Smoke and Syllables

Something worth dancing to

2007-04-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

"People don't dance no more, they just stand there like this: they cross their arms, and stare you down, and drink and moan and diss."

The Rapture//Whoo! Alright...Yeah, Uh Huh

What a let down

2007-03-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I've posted anything, but I've just been feeling so lazy lately.

Still bent on wasting all my money on every concert that rolls into town, I went to see the Blood Brothers perform at the House of Blues in Chicago on Sunday night. As much as I love the Blood Brothers, and as much as I was looking forward to seeing them live, I think this was one of the biggest let-downs I have experienced. I suppose I just...expected better.

The whole show, for the most part, was, as I regret to inform, extremely disappointing. The opening band was decent, and they interacted with the crowd more than any of the others. However, I honestly can't remember their name (shows how much I loved them, right?). But they really weren't bad. Moon Rats were the next to play. Again, they were mediocre. Nothing special, but nothing extremely terrible.

The third was Celebration, who was the other headlining band. Now, this is were I really got in a bad mood. By this time, I was so tired of watching bands I didn't come for that I was just antsy and wanted to either see the Blood Brothers perform, or just go home. It didn't help that Celebration is in essence a group that desperately wants to be the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Face it honey, you're not Karen O, and your attempts to scream like her did nothing but piss me off. During their set, they had a few instances of back up from the Blood Brothers. Now, you'd think this would be a great opportunity to fit in some sound checks and thus get the Blood Brothers on stage faster. But....alas, it was nothing of the sort. Sound checks and set up for the band took over an hour after Celebration was done playing. But finally, after a long wait and an extremely overpowering urge to leave, the Blood Brothers took the stage.

I thought I would be happy for this.
I was...well, content, I suppose.

They opened with Guitarmy, closed with Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon, and that's really all I remember. I couldn't really remember the set for the life of me. The played songs from Crimes, Burn Piano Island Burn, and Young Machetes, but nothing before that. Somewhere along the lines, there was Giant Swan, Trash Flavored Trash, Ambulance vs. Ambulance, Rats and Rats and Rats for Candy, We Ride Skeletal Lightning, Set Fire to the Face on Fire, Vital Beach, Huge Gold AK-47, Spit Shine Your Black Clouds, Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck, and probably others. But I must say, I was disappointed. There were a lot of fuck ups on the guitar, We Ride Skeletal Lightning changed tempo quite a bit, and the beginning of Set Fire to the Face on Fire was completely not together.

In the end, all it amounted to was my Sharpies being taken away at the door (you know, they don't want people "drawing on the expensive artwork". Weak.), a lot of sweaty bodies, my watch getting lost, and a very disappointed Rachel and her friends.

Despite my sad state at this concert, here are a few Blood Brothers tracks which are best heard from mastered recordings.

Set Fire to the Face on Fire
Trash Flavored Trash
We Ride Skeletal Lightning

One hell of a show

2007-03-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

The Of Montreal show went a little something like this.

**Setlist**
Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
So Begins Our Alabee
Suffer for Fashion
Sink the Seine
Cato as a Pun
Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider
Disconnect the Dots
Lysergic Bliss
Come and Fetch Me
British Tour Diary
October is Eternal
The Past is a Grotesque Animal
She's a Rejector
I Was Never Young
Faberge Falls For Shuggie
Oslo in the Summertime
Gronlandic Edit
Rapture Rapes the Muses

**Encore**
Starman (Bowie)
Hold On To Yourself (Bowie)
The Party's Crashing Us
The Repudiated Immortals

Alas

2007-03-08T21:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry, again, not much time to post. Better entries will come soon.

Here's something random for lack of anything of relevance.

Public Enemy//Don't Believe the Hype

10 days and counting

2007-03-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

There are officially ten days left until I travel out to the Metro in Chicago to see the wonderfully grand Of Montreal. I must say that I am anticipating this show like no other. As would be expected, the band is touring to promote the release of their new cd Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? The show should have a lot in store, with Kevin Barnes talking about antics such as "a ten foot dress", and "a lot of costume changes". What band could pull it off better than Of Montreal, the band that has a reputation for playing in dresses and can occasionally be caught doing it nude, too? Also playing are bands Grand Buffet and Walter Meego.

On behalf of my excitement for the show, here are a couple tracks from Of Montreal, as well as one from Grand Buffet.

Of Montreal
Off the album Satanic Panic in the Attic:
Lysergic Bliss

Off the album The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy:
One of a Very Few of a Kind

Off the new album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?:
She's a Rejector
Faberge Falls for Shuggie

Grand Buffet
Oh My God You're Weird

Monster Hospital!

2007-03-04T11:13:00.000-08:00

I don't really have all that much time to type out a full entry right now, but just to put something down here, Monster Hospital by Metric has been stuck in my head for weeks, so I've decided to upload the song for your listening pleasure, along with the MSTRKRFT remix of it. Enjoy.

Metric//Monster Hospital

Metric//Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT remix)

An explosion of musical genius

2007-03-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

Meet How I Became the Bomb. Not until just recently did I find this band. But I must say that I am indeed glad I did. Their melodies are catchy, their vocals are fantastic, and the lyrical content creates both a sense of amusement and in a way, nostalgia. I have yet to order their cd, but I plan to very soon. You can find their debut mini-album, along with some t-shirts and other goodies, at their currently under developement website here. One of my favorite songs off the album is the song Secret Identity. The overall premesis for the song is quite an interesting one, and I find it a very unique yet touching subject for a song. At least, I got that feeling out of it. But perhaps it will just make you wish you were more like Superman.

How I Became the Bomb//Secret Identity