2012.02.05
Posted in Music at 9:10 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
This past week, I did something I have never done before. I saw a concert movie, at a movie theatre.
I’ve been a fan of the Chemical Brothers for a very long time, and when I heard they were producing a concert movie that was going to be screened in 500 or so theatres around the world, I put it on my to-do list. A very few theatres held premiere screenings on January 26, and other theatres were doing screenings Feb 1, 2, and 3. It was promoted as a “one night only” showing, similar to how theatres do screenings of opera performances and events like UFC fights.
In January, I checked cineplex.com and noticed that Don’t Think was listed. I started looking for show times, but while it appeared that Toronto was the site of one of the premiere screenings, no other theatres showed up no matter how I searched. I was disappointed, but hope was not lost.
A week or so later, I learned that it was being shown at Chinook on Feb 1 at 7:00pm. This single screening was to be my only chance at seeing the film in a theatre.
I’m very glad I went.
It isn’t like any other concert movie I’ve seen before, and I’m not sure my description will come close to doing it justice. The show blends concert footage with other imagery in a very immersive fashion. The audio is well done, but given the style of music it seemed unusual to me that the bass wasn’t cranked up to 11 and I didn’t need earplugs to enjoy the show. As a bit of a bonus, some of the crowd reaction shots are highly amusing.
I completely lost myself in the show, and it was very hard to sit still. There are a few sections I found very strange, that seemed to be intended to put you in one of the concert-goer’s shoes while said concert-goer was high on drugs. This mood in these sequences changed dramatically from the rest of the show, and the flow in and out was a little jarring. I really wasn’t sure what I was watching at times, and was always felt somewhat relieved when the concert portions of the show resumed.
Overall, the music and visuals are better than I expected they could be, and I was grinning almost the entire time I was watching it. The film does an incredible job of capturing the live Chemical Brothers experience, and if any fans out there missed seeing it at the theatre, be sure to track it down when it’s released on disc.
Everyone I went with agreed it was the best $13 we had spent recently.
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2012.01.28
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 11:05 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
As a bit of a change of pace, I’m going to start posting about albums rather than artists. In a lot of cases, this is because I’m not as familiar with an artist’s entire body of work and want to focus on a noteworthy album.
To kick this off, I’d like to present Tourist by St. Germain.
The one line summary of Tourist is that it’s jazz music for electronic music fans. If you like electronic music and even remotely enjoy jazz music, you need to give this a listen if you haven’t already.
When it came out in 2000 I remember the press being quite positive everywhere I looked, and yet when I listened to it, I just didn’t get it.
Fast forward about 5 years, when I started getting a lot more into jazz music, I gave it another listen, and almost immediately bought it after that. I don’t have any favorite songs per se, but enjoy the album as a musical whole. The electronic portions are structured like jazz music, and while the solos certainly pop out, they feel like they belong. It’s very carefully arranged, and I think you’d be hard-pressed to perform this live and pull it off like was possible in the studio.
I often play the album as background music during dinner parties and a lot of people really like it even though few can name the artist or album. It sounds enough like jazz music that people tend to think of it that way, although it’s a little more funky and up-tempo than a lot of instrumental jazz.
Once again, this album gets a strong recommendation from me, but with the caveat that if you don’t enjoy jazz music, you probably won’t like this either.
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2012.01.15
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 12:40 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Hybrid is a progressive breakbeat act from Wales known for their interesting use of orchestral segments in their music. Yes, that means they actually hire an orchestra to record parts of their songs. The end result is interesting if a bit on the unusual side.
Most of the tracks feel like their origins were on the electronic side of the spectrum, though the classical portions never feel bolted on. This is exactly the opposite of what Daft Punk did with the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, which was clearly a classical endeavour with a few electronic bets that felt bolted on (except for Derezzed). Like all artists that combine things traditionally from very different ends of the musical spectrum, it’s not always 100% successful, but generally I enjoy their music and they get it right more often than not.
Their sound is different enough that it’s not for everyone. It isn’t the sort of stuff you’d expect to hear on a night out at the club, and I listen to it pretty much exclusively at home as I find it a bit distracting / challenging to listen to at work.
