Saket Vora

After going for a 5k run in Golden Gate Park and watching Butler beat VCU with Troy down at the Valley Tavern on 24th, I headed into SOMA with Joey and Sean for a night of experimental music. It was Modulations 2011, the annual showcase of projects by students of the Center for Computational Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA, pronounced ‘karma’). CCRMA is one of hidden jewels of Stanford, located in a beautiful old mansion in a corner of campus up in the hills. It’s a cutting edge research institution that melds computer science, sound, music, creativity, composition, and engineering. It’s founder discovered FM synthesis for reproducing realistic musical sound, and this FM synthesizer was made famous when it was licensed to Yahama. For anyone who has used an electronic keyboard, you know who to thank.

One of Joey’s friends from undergrad, Chris, is a student at CCRMA and was performing a piece. The exhibition floor had sound/art installations by students. Some very interesting stuff, with new ways of thinking about how to interact with sound.

One installation had the user put on a EEG sensor headset by NeuroSky and then listen to different musical compositions. The headset would study how focuses vs relaxed you were, and how much you were in sync with the music. Based on that, a marker would move around on a whiteboard.

Then there three musical performances. One was an interactive one in which the audience would send out tweets with the #modulations hashtag, and their system would scan Twitter for those tweets and create a sound tree based on that. Some of my tweets got some good reactions from the crowd. The next two were long, 20 minute compositions of “found music”, in which the composers create music from just sounds they have recorded, but have modified/distorted them in a variety of ways. One of the artists, Trimpin, I learned later was very famous, but these words were just too unstructured and experimental for my taste.

After the break we were treated to a pre-made composition that had a very trippy accompanying video. It went on like this for maybe 10 or 15 minutes?

Chris took the stage for his piece, but it had some recognizable melodic notes and beats, and Chris even did some singing (reminiscent to me of Panda Bear, and indeed I learned later that’s a big influence of his). It was pretty cool. At one point he held two walkies around the mic to get some interesting echo / reverb effects.

Röyksopp! It’s even fun to say. Left work early on Monday for this concert — met up with Dan and home and we took the Muni up to a Thai restaurant less than two blocks from the theater. John Shen beat us to dinner and brought a car up from the South Bay, including Hendrick (a classmate of John’s at Stanford) and Nathan, who is the team lead of Stanford’s Solar Car project (John did Solar Car too). Joey and Christoph arrived with Dustin soon after, then John’s friend Veronica, and finally Mike and Karla. John met us at the theater. Not a bad sized group for a Monday night show!

Photo by DoNotLick

The show was at the Regency Ballroom up on Van Ness, first time I’ve seen a show here. Röyksopp puts on quite a show in contrast to some of the small up and coming bands that I’ve seen more recently. The lights were trippy and I wasn’t expecting the costumes either — the guitarists started off with burlap sacks on their heads, at one point one of the lead singers puts this giant robot eye helmet on, and the female vocalist had something different on all the time. Everytime a new one would appear, I’d turn around to Joey (who saw them last time in SF) and he’d nod knowingly.

Photo by John Shen

Girl & the Robot, video by sushisac

The duo did a nice job at talking to the crowd with their Norwegian accents They came back out for three encores, with the last one actually being a remixed version of a Kings of Leon song. I had no idea what song it was (I don’t listen to Kings of Leon), but it sounded decent. But really, what we really wanted was to hear Röyksopp Forever!

What Else is There – jskallerup

Last Thursday — St. Patrick’s Day! — I wore my green sweater and green belt and enjoyed some Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake courtesy of Chrissy (hat tip to Sapana for the recipe share). Just as I was leaving work, I got a text from Melih: a colleague of his is fronts an Irish rock band and was putting on a show that night at the Great American Music Hall. What a cool way to celebrate St. Paddy’s day! I got a quick bite to eat at home and Micky greeted me at my door as they picked me up. Her mother was in town too — last night — so I got to see her again (last time was at the wedding). They also posed another “hypothetical scenario” question in which I had to invariably picks sides between Melih and Micky (they love making me squirm with questions like this!). I think I successfully threaded this one down the middle though, lol.

