See/Read/Hear/Smell/Taste something good? Slap it up here and let us know what you thought. See/Read....etc something schnasty? Warn us before we make the same mistake. Perhaps we can have some good back and forth discussions as well. Schnice!
I begin with a quick review of a recent show that I saw at North Sixth in Brooklyn. Headliners were "Why?" with openers "Telepathy" and "Get him, Eat him." Characteristically the show began late, about 45 minutes or so. I don't know when I'm going to learn just to show up an hour after I think I should, so I'm not forced to stand around and by overpriced drinks or ogle merchandise that I have little intention of buying.
Finally Telepathy took the stage. Perhaps "took" is too strong a verb. Let's replace that with "they made vaguely clear that they were a band and not a sound crew or a bunch of mischevious hipsters high on pot brownies playing with the equipment." And the show started. Two lookalike hipster girls with long bangs and matching hoodies, hands in pockets, hoods covering the better part of their faces, waifily singing "ohs and ahs" through heavy echo effects. It was like watching a Bizzarro world episode of the Brady Bunch when Jan is having a nightmare about an upcoming performance. Musically, they had a nice sound, with two drum sets and some interesting effects, such as computer supplied beats. However, there were few if any rhythm changes, no stops, no dynamics, and no charisma. Imagine Sonic Youth with no talent. The audience's involvement matched the bands.
"Get Him, Eat Him," hailing from Providence Road Island were a totally different story. Picture a bunch of ex D&D players who somehow turned cool....sort of. The lead singer looks like a young Harold Ramis with a few more pounds and a slightly larger fro, and the whole band rocks. They bop around and laugh as they look at each other, they banter and have fun with the crowd, they tell little stories, the keyboardist (who can't be more than 15) plays airguitar while waiting for his next entrance, and their music is fun. Part Weezer, part Unicorns, part Malkmus and the Jicks. These guys are happy to be up there, and it's infectious. I threw my neck out.
"Why?" Off Anti-con records are unclassifiably strange and delightful. Sharing a label with hip-hop notables Sage Francis and Sole, one might think that they'd fit neatly into such a pigeon hole, but no. Perhaps their musical versatility represents this best. Their front man switches from maracas to keyboards to bass to guitar to clapping hands to whistling, rapping, and singing. The rest of the band follows, with drummer playing bass and addiing vocals and banter, and keyboardist switching to strings as well. Only their guitarist holds his axe rigid. (I should look up names, but I'm not feeling it right now.) Their schizophrenic aesthetic isn't confusing or debilitating, however, it's keep you on the edge of your seat delightful. Their songs/raps/stories spin off in crazy directions with bizarre harmonies, instrumentation, and rhythmic/phrasing ideosyncrasies that evidence a sheer delight in language and tongue in cheek bittersweet. Illustrative of this is the line "The winter's crap in Cincinnati, the blood from your slit wrists turning what's left of the snow into cherry slushies."
I hear that the album versions of their stuff has a very different feel than the live stuff, and I must say I'm curious. Definitely worth checking out, but not an essential "must have."
p.s. Should we start one of these threads for music, and one for art, books etc.? Or should we just do it all under one thread?
