Posted on 8th April 2009 by LadyGlutter in Love | music
This weekend I saw Neko Case in concert at WorkPlay, which is a really cool venue by itself. The building is a converted warehouse, and the people at WorkPlay have made it very versatile. The concept is a place for creative people to come to work and to play, so they offer places to film or record as well as see attractions. I saw Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) there years ago, but this was my first time to watch a live performance there. The front area has a lobby and a little bar, and then divides into sections. Around 250 to 400 can stand and comfortably watch in the room that we watched the concert.
The intimate setting made it easy to see and hear Neko, even when she spoke conversationally. Her gorgeous red curls were bouncing and glowing under the spotlight. She seemed very comfortable in her black asymmetrical tee shirt and blue jeans, but she immediately apologized for wearing her sneakers on stage, telling us she meant no disrespect, but was just running late. She and the backup singer, Kelly Hogan decided to perform barefoot so that Neko wouldn’t feel old. The banter was entertaining and easy, despite warnings of nervousness because they were playing mostly new songs off of Middle Cyclone.
When she started singing, the room was entranced. If she missed any of the chords she was playing, I doubt many people noticed, because her voice was so expressive and powerful. Since she was promoting her new album, I hadn’t heard much of what they played ahead of time, which was a treat. The music was moody and soulful with beautiful lyrics backed by a strong voice. That’s the best kind of country. It does seem that Middle Cyclone is a gentler album than the more passionate, turbulent music I expected, but I’ll admit that’s based solely on Saturday’s performance. She could very well have simply been blissed out from eating the Dutch Baby at the Original Pancake House in 5 points earlier. Here is the very cute video for “People Got A Lotta Nerve,” which was easily the poppiest song of the whole evening.
I especially want to thank Sarah, who sold us tickets she didn’t use. I had been hearing the ads on the radio for the concert and just pining away for a chance to go. Sarah is the person who introduced me to Neko Case a few years ago, anyway, so she’s doubly responsible for the evening. Thanks, Sarah!
They Might Be Giants has been a staple of mine since high school. The Tiny Toon Adventures videos of “Istanbul” and “Particle Man” inspired one of my friends to buy the album, and of course he made me a copy. My dubbed copy of Flood got stuck in the tape deck of my car my senior year, and I’ve never been the same.
The two Johns (Linnell and Flansburgh) have always had a strong work ethic, and have always been giving to their fans. When the band hit hard times in 1983, rather than allow circumstances to discourage or stall them, they came up with a new way to keep creating music. For 23 years, Dial-A-Song was an answering machine in Brooklyn that always had a song for the caller. The slogan, written on the leaf notes of many of their albums, was “free when you call from work.” I personally tried many times to get through over the years, but always hit a busy signal. Last year, the band decided that it was time to retire the service. “Dial-A-Song mainly just died a technological death,” John Linnell said.
The Dial-A-Song idea has evolved into their web presence today. Instead of only being available to one listener at a time, people everywhere are able to simultaneously hear their free mp3s and podcasts. I adore their adult music, but right now the real fun is introducing the kids to them, when the whole family watches their Friday Night Video Podcast for Families together. Everyone can relate to this song in some way or another, right? The littlest one learns the days of the week, and Dad gets to bitch about going to work. Win!
My first exposure to the Lips was watching Beavis and Butthead in a dorm room, and seeing “She Don‘t Use Jelly.” The video got a decent amount of airplay, not just a oneshot on that show. Most of my college years, MTV was on in the background somewhere. They actually played a little music then, but it was becoming more scarce. Beavis and Butthead was part of that all important transitional phase for the channel. Yes, boys and girls, the M in MTV stood for Music. Beavis and Butthead is one of the missing links between what it was then, and what it has evolved into today.
