By Amrit and Scott
Yeah it's a special sort of show that's able to summon multiple Stereogum staffers from their cocoons. And as the posts from P4K (again) BV, Fluxblog, and yours truly all suggested, Robyn was, in a word, perfect last night. So, just add a few more thoughts to the pile: This was her first real US show, and she seemed really excited to be there! But as obviously swept up Ms. Carlsson was in the room's rabidly demonstrative love, Robyn was all pro, all the way: always flashing that adorably appreciative smile and banter, but focused throughout (mouthing to the kids wanting a handshake front row at encore, "After" -- and then, delivering). Also it was one of the best looking groups we've seen in awhile. Lots of Europeans, lots of gay (in fairness, it's not like we were expecting it to be the Giants tickertape parade afterparty or anything).
The set was short (about an hour all told) and sweet. Too short, some say -- but the amount she put into her moves (like you've never seen), it was totally understandable. Robyn does silly + sexy better than anyone we can think of: She's either not concerned with being cool, or more likely Sweden has a definition of cool that doesn't require being detached. The last two songs (of which we have vid, below) showed her range as a performer. You couldn't help be legitimately sad during the acoustic "Be Mine!" Don't be sad, Robyn. This guy's a JERK if he doesn't realize you're the MOST AWESOME. And, the show offered a unique moment: Singing along to a spare, Konichiwa-appropriate rearrangement of her prior incarnation's '90s smash "Show Me Love," the entire room -- that had been singing every word, all night -- took it up another level, with extra warmth and giddiness. It was like singing along to an ironic, newly hip cover, but knowing it's always been her, and appreciating her stunning reinvention. Robyn said through the cheers: "You can always do SOMETHING with a good song, right?" Damn if she didn't prove that every minute last night.
It was fun. She's our favorite. Take the jump for setlist, pics, and videos of "Be Mine" (Ballad Version) and Prince cover "Jack U Off."
Principles Of Geometry - Titan
I've got a real soft spot for the beardo-weirdos lately. But when I think about it, that's been going on for quite some time now. I wrote about Principles Of Geometry - beardos Guillaume Grosso and Jeremy Dvual - back in early 2005, when their first album came out.
This track comes from album number two, Lazare - a little digging and it looks like that is French for Lazarus, so it appears PoG have been raised from the dead! The album is definitely darker and more avant-garde than the first one, and there are a number of songs with vocals on them, including MCs Cannibal Ox and Hanger18, our friend Sebastien Tellier, as well as this crazy/amazing cover of Poni Hoax's "LA Murder Motel". It is out now on Joakim's Tigersushi label.
I loved the glitchy beats and synths back then, and I really love the bigger synths, more strings, and more cohesive sound this time around. The new album feels more expansive, more emotive - it isn't easy squeezing emotion out of Arp2600s, Moogs, Korgs and all that stuff, but Grosso and Duval seem to be quite masterful at it. I really hope the new M83 sounds as full and interesting as Lazare.
The first single from the album, for "A Mountain For President" (the track that features Sebastien Tellier) includes a pair remixes, one by MFR-pal Speakerine, and one by Joakim... who is playing Saturday night at the Modular + People Don't Dance No More party at Studio B (with me and Andy Butler and Juan Maclean!!!). There, see how it's all connected?
Check out the videos for "Colefax" and "A Mountain For President", and purchase Lazare from Forced Exposure (and check the "download" page on the Tigersushi site for links to various-locality mp3 stores). Highly recommended.
You may remember Patrick Park as the man who wrote the last song on The OC. But you probably don't because you had better things to be doing than watching the last of The OC. Either way, we discovered a few months later that Patrick's tunesmithery's worthy of being more than a footnote to the televised saga of Ryan Atwood. Then, we called "Here We Are" rambling three-minute meditation would make good sense for some desert-based moment of epiphany in a Wes Anderson flick. Now the track gets filmic accompaniment, and while the clip's opening highway bike-ride isn't quite The Royal Rushmore Ltd, the video's dusty hue and long, face-trained shots give it the requisite quirk factor to bear out our prediction. By the time the green-robed choir begins singing in the park you'll be looking for Jason Schwartzman.
But not in the same sense that Matt Damon played him. Our favorite nerdy laptop-stitched popsters did a version of "Ready For The Floor" from their much-rotated new one, Made In The Dark. As mentioned just a couple days ago, we missed their Highline Ballroom gig (and have video to prove it), so this could've just felt like more salt in the wound, but instead -- it felt so right. Plus, we'll see 'em at Coachella, where hopefully we'll raise our lighters to the dusky title track. For now, please admire Alexis Taylor's hat/glasses/argyle pants combo.
