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I haven't been to a good gig for ages. I shouted with joy when I spotted that Broken Social Scene were playing locally (the wife had to come downstairs as she thought I'd hurt myself.) I've been looking forward to it for a couple of months, and last night it was finally on. It could have gone either way, as the Rolling Stones were playing in Cardiff as well, so I was expecting the gig to be quiet as many would have opted to see the crusty grave worriers whilst they can still hold a plectrum. It would always be seeing the Scene over the Stones for me any day, unless I had a time machine and could go back to the late 60s and see 'em. I haven't though so the Scene it was - and the Point wasn't empty as I feared - the place was pretty full.
I have to say, the gig was just a sublime. The band obviously love what they do, and it comes across in the live performance. I don't know what had happened before hand, but their tour bus had been robbed outside the venue - but they still gave and played their hearts out. They've just edged into my top 3 live gigs after that performance (Pixies in '89 and Iggy in '91 were the other two if you're wondering.)
They played for the best part of two hours, all the great stomping tracks, and a few I wouldn't have thought would work live but did, amazingly so. Anyway, if you haven't caught 'em live, and have an inkling you may like their music, do it. It will lift your soul. As I struggle here this morning with a hangover and the need to relive some of that precious time, here's some Broken Social Scene live. It's not from last night's gig, but if some turns up I'll post that, but it is from the current tour. The camera's wobbly, but the sound's good - the track, Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day) - enjoy.
Quite possibly my favourite band of the last five years - I've managed to miss Silver Mt Zion live a number of times. The band's a side project from another of my favourites, God Speed You Black emperor. The bands are not too dissimilar in their aesthetics. However, over their albums, they've gone from a mainly instrumental band, to a fully featured sing along band with choir.
The lead vocalist Efrim Menuck is one of them great non-singers I love, and his vocals have developed over the course of their musical catalogue. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoy his voice. Frail and almost apologetic, it's shot through with melancholy and at times hard to listen to, but to me, utterly compelling and entertaining. Here's a great live video of the band running through the title track of their last LP, Horses In The Sky - at Paradiso, Amsterdam. There's not a lot to look at, but it sounds great.
My first introduction to Bongwater came via the old late 80s tribute to Neil Young album, The Bridge. They did a swirling and energetic cover of Captain Soul. I was already a fan of Kramer and his Shimmy Disc label, but didn't really catch up with the band until a few years after their acrimonious demise. Bogwater's Power of Pussy remains one of my top LPs, sadly under-rated and ignored at a time Grunge was taking up all the music press column inches. Kramer has been a hero of mine for a long time, as much for his stirring production work with bands like Galaxie 500 and King Missile as for his playing with such projects as Bongwater, Jad Fair and B.A.L.L.
The band's sound is eclectic to say the least, loops, samples, folk rocky, noise rocky and psychedlic in the extreme, I always guessed a live show would be fun to watch, but something I missed. The band also did a great line in covers, each album having a number of drastically reworked cover records. In this clip, which according to the comments is from Sunday Live, the band do a cover of Roky Erikson's 'You Don't Love Me Yet'. Props enough, but it's a collaborative thing going on, as the amazing intro vocals are supplied by none other than Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Big hair and crazy guitar is the theme, enjoy some Bongwater.
I can't get enough of Cranes the last couple of years. I got Self-Non-Self, their debut mini LP when it first came out back in 1989, but later had it disappear with some loaned LPs. I got it again on CD a couple of years ago, along with their second LP Wings Of Joy. They've not been off the playlist since.
Wings Of Joy didn't gel with me back when it first it came out, but has since clicked in a big way. One of the great tracks from it is the chiming and raw Starblood. Here's the band doing it live on some MTV show - they look out of place. Cranes are still going strong. Last year's Particles And Waves was a great album worthy of checking out for a more mellower, lighter and maturer Cranes. For my money though, their noisier and more industrial early records remain their essential listening.
Dio Bach is a music fan who loves sharing his opinions on his favourite music and videos. Subscribe for regular nuggets.
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