Gig review: Went, Cannot

I'm kinda late with this gig review, but I was extremely looking forward to writing some words for it. To be honest, I didn't plan to write about it actually, but after the show the urge to manifest my feelings on paper (monitor?) was just overabundant.

So, the gig took place a few days ago, namely on Thursday 19th May at KC "Grad" (Cultural center "City"). One other reviewed show was held at this venue, "Analena"/"36 Daggers" (found here by the way), though I just realized that I didn't quite talk about the very gig place in that writeup. Not much to say actually, it is quite a small venue, but with great sound and a high number of happenings. This is probably my favorite gig place at the moment, simply because it has enough space for the crowd and most importantly the acoustics of the club are good, so literally any type of music can be performed here and not get flawed by the venue, which tends to happen in Belgrade occasionally.
Anyways, the gig was about to start 10 PM sharp and I was panicking and bitching constantly due to the fact that both of my friends and myself were running late, being sabotaged by the stupid public transport which all but died that night. By some cosmic force or something the show was running late, so we got there just in time. "Went" was the first to kick off and I must say that they are the reason why I'm doing this review. I already wrote about two of their shows (their solo gig found here and the amazing gig with "Radio Burroughs" and "Petethepiratesquid" here) and most of you who read this blog already know my feelings about them. But every time I see them live I simply get blown away and it comes as such a wonderful surprise that this is "just" a local band. They have absolutely beautiful sets which really manage to invoke various emotions in the crowd. One minute they calm you down with gentle acoustic sounds, but after that they just pick you up with a frantic and pounding tune, ranging from something post rockish to garage/indie. "Went" just keeps bouncing you all over the room and personally I enjoy every second of it. I was extremely happy that I got to hear "Out", since it definitely is my favorite song (and thus the bitching about being late, since I knew this would be the second song played). Saying that it is just favorite is a serious understatement, that song is really a masterpiece and it is enough to say that the song alone got over 80 plays in my charts on "Last.fm" in the past seven days. Overall, I was melting in the front row during their part of the show and I really hope that "Went" manages to go out and see the world a bit, since it would be a real shame for a band of this caliber to stay on the "local" level.
After a short break, "Cannot" got on stage. I already heard this band in the same venue actually, in November last year when they had a promotion of their album called "3:33". I have to come clean regarding this four piece, this generally isn't my cup of tea as far as listening at home is concerned. This review won't be bashing this band however, since "Cannot" is a force to be reckoned with when witnessed live. For some reason, my thoughts are that the recordings didn't manage to fully grasp some traits which make this band good, so I will focus my critique on their live performance. They play a combination of grunge and alternative rock with a neat female vocal which gives the band a certain something. There is a lot of chaos going on in their music with quite a lot of shifts in melody, but a constant heavy and technical sound. In contrast to the bashing tones coming from the instruments, the vocal gives a soothing layer to everything. Of course, the vocal also has vast variations in singing/screaming style, so it really manages to create a full circle of sound, with equal parts of gentleness and aggression. In any case, they pulled off a very entertaining show both the first time when I saw them playing and now. They are quite talented musicians and I would really like to see them blossom even further.
Since this last part of the review is definitely written in a retarded manner I highly recommend that you check out "Cannot" on their website here. The site is still under construction, but you can head there and download "3:33", since it is completely free.

PJ Bond - 22 April: Vienna, Austria (2010)

22 April: Vienna, Austria (2010)

Judging by the title of this post you'd think that it is a gig review or something. Not quite correct, but then again it isn't far from the truth either. This is a writeup dedicated to PJ Bond's second release, recorded on April 22 in Vienna, Austria during a break on his tour. So yeah, one could definitely consider this like a special tour show just for the listener of this release.

PJ Bond is a singer/songwriter with an acoustic guitar in hand and quite a lot of emotions and energy coming out of his pocket. You can find his biography on "The Black Numbers" label site (found here), which you should check out since it is a very interesting read, but now I'll just give a quick glimpse of it. Coming from New Brunswick, New Jersey he was rooted in the diy basement scene for the majority of his time. When his first and probably most loved band parted ways, he was bouncing from band to band and while this experience was probably memorable, he missed something. He felt caged and longed for creating, touring and making friends along the way. After deciding to go solo and taking probably the hardest first step to do so, here he is today.