Yup, he's ready for the floor.
Made In The Dark is out via DFA/Astralwerks. Do it, do it, do it now.
Breaking news: A rock band wants Obama for president. This time it's Bonnaroo-bound Pearl Jam, who have eschewed the live rally route in favor of a touched-up cover of an old rock classic. Stone Gossard picks up vocal duties from an abstaining EdVed and explains: "'Rock Around The Clock' was the first mainstream rock and roll hit in 1955 and it had a transforming effect on American music ... The rhythm of rock music and its energy were so overwhelming that traditional barriers of race and culture broke down with an enormous crash. So here's to new energy, rock and the breaking down of cultural barriers: Barack Around The Clock!" Listen here (MP4).
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We've been enjoying Kelley Polar's I Need You To Hold On While The Sky Is Falling, the follow-up to the late-night disco of the Dubrovnik, Croatia-born Juilliard-schooled violist/vocalist/composer's 2005 Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens. Our favorites on I Need You still remind us of Arthur Russell channeling Mercury Rev -- or maybe gliding Travolta-style across the Milky Way -- but there's something more personalized (and cheekily Euro-popped) about the hand-clapping and sighing this time around. Unless you render the Elysian voices into inhuman Glass background fluctuations, as on this icily pleasing remix of album standout "Rosenband." You can hear the original at MySpace and Magic Tim's stripped and reconstituted version after the jump. Magic, Tim.
Sune directed this vid for the clanging, heavily reverbed girl-group melodies of "You Want The Candy," featuring still photos, concert footage, other b&w ephemera. If you think you see a girl snorting coke in it, you're right (at 1:10). If you think it's Sharin, you're wrong. There's no graceful segue from there, so, just know you can stream Lust, Lust, Lust in its entirety at MySpace. And don't do drugs.
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We've seen them wave flags with kite-flying bears, now it's time for them to repel the devil with make up and costumes. Cool song, lots of imagery beyond our comprehension. "You think you know but you don't," sings Hamilton. Agreed.
Do You Like Rock Music? is out now in the UK and on 2/12 in the US via Rough Trade. A souvenir: Here's an old version of album track "Atom," as it appeared on the Krankenhaus EP...
British Sea Power - "Atom" (MP3)
Enjoy.
Of course we did a double take when we received the Bonnaroo lineup press release yesterday. But if the AP and the NME (now deleted) and the Chicago Sun Times (see here) had spent more than 30 seconds looking at it, a whole lotta faulty headlines could've been avoided.
The big mix up, as you well know by now: It's Lez Zeppelin heading to TN this year. Not Led. (Although, Robert will be there with Ms. Krauss, so maybe a Lez Plant bit is in the air).
DeRogatis maintains "The press release was misleading, to say the least." Let's see if you have better eyes than major media editors. Full press release after the jump.
Future of the Left - Suddenly it's a Folk Song.
This is a song about unexpected outcomes. Maybe you thought that job wasn't going to be so difficult. Maybe you thought that the patriots would win on Sunday. Maybe you thought that last drink was a good idea. Maybe you thought that girl was gonna be the one. But whatever happens, the very fact that it happened is the important part. The change opened your eyes and now you're ready for whatever comes next. This song is about listening to Future of the Left and wishing it was McLusky.
See, when McLusky broke up a lot of us were super bummed out, right? McLusky were the type of band that seemed to perfect on paper -- when you talked about them it almost seemed made up - like they were only a myth. So when two of the three members reform with a new band, how can we not get excited and listen? I mean, it's only the drummer missing -- how different can it be?
Well, it's kind of different. I think maybe they lost a little tiny bit of their bite with age, but in weird ways. They're still angry and still have over-long titles filled with hate and puns. But it's not supposed to be McLusky. It's supposed to be Future of the Left, and they have this manifesto here. It harkens back to late-90s local punk outfits, with bratty vocals and clean production.
And you know what? It's fucking awesome. I love this song. I listen to it all the time. It took me a while to get the record, but once I got over the whole it's-never-gonna-be-mclusky thing, it really started to sound great to me. So fuck it. Let's dance. The new album, Curses, came out a week or two ago, and it's a real hootenanny. I definitely recommend it.