Melih and I got to the GAMH as his colleague’s band, Culann’s Hounds, was setting up on stage. I got a Guinness of my own in my hand before their set started.

I’ve got a thing for Irish music — the melodious violin, the foot-stomping beats, the earnest guitar strumming. The band played a good mix of what sounded like traditional Irish songs, some originals, and instruments. It was a lot of fun!

Big thanks to Melih for a memorable way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year.

A few months ago I wrote about Warpaint, the all-girl downtempo rock band that Jono (Dan’s brother) told me about during Thanksgiving. Last Wednesday I saw them live at the Independent with John, his friends David and Alex, and Alex’s roommate Timon. It turned out to be the leadoff show of their new tour. Before the show we got some pizza at the surprisingly excellent Little Star Pizza, less than two blocks up from the venue on Divisadero.

Timon actually works at Topspin, a company that develops web and marketing tools for artists, and so it was really interesting to hear more about the industry. He had seen Warpaint recently down in LA, where they are based, and raved about the new drummer they brought on board. He was right on — the drummer really shone through and was definitely the glue that kept things together as the band worked through the set. The vocal harmonies were also a nice touch.

It was an interesting show — really solid when the band were playing songs but surprisingly uneven in between songs. Maybe it was just first-show-of-the-tour jitters, or the fact that apparently one of their dad’s was in the audience, but the girls would make these really random comments or actions between the songs. Warpaint and Set Your Arms Down from their new album The Fool was good, as was was Elephants off their older EP. One surprise was 12+ minute jam on the last song of the encore — didn’t see that one coming but it was pretty cool to see them just cut loose and play. Though halfway through, the bassist and one of the guitarists sat down on the stage and remained down there until almost the very end. No one except for the first two rows could see them. Ok….but at least it sounded good.

Here’s something to get your foot tapping — Pretty Lights is electronic music with hip-hop beats, with a dashes of of glitchy dubstep, funk, and soul for good measure. Heard about them from Jess, and all their albums are available for free download off their website (one of the most vivid artist websites you’ll ever see, too).

Spin some of these albums up at your next house party. At least check out these two tracks:

Pretty Lights – Gold Coast Hustle

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Pretty Lights – Understand Me Now

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Raleigh folks — Pretty Lights is performing at the Raleigh Amphitheater on April 19th.

Last week I learned of the first new song in nearly four years by Austin-based instrumental rock band Explosions in the Sky. How exciting! I’ve recommended the band to friends seeking music to listen to while studying or working that wouldn’t be distracting with words. Grounded in the rock music, their pieces are often long, orchestral, with sweeping flourishes and emotion. More accessible than Sigur Rós’s earlier albums, for instance. They also gained attention when they did the score for the film Friday Night Lights, and their musical influence continues on in the TV-series of the same name. Unconvinced? Just listen to their tracks such as First Breath After Coma, Catastrophe and the Cure, or Yasmin the Light.

This new track is more taut — at three and a half minutes it’s their shortest song to date by far — but it is energetic and clearly retains the signature sound that is Explosions in the Sky. I wonder how much it telegraphs what’s to come next.

Their new album – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care – is due out in April and they are touring also — I’m finally going to see them live at the Fox Theater on May 1st! Can’t wait. I hear their live shows are just epic.

Explosions in the Sky – Trembling Hands

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The Noise Pop Festival has wrapped up in San Francisco, and one artist I went to see is Geographer, who played a sold out show last Wednesday at the Independent. As readers might remember, I learned of this local SF act from Sam and saw them previously at Bottom of the Hill back in October. Sam was there too, and it was a pretty good show. They played all songs off their latest EP, and some songs from their first album, finishing with the thunderous end of Heaven Waits.

It was also the first show I saw at the Independent. Pretty decent sized for a small venue, and the sound mix was better than Bottom of the Hill, which tends to just be too loud. Geographer also played a new song, so here’s to hoping there is a new album coming out soon.