To be honest, prior to hearing from Phil, who is a member of the above mentioned label, I didn't know about PJ Bond and his music. The only bits of info I found out was from that biography I recommended for reading and this release. When you read it you see that PJ has quite a nice number of songs under his belt. I am yet to check out all his work, so for now I will be focusing just on this release.

Despite the fact that I really don't listen to this type of acoustic music a lot, which I should since it reminds me of my significant other, this "genre" is actually my soft spot. It is hard to explain, maybe because for some reason tunes like these aren't on my mind that much, but once I settle down and take a listen I usually end up melting from enjoyment. I presume that this is also why I find it hard to write about projects like these, since you don't need to talk about them. I mean, it is a singing guy with a guitar, what is there to write about, right? But that very simplicity is there just to clear the path to the heartfelt lyrics and the passion one man can dedicate to making music. You just need to sit down and absorb all these melodies and pure, raw emotions radiating from every possible second.

Hm, seems like I trailed of from actually talking about PJ's tunes. Well, all that is written above can be applied to him of course. When you put this into your player you get a dose of excellent tunes which will make your day better in an instant. PJ reminds me a lot of Eric Ayotte when it comes to lyrics. I did a review of Eric's gig with "Adorno" a few months back (you can read it here), falling in love with his performance and I think that the same would happen to me if I saw PJ play live. Simply put, there is really something driving and inspiring on this release and all you need to do is just let go and enjoy. There are six songs with around sixteen minutes of tunes here, with "Untitled (Robot Golf)" being my favorite. I am quite eager to take a listen to the rest of his work, since this grasped my heart and attention the first moment I pressed "play".

In the end, I hope that I managed to reflect my feelings about this release onto this writeup. PJ Bond makes amazing music and you should absolutely check out his work for yourselves. I really hope that he continues to journey on the path he took and that he finds all the happiness and success he could wish for along the way. You can get in touch with him on his myspace page here or even follow him on Twitter here. Enjoy!

Lion Cub - Seneca (2010)

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Quite a big coincidence that while I am still in a floating mood from the Went gig this release comes along to the blog. It is present in my inbox for a long time now and I have been dying to post it ever since I heard it when Chad contacted me. Sorry for the wait, hopefully you will enjoy the writeup.

I usually don't listen to this type of music, but the few bands that fall into that basket I really love. Obviously, Lion Cub will be a new addition in with the rest. This project grants our speakers with indie tunes hailing from Massachusetts, USA. I say project because this band has some unusual member composition, with just one member, Chad, who is omnipresent and the rest of the lineup differs with each song. Quite an interesting set up, since during listening of Seneca you sometimes get to hear songs with just a drum machine (like "Poison Tree") and sometimes played with a drummer (like "Narration"), sometimes tracks with just a few instruments, the others with almost an orchestra. With change in band composition goes different song structure, so you have the first song "Paintings of Hungry People" which a slow, dreaming, humming six minute tune, while the next song "Southern Salt Baptist" is a mid-tempo mellow rock song. All in all, this is some very gentle music, a band you listen to when you want to give yourself a damn fine day.

There is also quite an interesting approach to music by these artists, especially by Chad. Inside the download link you can find an eighteen-page booklet with pictures, lyrics, song explanations and several writeups and details on what Lion Cub is all about. One could say "quite artsy", but not in a pretentious kind of way, yet quite honest and emotional.

On a technical side, Lion Cub has been released by "Topshelf Records", same as Caravels who you have already seen posted on here. "Seneca" features eleven songs with over 40 minutes of music. This last bit of the post I must take some space and say sorry to Lion Cub, they asked me to post just three songs from their album, but apparently either me or my mediafire account (or both) is retarded and I couldn't upload. So the download link comes directly from Lion Cub. If the full album is a problem, I'll put it down, no problems. Basically this is very new stuff, so if you really like their songs, contact Lion Cub (either on myspace here or their blog here) and support by buying their album! Download and have a fine day!

