Cotton Candy at the Plough & Stars and Ludovico’s “From Britain”

[The preview for this review is here.]

Had a good time at The In Out and Cotton Candy show at the Plough and Stars last Friday. I was correct in my surmise that M wanted to go because CC is on TeenBeat Records. And actually CC is apparently comprised of the TeenBeat man himself, Mark Robinson, along with TeenBeat mainstay Evelyn Hurley. Dug up this interview with Robinson from 2002ish which is right around the time he relocated to the Boston area.

There’s a discouraging paucity of info online about the duo Cotton Candy itself, though, which makes me suspect they either haven’t been around that long or are more of a throw-together sort of team-up (or both). They’re not even listed as a group on ye olde TeenBeat Records website, but live they gave a very good impression. Their all-too-short setlist alternated between laid-back but catchy songs with the duo sharing guitar duties, and TV and radio jingles rendered a capella (plus a completely random recreation of David Bowie’s guest appearance on season 2 of the British Extras). There was a pervading sense of fun and whimsy that penetrated my usual Bostonian veneer of jadedness and came off as utterly charming and winning.

So much so that I sprung the 5 bucks for the 3-track EP and was likewise not disappointed. On disc the unique charm of the duo doesn’t come across quite so clearly, and the connection to Robinson’s other work (e.g. Flin Flon and his solo recordings), with their shared spare guitar, sparse texture, and easy vocal delivery, becomes more evident. But the songs (“Invisible Kisses”, “A Sentimental Song” (which is on TeenBeat’s MySpace page), and the clear forefront in my affections, “Fantastic and Spectacular”) for the most part successfully navigate the fine line between too twee and perfectly easy quirkiness. The latter song was memorable from their live set, as was the song they closed with but apparently haven’t yet recorded entitled something like “Free Love on the Freeway”. Here’s hoping that they record a new EP soon, particularly in time for their New Year’s performance The Middle East Upstairs. M and I will definitely be in attendance. The info on the website is:

Thu 1/1/09
4th Annual Indie Pop New Year’s Day Night with One Happy Island, Cotton Candy (Mark Robinson & Evelyn Hurley), The Smittens, Cathy Cathodic – 18+ $9 NOTE doors at 8:30pm

The In Out, who was headlining, was also enjoyable. Live they came across much better than the recorded tracks I’d heard, with a more varied sound. Nothing too unusual, but a solid performance and an enjoyable set. Had never been to the P&S for a show, but it was nice and intimate, and although there wasn’t much of an audience those who were there seemed to be having a good time.

Last Sunday was the Ludovico Ensemble’s “From Great Britain”. To recap the program:

Cantata X by Jonathan Harvey
Nenia: The Death of Orpheus by Harrison Birtwistle
Dark Mother by Andy Vores
(Featuring Boston Symphony Orchestra violinist Julianne Lee)

First off, I have to say the programming was well thought out and came off well. The first and third works were based on myths, and the second work had a fantastical, mystical element that complemented them well. Also, the first two works featured soprano and three clarinets, which added to the unity of the program. Those two works, both from the 70’s, felt a bit dated, but the performance still felt worthwhile, helped in large part by the soprano, Aliana de la Guardia. De la Guardia’s focus, control, expressiveness, not to mention beautiful singing, continues to impress, and her commitment to the music drew the audience completely in (particularly in some of the Birtwistle which at times would just sound laughably quaint otherwise). The clarinets did not often contribute a particularly clear texture to those two works, but the scoring isn’t particularly helpful in that regard.

The Vores work, Dark Mother, from 1999, was a heavily programmatic piano trio recounting the myth of Persephone from her mother, Demeter’s, perspective. The score feels fresh, and the performance was for the most convincing, although I question their choice to retune before the final movement which I found disruptive. (Mp3s of the performance by Triple Helix can be found here.)

All in all, though, the concert was a good length, and this is a group that is clearly providing Boston with worthwhile new music experiences. Their next performances are Boston Conservatory Student Works in January, followed by Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments and Feldman’s Crippled Symmetry in February.

