Sylvia and Rats

I went to see a show with Mr. Crabtree this past week - one of his favorite bands, The Editors, was playing at the House of Blues (with one anonymous act and The Antlers opening). I wasn't quite sure what to expect as I didn't know either before he suggested the manly outing, nor did I listen extensively before the show.

I usually would prefer to know the band pretty well before a show; there's definitely something impressive about the connection you can feel to a live performance when you know the path the music is going to take, and you can feel all the ways that it's different from listening to it from the recording.

Usually it's as simple as the fact that the house audio engineer, no matter how good he is, can't replicate the sound they had when recording - and to compensate he has cranked them up to 120% of the volume that is healthy for your eardrums. The Antlers, for sure, employed a bass drum kick that was more forceful than strictly necessary.

In some other cases, it's subtle or wild deviations from the existing song as it was written. When I went to see Sonata Arctica in New York City in...2006?, in the middle of their song "Last Drop Falls," they drop into a reggaeton breakdown (in the middle of a power metal ballad). Completely unexpected, but awesome. The show also featured a call-and-response version with the audience of "Old MacDonald Had A Farm."

Other changes, of course, could just be that the show is pulsating with energy - that there are very small improvisations in terms of instrumentation - or that a song ends up having an extra five minutes added to the end. Anyhoo -

The opening act before the Antlers sort of slipped my mind - they weren't exceptionally notable to me, kind of a folky version of indie rock that really wasn't quite in my ballpark. After that, I didn't really know what to expect but the Antlers picked the show back up for me. It's only a three person band, but widely employs effects and echoes and keyboards to fill out the sound.

Most of their songs are just plays on dynamics - slow, low and soft followed by high, loud, and pounding. It's formulaic but it doesn't mean that it's a bad formula, or one that's not commonly employed. And they execute it well - their lead singer has a deft touch with his falsetto and the music complements it perfectly. I'm not sure his voice would be as acceptable in any other band.

I'd highly recommend listening to their song "Sylvia" about ten or fifteen times on repeat - the album it is from, "Hospice", is on my "need to buy." The live video of them on Youtube in DC is well worth the watch for the live rendition of "Bear" halfway through it.

http://www.myspace.com/theantlers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4v2AyU4HAo ("Bear" is at 6:45, though you should probably listen to the whole 20 minutes)

Then the Editors came on for their set - their singer with a questionable haircut and their bassist in a sport coat and jeans. I'm always a little interested in what people look like when they play their shows; in a way, what they choose to look like is exactly the image they want to present to hundreds and hundreds of people as they potentially reveal the things that are closest to their heart.

A lot of their songs, as well as the Antlers, were just a wash of huge noise to me - not because the concert's volume was too much for my ears, but because both bands just employ such a barrage of sounds. The Editors had a keyboard on stage for both the vocalist and the bassist, and an extensive guitar pedal rack for the guitarist.

I'm having difficulty remembering which songs actually stood out for me during the concert; I've colored the experience a little bit by listening to their albums ex post facto. (Am I using that phrase correctly in this context?)

The one that I definitely do remember standing out is "Escape the Nest" - the actual chorus guitar line may slightly annoy me, but the buildup to that moment is fantastic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlFpCdfEz08 (from 1:25 onwards till the resolution). I love the effect that his very resonant voice has when paired with the soaring, frenetic guitar.

After the concert itself, I've been stuck on listening to:

"An End Has A Start" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMKEHQqREMo (don't ask me what's up with the legions of leotard-wearing-women..)
"Racing Rats" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcActzIwFkY (the slightly-out-of-tune guitar drives me a little batty but what an amazing chorus)
"Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Z9DIH_FAA (the moment after he sings "run as fast as you can" is pretty much the perfect piece of music to play then)

MPW

Sun: 14 mi / 1h43mins
Mon: 6 mi warmup
2k 12 12 4 (constant 4 minutes rest)
6:34, 3:36, 3:34, 59 w Chris
Tues: 6.75 mi / 51 mins
Wed: 6 mi warmup
11x200 1R
30, 29, 30, 29, 29
29, 29, 29
28, 28
26
(probably the best instance of 11x2 I've run yet - hoping it means something good that I can run 26es at this juncture of the season)
Thu: 9 mi / 1h7mins
Friday: 5 mi / 38 mins
Saturday: 6.5 mi / 49 mins warmup
mile at Tufts, 65 / 65 / 67 / 68 for a 4:25
Felt okay - a little bit of a struggle too early though. I also didn't ever really pick it up to close, which was stupid.

total: 59.1 miles / 435 minutes

Seven Songs For Seven Somethings

Maybe weeks would be more appropriate at this juncture? I am gonna keep it short so this is not quite the monumental endeavor that it normally is.

