B-Sides Review: Pterodactyl

In speaking with Matt Wagner, the B-Sides executive at Messiah, after the Pterodactyl show Wednesday night, he shared his philosophy on B-Sides, stating that “There might only be a handful of tables filled for B-Sides sometimes and then a bunch of people not really paying close attention, but those that are there for the music will get something out of it and that’s what it’s about.” Sure, those weren’t the exact words, but close enough. The point being that you can’t please the masses. If that is your goal, then you’ll continually alienate the same kids.

So every once in a while, there’s a B-Sides that some people might not get. I thought Pterodactyl was going to be pretty empty, but there were a surprising number of people there. And I’m sure that at least some of them actually got it. The band may have been a bit absent minded at times, but the music was what I was there for.

And the music was good. It was dissident and mathy and probably resembled a bad acid trip at times. Their sounds ranged from playful to depressed to moderately scary. The music is somewhere between Grandchildren and A Place To Bury Strangers, but I’d place the performance closer to the noise rock genre. There was a lot of sound modulation via a Line 6 DL4 and various fuzz stomps as well that all added to a rather strong presence. The four-piece consisted of guitar, bass, synth, and drums. The synth player was the only one who didn’t sing, so with 3 voices you also got some harmonizing and occasionally some pop-esque vibes.

Mash all of that together, and, like I said, I don’t think too many people really appreciated what they were hearing. It didn’t help that the mix was rather synth-heavy as well. It was rather deafening, but knowing that that wasn’t the intention helped to be able to see past some of the shows flaws. So really, as a show, it was rather sub-par. As music, however, it was enough for me to buy an album. Take a listen for yourself:

Video of Me Opening for Caleb Hawley

Sometime last week I posted on the Caleb Hawley B-Sides concert. Check out the review here.

In the review I mention opening up for his song, Gone For Good. Well, a youtube video has surfaced with this. I'm playing my Caleb Hawley inspired song, Doppelganger.

B-Sides Review: Zola Jesus

Tonight's B-Sides was Zola Jesus. Only a few days after playing to a sold out Bowery Ballroom in NYC, the act came to Grantham, PA - population: Messiah College.

Before the show, I knew nothing about Zola Jesus. I didn't even know that that wasn't her real name. It's a pseudonym for Nika Roza Danilova. "Zola Jesus" is a lot easier to remember ...and to say. Not knowing anything about her, when I walked into B-Sides and was ...well, shocked. I guess I had heard through the grape vine that her music was dark, but this was kinda disturbing. In the moments that I debated leaving, someone clued me in to the fact that there was an opener. It may have been good to someone, but definitely not to me. I was banking on Zola being worth it.

As it turns out, it totally was. Just hearing "dark" really doesn't describe too many things very well. Within the spectrum of dark there is everything from the angry to the depressed to the sadistic. Somewhere, nowhere near those extremes, is Zola Jesus.

To paint a better picture, you need details such as: Danilova took 10 years of opera lessons, she's young and really tiny, the instrumentation is: Zola, drums, and 3 synth players, and they have a sound that could fill a stadium. We're talking huge, deep, boomy vocals, slow, rhythmic toms, and layer upon layer of dark synth. This sound would fill a stadium in the way that an 80s rock ballad would, but with a completely different presence.

And presence was a huge part of this show. Throughout the show, a projector projected screens of white noise and slow, pulsing patterns onto the band, casting their shadows on the screen behind them. This strange arrangement allowed Zola's trance-like dancing and drape-like thing-that-she-was-wearing to become part of the light show. This reminded me of Maynard from the band Tool, but a lot less terrifying.

Eventually, the stage was just too constraining for Zola. The music moved her onto tables, chairs, and even trash cans. Then, after parading around the Union on both floors, she returned to the stage, everyone got up, and they left.

