Category Archives: Concerts

Up and away – Chairlift

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I’ve just spent the afternoon wallowing in an 80s haze after glutting myself on the new Chairlift album, Something. Ah, so good!

After their 2008 debut album Does You Inspire You, the Brooklyn-based duo (Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly) with a penchant for fresh fruit & veg (see pic above – actually, I have no idea if they are healthy eaters, but by Jove, they look pretty fit, don’t they?) have further perfected the art of making crisply polished electro-pop. Similar to St. Vincent’s vocal dexterity and range, and synth-y electric guitar, Chairlift manage to be both elegantly uplifting and charmingly poppy at the same time.

Something album sampler:

Chairlift play @ Abart, ZH, Sunday 26.02.12. Tix here.

Something is out now on Columbia Records/Young Turks.

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Track of the day: First Aid Kit – ‘Emmylou’

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Young Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg first made waves as folk-country duo First Aid Kit with their 2008 cover of the Fleet Foxes‘ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’. They released their first album The Big Black and The Blue in 2010 to wide-spread acclaim and much attention from the North American folk/country scene. Collaborations with Fleet Foxes, Jack White and Bright Eyes soon followed.

Now they’ve released their second album The Lion’s Roar, featuring a maturing of their voices and sound. The second single, ‘Emmylou’, a tribute of sorts to the Gram Parsons, was filmed at Joshua Tree in the Calfornian desert where Parsons died 36 years ago:

Bonus: grab a free download of ‘The Lion’s Roar’:

First Aid Kit play @ Mascotte, ZH, Monday 20.02.12, supported by the magnificently-bearded Reza Dinally. Tix here.

First Aid Kit’s second album The Lion’s Roar is out now on Wichita Recordings, and is currently sitting right at the very top of the Swedish charts – go girls!

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Weathering the storm – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

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Along with Ok Go! and Arctic Monkeys, kooky Brooklyn-based indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were amongst the first wave of bands to hit the big time thanks to viral internet hype. Their self-released eponymous first album received much critical praise, ranging from Pitchfork to Davids Bowie and Byrne – remember ‘Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood’?

Having weathered the sensationalism of the internet hype machine, and emerged blinking into the light of the sometime-normality of indie rock fame, the band have released their third album, Hysterical, after a five-year hiatus. A welcome return to form, Hysterical sees Alec Ounsworth and co. as self-assured and confidently idiosyncratic as ever, with some unexpectedly introspective and melancholy moments:

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah play @ Plaza, ZH, Friday 17.02.12. Tickets here.

Hysterical is out now on V2.

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Sounds like… The Sounds

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Swedish indie rock band The Sounds are touring their newly-New Waved fourth album Something To Die For throughout Europe at the moment, making a pit stop at our very own Abart, ZH, on that most romantic of days (or not, depending on your level of cynicism), Valentine’s Day – 14.02.12. Could be just the thing to get your sweetheart in the mood, eh?

With charismatic lead singer Maja Ivarsson chanelling Blondie, Pat Benatar and Roxette’s Marie Fredriksson, The Sounds’ catchy dance-rock has seen them through a decade of success in both Sweden and abroad.

‘Dance With The Devil’:

(Now check out some of the behind-the-scenes action as they made the video in sub-zero temperatures in Sweden)

The Sounds play @ Abart, ZH, 14.02.12. Tickets here.

Something To Die For is out now on Arnioki Records/SideOneDummy/Warner Scandinavia

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No country for old men – The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company

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I totally blame my parents for my love of country music. They saturated my childhood with music relaying terrible stories of cheating men, drinking and impoverished children. I can still remember all the lyrics of ‘Coat Of Many Colors‘ – yes, I’m still traumatised!

Now, however, I’ve moved beyond Kenny, Dolly, Tammy and Patsy, and onto country realms with a slightly less hyperbolic bent. Son Volt and Will Oldham had a lot to do with it (in Will’s various incarnations as Palace Music, Palace Brothers, and Bonnie Prince Billy – I saw him play in Sydney, barefoot, randy and bearded, and utterly wonderful). The first album of The National drew me in precisely because of its booze-soaked, alt-country roots.

But it’s been a long time since I listened to much alt-country, having been distracted by glam rock, indie-whatever, and even *gasp* intelligent dance (read here for a list of awful genres). But when I was figuring out what I wanted to see at the One Of A Million Festival in Baden, I came across Lugano/Zurich band The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company:

…and I remembered how much I love that alt-country, indie-folk tradition. The poignancy of Boris’s viola and the timbre of John’s voice is an incredibly eloquent combination. Wonderful.  Needless to say, I can’t wait to see them live now.

The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company play @ One Of A Million Festival, Baden, Friday 10.02.12. Tickets here. 

Charles The Bold is out now on On The Camper Records.

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One Of A Million Festival 2012 – Nils Frahm, Lanterns on the Lake, Isbells, The Black Atlantic + more

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I think I’ve found just what I need to drag me out of the SAD hole I’m in (January, dreary, grey, cold, etc etc). The second installment of the One Of A Million Festival (Baden, 04-11.02.12) starts next week, and it sounds like just my kind of festival. They’ve got a pretty nice line-up that includes quietly wonderful gems such as Lanterns on the Lake, Isbells, Nils Frahm, The Black Atlantic, Dirty Beaches, The Legendary Lightness, Nigel Wright and The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company.

Plus, I’m immensely cheered by the humble promo taglines: ‘Just one of a million festivals’, and ‘No stars. No hype. It’s music only. It’s only music.’ What a welcome relief from the excesses and bombastic hype of the summer festivals.

My top picks: Lanterns on the Lake, Nils Frahm, The Black Atlantic, Lambs & Wolves, The Legendary Lightness, and The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company.

One Of A Million Festival, Baden, 04-11 February 2012. See the full programme here. Festival passes and individual day passes here.

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