1st August 2010

Text with 2 notes

Sonic Youth/Grass Widow/Talk Normal at Prospect Park

Urgent: Sonic Youth still awesome!

Thousands of people were packed into Park Slope’s Prospect Park just a few hours ago to see Sonic Youth perform a noiseful free concert as part of Celebrate Brooklyn. Some might even say the crowd was “totally gaying out” over the group. Idiocy aside, I would agree with that statement. People were real into what was happening at this performance, and I was one of those people.

First, Brooklyn’s Talk Normal opened up the evening with thirty minutes of droning, reverbed guitar and bass distortion; Lydia Lunch-y yelping vocals; and fierce, tribal drums. I’ve seen them perform a few times before this, and they’re definitely still improving, which is fantastic, because they were good to begin with. Their record Sugarland was one of my favorites of last year, so check that out if you’ve not done so already. And since I’m without any visuals from the show itself (I was way too far away to get anything but worthless crowd shots), here’s a video of “In a Strangeland,” which they played tonight, fast.

I was unfamiliar with San Francisco’s Grass Widow, who played a forty-minute set of a music that sounded like they should be on Slumberland Records. It was very heavily influenced by Black Tambourine, but, hey, I’m cool with that. Black Tambourine rocked. What was really interesting to me, however, was the several different styles the trio worked in to their music. At times, it would sound angular and math-y, at other times, heavy noise. And still other times, the drummer would be playing a surf rock beat, or dabbling in improvisational beats. They’ve got a record coming out in late August, I believe, so I’ll be lookin’ out for that one.

Now, Sonic Youth. Their set tonight was heavy on material from Daydream Nation, with very little from their last few records. I saw them last summer while they were touring to support their most recent album, The Eternal, and, while I loved that record, I was happy to see them performing a vastly different set than that one. They were performing without Mark Ibold (who’s off touring with some other band) so it was a four piece, but they were even noisier this time than the last, and there were plenty of moments throughout the show where I would say to myself “man Sonic Youth kills it so hard” or “Steve Shelley is really nailing it tonight” or, and this one especially, “Kim Gordon’s voice is one of the greatest sounds ever.” Everyone was bringin’ it, for the entirety of the ninety minutes they were on stage. This set also came with a healthier portion of avant-noise material than last summer’s, including Lee Ranaldo bowing his guitar, Thurston Moore working some sort of audio recordings, and Shelley just throwing shit at his drums during their last number, “Expressway to Yr Skull.” Just another reminder that Sonic Youth owns all sound.

Tagged: sonic youthsonik toothtalk normalgrass widowcelebrate brooklynprospect parkfuture rockgrindinggetting into a serious thinghipster trashlegendslong live noiseno wavei don't get why short people go to shows

12th July 2010

Text with 1 note

T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou Dahomey at Lynch Theater

The Lynch Theater might not be the best venue for the all powerful Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, but even with the fixed-seating, nobody really had a choice but to get with the groove at last night’s performance.  The band, active for more than forty years, combines elements of Latin and African music with American psychedelic rock, funk, and soul sounds with an ease you just don’t see that often. Last night, they hit each of those areas, and they hit them hard. That’s part of what’s so great about the group; they can not only hang with the best in all those styles, but they can teach a thing or two about how to really own that stuff.

Led by Clement Melome, the last surviving founding member and awesome fat man, the group went through around fifteen songs last night in their 90-minute set, and every one of them crushed. With members old enough to be my friends’ dads, it was great to see the group play so tightly and so masterfully. Particularly impressive were the drummer and the horn section, and, of course, singer Vincent Ahehehinnou’s kickin’ James Brown style. Other highlights included percussionist Celestin Honfo’s hat, which, form where I was sitting, made him look like Mr. Slave, and the fact that guitarist Fifi LePrince’s name is Fifi.

This was their North American debut performance, and I was really expecting every single white guy in the audience to have a ponytail, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that only several of them did. They’re hitting Chicago this Thursday and Quebec on Saturday, before they head over to Europe for shows in France, Spain, Ireland, and England. And after that, they’ve got a new record coming out featuring members of Franz Ferdinand(?). I’m not sure if that’s coming out in the states, but let’s hope some awesome label like Soundway or Analog Africa picks it up and distributes that to wherever I happen to be at that time.

Tagged: legendsgetting into a serious thingorchestre poly-rythmoMusic Is The Weaponi'm still really amped up about how fat that guy was