Finally Getting Back On Track

Lo-Fi-Fnk @ Fontana’s 11/3/2006
City / Adore / Wake Up / The End

Lo-Fi-Fnk “City” – Lo-Fi-Fnk’s fourth US show was in the basement venue of a bar called Fontana’s, as part of the Brooklyn Vegan‘s series of CMJ day shows. The group only played four songs, and unfortunately “What’s On Your Mind?” and “Unighted” were not among them, but they were fun and adorable nonetheless. The three of them are in their early 20s, but they all appear to be around 16 – the two boys in particular looked as though they were trying out for some European boy band, though given the sound of their music, that’s a bit like being surprised by some random punk band looking like a bunch of punks. (Click here to buy it from Moshi Moshi.)

Kill Rock Stars CMJ showcase @ Hiro Ballroom 11/3/2006

Excepter “Op Pop” – Excepter’s performance was technically improvised, but within a set of parameters that included two additional members on stage — a dark haired woman who read a poem along with the music for the first few minutes of the set but then mostly sat down and witnessed the performance while remaining part of its physical expression, and a blonde woman who sat in on flute and saxophone. The latter player was crucial to the tone of the performance, with her contributions forming a more direct textural connection to the group’s free jazz ancestry, and recurring as a formal element in sampled form when she was not playing the instrument. As with “Op Pop” from their album Alternation, their performance at the Hiro Ballroom suggested lateral progression by mixing textural elements in and out of the sonic muck. The structure of the piece was fluid in a figurative sense, but implied actual liquidity with its sound often mimicking the sensation of hearing loud music while submerged in water. The fact that it was often difficult to discern exactly what the band was doing with their miscellaneous keyboards, gadgets, and mixing boards was greatly beneficial to their performance, making it so that it was never clear exactly how many of the sounds were being generated. Their indistinct movements and activities mystified their music in a way that is not possible with traditional instruments. Unsurprisingly, my eyes gravitated toward the players who were making sounds that were the most easily identified, though in fairness it’s a bit more exciting to watch John Fell Ryan freak out with a megaphone or a gorgeous blonde woman play the flute than to observe a couple guys in the back who appear to be repairing a sampler. (Click here to buy it from Buy Olympia.)

Mary Timony “Silence” – I’ve seen Mary Timony perform in every phase of her career from The Dirt of Luck onward with the exception of her tour for The Golden Dove, and in all of that time and in all of those shows, this was the first time that I’ve ever seen an audience nearly unanimous in their enthusiasm for her music. You could sort of tell that she was surprised and maybe a bit confused at first, but by the middle of the set, she was smiling and slightly talkative, which is maybe of out of the ordinary, at least in the context of the seven or eight shows I’ve seen her play in DC and NYC since 1995. Of course, Mary deserved the audience that she had Friday night, and not simply out of goodwill for her back catalog. Aside from playing “Silence” and “Backwards/Forwards” from Ex Hex, she and her new band focused on new songs presumably written for forthcoming KRS debut, which ought to be pretty fantastic judging by this set. Even more so than on Ex Hex, her new compositions highlight her talent as a guitarist with melodic, sprawling guitar jams that rival the recent work of Stephen Malkmus and Sonic Youth. (Click here to buy it from Sound Fix.)

Erase Errata “Cruising” – Erase Errata performed almost exactly the same setlist as when I saw them back in September, but their show suffered a bit for some persistent technical difficulties involving Jenny Hoyston’s guitar, which was mysteriously buried in the mix for the duration of the set, even before she broke any of her strings. The rhythm section was on and in great form, but the dynamics were way off, which is sort of a problem with songs like “Another Genius Idea From Our Government” and “Cruising,” which need her guitar parts for emphasis. The songs are strong enough to compensate for the problems, but only so much. Hoyston was a good sport, and provided some charming stage banter, but overall, this was a lackluster performance from a great band. We all have our off days and I’ve seen them do better, so I’m not too upset about it. (Click here to buy it from Buy Olympia.)

A Sunny Day In Glasgow @ Sin-E 11/3/2006
C’mon / Laughter (Victims) / ? / A Mundane Phone Call To Jack Parsons / ? / The Best Summer Ever

A Sunny Day In Glasgow “The Best Summer Ever” – If A Sunny Day In Glasgow had gone out on a lengthy sold-out tour in the time since I saw them play their first show back in July, their transformation into the confident, comfortable band that I witnessed Friday night would’ve made more sense, but the truth is that you can still count their number of public performances on one hand. A lot of their improvement as a live act comes from the presence of a live drummer and bassist, but that doesn’t fully explain how singers Robin and Lauren Daniels suddenly seem at home on stage after coming across as very quiet and nervous a little over three months ago. The shift into playing as a full band has altered their live sound, mainly by removing the extreme reverb from the percussion and trimming away the density of the pre-recorded tracks, but the wash of sound remains, as well as the charm of this otherworldly music coming from a bunch of attractive, unpretentious, clean cut suburbanites. (Click here to buy it (and get a free button) from A Sunny Day In Glasgow. Their first full album Scribble Mural Comic Journal will be out in February on NTNF.)

Elsewhere: Maratho

n Packs has a review of the Knife’s show in Los Angeles, and among other things, manages to articulate something I meant to get into in my review regarding the group’s use of physical depth and space in their live performance.