M83 at the Middle East Downstairs

So M83 was downstairs at the Middle East last Tuesday, November 18. Missed the opening group School of Seven Bells, but still managed to get a decent view of M83. Eventually, that is, because the floor was packed. This guy in front of me was really invading my personal space, but by the middle of the set enough people had shuffled around that I could actually see something other than the back of his fat head. Ha.

Not that there was much to see, because this was definitely one of the most dimly-lit shows I’ve been to. Which was kind of an interesting concept, but also made the show rather more monotonous than it needed to be, particularly since the setlist favored their older album (from 2005), Before the Dawn Heals Us, instead of their newer one, Saturdays=Youth. The latter was noted for being more accessible, with more vocals, more hooks, and just generally catchier songs instead of instrumental mood pieces. Even though I could happily listen to pretty much any and all synth music, the songs on the older album just weren’t interesting enough to keep me enthralled. The crowd didn’t seem to mind at all, though, and clapped along whenever they detected a faster beat. Main man Anthony Gonzalez had a tendency to look like he was humping his keyboard during these faster tunes which was somewhat distracting, and I still haven’t heard for sure why they keep the drummer behind a Plexiglas wall. Still, all in all the show was enjoyable, helped in part because of the saving grace of Morgan Kibby, who, reprising her role on Saturdays=Youth, contributed her light, catchy vocals to the proceedings (as well as playing keyboards). Oh, and a special mention must be made of the encore, “Couleurs”, which received a rockin’ arrangement and was a great closer. And fret not, my fellow Cantabridgians: if you missed them this time around apparently as soon as the group winds up this tour they’re going to be touring with the Killers and back in Boston at ye olde Agganis Arena January 26.

The most accurate setlist I’ve been able to find so far has been
for the show in Atlanta just a few days before the one in Cambridge (I thought they’d also played “You appearing” but I could be wrong):

1. Run Into Flowers
2. *
3. Moon Child
4. Kim & Jessie
5. We Own the Sky
6. Graveyard Girl
7. Gone
8. Teen Angst
9. Highway of Endless Dreams
10. Don’t Save Us From the Flames
11. Skin of the Night
12. Guitar and a Heart
13. Couleurs (encore)

Some pics from this tour are floating around:
- A few pics and a short review of the Boston show at mel.opho.be
- Nice set of pics from the NY show at BrooklynVegan
- Random Flickr set from the Atlanta show

There’s also a cool set of videos of studio performances from May with the same touring band at KCRW on YouTube. And here’s an enthusiastic review of the Boston show at the Boston Herald.

Neil Halstead at the Lizard Lounge

Last week somehow I ended up at the Lizard Lounge to see Neil Halstead of Mojave 3 fame, because my ever adventurous concert-going buddy wanted to check it out. I hadn’t been familiar with either, but I listened to the stream of his entire most recent album Oh! Mighty Engine on his MySpace page. At its best some of the songs sound a bit like the dreamier side of Nick Drake, and it’s enjoyable if not particularly unusual.

The same could be said of a lot of the live performance. We got there half an hour late due to fact it was an early show (1 of 2 the LL was running that night) and the time of the show being completely unclear (I’ve learned never to trust the times listed on people’s MySpace pages which seem to always be wrong), but we still caught an hour’s worth of music. We may have missed a number of the newer songs, but it seems he did a fair number from his previous solo album, also dipping into his catalog of Mojave 3 tunes.

By the time we got there Halstead seemed to have settled into a very mellow set which emphasized a very Bob Dylan-esque delivery and, as you’d expect, it made things sound even more generic than they were. Halstead was accompanied by an able bassist and a lead guitarist who also provided mandolin on some songs. The latter provided much of the interest starting out, but once they hit “Elevenses”, one of the faster tracks on the new album, and “Paint a Face”, one of the best songs from the album, things picked up for me, and they ended on a high note. Other highlights for me were “Two Stones in my Pocket” from from his previous solo album and “Who Do You Love” from the Mojave 3 album Out of Tune. The crowd was relatively small but appreciative.

I’ve only come across one other blog entry on the show, although apparently Brad of Bradley’s Almanac fame was at the show also (actually in retrospect I think I saw him there). The pic above is one a few from his Flickr stream (which I hope he doesn’t mind me including). Now that I’m getting out to shows more I’m reminded of how great his site is, which I’ve dipped into off and on but which I’ll definitely be keeping a closer eye on. (And no, I’m not just saying that to suck up. Ha.)

