Above, Thom Yorke performs a new song called Give Up The Ghost (not sure if it’s a solo song or a Radiohead song) in Cambridge tonight/last night. I’ll post more mp3s and video soon (the whole show as recorded) but here’s an mp3 of Give Up The Ghost.

Download
Thom Yorke – Give Up The Ghost

The complete (stunning) setlist from the gig:

The Clock
The Eraser
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Daily Mail (debut; formerly known as Pig’s Ear)
Pyramid Song
Harrowdown Hill
Lotus Flower (new)
Give Up The Ghost (debut)
These Are My Twisted Words
I Froze Up (second performance; first since 2002)
Like Spinning Plates
Black Swan
Cymbal Rush
———
Videotape
Mouse Dog Bird (debut)
Reckoner
Airbag
Atoms For Peace
———
True Love Waits

As always, thanks to the tapers/uploaders/At Ease faithful for getting these out so quickly.

Busy day for Thom today as he also announced the details of a short (and coming nowhere near Vancouver) solo tour with his Eraser band which has now been dubbed Atoms For Peace (as opposed to their previous moniker, ????). They’re hitting a few major markets before playing Coachella in April. Hit up WASTE for presale tickets.

New York – Roseland Ballroom April 5th & 6th
Boston – Citi Wang Theatre April 8th
Chicago – Aragon Ballroom April 10th & 11th
Oakland – Fox Theatre April 14th & 15th
Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara Bowl April 17th

Flying Lotus will be the support act for the entire tour.

On Friday night while I was at the Vancouver Olympic Centre watching Canada defeat Denmark in women’s curling (how random does life get during the Olympics?), Twitter informed me that Broken Social Scene would be performing a last minute, secret(ish) show at the Ontario Pavilion as part of the Winter Olympics. The band were in town for the Neil Young tribute so it made sense the band would want to play their own headlining show. Troops were gathered and the following day we made it down the False Creek to Ontario House to line up for the show.

With Stars, Feist, Emily Haines, and Jason Collett in town it seemed that it a perfect BSS storm was forming collaboration-wise…but it was not to be. However, Broken Social Scene still delivered a memorable show in front of 750 lucky fans. The band featured Bill Priddle, Metric’s Jimmy Shaw, and Reverie Sound Revue’s Lisa Lobsinger while Andrew Whiteman and the Do Make Say Think boys were MIA (DMST are currently in Japan).

I had hoped we’d get some new songs but we didn’t really. Kevin Drew informed us that they don’t really know the new ones yet so we instead we got a mix of older material, maybe a new song, aaaand Julie Doiron. But before that the band opened with a pair of songs off the last self-titled record (Superconnected and Shoreline) before a trio of songs off Kevin and Brendan Canning’s solo records. Love Is New, off Canning’s album, was even funkier and more fun live than it is on record. Sam Goldberg actually took over bass duties on this one (and a few others over the course of the night) and was stellar.

Since the band were in town for the Neil Young tribute show it made sense that a Neil Young cover would be trotted out and Out On The Weekend it was. This was the first song that featured Julie Doiron as Sam Goldberg sang lead with everyone else providing some wonderful, high pitched Neil-y backing vocals. Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl followed which was delivered beautifully by Lisa Lobsinger with some help from Julie Doiron.

One of the highlights of the gig was a song Kevin Drew introduced as “Sweetest Kill.” It was a slow, restrained song but Kevin’s vocal delivery was one of his best. I have an mp3 of the song dated from December 2007 (when it was called Untitled 2 which I have included below) so it remains to be seen if this song is a castoff from Kevin Drew’s solo record or if it will appear on the forthcoming Broken Social Scene album, Forgiveness Rock Record.

Julie Doiron then took centre stage to lead Broken Social Scene through a rocking version of her own Consolation Prize off last year’s I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day. I was pretty happy to see this as Consolation Prize was one of my favourite songs from 2009. The set then ended with a drawn out, ramshackle version of It’s All Gonna Break. After the horn-punctuated finale the band left the stage leaving only Kevin Drew behind. He then claimed he was going to make a song up and started playing a song which did not seem made up. Not sure if it’s a cover (it did sound sort of familiar to me) or a new song or if he was actually making it up (doubtful) but it was pretty great. It got even better as Justin Peroff joined him and then the duo were joined by Brendan Canning on bass. Seeing the band jam as a trio was really, really cool (and it would totally work for a tour). (I dubbed the song ‘Too Delicate’ and you can see a video below.)

