930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: Arlette on November 17, 2005, 11:32:00 am
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Who's going to DAR tomorrow? I am really looking forward to seeing The Magic Numbers. I don't care about Feist and I'm not a big fan of Bright Eyes, but I do want to see him live.
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I will be in attendance.
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I'll be there for two reasons:
1) The Magic Numbers
2) To make my girlfriend happy.
Seriously, the Bright Eyes show this summer with the Faint was a lesson in tedium for me. But without an overdose of Digital Ash stuff this time, I'm willing to remain objective.
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I will be there.
I think this will be a better Bright Eyes show than the last tour. Though I will say that I was SUPER impressed with their ability to recreate Digital Ash in a Digital Urn without the use of any backing tracks. Balancing 10 musicians on stage is an accomplishment.
And I must say that the Faint is always fantastic.
I'm not too thrilled about Magic Numbers - why is everybody so excited about that record? Doesn't strike me as something all that great...?
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Being fat is the new cool.
Originally posted by callat703:
I'm not too thrilled about Magic Numbers - why is everybody so excited about that record?
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Originally posted by Etan de Balzac, Footie Ball Player:
Being fat is the new cool.
America's Waistline
The politics of fat.
By Laura Kipnis
Posted Friday, Oct. 28, 2005, at 5:28 PM ET
In the war on fat, fat isn't just winning, it's crushing the opposition. A new study reports that in the course of a lifetime, 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women are going to become overweight. The CDC says that a third of the country is currently obese. This puts a large portion of the nation's population in an unenviable predicament, since antipathy toward the fat, it's frequently remarked, is the last sanctioned form of bigotry. But bigotry is traditionally the plight of minorities, and the fat are fast becoming a majority. So, is America's spreading waistline at least a plus for anti-fat-discrimination efforts?
Perhaps. What is clear is that not all fat citizens are obediently jumping on the diet bandwagon: A growing number are organizing to demand that society transform its bodily ideals, instead of agreeing that they should try to transform their bodies. The best-known of the fat activist groups is the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA (http://www.naafa.org)), but there are dozens of others, from the Fat Underground, which devotes itself to disrupting Weight Watchers meetings with pro-fat guerrilla theater, to rabble-rousing zines like Fat!So? (http://www.fatso.com), "for people who don't apologize for their size." Read though these Web sites and manifestos and you encounter a political movement in the making, one that a lot of us overfed Americans may soon be thinking about joining.
Full Article (http://www.slate.com/id/2128999/?GT1=7407)
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Originally posted by Etan de Balzac, Footie Ball Player:
Being fat is the new cool.
Originally posted by callat703:
I'm not too thrilled about Magic Numbers - why is everybody so excited about that record?
[/b]
why did i know you'd pickup on that :roll:
the magic numbers will surely be in my top 10 this year, because well craft pop albums win me over everytime. being able to actually carry a tune is important to me...
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I'm all for well crafted pop, and maybe the Magic Numbers are that. But to my ears, they sound pretty corny...
Allmusic says it well, though not very succinctly:
Every three years or so, the British music press touts another band as the Next Big Thing, or at least the antidote to the trend the press kick-started a couple years back. Some of these bands â?? whether they're Suede, the Strokes, or Franz Ferdinand â?? are quite good, even excellent, and sometimes they're merely average; it all depends on what trend the band's supposed to bring to end and what fad they're supposed to kick-start, since the quality of the music almost always takes a back seat to the demands of fashion. This kind of hyped-up transience is one of the great things about pop music â?? not only is it supposed to exist in the moment, sometimes great pop music only sounds great within its given moment, whether it's Whigfield or Crazy Frog â?? but that doesn't mean that the trends are always fun, and one of the more inexplicable British-driven fads of the 2000s is the Magic Numbers, whose eponymous debut album was hailed as an instant classic in many quarters upon its early-summer release in the U.K. in 2005. Comprised of two sets of brothers and sisters, the quartet sings soft, gentle sunshine pop with vaguely rootsy underpinnings. Because of this slightly folky bent and clear reverence for '60s pop, they were positioned as the return of the real as compared to the new wave of new wave, which encompassed anyone from Interpol to Franz, and even the neo-garage rock revival of the beginning of the decade â?? after all, by the summer of 2005, it was clear that the White Stripes were too arty and obstinate to qualify as a roots band.