In terms of mp3s, mojave3online.com has a link to some live tracks the touring band recently recorded for MySpace. So if you somehow missed them, this is a pretty close approximation. There are also a couple of solo shows from his previous tour in 2002 on archive.org.

Upcoming this weekend

Will catch up on reviews later, but for this weekend tonight I’m going to be at the Plough and Stars in between Harvard and Central Sq. to see The In Out and Cotton Candy (not to be confused with the SF group of the same name). Had never heard of either, but M was going; I’m guessing it’s because the latter is on TeenBeat Records, home also of Versus and +/-. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard: The In Out seems to be post-punkish, whereas the Cotton Candy track on TeenBeat’s MySpace page is more upbeat indie rock.

Sunday night it’s the Ludovico Ensemble. Their core is mostly made up mostly of Boston Conservatory grads. Here’s the info for the concert:

Seully Hall, The Boston Conservatory, 8 The Fenway
From Great Britain
Sunday, November 23, 2008, 8:00pm
Cantata X by Jonathan Harvey
Nenia: The Death of Orpheus by Harrison Birtwistle
Dark Mother by Andy Vores
(Featuring Boston Symphony Orchestra violinist Julianne Lee)

Tara Donovan at the ICA

In only its second year in its expanded space the ICA seems to be doing a great job of putting together some compelling exhibits. Somehow they’ve already managed to lure A and me to see our third show this year. Even though it felt like we’d just been there to see the Anish Kapoor exhibit (which we enjoyed), we found ourselves back there to see the Tara Donovan exhibit, which opened in early October and runs through January 4.

We’d been intrigued by one of Dononvan’s works that we’d seen among those in the ICA’s permanent gallery, an imposing cube made more or less entirely of straight pins, so we were looking forward to seeing more. In a surprisingly on-target and gratifyingly artspeak-free description of her work the ICA’s website says:

In the artist’s hands, common, mass-produced items—toothpicks, buttons, drinking straws—become captivating sculptures.

For over a decade, American sculptor Tara Donovan has transformed huge volumes of everyday items into stunning works of phenomenal impact. Layered, piled, or clustered with an almost viral repetition, these products assume forms that both evoke natural systems and seem to defy the laws of nature.

To describe the works in detail would ruin the surprise somewhat and fail to do justice to works that (I hate to use the cliche, but) truly have to be “experienced”. But it should suffice to say that this was one of the most worthwhile modern art exhibits I’ve seen in a while. Part of that may be due to my own love of nature; Donovan successfully captures the same serenity and mathematical perfection, while at the same time combining them with additional layers of meaning due to her choice of medium, namely mass-produced everyday objects. Her work is incredibly accessible, a trait that usually immediately makes me suspicious and bored because it means dumbed down and belabored, but not in this case: this is a unique, worthwhile exhibit that I can whole-heartedly recommend to anyone. And apparently a lot of other people find her art worthwhile as well. Not that awards necessarily mean anything, but just two weeks before the show opened (her first museum survey ever, apparently), Donovan was named a 2008 recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant.

Much as I enjoyed this and the previous exhibits we’ve seen, I’m hoping the ICA balances out these crowd-pleasers of large works by tackling some far less audience-friendly exhibits. Either way we’ll definitely be keeping our eye on what’s coming up next. Oh, and don’t forget that the ICA is free for all from 5 to 9 p.m. every Thursday night.

It doesn’t seem like there’s been much press on the exhibit, but the Globe had a little blurb about it a couple of weeks ago. The Globe also ran a little blurb mentioning that David Byrne visited the exhibit when he was in town for his performance at the Wang.

Upcoming for November

Unfortunately there are two new music concerts this coming Friday,
BMOP’s Concertos for Strings and Orchestra featuring five concertos, and BMV’s Credo in US concert, featuring American composers. Of the two it looks like we’ll probably end up at the BMOP concert, unless of course we get lazy.

Also coming up is the French shoegaze-y band M83 downstairs at the Middle East next Tuesday, November 18. Opening is a group called School of Seven Bells. Just started listening to them now, and they seem to be a similar vibe as M83. A bit too Stereolab-esque, but I’m liking what I’m hearing so far so I’ll probably check them out.

