Archive for the ‘kings of convenience’ tag

Erlend Øye – The Black Keys Work (FM Attack Remix)

Remember at the beginning of the year when FM Attack put out one of my favoritest remixes in recent memory? Well Mr. Shawn Ward is back at it again, this time taking on none other than Erlend Øye, the man, the myth, the left sock to the full pair that is Kings of Convenience, 25% of The Whitest Boy Alive and 100% of Erlend Øye. It’s a funky and futuristic take on a killer tune. And if that’s not enough, FM Attack has just recently released his Astrowave EP, available on itunes and juno. Show this guy some love, because we here at dailybeatz love what he do. And just for fun, here’s the original version of “The Black Keys Work” as well as “Old School Daze”, a track from the great aforementioned Astrowave EP. So much goodness in one post.

Erlend Øye – The Black Keys Work(FM Attack Remix)

Erlend Øye – The Black Keys Work

buy it on

FM Attack – Old School Daze

buy it on

st. vincent @ the crofoot 2.19.10

After many weeks of waiting, this past Friday night, I finally got to catch St. Vincent, the stage name of the lovely Annie Clark, live at The Crofoot in Pontiac (which seems to be the venue of every show I go to these days). There was a little stress in my decision because Kings of Convenience were also supposed to play the same night at the Crofoot, but due to some illness they postponed most of their tour, so the positive is that now I get to see them both. St. Vincent was originally scheduled to play the tiny Pike Room, then moved next door to the Eagle Theater, and eventually to the larger Crofoot, which was much needed as the place was pretty packed.

The opening act was the Swedish husband and wife duo of Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werlin, better known as Wildbirds & Peacedrums. As soon as we noticed the steel drum on stage, we had a feeling we were in for something pretty unique. The group had a sound that was sometimes tropical, sometimes tribal, but with Mariam’s powerful vocals and Andreas’ powerful drumming, the group definitely captured the audience. The most memorable of their songs was the last one they played. But of course I have no idea what it’s called. I apologize for no pictures of the opening act. It was combination of my getting there a little late and not having the energy to try to get up close.

One of the more interesting parts of the night was the fantastic tunes being played before St. Vincent took the stage. A few songs I can remember are “I Would Die 4 U” and “Sexy M.F.” by Prince, and the final song, “Today was a Good Day” by Ice Cube. We’ll come back to this one a little bit later.

St. Vincent took the stage at what I think may have been around 10PM. She looked cute as ever in an all black outfit that was in stark contrast to her porcelain skin, which the lighting operator took full advantage of. I didn’t get the full setlist down, but the show started out with a few songs from “Actor”, “The Strangers”, “Save Me from What I Want” and “Laughing with a Mouth of Blood” before going into “Jesus Saves, I spend” (I may or may not have gotten that order exactly right). I always imagined St. Vincent to be mellow and a bit shy, so I was pleasantly surprised by the high energy performance she gave us last night. I also think there is a rule that to be in her band you must play at least 3 instruments. It was really great that we got to hear all of the woodwinds, brasses, keyboards and guitars that make “Actor” so special.

St. Vincent’s stage presence was vibrant and abundant and she had a few extended banter sessions with the crowd, thanking Sufjan Stevens after realizing herself singing “Saginaw! Saginaw!” on the drive from Chicago the night before. At one point, the band left the stage for a bit and Annie started explaining her reasoning for wanting to come out on stage to “Today Was a Good Day”. She explained, paraphrased of course, “It’s great that he really was having such a great day. I mean, he won at gambling, his car didn’t get stolen, and nobody got shot in south central LA. I think that really is a pretty great day, don’t you think?” Annie — just so you know, I’m single, and can play the clarinet, guitar and piano, so I think I’m a shoe-in if you need a fifth band member. Then she went straight into a stunning solo version of Nico’s “These Days”. This was perhaps my highlight of the show.

Nico – These Days

buy it on or amazon

After a few more songs with the full band, the show ended with a high-octane version of “My Lips are Red”, complete with a jam session at the end which found Clark on the ground creating noise with just her guitar pedals and her hands. I think it was at this point that I realized that Clark was a little more hardcore than I thought and which made my crush just a little stronger.

The band came back onstage but before they could begin, the crowd heard one of the more amusing drunken fan shoutouts. Typically, drunken fans yell things like “You are the best musician in the history of the universe!” or “You rock harder than anyone ever!” but this drunken fan kept his exaggerations in check, shouting out, “You are the greatest songwriter of the last…5 years!” I don’t know why I thought that was so hilarious, but it was. The show ended with “The Party”, a crowd favorite, and a great way to end the night.

St. Vincent – Marrow

buy it on or amazon

Word on the street is that Michael Cera was at the show, but I have yet to confirm whether or not he’s in town filming a movie, or if it was just the fact that a lot of the crowd happened to look like Michael Cera. And Annie, I personally would like to apologize for the tall dude who was standing directly in front of you the whole show taking pictures with a flash right in your face. Not cool, dude.

