Week One - Derek

(Unlike Ira King, I will not be cutting mine short due mostly to laziness. Sorry to subject you all to such a long piece, them's the brakes!)

This Heart's On Fire
A Wolf Parade Concert Review

“Shit gets crazy.”

Ever since one of my friends introduced me to Wolf Parade (stating “Give me your eyes, I need the sunshine” in a dead pan, almost creepy tone) I’ve been obsessed. Apologies to the Queen Mary is one of my all time favorite albums, and its follow-up At Mount Zoomer, while not living up to the debut, still holds its own as an amazing piece of music. When tickets went on sale for a mere twenty dollars, I snapped them up as soon as I could. In the time that I knew I was going to see them, I went to several other shows (Iron & Wine, Radiohead, Modest Mouse) and while these are some of my favorite artists, the Wolf Parade show was still the one I was anticipating most. On the road trip up to Chicago, I began to think about the show more critically. I had been building it up so long, constructing the perfect set list and such. After months of anticipation and other stellar shows, not to mention being only SLIGHTLY (and I stress the word ‘slightly’ here) disappointed with their second LP, I couldn’t help but worry that Spencer, Dan, and crew wouldn’t be able to live up to my self-built hype.

Spending a day wandering around Chicago took my mind off these fears, however, especially the advice I received from one very outgoing and outspoken cabbie. After criticizing our pipe smoking, we were practically given a paraphrased version of Alan Arkin’s speech from Little Miss Sunshine. “You, you’re young, you’re not babies, but you’re young. You should no be smoking, you should be fucking the girls. Find girls, fuck them”. Hiding my smirk, I thanked him, but he continued. “I have two kids, eight and ten, and I tell them same thing every day. To drink, some, but not too much… es good. To go school, great. But to fuck… excellent.” Words of wisdom I won’t soon forget.

Finally, the day of the show had arrived. We headed out about an hour early to sit in line outside the House of Blues. With only about twenty or so ahead of us, we knew we’d have a decent spot in the pit. Eventually, the doors opened and we nabbed second row center, about four or five feet from the stage. Striking up a conversation with someone directly in front of us, we got to hear about their past experiences at Wolf Parade shows, from their opening for Arcade Fire to their own headlining tour. Asking what it was like yielded the dry response, “Shit gets crazy.” I was really pleased with opening band Listening Party. I had never heard anything actually recorded by them so I was hesitant seeing only two people come on stage, one with a guitar and the other with a drum set made up of a plastic trashcan, a Home Depot bucket, and a cowbell, all held together by duct tape. Both men had great voices and were very talented musicians. Most of their stuff was backed by either prerecorded tracks or loops made on the spot. They had a pretty excellent set and, by the end of the night, had won me over with their original sound.

The moment was at hand, and the crowd knew it. The pit, where once all were standing calmly, giving each other space, had suddenly become full to bursting with everyone trying to inch their way forward, clawing for a better position. I was separated from my party, them moving backward and I, luckily enough, being pushed to literally front row center, clutching onto the protective metal barrier to keep my new spot. After a brief announcement about where the emergency exits were located, the curtain rose and Wolf Parade took the stage. The crowd, of course, went insane. With that, Dan grabbed his guitar and hit the opening chords of “Language City”, one of Zoomer’s better tracks and a phenomenal opener. The band’s intensity was apparent early on as Dan screamed and spit the vocals and Spencer slammed his keyboard, all the way up to its climactic finish. With the first song alone, the band set the tone for the rest of the night.

Up next were a few more songs from their second album, including “Call It a Ritual” and “The Grey Estates”. I was completely surprised when, very early in their set, came “Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts”, the first song all night from Apologies. Once the crowd recognized the opening notes, shit got crazy. Everyone literally exploded. Where there was once at least some remnant of order, there was now just mass hysteria. To put it simply, it was awesome. One of the greatest aspects of the show was how the band really kicked up every song, especially those from Zoomer. Even my least favorite Wolf Parade song, “An Animal in Your Care”, was just incredible to see live, and contrary to my thoughts prior to show, I really enjoyed it. Following that came one of my top tracks off their new album, “Fine Young Cannibals”. While I loved every single second they were playing it, I noticed something that disappointed me as I was the only one to yell out in joy during the opening chords. The crowd, or at least the people surrounding me, became subdued and much less responsive during Zoomer songs, and many people kept turning to me and asking, “What’s this one? What’s it from?” Regardless, “Fine Young Cannibals” was still one of the highlights of the show.