EDIT: Lion Cub isn't retarded as I am, so here is a four-song download yay! (changed the download link obviously)

Gig review: Went

Ah, finally some time and energy to write something for the blog. I didn't really imagine that my new "job" would be so tough, one would think that when your job is just to write you can't get tired. Trust me, you can. Anyways, there is quite a lot of stuff I need to post, so I'll grab what time I have, but first I need to look back at Fridays amazing gig.

The concert took place three days ago, on October 22, in the "small club" of "Akademija" ("Academy"). Yeah, you guessed it, there is also the regular sized club next to the small one, but there was another gig there at the time. "Academy" has been around forever and it really has a cult status in Belgrade, but for some reason I don't like it. In the beginning when I was younger I really enjoyed and liked the place for it's design, the club having a catacomb look being composed of several connected halls. But as time passed by I started kinda hating the place, probably because of all the kewl peps who tend to go out there and the realization that the club tends to have an awful sound.

So as the gig poster suggests, before the band there was supposed to be a dj duo as support, but I kinda missed it, since I arrived somewhere around 10:30 PM. My girl, a friend and me wanted to get there on time, but we kinda failed and in a moment I was actually freaked out that we were gonna miss Went's opening. Luckily they kicked off around 10:45 PM, if I remember correctly. Oh damn, I completely forgot how beautiful their music is. A calming, mellow voice in a sea of instruments, sometimes peaceful and sometimes rending and chaotic. That would be their music in a nutshell. What I find fascinating about this Serbian quartet is that when you listen to their music, you really don't know what they are going to hit you with, a floating folkish tune or a whirlwind of fast-paced melodies. Their sets are unpredictable and all you need to do is just sit tight and enjoy the ride. To be completely honest, I haven't listened to some of their songs on myspace (which I will do just now and you can to if you go here) and I only have the "How Are You" release in digital format, so I know just two songs. Lucky for me both songs were played, so I got my share of singalongs. Despite several technical problems they had while playing and the overall catastrophic sound the club has, they have set up an excellent show.

A really short review, but hey it's just one band. At the end of the gig they announced another show coming up on 12th November in one excellent venue, plus they are playing with one foreign band, so that is definitely going to be something to look forward to. Expect a review on that as well. Until then, I strongly suggest that you boys and girls check Went out. I posted "How Are You" quite recently in one of the howling compilations, so it is just a few clicks away. Check them out, you will definitely enjoy!

Adorno & Eric Ayotte - Split 7'' (2010)

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I guess it just comes natural that after such a show I upload this record. And of course, no need to write now, the writing of the review below really took it out of me. Besides, I think it should convince anyone to at least try and listen, this is really a work of art.

Gig review: Adorno, Eric Ayotte

Usually when a show you went to was good you tend to realize that fact on your way home, talking to friends you were with and saying "yeah, it was an excellent show". I believe it's because in the moments when the music hits your ears and when your eyes feast on the stage, you overtly forget the fact that you will have an opinion about it later and you just enjoy the moment. But yesterday's experience was 180 degrees different. Maybe because I'm in a sensitive time on a personal level or because I generally like to think about the music I indulge in. Maybe. But then you think about it a bit more carefully and come to a conclusion that it's not you, that you could have been in the worst or the best mood, it matters not, for you have witnessed artists who detonated an emotionally charged bomb in front of you and you had nowhere to run. Then again, why would you?

The lines above probably made zero sense, since last night I was again introduced to the meaning of words "stunned" and "speechless". Until I get a grip on myself and get into the proper writing mood let's just take it the old fashioned way. The show was held yesterday evening (now actually the day before yesterday), 29th of July 2010 to be exact, in a venue named "REX" in Belgrade. Although the venue is in my hometown I never actually visited "REX" before and I have to say that I was quite impressed. It's quite a small place, but designed and decorated perfectly, reminding me a bit of the Student Cultural Center (SKC) in Belgrade. To make it even better, the room where the actual gig took place has excellent level of acoustic and the sound doesn't get splashed and deflected around, giving you superb sound quality during the show. The show was set to start in 9 pm and with a slight but tolerable delay of about half an hour it started around 9:30 pm.

