August 22, 2008
Music
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So, against all odds, the late-great indi pop trio Superficial Hero seems to be making a minor comeback…. After a couple evenings of nostalgia in Seattle, Dylan and I decided that some of the songs we were working on before our breakup really need to be recorded for posterity’s sake. This decision has since snowballed into a mini-comeback with the re-registering of superficialhero.com where you can download our original, circa 1999, Castaway EP. The first batch of this EP sold out in like 15 minutes after or first performance at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, and now it is available FOR FREE!!!
Oh, man, can’t wait to record some of our later stuff.
Thanks for the upload, Dill. I’m gonna start working on remembering these bass lines, now.
May 30, 2008
Music
1 Comment
Perhaps you missed them, maybe you just didn’t hear the news, but New Zealand’s self-proclaimed fourth most popular parody digi-folk duo and Grammy Award winning artists, Flight of the Conchords, wrapped up the San Francisco leg of their North American tour Thursday night at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall.
The duo, or band, as they prefer to be called (if you can have a one man band, why can’t you have a two man band?) have garnered widespread critical success and a devoted cult following surrounding their self-titled HBO series, Flight of the Conchords.
The Conchords, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, are undoubtedly one of the funniest acts to grace the small screen in quite some time. But long before they were portraying their partly fictional selves on HBO, they were perfecting the act on stage.
Their stage personas could be described as masters of the deadpan and the pregnant pause; two blissfully ignorant, yet overly serious Kiwis who like keeping it real and talking about the issues. Issues like saving the whales which, clever sea mammals though they may be, would be unable to dial 911 should they ever need help. Even if they did manage to dial, they couldn’t talk…”they’d have to text,” quips Clement.
McKenzie and Clement, who prefer to be called by their rapping names Rhymenoceros and Hiphopopotamus respectively, showed remarkable timing and improvisational skills those only familiar with their television show might not know they posses. When the usual routine of clever song followed by witty, half-scripted banter failed them they found prime material in unexpected equipment failures and surprising outbursts from the audience. Indeed, they remained quick to quip even with the often uncomfortable mood created by an audience that sometimes seemed more suited to a Chippendales show than a musical comedy duo.
As wonderfully off the wall as their stage banter is, any Conchords fan will tell you that the real bread and butter of the show, live or on TV, are the songs.
The band use their guitars and a host of dated digital instruments to flow through genres from love ballads (You’re so beautiful/ you could be a part time model/ but you’d probably have to keep your normal job) to post-apocalyptic robo-pop (The humans are dead/ affirmative, I poked one it was dead).
Sublime anthems of loss and rejection such as “I’m Not Crying” (it’s just been raining…on my face) give way to freestyle rap battles where they “rap about reality/ like sitting at my grandma’s house drinking a cup of tea/ Ain’t no party like my nana’s tea party!”
But enough already, you’ll just have to hear them for yourselves.
The Flight of the Conchords self-titled album is out on Sub Pop Records. It debuted at the number three spot on Billboards top 200. Season one of their HBO show is currently available on DVD with season two in the works.
March 12, 2007
Japan, Music
4 Comments
Sorry for the LONG absence. I have been (a) unmotivated to write, (b) discouraged by the seemingly endless spam that somehow breaks through my countless filters and banned words, (c) a lazy punk. Things here haven’t been much different. February was officially the longest month of the year this year, at least for Nicole and me. Both of our international driving permits expired last month and we had to fight through the Japanese bureaucracy to earn our Japanese licenses. It was almost enough to make us give up, but we are both happy we had the strength of will to persevere. I knew that it would be a true living experience, and I feel like I know the country all the better for having gone through it. I feel like I can now say that I LIVED in Japan. Nicole’s blog has some good details about her experience. I was kind of thrown into the test the first time, having no idea what to expect. My boss just took me to the “DMV” and said, “now you will pass the test,” and I didn’t. After that I had a month to take some driving classes in which I learned all the ridiculously meticulous details you must know to pass the test. I have no idea how my boss thought I could pass without even being exposed to those ideas, but it is past now, and Nicole and I both have out licenses.
