Animal Collective & Danny Perez @Guggenheim, March 4th

After a lonnnng day at work, I decided to check out the one-day show, Transverse Temporal Gyrus, at the Guggenheim. Not being wholly familiar with Animal Collective, I ran with it and bought a ticket to the highly anticipated show, figuring even if it sucked rocks, at least I'd be making a donation to one of my favorite places in this fine city of ours.

If I had to make a snap judgment based on the long line before getting in, I would have guessed the show was going to be annoying, with the dopey young smokers behind me, chatting about dropping acid, and this weird dude in front of me making didgeridoo-type noises with just his mouth. I ended up standing in line for about 35 minutes before entering, checked in my coat, and rode the elevator to the 6th floor for the gradual descent down the ramp.

Once inside, I quickly shed my frustration with the line and was able to soak in the experience. It still being early, the top held only a handful of people, and from this vantage, we could see what lay ahead -- speakers lined the inner wall along the ramp in addition to a few projectors at various points. On two of the floors by the elevator were stations with very complicated equipment that I'm not even going to pretend to know what they were.

As I made my way down, I dug the music -- ambient in nature, lacking any words or true structure. Whoever engineered the sound distribution made great use of the spiral, as sounds whipped through the speakers one by one, giving the impression of movement. Basically, the best surround sound, ever. George Lucas and his THX ain't got nothing on this setup. The music was fairly unobtrusive but at certain points, the music reverberated throughout, causing my heart to skip a beat. While many may have been disappointed by the lack of a live performance, this was no simple DJ set. I think strategically this was a good move on the team's part, since it allowed for people to absorb it all and become completely immersed in the experience rather than being drawn to a solitary point, e.g., a stage.

Not to say there wasn't something to focus on other than the arbitrary music, dancing shadows and imagery on the white canvas walls of the museum. On the ground floor, where many people seemed to linger and lay, were three mysterious masked individuals (presumably the band) who moved nary more than a slight twist of the neck or arm. It made me recall the movie "Donnie Darko" with the large rabbit-like figure looming, except this time there were three of them.

But, yeah, the true star of the performance was the building itself, with its spiraled ramp enclosing a cylinder of open space. At the top, the opaqued skylights initially let the sun warm the room, and as it gradually darkened, eventually became reflectors of colored lights and projected images. Probably the coolest part was the fact that there was no art hanging on the walls like you'd see on a normal visit to the museum so that the focus was on all the action happening inside the inner space, as well as the people lining the ramp. Very surreal, in a way, reminding me of the one good scene in "Vanilla Sky" in which the main character drives his car into a deserted Times Square and gets out and looks around, bewildered. And to throw in another lame Tom Cruise movie comparison, I also felt a little "Eyes Wide Shut" with people standing about, watching other people, and hoping for action below.

I came alone to this, seizing upon the opportunity to enjoy this without the distraction of making conversation or worrying whether someone else was having a good time. It was a blissful two hour escape for me, as I was able to unwind and get lost in my thoughts. I felt very quiet even though it was far from quiet, with a constant buzz in the air. Perhaps people were trying to make sense of it. Pretentious? Yeah, maybe. The one person who did talk to me asked me, "Is this it? Are they doing something else?" And I told him I had no fuckin' idea.

Here's a video I shot toward the end around 7pm, not that time really mattered in this place. The video probably does the whole experience very little justice, however.

Shout Out Louds @Pianos, March 2nd

I found out yesterday afternoon that the wonderful little Swedish band Shout Out Louds were playing a free gig at Pianos in the Lower East Side, so I rallied up my concert ladies Shana and Julie to accompany me for this mid-week treat. The last time I ventured to this venue was for the Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Day Show back in October, which was also free, and free is always good. Plus, it had an announced 7pm start time, which was ideal for yours truly, since I got a gig that gets me up before dawn most days.

The three of us have loved the Shout Out Louds for more than a few years now. I remember them opening for The Dears at Bowery in 2005 and being impressed by their tight performance. They continue to have the same no nonsense pop rock style, perhaps a bit mellower with the new music they were promoting tonight, yet still containing that bopability that kept me bouncing. I liken them to a sincere, less sweaty Phoenix for they are Swedish after all. Lead singer Adam Olenius admitted feeling quiet due to the early start, which was just fine by us. All we needed to hear was the music being played, and seeing them wicked close made up for any lack of banter.

They pretty much stuck to a setlist of new songs, throwing in "Very Loud" from Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, which made us happy. Picture of the setlist is below. I do believe they left out "Moon."

The Roulette Sisters @Barbès, Feb. 13th

Saturday night, Bestest Boy and I headed to Barbès in Park Slope to see the reunion of The Roulette Sisters, a quartet of talented women who play country/blues influenced-music, drawing upon both music of the early 20th Century as well as original compositions. The first time I saw them also happened to be the last time they played back prior to their breakup in October of 2007. While we may not know exactly why these fine ladies called it quits 2-1/2 years ago, last night's two hour gig radiated love and charm, with a healthy dose of sass.

