Front Range recommended shows, 10/28

First off, I'll offer a moment of silence to honor Lou Reed. His voice and mind were unique in the world of rock 'n' roll. Punk enough to make his guitar convey the messy turmoil within his heart, but philosophical in how he approached his music with intellectual rigor. He'll be missed

. . .

Wednesday, 30 October (Gothic Theatre, Denver CO)
Living Colour

I don't know why, but I'm still a sucker for hard rocking bands from the past. Vernon Reid forced his way into my pantheon of great guitarists when I first heard his playing on "Cult of Personality". The rest of the band were equally impressive, with Corey Glover conveying a punk edge with his vocals, Doug Wimbish's amazing funky bass work, and Will Calhoun melding it together with rhythmic precision. This tour, the band is reprising their entry into the charts by performing their first album, Vivid, in concert.

Thursday, 31 October (Gothic Theatre, Denver CO)
Friday, 1 November (Boulder Theater, Boulder CO)
DeVotchKa

DeVotchKa is hard to categorize, but their Gypsy cabaret is always a great show. While earlier this year, they performed with Amanda Palmer and the Colorado Symphony, these shows focus on the band alone. Given the choice, I'd recommend the Halloween show at the Gothic - it should be thoroughly bewitching. But either show is a great chance to catch this local band making it big. Get out there and savor the rich musical world they've woven from genres that cross time and space.

Saturday, 2 November (Cervantes Other Side, Denver CO)
Whiskey Blanket

Ever since I first heard Whiskey Blanket's unique mix of hip-hop and live musical backing, I've been a fan. Cello and violin find themselves far from home in the band's rap songs, but what seems like a gimmick soon reveals itself as an intriguing musical texture. I've reviewed the band's shows and albums before, but this Saturday show will combine the two. This is their release party for a new CD, From the Dead of Dark. I haven't had a chance to listen yet, but I've checked out the album trailer to get a little taste. I am excited to hear how the band has developed their sound.

Front Range recommended shows, 10/21

With Hawkwind canceling their US tour, that left a hole in this week's schedule, but it turns out there are still plenty of great opportunities for entertainment.

Thursday, 24 October (Soiled Dove, Denver CO)
The Tubes

I remember The Tubes for their erotically charged (and unlikely) radio hit, "Don't Touch Me There". I got the album, Young and Rich, and then scored their first album as well. By the '80s, they had somewhat reinvented themselves as classic rock with a thick veneer of irony. Founder Fee Waybill is leading the band and filling the stage as a host of different characters as he swaps costumes.

Friday, 25 October (Cervantes Masterpiece, Denver CO)
Orgone
Latryx

I'm not that familiar with the funk-soul sound of Orgone, but I can definitely say that if you get the chance to catch Lateef the Truth Speaker and Lyrics Born performing together as Latryx, get off your butt and see them. Both these MCs have serious chops and know how to keep a crowd moving. The weather may be turning cool for fall, but it will be a hot, sweaty night at Cervantes.

Saturday, 26 October (Boulder Theater, Boulder CO)
Sunday, 27 October (Ogden Theatre, Denver CO)
Tame Impala
White Denim

It's been a year since Tame Impala released Lonerism, with critics mashing up references to The Beatles, psychedelia, and '70s pop. Those all ring true, but the band rises above their amalgam of influences and certainly stands on its own. While Austin's White Denim is geographically far from Tame Impala's Perth roots, they have their own unique development of retro inspirations. This is a great pairing for a heady, energetic evening.

Concert review - Surfer Blood with Team Spirit and Andy Boay

16 October 2013 (Larimer Lounge, Denver CO)
This was my fourth time this year to see Team Spirit play. I caught two sets at SXSW and interviewed the band and then I saw them open for Peace in June. I guess my next step will be to follow the tour van to Salt Lake City or wherever. It was great to see them again and catch up on the changes. Compared to Peace, Surfer Blood was a much better fit. The headliner had a more dynamic stage presence and thrashy flair that complemented Team Spirit's over-the-top energy.

