Fever Ray.  An artist('s pseudonym) that I'd barely heard of, don't think I'd heard anything.  Some great ideas on the album, but I don't know if I'd call it a great album.  I'd like to see her (I see Coachella is the only currently announced date), or The Knife.

Went to Trophy Bar on March 3 to see this talented guy, a/k/a Aman Ellis.  Some photos.

I watched and/or listened to most of Trey's show on February 23, as it was webcast.  That was nice.

It started February 16 at Terminal 5: Big Red himself, Trey Anastasio.  Holy crap was it too loud at first without ear plugs.  Right in front of the first set of speakers back from the stage.  Once that problem was resolved, he played an enthusiastic marathon of songs, including the first acoustic set of the tour.  He is so happy, healthy, I hope this means good things for Phish.  This band was well rehearsed, with some good new material some of which will certainly slip into the Phish repertoire.  This band isn't Phish, but they're good, and I'm glad I went.  Photographic evidence below:


Now I'm not just saying the week was epic because I saw Trey.  It gets more epic.

I had no plans for Wednesday night, until I got a last minute message from a friend in Canada, saying the auteur of the pic I posted from the Dan Deacon concert was back in town.  Hadn't seen him since then, was looking forward to seeing him, but the where part was strange - he said to meet him back at the Bowery Ballroom.  Who's there?  I didn't know.  It's Daniel Lanois.  Cool!  I make the last minute decision to go.

Well, without going into (argh!) all the details, it turned out it was his new band Daniel Lanois' [sic] Black Dub, and they were fantastic.  Among the many songs that knocked me out was their cover of Ring the Alarm.  Smokin'.  Brian Blade is damn good.  There was a different bass player at the show than in that video.  And In DL's band at the Bowery, as in that video, is the talented Trixie Whitley.  Oh, did I mention I got to go backstage?  Now I did.  And the seats allowed a ridiculous view for pics like the below: 




I wound up doing a tiny bit to help some of the crew pack up.  I can't divulge everything about this night so as to protect the innocent.  Here's a shot close to the end:



Well, on Monday of this week in question, I had no plans for Thursday.  But because of this DL show that fortunately changed, because I learned that Trixie was playing a solo gig at Rockwood Music Hall on Thursday, and Monsieur Lanois was planning to pop up a bit as well.  So it was off to the Rockwood on Thursday.  The woman playing before her was very good; unfortunately I don't remember her name.  She got the crowd to help her in a fun sing-a-long, I do remember that.  Then Trixie.  She was very nervous, had to abort a few songs, and her voice was a bit beaten up.  All the same, it was still a very heartfelt set.  As expected, DL did come out for a few tunes.  To prove it with your eyes:


Here's an art-y shot.  And to answer your question, yes, I was about 3 cm from the stage.


Ladies and gentlemen, that's not the end of the epic week of music!  That was just Thursday!

The next night it was off to Lincoln Center to see Dirty Projectors.  Some heavy hitters in the crowd.  Weird show, playing 2005's The Getty Address start to finish for the first time (live, anyway), and then encoring with a few more tunes.  The dude playing duct tape pretty much stole the show.

But that's not the end of the epic week of music!  Then it was off to the midnight show at Mercury Lounge to see Leslie & the LY's.  We walked in as the last song of Christopher and the Conquered was being played, which ended with the band in the audience, something that can never really fail.  But to cut to the important stuff: Leslie & the LY's blew GaGa out of the water.  Absolutely fantastic.  The pics from this show are a ton of fail, but here's one:


Whew!  What an epic week of music - can you believe it ?!

HA!  I tricked you!  It's STILL not over!

Saturday was off to see Billy Elliot on Broadway.  Very good.  Not my favorite, but a ton of talent up on stage, and enjoyable.

OK, now I mean it.  Back to the top 10 from that list asap.

...you're in the wrong place.

Tighten Up

Listening to this now

Girls - Album.  This did very little for me.

enjoy

Now I'm really not sure what to make of this Neko Case album.  Mellow doesn't necessarily mean bad.  Hmmm.

#14 - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.  I searched for their name on this site but didn't find them.  I had planned to see them last summer at a free show on the east side at some pier, but bailed day of.  I'd probably listened to some of their stuff on myspace when I was planning to go, but have never listened to this album, and have none of their stuff on my iTunes.  Sounds fine, didn't blow me away.

#13 - Atlas Sound.  Someone I don't think I'd ever heard of.  I thought one track really sounded a lot like Animal Collective, when I realized it had Panda Bear.  And then another song sounded a lot like the amazing Stereolab, when I realized it had Laetitia Sadier.  Generally ok overall.

#12 - Two Suns, by Bat for Lashes.  I have Fur and Gold, but had never heard this.  I'm not sure why I was expecting something a bit more rockin', but it has a lot of mellow songs.  I liked it a lot, would listen again.  Not for all moods.

#11 - Neko Case.  Good, but too consistently mellow overall, particularly for me as I'm listening right now.  Should be way, way behind Raekwon.