Spin the Black Circle Music journalist Travis Hay drops some knowledge and insight about local and national music news, offers reviews and offers a place for conversation on all things music.
Stop
me if you’ve heard this one before: Santa Claus, a giant banana and
a guy dressed up in a pink gorilla costume walk into the
Paramount Theatre …
That was the scene at the historic venue Monday night when
Oklahoma City’s fearless freaks, a.k.a. The Flaming Lips, delivered
an energetic, playful and slightly sinister (in a Wayne Coyne kind
of way) set heavy on material from last year’s
Embryonic.
As a veteran of several Lips
shows I walked into the show more or less knowing what to expect
— massive amounts of confetti, balloons the size of
Volkswagen bugs, smoke machines, strobe lights, maybe some fake
blood — but leave it to The Flaming Lips to throw a few curveballs
my way.
You see, the Lips and I have
a bit of history. A few years ago I had the privilege of
dressing up like a Teletubby and dancing on stage with the band
during its headlining set at Sasquatch! It’s an experience that
changed how I perceive music and a measuring stick for
how I judge every major concert I attend.
If Arcade Fire were a fast food cheeseburger the Montreal octet
would definitely be a Dick’s Deluxe, and in my book that’s
not a bad thing.
You see in the faux band-burger hierarchy three distinct
categories exist. There are the McDonald’s of the world. Think of
them as burgers that are serviceable but can be easily
replicated. In band terms acts like The New Pornographers and The
Heavy fit the description. These are bands that are good live and
on record, but if you see enough shows (or eat enough burgers) they
don’t stand out much in the long run.
Then there are the Red Mills of the world. The cream of the
crop. Arguably the best fast food burger in Seattle. It’s a
burger you never forget. Bands like Radiohead, U2 and Springsteen
are Red Mill burgers in this tasty analogy. When you witness any of
these bands live it’s an experience
you’ll remember forever no matter how many shows you
attend.
Somewhere in between Redmill and McDonald’s lies the
Deluxe. Now the Dick’s Deluxe is a damn good burger. It blows
McDonald’s out of the water. Anyone who attempts to argue a McD’s
patty is superior to anything on Dick’s menu is clearly a few
McNuggets short of a 10-piece.
So how does Arcade Fire merit a Dick’s Deluxe rating? They put
on a show you definitely remember, but it
isn’t necessarily the best show you will ever see. A few
other burgers, um I mean bands, I’d classify as Dick’s Deluxes are
Muse, the Flaming Lips and my beloved Pearl Jam. These aren’t the
biggest bands in the world but when you see them live they
deliver shows that are worth well above the price of
admission.
Now I’ve probably seen more bands live than I’ve consumed
burgers, and Arcade Fire’s life-affirming 90-minute set made for a
damn delicious burger I won’t soon forget, but it wasn’t quite up
to Red Mill standards.
So why start off a review of a band many critics consider to be
the voice of a generation by comparing them to a cheeseburger?
Because many of the band’s detractors claim the group takes itself
too seriously and I figure a lighthearted approach would be the
best route to take when attempting to tackle Arcade Fire’s many
complexities and my somewhat still mixed feelings about the group.
Continue reading →
One of the perks of
being a professional music journalist is having the opportunity to
interview your favorite musicians. Back in 2005, when I
was still relatively green at interviewing rock stars, I took full
advantage of that perk when Weezer was rolling through town with
the Foo Fighters and I sent an interview request to the band’s
publicist.
When I was a teenager Weezer was one of favorite bands and I
still rock the Blue Album and Pinkerton quite often now that I am
closer to my 40s than I am my 20s. I was extremely excited and
extremely nervous to have a conversation with Rivers Cuomo and I
think the playback of the nearly 30-minute interview reflects
that. You see, my conversation with Rivers, which you can
stream or download above, is a bit of a tough listen.
Or at least it was for me when I played it back on cassette tape
and transferred it to a mp3 file. It was the first time I
had listened to the interview since writing
this piece five years ago (Note that I also interviewed Dave
Grohl for the same article. Maybe I’ll transfer that to mp3 too and
post it here next time the Foo Fighters come to town) and I cringed
several times last night while playing it back. Hopefully budding
music journalists can learn a few lessons of how to
conduct interviews if they happen to stumble upon this post. The
lessons to be learned here are to come prepared, try to be
professional and don’t be nervous.
My attempt at small talk during the beginning of the interview
was a massive fail and for some reason I ended a lot of the
questions with “is that correct?” I rack that last one up to
nervousness. On the plus side, as the interview progresses Rivers
opens up a bit and I think that’s because he could tell I’m a very
informed fan and critic who came prepared for the interview. Or
maybe he could tell I was going down in flames and wanted to
provide me with some material I could use for a print
article. But enough about my analysis of my unpolished
interview skills. You’ll just have to trust me that I have since
become better at firing questions at rock stars.
Once you get through the awkwardness (you can actually
hear me say “awkward” after one question while listening to the
interview) there’s actually some pretty good stuff here. Of course
all that stuff is from five years ago, but I have yet to read an
interview where Rivers talks about his perfectionist tendencies and
how the band tweaks its records after each pressing. So bonus
points to me for getting that info. Other moments of note are
and the parts where he tells me that he misses being with
girls (he was celibate and unmarried at the time), the
really interesting talk about Pinkerton and when he completely
dodges my question about his brother teaching at the University of
Washington.
Despite my mixed feelings about the interview I still consider
my conversation with Rivers to be a highlight of my career thus
far, albeit a slightly awkward highlight.
Ryan Abeo, the heavily tatted, bearded, and pierced MC best
known as Ra Scion of Common
Market, is one of the most visible figures in local hip-hop.
But when he takes the stage as his new persona, Victor Shade, he
transforms from the socially conscious, rhyme-spitting Common
Market frontman into a cape-wearing, world-saving superhero.
Sounds cheesy, yes. But like everything Abeo has done in the
past, his Victor Shade project is serious, and it is layered with
lyrics containing dual meanings that tackle weighty subjects like
drug use, suicide, and spirituality.
Unfortunately, like every good superhero’s back story, Victor
Shade’s tale begins with a tragedy. The concept of Victor Shade
came after Ra Scion’s brother-in-law Jimmy, who was a comic book
collector, committed suicide.
Before his death, Jimmy created a list of friends and family
members and gave them all superhero identities complete with a
detailed breakdown of why he thought the superhero was appropriate
for each person. Abeo’s superhero was Victor Shade, an android that
is a member of a collective called The Avengers, and Abeo decided
to make Victor Shade into a hip-hop tribute to his fallen family
member.
“Shortly after his death I started doing some research into the
comic book character The Vision, and I was amazed at some of the
similarities I found between his characteristics and my own,” Abeo
said. “It really made me think Jimmy put a lot of thought into this
process, so this project is like an homage to him.”
The biggest challenge for Victor Shade going forward will be
forging an identity for the project beyond Abeo’s ties to Common
Market. It’s a tough task, considering both acts put the
unmistakable Abeo front and center — and Common Market has long
been a staple of local hip-hop. Luckily there are distinct sounds
that differentiate Victor Shade from Common Market, courtesy of
local producer Matthew Crabtree, who does production under the name
MTK. Continue reading →
