Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Day Show @Pianos, Oct. 22nd

On Thursday, I got out of work around 11am, and decided to take advantage of the new schedule by spending the rest of the sunny afternoon in the Lower East Side doing something I had never done before -- I went to a CMJ Day showcase. I opted to attend the free Brooklyn Vegan lineup at Pianos, bolstered by the promise of free beer, and who can really say no to free beer in the middle of the day. I most looked forward to seeing the headliner, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah fame who was in town promoting his latest solo effort, but I also had been wanting to see some music in Pianos, in which, until then I had only been for a drink occasionally and had never seen any live music. Shocking, I know.

Anyway, it was also nice going by myself, rolling in whenever I wanted without coordinating with my friends. Much like checking out a museum alone, I was wholly in charge of what I wanted to see/hear and how long I lingered for one band over another. And because the day was free, I really was at liberty to do whatever the hell I wanted, even if it was just sitting at the bar and seeing how many bottles of Miller Lite would I really drink (apparently, 4).

I initially started downstairs in the more traditional stage setup, first catching the band A Classic Education, which reminded me a little of the time I saw The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but with a theremin! After a handful of songs, I then decided that what my up-since-4am body really wanted was to go upstairs and sit in the lounge for some mellower music, and Freelance Whales were precisely the remedy I needed, with their twee stripped down arrangements employing a Sufjan-esque sound built with banjo, metal water can percussion, and a thing that looked like a piece of luggage but made sounds like an accordion. Right after was a singer-songwriter named Rebecca Shiffman, to whom you had to give props for playing solo to the chatty upstairs. I headed downstairs again for the adorable Surfer Blood, who I thought sounded like Weezer meets Beach Boys with a little Fugazi thrown in. After their set, I headed back upstairs to catch the end of Peggy Sue, who turned out to be two English girls and a male drummer, none of whom I believe is named after the Buddy Holly song, but played a great cover of Missy Elliot's "All N My Grill."

I went back downstairs, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lovvers, but the room was majorly packed, so I ventured outside to grab a snack to counter the effect of the beer, which was just running through me. Can you believe that the only chocolate and coconut combo that Economy Candy carries is with white "chocolate" -- BLECH! Mildly placated by some Sun Chips, I headed back into Pianos and once again couldn't make any headway into the downstairs room, so I said fuggit and sat for the last song by Chris Denny and his band. His voice had a slight falsetto(?) quality that my beer-fuzzied brain couldn't quite wrap itself around, but no matter, I was seated for the rest of the afternoon.

The upstairs got really crowded for the next singer, Holly Miranda, so I moved to get a better view and ended up sitting like right under her mic. Despite more or less enjoying everything I had seen until that point, her music was perhaps the first that really stuck in my head, her beautiful soaring voice and excellent use of a looping pedal reminding me of Grizzly Bear and Magnet. Gorgeous stuff, truly.

The last band to play upstairs was Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson and his band, who despite the limited space, managed to project a great energy that the packed room really enjoyed. His songs didn't stick with me so much, but his performance reminded me of bands like Dr. Dog or Marah, who always seem to have a good time playing together.

For the final act of the day, we moved back downstairs, and to my surprise, it wasn't packed. Solo Alec Ounsworth played a nice short set that consisted of songs from his new solo album, Mo Beauty, as well as a few covers. Here's his cover of Chris Knox's "A Song to Welcome the Onset of Maturity":

His set was pretty different from the manic energy of a typical CYHSY show, but I knew what to expect, having seen him play by himself opening for The National four years ago at the Mercury Lounge. It proved to be a nice way to wind down and I headed back home to Brooklyn with a satisfied grin on my face.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @Mercury Lounge, Jan. 25th

Clap Your Hands and Say ZZZzzzzzzz...'playa, face it...you're getting old.

Last night met up with Julie for the last minute "secret" CYHSY show at the Mercury Lounge. I spotted it on Ticketweb randomly about 13 hours before the show, and figured it was only $12.50 after fees, and now that CYHSY were filling venues like Hammerstein on New Year's Eve, she and I decided what the hell. Worse come to worst, buy the tickets, get home, and stay in bed.