On my list of must-sees is the Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s production of The Merchant of Venice. The group is relatively new and constantly moves locations; according to the mission statement on their website: “Moving around the city from one exciting location to another will keep our productions interesting and will help us attract a wide variety of audiences.” They’ve found a success story in me, because I saw two productions they did in Harvard Square and both were very solid and enjoyable. So I’ll be following them to South Boston for this next production, which opened last night but which I haven’t seen any press on yet. The Globe ran a preview of the production which you can find here.

So that’s a bit of November figured out. Haven’t gotten anything set for December though, so I’ll have to start scouting around for something other than the usual bland holiday fare.

David Byrne at the Wang

W wanted to catch David Byrne’s “Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour”, but as he wasn’t playing in NYC proper she decided to see him in Boston instead of NJ. It’s a bit odd, and no doubt a sign of the shifting times, that Byrne is touring his newest album before it even hits stores. The album, called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, is a collaboration with Brian Eno who apparently wrote all the music while Byrne supplied the vocal lines, lyrics, and vocals, and it’s been up as a stream on Byrne’s website for a while now. I’m not a huge Talking Heads fan and even less so of Byrne’s solo stuff, but the album is enjoyable (W loves it).

As for the concert, the audience was a weird mix of middle-aged folk who were unashamed of their convulsive dance moves, fratty kids, and hipsters. The Wikipedia entry on the tour has loads of info including the setlist. This non-review at RollingStone.com includes a bit more info as well.

As with most live music, I definitely enjoyed the show. The audience was definitely most responsive to old classics, like “Heaven” and “Once in a Lifetime”, and I was reminded of how great those songs are (particularly “Life in Wartime” which is just brilliant, not to mention chilling). But with the various permutations of three dancers (choreographed by three different groups), three backup singers (who also joined in on the dancing occasionally), two drummers, a keyboardist, a bassist, and Byrne on guitar and vocals, not to mention the well-designed lighting, there was enough variety to keep even those with short attention spans engaged throughout.

Of the people I’ve talked to I’m the only one who liked the choreography at all. At first I thought I was going to hate it, though, due to its obvious cheesiness and the dancers’ looseness. But as it became apparent the dancers were well trained and not just picked off of the street, and as it became clearer that the cheesiness and goofiness were intentional and tongue in cheek, I enjoyed the quirkiness much more and found the choreography and its delivery to be appropriate to Byrne’s general demeanor. It was also rarely distracting and much better integrated into the overall onstage ensemble than some other shows I’ve seen (e.g. the Pet Shop Boys’ last tour). There were some nice moments near the end when Byrne joined in the dancing, and the closer, “Burning Down the House”, had the audience in various states of ecstacy.

One complaint I had was that the vocals were mixed to accentuate Byrne’s already shouty delivery, which became more and more grating over time. But all in all it was a good show and made me want to watch the Stop Making Sense DVD again. Only a few dates left for this tour, though, and one thing you’ll be missing out on if you see them is the the Halloween atmosphere we enjoyed in Boston, which seemed nicely apropos for Byrne’s music as well.

Rocca in the South End

I’ve been meaning to post about Rocca for a while now. Rocca opened around the end of summer 2007, but I went there for the first time about a month and a half ago not knowing anything about it. It turns out I agreed with quite a bit of the Boston Globe’s review (including the astute observation that “In the South End, do not underestimate the power of the [parking] lot. Barring outright badness, this convenience ensures Rocca’s success.”). Anyway, it seems not much has changed in the year since it’s been open. In general the appetizers I had were so-so. The farinata (“chickpea flatbread with mushrooms, caramelized onions & sage”) was both overly salty and overly greasy. The fried cauliflower had none of the lightness of a good tempura and was also overly salty. The pastas we had fared better, including the potato gnocchi with mushrooms and the butternut squash pasta (a special, I believe). A enjoyed his hanger steak (a special?), but otherwise we were left unimpressed with both the food and the less-than-average service. (And it looks like the yelpers agree too.) The trip did remind me that it’s been too long since I’ve gone out to relatively new restaurants, so I’ll be trying to make more of a point to do so in the near future.