//Pop Culture
Vincent Moon and Arcade Fire Walk Into An Elevator….
“[T]he crowd seemed really emotionally engaged with the music.”
There really is something magical about these La Blogotheque Take Away Shows. There is a level of intimacy and honesty to them, a pureness and a clarity, a soaring joy.
So the first video is “Neon Bible” in a freight elevator. Atonishingly, they all managed to fit. This is one of my favorite Arcade Fire songs (primary is “Neighborhood #1: Tunnels”). While I did not find it quite as powerful as the Bon Iver video, I adore the magazine, Régine drumming on the ceiling and that they all crammed in there.
The second portion of the Take Away video from which this was excerpted is a rough version of “Wake Up” wherein the whole band stands in the middle of a crowd and Win Butler sings through a megaphone. What it lacks perhaps in polish, it makes up for in spirit. The crowd is obviously enthralled and their raw energy is really captured well there.
The full Take Away video is here.
Just for fun, here’s the interactive video for “Neon Bible”.
When I saw Arcade Fire play at Madison Square Garden recently, the crowd seemed really emotionally engaged with the music. After Owen Pallett played and before Spoon came on, N. and I were discussing how popular Arcade Fire is amongst people with a pretty broad range of musical tastes, and the relatively small amount of backlash from even the music snobs. People and other musicians generally afford them a bit of respect. We were also really impressed by how multi-instrumentalist the band members truly are. You hear about it but to see them rotate to a new instrument for every song…it is a fairly impressive sight.
The whole MSG show was streamed live on YouTube, directed by Terry Gilliam. Here is “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”. Somehow there in the moment, it was 1,000x more thrilling that what you see here, but it’s a pretty damn good performance of an exquisite song. And no it was not snowing but yes, they did shoot those giant explosions of paper confetti over the crowd.
Unrelated, Win Butler has astoundingly good balance! When he went out into the audience, he was balancing on a railing a few times. During those jaunts, two or three crew people were in charge of feeding and retracting his mic cord.
I really like “The Suburbs” but it is subtler than “Neon Bible” or “Funeral”. Both those albums packed such a punch that everything else looks tame in comparison.
And I will leave you with a more polished (and yet wonderfully primal) version of “Wake Up”.
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For Emma, Forever Ago (and Ever Again)
An extended version of Bon Iver’s La Blogotheque Take Away Show of “For Emma, Forever Ago” with three versions of the song and some very startled tourists. I think this is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Not just that the song is so beautiful, and is so beautifully sung, but that the versions in general far surpass what you hear on their album.
I love the somewhat cynical but not unyielding Frenchman in the beginning. I love that the a cappella version(s) are sung in this gorgeously Parisian, Old-World apartment building. In the first version, I love that there is a friendly dog running about. I love that people came home to find Bon Iver in their hallway. In the second version, I love the spirit of spontaneously making music for people out on the street. I love the idea of terrifying tourists with something unexpected and wonderful. In the third version, I love how amazing and pure their voices sound.
And I love the in-between songs.
ShareSo, This Stephen Malkmus-looking Guy Who Went to High School with My Boss Wrote a Children’s Book
A man once said, “Childrens do learn.” and I believe childrens should learn to dream big dreams. Even better is to dream arty dreams like a hipster might draw. This hipster author’s name is Dallas Clayton. Although I do not know for sure that Dallas Clayton is a hipster, he looks like this:
And, I mean, unicorns! The mascot of hipsters everywhere. His are rocket-powered. One is even on skateboards.
I believe my favorite illustrations are the little red and pink bear on a ladder dreaming big…and then dreaming even bigger (and then it’s right up in your snout). And the cordoned off purgatories for non-dreamers Who’ve Given Up or Who’ve Never Tried. And the “Dream-etery” where all my dreams reside, beneath that menorah-looking thing. Also enjoyable are mundane people’s dreams of breakfast sandwiches. And “reg-u-lar”.
On his website, there is Dallas Clayton poetry, such as:
EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY
As I write this
an accounts receivable manager
has just joked
that he “put the G in Gmail”
and gotten a laugh
from a mail clerk
who came to work high.
I will let you draw your own conclusions.
Dallas Clayton has a six year-old, so you should buy his book for all the six year-olds you know, some of whom may be in their thirties.
©2010 Copyright Dallas Clayton
I Left My Heart in Bon Iver
“However, this was one of those shows that blows you quite away and I felt privileged to have gotten to witness it.”
Saturday, January 23, 2010, I went alone to a Brooklyn Vegan/The Bowery Presents benefit show for Haiti at Music Hall of Williamsburg (formerly NorthSix). The audience contained a large portion of infuriating idiots, more so than usual, as frequently happens when “celebrities” are performing (well, Janeane Garofalo and Zach Galifianakis). However, this was one of those shows that blows you quite away and I felt privileged to have gotten to witness it.
Because I am an idiot (I forgot the show was that night), I got there too late to see Britt Daniel of Spoon play his three songs (BD and/or Spoon has played 3-4 different places all over New York and Brooklyn recently and I have managed to miss each appearance. (I did shell out for a ticket to the Spoon show at Radio City Music Hall in March because I saw Björk play there 10 years ago and the acoustics are so amazing it sounded like she was standing in front of us.)
