POSTS BY: Shopping BagNovember 20th, 2010 by Shopping Bag Shawn Smith Live at the Doug Fir LoungeShawn opened the show with one of my favorites from The Family, “Isn’t That Right.” October 10th, 2010 by Shopping Bag Chapterhouse Live at the TroubadorOne of my all-time favorite Brit pop bands, I listen to their album “Whirlpool” frequently. I saw that they would be in L.A. the same week as me, so I bought a ticket for what turned out to be a solid gold sold-out performance at the legendary Troubador. Like the Guided By Voices reunion show I saw earlier in the week, the performance was flawless and amazing. Nostalgia is a powerful feeling, and when coupled with blissful pop hooks, dreamy shoegazer vocals and jangly guitars, it’s effects are amplified 1,000 times. Chapterhouse played nearly every song from “Whirlpool” and a few from “Blood Music.” The highlights for me were “Pearl” (see above) and “If You Want Me,” a song that made its way on to more of my mixtapes than any other song out there. Marne, Kara, Amy, Denise, Meghan, Gail, Mara and the rest of you — you’re welcome for that. October 4th, 2010 by Shopping Bag Guided By Voices Live at the WilternI have to be honest: when I saw the tickets online, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to buy them. After all, the last few Guided By Voices albums were not that great and the band had totally fallen off my radar. However, what I failed to notice when I bought the tickets is that this was a Guided By Voices tour featuring the classic 1990-1996 lineup: Ringleader Robert Pollard, guitarists Mitch Mitchell and Tobin Sprout, bassist Greg Demos, and drummer Kevin Fennell. Highlights: opening with a lazy “A Salty Salute” where every person in the sold-out show sang along; 34 of their greatest hits from Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes in well under two hours including personal faves like “Game of Pricks,” “My Valuable Hunting Knife,” and “I Am Scientist”; two encores (and not three like the hipster douchebag next to me kept telling everyone he knew they would do because that’s what they had done the night before when he saw them in Las Vegas — thankfully! — because, c’mon, three encores is just ridiculous); Pollard consuming enough alcohol to kill a horse but never losing the crowd or the music; the roadie whose sole job was to light cigarettes and put them in Mitch Mitchell’s mouth; and a near riot during “Motor Away” where about 50 people from the crowd jumped up on stage and danced / sang along with the band. The only — and I mean ONLY — lowlights: $12.00 beers (are you fucking kidding me LA??), the multitude of aforementioned douchebag hipsters, and they didn’t play my all-time favorite song (and Phantasmo’s) “Official Iron Man Rally Song.” Nonetheless, it was probably one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Pollard and crew remain as entertaining as ever, and their music — judging by the number of fathers, math teachers, executives, burnouts, and other regular old ADULTS in the crowd — remains as relevant and inspiring as ever. This wasn’t seeing your favorite band from your youth at the state fair: this was a trip down memory lane that reawakened the passions and fires of your youth and reminded you that — even under the wrinkles and gray hair — those passions and fires are just as relevant and powerful today. Thanks for the reminder, GBV. July 25th, 2010 by Shopping Bag Join the Record ClubLed by Beck Hansen, the Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record a reinterpretation of classic albums. Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time, meaning the songs are rough renditions, often recorded on the first takes. What hooked me on the Record Club is Beck’s decision to interpret the INXS 80s pop masterpiece “Kick.” Check out this session featuring Annie Clark/St. Vincent:
Record Club: INXS “Never Tear Us Apart” from Beck Hansen on Vimeo. July 6th, 2010 by Shopping Bag Daytrotter Sessions“One band a day, every day, 28 Daytrotter Session songs each week.” Just listen to the performance of one of my favorite bands Far. They take away the many sonic layers that blanket the album version of “At Night We Live” and perform songs with guitars and trap set that sounds like it’s being played for you in your bedroom as you drift off to sleep. The space and airiness of the recordings are at once strange (to our used-to-hearing-over-produced-recorded-music ears), disarming, and totally gorgeous. I also have to mention comical but true to life illustrations of each band sketched by Johnnie Cluney. Classic! June 6th, 2010 by Shopping Bag Screaming Lights is your new favorite bandThe album “Like Angels” took two years to complete, but it was worth the wait. The sound is 100% classic dark Brit rock (these boys hail from Liverpool) in the vein of Idlewild and White Lies and Editors, with obvious influences from the originators of British gloom indie rock Joy Division and the Comsat Angels. Their debut album “Like Angels” features organs, dirty guitars, solid tempos and a singer whose voice carries beautiful melodies and the scratchy weariness of person who has been through the ringer a few times. Listening to the lyrics for “Hello Tomorrow” gives listeners a glimpse of the cynicism and anger that pervades their music in what is a choleric condemnation of the notion that every new day brings new opportunities: “You’re a butt face lie, a monster in disguise! I shook your hand, the purple veins, you’ve got shit for brains.” Check them out on MySpace.com or Facebook. |
