WHY? @ Knitting Factory

On Saturday evening, Oakland genre-benders WHY? played to a packed crowd at the Knitting Factory, in support of their great new album, Alopecia. Now, full disclosure: I have loved this band for a while now, and it would be hard for me to speak negatively about their music.

That being said, I don’t think even the most casual of listeners could have walked out of the Knitting Factory without feeling as if they had seen a fantastic studio band create something even more special on the stage. Yoni Wolf’s deeply personal, imagery-laden lyrics were delivered with quiet intensity, often with help from the large group of loyal fans who sang along with nearly every word. Yoni’s brother, Josiah, is a percussionist with immense talent, able to swing back and forth between pounding, snare-heavy rhythms and gorgeous xylophone twinklings. Doug McDiarmid and Austin Brown (the new touring member) were on point, as well. The band seemed incredibly comfortable in their own sound, an impressive feat when one considers the utter scope of their infectious mini-epics.

WHY? is a band with near-limitless potential, and it does not seem hyperbolic to say that they will prove highly influential in the years to come. If their focused Knitting Factory performance proved anything, it’s that they are ready to spread their sweeping sound to a larger audience.

Just before leaving the stage, Yoni stated simply, “It was a good night.” No arguments here.

More photos below…

Rufus Wainwright calls for “Blackout Sabbath”

photo courtesy preamble

Musician and #1 Judy Garland fan Rufus Wainwright is calling for a voluntary NYC blackout on June 21. According to Gothamist, “the musician proposes that we all set our sundials to noon on June 21st to signal a group shut down of all electric lights, appliances and anything else that plugs in…for 12 hours. His hope is to call attention to global warming and energy conservation.”

An interesting idea, no? Wainwright will perform a sold-out candlelit set at the Angel Orensanz Foundation to promote his dark day, which will come on the heels of the March 29 Earth Hour, which asks citizens and businesses to turn off their lights for one hour, beginning at 8 p.m.

Not having been present for the last (albeit accidental) NYC blackout, I would love to say what kind of earth-friendly celebrations could spring from this. Hopefully, all those folks who love to give the “you should have been there” speeches will help to recreate that night’s joyously dim debauchery.

The Envelope Please: 80th Annual Academy Awards

photo courtesy of MyCine

In a year filled with dark films, perhaps the darkest, “No Country for Old Men,” took home the top three honors at last night’s Oscars. The maverick Joel and Ethan Coen won three awards — Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture — during the course of the evening, thanking the academy for “letting us play in our own corner of the sandbox” when they won their first award, and then seeming increasingly emotionless as the night went on.

The acting categories were an international affair, with all four awards going to non-Americans. Javier Bardem, of course, came away victorious in the Supporting Actor race, making sure to joke about his now infamous haircut upon accepting the award. The Supporting Actress trophy went to a stunned Tilda Swinton (“Michael Clayton”), whose performance beat out Cate Blanchett’s gender-bending turn as Bob Dylan (“I’m Not There”) and Amy Ryan’s much lauded work in “Gone Baby Gone.”

In the Lead Actress category the Academy proved that its love of rewarding actors who play real people (think Jamie Fox, Reese Witherspoon) trumps its long-standing disregard for actresses who lip-sync (think Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood), by giving French actress Marion Cotillard the Oscar for her portrayal of “the Little Sparrow” Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose,” despite the fact that another actress provided the singing. (“La Vie en Rose” also won the award for Makeup Achievement, beating out “Norbit,” much to everyone’s relief). In the Lead Actor category, it was certainly no surprise when Daniel Day Lewis won his second Oscar for his performance as Daniel Plainview in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood.”
In the other major categories, the Academy acknowledged a wide range of films. Brad Bird (who won three years ago for “The Incredibles”) made a return trip to the podium to accept the Best Animated Feature award for “Ratatouille.” The Documentary Feature prize went to “Taxi to the Dark Side,” a documentary about torture. “There Will Be Blood” won for cinematography, while “Atonement’s” score (which uses the typewriter as an instrument) won the Best Score statuette. A song by the young leads of the independent film “Once” beat out three chirpy Menken-Schwartz production numbers from “Enchanted” to win the Best Original Song Oscar. And, in the Best Original Screenplay Category, Hollywood newcomer (and former stripper) Diablo Cody won the award for her much-quoted “Juno” script.

Obligatory Oscars Roundup

photo courtesy MyCine

So, at this point, we all know most of last night’s Oscars results, and if you’re anything like me, the last thing you need is another long-winded rant about who got robbed and who looked awful. Therefore, I will merely take a quick glance at the night’s major awards, with a five-word maximum for my thoughts on each.

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men — There Will Be a recount.

Best Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men — Should have won for Fargo.

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will be Blood — Makes hoop earrings look cool.

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose — Stunningly beautiful. The Monster effect.

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men — Mostly remembered for the creephair.

Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton — Cate, it ain’t you babe.

Full list of winners after the jump…

WeTube So You Don’t Have To: Toddler Star Wars

In this video, a three-year old tries to explain the plot of Star Wars Episode IV. This is the cutest thing you will see all week. Or possibly ever. I am left fairly speechless by how awesome this kid is. Just watch it.