To celebrate, we went to see Bloc Party in Tokyo on the 4th of March. I have always enjoyed their music, and, despite some sound and equipment issues, their live show was fantastic. Live music has the ability, for me, to both increase my appreciation for a band, or ruin their music for me. Luckily, they really rocked the block…party…and I went away with a greater appreciation for their recorded music as well.
Music is something I have felt a bit distanced from of late. Nicole has been very good about keeping up on the current bands, and I have relied a lot on her for new music. I hope that changes when I get my new iPod next month. Let me know if you have any suggestions or new music tastes.
August 2, 2006
Japan, Music
3 Comments
A lot has happened since the last entry: a visit to the monkey/ninja infested town of Nikko, an Italian opera about Japan, a bunch of stuff that you can read about over at Nicole’s blog. Today I want to talk about last Sunday and Fuji Rock Festival.
Fuji Rock Festival is Japan’s biggest rock festival, and it is world famous as one of the best music festivals in the world. The bands booked for the three-day event run from some of the largest names in rock, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to the obscure Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (who sadly had to bow out due to vocal chord problems, possibly brought on by the singers unique brand of singing).
Because of our busy work schedule, we were only able to attend on Sunday, the last day of the festival. Despite the misleading name, the festival is held at a ski resort in Niigata prefecture, not at Fuji-san, which is nice because Naeba Ski Resort is only about an hour and a half drive from here. While the scenery was not as famous it was every bit as beautiful.
We started the day off with a dose of Taiko Drumming by a band called Kodo. I have wanted to see Kodo since high school when my friend Nick saw them in San Francisco for his Birthday and brought me a tape. It was a moving experience of lung-shaking drum beats with guys in underwear pounding 10 food Taiko drums. It was unfortunate that we only got to see the last part of the show.
We stayed that the same stage for the next band, the Refugee All-Stars of Sierra Leon. A nice dose of rock steady, reggae beats with some African vibes and traditional dancing. There was a good energy coming from the band and audience as people cheered for the representatives of the war-torn nation.
After that was a French band called Rinoçerose (sorry I can’t type the circumflex) who were an interesting mix of hardcore techno and glam rock. The lead singer came on stage wearing a robe with the microphone stuffed in his underwear. It was a scene I was surprised to see in Japan and brought now meaning to the phrase “Rock out with your cock out.”
After Rinoçerose, We went to see Snow Patrol, from Scotland. I left midway through the set to go see Broken Social Scene, who were one of the highlights of the day. Their music was energetic and well performed, and their stage presence was playful. After they finished their set, the crowd began to disperse, but some people stayed and cheered, then a strange thing happened for a festival. They came back out and gave us an impromptu encore. I have a feeling the next band was running late, for which I am thankful because the last song was a brand new one that no one had heard before and it was excellent. We also bumped into Saleema and Dave, some friends from Tokyo, at the BSS show, and spent parts of the rest of the day with them. Nicole originally met Saleema in France; it goes to show how small the world is.
Then the fun really picked up when we went to see the Raconteurs, Jack White’s new band. This was when the rock really started flowing and you could feel it in the audience, like the day was building up energy for the last few bands. The Raconteurs rock more live than they do on CD so I am glad I got to see them. I will definitely go to another show next time I have a chance. The highlight of their set was a cover of the Nancy Sinatra song, Bang Bang. Jack sang it with such emotion, I felt for sure there was a story behind his choosing to cover that particular song, but it could just be his genius as a musician as well.
After the Raconteurs came the Stokes, who we left early because their live show is pretty much like listening to their CD. We hurried from the Stroke to see the Supper Furry Animals, who totally rock live. Their presence is fun and goofy, one guy played the last song with a Red Power Ranger helmet on.
The final band of the day was Mogwai, who were good, but I have just never gotten really into them. I was glad to see them live, though.
We got out of the festival grounds by around 1 am after a good 14 hours of Rock.