Unfortunately, their music can be a bit tough to track down on this side of the pond (well, in Canada at least, maybe it’s easier to find in the US). I had to special-order a couple of the CDs I own, and their older stuff seems more problematic than their latest releases to find over here. iTunes does appear to have it all now, but if you want CDs or Vinyl, happy hunting…
Their most recent album, Disappear Here has been criticized as being too vocal as compared to their older stuff. Some people may prefer this, but I prefer the sound of I Choose Noise more.
It’s hard to pick a long list favorite tracks as I’m not as familiar with their entire discography as I am with many other artists. Here’s a short list of tracks (albums) I particularly enjoy of those I’m familiar with:
- Finished Symphony (Wide Angle)
- Dogstar (I Choose Noise)
- Until Tomorrow (I Choose Noise) <– Easily my favorite song of theirs overall
- Break My Soul (Disappear Here)
- Can you Hear Me (Disappear Here)
And for those deadmau5 fans out there, his remix of Finished Symphony is actually pretty decent.
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2011.12.30
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 10:54 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Love him or hate him, Tiësto is an icon in the trance scene, and he’s been around for a very long time. He’s not one of my favorites necessarily, but he’s consistent and knows how to produce, remix, and DJ.
His studio album experience is hit and miss for me; by contrast, the In Search of Sunrise series is a series of DJ mix CDs that don’t necessarily feature his own work, and they’re generally solid. The original In Search Of Sunrise album was my introduction to Tiësto. He does have about a half dozen studio albums available and while I enjoy them as background music when I’m working or driving, I generally prefer the material on his DJ mix albums. If you’re exploring Tiësto’s stuff, and you enjoy it, he’s consistent enough that it’s worth continuing to explore.
Favorite remixes on his (albums):
- Delerium / Silence / Tiësto’s in search of sunrise mix (In Search of Sunrise) <– all time #1 favorite, probably 70% nostalgia and 30% musical merit though
- Cass & Slide / Perception / New Vocal Mix (In Search of Sunrise 2)
- Fortress / An Angel Saved my Life / Mark Shimmon & Third Degree Burn mix (In Search of Sunrise 2)
- Way Out West / Mindcircus Gabriel and Dresden remix (In Search of Sunrise 3)
Favorite Tracks (studio albums)
- Adagio for Strings (Just Be)
- Love Comes Again (Just Be)
- Break my Fall (Elements of Life)
- Feel it in my Bones (Kaleidoscope)
And for those keeping score at home, it’s no coincidence that 2 of these tracks are ones where he collaborated with BT. My love of BT colours my interpretation of other work where he collaborates. Hey, at least I admit my biases.
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2011.12.10
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 1:35 am by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
It was inevitable that I would eventually write a post about The Chemical Brothers. Any serious attempt at discussing electronic music as a whole cannot possibly ignore them, given that they were an early influence on the scene in North America.
One of my few musical regrets (if you can call it that) of 2011 is not going to Coachella and seeing the Chemical Brothers perform live. Simply put, The Chemical Brothers are one of the powerhouses of electronic music for a reason. They’re awesome, both live and recorded.
One of the things I find interesting about their recorded work is that their albums follow a particular structure that will feel oddly familiar to fans of rock / pop / alternative music. They all start off somewhat middle-of-the-road in terms of tempo, and quickly ramp up to some hard-banging big-beat tracks to get you moving. You get a bit of a break in the middle, a brief return to booty-shaking madness, then end on a very spatial / mind-expanding note. This structure isn’t the same as a pop album, but fans of that genre will feel right at home after listening to an album or two.
The fact that the Brothers can consistently turn out solid albums is a testament to their staying power as an electronic music act. They just won’t die, and I wouldn’t want them to. I’m going to buck the trend of listing favorite tracks in this blog entry, because the list can be summed up like this, more or less:
All of them
If you’re new to the genre, you owe it to yourself to listen to The Chemical Brothers. You can literally pick any of their albums and you won’t go far wrong; if you want a recommendation, I would suggest the following three albums to start with:
- Surrender
- Push the Button
- Further
For me, these three typify the Chemical Brothers album experience. And for you skeptics in the crowd, know this: The Chemical Brothers, unlike many electronic music artists, produce albums that are meant to be enjoyed as an album, not a collection of singles bought individually a la iTunes. This is a rare and unique thing in the electronic music world where the single is king, followed by the EP, and it’s something that should be savoured.
