One of the great things about seeing a band tour between albums is that you never know what you’re going to hear. It’s even greater when that band has a back catalog spanning over 600 songs recorded over the nearly two decades. Such was the case with the Mountain Goats all acoustic show at the Society for Ethical Culture.
I mean, holy moley just check out this setlist!:
1 John 4:16 Woke Up New Song for Tura Satana Cobscook Bay Going to Lebanon Un rêve plus long que la nuit (aka November Love Song) Going to Kansas The Last Limit of Bhakti You or Your Memory Going to Queens From TG&Y Dance Music The Day The Aliens Came Ontario (requested) So Desperate Color in Your Cheeks (requested) Sign of the Crow 2 [new Comedians song]* Surrounded* See America Right* No Children -------------- The Sign
*featuring John Vanderslice
Also "1 John 4:16” was played on the piano. Darnielle remarked it was the first time he played the piano in front an audience since he was 9. Other highlights included a few collaborative efforts and even a new song with opener John Vanderslice. Their musical collaboration together is being billed as The Comedians, and if this sneak peek was any indication future recordings will be awesome.
Needless to say this show especially awesome to those diehard fans hyper-familiar with John Darnielle’s prolific output (an overwhelming amount of the audience considering the line outside the venue started to form at noon), but that’s not to say those only familiar with his 4AD output weren’t satiated as well. The show was a careful balancing act of hits and obscurities, with a solo Darnielle even polling the crowd to get a feel for what we wanted to hear, which essentially was everything. Getting swept up in the fervor of requests being shouted his way, he played over a half an hour over the venue’s curfew and informed the audience he wouldn’t be able to play an encore. But we wouldn’t take no for an answer. While well after half the audience left, the remaining loyalists stomped and cheered for what seemed like an eternity (but was probably actually just a very long five minutes) until he reemerged to the stage with a rousing rendition of “The Sign”, you know that classic Ace of Base song that was all the rage in middle school. And coming from Mr. Darnielle, it sounded just as poetic as his original material, obscure or not.
What does the economic recession mean for indie rock? The article posits the following:
Skyrocketing real estate prices had led to the rise of electroclash and the psychedelic folk revival, two fringe genres that flourished because, well, neither of them required a lot of expensive real estate. Fans could pack tiny, dingy venues on the edge of various downtowns, and the young people who sustain unpopular popular music could afford the modest cover charges and the watered-down alcoholic beverages. With his trademark wit, Svenonius’s commentary reminded us that bohemia isn’t an alternate reality that defies economic logic. Rather, it is a product of a much larger set of impersonal economic forces—gentrification, targeted advertising, the nightlife industry—and as such it is susceptible to quasi-Marxist analysis. Which leads us to the inevitable question: will the downturn spell doom for the hipster economy?...If Svenonious was right and indie rock flourished during a real estate boom, will indie rock die during a bust? I’ve spent the last several months pondering this vitally important question, and it occurs to me that we’re likely to see something subtly different.
So let's rewind to the not-too-distant past. Way back one September night in 2006 I was smushed in a crowded dorm parlor that was packed way past fire hazard capacity. Hundreds of college kids gathered to see some blog-buzzed about band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I too was there to check out the hype. And while disappointed with the main act's lack of stage presence, I was utterly blown away by the openers that preceded them - this little band named The Harlem Shakes.
The Shakes shook up the night with fuzzed-out pop melodies, dancey rhythms and ample energy to boot. The lead singer did this twisty dance, in which he twisted feet his in-and-out, butterfly style. The moves were as endearing as their music was infectious. Following the concert I even met up with the band at an on-campus after party. We swigged back mouthfuls of cheap wine straight from the bottle by the lake behind the psychology department building. There's not much else I remember about that night, except them telling me they went to Yale (what is up with Ivy Leagues producing such impressive indie-pop?) and one of them, I think the bassist?, shared my major (shoutout to American Cultural studies majors everywhere, woohoo). Also I regrettably didn't make out with any of them. That much I remember.
ANYWAY back to my main point - their music. I checked out their website the following morning, only to learn they had zero releases, not an album, not even an EP, just a couple of demo tracks up for download - which I greedily clicked on and thoroughly enjoyed.
Skip ahead to the present. After releasing a brief EP last year, the Harlem Shakes finally, FINALLY released a full length album this past Tuesday. Unsurprisingly Technicolor Health is awesome. Tight, tight melodies, primal rhythms and tribal beats combine with oft-kilter vocals to make one of the best indie-pop records of the year. And to my surprise one of the songs, "Sunlight" is a re-working of one of those demos, "A Night" that I downloaded so many years ago.
Umm I have no idea what this is or where it's from. But I can assure you this: this song will make your breakfast infinitely better! For the record, I like waffles, pancakes and French toast! I defy you to NOT sing along.