Then the band really did leave the stage but the crowd wouldn’t let them go. After a couple minutes of screaming and applause Kevin Drew came out and explained they really couldn’t play anymore due to venue restrictions. But he did lead the crowd through an accapella, karaoke version of U2′s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. It was a pretty special end to a great Broken Social Scene gig.

Cannot wait for the record and the real tour to begin.

Setlist:
Superconnected
7/4 (Shoreline)
Backed Out On The…
Churches Under The Stairs
Love Is New
Stars And Sons
Out On The Weekend*
Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl
Frightening Lives
Sweetest Kill**
Consolation Prize***
It’s All Gonna Break
“Too Delicate For These Games of Mine” (Kevin, Brendan, Justin only)
———
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

* Neil Young cover
** Formerly known as Untitled 2
*** Julie Doiron with BSS

My photos from the gig are here. And apologies to anyone who got excited when I posted on Twitter that the band had soundchecked a bunch of new stuff. They might have rehearsed a couple new ones but I think it was Canning’s songs that I neglected to recognize through the walls of the venue.

Download
Broken Social Scene – Sweetest Kid (MTV Canada Live Dec. 2007)
Julie Doiron – Consolation Prize

Below I’ve embedded some video (sorry about the sound cutting out on “Too Delicate” and being nearly unlistenable for Julie Doiron’s song).

Out On The Weekend

Consolation Prize

“Too Delicate” (new/unknown? song)

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

Hope you’re enjoying the Winter Olympics wherever you are. Vancouver is nuts at the moment.

Before the last Feist gig I attended I worried that with her tremendous success and relentless touring her live show might have lost the magic it had before she soundtracked iPod commercials. Thankfully, I was wrong and the gig was amazing. Sadly, last night’s gig at the Orpheum Theatre (as part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad) was not quite as special.

Though Feist giddily bounced onto the stage, her set never seemed to take off. After opening with a percussive, guitarless version of I Feel It All, My Moon My Man lacked the power of performances I’ve seen in the past. A decent (though not amazing) new song followed before the set slowed to a crawl. The Limit To Your Love was followed by a slooooow, almost bluesy version of Mushaboom.

It wasn’t good. If you saw another artist doing this version of Mushaboom you’d say they were murdering it. But since it’s her own song I’m sure most people will giver her a pass. Is she bored of playing it? I seldom like it when artists “reimagine” one of their best songs in their live repertoire and this version of Mushaboom was no exception. Say what you will about Radiohead playing Creep but at least when they do play it they play the version the people want to hear not a bleepy-bloop Thom’s Up His Own Arse-version.

So Sorry, another slow one, was next. Then things did finally pick up. A bit. When I Was A Young Girl, one of my favourite “Feist” songs was dark and moody and aggressive. But in the past I’ve seen Feist absolutely destroy her guitar on this one. Last night she did not. Honey Honey (another favourite of mine), however, was delivered perfectly. Unfortunately, Brandy Alexander came next and I’ve never been a big fan of that song.

Up down up down. Things just weren’t clicking for me last night.

Thankfully, the last part of the set was definitely an improvement on the first half. Firstly, a couple more new songs were played and both were excellent. The first (at least I recall it being the first one) I will call “Never Again Will I Let You Go” was one of the finest uses of the four person choir that joined Feist, her bassist, keyboardist, and drummer (who happened to be Mocky). The chorus on this one will blow your mind. And if it doesn’t then it was wrecked in the studio. The other new one, “When You Comfort Me,” was also pretty great. In fact, the two songs were two of the highlights of the entire show. Maybe I’m just tired of The Reminder stuff?

Secondly, Feist, who always makes interesting choices for cover songs, busted out an old folk tune Hard Is The Fortune Of All Womankind. It was a fantastic song with a memorable melody but what really set it off was Joel Gibb’s vocal contrbution. Oh yeah, for some reason The Hidden Camera’s Joel Gibb was in Feist’s little choir last night, singing and dancing throughout the entire set.