Next up was “Grounds for Device”, coming as a very pleasant surprise. Having talked to several people before the show, I learned that none of them had never seen or heard of “Grounds…” being played live. Once again, the opening chords alone erupted the crowd. The crowd throughout the show was hit or miss, depending on where one was standing. According to some reports, some parts got overly violent. Also, apparently one intoxicated fan decided to not lose his spot by urinating in the middle of the full-to-bursting pit. At one point, Spencer turned to the audience, pleading, “Hey guys, be nice to everyone, the crowd surfing stuff. We’re all just here to have a good time.” Where I was everyone was mostly considerate of not totally destroying others while still jumping around, bumping, slamming, having a good time. However, it was a little before this point that a guy about a foot and a half taller than me and at least twice my girth began beating on me to try to get his way to the front row. Most of his time was spent attempting to slam me against the fence or pounding on my back, but I knew I wouldn’t lose ground at this show. Gripping the protective barrier, I prepared for the long haul. At the same time, I was trying to protect a girl next to me who was short enough that only her head popped above the guard rail. For several songs I had to balance between keeping my spot and defending the tiny girl from getting smashed by this meathead. Eventually, he worked his way right beside me by pushing away the person formally standing next to me. “What the fuck?” he yelled out, clearly upset about losing his position. “DUDE, I MISSED THESE GUYS WHEN THEY PLAYED WITH ARCADE FIRE I’M SORRY BUT I HAVE TO DO THIS”. “Why’d you miss it?” the recently moved man asked. Sweating heavily and gyrating, Meat Head replied, “SKIN CANCER, DUDE, SKIN CANCER. FUCKIN’ SUCKED, SKIN CANCER.”

The band took a brief break, all of them meeting on the center of the stage to have a short discussion. Spencer looked a bit worried, asking something along the lines of “Are you sure?”, but he returned to his keyboard. He leaned forward, “Okay, so we haven’t tried this one live yet, but we’re gonna give it a shot.” With that, he began with the familiar, eerie sounds and vocals of “Bang Your Drum”. For its first live playthrough ever, the song went without a hitch, fitting perfectly with the rest of the show. Once again, I had a new found respect for another Zoomer song. “Bang Your Drum” transitioned without a break into “Shine a Light”, another song that worked to jumpstart the crowd into even more of a frenzy, followed by “California Dreamer”. “This Heart’s On Fire” came next, and once again the crowd showed their love for any Apologies song as the band tore it apart. With every single song, the crowd kept building up and building up, screaming along louder, dancing, jumping around more furiously. This was the perfect lead up to the normal set’s ender, “Kissing the Beehive”. When I first heard this song, all I could think about how grand its scale was, just how huge it sounded. Prior to the show, I knew this would be a highlight, but the guys really made it more than anything I ever would have expected. As Dan’s gritty, guttural, pure-rock voice battled with Spencer’s all-over-the-place vocals, the whole band slammed out the monstrous tune. Eleven minutes of pure, intense rock. The final note rung out, and the band left the stage.

With the crowd begging for more, the band returned to the stage. They had already played all of At Mount Zoomer, so all in attendance knew it was Apologies or EP material for the encore. Once again, it would be Dan who began the song, playing the opening of “It’s a Curse”. Finally, the moment was at hand. Everyone in the crowd had been waiting for it. The instantly recognizable opening notes of “I’ll Believe in Anything”. Once again, shit got crazy. As Spencer screamed out, “Give to me / Your eyes / I need/ The sunshine”, the whole venue went nuts. Absolutely nuts. Wolf Parade’s show had easily turned into the most intense pit I had ever been in. The entire crowd became united, singing (well, screaming) to each other, “I’ll believe in anything if you’ll believe in anything!” There were no longer individuals in this crowd. The drunkard who lost bladder control, the asshole who was once potentially plagued with skin cancer, we had become one giant, sweaty organism. It was absolutely perfect. Finally, keeping up the momentum, Wolf Parade closed their show with “Fancy Claps”, the perfect way to end the night. I realize that my vocabulary has been fairly limited this entire review, and I keep repeating myself, but I can’t put it any other way: They rocked it. Wolf Parade absolutely destroyed the House of Blues with their high energy, excellent set list, and stellar, precise sound.