While The Magic Numbers is as dippy as any number of harmony-laden folk-rock groups that arrived in the wake of the Mamas & the Papas, their cutsey navel-gazing is most decidedly a product of its time. So are the simpering schoolboy vocals of lead singer Romeo Stodart, whose thin, squeaky earnest mewling makes Coldplay's Chris Martin sound macho and distracts from whatever pleasures that can be gleaned from the harmonies of his sister Michele and their colleague Angela Gannon. Romeo Stodart's voice and his mopey lovelorn lyrics are clear outgrowths of late-'90s indie pop, picking up on the tweeness of Belle & Sebastian but discarding their clever literary bent, not to mention their songcraft, in favor of simple-minded confessionals spiked by the occasional naughty word ("I'm a no-good used-up bruised-up f*cked-up boy," he unconvincingly croons), alternating between singalong happy tunes and slow, sleepy crawls. It's all pleasant enough on the surface and since it self-consciously recalls classic rock â?? not only in sound but in titles that recall songs of the past ("Wheel's on Fire" is a riff on Bob Dylan & the Band's "This Wheel's on Fire," "Hymn for Her" is close to the Pretenders' "Hymn to Her" and it also shares a name with an Ides of March song, but that's probably not a deliberate move) â?? some listeners will be inclined to give them a pass, since it's kind of familiar in feel while sounding different than a lot of guitar-based rock and pop in 2005.
Yet if The Magic Numbers is judged against the standards of second-tier '60s folk-pop â?? forget the Beatles and Beach Boys or even the Mamas & the Papas or Donovan or Lovin' Spoonful, but against legions of soundalikes like Rose Garden â?? the group's music is not as well written or melodic or as interesting, nor does it hold up well to late-'90s indie pop from Belle & Sebastian to Elliott Smith, and it lacks the conviction of freak folk, since their aw-shucks, lovey-dovey pose feels contrived. Nevetheless, the quartet is much easier to listen to than Devendra Banhart â?? sunny tunes and smooth surfaces do indeed help â?? and they have a certain veneer of mature, classy respectability that means this can appeal to everyone from baby boomers to echo boomers. It all glides by easily enough on its surface, but dig a little deeper and The Magic Numbers reveals itself to be not just a crashing bore, but an irritating one since it not only lacks one song with an undeniable, memorable hook, but the self-satsified vibe of the band combined with Stodart's reedy whine makes the Magic Numbers feel not just less real than the groups they're allegedly an antidote to, but more disingenuous as well.
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Originally posted by callat703:
I will be there.
And I must say that the Faint is always fantastic.
I'm not too thrilled about Magic Numbers - why is everybody so excited about that record? Doesn't strike me as something all that great...?
FYI, it's not the Faint. It's Feist. Leslie Fesit, part of Broken Social Scene. I don't really dig her voice, but I'll give her a chance.
You can checkout some videos here:
http://www.listentofeist.com/SITE/default.asp (http://www.listentofeist.com/SITE/default.asp)
We're going to see/hear a lot of clapping at this show. Both Magic Numbers and Feist have songs with hand clapping. They all seem so happy and cheery.....especially compared to Conor.
Anyway, I agree with you Kosmo. Something about Magic Numbers, their voices....harmonies...melodies....just really good songs.
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
Originally posted by Etan de Balzac, Footie Ball Player:
Being fat is the new cool.
Originally posted by callat703:
I'm not too thrilled about Magic Numbers - why is everybody so excited about that record?
[/b]
why did i know you'd pickup on that :roll:
the magic numbers will surely be in my top 10 this year, because well craft pop albums win me over everytime. being able to actually carry a tune is important to me... [/b]
Yeah, it is certainly a nice record; melodic and well done. But it doesn't grab me...?
Are you a New Pornographers fan Kosmo?
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Originally posted by Arlette:
Originally posted by callat703:
I will be there.
And I must say that the Faint is always fantastic.
I'm not too thrilled about Magic Numbers - why is everybody so excited about that record? Doesn't strike me as something all that great...?
FYI, it's not the Faint. It's Feist. Leslie Fesit, part of Broken Social Scene. I don't really dig her voice, but I'll give her a chance.
