Mia Moth w/ Lucas Field & Annie Stela @ Biltmore -- 08/28/10

I should curse PastKirk for almost balking on the show. I was waffling on going to the show up until pretty much the last minute, but I am sure glad I ended up going. I really liked Low vs Diamond when I saw them open for Ben Lee, so I was interested to see what Lucas Field was like solo, and not only had I had my interest piqued from streaming the Mia Moth album from the interwebs, I had actually been invited to attend.

It was an early show, so when Annie Stela took the stage, the room was kind of sparse. It has to take guts to be able to come on stage, especially alone, and play to a room like that, but her confidence didn't falter and she almost immediately wowed those there with her voice, which silenced (almost) everyone. Said voice combined with her beautiful piano playing for a kind of indie-folk-pop sound and her too-short set seemed to be mostly love songs, but they were not without an edge to them. She ended with Lucas Field coming out to provide backup vocals on a Billy Idol cover, "Eyes Without A Face", from her William EP (where she covers artists named William/Will/Bill/Billy etc). I always love it when bands throw in cover songs, and it was a really cool version of the song, so it was a bonus to an already great set. She definitely gained a fan, as I would see her again without hesitation and grabbed her album, which had the coolest packaging that she handmade herself.

Then -- in what was quite possibly the shortest turnaround I have ever seen at a show -- they switched places, with Lucas Field (better known as lead singer of Low vs Diamond) taking a seat at the keyboard and starting his set. The first song had Annie help with backup vocals, then he went on solo for most of the set. He also played a short-ish set, which was quite different from his work with Low Vs Diamond. It was a pleasant surprise, however, as he too had a softer set of keyboard driven songs. And I don't really remember from when I saw them before, but he had a great sense of humour, which was especially evident in the final song. After calls for one more, he went on to play the greatest and most ridiculous (in a good way) sexual song ever, which can't even be described. I wish I could find a video of it, but think of the most sensual song you can imagine, double it, add some cheese, and you would be close.

Then after a break Vancouver's Mia Moth was up, who were actually quite a bit different than the openers. The band started with a high energy, and never looked back. I don't think I saw the lead singer standing still for more than 5 seconds at a time; she had a crazy energy to her, as she seductively stalked the stage. They were more of a straight up rocking band, with a bit of a dark and gothic (not "goth", gothic.) edge to them, and her voice fit the music really well. Though, every once in a while it would peak over that threshold into piercing, and while it didn't happen often, and wasn't really annoying, it was noticeable. And even though she, and the rest of the band, had a great stage presence, there wasn't much by way of talking; a quiet thank you between songs, and a call for another drink for the drummer was all we got. Those minor squabbles aside, Mia Moth really knows how to put on a hell of a show.

I would be curious to know how the bands ended up playing the show together. It was obvious that Annie Stela & Lucas Field were touring together, from the States, but both of their sounds were just so different than Mia Moth. Not that that detracted from the show in any way, mind you, it was just an interesting pairing of acts.

Review-kus.

My goal is to review every album I bought (or otherwise listened to) this year. But there are just so darn many albums, and sometimes I just don't feel like writing a full reviews. So to combat this, I have decided that I shall give a few really quick reviews all at once... in haiku form. Here we go!

Straight Line by Christina Maria
Great debut album
Vancouver's finest help out*
But a little short
*among the people helping out on the album: Ali Siadat, Hannah Georgas, Shaun Verreault, Megan Bradfield, and Ryan Guldemond & Ryan Dahle, both of which also did some producing/engineering/mixing.

Download Kind Friend

Latin by Holy Fuck
Everything done "live"
Cowboy Cat does it again
Superb follow up

Download Stilettos

Meat by Hawksley Workman
A great range of songs
As eclectic as ever
One great songwriter

Download We'll Make Time

Brasstronaut (w/ Analog Bell Service) @ The China Cloud -- 08/13/10

Two great Vancouver bands teamed up for a show that took place at The China Cloud, which I had never even heard of before. It was a strange, nondescript door right on Main, near-ish to Hastings. It is apparently used as a jam space for a few bands, and is a really neat little place. Except for the fact that it didn't have much, or any, ventilation or airflow, causing it to get really hot and sweaty and stinky very fast. Especially when you have a room full of people shoulder to shoulder, dancing.

Which is exactly what the case was for Analog Bell Service! They had an insanely hyper energy, and despite some early technical difficulties -- blamed on it being Friday the 13th (even though it was after midnight at that point) -- they put on a pretty great show. Aside from their own songs, they also slipped in "I Can See Clearly Now" and a bit of "Sunglasses at Night". They closed their set out with "I Guess", which has been stuck in my head all day, but just before that was another cover, this time Dan Mangan's Road Regrets, turning it into an up tempo, almost punk rock-ish sound, which was pretty crazy and worked surprisingly well for the song.

Finally around 1:30, Brasstronaut hit the stage to play. They were as fantastic as usual, but I only managed to hear half their set, if that. The mugginess of the room was beginning to get to me, combined with the fact that I had to be at work seven hours from when they started playing meant I had to duck out after about half an hour or so. But I did manage to hear "Hearts Trompet", which is my favourite of theirs; it was superb live, and well worth the sleep deprivation. I even managed to catch the next song, "Lo Hi Hopes", as I stood outside on the street, next to my car, hearing them as clear as if I were in the room. Even though it wasn't the usual lineup -- Colin Cowan of ABS was subbing on the stand-up bass -- they sounded as good as ever, and I really hope I'll get to see them again soon. The worst feeling in the world is leaving a [good] show early, and I really hated to do so for Brasstronaut, whose album is one of my favourites so far this year.

