9 posts tagged “popscene”
I wish I could go see La Roux on Sunday, but sadly I will be covering the Treasure Island Music Festival this whole weekend (I know, woe is me). We pulled the La Roux interview from the archives for your reading pleasure over at POP OFF.
--
[Causerie] La Roux
Since you guys just got off a UK tour with her, is Lily Allen as horrible as she’s made out to be? She’s played our club before.
Do people think she is horrible? (laughs) To say what we think…like, when everyone else does that in their friend group, they’re not seen as bad. But when it’s written down and the facial expression is done, then it gets taken out of context. If one of your friends said it, you wouldn’t even remember if it sounds horrible or botchy. She’s really not like that at all. But you have to know it to understand it. Someone went on my Myspace and left a comment that said “You’re such a bitch!” And that really hurts, because really, really really really I’m not a bitch, but now I can’t change your mind because you think I’m a cunt. [more...]
Man, I am just pumping these out this week, aren't I? I'm also working on a Ed Harcourt package (oooh, dirty-sounding), a Jamie Lidell review from last night (Jesus Christ, never before have I seen moves on a white boy in a pressed suit like that), and my gem of gems Wallpaper. feature - hopefully it will run tomorrow, but I'm swamped at work work, so potentially it might be Monday. I am dying to show these pictures...
Tonight I am witnessing the sheer brilliance of Flight of the Conchords live...I am so scared my stomach is not going to recover from the laughs. Apparently I also have three songs (or in FOTC time, seven minutes) to photograph the essence of this duo tonight before my camera gets taken away. Talk about pressure.
Anyway - here is the review from last week's popscene, which rules beyond all doubts. Enjoy!
--
Live - Foals @ Popscene | SF
The Oxford ensemble stopped by in a first of a seven-date swing through North America, and the fans waiting outside the club before doors were not disappointed. Splicing a healthy dose of dance punk, prog rock, and synth heartbeats together, the band primarily focused on showcasing their stuff off new album Antidotes, a furious and rhythmic fury of seductive bass and choice lyrics coupled together. Live, tracks like "The French Open" encompassed a more jam-band feel live, drummer and frontman Yannis Philippakis rocking back and forth frantic to his math rock-oriented beats. "Heavy Water" carried a more somber and relaxed air, while single "Cassius" caused a raucous commotion in the front rows in response to the jagged guitar riffs that were dancing with the timekeeping of impeccable drums.
"We are the epitome of professionalism," said Philippakis between songs, seemingly being cheeky but also serious. The guys sprinkled in small quips about finding themselves "in the best district ever [the Tenderloin]" and describing the bum pee they walked around, as well as their love of San Francisco over New York ("their applause has nothing on you guys"). Post-show, the guitarist wobbled around on crutches due to an undisclosed injury; my respect for the band only grew after that. If anything, the swarm at the merch booth post-show only shows their growing power on the indie circuit.
By JENZ
May 29, 2008 in
NEWS
Five words: swoon, swoon, and more swoon. Original article here.
--
Live - Calvin Harris @ Popscene | SF
But, his debut San Francisco show last night at Popscene left me
wanting a little more. Admittedly, this concert was a huge reputation
to live up to: we were the first stop on a three
date North American tour for the rest of 2008, the other two being at
Coachella this weekend and in NYC next week. The poor Scot looks simply
dumbfounded when he walked on stage, as if not anticipating there to be
actual people at his gig. Harris quickly recovered and waved and
grinned to the crowd, taking his place behind the lead mic adorned in a
silver gray blazer and maroon tee.
It wasn't until "Colours" midway through his set that Harris began to helm the show and commandeer attention on himself. The synthesizer came hot on a dance platter, the bass in on a sexy sashay; his sound, arrangements and all, are one of the most crystal clear ones I can remember in my history at Popscene. I was utterly impressed by the quality and tightness Harris and co were producing in front of me; I Created Disco is a very carefully designed album of maximum layers, and replicating the sheer monster of it with specific blips and all wasn't the issue. I knew I was dancing my ass off and thankful for the giant indoor fan positioned above my head. Backed by a full band, I think the disconnect began to occur when Harris realized he didn't really have to do anything but sing. At times he simply seemed curious to see what else he could do, peering at the faces below him, or asking the crowd to do open - and closed - first pumps to his songs. "Acceptable In The 80s" was an impeccable display of precision in nailing the arrangement, but something was off. It wasn't that he was bored, or careless in his performance at all; if anything, he is one of the most likable characters I've seen. He just seemed to be a tad shy on stage and didn't demand the stage presence that he is obviously capable of.
