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2009:02:26:08:00. Thursday. NO!: CRACKER (#465, FEB 5 2009).
Last time I saw Cracker they had a new album out, but I don't recall what they played from it other than this song. That was the case again this time -- the set was full of album cuts, but they tended to be older stuff (the singles, too -- I didn't notice any post-Kerosene Hat). Emily said she saw them way back when and they were kind of hostile about playing "Low," and it's nice to see they're now embracing their catalog holistically.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2009:02:22:08:00. Sunday. NO!: CRACKER (#464, FEB 5 2009).
Last time I saw Cracker they played a two-hour set drawing from all periods of their nearly 20-year history, and the acoustic set David Lowery and Johnny Hickman put on a couple weeks ago was just as sprawling, if a little shorter. The stuff from their self-titled debut -- a 1992 release! -- may have been the best of it. This mournful, extended take on "Dr. Bernice" was terrific, and the highlight of the show for me was "Teen Angst" with Hickman using only knobs to play the song's main lick.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2009:02:12:08:00. Thursday. NO!: THE VIRGINS (#463, FEB 3 2009).
The Virgins' LP has grown on my considerably since my first listen. Then I could only hear the changes to the EP songs, which didn't sit well with me, and only later did the new ones -- particularly "Teen Lovers" and "Murder" -- begin to resonate. Ironically, this is one tune on the record that I've never been able to get into, but even it's not bad. The record will be at #5 on my 2008 best-of list whenever I get it written up and posted.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2009:02:11:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: THE VIRGINS (#462, FEB 3 2009).
We first saw the Virgins opening for Tokyo Police Club in Vancouver in the fall of 2007, and I spent a lot of time listening to their debut EP back then. All five songs on it were rerecorded for their Gossip Girl-approved LP, and I think all of them are a bit worse for it. On the other hand, their live set just seems to get better and better. Donald Cumming has almost entirely quit playing guitar live, which frees him up to pose a lot (in a good way), and having a headliner's crowd works great with the dance-friendliness of their tunes.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2009:02:09:08:00. Monday. NO!: LISSY TRULLIE (#461, FEB 3 2009).
One of the really nice things about this show was how quick-moving it was. Anya Marina had almost no equipment to speak of, and Lissy Trullie used the Virgins' drums (and maybe amps, too). The downtime between sets was minimal and the bands were focused on spending time playing music. It's a nice change of pace, though since we went to iPhones I guess I mind sitting around between sets that much.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2009:02:08:08:00. Sunday. NO!: LISSY TRULLIE (#460, FEB 3 2009).
Next up were a downtown New York quartet with a namesake singer, Lissy Trullie. Everything I'd read about them before the show made frequent references to Andy Warhol and the late 70s scene, but their sound didn't really measure up to the revolutionary language. They were a lot like the Strokes being fronted by Chrissie Hynde, which was fine but I think would've worked better with a bigger crowd or material I was already familiar with.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2009:02:06:08:00. Friday. NO!: ANYA MARINA (#459, FEB 3 2009).
Anya Marina's new album is a full band recording, but her stage act is still just her. But, she still played her new songs with band backing thanks to a CD player on the stage floor. It sounded pretty good, and this is one of my favorite songs on the record, but I think she's still getting used to lining herself up with the backing music. This song had a couple false starts, and some other songs did as well, but if anything it seemed to endear her to the audience more.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2009:02:05:08:00. Thursday. NO!: ANYA MARINA (#458, FEB 3 2009).
What a drought! The winter thus far has brought not just very few shows I'm interested in to Madison, it feels like fewer shows in general are going on. Could be the economy hitting the live music industry, or maybe just a confirmation bias-fueled misperception on my part. Whatever it is, the drought came to a dramatic end when the Virgins came to town for a frigid mid-week show. Opening things up was a singer/songwriter who reminded by a lot of Inara George (The Bird from The Bird and the Bee), Anya Marina. I'm guessing she developed her act in the coffeehouse scene, because her set featured a lot of interstitial storytelling. I don't usually include a three-minute lead-in on my clips, but on this one I felt it was worth keeping her extended acupuncture story as she introduced a song from her first album about L.A. This song was on Grey's Anatomy (or at least one of its soundtrack releases) so you may recognize it from there.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra |
