Posts tagged CMJ
KXSC Official CMJ Recap
KXSC Official CMJ Recap

 

Last week, KXSC gang members gathered together and huddled through the LAX airport one late night to make their way 3,000 miles away to CMJ's annual CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. Their goal? To try and find some untouched new talent, eat some Pastrami and take the wrong subways (even though GM Anya is a native New Yorker and she can be publicly shamed for this mistake).  Here are their collected thoughts.

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Natalie RaphaelCMJ 2013, CMJ Music Marathon, CMJ, show review, Yamantaka, Sonic Titan, Kirin J. Callinan, Omar Souleyman, Brooklyn VeganComment
CMJ Recap by Emilie: The End
** I was pretty sick and felt like shit on Friday so I didn’t do as much as I had planned eek! **  While waiting in line for The Antlers Thursday night I had met a band who told me about this CMJ event that is open all day that includes free haircuts, messages, drinks, games, and more. I decided to check it out the next day, which is Friday.   Jace, John Scott, Ali, Karl, and I headed to find this magical party. On the way there is documented footage of our first KSCR musical, a must to check out. We got to the party before the doors opened so Ali and I performed in the street; I played harmonica while she danced and sang.   We finally got in and scored some free rock band T-shirts while Ali played Rock Band, and dominated it.   I left almost as soon as we got there to head back to NYU to catch a panel on Hair. I had received a free tickets days before to a Hair performance and I thought it was today. Unfortunately I learned it was for the night before and I missed it, I’m still pissed about that. I arrived early and was able to catch the end of the Featured Speaker panel with Emmanual Jal. He is a hip hop artist from Sudan who was indoctrinated to become a child soldier in Ethiopia, survived and was smuggled into Kenya and saved. He told chilling stories and really spread the message of how much Africa needs help right now. He ended with a performance. Then the Hair panel started, featuring Galt Macdermot (ORIGNAL composer), Jim Rago (ORIGINAL co-writer), and Gavin Creel (currently played Claude). I was awestruck. In front of me was the man who wrote, “Let the Sun Shine In” and “Age of Aquarious.” In front of me was the man who wrote one of the best musicals in American history. There has not been a show like Hair since 1968. They talked about how they came up with ideas, how the music came about, and more. Then Galt got on the piano and Gavin sang some songs from the current Tony nominated Broadway revival of Hair. Momentously, Jim (who had mentioned that he had wanted to be the original Claude) walked down the stairs and started singing with Gavin. There is was: original composer, current Claude and original Claude. Worlds collided. Generation X, Y, and Z became one. There was a woman, maybe in her 50’s or 60’s, sitting behind me with her eyes clasped shut so tightly and this nostalgic smile on her face. I could only assume she was imagining the first time she saw the musical while she listened to the performance.   This was the last day of the film festival part of CMJ and “Finding Elliot Smith” was the final documentary. Ali, Jace, John Scott, and I headed back to Norwood to catch the film. It was pretty good, it really focused on his friends and on the fact that Elliot’s fiance, Jennifer Chibo, did not murder Elliot Smith. Come of Elliot’s Oregon friends really bashed Los Angeles and blamed the city for Elliot Smith demise and fall back into drugs. Overall the film was pretty good.   I originally didn’t think I’d make it to all the shows Friday night since I was feeling pretty shitty, but after getting some coffee into my system and visiting an Australian Bar that was overly crowded I mustered up the energy and made it to The Bowry Ballroom. There was a great showcase this night, most notable Temper Trap and Portugal. The man. I missed most of Temper Trap but saw Portugal. The man. It was a great set and The Bowry Ballroom mixer was really on for the show. Portugal not only had great sound quality but they also had so much energy, even though John stopped at one point to tell us how sick they all are right now. Their last song (before the encore) was a great 8 or 9-minute medley; this made the crowd go berserk. It was fucking awesome. It was a great way to end my first CMJ experience.   Note to future CMJ go’ers: wash your hands and take zinc.
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CMJ Recap by Emilie: Day 3
Day 3: Thursday October 22nd  Today was College Day at CMJ, so I started the day with the Music Director’s Summit. This was actually quite a nice panel (surprising for CMJ) and listening to everything the panelists had to say I realized KSCR is doing pretty good! I did write down some ideas that might improve the station more.   I saw the “Footsteps in Africa” documentary as part of CMJ’s Film Festival. It documented the life, mainly through traditional music, song, and dance of the nomadic Tuareg tribe. The documentary was really interesting, especially for me because one of my life dreams is to be paid to travel Africa while recording different tribal and village music.   After the film I headed back to NYU to catch a panel about songwriting “scenes” in different cities. Of course, the panel didn’t end up discussing this and I found myself bored out of my mind. I’m sorry to be blunt, but this year’s CMJ panels were below par. Way below par. So far below par that even with a telescope the par line is still light years away.   Via Tania played at Le Poisson Rouge and she’s one of my favorite musicians right now and has been doing pretty well on the Top 200 charts, so I headed to check her out. I was able to catch Choir of Young Believers who played before her. They were great live, so great that if we could bring them to KSCR it would up our coolness factor (HINT HINT HINT). Via Tania’s live performance was pretty bad, I left before her set was over. Later that night one of her promoters emailed me asking about any feedback I had on Via Tania’s album, here’s what I had to say:   “Hey Kevin,  I absolutely LOVE the Via Tania album "Moon Sweet Moon." I think it's beautiful and fresh and wonderful. It's like rainbows, but with muted colors. It's like puppy dogs, but in the pound. It's beautiful with just enough sad.   I saw her play live at CMJ and was rather disappointed, though. Her live show did not live up to the album. I don't know if she was tired or if the venue was not right for her, but I felt the performance was flat, her voice did not shine and there was absolutely no energy. This hurts her as an artist, because I had pulled a bunch of people into the show with me, raving about how magnificent she is and they left early because they were bored and uninterested. Lost potential fans.”  