Harris seemed to shake off this posture at "Colours." The Nintendo-throwback of "Neon Rocks" saw him open up and sway a little, and the wonderfully synth-delicious "Vegas" saw him in full bloom: spitting out his lines in perfect rhyme, and looking like he was actually enjoying his time on stage. He was finally able to catch up to the faultlessness of his music, which had already done all the talking for him up to this point. Thus, closer "The Girls" was a riot of people's hands and drinks entangled in one another and Harris substituting one of the descriptors in the lines for "I like San Francisco girls" merited the only response suited for the occasion: lots of screaming. We like you too, Calvin. We hope to see you again. Just promise us that you won't be too bashful next time, okay? We only bite when we give hickeys.
By JENZ
Apr 25, 2008 in
NEWS
Yet again, more reasons to love this glorious city. Original clip here.
--
Live - Bloody Beetroots, DJ AM @ Popscene | SF
I have to say, I couldn't tell you much about DJ people before that installment of Popscene last week. I understand that whatever city you're in, you have your favorite scratchers, guys and gals at your local bar, club, or weekly dance party who can pick records with such an attune ear, you wonder if you could date them just so they could give you mix CDs on a regular basis. I admit, sometimes I will only go to events if I know particular people are running the show because their track record of fantastic music play lists has been proven to me.
In the music world, there are acts that exclusively appear as DJs, being paid to travel the world to cart around records and get shirtless in clubs. And my train of thought was, how hard can this shit be? I mean, can't anyone just waltz through their iTunes play list and pick out some tracks with a theme? Cock rock? 80s new wave romantic? And, to be honest, I did not get the "celebrity" DJ stance at all. Until I stepped into Popscene and witnessed some bad assery go down, unlike I have ever seen before.
My girls and I popped over to the bar once we landed inside, and met up with Josh, who I used to go dancing with regularly back in my "early" years. We hadn't been out on a dance floor together in nearly two years, so we settled on the linoleum as soon as possible and began to bust out the moves for the Bloodys. The Italian duo was already on stage donning their trademark Spiderman masks and "raising the roof" arm pumps, and there was a core group in the front climbing all over the stage and platforms, entangled with each other's skinny jeans and head bands. The Bloodys' set consisted of mostly trance-like house anthems paired with a pop song spliced here and there, but for being grown men who were wearing children's Halloween masks, they sure brought out the party.
A short intermission of shorts came before DJ AM, and once the L.A. based DJ took helm of the night, it was sheer madness. Indie kids Klaxons' "Atlantis to Interzone" and rap legend Notorious B.I.G.'s "Get Money," to 90's dance jam "Pump Up The Jam" by Technotronic and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" - every track was a surprise curveball of dance ability that was completely unprecedented and a welcome change. I was so exhausted by the end of the night trying to shake my butt as fast as it could go to all the worthy gems he was spinning; jumping around and singing at the top of my lungs like an idiot with my friends, who were also all so impressed like me by the near perfect play list DJ AM was creating for the night.
And I also understood. I understood when I went into the bathroom to dab my forehead and neck with eight paper towels why guys like the Bloodys and AM get paid the big bucks simply to come out and play some tunes. It's because they actually know what they're doing, and have not only the time and knowledge to draft a soundtrack flawless for kids in their general vicinity to fucking lose it, but enjoy keeping an open ear to what's out there and consistently vie for the best. It's a neat job in the world of music that has carved out into something special and that has now had me contemplate taking off my pants for the sake of dancing (we ended up not; I was wearing a dress, but Josh totally would have been ever more the gay man with the gold lamé knickers had we decided to strip). At the end of the night, I remember sort of huddling around with my friends with our arms around each other; we had just head-banged our brains out to the guitar solo of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and were coming down off the high of the past two hours of intense groping and screaming. The solid crowd who remained at the end of the night clapped their hands off as the night winded down to a beautiful memory of dancing perfection. I couldn't have been happier as I walked out, on my way to a late-night snack of french fries and milkshakes. It was well deserved.
By JENZ
Mar 17, 2008 in
NEWS
I think it reads for itself.
Original clip here.
--
Live - The Kills @ Popscene | SF
The U.K-with-some-Florida vibe duo were in town on a special appearance
for the heart-themed holiday, the skinny-jeaned, black-clad Alison
Mosshart and Jamie Hince on stage in middle of positively burning holes
in the carpet with their jagged guitar licks and breathy, "fuck you"
vocals. We were grinding to the sounds, partly because of the Black
Keys meets dirty jazz and garage feel, but also because we had also
drank an entire bottle of champagne in the car before coming in. Life
was good.
The Kills have this innate sense of being attractive without trying, for emitting this badass "I take shit from no one" attitude purely by moving simply; Hince standing on both heels before dipping take a deep slash at his guitar in such a stealthy swoop my heart skipped a beat; Mosshart closing her eyes and approaching her stand to sing, bangs in her face before cocking her mouth right at the cusp of the mic in a seductive way. These two know how to perform, and know how to play, and it is hot. "URA Fever" and "Love Is A Deserter" live are massive treats, an effortless yet intricate tangle of guitar and drum woven together for maximum effect. It was like I was living in the "No Wow" video all night, and it ruled.