Oh well. Here is Britt Daniel playing “Who Makes Your Money”:
So I missed the frontman for one of my favorite bands, and it does not matter an iota because I got to see St. Vincent and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) play and then I got to see them play together (Songer Singwriter – consisting of Annie, Justin, a drummer and Brad from Megafaun). Another honor was the surprise guest, Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), who sang this amazingly gorgeous song whose name I do not know. Her voice and delivery just blew everything else out of the water. She also did a Prince cover, which was wonderful. Had I known anything about her before Saturday, I would have gone to the show she had played the previous night at Bowery Ballroom.
Here is Justin Vernon performing one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen live:
Unexpectedly, for a bunch of delicate-sounding musicians, Songer Singwriter devolved into really balls-out noise (or evolved, depending on how one feels about noise), I mean, a crashing, borderline painful cacophony, particularly at the conclusion of “Jolene”, of which I do not have video.
Songer Singwriter cover Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon”:
And here is a partial clip of Songer Singwriter performing a jawdropping cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”:
Unrelated to the show, but having everything to do with Bon Iver, as part of another amazing evening with my friend, Kate M., she introduced me to La Blogotheque, which is run by people who invite musicians to play tiny, intimate shows in France. This is an a cappella version of “For Emma” sung in the hallway of an apartment building in Paris. Love the bewildered residents who came home to find Bon Iver. And, of course, the dog.
[Incidentally, Kate does not know this yet but she consistently introduces me to music that makes me think "This is why life is worth living." Not just the fantastic music itself, but the joy in discovering it exists out there in the world. Thank you, Kate, for also being out there in world.]
And I will leave you with a lovely, heartbreaking rendition of “Skinny Love”, also courtesy of La Blogotheque. Look at those joyous Frenchies who got to sit in a room the size of a closet and drink wine and sing along with this:
Animal Band Names
(Obliquely related to animals or animal parts).
AIDS Wolf
An Albatross
An Horse
Angry vs. The Bear
(Animal Collective)
(Animal Hands)
(Animals As Leaders)
(Anything But Animals)
Apes & Androids
Arctic Monkeys
Atlas Moth
Atomic Kitten
Avi Buffalo
Baby Alpaca
Band of Horses
Bat for Lashes
(Be Your Own Pet)
Bear Hands
Bear in Heaven
Bear vs. Shark
Bearsuit
(Beak>)
Birdmonster
Bird of Youth
Birds of Tokyo
Birds of Wales
Birds and Batteries
Birds Fled From Me
Black Horse
Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears
Blank Dogs
Bloody Panda
Bobby Birdman
Bowerbirds
Breathe Owl Breathe
Bunnybrains
Byrds of Paradise
(Candy Claws)
Caribou [formerly Manitoba]
Cat Power
Catfish Haven
Cattle Decapitation
Chicken Snake
Common Loon
Crocodiles
(Crystal Antlers)
Cub Country
Danger Mouse
Data Dog
Daylight’s for the Birds
Deer Tick
Deerhoof
Deerhunter
Department Of Eagles
(Des Roar)
Doveman
Dr. Dog
Ducktails
Eagles of Death Metal
Eagull*Seagull
Earl Greyhound
El Perro Del Mar
Elefant
Elephant Parade
Elk City
Ferraby Lionheart
Fleet Foxes
Foals
Freelance Whales
Frightened Rabbit
Gold Panda
Gorillaz
Grizzly Bear
Grouper
(Handsome Furs)
HORSE the Band
Horse Feathers
Hot Snakes
Jaguar Love
Japanther
Josiah Wolf
Kid Koala
Kids With Snakes
Kim Salmon and The Surrealists
Kittens Ablaze
LadyHawke
Le Tigre
Lemuria
Lion Fever
Lubricated Goat
Lucinda Black Bear
Lungfish
Maine Coons
Maus Haus
Mice Parade
Miniature Tigers
Minus The Bear
MINKS
Modest Mouse
Mongrel
Moth! Fight!
(Mother Feather)
Mouse on Mars
New Young Pony Club
Night Horse
Noah And The Whale
Noxious Foxes
Panda Bear
Panthers
Part Chimp
Patrick Wolf
Pedro the Lion
Penguin Prison
Peter and the Wolf
Peter Wolf Crier
Pig Out
(Plants and Animals)
Priestbird
(Pure Horsehair)
Purple Rhinestone Eagle
Psychedelic Furs
Pygmy Shrews
Red Sparowes
Rob Crow
Robyn
Sea Wolf
Seabear
Seabird
Shark?