This is not a show I’d wish upon KSCR.   The next stop was The Delancey, right next to the Williamsburg bridge, to see The Antlers. Getting into The Antlers was such a clusterfuck of an experience. The line might as well have stretched into Brooklyn, but I was fourth, almost touching the velvet rope. The showcase was full of great bands, such as Suckers and Delorean, but I really just wanted to see The Antlers. After a lot of annoying waiting around and watching other CMJ’ers bullshitting and trying to trick the bouncer, I made it into the venue. I went downstairs to watch Delorean finish but the room was so stuffy and the crowd was so smelly that I had to go upstairs and wait for the room to not only clear out but hopefully gain some ventilation. The Antlers finally went on an hour and a half late and played a shortened set. Pitchfork actually wrote about this show, it’s an interesting article, and the addressed the fact that some of the bands took liberties on how long they should take to set up and through off the showcase. But the music, the music: The Antlers were great. I was completely sober for this show but they were like weed for me. Their music swirled above my head and I felt like I had an out of body experience. Granted, I was getting sick at this point in CMJ and had a fever and maybe was heading towards delirium, but nonetheless The Antlers put on a stellar performance.
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CMJ Recap by Emilie: Day 2 pt. 2
The showcase began with Warpaint, a nice surprise. In fact, this is a band that we should try to get to play a KSCR Presents show (hint hint). We caught some of the Darlings and some of The Black Hollies in the basement of the venue, a tiny space (max is probably 95 people, maybe) that allows for intimacy and annoyingly crowded pathways. After the Terrorbird party I headed up a few blocks to the Mercury Lounge to catch The XX.  After the debacle with Atlas Sound I made sure to arrive early. Even at two and a half hours before show time the line was a block long. By the time we entered the line curled for blocks around the neighborhood. Lia Ices began the set and I immediately loved them. They are another band that I didn’t get to approach but we should definitely bring them to KSCR (HINT HINT). CMJ describes her as “experimental folk that resonates from her chilling vocals and arrangements.” Next was Javelin, a strange mix with Lia Ices and The XX. Javelin, “island influence and a Casio keyboard dominate hand clappy hip hop,” was interesting, employing cool vocal decoder effects straight through the mic. Finally, The XX came on and dominated the room. The twenty year olds quietly and confidently lulled us into the airy space that the band created. They opened with “Crystallized,” quickly asserting their influence and moved on to more songs to complete their hour set.   After The XX I planned to see Jenn Grant at Googie’s Lounge, the upstairs venue at The Living Room, located only a few blocks from the Mercury Lounge. I had two and half hours to kill before, though, so I set up shop in a vegetarian organic food store café and drank a soy chai tea while serendipitously running into two Israelis who entertained me for quite some time.   Downstairs in The Living Room was some loud thrasher band, but upstairs in Googie’s Lounge, located behind large velvet curtains, was a small area equipped with rugs, couches, drinks, and singer songwriters. I climbed the steps, pushed back the curtains, and entered a whole new world.   When I arrived Ruth Minnikin, Halifax native like Jenn Grant, was still doing her set. I set up shop right in front of her at a table by myself. Ruth’s set was fine, but it was like all Halifax native female singer songwriters I’ve heard; cute Meghan Smith. It’s cute, it’s happy; it’s sunflowers and fields of high school sweethearts. It made me nervous, wondering if Jenn Grant was going to be too much of a [artist who takes pictures of babies in cute outfits] picture.   But Jenn Grant wasn’t any of that. She was perfect. She was able to fill every frequency, every piece of open space, yet leave ions of emptiness at the same time. Everything melted away as she played and she became the center of my world. The trasher bass hits from down stairs seemed to disappear for just a few minutes as she dominated any free amoeba of an emotion that was available in New York.    Her live presence set me back a bit, though. Her music is so intimate and I had imagined her as a darker more brooding songwriter; dark hair, emaciated, and quiet. I wanted her to be the mysterious women that I imagined each week as I spun “Echoes” on Kosher for Kollege. Instead a blonde haired, wholesome Novia Scotian in a blue sundress sang and tried to be cute and funny, which she is, but it took away from the deep [insert something] of her music. She made up silly anecdotes and followed each song with a couple meek “thank yous,” sometimes saying “thank you” before the last note had finished ringing, before I was ready to let go of the song. But there was as certain mystery to her, I guess. She knows something we don’t, because when she sings the world is lost, no matter what banter she had followed the song with, once she sang the world narrowed and all we saw and all we knew and all we breathed and all we dreamed was Jenn Grant. She was sharing with us something that is from a place even deeper than her heart. She’s sharing emotions that we don’t even know how to access. With a violin, a guitar, and her voice, Jenn Grant creates an army.   For her last song, she came out into the center of the room (if you can call it a room, it was maybe 12 feet wide and 30 feet long, which included a stage, a sound booth, a bathroom, and kitchen) and played a miniature guitar and sang for us, completely acoustic. But the music downstairs was too loud and drowned her out. So she sat in a chair and had us cram around her, inches from her guitar. And then it happened again. The world around us melted away and all we could see what Jenn Grant, pouring to us everything we wanted yet nothing we could handle. The thrasher band downstairs went silent in our minds. I looked around at everyone’s faces. Some people seemed on the brink of tears, and the men who had seemed so disinterested were spell bound. When they caught my glance they pulled out of their trance, acting as if they hadn’t been as affected as they were. I myself nearly broke down a few times.   Maybe I was just in “one of those moods.” It could have been that I was in as melancholy a state as her music since I was traveling around NY alone at this point, surrounded by couples who couldn’t keep their hands off each other while forcibly dwelling on my past relationship. Whatever it was, Jenn Grant amazed me and left me yearning for more.  
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CMJ Recap by Emilie: Day 1