An Intimate Night Of Piano Tunes With Daniel Moxon & Edo Van Breemen @ Library Square -- 08/12/10

Bend Sinister's Dan Moxon and Brasstronaut's Edo Van Breemen teamed up last night for an intimate night of piano tunes at Library Square. It was pretty much just a piano set up in the corner of the bar, with an area in front and an "upper level" (think four or five steps) with a "balcony" for people to watch from. Oh, and the place was playing the old Wonder Woman show all night on their TVs, so that got a little distracting at times.

First up was Edo, not quite doing a solo set since he had fellow Brasstronaut Tariq with him on guitar and lap steel. He played a pretty varied set, some Brasstronaut, some older stuff from his other band and also some brand new. At first, I was wondering how the Brasstronaut songs would sound stripped down like that, since the band has such a rich sound; but for the most part they were really cool and worked well. "Slow Knots" was an especially interesting version of the song, both stripped down and slowed a little.

After a short break Dan hopped up to the piano, playing about half his/Bend Sinister songs and half covers. He started with "Careless", and hit songs spanning all over his oeuvre, including the "In A Minute" song written for the Peak Performance Project (Bend Sinister took third last year). He had a couple covers in his "main" set, a McCartney and a Hall & Oates that were a bit lesser known, but the last half of his set consisted of the more sing-a-long hits like "American Pie", "The Logical Song", "The Boys Are Back In Town", "We Are The Champions" and doing somewhat of an encore with "Life on Mars".

Despite the fact that the bar was a little noisy at times, it was a really cool environment for that type of thing. It seemed less of a "show" and more of "Hey friends, I am going to play you some tunes, cool?" I know Dan has done some solo piano shows before, but I hope this kind of thing becomes a regular occurrence.

The Tom Fun Orchestra w/ Treelines & Redbird @ The Media Club -- 08/11/10

A year and a half ago, I saw The Tom Fun Orchestra live at Pub 340, a dive pub with mediocre sound, a terrible setup and two crap opening bands. It was a testament to how good the band is live that they still put on a fantastic show, one I have been itching to see live again. When they were added at the last minute to the bill of the Treelines show at the Media Club, I was more than intrigued, since Treelines was a band I had heard nothing but praise for, so I was interested in seeing them live. Throw in local acts Redbird and Garrett Kato, all for only $8, and how can you go wrong?

Sadly I missed Garrett Kato, arriving just in time for Redbird to hit the stage, the new musical project from Vancouver's Savannah Leigh. They had a bit of an alt-country sound to them, but not crossing that line into too twangy. Almost similar to Neko Case or Jenny Lewis' solo work, but not quite as strong a voice -- which isn't a slight to Savannah, as she does have a very nice voice, but those two are hard to match. For the last song, the band was joined by Debra Jean Creelman (formerly of Mother Mother, currently in the Peak Performance Project) for a cover of a Bob Dylan & The Band song (which one, I am blanking on), and I'm always happy to hear cover songs live. Her songs were quite catchy, and I would very much like to see the band again, especially on a show where the following bands didn't completely overshadow everything that came before them.

Next up, in prompt fashion, was Kelowna's Treelines. After all the good things I had heard I was on my toes a little, thinking they might not live up to the hype... but they more than proved to be worthy of the buzz. They had a fantastic energy and stage presence to them, absolutely rocking out for most of their songs. The lead singer (Matt, with his "giant eyebrow") especially, who had kind of an understated charisma to him, and was a great storyteller -- regaling us with the story of their drive down from Kelowna that day, which included a guy in a van, with a machete and a 4L jug of milk.
They started big with "Ghost Towns" and didn't look back, playing mostly from their new EP, but throwing in a few songs from their first disk, too.
The set came to a close with "Lions" and "Cowboys", both songs that close out their two albums. Again, I can not wait to see them live again, and that right there would have been a perfect night of music... but there was more!

Finally was The Tom Fun Orchestra. Seeing as they were kind of added to the bill at the last minute, were going on at 12, and being a weeknight, people were slowly trickling out, leaving the place about half full by the time they started. But they thanked everyone for staying out late and launched into a set that those there will not soon forget. Taking the stage eight members strong, no two members with the same instrument -- drums, accordion, banjo, acoustic & electric guitars, violin, trumpet & bass -- creating their amazing and incredibly unique sound, with the lead singer (who I have seen go by pseudonyms Johnny Turbo, Animal Houston and Bob Dilemma) and his Tom Waits-ian rasp, complimented perfectly by Carmen Townsend's smooth vocals.
They kicked off the set with a brand new song, from their forthcoming album (I think he said next year) and playing a good mix of new and older, from their first album, You Will Land With A Thud. As incredible the energy was for Treelines, TFO not only matched it, but beat it, almost making you forget any other band had played that night, no matter how good they were. "Highway Siren Song" and "Watchmaker" were two songs that got everyone rocking, and "Last of the Curious Thieves" brought the house down. Among the new songs was the one they recently released on the interwebs, "Miles Davis", which was absolutely stunning live. They didn't bother with the clichéd encore (yay!) and brought the set to a close with another new one, after a good hour and a half of playing. By the end, seeing as it was 1:30, there were maybe two dozen people remaining, but those left were in awe.
I managed to obtain a setlist, and while this seems about accurate for the most part, the ending was changed up a little.

This year, I have had the good fortune of seeing a whole bunch of shows where every single band playing is a band I would pay to see on their own. I can say, without a doubt, that this can be added to the ranks of those shows, and I can't wait to see any of the above three again.