Andy Boay

The only clue I was offered was to imagine Laurie Anderson jamming with a Led Zeppelin 12-string. I had never heard the opening act, Andy Boay, the alter-ego of Montreal's Andy White before catching his surreal performance. With a small table in front of him, covered in technology, he hovered in the darkness. The only stage lighting was a projected pattern splashing off his face to hit the ceiling.

The Laurie Anderson connection quickly became clear as he pitch-shifted his voice, looping it into thick layers of harmonized sound. A drone synth note slipped into alarm tones as he wove his vocals into heavy curtain of noise. As he took a moment to strap on his 12-string, the wall of sound was relentless. I expected him to add a chiming guitar cacophony to the mix, but instead, he scattered a sweet spray of notes. A touch of organic spirit within the electronic machine.

He writhed and grimaced, caught in some kind of artistic seizure. It was a highly stylized, experimental noise-fest, with little direct crowd interaction, but the audience was remarkably attentive.

Team Spirit

I arrived at the Larimer Lounge in time to hear the soundcheck drifting outside the venue. "MRDR It's Ok" sounded as tight as ever. The doors hadn't opened yet, but frontman Ayad Al Adhamy stepped out a little later and walked over to say hi. Almost immediately, he broke the news that he had lost his other bandmates and had drafted some friends to keep Team Spirit rocking. Rock 'n' roll lineups can be as ephemeral as fashion, but there's always a worry about losing the chemistry. Fortunately, the new team quickly ramped up and found their places without disrupting the core sound of the band.


The roster includes Kieren Smith on lead guitar, Daniel Domingo de Lara on bass, and drummer Alex Russek. I had heard de Lara and Russek before, when they played on Emil & Friends' Lo & Behold (2011 - review here), but Team Spirit is a far cry from gentler pop sound of that band. No problem: Russek's precise, energetic drum work seemed to push the tunes even a bit harder than before and de Lara covered the bass with ease. Smith's guitar style is somewhat edgier than Cosmo DiGuilio's, but he still nailed the dual guitar riffs at the heart of Team Spirit's sound.


Russek kicked off the show with an extended drum beat that thundered as Al Adhamy greeted crowd before it all settled into a speedy version of "Teenage Love". During the breakdown, "Oh, Baby, come here and move closer/ It's ready to spark away/ My head's spinnin', is it supposed to?/ Relax, breathe in, and walk away," Smith ornamented the spaces between lines with a looser set of riffs, asserting his own voice for the piece.


As always, the set was too short, even thoughTeam Spirit had time to nail the tracks from their EP and a couple of extras. Al Adhamy was in great form, reacting to a larger crowd than he had during their last visit here. As the band kicked off an uptempo "Jesus, He's Alright!", he exuberantly vaulted down off the stage and into the crowd. Surrounded by his fans, camera flashes in his eyes, and ringing guitars in his ears, Al Adhamy was perfectly in his element.

Surfer Blood

I caught part of a Surfer Blood set at SXSW earlier this year, where they were one of the much-hyped bands of the festival. They had a solid sense of themselves, anchored by frontman John Paul Pitts' matter-of-fact demeanor. They looked a bit fresher at this show than they did at SXSW. After setting up their equipment, they ran through a quick soundcheck, laying down some driving, classic sounding grooves and twinned guitar instrumentals before stepping backstage to regroup for the official set.


The band led off with the instrumental "Neighbour Riffs", which featured a throbbing post-punk bass line and chiming guitars. When the two guitars came together and executed the rapid-fire melody line, it was a thing of beauty. They jumped from that into another older track, "Twin Peaks". Pitt's earnest vocal and simple singing imbued the pop groove with a high school, garage-band innocence. The music split the difference between late '60s San Francisco pop and XTC's quirky new wave, with maybe a hint of They Might Be Giants in the guileless delivery. The mix favored the instruments over the vocals, though, so the tunes lost some of their impact.