After being lost in Queens I finally made my way to the Chelsea International Hostel to drop off my luggage and head to NYU to pick up my CMJ badge. Not even taking a second to breathe I immediately left with Ali to find the Spectre meet and greet at Hi Fi, a bar on Avenue A somewhere.

 

After being lost for about an hour we finally made it there and received free drinks and goody bags. It was great to see the promoters’ faces when for months I’ve only heard their sultry voices. Eric from Spectre, Grahm from [a man etc], and Canada from Pirate! After sufficiently paying our dues we headed off to try to catch Atlas Sound, the long awaited concert of CMJ. We made it to the venue, Le Poisson Rouge, early only to find out that no more CMJ badge holders were allowed in. Bummed, we made a new game plan.

 

We headed straight down town to The Suffolk to see Fool’s Gold. Arriving there two hours early we got our hands stamped and walked a few blocks down to eat a great NY pizza place. (As a sidenote I want to point out that after all the pizza I’ve consumed in New York I have to admit that the state definitely has something to brag about.) Ali and I arrived back at the venue and sat through some of the showcase already going on. The bands were awful. Ear shatteringly awful. So awful that we slept through some of them. The venue itself was awful. G-d awful. The power could not support two guitars, a vocal mic, and a drum set. For one punk band the circuit overloaded four times until they gave up. But we really wanted to see Fool’s Gold and it wasn’t until 12:30 in the morning that we were informed they had cancelled. CMJ Fail.

