WHY? and mount eerie

more pictures: http://flickr.com/photos/tags/lastfm%3Aevent%3D687654/interesting/

Florida was lucky enough to be graced by the presence of WHY? and Mount Eerie the other night. Both bands played to a small crowd at the White Room in Miami beginning with a short set by Phil Elverum , also known as Mount Eerie. Unfortunately, his quiet, guitar only music was slightly under appreciated as there was talking during his entire set. At one point someone shouted "will everyone please shut the fuck up?!" to which Phil responded "'well.... I mean, you can put it that way I guess." That seemed to quiet the crowd down a little as he continued to play his few songs, ending with a pleasant sing along.

Phil

WHY? then took the stage, opening their 14-song set with 'song of the sad assassin.' Most of their songs were from their most recent record, "Alopecia," which is a melancholy mix of hip hop and rock unconfined to one genre. They played favorites from their previous CD "Elephant Eyelash" as well, such as 'rubber traits' and 'yo yo bye bye.' However each of WHY?'s songs was infinitely better live than on their albums. Both of the Wolf brothers, Yoni and Josiah played drums, an aspect somewhat lost on CD. Also, The White Room is such a small venue that the intimate setting only enhanced Yoni's dark lyrics. That being said, most of the crowd sang along to one of their most popular songs 'these few presidents,' chanting the chorus of "even though I haven't seen you in years, yours is a funeral I'd fly to from anywhere."

Yoni

Josiah

While listening to WHY? on CD can be a bit depressing at times, their live show was full of such energy and exuberance that it was easy to forget most of their songs were about death and a bad break up. And although the song material is usually pretty rough (suicide, stalkers etc.) the band members were all polite and seemed appreciative of the fans. I spoke to them after the show and Yoni definitely did not seem as depressed as he does in his lyrics. Hilights included 'the vowels pt. 2' and their last song 'by torpedo or crohn's.' The band debated on whether or not to do an encore (the bassist semi-passed out on the stage and they couldn't play 'sanddollars' because he forgot how to play it) and finally decided on 'fatalist palmistry.' This tune got the rest of the remaining crowd dancing as it was probably the only upbeat song off of Alopecia.

vampire weekend

ezra koenig

hanging with the harlem shakes

believe the hype... vampire weekend are just as adorable live as they are when spoken about from the mouths of teenage girls. ezra, chris, christopher, and rotsam stopped by miami on part of their summer tour to a packed venue, crammed with people all ages. they played almost every song from their exciting and highly highly hyped debut, mixed with two promising new songs. vampire weekend's enthusiasm was contagious, as every member of the audience was dancing and singing along with them. highlights included 'boston' and 'campus,' easily some of the most danceable songs ever. and of course the crowd went crazy as ezra strummed the opening notes of a-punk, sending a chorus of cheers from hoards of screaming girls, myself included. the short set was closed by of 'walcott,' not one of the best songs on the album, but an incredible performance live. the VW boys were all very modest and undeniably polite, thanking the audience but leaving without an encore. opening for this show was the harlem shakes, a four piece from new york with quirky pop songs. barefooted, spastic and odd, the harlem shakes played catchy tunes to a crowd who most likely did not know what they were hearing. however, 'carpetbaggers,' one of their best, was able to spawn some dancing from a group who was eagerly awaiting the headliner.

ezra

ezra

chris

vampire weekend

rotsam

vampire weekend

harlem shakes- todd

harlem shakes- brent

Introduction

top 5 favorite songs as of june 26:
(in no particular order)

"paints peeling" - rilo kiley

when you are listening to a CD as good as the execution of all things, its hard to find a song that grabs your attention. luckily, when jenny lewis begins screaming towards the end of paints peeling, you realize that this song is way better than any previous songs on the album/in general.

"stop breathing'"- pavement

to clarify- this is the stop breathing from the crooked rain reissue disc two, NOT the original. the reason is not to be pretentious, it is simply better than the one they picked for the CD. this version is less slow and all together much more awesome than "stop breathin'." crooked rain, crooked rain: LA's desert origins holds more songs that are in fact, better than pavement originals. for example: "pueblo domain"- better than wowee zowee's "pueblo" and "ell ess two" is better than "elevate me later." the sutcliffe catering song and hands off the bayou are both incredible songs that didn't even make it to a real album.



"sweet adeline"- elliott smith

XO is another breathtakingly good album, as are all CDs made by elliott smith. however, about half way through the song he belts "sweet adeliiiiiiiiine" thus making it unforgettable. other elliott smith contenders: junk bond trader, cupid's trick, southern belle, twilight, oh well okay, all cleaned out etc.

"house fire"- someone still loves you boris yeltsin

despite the stupid name, this band rules. despite lackluster reviews, both CDs rule as well. "house fire" is from their debut album Broom, which was a "lo-fi" masterpiece. the thing is the album would be great even if it wasn't lo fi or whatever because each song is a perfectly crafted pop gem. most songs on both albums epitomize indie pop but "house fire" is a pretty melancholie jam with great piano hooks. I would recommend buying both Broom and Pershing because not only are SSLYBY great musicians they are also really nice people.

"liar"- built to spill

you in reverse is definitely not the best built to spill album, "but liar" is their best song. I have it on practically all of my playlists yet for some reason I am unable to get sick of it. that is probably because of the gorgeousness of dough martch's voice and really catchy guitar hooks. doug's voice is so unique yet there is no way to find it annoying in this song (and pretty much all built to spill albums) that you can't help but get the chills when he starts singing "you see-ee, that shes minor to me-ee."

"Introduction"

My name is Jolie and I go to high school in Florida.
I like: stephen malkmus, CDs, cake, 90s music, reading, boston, jenny lewis, bicycles, flight of the conchords, camping, boggle, hip hop, arrested development, nail polish, the onion, etc.
I don't like: radiohead, any meat products, coldplay, r&b, heights, animal collective, capri pants, the liars, vegetables, people that take elliott smith too seriously, needles etc.

at some point I want to be some kind of "music" journalist so I figure I might as well start now, even though I have absoultely nothing to post about. perhaps when I figure out how to post music illegally that might spruce things up a bit, but until then I have nothing.