B-Sides Review: Caleb Hawley

Now it may seem like I talk about this guy a good bit. Talk to me and you'll hear me mention bands like MR.BUNGLE and artists like Trace Bundy a lot too. I talk about these guys and build hype about these guys because they really are that good. These guys take their genre and they do things to it that are innovative and fresh. They make music that is interesting and perform shows that are intimate as well as immensely entertaining (obviously MR.BUNGLE excluded since they broke up a while ago). That's what it takes for me to hype an act.

Every time I see Caleb Hawley, it's something new. The first time I saw him, he was with a trio and what stood out was when he played Reach the Zenith with interpretive dance in the background. The next time I saw him was in a barn in the middle of nowhere, as a solo act. What struck me there was his ability to adapt to his circumstances and still be able to have fun playing a gig that, very clearly, sucked. After that, I played a gig with him in a writers in the round styled gig where all of the artists really built off of what had been played before them.

This time was yet another different arrangement - a full band. I had heard rumor of this band and had heard that it was a fun show. My thinking was that it'd be like a lot of his recorded work, which had been done with a full band. While that was somewhat the case, this was more along the lines of a single act variety show. Every song was so distinctly different from the others, yet was held together by the overriding jazz and soul infused themes and the antics of Hawley's style.

While other shows had one or two specials throughout the show, this evolution of Caleb's set was peppered with things going above and beyond the singer/songwriter repertoire.

• The first of these was the mario theme breakdown. It just ...happened. It fit, but was totally unexpected.
• A few songs later, I opened up Gone For Good with a version of my piece, Doppelganger. The transition was completely unrehearsed, yet seamless.
• At some point, I'm not entirely sure of the order, Fargo made an appearance during Who's Your Doggie? by running up onto stage to say hi.
• After that, he switched over to electric guitar. This allowed for some nice bluesy solos and some rocking out. After the show I saw a tweet from a fellow student that read something like "Caleb Hawley reminded me that guitar solos can be cool"
• A cover of Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love to You. My sister thought this was creepy, but by this time Caleb had developed his personality on stage and this parody fit perfectly. It included an a capella section where all of the members of the band could barely hold it together. Then to add to the perceived creepiness, Caleb got out the pitch shifter and dropped his voice an octave or so so that he could get a real sultry deep voice. It was hilarious.
•  To end his set, he started by singing a song about baking cookies. Apparently he wrote this funk inspired tune when he was 15. This is where he brought out some crowd participation. First, he had people cheer for their favorite type of cookie. Some cheering - nothing big. Then, he brought some kids up on stage to dance ...and taught them the cookie dance. Which obviously led to everyone in the union singing and dancing "Pour it, pour it; stir it up; stick it in your mouth and shake your butt."

And I leave you with this:

Listening to Music You Don't Like

Rather unfortunately, subjectivity is at the heart of music appreciation. There are plenty of guidelines to what makes good music and there are even ways to study how "good" music is.

That's what music theory is, after all. You learn rules, analyze compositions, and determine what is "good" and what is "bad."

Then there are also ways of analyzing lyrical content to determine how good lyrics are. This can be judged by things like who the audience is, what the purpose of the song is, etc.

But there are always exceptions. There are things that seem to follow no rules. These things are either seen as genius or garbage. Lou Reed's, Metal Machine Music, or John Cage's, 4:33, are perfect examples. They are genius, but follow nothing conventional.

But someone else hates Metal Machine Music because they "don't get it." Instead, they like the parallel fifths in power chord progressions in radio rock. And to them ...that is good music.

I like a rather large variety of music. However, I loath country and americana and most things related. It's the vocals - I just can't get into it. Country music makes me feel ill at times and causes me to freak out. Some people don't like mayonnaise or don't like snakes. I don't like country music.

Unfortunately, this week's B-Sides was folksy with a little hint of country/americana thrown in the mix - Joe Whyte. Initially I was going to just leave, but I decided to stay. Part of me just wanted to talk to some friends, I guess.