As my friend and myself entered the venue I was kinda bummed at the extremely low number of people who attended, somewhere around 20 or so. "Adorno" and Eric were probably satisfied with even those low numbers, but it still justifies the fact that this type of music is not really common in my country. That, plus the retarded thing that a lot of people I know just don't like going to shows, they'd much rather listen to music at home. Whatever the reason it's a completely different subject, so I won't stray in that direction.

"Adorno" opened explosively and the first thing you notice is that instead of two, they played with three guitars. I haven't seen them live before, so I don't know how different it is compared to having just two guitar players, but this kind of band composition really adds something more. Even the gentlest songs from the "Said and Unsaid" release sound much more expanded, powerful and creatively layered. The most amazing thing is that despite the creative chaos bursting all around you, you still fully get to feel that specific, amazing vocal type, a literally soothing sound. If I remember correctly, all songs from "Said and Unsaid" were played, songs in which I'm very much in love with, so I got my share of singing along. During the early moments of the show, Joao (one of the guitar players) talked about how happy he is to be able to play with his friends and that in fact this show was their 100th gig. Heh, that really made me both happy that they celebrate it here with us and sad since they really deserve more people to hear their music. But there is also next time to correct past mistakes, right? At least the crowd was alive, not much dancing, but quite a lot of cheering and clapping.

As the show progressed "Adorno" played some of their older tunes with a bit of a heavier sound at moments sounding a bit post-rockish. This is where the 3 guitar combination really excelled. The sound radiating from the speakers was just gigantic and explosive, a behemoth literally crashing down and swallowing you without remorse. I stood there in the front row for those blissful half an hour or so and was quite shocked and stunned with what they threw at us, such emotionally infused music which I really had no idea I would experience at this level of amusement. I have to admit though, I am bad when it comes to knowledge of their older songs, especially the last song they played. I think (but I'm not so sure) that the last song was "Fetishized Facts" and the amount of pure epic proportions was unimaginable. The end was particularly impressive, when one by one they left the stage while the rest continued to play, the guitar players even leaving their instruments face-down on the ground which gave way to some unique sounds. I don't know what else to say about Adorno's part of the show other than that it was amazing beyond my thoughts.

After a little break and a visit to the merch section (yay for my new "Adorno" T), Eric Ayotte took the stage. Ok so, as the story goes on the interwebz, he is (and I quote) "the nicest man alive". And the only thing I'm gonna say to that "yes he is". Period. If the scientist of this world could improve the cloning program so that a mass production of this man could ensue and every household has one to have him sing and talk you to sleep I think that then the world would be a much better place. I have never heard such beautiful music, accompanied with an amazing humor enhanced talks with the audience, as well as meanings of the songs he plays...so amazing. The amount of smiles on my face during those thirty plus minutes surpassed all my good mood I amassed for the past few days before the show. Eric really managed to create a friendly and warm atmosphere, basically you have the feeling that he is playing in your living room instead of a club. My heart was quite full when my favorite song was played, namely "Bear You Are", but during the show I think I discovered a new music love in the form of the song "Fallujah". I heard the song before, but while it was played I was absolutely stunned by the amount of passion it radiated and during the song you really feel how the lyrics are sad and heavy. At the end, the crowd didn't let Eric go so easily, so we got a bonus song.

After the show I walked away with my friend and even before it was mentioned in the upcoming conversation I realized that I already knew what to say and how my opinion on the show looked like. It was probably the first time in my life that a show review was literally writing itself in my head without the thought-hibernation time, every step away from the venue a letter on a page. It's so amazing to witness how music can pull together such talented, passionate and nice people, no wonder you walk away inspired and with a heart filled with joy. In the end I would just like to thank Joao for being quite friendly and taking a few moments to talk to my friend and me and for actually being a follower of my blog. And of course, thanks to anyone who managed to organize this event and bring these great artists to Belgrade, this has the potential to be the best show this year.