John had an extra ticket on Thursday to see a husband and wife duo called Tennis, which he had heard just two singles from a few months back that sounded interesting. I hadn’t heard anything of them before. They were doing a show at Bottom of the Hill and for $10 tickets, so why not? We stopped at Michael’s for some pizza and drink beforehand (with Karla, Justin, Cynthia, Meghan, and Jess) and so we got the venue near the end of the second opener’s set, and just heard two of their songs. But before their last song had finished, our phones were already out trying to find out more information about them.

Their name is Lord Huron, which started as the solo project of Michigan-native Ben Schneider that expanded to a full band for live shows. So far they’ve only self-released two EPs for a total of seven songs. Their sound brings acts like Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective, Local Natives, and Vampire Weekend to mind. I’ve been listening to the title track of their latest EP “Mighty” almost on repeat, a track that sonically reveals Schneider’s post-graduation travels that brought him to Bali, Indonesia. This is the joy of giving new things a shot. What an interesting find! From the evocative image on the band’s website — two men at dusk on a beach, with a briefcase and a guitar, running towards an elephant in the surf — to the lyrics. Give it a go, and let me know what you think.

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You were a wild thing when you were younger,
stomping through the jungle.
You were mighty and you were stronger
but I bow no longer.
All your temples will lie in ruin
once I ravage through them.
All your rivals will not go near you
but I do not fear you.
Well, you howl and you roar,
but I am not afraid of you anymore.

You think you can have it?
Then come and get it.

This one comes with a hat tip to Jono, Dan’s brother who I met when his family was visiting the City for Thanksgiving. He and I clicked when it came to music — he’s the only person I’ve met (besides John) who has heard of Delorean, but also likes them too! He even knew Gold Panda too. After perusing my music library, Jono recommended I check out Warpaint, an all-girl band out of LA. I gave them a listen, and it’s nice. Their down-tempo style reminds me of the xx, but there is an edgier tone and more melodies at play here. This past October they released their first full-length album, The Fool.

A great example is Undertow. I like it when the guitars kick in at the ~2:44 mark to kick the energy up.

Warpaint – Undertow

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Another highlight is Bees, in which shades of paranoia creep in, evoking the mood of Frou Frou’s Psychobabble.

Warpaint – Bees

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It looks they will be touring overseas for the first part of 2011, but keep and eye on this intriguing band.

In anticipation for Ben’s visit to SF, I was perusing upcoming concerts on Bandega when I stumbled across this instrumental guitar-drum duo out of Oakland by the name of Silian Rail. I took a listen to a few of their songs and liked what I heard — reminded me of a more nuanced, less bombastic Explosions in the Sky. But this band is really is their own thing. Robin Landy is on guitar with Eric Kuhn on drums.

A few interesting things caught my eye too — ‘Silian Rail’ is the name of the font used on Bates’ business card in the movie American Psycho. The duo liked the way it sounded. Also, they are both from Durham, NC — right nearby my home in North Carolina! From an interview they did with Signal and Noise:

The Raleigh-Durham tri­an­gle area where the two grew up has obvi­ously shaped them musi­cally and per­son­ally. A lush and fer­tile wilder­ness, a sup­port­ive arts com­mu­nity and a lot of all-ages shows make a strong cock­tail of early musi­cal prowess and enthu­si­asm. Not sur­pris­ingly though, Kuhn has a more glow­ing opin­ion of North Carolina and his time there.

“The area I grew up in is incred­i­bly warm, lov­ing, diverse, strange and rich with his­tory,” he says. “And I’ll also say hush pup­pies, fire­flies, thun­der­storms and brick. I cer­tainly miss it all the time.”

Landy misses cer­tain things (“The crick­ets, the moun­tains, the south­ern accents, etc.”) but is glad she got out when she did. “For me, it became way too small and claus­tro­pho­bic of a place and I needed to leave. It’s one of those places that if you let your­self, you could stay there for­ever, even if you are totally bored and uninspired.”