Best show of the summer. Best show of my life.

Week One- Ira

I'm only putting 4 of the 8 on here because this assignment turned into something entirely too long.
“Let It Bleed”- The Rolling Stones
The first song I really became obsessed with in 2008, “Let It Bleed” is the title track off of the Stones’ 1969 classic LP. As a young kid growing up in Southeast Missouri where the only radio station playing anything remotely good was the classic rock station 100.7 KGMO, I was nourished on The Rolling Stones’ radio hits, unaware of the riches to be found within their albums (particularly those from 1968-72). Compared with the schizophrenia and terror of “Gimme Shelter” and the choral grandiosity of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, “Let It Bleed” finds the Stones back in their natural habitat, a smoky barroom filled with cheap drugs, cheap beer, and even cheaper sex. Starting with a lone acoustic guitar, the song takes off with two shots from Charlie Watts’ snare drum. Mick Jagger sounds weary and defeated in his first line of the song, “Well we all need someone we can lean on, And if you want it you can lean on me.” Backed by a great piano and autoharp part, “Let It Bleed” steadily gains intensity as an increasingly horny Jagger switches out “lean” for “dream”, then “cream”, and finally “bleed.” The Rolling Stones can pull off a chorus like no other band, with backing vocals further contributing to the sleazy barroom vibe.

“White Winter Hymnal/ Ragged Wood”- Fleet Foxes
I realize this is two songs here, but they segue so well I find it hard to listen to one without the other. I lived in Shanghai this summer for about five weeks while studying abroad. Surrounded by skyscrapers and coated in a blanket of haze, at times I caught myself thinking about the blue summer skies and open fields and trees of Missouri. Fleet Foxes’ organic harmonies and rustic instrumentation provided the perfect remedy to this lack of natural beauty. “White Winter Hymnal” starts with just Robin Pecknold’s voice until his fellow Foxes join him in harmony creating a song that sounds like a sleigh ride with the steady thump of the bass drum and ringing acoustic guitars. A split-second of silence separates “White Winter Hymnal” and “Ragged Wood” before Pecknold and company sound their own full-throated “barbaric YAWP”, in the American tradition. “Ragged Wood” is a high-spirited song. I found myself able to close my eyes in my dorm room in China and imagine myself three thousand miles across the sea in the remaining natural areas of America.

“AT&T”- Pavement
Wowee Zowee by Pavement will forever be associated with driving back and forth from school. I got the album at Slackers down in Columbia during the spring semester of my freshman year, and it’s been in my car rotation ever since. Kanye, My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire, and Bob Dylan have come and gone but Wowee Zowee in its fat reissue case has remained lodged in my center-console for almost a year. My favorite song off of Wowee Zowee, for now at least, “AT&T” finds Pavement at their abstract best, still sounding like slackers but doing it with style and poise. This track contains some of my favorite Stephen Malkmus wordplay, including “Maybe someone’s gonna save me/ My heart is made of gravy/ And the laps I swim from lunatics don’t count” and “Spritzer on ice in New York City/ Isn’t it a pity/ You never had anything to mix with that.” Malkmus’ lead guitar work on this song is phenomenal, snaking its way into the song around the half-minute mark, twisting up and around the vocals, and exploding with Malkmus’ stuttered lyric of “Whenever, when-ne-ne-neverrrr ever I feel fine/ I’m gonna walk away/ From all this and all that.” A difficult song to interpret lyrically, “AT&T” provides me company and something to ponder over as I make my North-South pilgrimage through Missouri.

“Anything You Want”- Spoon
Hundreds of songs exist extolling the virtues of being sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and even twenty-one. Songs about being nineteen, my age for most of 2008, are much harder to find. I discovered “Anything You Want” before I turned nineteen, but the song didn’t really take on any importance for me until I graduated into the last of my teen years. When Britt Daniel sings the last verse of the song I encounter a weird feeling of pre-nostalgia, like I’m looking back on myself at the age of nineteen from the future, thinking about how great things were back when I was still in college. The verse discussed reads, “And now time is my time time is my own/ And I feel so alive yet feel so alone/ Cause you know you’re the one and that that hasn’t changed/ Since you were nineteen and still in school waiting on a light/ On the corner by Sound Exchange.” As I close in on entering my twenties, I’m savoring “Anything You Want” as much as possible.