Foo Fighters @ Madison Square Garden

On Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., I got a phone call from my brother, asking what I was doing that evening. I told him I’d be writing a paper, nothing too exciting. He informed me that his reason for asking was that it was his friend’s birthday, and a group of them were going to see the Foo Fighters at MSG. They had an extra ticket, which I could have for free, and he offered to pay for my beer. Now, I had never actually heard a full Foo Fighters album all the way through, but I like free things and I have never hated any of their songs, so I figured, “Why not?”

My decision to put off writing a paper turned out to be a very good one. Despite the fact that I have never been an actual fan of the Foo Fighters, their live show was a good, old-fashioned display of solid arena rock, as proved by Dave Grohl’s frequent metal faces. The songs I did know (“Everlong”, “Best of You”, “Monkey Wrench”, etc.) were great to hear, and I was reminded that these guys, in fact, are some pretty decent songwriters. It didn’t hurt that our originally undesirable spot toward the back of the floor became prime real estate when the band moved to the opposite end of the arena, onto a round metal stage that was lowered from the ceiling.

All in all, the Foo Fighters provided a highly enjoyable concert experience, albeit one that I would have never thought to go to on my own. They are solid pop-rock musicians and Dave Grohl’s famous charisma carried the band through their two-hour set. Bonus: I was sober enough when I got home to get some of the paper written, anyway.

More photos below…

Yeasayer @ Bowery Ballroom (w/ MGMT & Violens)

Two Brooklyn bands. Two much talked-about debut albums. Two headliners on this current tour. Yet this post will be dedicated to Yeasayer, and I will admittedly ignore MGMT. Why? Because while the latter band (whom I had enjoyed seeing once earlier) entirely phoned it in, the former, even while playing the role of an opener on this night, came out with a burst of psych-infused energy and a live sound that justified any of the praise that their debut album, All Hour Cymbals, has garnered. Yeasayer’s vocalist/synth maestro, Chris Keating, has a dynamic stage presence that also comes off as entirely genuine. The band moved fluidly between blistering guitar meltdowns and bouncy percussive breaks, all the while keeping the audience in tune to the blissful yet foreboding melodies at the heart of each song. About halfway through their set, Yeasayer launched into the crowd-favorite “2080″, and the dichotomy between the joyous audience and the apocalyptic lyrics perfectly summarized the major strength of this band: crafting songs that turn our dark world into something sublime and communal.

More photos below…

Music Video: New Pornographers’ “Myriad Harbor”

The Matador Records blog has posted a video for “Myriad Harbor”, a Dan Bejar-penned track off of the New Pornographers‘ latest, Challengers. While the song is not Bejar’s (who certain Observer editors insist sounds like a Muppet) finest work, his voice and abstract lyrics still manage to easily hold one’s attention for three and a half minutes. And this animated, Mark Lomond-directed video is absolutely lovely. Any of us who have ever sported an Afro can relate to the wonders such a head of hair can both hide and produce.

No Age @ Market Hotel

On Monday night, DIY concert promoter Todd P hosted the second show at his newest venue, the Market Hotel, as Los Angeles neo-punks No Age ripped through a sweaty, machine-gun set. The Bushwick loft space belongs to eight artists/musicians who have decided to allow their home to be used for live music. The space itself is absolutely huge for a loft, with a separate room for a bar. With very little lighting and amenities such as a small bleacher section in the back of the room and a coat check (!) in a separate room, the Market Hotel could easily become one of the most fun places to see music in New York.

As for the music, it can only be said that No Age truly know how to make a crowd lose all sense of control and give their bodies over to the sway of their catchy punk bursts. In layman’s terms, everyone was absolutely losing it. Crowd surfing, pillar-climbing, stage-diving and sweat-dripping were all heavily present throughout the course of the band’s set, even after a ten minute break to plug equipment back in. If you get the chance to see these guys, do it. It’s a visceral experience hard to come by at most New York shows. Openers High Places and Rings both turned in strong sets, as well. As for the interpretive, “avant-garde”, poorly-planned dance/music performance at the beginning of the evening: not worth tarnishing this joyous post with any negativity.Check out the following photos to see how hot and crazy it can get in February.

Winehouse Wins Big at Grammys

photo courtesy ABC

Sunday night’s Grammy Awards made it clear that tragic figures and little gold statues go hand in hand. The ever-talked-about Amy Winehouse not only delivered a sober, strong performance via satellite, but the British soul singer came out as the night’s biggest winner, taking home the awards for Best New Artist, Record of the Year (“Rehab”), Song of the Year (“Rehab”), Best Pop Vocal Performance (Back to Black) and Best Female Pop Vocal (Back to Black).

All in all, the awards show proved infinitely more watchable than years past, with Winehouse, Rihanna, Kanye West and Daft Punk all turning in quite entertaining performances. I can only guess, though, how many viewers were forced, during the presentation of the Album of the Year award, to turn to a neighbor and exclaim, “Herbie Hancock released an album this year?!”

A complete (and completely long) list of the night’s winners follows after the jump.