the rain outside a backstage door, nor did I buy a coffee and doughnut for a limo driver just to extract the hotel info of a visiting rockstar. But I did set a couple of alarms, one at 9.00am, another at 9.45, to remind me about the 10am pre-sale of tickets for the David Byrne & Brian Eno Tour!! (the venue for Vancouver will be the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, which should give you an idea of the importance of this renewed collaboration)

And for your hearing pleasure, the entire album:

Man in the Mirror

Now that "President is the new Black" and we're all buzzed about Change, I think it is appropriate to remember the wise words of a former black man:

"If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change." M. Jackson


(thank you Alex Munro for showing me the way)

p.s. I would suggest you start by trying to eat consciously. And consume no bottled water. And becoming involved...in whatever it is that you care about.

Albarn Thursday again

You....and meeeeeeeeee

Aaaahh! Qué buena rola! Hace poco vi a esta banda en vivo y hoy me desperté extasiado y con ganas de oir esto!



If the trials in are really getting you down,
We had a close call, I didn't even see it,
Then another one, and I hardly believed it at all

What the writers say, it means shit to me now,
Plants and animals, here on the bender when it's 80 degrees,
the end of December, what's going on, only for you and me

And to showing off his he's going back to the south,
We're hungry, next that I know,
and running the blender in a lightning storm,
disguises a blessing I'm sure

Knowing up his, here comes a fork in the road,
Pants have gotta go, here on the island on the 4th of July,
Looks like the tide is going home

Time I find a little way to your heart,
Now to the General Store, nothing specific,
Gonna wash my bones in the Atlantic shore, only for you and me.

Chequen qué chida su página de interné de ellos: Band of Horses
(Y también tienen un gran blog!)

y por azar...

...gracias a que mi iTunes se anda portando mal, redescubrí una rola que me puso a cantar instantáneamente. Fue como un rescate de memoria profunda...sentí como si me hubieran sacado una pequeña joya que tenía guardada y empolvada en un cajón obscuro y profundo en la piel debajo de la nalga derecha.

¿Cómo sucedió? Pues puse play en alguna rola de Sigur Ros que sí estaba reconociendo mi iTunes, y cuando se acabó, iTunes se saltó todas las que no reconocía, hasta que se detuvo un segundo y empezó a tocar "Trátame Suavemente":

Alguien me ha dicho que la soledad
se esconde tras tus ojos,
y que tu blusa atora sentimientos, que respiras
tenes que comprender
que no puse tus miedos
donde estan guardados,
y que no podré quitártelos
si al hacerlo me desgarras.

No quiero soñar
mil veces la mismas cosas
ni contemplarlas sabiamente
quiero que me trates suavemente.

Te comportas de acuerdo
con lo que te dicta cada momento
y esta inconstancia, no es algo heróico
es mas bien algo enfermo.

No quiero soñar
mil veces las mismas cosas
ni contemplarlas sabiamente
quiero que me trates suavemente.

Upon this tidal wave of young blood

After a long absence... I've decided to relaunch the "unplugged Wednesdays". (Although I have yet to buy a decent webcam and an actual microphone.)