Chocolate and Bacon? (Try Vosges chocolate).

2010 has been a great albeit odd year in music. Head over to Consequence of Sound for a rundown of some of the best, most interesting music collaborations of the year.

Strange Bedfellows

Concert Review: LCD Soundsystem with Hot Chip 8.23.10

I put on my best dancing shoes and rolled 400 miles to St. Paul, Minnesota to see former DFA labelmates LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip perform. Both acts are reeling off of killer 2010 releases that they have been touring behind pretty hard. Here's a little rundown of what happened to my ears and face (it melted).

Hot Chip

Hot Chip's critics have always wondered how serious the band is. Originally seen as goofball dance-poppers, the band has with each subsequent record seemed to trade some of its cutesy,somewhat off-putting antics for sincerity. With 2010 release One Life Stand we get Hot Chip's best (arguably), most consistent record. If what you want out of the band is a banger on par with "Over and Over" or "Shake a Fist", or a single that can stand up to "Boy From School" or "Ready for the Floor", you might be disappointed, but the record is the Hot Chip record some of us have been waiting for, a combination of their affable tendencies, seriously humanizing dance tracks, and some serious love songs to boot.

Hot Chip have been touring hard behind their latest and I was able to catch them for the second time this year. Their set was identical to the one played at Lollapalooza with the addition of one song "Take It In", One Life Stand's closing track, which killed. They demonstrated a calculated spontaneity through their set that I had missed the first time, improvising just enough to keep things exciting while not straying too far from their formula. The synthesizers were big, and with Joe Goddard present (absent from Lolla with a new baby, congrats!) I got a slightly more complete spectacle. Hot Chip are live show veterans and each number of their set impresses, now if Alexis Taylor could only leave his yellow MC Hammer pants at home...


LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem have a routine and they know not to tamper with it. Their synths are monumental and frontman James Murphy croons, screams and improvs his way through a setlist built on one dance classic after another. With what James Murphy claims is LCD's last album, 2010'sThis Is Happening, we find Murphy rationalizing his cultural cache and feel him stumble (however, cooly) toward a breaking point. He is at the most vulnerable point in his career with this record, but at the same time he seems almost confident about it, satisfied with his unstable position. He nods again and again to his influences on the album (Bowie and Eno anyone?), carefully pointing but keeping it strictly his own with his studio work and innovation.

Opener "Dance Yrself Clean" slayed, highlighting each of the band-members skills while keeping the spotlight tightly focused on Murphy. His I-just-woke-up appearance tied in perfectly with the tunes, and when he unleashed his first scream of the night just after the synths dived, "Don't you want me to wake up? Then give me just a bit of your time", the crowd was forced into an unavoidable body rock. Song after song did oh so sweet damage to the crowds ears and before too long I found myself danced out and heading to the balcony. Looking from above put the band in perspective and for the first time I noticed how many people were there, none of them able to stand still. "Yeah (Crass Version)" was another highlight but looking back I find it hard to pick out my favorites from the set, no choice disappointed. Not meaning to speak in absolutes, but LCD Soundsystem is one of the best bands I have ever seen. Sad as it is to say it, maybe Murphy is smart calling it quits after this last album. It's hard to hold the cultural status he and his band have grasped for so long, and maybe dropping out on top isn't such a bad idea. Maybe some other bands should take cues from them, they haven't seemed to make and wrong moves yet.

Phoenix + Daft Punk

Yet another reason I would consider living in New York... Last night, as Phoenix's headlining set at Madison Square Garden was coming to a close, they were joined on stage by fellow Frenchies, and ....robots, Daft Punk. Check out the coverage and don't miss the videos over at Pitchfork. Click below. Wowwwwwww.

Phoenix + Daft Punk!

Not Seeing Local Natives.

Tragedy strikes. I will not be seeing the Local Natives, one of 2010's newest and coolest bands. In honor of their show tonight, and well, my absence, here are a few links to check out.


Local Natives official website (stream their awesome debut album Gorilla Manor here.

Itunes Exclusive video of Airplanes unplugged.

Local Native playing Wide Eyes at Bonnaroo.

Enjoy, and if you haven't picked up Gorilla Manor yet, something is wrong with you.

The Meaning of Life According to Ben Gibbard

While crawling across the webscape doing some research for some upcoming reviews, I happened to stumble upon this 2008 essay written by Death Cab's frontman Ben Gibbard. It comes in three parts and touches on some really relevant topics about music, relationships, criticism, idols, perpetual unhappiness, writing songs and people that aren't necessarily interesting-- just because they are in to interesting things. Check it out at the jump below and let me know what you think. I especially want to hear reactions to one of his final points, "I would rather make great records than make great relationships". Check out the essay at the jump.


The Meaning of Life: Ben Gibbard

Photo of Ben Gibbard taken from flickr.com and submitted by Jeremy M. Farmer.

New Deerhunter, "Helicopter".

Is anyone else excited for Deerhunter's upcoming release Haclyon Digest? It has already generated some heavy buzz in the blogosphere with their guerilla marketing campaign in support of their first single "Revival" and their recent pairing with Ben Allen who helped mix the record. Allen might have influenced a 2009 record you might be familiar with, Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion. Needless to say, we can afford to get a little excited.