Week One - Chaz

Eight for oh-eight. My favorite thus far.

1. “Single Ladies” – Beyonce
If you’ve listened to Top 40 radio for ten minutes in the past few months, you’ve heard this insanely catchy song. The music video sold me, seduced by the delusional notion that I might one day be able to move my body as frenetically/gracefully as does Sasha Fierce. I’m also a sucker for an alter ego.

2. “If I Was Your Girlfriend” – Prince
Here’s another alter ego, Prince as Camille. I listened to this track all summer (it was on the lone mix CD in my car), driving around St. Joseph, Missouri during a reporting internship. In the song, Prince/Camille wants to be your best friend, and, you know, do what girlfriends do, things like dressing one another and initiating oral sex. I’d prep for interviews while Prince/Camille crooned, “Listen, 4 u naked I would dance a ballet/ Would that get u off?/ Then tell me what will!” My answer: this creepy cool song.

3. “Two” – Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams is pretty hit-and-miss, but this lovely, mournful song never fails to soothe. Although it’s about a more serious addiction – “it takes two when it used to take one” – this track paired well with my morning coffee. In early 2008, my roommates would blare “Two” while knocking back Diet Cokes and wailing about the unfairness of schoolwork.

4. “Playground Lover” – Air
This song unfairly made its way onto many of my innocuous “studying” playlists in 2008. It’s a great, sexy song, and the pulsing introductory (marimba?) notes over sustained strings give it an especially insistent, hypnotic feel. Listening feels like floating.

5. “Chemtrails” – Beck
Another summer driving song, particularly for the times I’d gaze through my windshield, lost yet again in St. Joseph and dazed from driving in circles. Spare, careful verses (synth, bass, vocals) spill into throbbing, drum-heavy choruses. All the while, Beck’s voice is distant and serene: “Down by the sea/ So many people/ They've already drowned/ You and me watching a sea full of people/ Try not to drown.” Beck’s “Eleanor Rigby,” perhaps?

6. “Look After Me” – Hot Chip
This is a kind of electronic pop samba detailing the anguish of an estranged couple. Hot Chip’s vocals quite often quaver pleasantly, but the English voices on this track seem especially fragile. “Every time I see your face I break down and cry/ I see it in your family as they walk on by.” Swelling strings after this confession – pathos!

7. “Whole Lotta Love” – Tina Turner
With a phenomenal backing band, Tina does it better (and ten times hotter) than Led Zeppelin. The arguably best moments of the song come during a sexy, funky intro long before Tina even opens her mouth.

8. “Gray or Blue” – Jaymay
This track evokes padlocked diary confessions, a quality that usually irritates me, but nursery rhyme catchiness redeems all. Straightforward and saccharine, it’s irresistible as spun sugar.

Week One - Clint

It’s lonesome and terrifying being stuck in space, I would assume so at least. This is exactly the feeling during the synth interlude in the closer, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” of the Who’s album Who’s Next. For the first six minutes of the song, Townshend, Entwistle, Daltrey, and Moon offer confidence in a time of obscurity. Daltrey vows through Townshend’s words to never “get fooled again.” With these hopeful and defiant lyrics (which I think are very relevant to the reactions of voters in the past election) the listener is taken to a place of well being, that is until 6:33. The rock stops, and all that remains is a melancholy synth dance. Like mocking stars floating by as one passes through space alone, the synth bleeps become daunting and increasingly suffocating. Being expelled from the glorious comfort of Moon’s drumming and Townshend’s guitar into the emptiness of the synth stars, a feeling of nervousness isolation surrounds in the blackness of space. The stars glimmer menacingly as the mind concedes that the end is here, and it is filled with void. Paying heed to the remoteness of the synth no longer, Moon rises and begins to fire with no warning shot, but instead with depth charge drum hits (the best fourteen seconds of music ever recorded). Usurped, the synth retaliates within these fourteen seconds with higher pitches, shorter notes and a fierce, squealing tone. The apocalyptic earthly battle has begun. The battle lasts only a few seconds between good and evil. Drums annihilate, the synth rips, but all ceases when the shattering voice of God (Roger Daltrey) explodes and offers the last judgment.

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