I’m disappointed I missed Yeasayer at Coachella this year, but found solace in the fact that the band is giving away a free download of one of their live shows from Brussels back in October. It’s not entirely guilt free, though, as they do offer you the choice to donate for the concert bootleg if you wish. You can get the concert in your choice of formats from 320kbps MP3 to FLAC to Apple Lossless and more.
I still can’t get over how awesome of a single O.N.E. is – it might just be my single of the year despite being leaked last December…
Arcade Fire has quickly built a reputation for being one of the best live touring acts, and for good reason. The very nature of the band being comprised of 7-9 members crammed onto a stage can often lead to the sensation that their sound can’t be contained by the stage or venue. While this had been the case in the previous times I’ve seen the band, something felt a little off with this gig. It just felt a little… sterile. Like the band was still playing the notes accurately and dynamically, but was somehow devoid of the passion that burned in performances past.
Judge for yourself in the recording of “Intervention” above. Even the black and white stage lighting seemed to accentuate the fact that, ironically, perhaps “every sparkle of friendship and love will die…” when you go number 1 on the Billboard charts.
Note on the semi-crappy recording: I wanted to record at least one song from night two of Arcade Fire at the Shrine last week to post, but there was a tall bro in front of me who kept swaying back and forth at the worst times to block my camera. Eventually I just said screw it and kept filming, so if you’re annoyed by the swaying head in this video, you know why.
From time to time, I like to whip out the ‘ol iPhone 4 HD video camera and capture some highlights from the shows I go to. Sometimes they don’t even end up half-bad.
This is one of those times.
Here’s a live video bootleg of one of my favorite singles of 2010 so far, “Sun Hands,” by Local Natives. I was a bit surprised that the band sold out the ~1,500 person capacity Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood two nights in a row, but they are “local natives” of Los Angeles, after all. More dynamic than the droning buzz of “Chillwave” indie rock, yet less conventional than your meat and potatoes Rock – you’ll find yourself head bobbing, air drumming, and possibly singing along to this track.
Windows Mobile has become somewhat of a a joke in recent years, no thanks to the proliferation of Android and iPhone phones topped off by the utterly disastrous Microsoft Kin launch earlier this year. However, after watching this walkthrough video, I admit I’m warming up to the idea that Windows Phone 7 could actually be a good product. (Especially given that its release is imminent.)
I’m particularly interested in the Xbox Live implementation on a mobile device because from the looks of it, Microsoft’s clearly ahead of Apple, Google, Sony, Nintendo, and anyone else in terms of gaming platforms on the go. Not only is there seamless integration with your existing Xbox Live profile, the potential is there for real time multiplayer gaming with not only other mobile users, but with Xbox players.
It’s just too bad it’s confined to Windows Phone 7 devices at the moment. As much as I don’t mind Microsoft establishing another great smartphone platform, I sure as hell aren’t buying a new phone anytime soon. If it works out as promised, I wouldn’t mind paying for the Xbox Live functionality on my iPhone, though. Perhaps it may behoove Microsoft to be the go to service for all mobile gaming, rather than tying it to a potential dead end product.
Start watching at around 9:30 for the Xbox Live stuff. If you want a run down of the entire Windows Phone 7 experience, feel free to start from the beginning. Just try and tune out the awkwardly nerdy interviewer.
Multiplayer-focused games are a tough animal to “review” since the experiences are so intertwined with the playerbases. At the same time, you can usually tell within the first 30 minutes or so if a game is going to be fun for you or not.
I had a chance to spend a couple of hours with Monday Night Combat today and I’m here to tell you it’s something worth looking into.
In a nutshell, Monday Night Combat is a 3rd person class-based multiplayer action game. You can choose to be one of various classes (such as a sniper, support, assassin etc.), each of which has its own unique powers, weapons, and playstyle. Additionally, anyone can build or upgrade turrets around the map. Think Team Fortress 2 meets <insert your favorite tower defense game here>. There’s two modes of play: Blitz and Crossfire.
Quite a lot of mainstream press has been given to how video games contribute to the downfall of our youth and society. While I won’t argue that there’s a sizable collection of mouth breathers on something like, say, Xbox Live, there’s still hope for upstanding gamer youth yet.
Witness this video featuring Quake Live player, Shane “rapha” Hendrixson:
It’s a long video, but I guarantee you that once you start watching it you’ll be captivated. I had no intention of viewing past a couple minutes to get the gist of it, but found myself sitting through the entire video.
Young Mr. Hendrixson here has the articulation, poise, and humility that rivals even some of our best professional athletes.
I’m not trying to exaggerate here. I’ve seen my share of sports analysts and athletes give interviews and rapha’s performance in the above video leapfrog the vast majority of them. Just listen to him break down the mechanics and strategies of a high level Quake duel. It’s fascinating stuff that really brings to light how much strategy and planning that goes into the game, on top of the pure hand-eye coordination skills needed to execute them.
Compare this with any postgame interview of an NBA or NFL game. When was the last time you actually heard anything insightful from those “interviews?”
The kid even has the humility and maturity to acknowledge his opponent in a non-patronizing way (17:40 in the video) with no prompting from the interviewer. I’d wager that a good number of pro athletes including LeBron James could stand to learn something from rapha here, especially after last week’s debacle with “The Decision.”
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti is perhaps one of the more “buzzworthy” bands so far this year, garnering a “9.0” review from Pitchfork and landing on many other music blogs’ “Best of 2010 so far” lists. At $15 for a ticket including fees we’re in the impulse zone where there’s not a substantial risk even if you’re not a diehard fan of the band.
I’m all about seeing live music, especially at affordable prices, so I gave it a shot. I had given Before Today a couple of listens and while it didn’t “wow” me as much as the “Indie Blogosphere,” it also didn’t repulse me either. “Round and Round” has some pretty infectious melodies contained within and I will admit to waking up some mornings with the song in my head.
Some bands are just not meant to do live shows.
Ariel Pink cavorted around stage like a lifelong wino in an outfit that can best be described as a cross between Mario’s red overalls and Borat’s one-piece swimsuit. His voice cracked more times than an 18-year old going through puberty. Their set sounded lifeless and amorphous. None of the Before Today’s eclectic lo-fi charm came across on stage.
I stayed through each successive song with hopes of finally hearing the performance that would redeem the band. After about 45 minutes or so, it became apparent that this was never going to happen. I cut my losses and headed up to Two Boots for some delicious pizza.
Hey, for a $15 investment it wasn’t any worse than walking out of another shitty summer movie.
Disclosure: I was about three scotches in by the time Ariel Pink took the stage, so I had the musical equivalent of “beer goggles” going for me. Despite this I could still tell that the band was putting on a forgettable show.
I snapped a video of “Round and Round” in which you can hear this for yourself below:
Band Pairings I Never Would Have Conceived of: Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) with Pearl Jam covering All Along The Watchtower.
Having seen it in action though, can’t say it didn’t help my mental judgment of Bridwell. Dude can play a tambourine hard. Maybe if Band of Horses rocked harder, I would find their latest album, Infinite Arms, less… mediocre.