So in between bits and pieces of conversation, I tried to tune out the band. It didn't work.

After I gave up on trying to tune them out, I decided to listen for the purpose of analysis. Despite the simple song structure that I generally despise, I came to determine that, if I were to like that kind of music, I would like this band. I saw some of the things that listeners of that genre listen for and hear in the music that they like.

It was like listening to the radio. I could hear why someone could like it, without liking it myself. From that standpoint, it was very interesting. I started paying attention to how individual notes were utilized and where predictable could be seen as "catchy."

This didn't make me dislike the music less. I still don't like the entire genre. However, it was a rare glimpse into what those people may think while listening to music. And what people are thinking when they hear music is how the subjective gets wrapped back into this. To be able to understand all angles of such subjectivity, I wouldn't say is important, but feel that it is probably a useful tool.

On this note, I would encourage people to get out of their comfort zone into some place that terrifies you. Go to a metal show or out to see a string quartet and figure out what it is that makes people like it and what sets it apart. By no means do I ever want to see another country-esque act again, but I feel like I was able to get more out of the situation by thinking more along those lines.

-Alex

Free Bird ...seriously??

Have you ever thought about how many musicians there have been throughout the years? I mean, right now on Reverbnation there are about 61000 bands/artists. Despite reverbnation being an extremely useful tool, there are tons of artists who have never even heard of it. If myspace would have done its job, there'd be accurate statistics from that, but I haven't even logged into my music account in like 4 months.

So let's say that there are 61000 bands at any given time. The average life expectancy for a band is ...4 years? Few bands last much longer and tons of bands fizzle out after the first year. Then at 61000 bands per 4 years, in the past 12 years, we can estimate that there have been 183000 bands. That takes us back to 1999 - before I was even playing guitar!

Now these are strictly hypothetical numbers, understand. But of those 183000 bands from the past 12 years, how many have made any sort of billboard list? A small fraction. And of those, who do you remember and still listen to?

The truth of the matter is that at least since I've been alive and have had interest in music, the stuff to hit it big hasn't been more than a collection of one hit wonders. Sure, a few artists survive and you'll see their names again from time to time. Some people may even become devout fans and follow the acts career until its untimely demise. But don't bank on it.

These songs are meant to be replaced. They're about fast money. How often is fast money good money? People win the lottery and a few years later they're filing for bankruptcy. People sell lots of cocaine and they make fast money  ...but they're involved in some sketchy stuff. Really, fast money is nothing that has built careers. It's been a means of momentary recognition and then a steep drop-off.

Looking back at hits from over the years you'll see great bands like Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson. Yes, they had "hits" but there is still a large portion of their fans who know every song on the album. When albums leave impressions, people are changed. A single song has seldom done anything but gotten a quick buck.

What then causes music to stick around? There are tons of theories out there. I've got my own and I'm sure you have yours as well, but that is for another time.

The real question that I'm getting at is: why is yelling out "Free Bird" at a concert still something considered cool? At B-Sides last night, I had the pleasure of seeing the Joy Ike Duo. However, after every song, the boys on the couch behind me would scream "free bird." I recall hearing someone (likely the same people) yell that last week at B-Sides. When I played at Pint's in Harrisburg a few weeks back - I heard the same thing.

What the heck? I recall hearing it for the first time maybe like 6 years ago and the origin is from a Skynyrd album from 1976. How does a tradition like that carry on? The kids behind me couldn't have been older than 20. They definitely weren't around in '76 and have probably never heard of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

I understand how songs like Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" has made a comeback in recent years, but how does stuff like yelling "Free Bird" live on? Better yet, why do people still think that it's funny?

This is something that has apparently been ingrained into peoples DNA? If someone ever figures out how to do that, we're all pretty much screwed.

-Alex

Show Review: Atlantic/Pacific

Last night, as part of Messiah College's free concert series, B-Sides, I was able to catch a performance by Brooklyn-based Atlantic/Pacific. When I first walked in the door, my first thought was Starflyer 59.

