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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | kcronin <fiatluxury@yahoo.com> |
| Subject | field music vs. menomena: round 2 |
| Date | Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:56:48 -0700 (PDT) |
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went to see this fab double bill last night - I was
fully expecting, based on my reactions to both their
most recent full-lengthers, to love the Field Music
set and then maybe leave halfway through the openers
Menomena, maybe after they played "Air Raid." Field
Music's "tones on town" is rhapsodic, as far as I'm
concerned; snappy tunes, cool mid-song switch ups,
elegantly orchestrated, with three singers
effortlessly diving in and out of these various tempos
and keys and punctuating each other's turns at lead
with brilliant staccato harmonies. Kind of
first-couple-Genesis-albums-without-Peter-Gabriely, in
spots (and that's no bad thing, to me.) Sublime, even.
Menomena's "Friend and Foe" I liked for darker
imageries, more visceral singers, and the apex of my
recent song life "Air Raid" - oh lord, how i love that
song - kind of like Wheat and The Constantines getting
together for some gestalt therapy before the alter of
Mark Sandman? But I found moments of the album kind
of filler-y and noodle-y...the sounds of a band who
were clearly talented, but maybe working on finding a
focus.
Hoo boy. Last night's show proved me so, so wrong
about that "focus" issue, and also about which band I
should have been there to see - Field Music was fun
and the songwriting is still delightful, but something
went missing, I thought. I don't require perfect
studio recreation live, but the music seemed confused,
less coherent, then I know it to be on the record - if
I were seeing them without knowing the songs I would
have thought them a haphazard assembly of parts,
rather than the careful confections they reveal
themselves to be, in the studio. I still really liked
the show - it was just different than I expected, and
did not show them to full advantage (as one brother
freely admitted, when pitching their CDs for sale in
the back.)
Menomena, on the other hand, had a tight, powerful
set, and also an appreciative crowd in the palms of
their various hands from the first pianotastic bombast
of opener The Pelican. Whereas Field Music's studio
sheen was slightly tarnished by translation to live,
(and maybe by the constant switching of singers and
instruments was playing a little havoc with the sound
mixing, which issue seemed to have sorted itself out
by the time Menomena's multiinstrumentalists showed
up), Menomena's intensity was clearly watered down by
recording it. One thing I missed in the recording -
the incredibly cool and fluid bass underpinning most
of the songs, and how well the three singers (all with
extremely different voices, vs. the two brothers and
main singers in Field Music who have that sibling
symmetry going on) complement and support each other.
I know they have a few more albums out than Field
Music, and so may be more comfortable with the touring
thing, but Field Music's somewhat tentative approach
left me thinking something fragile was about to go
seriously south, and Menomena's aggression and
confident grip on their musical vision served them
very well indeed. And songs that i thought of as
"noodly" on the record captivated me just as surely -
I still think it sounds noodly recorded, but now I
think this is a product of the capturing, and not any
deficiency of the band.
And as if it wasn't enough that the drummer was
swoonworthily, irresponsibly tall and really quite
funny, it turns out he was also the voice I liked the
best - he sings "majesty" and, be still my heart, "air
raid," two of my faves on the album. I left long
after I told myself I should, and realized only then
that they hadn't even played "Air Raid." Just as well
- I probably would have fallen irrevocably in love.
in sum: the show was enlightening for many reasons,
and thoroughly enjoyable. go see it, especially you
harmony nuts.
--kelly
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