The video was odd; the song was too. I liked the sound of it, but the lyrics seemed so nonsensical that I felt they were forced. My overall impression was that the group was another one of those groups trying too hard to be weird. Genuine individuality and uniqueness is something I cherish, but at the same time I don’t much care for self-conscious deliberate non-conformity. (Since then, I have grown to believe they’re really just this wonderfully bizarre.) Some people try awful hard to show how odd different they are, until they become a prefab product themselves. Thank goodness I didn’t hear that they were on Beverly Hills, 90210; I’d never have given them a fair chance! Yeah, the song was good, and I enjoyed singing along with it. Still, I expected that they were one-hit wonders. So many bands at that time had disappointed me. I had learned not to buy an album based on one song, or even two, because my $10 was two and a half hours of work! I missed out on the joy of listening to years of Soft Bulletin, and hearing lyrics as beautiful as these.
And though they were sad
They rescued everyone.
They lifted up the sun.
A spoonful weighs a ton.
Giving more than they had
The process had begun.
A million came from one.
The limits now were none.
Being drunk on their plan
They lifted up the sun.
Forcing it off with their hands
The trapdoor came undone.
Above our heads it swung.
The privilege had been won.
Being drunk on their plan
They lifted up the sun.
Yelling as hard as they can
The doubters all were stunned.
Heard louder than a gun,
The sound they made was love.
Other bands, take note. Lyrics are important.
A few years later, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots came out. A friend of mine loaned me the CD with roughly half a dozen others she thought I might enjoy. Again, I thought, this is weird. I listened to it without an album cover, completely, confused at the noise of the battle scene between Yoshimi and the Robots, and trying to parse things. My very young son loved “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Part 2″ in particular. Since he hated riding in the car, I would play it on loop for him. He’d freak out if I even listened to the first three songs, so it took a while for me to get to the rest of the album. I didn’t even connect the band with “She Don’t Use Jelly” until my husband heard what I had playing one day and gloated that I DID like the Lips enough to have an album. I protested I’d never heard of them before, and he illuminated me. “Oh, weird. I guess I can see that. I’d forgotten all about that song.”
Most people have heard snatches of the most popular song on this album, “Do You Realize?” because it was in a Nissan commercial. Of course, the commercial only plays a snippet of the song, and it does no justice to the whole of the song, much less its place in the album. I just learned that Wayne Coyne says that the album isn’t a concept album, which is very surprising to me. Still, those first four songs tell a story of the triumph of mankind and love. Then it moves on to other things, but the relationship between all the songs on the album is still strong. There are underlining themes of love, science fiction, right and wrong, wistfulness, and power throughout.
This album became one of my game night albums. I played it more if we happened to be playing GURPS rather than D&D, because I had a particular character that I felt aligned with the Lips, plus it was a modern campaign setting. I could see my girl popping vitamins so she‘d be strong to fight some pink invader robots. I’d play it over and over, supercharging myself with love and potential energy and hope and bittersweet aggression. I played it other times, too, whenever I just wanted to power up. Years of listening to Yoshimi have passed, and it still hasn‘t gotten old.
When At War with the Mystics came out in 2006, my husband was adamant. I HAD to buy this album, no, really, I didn’t understand, I’d love it! I listened to it, and the yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah in the first song immediately irritated me. It was too much. I have my theories on why — I need a little space to truly hear new music. The situation wasn’t really conducive to focusing on what I was hearing. If only I had watched the video, I’d have laughed til I cried and listened to the entire album.
Instead, I put the album out of mind. The spousal unit did not despair, though. He made me a “mixed tape” on an mp3 player to go in the van when I drove to work. He hid “The W.A.N.D.” in there, between known favorites of mine. I came home one day asking what that song with lyrics about a magic stick “that will make them all fall. We got the power now…” He smugly replied, “It’s that new Flaming Lips album you hate. Of course you love that song. It‘s your theme song, duh.”
(Yes, I want to put up the video for it, too. I’m an absolute paragon of self-control.)
I was sold. I listened to the album, open-minded, and love flooded my heart. One awesome album isn’t enough for me, but two, of that caliber… well. Be prepared to hear me rave about the Fearless Freaks more in the future, but for now I’ve had more than enough fun with this post. If you visit their webpage, you’ll be able to listen to more. It is one of the best band webpages I’ve visited. As soon as I post this blog I’m adding it to my links, in fact.
got stuck in the tape deck of my car my senior year, and I’ve never been the same.