Though not quite as textured and Starflyer (sorry, but they're one of my favorite shoegaze bands...), Atlantic/Pacific embodies the shoegaze style of simple chord progressions, thick lead lines, and slow-moving melodic contour. Atlantic/Pacific takes a more folksy approach with a little less electric guitar and a bigger emphasis on the acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, they had some gear crap out on them before the gig, so what we got may not have been the most "true" Atlantic/Pacific sound. Regardless, it was still nice, relaxing music; much like folksy shoegaze should be.

Perfectly coupled with their sound, was their appearance and demeanor on stage. They were calm and collected, looking very comfortable on stage. Though there wasn't much talking between songs, what was said was important and came out smoothly. I've seen plenty of acts with a similar appearance, go up on stage and shoot themselves in the foot when they try to speak. It was good to see real people, enjoying getting to play, and making the best of their gear dilemmas.

Overall, though not my favorite band, they didn't do too bad of a job. While sitting and listening to it intently it wasn't too engaging. However, over light conversation, it was really enjoyable. I think that's probably how the whole shoegaze genre is structured, much like my music. The people who seem to enjoy it the most are also the ones enjoying themselves and the company of their friends during the set.

-Alex

B-Sides Review: Oberhofer and Cloud Nothings.

First off, an introduction to B-Sides for those who don't know. B-Sides is a weekly free concert series at Messiah College. Every Wednesday night the Students Activity Board (SAB) brings in a different band, free of cost to students. Pretty much, it's the best thing ever. I've discovered some of my favorite bands at these (Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, This Will Destroy You, Anathallo, and a host of others). My friend, Ryan, is in charge of booking B-Sides, so occasionally I can talk him into something like The Andreas Kapsalis Trio who played in the fall and were absolutely amazing...

So this semester I'd like to try to write up a brief review of each B-Sides that I get to. With my schedule, this shouldn't be all that hard to write at least something small.

Tonight's B-Sides was the Cloud Nothings opening up for Oberhofer. Usually there's only one band, so I assumed a second would make it twice as good as normal.

Cloud Nothings:
Unfortunately, the Cloud Nothings did not quite live up to the B-Sides reputation. They're a power-pop band out of Ohio. I'm not a huge power-pop band to begin with, so the first impression was a bit rocky to begin with. My first impression was that they were loud. Loud to me means either that they were painfully loud like A Place to Bury Strangers, inappropriately loud for the venue, or just distorted and muddy sounding. I can look past being painfully loud or being inappropriately loud, but these guys just sounded muddy. The guitar work seemed fast but sloppy, the drums just incredibly too loud, and the vocals were muddy and indiscernible. To an extent this is part of the genre, I realize, but it just seemed like all of these aspects were taken too far. That was the first impression. As time wore on, the vocals began to wear on me as well. The wailing and oo's and ah's wore on as a never-ending mess of noise. Rather than hooks that would be waited for with anticipation, these were to cringe over. Overall, this half of B-Sides was just not very enjoyable.

Oberhofer:
Thankfully I trusted Ryan and stayed for the second act, Oberhofer. Though still filled with pop-like hooks, Oberhofer was smooth and soulful, meshing their oo's and ah's into their song structure quite tastefully. Though having a lo-fi appeal to many of their songs, they retained a clean, suave presentation.

Combined with their great stage presence, the music would make you want to just get up and haphazardly dance around. It was fun and entertaining and you could tell that they were having just as much fun. They were jumping around, dancing the whole time. It's always good to see a band that's enjoying their performance.

Another thing that stood out in their set was how they played a brand new song. As a performing musician I can appreciate what it takes to get up and play a something new. To add to the nerve already involved, the new song was so new that the lyrics ended up being improvised. Not being a singer or lyricist, this sounds like performance suicide. However, like the rest of their set, the new song was solid and sounded great.

-Alex