Needless to say, we further celebrated the night after The Kills took off, upholding the idea of sexy and having more drinks and hugs and kisses and making out. Then additional drinks were had with throwing shot glasses into buckets in the smoking room and falling into the street at the end of the night and then somehow miraculously using the bathroom without any assistance. After that we went to 7-11 for Slurpees and got sympathy from a homeless dude while leaning out the car door for you-know-what. In the end, I woke up an hour late for the paying job the next day. Valentine's Day really may be in competition with my antics from New Year's, to be honest. If this is the rate I am going at for the 2008 holidays, I might be seeing little leprechauns on St. Patrick's Day telling me to do keg stands...
By JENZ
Feb 19, 2008 in
NEWS
One of my favorite bands ever, Margot & The Nuclear So and So's, are posting blogs about their new record's studio progress as well as some sweet pictures taken with the Apple Photobooth program. I am so illimitably in love with this group, it's totally worth a read. Richard Edwards is an indie-rock boyfriend, after all...
Anyway, the new album (tentatively called Animal!) should be out this year, and I am beyond stoked. Just wanted to share.
Also, Nylon Magazine made a documentary on The Horrors, who played popscene last June - it debuted at Sundance last weekend, and upon further inspection, we the pop team saw about half the film trailer take place at our show!! So insane. World famous, we are!
And, lastly, Danielle and I went to see Ryan Adams last night at Zellerbach in Berkeley. I photographed the show and am supposed to be writing a review for tomorrow's Tripwire edition, but right now I can't even seriously put into words (a) the sheer magnitude of the greatness of this show, (b) how impeccably hilarious Dr. Adams is, and (c) how flawless both the ballads and rock'n'roll tunes were. Ugh. So good, I even made a photo tribute. More to come...
What can I say? Such a sucker for French pop...plus I really thought the guitarist (first heart) was like ridiculous gorgeous but he needed a haircut so bad...
Original clip here.
--
Live - The Teenagers @ Popscene | SF
Paris, France's The Teenagers can also be added to the list. The four
piece from the city of love came to Popscene Thursday to share their
affinity for singular drumbeats and lyrics. Admittedly, I am used to
rock tracks, booty beats, knob-twiddling, and anything electronic, so
it was a great treat to be able and knock back a beer while enjoying a
more down-tempo groove.
The Teenagers employ a slower pace in cadence and a simplicity in lyrics that still nails the sentiment. The (actual) adolescent topic of the most popular girl in school and ragers at your parents house is covered in "Fuck Nicole," with "You're just nineteen/but already the bitchest queen, your room's a mess/I'm not impressed, but damn you have/the cutest dress." Layed over a jazzy, indiepop percussion, I saw a dude wearing a jacket emblazoned with "Fuck Nicole" on the back going absolutely insane during this song. Lead singer Quentin Delafon even asked for someone named Nicole to come up to the stage to sing the next song and when someone was produced, she climbed on stage and he profusely apologized to her: "I bet you're very nice."
"Homecoming" was also a highlight during the show, with an Adam-Green-meets-80s-pop vibe complete with a drum loop, spoken-word lyrics, and rhythmic guitar. Many of the enthusiastic kids up front danced to their hearts' content and received this gem from France with a heart full of welcome. Let's see what else the Teenagers can pull out of their sleeves at Coachella.
"Homecoming"
By JENZ
Jan 28, 2008 in
NEWS
I really liked her; like I mentioned below, hopefully she'll have worked out kinks after she comes back from Australia and stuff for this year's full tour. Original link for my story here.
--
Live - Kate Nash @ Popscene | SF
The sold-out show at Popscene was one of four live dates in the U.S. for the 20-year old Nash, who has been pimped out by the internet and MTV relentlessly in recent weeks; you couldn't go too far without hearing the ditty "Foundations" on an avert somewhere. In San Francisco, fans began lining up upwards of three hours before her set time to grab a coveted front row spot.
Local darlings Minipop brashed out the sweet indiepop opening, proving their headlining gig for this year's Noisepop were well deserved. As Nash took stage around 11:30 p.m., a barrage of digital camera flashes and "I love you, Kate!" flooded the stage, with a red-cheeked Nash picking up her guitar to begin.
Nash did her best on ballads, very much like she killed on "We Get On." Her earnest and very real approaches in these types of tracks gained much credibility on her part, and were able to showoff her skills as a songwriter and pianist and her real instrument: her voice. More upbeat songs seemed to garner a little more trouble; on encore "Pumpkin Soup," her voice seemed drowned in the percussion, a lack of trumpet was definitely noticed (I wanted to clap along), and the vibe just didn't seem to click together. Tracks like "Dickhead" seem to be the compromise, finding Nash in a stronger stance vocally.
Perhaps one part nervousness, another inexperience, Nash overall succeeded in winning each person in the room with her simple lyrics and Cockney accent. All bets say that her full tour later this year will have worked out the kinks to deliver an excellent show.
By JENZ
Jan 16, 2008 in
NEWS