The contrast between Pitts and Al Adhamy was striking. Each defined the presence of their band, but where Al Adhamy surrendered to the thrashy joy of the music, Pitts remained more focused. He took his own jaunt into the audience to sing "Take It Easy", making it more of a stroll than an ecstatic rite as he explored the far corners of room. He sang clearly and calmly, but the music sometimes jangled and jostled against that control. He could cut loose on his Strat but still maintain that balance to his singing. Pitts' go-to stage move was a brief, pro-forma pick scrape up the guitar neck, delivered with deadpan irony.


Near the end of their set, Surfer Blood launched into my favorite track, "Demon Dance", the lead single of their latest album, Pythons. Pitts sang like Morrissey on anti-depressants while the band laid in the harmonies and made the dynamic leaps before they all slid into the heavy grind section of the song. After that, they filled the stage with dancers from the audience for "Swim" and one final tune before walking off. The crowd chanted, "One more song!" for a few minutes until the band came back out to give them another three before calling it a night.

More photos on my Flickr.

Recording review - Berlin, Animal (2013)

Welcome the sexy beast into the electro-dance machine

“Feel the fire/ Feel my love inside you/ It’s so right.” From the opening motorik drive and Terri Nunn’s seductive vocal, Berlin’s 1982 hit “Sex (I’m a…)” tapped into a host of repressed fantasies and helped sell New Wave flavored synthpop to the American masses. Now, 31 years later, the band is even more overt on the title track for Animal: “Looking up my little dress/ Does it make you want to take me now?” Instead of Krautrock influences, this intro is inspired by a Nine Inch Nails, synthed-out rock sound. The new album continues Berlin’s evolution—actually, it shows how Nunn has developed. The band fell apart after their commercial peak, Top Gun’s “Take My Breath Away”, and she resurrected the band name in 1998. This is the third album since then, with an eight year gap after the last one, 4Play (2005).

The band’s early hits like “Metro” and “No More Words” didn't hide their danceable roots. This latest incarnation of Berlin takes that a step further, embracing electronic dance music by appropriating throbbing bass grinds, glitchy breakdowns and escalating synth whines. “Animal” throws down its club-friendly gauntlet with all of this and more. The last track, “Animal (Remix)”, doubles down and takes the song and all of its raw sexual energy deeper into the machine. The album works so well because Nunn found the perfect resource for tapping into that electronic vein, producer John King (The Dust Brothers). He brings continuity to the album without robbing the tracks of individuality.

Regardless of the trappings of beeps and beats, it’s still easy to hear the soul of Berlin’s original sound. More than Nunn’s voice alone, it’s there in the structure of the songs, the New Wave melodies and provocative darkness. Take the catchy “Break the Chains” for example. It’s reminiscent of the band’s older material, but it’s been dressed up for contemporary tastes with some bubbly synth and a beat-heavy electropop groove. The lyrics alternately seduce and cajole: surrender to the physicality of the rhythm and break loose from the bondage of guilt and self-judgment.

Nunn doesn't shy away from the band’s more standard pop moments either. “It’s The Way” is a thoughtful love song that finds common ground with “Take My Breath Away”, showing that she still has sweet vocal tone and diva chops. A few songs later, on “Blame the World”, she pushes her voice into this power ballad inspired by her damaged relationship with her father. Her emotional delivery shows that she’s built on her earlier skills and, if anything, her singing has improved in the intervening decades. Near the end of the album, Nunn gets soulful on a paean to her single mother, “Mom”. The track starts out with a solid piano accompaniment along with some light synth comping. Subtle touches of electronica slip in and out, but never distract from the earnest love of the song.

In their heyday, Berlin stood out for a unique blend of sharp lyrics, challenging attitude and pop sensibility. Danceable rhythms found common ground with edgy writing, tempered by Nunn’s captivating persona and the band’s slick production. Ultimately, none of that has changed. EDM has superseded synthpop, but they’re drawing from the same well. Nunn’s expressive voice, which could shift from vulnerable innocence to wicked temptation, once carried the band. Animal shows that she’s still every bit the earnest child and sexy beast.

(This review first appeared on Spectrum Culture)