A million apologies

I haven't written in over two weeks, thereby failing at life and all blog-like endeavors. So I suck and I promise to never be this negligent again; this is what happens when you get a job, you stop doing the meaningful, fulfilling things in life. Moving on...

I've been to three concerts of note in the past month. All in very different locations and very different genres, so I'll attempt a brief summary of each with highlights and lowpoints (though all three proved tremendously entertaining in their own rite).

Phoenix @ The Greek Theatre, 9/16/09
The French indie rockers, for being relatively new to the U.S. music scene, managed to draw a solid crowd and put on a solid show. Not the best I've ever seen, but it was a lot of fun. They opened with "Lisztomania" and closed the encore with a rousing, extended version of "1901." In between, the show was full of of peppy, poppy hits primarily derived from May's "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix," including the first stateside performance of "Fences." I left feeling satisfied, reeking of hipster scents and longing for a vacation in Versailles.

Kurt Jordan @ Munson Chapel, 9/21/09
I was quite disappointed to attend just one night of this 5-night performance of Alvin Curran's epic "Inner Cities," but the glimpse I saw was breathtaking. Kurt is a good friend of mine and a deftly skilled pianist, and he captured the stark delicacy of Curran's classical odyssey with both grace and fury. The piece itself relies on the progression of single notes, to triads, to fifths, slowly layering and folding in upon itself in waves of sound. It is a constant, heady flow of soft resonance directly struggling against intense noise; a beautiful juxtaposition of music and silence. Kurt perfectly captured the very emotional struggle in the notes, even bringing tears to my eyes at one point. I was truly awed.

Eliza Rickman @ The Church of Fashion, 9/26/09
Picture a starry Los Angeles night, ablaze with cars and people and sound (as if that ever goes away in the city). On the fringes of the city itself, where the 5 and the 110 and the 134 all collide in one great clash of engines and stereos, the suburban sprawl ends in a wave of businesses, streetlights and the occasional shady neighborhood. And right in the middle of it all sits one lone Victorian house, beaten and weathered by years of city air and the population at large; welcome to the home of The Church of Fashion, an enclave for local artists and creative types. On Saturday night it was home to a group of musicians looking for a voice in the heart of the din, and the stand-out was the lovely Eliza Rickman. Eliza has a voice that radiates haunting nostalgia, like a forlorn voice you heard long ago and could never dislodge from your psyche. I was lucky enough to catch her final performance this year with full band (drums, bass, two violins, viola, cello, and one back-up singer), and the sound was lush. The songs were mostly off of her EP "Gild the Lily," and the only cover was the delightful closing number, a heartbreaking cover of Nick Cave's "Into My Arms." There were 20-30 people there, an intimate gathering of friends and fans in the backyard of this wonderful old house; as the sounds of the music fused with the noisy traffic in the background, the planes passing overheard and the people walking down the street, I realized how marvelous LA truly is.

I recommend Eliza's work in the highest, so please check out her MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/elizarickman) for all information on where to purchase the afore-mentioned EP, as well as a schedule of all upcoming shows.

Stay tuned folks, I'll have more up tomorrow...

Flogging Molly- September 12 @ The Greek

Sometimes the soul just needs a rollicking Irish band to facilitate pure, unadulterated joy. Really, how can life be bad when you're enveloped in the sounds of a penny whistle, an accordion, thumping drums, a fiddle, a mandolin, a banjo and a sick guitar? Did I mention lyrics like, "Swing a little more, little more o'er the merry-o/ Swing a little more, on the Devil's Dance Floor" set to a heart-pounding pace? Flogging Molly did it fast, hard and rowdy, and I don't think one soul in the audience was left wanting.

As the sun set over the Los Angeles skyline, the Greek Theatre filled with punks and Irish alike, adorned in Social Distortion/Dropkick Murphys/Clash/The Dubliners shirts with the occasional kilt. Safety pins, torn jeans, patches and Dr. Martens abound, the venue was full of anti-establishement fans and simply put, it was glorious. People flocked to purchase $10 beers simply to sip the brew while watching the most popular Irish musical import this side of the Atlantic.

The show had two opening bands, the phenomenal Fitz & the Tantrums and Hepcat. Fitz and his crew put on a highly entertaining show, and I was so impressed I went up to him after their set and told him how much I enjoyed the band. Imagine the soul and swagger behind a Motown 50s girl group, put a lanky white man singing lead vocals and throwing in delightful dance moves, and you have Fitz & the Tantrums. The set was swingin' and fun, and I was impressed at the response they got from the sparse crowd trickling in before the main attraction. Please check out their MySpace, I promise you won't be let down (http://www.myspace.com/fitzsoulmusic). And if you ever get a chance to see them live, jump on it; Fitz is marvellous.