She Keeps Bees
(Simian Mobile Disco)
Slang Chickens
(Slow Animal)
Snake Sustaine
Snoop Dogg
So Cow
Soft Cat
Spacehog
Stars Like Fleas
Stereo Pony
(Super Furry Animals)
Sweet Cobra
Tarantula
Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt
The Antlers
The Bees
The Beauty Apes
The Bird and the Bee
The Bird Day
The Black Swans
The Dear and the Headlights
The Dear Hunter
The Deer Tracks
The Deer in Your Headlights
The Detroit Cobras
The Donkeys
The Doves
The Eels
The Field Mice
The Fruit Bats
The Giraffes
The Goddamn Rattlesnake
The Greenhornes
(The Humble Feather)
The Jaguar Club
The Jayhawks
The Jesus Lizard
The Late Birds
The Mountain Goats
The Mynabirds
The Octopus Project
The Owl Stations
The Ponys
The Reindeer Section
The Sheepdogs
The Wooden Birds
The Wrens
(The Young Fur)
These Arms Are Snakes
They Shoot Horses Don’t They
(Tickley Feathers)
Toadies
Tortoise
Toy Horses
Turbowolf
Tweakbird
Ultra Dolphins
Vagina Panther
Vs. Antelope
Wallis Birds
We Are Wolves
Whale Belly
Whales and Cops
White Rabbits
White Whale
(Wild Beasts)
(WYLDLIFE)
Wild Yaks
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
Wolf Eyes
Wolf Parade
Wolfmother
Yellowbirds
Zebra Baby
(Zoos of Berlin)
Fake/Mythical/Extinct Animals and Monsters:
Baby Monster
Blue Giant
Care Bears On Fire
Deadboy & The Elephantmen
Dinosaur Feathers
Dinosaur Jr.
Dinowalrus
Dragonette
Dragons of Zynth
Echo & The Bunnymen
Elf Power
Ghost of a Sabre Toothed Tiger
Goblin Cock
Gods & Queens
Graffiti Monsters
Holy Spirits
Humanbeast
Hungry Ghost
I Am Giant
Little Dragon
Lucky Dragons
Mastodon
Megafaun
Mogwai
No Demons Here
Nymph
Ogre You Asshole
Oh You Devil
Pet Ghost Project
Phoenix
Pterodactyl
Sea Monsters
Siouxsie & The Banshees
Spectre Folk
Steel Phantoms
Thank God
That Ghost
The Black Angels
The Dodos
The Muggabears
The Pixies
The Raveonettes
The Unicorns
They Might Be Giants
Thing-One
Thunderbirds are Now!
USAISAMONSTER
Vampire Hands
Vampire Weekend
Your 33 Black Angels
New Off-shoot: Bones
Baybee Teeth
Band of Skulls
Beach Fossils
Cleen Teeth
Cobra Skulls
Dead Man’s Bones
Ebony Bones
Last Good Tooth
Mike Bones
Pink Skull
Sean Bones
Skeleton Key
Skeletonwitch
Updated 08.14.2010
205 animal / 63 other
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//RECENT
Vincent Moon and Arcade Fire Walk Into An Elevator….“[T]he crowd seemed really emotionally engaged with the music.”
Water Water Everywhere…. “Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.”
- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
An extended version of Bon Iver’s La Blogotheque Take Away Show of “For Emma, Forever Ago” with three versions of the song and some very startled tourists. I think this is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Not just that the song is so beautiful, and is so beautifully sung, but that [...]
So, This Stephen Malkmus-looking Guy Who Went to High School with My Boss Wrote a Children’s BookA man once said, “Childrens do learn.” and I believe childrens should learn to dream big dreams. Even better is to dream arty dreams like a hipster might draw. This hipster author’s name is Dallas Clayton. Although I do not know for sure that Dallas Clayton is a hipster, he looks like this: And, I [...]
Matilde UrrutiaIt isn’t simply that you are loved gloriously, or loved beautifully. But rather that a pitch perfect expression of love for you sounds and sounds, Rises into the very air. Though the love itself may fade, I do not know, The poetry you inspire ascends, ascending Becomes stars and you, who are so loved, Look [...]
//FROM THE ARCHIVES
You Have the Loveliest Crack Home!Rolling Stone recently published a pretty epic article about America’s failed drug war which should be required reading for any elected official who is ever required to approve additional funding for this “war”. Today, we hear word that the Supreme Court has ruled to allow judges much broader leeway in sentencing people for offenses related [...]
I’m Your HuckleberryI recently re-watched “Tombstone” on cable and was reminded again of how fantastic Val Kilmer was in that movie. This is one of his strongest performances (though I loved him in “Heat“, too. That scene where he’s been shot and he gets out of the car, sees Ashley Judd standing on that balcony and his [...]
SickoUse your new iPhone to find a local theater where you can go see Sicko (you can also use the newspaper…we’re told they have movie listings as well). This is an important film about an imminently important issue. Whether you’re a republican, a democrat, or whatever ticket Pat Buchanon ran on the last time around, [...]
Concert Etiquette and Ass Inspectors“concert people snuggled warmly under my blanket of hatred include: people who mosh, loud talkers, loud singers, people who throw things and hurt people, men who rub their crotches against your back….”
Just to Clarify, Mandela Is Not DeadWe got this from Think Progress, and thought we’d help them to clarify that Nelson Mandela is not now, nor has he yet been, in any way dead. It seems like something you wouldn’t need to mention, but when the President of the United States says otherwise, you’ve got to rally the troops. Sure, we’re [...]