Follow the jump below to an official video for Haclyon Digest's track "Helicopter".


Helicopter

Lolla Sunday.

With classes starting again, moving into a new house, hosting an Italian and adjusting to the general vibe of my college town once again, it has been hard to keep up here. My apologies :).

I'm going to skip the heavy detailed recap that I gave of Saturday and Sunday settling instead for a basic recap. More and different themed posts are on they way shortly.



My day started off a little late and I had to rush to catch the last bit of the Antlers too early 12 am set. I was emotionally overpowered by their last "Wake", and the rain that accompanied it was a perfect match.

They played late and the Dodos started right on time at the stage opposite. This was the first time all weekend I heard two bands play opposite each other at the same time.

There were a lot of bands I wanted to see that day, but I made a decision to put all of my efforts into getting front row for the Arcade Fire, Sunday night's co-closers with Soundgarden. This is what I sacrificed... The Cribs, Minus the Bear, Company of Theives, Erykah Badu, Wolfmother, Soungarden.. and... The National. Cardinal sin? Maybe, but the payoff was great.

So during the Dodo's I started to prepare myself, I ate, pissed, filled up my water bottles, chugged them, pissed, filled up my water bottles, pissed again and then stuck myself in the crowd already building in front of the Budweiser stage.

It wasn't such a bad draw. Blitzen Trapper played at 2 and with them came the sunshine. It was fitting. The southern-tinged Portland based sextet impressed with solid genre-hopping songs, one after another.

4 o'clock rolled around, and I pushed further into the crowd for Yeasayer. I would have rather experienced them in a smaller, darker venue, but I had seen them before and knew what to expect. Yeasayer are an art-pop group from Brooklyn that play tribal sounding music with three part harmonies that other groups can't seem to nail. They hide pop music in worldly sounds that are at the same times accessible to the masses but interesting enough to enthrall the hipster kids. Their latest album and 2010 release has its share of gems but I had been unaware of how popular they had gotten. When I saw a girl near tears during an especially funky rendition of second single from Odd Blood "O.N.E.", I had to reconsider nearly everything I thought about the band. Despite their new found popularity, half of the way overpopulated crowd, without question, was squatting for MGMT. Whether they knew why the crowd was so big or not Yeasayer brought their best, ran through their gems (which are hits now, kind of?), and left the crowd wanting more.

I really like MGMT. I still like "Electric Feel", "Time to Pretend" and "Kids", despite the near exhaustion the three tracks have received on every bro's car stereo throughout the world. Contrary to some, I also dig the back half, the weird tracks. I think they play really interesting music that has rare staying value. Their 2010 record Congratulations, although not making the cut onto my top 10 of the first 3/4 of the year, is a great record, front to back. I caught MGMT the Summer before at Bonnaroo and was a little disappointed. I still can't decide if it was from the performance or from the general unpleasantness of the fans. I am okay with rowdy crowds but fans that like MGMT-- really really like MGMT. At Lolla 2010 MGMT put on a great show, mixing the setlist perfectly for fans like me and bros alike. I actually got to give Ben Goldwasser a high five during "Kids". I wasn't unhappy, but upon reflection, I really just hate MGMT fans.

The gap between me hearing the last chords fade out of MGMT's 2010 album closer and title song "Congratulations" and hearing the Arcade Fire open with "Ready to Start" was filled mostly with sobs as a good portion of the crowd turned around and strained their ears to hear a bit of the National's set.

I had fought through MGMT bro's, dehydration, discomfort among other unpleasant sensations for my one hand on the fence -almost- front row spot, and I wouldn't trade anything for what I saw.

The Arcade Fire are a live band. Their grand statements ring most powerfully when their stage presence can be seen and felt. Every song revealed the band jumping from instrument to instrument, all members emotionally invested in every song they played, never cutting corners, always shooting for the stars. But maybe that is what makes Arcade Fire such a popular band and one the masses aren't afraid to get behind. I got goosebumps more than one time when I found myself lost and screaming with everyone else along to all of the "Neighborhood" numbers and found myself pleasantly surprised how many people knew the words to their new record The Suburbs that was released just days before.

The band that makes invincible songs looked anything but invincible on stage, showing humility even in their most epic moments. When frontman Win Butler addressed the crowd directly explaining how scary it is to face a crowd this size playing new numbers for the first time it showed exactly why Arcade Fire are where they are today. They are a now a mainstream rock band but they come equipped with sincerity and tact absent from most other "maintstream" acts. Moreover, they instill a sense of hope in the listener, even if it is temporary. Live music for me has always been moving, but this had to be one of the most moving shows I have seen. I was so sure walking away from the show that the world was going to change for the better, just like they told me on stage. But the hope was fleeting, my pessimism sat in once again looking at the trash on the ground and feeling the rude people all around me. My largely varied emotions stabilized as the crowd in unison performed a second encore for the band, again singing their Wooooooooahhhhh.. woaaahhhhhhhh wordless chorus from hit "Wake Up" as they all in turn marched to their respective Chicago suburb.


Photo of Win Butler of the Arcade Fire was taken on Aug. 8th 2010 and borrowed by me from MaxBlau from flickr.com. Thank you very much.