As for Flogging Molly, this was my second time seeing them and they were even better 5 years after my first time. I think the quality of a concert can be judged by the fan response, and by the end of the night, the entire crowd was linking arms, swaying and holding beers in the air, chanting with every lyric out of singer Dave King's mouth. Irish pride ran rampant, and even for us non-Irish, it felt blissful. The band sipped Guiness as they ran through old and new hits alike, spanning from 2000's Swagger to 2008's Float; they even did a lovely cover of T. Rex's "Children of the Revolution" which made me quite happy. The interesting part was seeing the entire band (7 people total) lined up on stage, with no one in front or behind (minus drumnmer George Schwindt); the level of commraderie and mutual respect was blatant. This band loves each other and they love what they do, which manifests itself through their music.

As they closed with "What's Left of the Flag," I caught a glance of a friendly, miniscule mosh pit in front of the stage. There was some crowd surfing and pushing and all that, but everyone seemed to be watching out for each other, being as careful as possible while still thrashing and dancing. I smiled and contemplated this blissful little moment where everyone was together and in agreeance that a solid Irish jig, a middle finger to the man and a good pint can cure all that ails you. Cheers.

Muse- "The Resistance"

"The history of liberty is a history of resistance."
~Woodrow Wilson

I've literally struggled for days to write this review for one very simple yet complex reason; how does one critique the proverbial magnum opus? When I finished listening to this album for the first time, I found myself in tears, desperately trying to savor and digest its haunting message. I sat in silence for an extended amount of time, the final chords spiraling down my cerebrum, and then I started writing. Flawed though it may be, this album is by far Muse's greatest work to date.

The album revolves around one focal idea: in a world faced with growing levels of corruption and decay, love is our greatest act of both resistance and rebellion. A sentiment for the ages. The beautiful thing about Muse is the wide range of influences they draw from, leading to a well-versed, well-rounded feel. Take for example "United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)," which was released as a free download on July 21st. The majority of the song sounds as if Freddy Mercury crafted it with his own two hands, until it effortlessly dissolves into Frédéric Chopin's "Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9 No.2” The album opener, "Uprising," is a raccous rally cry with a guitar solo evocative of Johan Sebastian Bach's terrifying organ in "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor." The subtle fusion of classical and classic rock is something that Muse has mastered seamlessly.

I'll admit, there are some rough patches. While listening to "Guiding Light," "Unnatural Selection," and "MK Ultra," I found myself thinking Muse had fallen back on their old material. The most startling of the three is "Unnatural," which is so similar to "New Born" off 2005's Origin of Symmetry, I had to play both of them at the same time to make sure I wasn't losing my mind. But really, I encourage you to listen to both songs. Specifically "New Born" 1:24-1:50, and then "Unnatural" 0:47-1:00. The notes may be a little different but I'll be damned if they didn't dig through their old songs and pick out a riff they had a soft spot for. And yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition, sue me.

The grandeur picks up again with "I Belong to You (+Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix)," a fascinating mix of clarinets, a catchy swing, falsetto and a French breakdown riddled with piano. The album finishes with its pièce de résistance (no pun intended), a 15-minute-long symphony entitled "Exogenesis" broken into three movements: "Overture," "Cross Pollination," and "Redmption."

Vocalist Matthew Bellamy first hinted at it in 2008 when he was quoted as saying, "I think on the next album I’d like to do at least one 15-minute space-rock solo." He also hinted at "one 50-minute sypmphony," though that plan obviously fell by the wayside. What we're left with is one final plea for the betterment of humanity, utilizing a 40-piece orchestra, a soft piano throughout (think Claude Debussy), and lyrics that portray endless melancholy as the perfect foil to sparkling notes of hope, and yes, redemption. It ends with Bellamy's voice fading into the ether, softly singing, "Just let us start it over again/ And we'll be good/ This time we'll get it/ We'll get it right/ It's our last chance to forgive ourselves."

What Muse has left us with is a heartbreaking collection of songs encouraging us to cling to the hope and goodness that remains in our very broken world. We are constantly surrounded by war and greed and hatred, but there are still fragments of beauty left, and we have to do what we can (with the time we have left) to preserve that. Humanity is just as prone to compassion as it is to ugliness. As I find myself writing this 8 years after the tragedy that simultaneously gave America a renewed sense of unity and warmongering, I can't help feeling the urgency behind the words of these songs. If we don't right our wrongs soon, it may just be too late.

The album will be released everywhere 9-14-09. Buy it as soon as you possibly can, and thank me later.


Rating- 4.9 stars out of 5

Highlight Tracks- "Exogenesis 1,2,3"

A video for your consideration.

It's rare to find music videos that actually get under my skin, but this one does. The soft cinematography plays a lush contrast to the creepy subject matter. Something tells me it won't get heavy rotation on MTV, which makes it even better.