Led mostly by Mamie Minch on resonator guitar, the ladies played a lively set full of playfulness, flirtation, some heartbreak and overt double entendres (or even "single entendre" as Minch winked at one point). Minch's throaty, sultry voice reminded me at times of a sexy Kathleen Turner during her mid-'80s heyday, suggesting that she has indeed seen it all. In contrast, Meg Reichardt's sweet, girlier voice evoked an innocence that was more appropriate for the less racy selections, as she did some tight pickin' on her guitar. Meanwhile, Megan Burleyson served as a wonderfully sturdy backbone to the music on washboard, and really brought it home on lead vocals in a cover of Memphis Minnie's "Selling My Pork Chops." Last, but not least, Karen Waltuch's viola rounded out the songs with a fullness that made it feel like there was at times a fifth singer in the band. Here is a newer song about being lonely on New Year's Eve, written and sang by Waltuch:

The Roulette Sisters, who technically are not related by blood, exhibited many of the same dynamics you might observe in a familial situation, poking fun at each other with sly barbs yet united in all their togetherness. Their instrumentation sounded great musically, and their harmonies were gorgeous. They packed the shoebox-sized Barbès with both newcomers and steadfast fans, several of whom had their requests for songs like "Sugar In My Bowl" and "Keep On Churnin'" fulfilled. I especially liked the fire of "Hottest Gal in Town."

Shortly after midnight, The Roulette Sisters finished their gig and sent the warmed and delighted crowd home into the cold night air. What a cheerful early Valentine to love!

Les Savy Fav @BAM, Jan. 29th

Thanks to a random tweet I caught Thursday afternoon, Shana and I each won a pair of tickets to the undersold Les Savy Fav and Vivian Girls show at BAM for Friday night. Despite some initial protestations, we dragged ourselves along with Bestest Boy and Julie into the arctic freeze and ended up having a rockin' time.

I saw Vivian Girls six months ago at the Whitney Museum and really enjoyed them then in the cramped quarters, as it felt like we were part of some loud basement party. However, tonight in the much grander Howard Gilman Opera House, the girls felt a little lost. The sound mix did them no favors at first, with lead vocals and harmonies swallowed by the acoustics. Also, being the opener is always tough, especially with the venue only a quarter filled and with people filtering in, and people seated for their performance. It was not until at least halfway through when their sound began to gel, and the songs began to take form. At that point, guitarist and lead singer Cassie Ramone made some comment about the Xanax finally starting to work, so maybe nerves had worn away at that point.

Next up were Les Savy Fav. I had had zero exposure to this band up until this point, dismissing them as some gag act based on pictures I've seen on various blogs. My basic assumption was that they were just a band with some fat bald dude acting outlandishly, and when Tim Harrington, the lead singer, came onto the stage wearing purple leggings and a loose fitting beige cloth over his shirtless body, and clothespins attached to his beard, and did a solo interpretative dance, he really did nothing to dispel that notion. But then his band joined him and it all changed from there.

To my surprise, the band played very tight rhythms that zagged all over the place but were not sloppy. I was reminded of times I had seen Modest Mouse, Built To Spill or The Flaming Lips, with the music being loose and jangly, yet deliberate and well-crafted at the same time. The band itself held my interest quite well, as they played the straight men to the antics of Harrington, who, instead of being a distraction, complemented the instruments rather well, reminding me at times of Jello Biafra with his voice and dialogue with the audience. Yes, he was a crazy looking fat dude running all over the stage and into the crowd, but his angry-goofy-gibberish song rants, energy, enthusiasm and sheer earnestness overcame my pre-judgment. At the start of LSF's set, Harrington dropped into the crowd beckoning people to stand, and it ended up being the right thing to do. Despite the opera house setting with assigned seating, it quickly became apparent that it would take a lot more than that to contain the force that is Les Savy Fav.

Here's a video I shot of an older song, "Who Rocks the Party":

The four of us walked away from that performance delighted and impressed with the spectacle we had witnessed. I am looking forward to digging into their catalog more.

(Brooklyn Vegan quoted my review here.)

Britt Daniel @Sound Fix, Jan. 23rd

Yesterday, I coaxed Bestest Boy to accompany me up to Williamsburg to meet Julie for an in-store appearance by Britt Daniel, lead singer of Spoon. This was my first visit to the recently relocated Sound Fix Records, where in its old iteration, I had gone to just one free "in-store" there (the band Man Man, which was just plain nuts). I use quotes there because the old setup had a nice bar attached to the rear of the record shop, which kind of made it more conducive to getting into the gig mood as it was not in a store.

We first arrived at the shop at 5pm and saw no line for the 7pm announced start time, so we walked around and settled in for a pint at The Gutter, which was closer to our vibe than the manic Brooklyn Bowl, which felt overdone to me. Around 5:45 we decided to head back to the store, only to find the line winding around the block. Wow, people do like their free.

Britt performed by himself on a guitar and sounded great. I love that raspy quality his voice possesses. He played a short setlist of four songs, with two from the new album, Transference, and two from 2005's Gimme Fiction: "The Mystery Zone," "Written In Reverse," "The Beast and Dragon, Adored" and "I Summon You." Sweet.

While, yeah, it would have been nice to hear more than that, it was probably a blessing in disguise that we didn't have to stand there too long for only partial glimpses of Britt (though the acoustics were great). The new Sound Fix location, while perhaps grander in terms of CD display, seemed awkward for this Britt Daniel appearance, as it was packed to the gills, he was not on a platform of any sort, and there was a big column in the middle of the store, and I don't mean the 6'8" man standing in front of us. Plus, with the performance being right there amongst all the compact discs as opposed to the former bar setting, it was only painfully more apparent that Britt was there to shill for his band's newly released album as he concluded with an okay, who wants to buy some records?

Even though we like Spoon, and Britt's performance was good, and we could have bought the new album signed by him, we decided to ditch the crowd and head over to Fette Sau for some porky goodness. Oh yesssss...