Show Review: Oh No! Oh My! - 10/27/06

Oh No! Oh My! is so damn consistent. On their debut album, I skip over "Reeks & Seeks" and eject the disk before "Women Are Born In Love" but every other song is worth a listen. At Alchemize this past Friday night, they put some extra oomph in "Reeks & Seeks," left out "Women..." altogether, and played the rest of their album along with some solid new tunes. According to my math, that equals out to a pretty flawless setlist.

"The Bike, Sir" was one of the 'new' songs. I'm not sure if it's 'new-new' or just 'new-to-me' but either way, it's great.


Youtube Link
MP3 - The Bike, Sir (Live - 10/27/06)
"Walk in the Park" is the best ON! OM! song and I'm not sure if that's really arguable. It's a perfect pop song that seems less like it was written by someone and more like it was plucked from a tree.


Youtube Link
MP3 - Walk in the Park (Live - 10/27/06)Oh No! Oh My! is so damn consistent. On their debut album, I skip over "Reeks & Seeks" and eject the disk before "Women Are Born In Love" but every other song is worth a listen. At Alchemize this past Friday night, they put some extra oomph in "Reeks & Seeks," left out "Women..." altogether, and played the rest of their album along with some solid new tunes. According to my math, that equals out to a pretty flawless setlist.

"The Bike, Sir" was one of the 'new' songs. I'm not sure if it's 'new-new' or just 'new-to-me' but either way, it's great.


Youtube Link
MP3 - The Bike, Sir (Live - 10/27/06)

"Walk in the Park" is the best ON! OM! song and I'm not sure if that's really arguable. It's a perfect pop song that seems less like it was written by someone and more like it was plucked from a tree.


Youtube Link
MP3 - Walk in the Park (Live - 10/27/06)

Track Review: The Science of Sleep Soundtrack "If You Rescue Me (Chanson Des Chats)"

Youtube Link
MP3 - The Science of Sleep Soundtrack "If You Rescue Me (Chanson Des Chats)"

Youtube Link
MP3 - The Science of Sleep Soundtrack "If You Rescue Me (Chanson Des Chats)"

Show Review: Beirut - 10/10/06

This show didn't "hit" me right away. It wasn't a Dismemberment Plan. It wasn't an Arcade Fire. But like a fine wine, I think this show will age well. Beirut constisted of seven people on stage...I think. It was difficult to tell exactly. In between songs, they would all wander from instrument to instrument, the only constant being Zach Condon front and center. The band played like they were drunk on aforementioned wine, sloppily strumming ukuleles, tromping around the stage. It wasn't immediately impactful but the experience felt wholly unique and singular.


Youtube Link
MP3 - Scenic World (Live - 10/10/06)

Prior to this show, I had always associate Beirut and Zach Condon with the ukulele. Now, I feel the trumpet is his most valuable asset. Everytime that horn came in to add a new line of melody, the song was raised to another level. "Elephant Gun," from their newly recorded EP (which also contains a new version of "Scenic World"...see above video...) benefits from Zach's exquisite trumpeting as well.

Youtube Link
MP3 - Elephant Gun (Live - 10/10/06)

The night ended with half of Beirut down in the audience, Zach pointing his trumpet towards the ceiling, and everyone clapping along. It was a great ending to a great show and the more I think about it, the more I agree with myself.

Youtube Link
MP3 - Untited (Closing Song) (Live - 10/10/06)This show didn't "hit" me right away. It wasn't a Dismemberment Plan. It wasn't an Arcade Fire. But like a fine wine, I think this show will age well. Beirut constisted of seven people on stage...I think. It was difficult to tell exactly. In between songs, they would all wander from instrument to instrument, the only constant being Zach Condon front and center. The band played like they were drunk on aforementioned wine, sloppily strumming ukuleles, tromping around the stage. It wasn't immediately impactful but the experience felt wholly unique and singular.


Youtube Link
MP3 - Scenic World (Live - 10/10/06)

Prior to this show, I had always associate Beirut and Zach Condon with the ukulele. Now, I feel the trumpet is his most valuable asset. Everytime that horn came in to add a new line of melody, the song was raised to another level. "Elephant Gun," from their newly recorded EP (which also contains a new version of "Scenic World"...see above video...) benefits from Zach's exquisite trumpeting as well.


Youtube Link
MP3 - Elephant Gun (Live - 10/10/06)

The night ended with half of Beirut down in the audience, Zach pointing his trumpet towards the ceiling, and everyone clapping along. It was a great ending to a great show and the more I think about it, the more I agree with myself.