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
Whatever you think of funk, guitar, George Clinton, or Eddie Hazel, you better like this song. The sound is just outright ferocious - there's an apocryphal story that Clinton told Hazel to play "like his mother had just died." I would say that's a pretty apt description; the man sounds like his soul is on fire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh3bleXWaCk

Manowar - Odin
Besides my fascination with all things Norse, this song has some of my favorite elements of music - ever. One thing I tend to get giddy over is when a song by a band pulls in small parts of another song; here, Manowar pulls in bits of "Army of the Dead" off the same album. The piece they repeat is actually another of my favorite things: giant vocal melodies layered to create insane harmonies. The solo leading into the gang chorus isn't too bad either. Manowar's vocalist's name escapes me at the moment, but the particular piece where he lets it rip really showcases how good this super cheesy band can be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epDVnBvCFIs

XV - Awesome
I would like to pat myself on the back for finding yet another not-too-well-known hip hop guy with catchy-as-fuck songs and upbeat lyrics. Good job, me. And good job to XV for producing an intelligent, classy mixtape full of some really good songs. I'll be curious to hear a more recent full length (hopefully coming up soon). 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaJDfBUw-XM

Nevermore - Sell My Heart For Stones
I'm not actually a big fan of Nevermore. They're pretty well-accepted as ballin' in the world of extreme metal - they don't fuck around with making big, complex songs with strong lyrical and music content. It might be the singer's voice - Warrel Dane has a strange, highly affected style - high and tremulous at points. When he wants to open up, though, it's really impressive. That's exactly what the chorus in this song is - slamming drums and guitars and Warrel Dane letting it rip. Well worth a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afYDNN8HoK0

Jurgen Vries - The Theme
I suppose this is the song that doesn't belong. I have a little bit of a soft spot for electronic music that is impossibly infectious, and this qualifies. Try listening once to the main line and not having it in your head for a few weeks.

Good luck.

PS: I've had a devil of a time actually finding where you can legally procure the vocal mix of this song - if anyone knows, I'd appreciate it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrQ3blJcQ5A

Mercenary - Lost Reality
Mercenary is one of the many bands in the second wave of melodic death metal that I feel like, in general, encompasses acts like Skyfire, Kalmah, Noumena, Insomnium, etc. There were far more, of course, but those are the few that really have survived and not been winnowed out by the cruel cullers of unoriginality that are music listeners.

Lyrically this song is a little weak, sadly - I often mishear the higher sung words and hope or imagine they're something more awesome than what they are. But the music is what Mercenary does well - driving aggressive songs full of melody and good singing contrasted with distorted vocals and more difficult blasting sections of rhythm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ov5SSVobm0

The Alan Parsons Project - Wouldn't Want To Be Like You
I've been listening to the Alan Parsons Project for about as long as I've been listening to music in general. The band accompanies Survivor, Steely Dan, Huey Lewis, Toto, the Police, and Steve Winwood as the first real stuff I paid attention to when it was playing in our house. There was plenty more played than that, of course - my dad has a terrible habit of putting on Handel or other classical music when he is grading papers, but I wasn't particularly interested in hearing any of it. Especially since he seemed to think that since he was working, everyone else should be as well.

The Alan Parsons Project is interesting in that its a rotating cast of musicians and singers - and thus the tone of songs can drastically vary inside an album as the singers interchange. Adding to that, the albums themselves are usually pretty strongly stuck on one theme; one takes its name from Isaac Aasimov's most famous novel, another is based on gambling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak8suW-JBzE