As a closing note, even if Daft Punk headlines Coachella 2012 and I get to enjoy their robotic madness in person, I will never be able to forget the fact that I missed the Chemical Brothers at Coachella 2011.
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2011.11.28
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 12:20 am by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
One of my not-so-secret guilty pleasures is pop music. But it generally leaves me feeling pretty empty, which is where Morgan Page comes in. Like many electronic music artists, Morgan Page got his start producing remixes of other artists’ work. He quickly became known in the scene and started doing remixes of some very big name artists / tracks. His music feels very pop / dancey, but somehow it’s not saccharine in the way that artists like Lady Gaga or Madonna tend to be. I frequently tell people that he does “dance music for grown-ups”. It’s still dance music, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a lot more intelligent than average and some of his remixes have a sound I’ve never heard any other producer pull off.
When deadmau5 remixed his track “The Longest Road”, it was nominated for a grammy. That track wound up being equal parts Morgan Page and deadmau5. Need I say more?
Morgan Page doesn’t have a lot of his own material out there; his albums are usually a combination of his own work and remixes he’s done of other artists. Here are a few tracks (albums) I particularly enjoy:
Tell me Why (Believe)
The Longest Road (deadmau5 remix) (Elevate)
Dirty Laundry (Morgan Page Remix) (Elevate)
Fight for You (Believe)
Call My Name (Elevate)
He also recently released a single titled “In the Air” where he collaborated with a few other artists including BT. It’s a great track and it stands out well as a single, but I’m curious if there is more oomph coming for his next album.
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2011.11.20
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 11:04 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
It’s unfortunate that many people think of Fatboy Slim’s remix of “I See You Baby” when they think of Groove Armada. I’ve never been much of a fan of Fatboy Slim, and this song got way more radio / MTV / MuchMusic exposure than it deserved. It’s easily the worst song on the album it comes from.
If you’re willing to move beyond this and give Groove Armada’s discography a browse, you’ll find quite a bit worth listening to. Their albums generally include a fair number of downtempo and triphop tracks and at least a few that will get your ass(ets) shaking.
My first Groove Armada experience was with Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub), and while I still really enjoy it, I prefer the sounds of their previous album (Vertigo) and subsequent album (Love Box) on the whole.
Soundboy Rock took things in a bit of a different direction with more pop influence, and while the result is good, it seems to have lost some the sound I associate with Groove Armada and so it doesn’t get as much love from me as their older stuff. I haven’t given Black Light much of a listen yet, so I can’t really comment on it. I don’t own it yet, if that means anything.
Favorite up-tempo tracks (albums):
Superstylin’ (Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub))
The Final Shakedown (Love Box)
In My Bones (Vertigo)
Love Sweet Sound (Soundboy Rock)
Favorite down-tempo tracks (albums):
Edge Hill (Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub))
Think Twice… (Love Box)
Tuning In (Rewritten) (Love Box)
Pre 63 (Vertigo)
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2011.11.20
Posted in Music, Theatre at 10:46 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
I’ve been out to a couple of plays and also some electronic music shows recently, and generally things have been a bit of a mixed bag.
First up, an electronic music show at Flames Central: Steve Aoki and Datsik.
I bought the ticket more to see Datsik than Aoki, as I’m not really an Aoki fan, but I knew I was in trouble when the venue switched to Flames Central from the Big 4 where it was originally scheduled. Flames Central is a much smaller venue, and it was packed to capacity.
The line-up to get in was the first sign of trouble. I still don’t understand why a line about 100 people long took over an hour to get through. It’s not that difficult to put wristbands on people after checking their tickets.
That mess negotiated, I thankfully didn’t need to head to coat check where it sounds like another hour long line awaited. I did manage to get a reasonable spot on the dance floor, but I was forced to abandon it after I got tired of people shoving and pushing their way past me (where they were going I have no idea, the dance floor was pretty dense).
Which led to another problem. As a result of the venue change, Flames Central was so close to capacity they ticketed the balcony separately from the main floor. My usual escape plan (to the balcony) wasn’t available. I stuck it out for Datsik’s set, which I enjoyed (but most of the crowd seemed to dislike), and left 1/2 hour into Aoki’s set (which was as much of his music as I could stand).