You can checkout some videos here:
http://www.listentofeist.com/SITE/default.asp (http://www.listentofeist.com/SITE/default.asp)
We're going to see/hear a lot of clapping at this show. Both Magic Numbers and Feist have songs with hand clapping. They all seem so happy and cheery.....especially compared to Conor.
Anyway, I agree with you Kosmo. Something about Magic Numbers, their voices....harmonies...melodies....just really good songs. [/b]
Oh, yeah, I know. Feist was on the Broken Social Scene Record. I was talking about the last Bright Eyes show when the Faint opened up - sorry to get wires crossed :)
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Regarding the New Ps... Haven't heard the third, and it's been awhile since listening to the second which I remember being quite good. It's possible they remastered "Mass Romantic" for a reason, but I just recently listened to the orginial pressing of it and was ready to hurl into a Slayer moshpit. Don't know if it was the production, the vocals or what but it bugged me to no end.
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and with regards to average band, they have the tendency to stand the test of time better than critical acclaimed on the edge bands...
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I'll be there. It was a tough choice between this and Echo. But this should be a good show, with the traditional Bright Eyes lineup. Hope to hear more stuff off Fever & Mirrors, and Lifted.
Feist was really good when she opened up for BSS. Don't care much for Magic Numbers.
Oh, and I hate DAR...
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Originally posted by amnesiac:
I'll be there. It was a tough choice between this and Echo. But this should be a good show, with the traditional Bright Eyes lineup. Hope to hear more stuff off Fever & Mirrors, and Lifted.
Feist was really good when she opened up for BSS. Don't care much for Magic Numbers.
Oh, and I hate DAR...
Amnesiac, it seems like we've had parallel weeks, between this and Okkervil.
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Originally posted by callat703:
Originally posted by amnesiac:
I'll be there. It was a tough choice between this and Echo. But this should be a good show, with the traditional Bright Eyes lineup. Hope to hear more stuff off Fever & Mirrors, and Lifted.
Feist was really good when she opened up for BSS. Don't care much for Magic Numbers.
Oh, and I hate DAR...
Amnesiac, it seems like we've had parallel weeks, between this and Okkervil. [/b]
Yeah, that would appear to be the case. I'll also be seeing Andrew Bird tonight...
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I'm probably at this concert for similar reasons, I think its kind of funny but makes sense that The Magic Numbers and Feist tour with Bright Eyes with the mention of a pound of hand claps before a drunken scream from Bright Eyes. But yeah, my gf's heart will pour and scream and I guess I'll just enjoy and relax. By the way, does anyone know of any good free parking around Constitution Hall or should I just start wishing stars and comets?
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You shouldn't have any problems finding a spot on Constitution ave, just make sure you pay attention to the restriction posted on the signs.
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I'll be there. Wasn't too impressed with Bright Eyes in May, but I'm looking forward to the Magic Numbers, and hopefully seeing much different Bright Eyes set.
My parents saw them open for Bruce Springsteen and REM in Philly last fall, and apparently Conor Oberst was jumping up and down with a grin splitting his face in half during the encore with Bruce/REM. So much that my father calls him "Bouncy Boy." I've never even seen him smile, much less do more than curl up in his hoodie onstage.
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Originally posted by Etan de Balzac, Footie Ball Player:
Allmusic says it well, though not very succinctly:
wow, thanks for posting that rhett, that was a fantastic review
i could care less about the magic numbers, but what he said about them translates very well to a lot of bands that i can't stand ... i just wish i could express my vitriol as well as this guy did though (i'm assuming it was stephen thomas erlewine?)
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here is my thinking that magic numbers is just a nice listen, didn't realize it was some great trend shattering release that required dissection and backlash.
<img src="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/top/80s/100.gif" alt=" - " />
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Can't fuckin' wait! I don't care what people say about Connor Oberst, the kid is brilliant!
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i thought it was a really good show. i saw bright eyes back in may, and was slightly dissapointed with the almost all digtial ash setlist (although i love digital ash) so it was nice to hear some other stuff, espectially "false advertising," during which some couples got up and started waltzing in the aisles.
the energy was great, although some of the audience calling out got annoying, but some were funny (the guy who screamed "conor i want to have your babies!" and later screamed out "no, seriously, i really want to have your babies!")
i love the magic numbers and thought they put on a great performance, but i felt a bit sorry for them. they were playing to a near empty venue at the beginning with very little crowd reaction. but i guess thats what it takes for them to start to become popular in the us. hopefully at some point more people will start to realize what a great band they are.
feist was good, except i was a little creeped out by her rants. she has an amazing voice though.
i thought it was much better than the show in may with so much more energy. conor seemed to care a lot more too, rather than his usual "fuck you" attitude he seems to have. i had heard he was a real dick to fans but i got to shake his hand outside after the concert and he was very courteous and thankful.