The main set ended with Sealion. And while it was great…no electric guitar! Feist, what were you thinking? Last time I saw you play that one you went nuts on the guitar and even tossed in a Cons cover for good measure. No more acoustic Sealion! In fact, if I had to pick one thing that would have improved this show it would be: More electric guitar.

The first encore saw Feist unveil an absolutely gorgeous version of Let It Die. The reverb on the guitar coupled with the natural echo of the room produced magic. The show ended with the inevitable 1234. Feist and Mocky opened the song on recorders before playing the first half the song very slowly, only busting out the version we all know and love for the finale. Still, as many times as you hear that song, it’s a great little song, especially at the end of the set.

But wait…there’s more. A second encore saw Feist sit atop the piano while Gonzales (who also opened the show) took a seat below. Together they played a quiet version of Where Can I Go Without You? It was a lovely little ending but not enough to send me into the streets enthralled with the show.

I can imagine someone seeing Feist for the first time might have been pretty impressed but as someone who has seen her quite a bit over the last five years I was disappointed. And I hate that I feel that way. I love Feist but last night something didn’t connect. Maybe she’s too firmly entrenched in that Between Albums period, maybe it was the Olympics, or maybe it was because she’s been off the road so long, but Feist is capable of being so much better.

Setlist
I Feel It All
My Moon My Man
“I Was Free Until He Spotted Me”
The Limit To Your Love
Mushaboom
So Sorry
When I Was A Young Girl
Honey Honey
Brandy Alexander
Gatekeeper
“Never Again Will I Let You Go”
Hard Is The Fortune Of All Womankind (traditional)*
How My Heart Behaves
Past In Present
Birds Of A Feather**
“When You Comfort Me, It Doesn’t Bring Me Comfort Actually”
Sealion
———
Let It Die
1234
———
Where Can I Go Without You? ***

* Might have been The Wagoner’s Lad, a variation on the same folk tune
** Mocky cover
*** Done by many, notably Nat King Cole and Nina Simone

A few photos from the gig here.

As mentioned, Gonzales opened the show. I didn’t catch his whole set (too busy watching Shaun White slay in the halfpipe which makes me one of “those” people Gonzales called out at the end of his set) but the man seems incredibly talented and pretty funny. But maybe also a little bit crazy? Anyway, what I did see was pretty enjoyable.

Due to a rigorous touring schedule this year, Japandroids will not have time to write and record a follow up to one of last year’s best albums, Post-Nothing. Instead the band are going to release a series (five in total) of 7″ and digital singles (the vinyl will be limited to 2000 copies). The a-sides will consist of previously unreleased songs written during the period leading up to Post-Nothing while the b-sides will be covers. Each single will be released over the course of 2010 with the first single, Art Czars, to be released in April and available to preorder here and download below.

Download
Japandroids – Art Czars

The b-side will be Big Black’s Racer X, a song recently recorded for a Daytrotter session. Thanks to Pitchfork for the above mp3.

Despite being a fan for about eight years, last night at the Biltmore was my first chance to see Do Make Say Think live and I was not disappointed. I’d been hearing for years how powerful DMST are on stage and I finally found out for myself.

The nine-piece band (four of whom had made their way to Australia over the past four years as members of Broken Social Scene) were absolutely immense. Two drummers, guitars, bass, horns and Julie Penner on violin all made their presence felt on Do Make Say Think’s vast soundscapes right from the opener Make. Very often bands can get a bit messy with so many people on stage but DMST have their show nailed down: the musicianship was simply incredible all night (in particular Justin on guitar and Charles on bass).

The beginning portion of the show was slightly slower and more contemplative but once the band hit Reitschule about halfway through the set there was no looking back. Fredericia, my favourite Do Make Say Think song, was a monster. Opening with haunting bass before exploding into a controlled cacophony of distorted guitar and bass, Freddy was mind-blowing. When Fredericia ended the set continued on an unstoppable march toward its finale as Horns Of A Rabbit (another highlight), Freddy’s Winter Hymn cousin, followed. The Universe!, Do, Auberge Le Mouton Noir and In Mind then rounded out the show in magnificent fashion. In Mind was a particularly fitting way to end the night as the band members actually stepped up to the mics to belt out the finale.