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CMJ 09 - Atlas Sound and Broadcast
Just around 8 o' clock, we headed over to Brooklyn to catch Atlas Sound w/Broadcast and the guys that opened for them. Selmanaries (the aforementioned "guys.") underwhelmed.  But that may have been a keenly planned trap orchestrated by Broadcast.  Here's the setup. So there you are feeling underwhelmed after those "guys."  All of a sudden, the heavy beats and noise rock starts, accompanied by a trippy-as-hell abstract video installation mind-game thing. I gotta be honest.  My first thought was along the lines of "what the fuck?"  and my second thought was to flee for my life.  The second thought was supported by the earth-shaking bass.  I abandoned my friends Maura and Ali and headed to the my safety zone - the men's room.  Are you kidding?  The bass was not only earth-shaking, but also below-the-earth-toilet shaking.  Shit, these Broadcast kids are powerful.  I returned to the show and enjoyed the band and their video which may have been outtakes from the tape in The Ring.  I was convinced I was being brainwashed.  Broadcast finished, and my paranoia aside, were pretty impressive. Enter Bradford Cox, in what was one of the strangest and most engrossing shows I have witnessed.  He started off by tearing into some tracks off Logos, before taking a quick banter break.  I had this feeling like I was witnessing something special; he is a very sincere performer.  That's easy to appreciate these days.  My favorite track from the new album, "Walkabout" got a fascinating treatment: slowed-down, folk-tinged, and equally impressive as the studio version, I was completely invested in the show at this point. The thing is, it's not unique for me to be invested in a show.  It happens all the time. But that's where Cox really started to set himself apart.  I'll make it quick, but reread a couple of time for effect.  After starting a Velvet Underground cover that was "worth the wait" (there had been some time between songs), he promptly stopped the band, suggesting that that were off key.  He proceeded to take requests from the audience; some Atlas Sound songs (c'mon people), Rock Around the Clock, The Monster Mash (he almost played this, but claimed to have forgotten the tab sheet for it).  Here, he made iconic rock poses for pictures, played the intro to "Hattie Carroll" and basically used a couple songs' worth of time to hone his standup routine.  Honestly, it was pretty damn funny and a unique break from music.  He finished his set (which included the complete VU song), but the five-minute comedy break still sticks out as a memorable and enjoyable part of the show. The set was really strong, and very different from a Deerhunter set (he is Deerhunter's frontman if you didn't know.)  There was some folky stuff (harmonica included!), some psychy stuff, some noisy stuff, but it all put a new face on a familiar figure.  He also wasn't wearing a dress tonight. The whole time, all I could think is:  Bradford Cox is almost a genius.  He's the nerdy best friend you would think was a genius if you hadn't seen them behave under the slight influence of alcohol. I'll get some pictures of him up tomorrow.
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CMJ 2008, NewsKXSC WebmasterCMJ, atlas soundComment
CMJ 09: Day Two Panels
I know, I know, we skipped Day One.  It was crazy and hectic, and we'll save those stories for another time!  Right now, we gotta talk about Tag Zwei! Wednesday 10/21/2009 1:38 am - Karl and Jace startle their 50-year old foreign hostel-roommate by returning from Day One's events in the wee hours.  He speaks briefly in his native tongue, laughs, and falls back asleep. 9:19 am - Karl tells Jace to wake up because complimentary breakfast ends at 10.  Jace makes it with only seconds to spare.  Karl sleeps through breakfast. After 10, we actually started doing CMJ stuff.  Those two lightly comical anecdotes featured time-sensative plotlines, but now we'll just do a summary. KSCR Staff attended some decent panels today.  Jace learned a little bit about live performances and college campuses.  And how KSCR is actually pretty legit on this front.  Apparently, Stonybrook is not so great when it comes to the things...with the live...and the shows. Ali and Jace got to see a panel on exactly what the "youth of America" think about the major v. indie label dispute.  Apparently, we LOVE major labels, but wanna be careful not to sell out.  Which is okay because selling out and selling your soul are not(?) mutually exclusive.  Those kids were pretentious.  Or maybe I am.  Someone was pretentious in that situation. Emilie attended the creme de la creme of today's panels:  Andrew WK speaking off the cuff about random topics.   I spoke with her afterwords, and she seemed unimpressed.  I didn't see it but want to make a pun about his old stuff being better.  Can't make a connection, though. Karl may have slept through the entire day.  He's still beating John Scott, however, who has yet to arrive.  Pssh.  John Scott.  That guy thinks he's hot shit. Looks like we've got some good panels tomorrow, and to tell you the truth, there were more informative ones today, but I just wanted to try and make the Andrew WK joke.  Next time, I guess. Check us out tomorrow and we'll let you know how KSCR Staff Member Maura Klosterman's panel goes! -Jace
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We're Heeeeerrre...
KSCR has officially arrived at CMJ! Well, 3/5 of us anyways.  How does that compromise thing work again? After navigating a sophisticated network of planes, trains, and automatic stairs, we found our selves in the heart of New York City!  Or maybe the appendix.  We were deprived of food and sleep. Still, in typical KSCR fashion, we set out undaunted...and in the wrong direction. After consulting with iPhone GPS, we got to check-in and picked up our stinkin' badges.  Success! So, here we are.  KSCR Los Angeles is taking over NYC and we're gonna give you the play-by-play right here at Bandwidth.  Stay tuned.
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KSCR Top 30 and Adds from 10/12 - 10/26
Courtesy of our Music Director, Maura.

