November 22nd, 2004 1:53pm
I Thought Something Good Could Be Starting
The Blow “Hey Boy” – This would be a #1 single in an alternate universe where Olympia, Washington is the center of the R&B universe. (Which, I imagine, might be some people’s idea of hell on earth, and I’m not inclined to disagree.) Still, this is a lovely twee pop song set to a drum track which I think is meant to imply a spare Neptunes beat or something like that Lumidee hit from last year, though it actually ends up sounding a bit more dated than that. I’d hate to sound as though I’m damning this tune with faint praise – I really do love this song. (Click here to buy it from K Records.)
White Hole “Piano Again” – Video treatment: A clunky, Star Wars droid-like robot sits at a piano, playing the keys with its spindly little robot appendages and “singing” the lead synth line. Other robots join in, playing the other parts as they enter the arrangement. Ideally, these would be real robots, very similar to the Captured By Robots! set up. (Click here to buy it from Kitty-Yo.)
X-Wife @ Rothko 11/19/2004
The Sound of You / New Old City / Fall / Hot Shot / Eno / Second Best / Feel Connected / Clinic / Action Plan / Taking Control
If you’re in the NYC area and didn’t see X-Wife this weekend, you really missed out. I caught the set at Rothko on Friday, and they were extremely impressive, playing to a small crowd of thirty as though they were rocking Madison Square Garden. They played almost everything from the album (though no “Rockin’ Rio,” since they were missing the keyboard for that number) plus a few very promising new songs. They have one last show in NYC before they head back to Portugal – Wednesday at Piano’s at 7:30. You won’t regret it.