High quality versions of all pics below as well as a few more pics can be found on the dailybeatz Flickr page.

yo la tengo @ the crofoot 1.22.10

finally, my first live show of 2010. and what better way to start out the new yea of live music than with the indie rock staple that is yo la tengo? it was especially exciting for me because i was really looking forward to seeing them at last years pitchfork festival, but we arrived just in time to miss their friday night set. the crofoot is a much more intimate venue for a band such as this anyway.

i arrived around 830 to see the openers times new viking about halfway through their set. i hadnt listened to any of their stuff before the show, but i was very pleasantly surprised. i snapped a few pics from the back of the venue, but sadly they all turned out way out of focus — im still learning here — but pretty interesting that it was another 2 male, 1 female crew. i really enjoyed their sound, full of lush and happy chord progressions, as greatly exemplified in the song below. my only complaint is that the recordings are a bit too lo-fi for me. i much more enjoyed hearing the clean sound of their live show. even though they are from columbus, oh, i would definitely go see them again if they came through town.

times new viking – no time no hope

buy it on or amazon

after the strongest double jack and coke ive ever had (completely worth the $12 i paid for it), it was time for the main event. jon, sarah and the others i met that night were hanging on the main floor but i decided to head upstairs for some photogs. as georgia, james and ira moved through their set (which i think lasted about an hour and a half), it became abundantly clear to everyone, fans and non-fans alike, that this three piece can rock out or slow things down with equal passion and intensity. after taking some pics in the balcony, i saw a young lady dead front and center snapping some shots and became determined to make way in that direction. as i moved down through the crowd, one unruly fan pushed me out of his way, but luckily i was shoved right into an opening dead front and center, right next to the aforementioned young female photographer, so that all worked out for the best.

just as i made it down there, georgia came up front and center to strum along with a few songs, what i believe ira called the “quieter portion of the night”. but make no mistake about it, the rockin was not over yet. the highlight for me was definitely the main set closer “pass the hatchet i think im goodkind”. i think it was because as soon as i heard that opening guitar riff, i knew we were in for a solid ten minutes of high energy madness. it was especially exciting to be standing directly in front of ira for that part of the show, flailing about and filling up the venue with the abstract guitar sounds that he does so well. hes such an animated performer, especially when creating these guitar-infused walls of sound.

after coming out for an encore and playing “gentle hour”, ira asked a guy standing next to me what he wanted to hear. after two suggestions from the fan (both of which ira said he would love to play, but that they would completely butcher the tunes), the fan suggested “autumn sweater”, a yo la tengo staple in my book, and the crowd loved it. next up was a cover of “some kind of wonderful” and “did i tell you”, followed by a second encore of “dreaming”. while i always like shows to end with a huge rocker, it seemed to be an appropriate ending to the night. the band was extremely gracious, and i was happy to have finally caught them live. it felt like a bit of my indie rock life was complete now.

after the show, a few of us headed out for some drinks, at which point i noticed dougs phenomenal tshirt pictured below. local humor tshirts rule. all in all an excellent friday night. my next live music dilemma is that st.vincent and kings of convenience are playing at neighboring venues on the same night. what a disaster. pre-show i was leaning towards kings of convenience, but sarah may have convinced me to catch st. vincent instead. decisions decisions.

as always, you can find all of the pictures posted here, plus many more, on the dailybeatz flickr page. and dont forget to catch a yo la tengo track below.

and now, for your listening pleasure, heres the great classic tune mentioned earlier. i dont know why i love this song so much.

yo la tengo – autumn sweater

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

buy it on or amazon

the whitest boy alive – 1517

i kinda really dig this track. its from the whitest boy alive, a side project of kings of convenience member erlend oye (along with sebastian maschat, marcin oz and daniel nentwig). according to wikipedia, the group started out in indonesia (which seems a little odd for a couple of scandinavians) as an electronic dance group. while they are no longer very electronic, theyve still got a nice beat going on a lot of the time (while still remaining totally chill). “1517″, todays track from the 2009 album “rules”, imparticular has a total disco-esque rhythm and a great funky synthesizer offbeat thing goin on. its kind of like the older brother of kings of convenience, the one that likes to party. but even the partying older brother is pretty tame, because they still come from a pretty tame family. but its still kind of fun.

the whitest boy alive – 1517

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

buy this track on itunes

kings of convenience – boat behind

today we are serving up a new track from kings of convenience. the norwegian duo has a pretty distinct sound that is characterized by their soothing vocals and ear pleasing guitar melodies that sometimes just make you want to sit back and close your eyes and dream of some far away scandinavian land. in fact, the picture on the main page of their website pretty much perfectly describes what their music sounds like. today marks the release of their latest album “declaration of dependence”, what i believe is their third full length album.

“boat behind” seems pretty consistent with what the group has always been doing, but hey, if it aint broke, dont fix it. the voices of erlend Øye and eirik glambek bøe (yes, i totally cut and pasted from wikipedia because i dont know how to make those symbols) seem to just flow together completely seemlessly, and when they are laid over the soft guitar and strings, its tough to beat.

kings of convenience – boat behind

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

buy this track on itunes
buy this track on amazon