Radio 200 Adds

Rank Artist Recording Label  
1 REEFER Reefer Alphapup  
2 SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS Alpinisms Ghostly International  
3 DEARS Missiles Dangerbird  
4 CRYSTAL STILTS Alight Of Night Slumberland  
5 STAR FUCKING HIPSTERS Until We're Dead Fat Wreck Chords  
* indicates information which has not yet been verified by CMJ staff. Radio 200
Rank Artist Recording Label  
1 VIVIAN GIRLS Vivian Girls In The Red  
2 OF MONTREAL Skeletal Lamping Polyvinyl  
3 HIGH PLACES High Places Thrill Jockey  
4 WOMEN Women Jagjaguwar  
5 I'M FROM BARCELONA Who Killed Harry Houdini? Mute  
6 THE CLASH The Clash At Shea Stadium Epic-Legacy  
7 DEPARTMENT OF EAGLES In Ear Park 4AD  
8 COLD WAR KIDS Loyalty To Loyalty Downtown  
9 WIRE Object 47 Pink Flag  
10 JENNY LEWIS Acid Tongue Warner Bros.  
11 SEA AND CAKE Car Alarm Thrill Jockey  
12 HERMAN DUNE Next Year In Zion Everloving  
13 HER SPACE HOLIDAY Sleep Tigers [EP] Mush  
14 GANG GANG DANCE Saint Dympha The Social Registry  
15 GREGORY AND THE HAWK Moeni And Kitchi FatCat  
16 MAD JUANA Bruja On The Corner Acetate  
17 MOGWAI The Hawk Is Howling Matador  
18 PASSION PIT Chunk Of Change Frenchkiss  
19 TRIVIUM Shogun Roadrunner  
20 DEERHOOF Offend Maggie Kill Rock Stars  
21 LITTLE ONES Morning Tide Chop Shop  
22 SECRET MACHINES The Secret Machines World's Fair  
23 MARNIE STERN This Is It... Kill Rock Stars  
24 PRETTY AND NICE Get Young Hardly Art  
25 ROSEBUDS Life Like Merge  
26 JAY REATARD Matador Singles '08 Matador  
27 LITTLE JOY Little Joy Rough Trade  
28 CATFISH HAVEN Devastator Secretly Canadian  
29 TAT Soho Lights [EP] Red-Sony  
30 BROKEN WEST Now Or Heaven Merge  
* indicates information which has not yet been verified by CMJ staff.
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Final Days of CMJ
(Pictured: Singing DJ Jens Lekman at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. For more better photos, check out Brooklyn Vegan's post) The last two days of CMJ were jam packed with temptatious showcases, mixers, and panels. Thursday, I went down to the South Side Seaport, and after getting terribly lost, I was only able to catch Bearsuit. The band was a fat waste of time musically. However, the band did tell a zinger related to technical difficulties: "We're having problems with American Power." "A lot of people are." As cute as they were, I wished I had caught the last moments of Brooklyn's Loose Limbs, who sound a bit like Thee Oh Sees. In the evening, the folks at Matador threw a little party at Stanton Public, with DJ sets by Times New Viking and The Teenagers. Admittedly, it was after some failed attempts to go to other shows. (Piano's was sold out very early, so we didn't catch the Dutchess and the Duke and the line for the Vivian Girls was long and static.) Saturday, AAM threw their showcase which had a great line-up: Crystal Antlers, Ruby Suns, Monotonix, Annuals, and A Place to Bury Strangers. I caught up with Crystal Antlers here, and they gave me a little interview about their tour, CMJ, and some future plans (transcript posted soon). I have their EP, but hadn't yet seen them live and let me tell you, recordings sell them short. Ruby Suns played percussion heavy, island music with light electronics and I was in disbelief that two young New Zealanders were making all that music. Man, I thought Crystal Antlers had great energy, but Monotonix was the most shocking, exciting, and unpredictable show I saw at CMJ. The lead singer kicked over trashcans like they were soccer balls, threw water unto the crowd in a manner similar to a mass baptism (he does sort of look like Jesus), and hung off the balcony until security gently pulled him off. He moved like a whack-a-mole machine, frantically disappearing and reappearing in different parts of the venue. The other members had wild antics as well, and I was shocked how perfectly the tunes and vocals were, despite being upside down or having your drumset held up steadily by members of the crowd.
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CMJ Day 3: Lost In Williamsburg