Youtube Link
MP3 - Untited (Closing Song) (Live - 10/10/06)

Show Review: Viva Voce & Silversun Pickups w. Bad Veins - 10/8/06

I've read about Viva Voce and Silversun Pickups for the past couple months but it wasn't until last week that I downloaded an mp3. Thus, I had a pretty surface level understanding of these two bands. As far as I knew, Viva Voce were a kind of blusey, rock duo who often got compared to The White Stripes and Silversun Pickups were an "alterna-rock" band from L.A. who enjoy spacey distortion. After last night, I now know that Viva Voce like to "jam" and Silversun Pickups like to play really loud. A deeper understanding? Maybe not. But a good show? Sure.

Bad Veins opened and played another wonderful set. Ben's keyboard was malfunctioning so he had to improvise and re-interpret the keys on his guitar! Impressive! But it doesn't matter what instrument he's playing because Irene (the reel-to-reel player) does most of the work anyways... Here's a song that actually wasn't affected by the technical difficulties.


Youtube Link

Silversun Pickups were up next. They had that very distinct greasiness that only Los Angelinos have... Still, Ohio/Kentucky was on their side. They even cheered during the opening bass line of "Well Thought Out Twinkles." I was most intrigued by Brian Aubert's voice. He sings kind of like Doug Martsch but then rips into a shriek-ish scream.

Youtube Link

Viva Voce closed out the night. Kevin Robinson, the drummer, was also a guitarist and singer. His versatility was fun to watch and the two of them had a nice repoire. The songs had a confidence to them which I admired. But the truth is, I didn't come to this show as a Viva Voce fan, and I didn't leave as one either...But I think I can see why other people might like them.

Youtube LinkI've read about Viva Voce and Silversun Pickups for the past couple months but it wasn't until last week that I downloaded an mp3. Thus, I had a pretty surface level understanding of these two bands. As far as I knew, Viva Voce were a kind of blusey, rock duo who often got compared to The White Stripes and Silversun Pickups were an "alterna-rock" band from L.A. who enjoy spacey distortion. After last night, I now know that Viva Voce like to "jam" and Silversun Pickups like to play really loud. A deeper understanding? Maybe not. But a good show? Sure.

Bad Veins opened and played another wonderful set. Ben's keyboard was malfunctioning so he had to improvise and re-interpret the keys on his guitar! Impressive! But it doesn't matter what instrument he's playing because Irene (the reel-to-reel player) does most of the work anyways... Here's a song that actually wasn't affected by the technical difficulties.



Silversun Pickups were up next. They had that very distinct greasiness that only Los Angelinos have... Still, Ohio/Kentucky was on their side. They even cheered during the opening bass line of "Well Thought Out Twinkles." I was most intrigued by Brian Aubert's voice. He sings kind of like Doug Martsch but then rips into a shriek-ish scream.



Viva Voce closed out the night. Kevin Robinson, the drummer, was also a guitarist and singer. His versatility was fun to watch and the two of them had a nice repoire. The songs had a confidence to them which I admired. But the truth is, I didn't come to this show as a Viva Voce fan, and I didn't leave as one either...But I think I can see why other people might like them.

Live: Voxtrot "Trouble"

Two weeks back, Chris made a new Voxtrot song available to the public. I downloaded. I listened. I liked.

It took me two weeks to realize that I had heard this song before. Voxtrot had played it at their show back in July! And it just so happens that I have it on tape. So, here's Voxtrot playing "Trouble" off their new EP "Your Biggest Fan." It seems this song isn't quite as new as I had originally thought.

Alternative Video Link

MP3 - Voxtrot - Trouble (Live - 7/27/06)"
Voxtrot - website|myspace

MP3 - Voxtrot - Trouble (Live - 7/27/06)"
Voxtrot - website|myspace

Track Review: The Panda Band "Eyelashes"

Alternative Video Link
Youtube Link

MP3 - The Panda Band "Eyelashes"
The Panda Band - website|myspace

MP3 - The Panda Band "Eyelashes"
The Panda Band - website|myspace

Temporary Video Fix

Ok. Here's the temporary solution. With each video, I will include an "Alternative Video Link" that should direct you to a page where the video should play, even on Windows computers using Internet Explorer (you still need Quicktime!). If this still doesn't work for people, please let me know. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

And I'll add the alternate links to all the old posts as soon as I can.