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The show was infinitely better than the one I saw in March. Like Arlette said, he kind of lost that "fuck you" attitude, and it really made the experience so much more enjoyable.
The Magic Numbers were great and I was really quite disappointed by the lack of turnout for their set. And if the people next to you are clearly trying to enjoy the music, go talk on your cell phone outside, the doors are only 20 feet away. Mah. They seemed a little nervous, but I think they'll only get better with time. The music itself is so good, once they grow, they'll put on a phenomenal show.
But oh, Conor. The screaming fans were funny at times, and he had some equally humorous remarks back, but it was too much at some points. During Lua, the screams just got to me. Well, you win some, you lose some. Overall, a fantastic show.
Does anyone know the Bright Eyes setlist?
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Easily the best Bright Eyes show I've seen. Probably has a lot to do with two things:
1) Very little new material (though I'm Wide Awake It's Morning is a great record, I didn't think it translated well in a live setting. However the songs he played last night from it were well done).
2) Oberst was hammered, and Jenny Lewis showed up and sang a bit. Not much, but enough for me to look at her.
Lots of back catalogue, along with a couple of new songs. Great energy, and pretty good sound by DAR standards. A lot of fun.
And maybe this is just me, but I think Feist is very boring. Nice songs, pretty music, but I can't get away from Norah Jones comparisons. She did some cool things - her looping, and the more blues-ey tracks that she played. But she almost put me to sleep.
And I saw about 40 seconds of Magic Numbers. Which was a nice 40 seconds, but nothing to scream about.
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Yeah, that was definitely the best Bright Eyes show I've seen. Awesome setlist - good mix of old and new stuff.
I got there for the third to last song of Feist's performance. I'm glad I got there when I did - "Mushaboom" was awesome with Jenny and Conor. Would've liked to have seen more of Jenny though. I was hoping she'd come out and sing with Bright Eyes also.
That show would have been infinitely better if it had been at 9:30 Club instead. I know it's been said a million times before, but I HATE Constitution Hall. It just feels wrong sitting down at shows, and not being able to drink. Oh, and $6.50 for a Miller Lite?! :eek:
Everyone finally stood up for "Let's Not Shit Ourselves", which was amazing.
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Originally posted by Graace:
Does anyone know the Bright Eyes setlist?
Here's my best attempt:
Sunrise, Sunset
You Will? You. Will?...
Arienette
The Calendar Hung Itself
False Advertising
Hit The Switch
Napoleon's Hat
Nothing Gets Crossed Out
Falling Out Of Love At This Volume
Old Soul Song (For The New World Order)
I Won't Ever Be Happy Again
Lua
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When The President Talks To God
Gold Mine Gutted
Let's Not Shit Ourselves (To Love And To Be Loved)
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Mini review:
Magic Numbers: A friend who had seen them said, "If you like the record, you'll like them live". Exactly. For some reason (usually that sunny/love pop thing isn't me) I love their record. And I loved them live. A little hesitant, they seemind a bit in awe of the surroundings. But they have a a great music core so they'll only get better in time. Some of my fave tunes from the record translated really well live ( Love Me Like You, I See You, You See Me)
Feist: talented, but not for me. One of the cool kids, for sure, with Conor and Jenny coming out to sing with her.
Bright Eyes: wow, a non-jamband with two drummers. And a pedal steel guitar. And a harpist (who played a ton of different instruments). Good show. He was totally wasted. What's with the spitting thing? He loves to huck loogies (sp?).
The screaming really got to me. I wanted to smack those people upside the head. Let the guy (and the musicians) play. How many times do you have to hear "CONOR I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"? He gets it.
DAR? Ohmygod, $7.00 for a little teeny munchkin-sized plastic cup of wine. Sound was good. Parking was easy.
Good night of music. And a great value for $35.00 (I think, including service charges) The end.