The Virgin Suicides In Review

Angst.

It makes an exceptional movie theme, and it's no secret. To say that it is overused is putting it lightly.
Still, the Virgin Suicides may very well become one of my favorite movies that I've seen over the last year. The characters are compelling and the story is believable, the acting is convincing and the narrator is a poetic spirit. The angsty teenagerism of it might be overwhelming for some adults, but I am not an adult, and I am not overwhelmed or under appreciative. Lux is a bit of a cliche, the free spirit with the binding situation, but Kirsten Dunst pulls it off well in what has to be my favorite performance by her, though I don't have much to base that on, considering i'm not a fan usually. Also, isn't that just a great name, Lux? It sounds like an unstable chemical, which makes a lot of sense really.

This is probably a movie I'm going to watch in ten years and hate for being pretentious and intolerably vague, the way my thirty-something-year-old uncle hates American Beauty, and maybe he's right and I'm wrong. But from this world view, it was a great film, and if you are not thirty-something, you may feel that way too.

Bon Iver in the morning, Bon Iver in the Evening...

"Oh my god," said the girl on the blanket next to me. "Oh my god," she said, with her black cowboy hat on tight almost over her eyes, a beer held in one hand daintily like a wine glass, her slight southern accent blazing with excitement. She wasn't entirely there, that was for sure. There was something a lot heavier inside her than alcohol and i can't say I care to know what it was. All I knew that she'd uncovered some epiphany and was about to share it with the world.
"oh my god," she said, and she went wide-eyed.
"That was the best dor-i-to I ever had."

You have to be mighty out-of-it if you're 2 hours away from seeing Bon Iver in a cemetery at 6 am and all your excitement is pouring out of you into a chip. But I can relate to one thing with that kinda-probably coked out Texan woman; I found joy in unexpected places. I sat at some guy named Fairbanks grave and listened to a friend talk about his history with girls and parties and life. I occasionally stuck in a neurotic aside about my lack of life experience, but those comments were uneeded, because this guy was a great story teller. I'd take them back and just leave the story if I could.
There was also a pretty sick security guard, and a guy with free donuts at the end, and a man in a snuggie who wouldn't stop dancing. All in all, it was a good group of wackjobs, myself included.

I figured that I would be coming to this concert ready to hear my album played back to me on a live stage, which at the time made me spazz (pretty badly) with excitement. I was prepared to recognize every stylistic touch, the way I had with Phoenix and with Wolf Parade and with all the concerts I had had previous to this one. But anyways that didn't happen. Bon Iver opened the show with "Lump Sum" and it exploded from the speakers with more livelihood than I would have ever expected with electric guitars, rhythm and lead, a base that was set so high the air shook, and two drum sets. Every simple song was fleshed out, every melody amplified. Creature Fear especially impressed me, the way the sudden chorus shift sounds live is unbelievable.

I could be wrong, but the track list went SOMETHING like this:
1) Lump Sum
2) Creature Fear
3)Teams (improv)
4) Blood Bank
5)Flume
6)Babys
7)Skinny Love
8)??? (megafaun song)
9)For Emma
10)Re:Stacks
11) The Wolves

I loved Justin's comments throughout the show. He was humble and funny, but mostly he was just weird. He played the first two songs before he ever spoke to us, but when he finally did the whole serious atmosphere just dropped away.
"Thank you guys so much for being here. Like....whoa." Everyone laughed a little and Justin took a swig of something before shaking his head and heading back to the microphone.
"I think this is the weirdest thing any of us here have ever done."
Justin Vernon was an odd speaker, but he was just what I expected; A little strange and a lot of amazing.
The songs live were better than every recording I'd ever heard of them. It's not often these days that I come across musicians who have the charisma or the talent to make their songs wok on stage but Bon Iver pulled it off with little effort. I enjoyed every second of this concert, and it wasn't just the music I heard; it was the sound of two years of obsession solidifying.

So some people have their doritos and others have their music. But in the end we all find a reason to feel full.

Bon Iver Wiltern Concert Review 9/25/09

We came late to Wiltern, missing the opening act, but right on time for Bon Iver. The venue was packed, and you could feel the immense energy of the crowd.

Everybody was super psyched to finally hear Justin Vernon and his angelic falsseto voice!

Here's the setlist:

1) Lump Sum

2) Flume

3) Blood Bank

4) Re: Stacks Racks

5) Blindsided

6) Miscellaneous improv

7) Beach Baby

8) For Emma

9) Skinny Love

10) Wolves

They were then joined onstage by Megafaun for 2 encores, both of which were bluegrass covers.

Highlights:

1) We saw the azn lady from Grey's Anatomy. She was there chillen, enjoying the tunes.

3) As Justin sang the first words of Lump Sum, I got major chills. There's something quite magical in hearing your favorite artist live after months of listening to the record.

