via SPIN
Molly was the Kool-Aid man for Halloween and, yes, she broke through a brick wall drawn on brown paper
Things have been a bit quiet post-CMJ, and I miss the music-craziness of October. I've had the election to distract me for a few days, and I've never been prouder to hold an Illinois ID, to be an alum of my alma mater (I'm still waiting for that email, PrezBo), and to be an American. It's been an exciting week, but it's time for me to pick up where I left off.
During the BrooklynVegan CMJ Showcase, I saw a certain band named Ponytail that has a band website that appears to be very circa 1990s. I should warn you that you may find yourself clicking around for awhile. Anyway, let's be honest. When I first saw this band, I thought, "What the hell is going on..." Molly Siegel, the lead singer (if you can call her that), bounced around and made a lot of cat-like noises. Screeches, purrs, she had them all. This guy in front of me was rocking out while everyone looked on with their arms crossed in an appropriate CMJ-like manner.
Regardless, I kinda liked them. I couldn't really explain why they intrigued me that night, but I have been listening to Ponytail ever since the MHOW show. I put Ice Cream Spiritual on my iPod, which turned out to be a dangerous move. Now, I've been finding myself moving to the beat while walking, waiting in front of restaurants, and riding the elevator at work. Uh oh, I guess Ponytail is a little infectious.
While I'm still confused by the "vocals" of Molly Siegel and Dustin Wong, they entertain me at times. I especially enjoy Dustin's monkey sounds in "7 Souls," in all seriousness. I've seen him do the bit live twice, and I may be a little obsessed. But, the track that I've had on repeat for awhile is "Beg Waves," my current favorite. When I saw them perform the song live, the guitarists and drummer managed to make the complicated sequences look so easy to perform (damn them). Up until about time 2:26, the guitars and percussion become increasingly layered on top of each other, making the song seem almost chaotic as the different sounds attempt to fight each other for domination. Then, a melodic guitar riff emerges suddenly, and it's a surprise that manages to put a smile on my face. While I'm the elevator with people in suits. Oh, if they only knew what I was listening to.
Ponytail will be performing with Yeasayer on November 15 at NYU's Skirtball Center. Details here.
Beg Waves - Ponytail
November 5, 2008
Ponytail - "Beg Waves"
October 22, 2008
BrooklynVegan CMJ Showcase - MHOW 10.21.08
Note: Blogger took down the original post due to DMCA issues
Passion Pit
Singing DJ Jens Lekman
via Escape Sounds
Passion Pit = HOT
As you can see to the right, Passion Pit has been one of my current obsessions since their pre-Forkcast days. To put it lightly, they killed last night. Without much surprise, these guys have definitely grown since their first show at Pianos. I'm sure that it helps that everyone is talking about this band. Talk about a great confidence booster. I'd wondered how Passion Pit would fare on the larger stage of MHOW, but it turned out that a bigger setting was more appropriate for PP’s sound and energy. Compared to the Pianos set, everyone looked visibly more comfortable and as if they were actually (gasp) having fun. What really caught my attention about this performance was that Michael Angelakos varied up the vocals a bit so that he wasn’t singing in his upper range the entire time. There were some concerned comments about that from the first Pianos show, and it seemed like Angelakos had taken them to heart. Passion Pit played a great version of “Better Things,” which was one of the first tracks that hooked me into this band. I like when bands sound slightly different live and still manage to deliver. Isn’t this the point of seeing any show? Anyway, there was a song (or two?) that I didn’t recognize, since they’re not on Chunk of Change. Setlist, anyone?
A Singing DJ is exactly what you’d expect
I should have gone into this with no expectations. Instead, I dreamt of Jens’ emotionally manipulative voice, serenading the crowd with lyrics about how his heart has been set on fire. So, maybe I set myself up for this letdown, because a singing DJ is exactly that – a DJ who occasionally sings. Singing DJ Jens Lekman's set was interesting, to say the least. He spun “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey,which is arguably one of the best pop songs of the ‘90s (Confession: Fantasy may have been one of the first CDs that I'd owned). Regardless of good DJing choices, Jens’ performance of “Sipping on the Sweet Nectar” was not enough to satisfy. I wish there would have been less spinning and more singing. I guess I was hoping for a DJing singer.
I kinda liked Ponytail (K., don’t kill me)
Ponytail confused me at first, and now I’m intrigued. Is Ponytail my new Animal Collective? Will be listening to them when I get home today.
Also...who is Thor of Shearwater?
Wikipedia tells me that he is a musician, painter, and carpenter. His instruments include “found instruments and homemade instruments.” All I know is that he wears a braid, played a hammer dulcimer, and people kept on yelling out his name. A great name, too.
Official BV announcement here.
More Passion Pit here. More Jens here.