So after years of waiting and years of hype Do Make Say Think still managed to exceed my expectations. Hopefully it’s not too long before they’re back in Vancouver.

Setlist
Make
Executioner Blues
Say
The Apartment Song
Think
Reitschule
Fredericia
Horns Of A Rabbit
The Universe!
Do
Auberge Le Mouton Noir
In Mind

Pretty sure that setlist is correct. It differs slightly from the one on stage (the early curfew led to some set changes I guess). Thanks a lot to Gerald for the setlist. It was great to finally see you again! A few more photos of mine from the gig are up here.

The added bonus of last night’s gig was the fact the the support slots were filled by the Do Make Say Think side-projects of Ohad Benchetrit and Charles Spearin. Ohad’s project Years opened the night. I didn’t really spend much time with the Years album but I was pretty impressed with the material I heard last night. While Ohad spent a song or two on his own on stage, for a portion of the set he was joined by most of his DMST bandmates to fill out the arrangements.

There was no break after the Years set finished as Charles Spearin immediately introduced his “science experiment,” The Happiness Project. Featuring interviews with his neighbours that were then adapted into music (based on the melodies of their speaking voices), The Happiness Project is incredibly unique. Over the course of the half-hour set we met Mrs. Morris, Vittoria, Ondine, and Mr. Gowrie in a mix of spoken-word and live music. I think Vittoria’s story (born deaf, she received a cochlear implant when she was 31 to hear sound for the first time) was the most powerful and resonant. Like the Years set, Charles Spearin’s project was accompanied by most of Do Make Say Think. And since DMST took the stage just ten minutes after The Happiness Project wrapped up there was music practically all night long. A memorable evening for sure.

I’m generally not a huge fan of videos that are entirely computer-generated but this video for Massive Attack’s Splitting The Atom is something else: evocative, thought-provoking and full of images that are not easily forgotten. Splitting The Atom is the first single from Massive Attack’s new record Heligoland which is out next week. (How great is it to be able to talk about a new Massive Attack album that is actually coming out?)

The quality of the Splitting The Atom video really isn’t a surprise as the band have always made amazing music videos and taken a keen interest in the artwork that accompanies all their releases. The Guardian has a nice little overview of the visual side of Massive Attack.

Heligoland is available in a number of formats including the always annoying super Deluxe Edition from iTunes that includes the following bonus tracks:

Paradise Circus (Gui Boratto Remix)
Fatalism (Ryuichi Sakamoto & Yukihiro Takahashi Remix)
Girl I Love You (She Is Danger Remix)
Paradise Circus (Breakage’s Tight Rope Remix)
United Snakes
Pray For Rain (Tim Goldsworthy Remix)

If you make that available to buy on its own, I’ll buy it. If not, I will steal it. Having said that you can also preorder the Deluxe vinyl edition (as I did) which looks amazing. All the details are here but it includes four of the above bonus tracks on a bonus 12″. You also get the CD included. Not bad.

I’ll likely post my thoughts about the record next week (it’s better than I thought it was going to be!).

A couple weeks ago the Peak Performance Project ended, an ambitious radio-sponsored project that brought some well-deserved attention to a bunch of British Columbia bands (like The Painted Birds and Adaline). When the project reached its finale, three bands were left standing: We Are The City, The Left, and Bend Sinister. To be honest, at that point I thought it was a lock: Bend Sinister had this thing. They make incredibly fun, BIG music (imagine that Elton John mated with Queen and you have a hint of what Bend Sinister sound like). In addition, they are the only band of three that has a name that doesn’t totally suck.

I was not blown away by the little I’d heard by The Left and I couldn’t even make it through We Are The City’s record before hitting the delete button (and I’m pretty patient!). Of course, then, We Are The City won. While congratulations go out to all three bands (they all won quite a bit of money), Bend Sinister were robbed.

So I’m doing my little part to make sure Bend Sinister take over Canada. Check out some of their stuff below and go check out their live show (I have yet to…I’ve not been back long, gimme a break) which is, by all accounts, tons of fun.

Download
Bend Sinister – Jimmy Brown
Bend Sinister – Happiness Is A Warm Gun (Beatles cover)

RAWK.