The best CMJ shows are the unofficial ones in the daytime at tiny venues. It's actually fun finding the bathroom in the basement, the stage on the second floor, and with the ground and mezzanine it makes a total of four floors begging to be explored. The bands usually float around too for a short, friendly chat. Case in point, Brooklyn Vegan threw another show at Piano's (old legitimate Piano sign still decorates facade) and the line-up was difficult to pass up: The Muslims, Japanese Motors, Pretty and Nice, Friendly Fires, Crystal Antlers, etc. I was able to squeeze in an interview with The Muslims, recent L.A. transplants from San Diego, who I had seen at the Echo unexpectedly in the summer. Their sound is garage rock-ish, reminiscent of several key rock acts of past decades, but refreshing and new. We tried hard to make my tiny travel recorder work among weekday street noise, and hopefully the quality is good enough for me to post when I return. The band has been super busy at CMJ, but the too-short interview is hopefully the precursor to a real, grueling, hot-seat style interview in the studio. For playing so early in the day, Boston boy band Pretty and Nice really got me in the dancey mood. They have extraordinary energy, joking about their malfunctioning equipment, soliciting a snare drum from the crowd, and playing really edgy punky pop (not pop punk). They toed the line between rebellious and out of tune, but luckily stayed on the first side. I had no interest in Eagle Seagull at all. Don't get me wrong, the keyboards were great and so were the violin solos, but I really saw nothing special with their music or performance. Six musicians produced a really full sound with great coordination, but somehow the creativity was lost. The band utilized repetitive hooks and relied on the talent of the vocalist, who could not produce enough variety to perpetuate interest. In the evening, I went to Webster Hall to finally catch one of Fujiya and Miyagi's performances at CMJ. I didn't know until I saw the massive line of teenz that Crystal Castles was actually the headliner. The earlier comment about enjoying small venues is directly related to the fact that this place was pretty darn big and packed (with annoying, illicitly drunk teens). Lymbyc System opened the night, and man, I have been so lucky catching worthwhile openers. I doubt this is P.C., but the band is two unassuming-looking guys with Jew-fros playing shoegazey, experimental electronic. They reminded me a whole lot of Tortoise, only less Jazzy. While at times they sounded like a tiny music box lullaby, L.S. definitely brought the volume and the beat in, and the show peaked in several climaxes. The scrawnier guy played keyboards, and was obviously trained on piano, while the slightly less scrawny fella played both drums and bells. They're on tour with Crystal Castles. Whomadewho was hilarious, wacky, and totally lovable. I will scan my drawings of them later, but for now, just look at their myspace. The dude played guitar with a Heineken bottle. Need I say more? Now, I have never seen a live video of Fujiya and Miyagi or, well, even a photo. I had no clue what to expect. The best part of the show was seeing how the sounds were made and who was making them. Surprises: 1) The guitarist is the main vocalist, but the keyboardist and bass player contribute as well. It's pretty subtle on the album, and I couldn't tell if the singer just layered his own vocals. 2) The guitarist is amazing. It's subtle on the album, but F&M really let those solos shine. 3) The album sounds so cohesive that you could believe one person was recording everything, but really it's just almost-perfect coordination. Every day has been discovery, disappointment, and pure satisfaction. My ears are aching, even after wearing earplugs, and probably from the HUGE speakers at Webster. I left before Crystal Castles not just because I've seen them before, but because I was going to strangle the kids in the crowd. Whatever I.D. check lady gave these young babies liquor should get the boot. They yelled "Crystal Castles!!!" during Fujiya and Miyagi's set and kept talking about how much they sucked. FAIL. (Pictures and stuff soon. Sorry I write so much. Sorry this is unedited. More tomorrow!)
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