“Hush puppies, fireflies, thunderstorms, and brick.” Ah, home.

Silian Rail – Death Should Know Better

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Silian Rail – I Is Somebody Else

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They are playing tonight at the Hemlock Tavern, and also at Bottom of the Hill on January 7th.

How cool is this — Radiolab (one of my favorite podcasts) actually did a short segment about Buke and Gass back in April! I must have missed this podcast, but Jad interviews Arone and Aron about how they create their sound — and their custom, homemade instruments. Jad actually came across them while researching music for one of their earlier episodes, and although it wasn’t right for the episode, he couldn’t get the music out of his head.

I love when two different things I like intersect. Especially when they aren’t that well known!

NPR Music is starting their 2010 recap of this year in music. I love exploring their list, sifting for gems that I missed during the year. Last year I discovered Fanfarlo this way, and they became a band that I just adored and wouldn’t stop talking about to people. And I tend to like NPR’s take on this year in music, because I actually see bands I listen to (as opposed to Billboard or Grammy Awards). Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered, came out with his top 9 albums list and gave lots of love to Sufjan (whose latest album I’m still chilly to), Jónsi (hooray!), and local North Carolina band Lost in the Trees, from Chapel Hill, NC.

One of the bands new to me was the curiously named Buke and Gass — which describes the two instruments this Brooklyn-duo plays. The lead vocalist, Arone Dyer, plays a modified baritone ukelele (a ‘buke’) and Aron Sanchez plays a handmade guitar/bass hybrid (a ‘gass’). They feed both through custom homemade amps, and Arone works a tamborine attached to her shoe via a bicycle toe clip mount while Aron handles a kick drum. A really intriguing setup, but one that makes you do a double take when you hear the sound they generate.  They released an LP this year called Riposte. Here’s a wonderful Tiny Desk concert they did at the NPR Music offices.

I love the way Arone interacts with the audience and her easy laugh. Really cute. They are extremely proficient musicians, and their songs have a kind of improvisational air to them — full of clamoring energy, time signature shifts, little one-off twirls and riffs,  striving beats and melodic phrases. Dyer’s voice is acrobatic, rapidly jumping octaves, switching between a staccato stanza (with unconventional lyrics, at that) to sustained notes. I’ve been on a pretty serious Röyksopp lately, so this is such a wonderful contrast to that sound.

They also sound great live. This is the album version of the leadoff song from the NPR video above.

Buke and Gass – Your Face Left Before You

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Just look at how this next song takes so many turns and directions. It’s cool to see a band exploring atypical song structures.

Buke and Gass – Medicina

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Delorean makes you feel happy. John introduced them to me a couple of months ago, and last Wednesday I went to see them at the Great American Music Hall. Hailing from Barcelona, Delorean makes terrifically catchy, bright, and multilayered electropop/house music, the kind you can’t help but feel your feet start moving. One reviewer calls it ‘electro-sunshine’.

Jared and Chrissy came too, and sadly Dave missed it because he was stuck in China. The venue was full but not packed, while gave everyone enough room to move — and move they did. From the first song till the end, the crowd was moving. The four members of Delorean are Ekhi Lopetegi on lead vocals and bass, Unai Lazcano on keyboard and samplers, Guillermo Astrain on guitar and samples, and Igor Escudeo on drums. Unai quickly became a fan favorite because from the first song to the last he was constantly bobbing his head and dancing while moving between his gear, eyes half-closed with the look of a person who is in the moment and just loves doing what he’s doing.

The set started off with Seasun off their Ayrton Senna EP, then moved into Subiza territory. The band did a remarkably good job at bringing their well-arranged song to a live show, with greater emphasis placed on the beats.  It was a great show — a lot of fun. Hopefully next time they can play a longer setlist.

After I got home I downloaded the four song Ayrton Senna EP and proceeded to listen to pretty much only that for the next few days. It’s terrific. Check out some more Delorean tracks below, and I’ve got to put a plug out for Grow.

Delorean – The Big Dipper

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Delorean – Monsoon

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