Next up was Ronnie Burkett’s play Penny Plain. I have seen many of his plays in the past, but this one was my least favorite. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but it seemed like he kind of lost his mojo with this one. It was an interesting premise, but the characters were just too bizarre and the ending a little too predictable in some ways, and way too weird in others.
I still maintain that everyone should see a Ronnie Burkett play once in their life, as he is a true master of the art of marionettes, but this play isn’t the one.
On a more positive note, Bassnectar’s show at the Big 4 last night was pretty good. The crowd was less college-bro-ish than a lot of other shows I’ve been to lately, and generally a lot more respectful. The music was loud as expected (PK provided the setup), and it was fun to dance for the evening. Earplugs were a requirement, and I handed out a number of them to nearby revelers who didn’t bring their own. Lorin has also stepped up his light show since I saw him at Sasquatch, and that was pretty neat to see. Really the only negative was a long line at coat check, but that was predictable given the weather.
As a bonus, one of the opening acts for Bassnectar was Bonobo, who I missed seeing at Sasquatch back in May, so I was glad to get the chance to see him DJ. His set was refreshing, something a little different than what I usually listen to. And the dance floor hadn’t yet packed in so I had lots of room to dance.
I don’t have tickets to any other plays or concerts coming up, although there are a few which are tempting. I think I may start to see more smaller shows / smaller venues and skip out on the bigger acts playing places like Flames Central as I tend to not enjoy those as much.
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2011.10.16
Posted in Family, Music at 6:44 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
This weekend I finished cataloging, sleeving, and shelving the 224 records that my parents gave me from their (mostly dad’s) collection. They now occupy four feet of shelf space in my living room, and weigh a lot more than I expected.
Some of what’s in there I could have easily guessed:
- Bob Seger
- The Rolling Stones
- Rod Stewart
- The Guess Who
- The Who
- Bachman Turner Overdrive
- Bob Dylan
- Dr. Hook
- Janis Joplin
- Led Zeppelin
- Supertramp
- Steppenwolf
- CCR
And some of it, quite frankly, I wouldn’t have guessed at first
- Tina Turner (and lots of Ike & Tina era albums)
- Dire Straits (I don’t remember dad ever listening to this)
- Beatles (Must have been mom’s)
- Bee Gees (!?)
- Suzi Quatro
- Charlie Daniels Band
- Peter Paul & Mary (Mom?)
- The Temptations
- Juice Newton (I should have figured, but somehow this still surprised me)
- Fleetwood Mac
- Santana
- Michael Jackson (apparently they were still buying records after I was born, but I have no recollection)
Since the vast majority of it was recorded before I was born it’s been fun to listen to it so far, although I’ve only just scratched the surface to date.
The next step is to start exploring the collection more, cleaning some of the records that need it (like Let It Bleed), and ripping a few to digital form. I’m also going to get a copy of the MusicBrainz database and write an application to query it in the hopes of automating the process of obtaining track listings, at least for the majority of the records.
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2011.09.25
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 11:41 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
The Crystal Method aren’t the most prolific duo in the world of electronic music, but they were an early love of mine, and I find myself going back to their debut album, Vegas, quite often to this day. When I first heard their music, I had never heard anything that sounded like it before. The best way I could describe it was a trippier version of The Chemical Brothers.
Fast forward several years… Having loved Vegas for a couple of years, I picked up Tweekend within a month of its release, unlistened, and was surprised to discover a very different sound than on Vegas, and which I enjoyed but in a completely different way. It’s much heavier, and incorporates a fair bit of electric guitar and other rock/metal elements, which were absent from Vegas.
I also did enjoy their first “mix” album, Community Service, although it’s not nearly as enjoyable as their first two studio albums.
For whatever reason, Legion of Boom didn’t really click with me, and I find Divided by Night to be hit and miss although I do enjoy some of it. Vegas is a total musical joyride, while their later stuff feels a little more chopped up to me.
if you can own one and only one Crystal Method album, it’s Vegas. Hands down. And if you’ve never heard Vegas, do yourself a favour and listen to it sometime soon.
Favorite Songs (Albums):
- Busy Child (Vegas)
- Keep Hope Alive (Vegas)
- Name of the Game (Tweekend)
- Ten Miles Back (Tweekend)
- Come Back Clean (Divided by Night) – Also, if you’re a Kaskade fan, his remix of this track is great.
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