I had met up with Wheatie earlier in the evening for a pretty yum dinner at Craftbar (Warm Pecorino Fondue with Acacia Honey, Hazelnuts and Pepperoncini!) and then retreated back to Brooklyn for a few hours. Even snuck in a 1/2 hour nap before heading out, tho I so could have stayed in bed...but insanity called.

Got to Mercury in time to see the Cold War Kids crowd pile out and try to sneak their way back in for the late, late show, but the doorman wasn't having it. We finally were let in at roughly 12:40ish and bemoaned the fact that we were getting too old for this shit. Happily tho, J and I were able to grab coveted spots on the couches on the side. After finishing the soundcheck and prior to hitting the stage for real, the band lingered right next to me by the couches. I totally could have elbowed the lead singer Alec Ounsworth in the head if I wanted to, but I decided any roughhousing would lead to further delay, and it was already late enough! (Well, maybe a slight nudge towards the stage would have been appropriate.)

CYHSY finally started at about 1:35 am and played for about an hour. They played a setlist that drew about half of the songs from their eponymous debut, and the other half from their eagerly anticipated sophomore release, Some Loud Thunder.

It was great seeing them at Mercury, having seen them previously first from far, far away at South Street Seaport, and then last spring at one of their Bowery shows. The crowd was more enthusiastic about the songs from the first album, but that is to be expected. The new songs sounded some of the same, and some very different. In particular, I thought the track "Satan Said Dance" was a nice departure from the peppier stuff. Dark, and very bass-line oriented.

The show ended just after 2:30. I bolted for the street and hopped in a cab and was in my door by 2:45. Ahhh, sleep...

Here's a clip of them singing "In This Home On Ice" from the first album:


Here's "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood" and more photos on my Flickr.

Fuck, I'm tired...

(Added 1/26 -- Nice! I got linked on Gothamist.)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @Bowery Ballroom, Apr. 14th

Ok, so I went to see the Robinson Brothers play Friday night. I also went to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at the Bowery Ballroom later that same night. I figured, what the hell, tickets became suddenly available on Ticketweb that afternoon, and I had to head south on my way back to Brooklyn anyway...

I missed the two openers, but got to Bowery plenty of time before CYHSY was slated to hit the stage. I met up with Julie2 and her friends Natalie and Gina. The floor was packed but we found some room on the left side of the floor. We soon discovered why -- someone was cutting the cheese mighty bad. Man...it was so stinky we started worrying about whether s/he would make it to the bathroom in time. Ugh.

As if that weren't a good enough indicator of the crowd, we also ran into a couple locked in an embrace. What made this groping pair particularly noteable was that they wore matching homemade tied dyed t-shirts. Say what?

So in the stinky spot on the floor, I had also had another couple in front of me. They seemed to be on date 2 or 3. They chatted throughout the entire show, so their bobbing heads kept getting in my way -- grrr. And behind us were a bunch of loud drunk frat boy types who repeatedly cracked themselves up by yelling "YEAHHHHH!!!" as they loudly clapped their hands. And strangely, they knew a lot of the lyrics, and you wanna know how I know? Cos they were fucking loud.

But all those annoying people aside, CYHSY were amazing. The Britta and I caught them last summer at a free show at South Street Seaport, where there were a lot of annoying drunk Wall Street types (perhaps former drunk frat boy types?). So I knew they would be good.

I hadn't really listened to their album since last summer, so to hear all those songs performed again live was so exciting. Alex Ounsworth, the lead singer, has got a strange voice that has been compared to David Byrne. In my opinion, he kinda yodels. He sounded good. Seeing the band play together as they built their wall of sound reminded me of the time I caught Arcade Fire. Just listening to their respective debut albums doesn't do them justice. They both have great cds, but both put on live performances that are worth standing amongst the dregs of society.

CYHSY have a simple set up -- your basic drums, bass, guitar(s), keyboard(s). Their five members managed to build a sound so big it reminded me of Broken Social Scene, which needed like 15 people on stage. Most of their songs have an upbeat tempo, some kinda bouncy. I hope their next album explores other moods as well.

So, yeah, I don't know what possessed me to do two gigs in one night, but I really enjoyed the music of both. And I was happy to hang out with Julie2 some more and meet her friends. After CYHSY were done, Julie2, Natalie and I went to Epistrophy for a drink. They're both into seeing gigs more of the $10-12 variety -- meaning more obscure bands -- so I hope to join them for those soon.