Posts about Pianos
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Download “Don’t Haunt This Place“ | I went to Pianos camera-less last night with the intention of being “off duty” but here I am, posting a few re-colored cellphone pictures and a summary. It was The Loom’s last residency show at the venue (new material’s sounding great and showing signs of a maturing band); they had invited Rural Alberta Advantage to play with them, which, as it turns out, would make it the first US show for the Canadian band. I’ve never seen Pianos that packed on a Tuesday night. Even when great bands are playing, sometimes it’s just disappointingly empty, but there was no room to move last night. RAA’s frontmant Nils Edenloff looked visibly surprised as his band took stage, saying, “Is this some kind of improv group pulling a prank on us?” He thanked The Loom about a hundred times for asking them to play, and kept repeating how grateful he was for the “warm reception” in the US. Story continues…
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The last time I saw Sharon Van Etten was when we filmed our very first Secret Garden show in July. Since then she’s been been touring and playing an endless number of local shows. When I saw her at Pianos this past Sunday, she had recently returned from Portland after the making of a music video for “For You”, and she said that she was planning to perhaps take it a little slow. I bet not that much slower, though, since there is a new album possibly coming out in May. Unlike the “home recordings” I’ve heard of her and the way she plays live solo, I hear this one is going to have a more produced instrumentation.
Onward for the movie feature presentation premiere exclusive blockbuster!
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The music of New York City’s Twi the Humble Feather sounds like a Wes Anderson movie waiting to happen. Comprising of three acoustic guitarists who all play and sing, often identical or nearly identical parts, the band revels in a cerebral kind of sweet and silly; like a reincarnation of whistles blowing out of a school bus, only here fingers leap in unison like ballerinas and quick gasps of breath make way for a trail of some very important monosyllabic sounds. It turns out, anyhow, that there is a story of cinematic proportions here, and this oddly heartening music owes itself to Twi (pronounced Twai).
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Download “Original Bones” by Cotton Jones | Like its neighbor Cake Shop, Pianos hit full capacity on day four of CMJ; and as I mentioned earlier, Kashish was so taken with seeing Maryland’s Cotton Jones Basket Ride at the Red Bull Space the previous night that he headed to Pianos to catch them again, perhaps to get a more “authentic” New York show experience this time—the Red Bull Space was an interesting place to see bands you like, but it felt more like a posh, private party there, and the sound up front was pretty distorted; that venue is more suited for electronica shows. Anyhow, KEXP did a little CMJ push for Cotton Jones, mentioning that the band plans to release three EP’s before moving on to their debut full-length. All pics by Kashish.
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Download “It’s Oh So Quiet!” and “Echinacea“ | I had no more than an hour to spare for CMJ last night, and I decided that songstress Olga Bell and her band Bell, playing at Pianos, would be well-deserving of the time—ridiculous, I know, since there were at least 12 good bands playing there, but I think most of us would agree that if you can’t afford to take a full week off, the next best option to fully enjoy CMJ is to practice serious moderation in order to avoid exhaustion and crankiness; as much as I love the idea of bands playing everywhere, all over the city, pretty much all day for one whole week, the scenario doesn’t come with a heavenly lift in temperament, so there. To get to the point, Ms. Bell was totally worth it. I know there are some people who believe liking an artist for her cover of a famous artist is no less than an evidence of moral corruption, but I’m a fan of the “It’s Oh So Quiet!” cover. Of course, the Bjork version isn’t lacking anything, but I think Bell still manages to add to the song, and don’t get me wrong, I enjoy all of her originals too, which is what she played last night.
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Download “Sleepyhead” | Passion Pit–Boston’s Michael Angelakos and his four-man crew–was greeted by supportive fans and friends at its first show in New York City, the first of the three being played as part of a residency at Pianos. Emboldened by a full range of synths (Ian Hultquist, Ayad al Adhamy and Michael all huddled and leaped behind keys) and a high-pitched singing style complimentary to a synth-based aesthetic, the band let the room go giddy for its sweet grooves. For a group that plays under such an ambitious name (to be the pit of passion is quite a feat isn’t it?) it definitely stirs a good deal of spirit in its flowing concoctions, but there’s also a hint of sweetness that feels almost a little wide-eyed (in a good way), and that honeyed element is traceable in the band’s personality too. The crowd loved it anyhow and asked for one more song when the short rendezvous came to a close, though there was to be no more. They saved “Sleepyhead” to be the last song but one (out came the laptop), and that tune performed live is quite a ruckus. Next two shows are on August 20th & 27th; definitely go see.
All photos after the jump.
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hooves on the turf is a mostly-music blog based out of brooklyn. i can be reached at hoovesontheturf [at] gmail [dot] com - please send me your lovely music as an attached mp3 or an mp3 link. if i like what you send, i'll be sure to ask for more.
