Before I begin the official topic of this entry, I'd just like to briefly comment on the Andrew Bird/St. Vincent show at 9:30 club last week...
I've seen Andrew Bird 3x before, and this was by far the most exceptional performance of the four, not only because of support from Annie Clark and the thunderous St. Vincent (who I thoroughly enjoyed as openers, but I think you can get the same overall experience by simply listening to their records), but more so because of Bird's palpable, and extremely odd combination of lethargy and raw, unchecked emotion on display while performing beautifully orchestrated songs from his now very deep catalogue of recordings.
Additionally, he had re-arranged a few of his tunes since the last time for the better, and his acoustic performance of "Oh Sister", with Annie Clark was very moving, despite the synchronized lyrical screw up which caused them both to curse in unison, which actually proved to be very funny. It was a great evening of music, as Andrew Bird continued to prove why he is considered one of the best all around musicians performing today.
Here is another review from my buddy Jay, who lives in Columbus and writes a music blog titled, "You Remind Me of TV Show".
Onto album club...
A co-worker's husband recently approached me with the idea of spearheading an album club, where each participant would listen to a pre-selected musical body of work, and casually report on their findings and observations as a part of Sunday evening roundtable discussion. I had been wanting to do something like this for a couple of years, so am glad Mark (co-worker's husband) put this idea into action. Last night was our first meeting, and our album of reference was More Songs About Buildings and Food, the sophomore Brian Eno produced album by none other than the legendary Talking Heads.
We weren't quite sure how to approach the evening at the onset, but once we popped in the album and let it unravel, we suddenly found ourselves engaged in discussion rife with poignant, well conceived musings about David Byrne's lyrics, track sequence and the reasons for, the band's pioneering sound and how many modern day indie bands exude such an obvious Talking Heads influence, and a Talking Heads reunion, just to name a few. It was a fun, and very educational debut experience, one that would probably only appeal to music nerds, but I am already looking forward to next month, where I hope to discuss the forthcoming record from Them Crooked Vultures, the most recent brainchild of Dave Grohl.
Any one else engaged in something similar to our music club? I'd love to hear about any additional approaches to this type of activity so we can improve the process for next time.
This sounds like a cool idea. Was there a consensus on the album? May have to find a way to implement this on my own. BTW, there's a new Stop Making Sense Blu-ray out now.
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds fun. Don't have any music geek friends local enough to do something like that on a regular basis, let me know if you have an opening.
ReplyDeleteI'd think talking as the track played then pausing afterwards before continuing on would be an interesting tactic.