to sing this anthem of our dying day

It's been a while, so I thought it was time for a recap.
I have seen some great, great concerts lately. I pick my concerts carefully (due to being very poor), and I have not been disappointed this autumn. Let's review.

Alt-J
I saw Alt-J at Echo Beach in a thunderstorm. It was the night after I adopted my cat, and I worried about her the whole damn time. What if she was scared of the thunder? What if we were struck by lightning and she was on her own for days until my family could get her? We left early because I was panicking too much to really enjoy the concert, but what I did hear was wonderful. The highlight, for me, was Bloodflood. That is such a fucking great song. We were sat back from the stage on a table, so I couldn't really *see* anything, but I didn't really need to -- they sound as great live as they do on my iPhone. Realistically, they probably sound better. Props to them for carrying on despite the storm, too. We walked back to the streetcar listening to Tesselate in the rain, with lightning flashing in the not-so-distance. It was surreal, almost magic. I am definitely looking forward to their return.
The kitten was fine, by the way.

CHVRCHES
CHVRCHES were up next. I was a little less excited for them - I wasn't even going to go, I bought tickets off a Redditor.  Wow. In terms of atmosphere, this was the best show I have ever been to, hands down. THEY ARE SO GOOD LIVE. Even better than mixed and recorded, I think. The opening act, XXYYXX was worse than Bear Hands. Bear Hands is the standard by which opening acts shall forever be judged. But the rest of the show! They are such an exciting band. I am very excited to see where they go, and thrilled to have seen them in the wonderful Danforth Music Hall. My boyfriend also had an amazing time, and he is normally a Beatles-Zeppelin-Floyd fan, so that is just A+ as well. Recover remains my absolute favouritest of their songs, but Science and Vision is utterly transformed when you see it live. Magnificent.

Bell X1
Bell X1 played my city on my birthday, I'm not sure it gets any better than that.  It was so wonderful, and I don't even want to talk about it. I pine for their return.

Scream It Like You Mean It
I won tickets to Scream It Like You Mean It! The opening bands ( I Am King and Sleep When You're Dead) were atrocious. Worse than Bear Hands. Set It Off were a pleasant surprise. I looked them up afterwards. They're one of those bands that depends on stage presence so they're much better live, but still a good time. They got the crowd moshing on command.
Hawthorne Heights were up next and I was there for Hawthorne Heights. The Silence in Black and White was a huge part of my formative musical experience. They started with NikiFM and I almost started crying. That happened...more than once, and then they made everyone's night and closed with Ohio Is For Lovers.

and I can't make it on my own

because my heart is in Ohio

so cut my wrists and black my eyes

so I can fall asleep tonight, or die

Everyone else was there for Silverstein, but I just never really got into them that much. The crowd got super into it, and there was moshing and a bunch of circle pits, and it felt amazing, it's just not my jams, if you will. Still, they were good fun. 

Story of the Year was up last, celebrating ten years of Page Avenue. God, that album brings back some memories. They were wonderful, but the most meaningful part of it was (mostly) captured on video. I heard the first chords of Ocean Avenue, and I legitimately went weak in the knees. Everything before and after that was just icing on the cake. Lots and lots of delicious screamo icing. I didn't take the wristband off for a week.I feel like that doesn't do justice to them, but they were just so good and it felt so good.

It was the first show I had been to that had a circle pit on stage and in the crowd at the same time. Actually, it was my first show with moshing. I led a deprived, sad existence before I moved to Toronto.

breezeblocks

Long time, no post. What a wait for such a letdown. ;)
I just came to leave the RZA remix of Alt-J's Breezeblocks right here.
It's very good. You should listen to it.
I have tickets to see them next week, yay! First concert in ages.

i've got too many friends

I try. I try so hard not to be that girl who can't let go of the past, the one who clings desperately to I Know and Ask For Answers. Bands grow, and bands change, and I know that - can usually forgive them that, love them for that, at the least accept that - whichever as applicable. I mean, I loved a lot of the songs on Meds, and I think I even listened to Bright Lights once or twice. 
The point is that things change! And that's a good thing. I love falling in love with a band and watching their maturation. 
I just can't get over the fact that they used  the wrong accent on communiqué at 0:22, and no accents at all on Champs-Élysées (0:12).  BRIAN MOLKO SPEAKS FRENCH. The others might as well, I'm not sure. 
I despise that font - despise - and I was originally going to rant about how it was just so goddamn boring, but you know, I think I have decided that that actually works for the song. If nothing else, they never used to be boring; see, for example let's follow the cops back home and rob their houses. 
Nothing about this video screams capslock. It sounds like a trivial complaint, but when you are making a lyric video, it's almost all that you've got, so it's really, really not. 
Brian still sounds good, but everything background is just so BLAH. I find it really hard to look forward to the rest of the album. 
Is the song about having online friends?  I'm okay with that. I just wish they had more feeling about it. Once more with feeling...

what happens tonight

They are so fashionable and they try so (too) hard.
My hatred for music videos which revolve around party scenes knows no bounds, and that extends to Happens In The Dark by Jedward, despite the fact that my love for Jedward knows no bounds.
This song feels so vibrant and positive, but it deserves a music video which more accurately reflects how zany (cultivatedly so, but still!) these twins are.

Now, if you want to watch a PROPER Jedward video, look no further than the Lipstick video.

It has the great costumes, the peppiness, the hilariously choreographed dance scenes (plus bonus cartwheels) and some bits that are just out of left-field. They're dancing on the subway, for fuck's sake. There are shoes with teddy bears.
Also, the hair is better.

it's a drive-by summer

This is a link to that link. 

It is beautiful. Melancholy and gentle, it rocks you like a lullaby. Our boys are at their best when they are being reflective. More than most bands, they can sing about real life, not just the esoteric, and make it feel genuine and important. They remind me of William Blake, in that respect.
Actually, maybe there's even more of a direct parallel there: to see a world in a grain of sand / and a heaven in a wild flower / hold infinity in the palm of your hand / and eternity in an hour vs we're still watching /your rainbow through the shower / and we still see you / in every sunflower. Perhaps they are Romantics.
In Drive-by Summer and Starlings Over Brighton Pier, I hear more echoes of Music In Mouth than I do of Bloodless Coup. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a ~return to their roots~, at least not before hearing the whole album, but it is kind of exciting. It's a style that works for them, and their commentaries on the human condition are so delightfully fresh, lyrically intriguing, and, often, funny that it never feels stale.
Listen a bit longer for bonus Rocky Took A Lover. Be excited with me for the new album, out in late June.

thirteen word review

Holy Jesus never has anyone done anything so good with Call Me Maybe. 

i made this blancmange

Today, this blog reviews videos, not music, and not the skillful melding of the two mediums.


So, uh, Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark). Not terribly safe  for work.
While puppet masturbation carries its own unique set of horrors, I was honestly most scared and confused by the laughing horse. 
Puppets: not just for children's birthdays anymore. And honestly, really over-used.