4) The crowd joined in to sing the ending of Wolves, and it was fucking epic. Bon Iver gets labeled as a soft, laid back band, but the energy of that moment was massive.

2) After the show, Bubar and I chilled at the Wiltern's stage entrance, and luckily got the chance to speak with Mike Noyce of Bon Iver and the Brad Cook of Megafaun. Speaking to Mike was really interesting, partly because he's really babyfaced (looks like a tween version of Sukin lol). We asked him about the upcoming grave yard show, and it seemed he didn't know more about it than we did. He said it was their agency's idea to book them that eccentric gig, and continued to express that all his fellow band members were worried about how their 7:00 am vocal performances would turn out.

Here's out conversation with Brad Cook:

Phat Fellas: Yoooo, any sweet coke parties on the road with Bon Iver?

Brad Cook: Na dude, we eat healthy and go to bed at reasonable hours.

P.F: But you would party with the Crüe back in '86 if you had the chance, right?

B.C: Yeah, most likely.

P.F: Seriously though, how is it touring with Justin and the rest of Bon Iver?

B.C: Well, we were all buds growing up in Wisconsin, so we've played together for years.

I'm just glad that everybody is finally responding to Justin's music, he's worked so hard.

Heading for the Weekend

So it looks as if another week has passed. I'm not sure about the rest of Phat Fellas, but I'm looking forward to the weekend approaching, because my week has been crowded and unsatisfying. But thing's are getting better, because: On Friday Bon Iver will be playing the Wiltern along with Megafaun and I'm sure it's going to be an amazing show, but I won't be attending. I will be going the the Hollywood Cemetery morning show, and if all goes according to plan, I'm also going to chill in a graveyard at night for 6 hours beforehand. I'M EXCITED!

On a completely unrelated note, this is Ivan & Alyosha. I think you'll like them. They're nice guys and they make good music, so be a pal and give them a listen. The song is "Easy to Love" and it's the first single off the album. I've been obsessing over it for the past week and am anxiously awaiting the release of their first CD, The Verse, The Chorus on Oct. 20th. Enjoy!

(I'm going to figure out this link situation eventually.)

Men Without Hats- The Safety Dance

An absolute classic of kitsch and insanity, this synth pop great has one of the best music videos I've ever seen. This is actually some pretty terrible music and is probably offensive to countless sensible folks, but who am I to complain? This is one of the few pairings of synth pop, medieval imagery, and midgits that I have ever seen. How this become a hit is beyond me and Ivan's over the top vocals and dancing must be heard to be believe. Also, the synth riff is so catchy (and kitschy) that it should be illegal. So sit back, relax, and enjoy some pure 80's sunshine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg

David Chevan's Afro Semetic Experience with Cantor Alberto Mizrahi- Yizkor

If you hip hebrews need some brooding and spiritual music in order to atone for your many sins this Yom Kippur, consider this extremely unique release from bassist David Chevan's Afro Semetic experience. Fusing traditional Jewish liturgical music with Coltrane-esque Afro-jazz workouts, the group produce subtle and sensitive music that is beautiful and moving. This was a grave omission on my first post about cool Jewish music, but I hope this rectifies things.

Similar to Herbie Hancock's "Hear O Israel", "Yizkor" takes the Jewish Yizkor memorial service and places it to music. Perhaps the most unique feature of this album is the cantorial vocals of Hazzan Alberto Mirahi, which adds an old-school European dimension to the proceedings. His vocals recall more the great jazz improvisers than Jewish singers. Particularly powerful is "Yizkor for the Martyrs", which resonates with the pain of thousands of years of Jewish suffering. From Mizrahi emotive vocals and Stacy Phillip's resonator guitar at the beginning, this Jewish blues marks itself as something different. By the end, when Warren Byrd conjures up the thunder of heaven with his McCoy Tyner like left hand heavy piano, and the whole band follow him into an impassioned rage that reflects the serious and grave nature of the Yizkor service. "Psalm 23" is really funky, in a Blue Note/ Coltrane kind of way. In fact, the whole record has a Pharoah Sanders style intesity which makes for a great and moving listen."El Maleh Rakhamim" has a great Latin groove, and "Psalm 16" features a great vamping intro (props to Baba David Coleman for his atmospheric percussion).

All in all, one of the most spiritual, funky, soulful and unique albums I've ever heard.

Upcoming: Dual back to back Bon Iver concert reveiws!

All of us here at Phat Fellas are huge Bon Iver fans, and were fully disappointed when he didn't tour the west coast festival circuit this past year. 

:(

Fortunately, Bon Iver has returned! He is redeeming himself by playing two consecutive shows: One at the Wiltern Theater, and the other at, you guessed it, Hollywood Cemetary. Both shows are highly anticipated, each providing its own unique Bon Iver experience.

We will be posting back-to-back concert reviews of these two shows.

Expect greatness!