Sunday, November 21, 2004
Took the metro to the Wiltern on Friday to see Wilco. It's pretty convenient because there's a station directly across the street. The only thing I worried about was catching a train home once the show was over, but that didn't turn out to be a problem. One of these days I'm going to have to find out the time schedule for these trains before I get stuck in L.A. late at night looking for a ride home. The metro always makes for an interesting experience. There's always interesting people on board. Sometimes you wonder if something bad is going to occur and sometimes you just want to laugh out loud. The first time I saw Wilco wasn't really a Wilco show per se. It was Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennet playing acoustic at McCabe's guitar shop in Santa Monica. They played a lot of Uncle Tupelo songs, the Wilco songs from AM, and covers. It is still my favorite "Wilco" show that I've seen. They sure have progressed from those times. When Uncle Tupelo broke up all I wanted to know was what was Jeff Tweedy's next band going to be. I found out on a Warner Bros. promo cd that it was going to be called Wilco and each album since then hasn't let me down. I like the last two albums, but I think my favorite material comes from Summerteeth and Being There. There is barely a hint of country rock anymore and I'm perfectly fine with that. Live they've turned into a pretty formidable noise band and I'm always up for that. I guess live that is what struck me the most. They really seemed to enjoy pushing their equipment into squeels of feedback and washes of distortion. That was particularly true when they played the song off the new album that sounds like a Krautrock number. The first few minutes were just sweet, beautiful noise. I've liked their shows in the past, but this one was the first in awhile that I was really glad I went to.
Last night I went to Hollywood to see Blonde Redhead and Autolux. As I was getting my ticket at the will call window I saw Giovanni Ribisi standing there with a little girl. I guess he has decent taste in music. I'm too old to be thinking this, but I'm a little envious that he was in such close proximity to Scarlett Johansson in LOST IN TRANSLATION. Speaking of too old, I really felt old at this show. Everyone seemed to be under 25 at the venue. You would think there would be a few more senior citizens in the crowd like myself. There is something to be said for femininity in rock. I don't mean just the fact of women being in bands, but rather the concept of sensuality in music. Fine purveyers of this were My Bloody Valentine and I think some current practitioners are Autolux and Blonde Redhead. Autolux really remind me of Isn't Anything-era MBV. I love the languid, hushed vocals. Some people may find it wimpy, but I've always found that type of vocal delivery to be sexy. The music can be hushed, but often times it is a buzzing, distorted wash of sound. When they first started playing I kept thinking that they seriously needed to turn up the volume, but then suddenly everything kicked in and I was an embryo in their womb of sound. The bass was making the floor shake and the drums were just rocking. I spent most of my time watching the girl drummer play. She really hits hard and puts out a really good sound. She looked kind of cute from where I was standing as well so that didn't hurt. They are from L.A. so I hope to be seeing them much more often.
I am very ill-equipped to speak about Blonde Redhead. I never bothered to hear them because I always heard they were a Sonic Youth rip off. I'm sure that is a too harsh and facile critique, but it kept me away from their work for a long time. I finally heard them on their most recent album and I liked it enough to want to check them out live. They were good, although they didn't knock my socks off. The most interesting aspect for me was watching the girl in the band. She plays guitar, bass, keyboards, and occasionally sings. I really liked seeing her play and her interaction with the the other guy who played guitar and bass and did most of the vocals. When she played she had a really sexy swaying motion going on. It just went really well with the sound of the music. At one point at the end of a song she did a little dance just for a moment in front of the other guy in the band and it just looked so cool. I guess it just captured the essence of seeing someone really enjoying what they are doing. It's funny what catches your eye at a concert sometimes.
Last night I went to Hollywood to see Blonde Redhead and Autolux. As I was getting my ticket at the will call window I saw Giovanni Ribisi standing there with a little girl. I guess he has decent taste in music. I'm too old to be thinking this, but I'm a little envious that he was in such close proximity to Scarlett Johansson in LOST IN TRANSLATION. Speaking of too old, I really felt old at this show. Everyone seemed to be under 25 at the venue. You would think there would be a few more senior citizens in the crowd like myself. There is something to be said for femininity in rock. I don't mean just the fact of women being in bands, but rather the concept of sensuality in music. Fine purveyers of this were My Bloody Valentine and I think some current practitioners are Autolux and Blonde Redhead. Autolux really remind me of Isn't Anything-era MBV. I love the languid, hushed vocals. Some people may find it wimpy, but I've always found that type of vocal delivery to be sexy. The music can be hushed, but often times it is a buzzing, distorted wash of sound. When they first started playing I kept thinking that they seriously needed to turn up the volume, but then suddenly everything kicked in and I was an embryo in their womb of sound. The bass was making the floor shake and the drums were just rocking. I spent most of my time watching the girl drummer play. She really hits hard and puts out a really good sound. She looked kind of cute from where I was standing as well so that didn't hurt. They are from L.A. so I hope to be seeing them much more often.
I am very ill-equipped to speak about Blonde Redhead. I never bothered to hear them because I always heard they were a Sonic Youth rip off. I'm sure that is a too harsh and facile critique, but it kept me away from their work for a long time. I finally heard them on their most recent album and I liked it enough to want to check them out live. They were good, although they didn't knock my socks off. The most interesting aspect for me was watching the girl in the band. She plays guitar, bass, keyboards, and occasionally sings. I really liked seeing her play and her interaction with the the other guy who played guitar and bass and did most of the vocals. When she played she had a really sexy swaying motion going on. It just went really well with the sound of the music. At one point at the end of a song she did a little dance just for a moment in front of the other guy in the band and it just looked so cool. I guess it just captured the essence of seeing someone really enjoying what they are doing. It's funny what catches your eye at a concert sometimes.
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