Music Review: The New Pornographers, “Whiteout Conditions”

Music Review: The New Pornographers, “Whiteout Conditions”

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Canadian indie rock band, The New Pornographers, recently released their seventh studio album, “Whiteout Conditions.” Featuring powerful harmonies and bubbling synths that playfully mask lyrics of depression, “Whiteout Conditions” is a perfect sonic homage to the 80’s, with a twist of overwhelming, Twenty-First Century-fueled anxiety. Standouts include the album’s title track, an especially upbeat tune where Carl Newman recounts a particularly oppressive spell of depression that threw him for a loop, and “We’ve Been Here Before,” about a newly reunited couple falling into the same traps of their previously failed relationship, sung in eerie harmony.

Throwback Thursday: Backstreet Boys, “Millennium”

Throwback Thursday: Backstreet Boys, “Millennium”

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On this day in 1999, iconic 90’s boy band, the Backstreet Boys, released their third, and most successful, studio album, “Millennium,” which featured the singles “Larger than Life,” “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely,” and “I Want It That Way.” “I Want It That Way” eventually became the Orlando based group’s biggest hit to date. On the day of the album’s release, the group appeared on MTV’s Total Request Live (RIP) in front of hundreds of screaming fans. “Millennium” became the best selling album of 1999, selling 9,445,732 albums. Of those albums, nearly 500,000 in the US were sold on the first day alone. Although the boy band craze of the 90’s died with the Beanie Baby, the Backstreet Boys are still making music and are set to release their ninth studio album this year. On top of that, the group recently began a four month Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood called “Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life.”

Radiohead: Soaring melodies and analog noise at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley

Radiohead: Soaring melodies and analog noise at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley

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For Radiohead’s second night in the picturesque Greek Theatre, we were blessed with a beautiful and balmy evening in Berkeley. The opening act, Dudu Tassa & The Kuwaitis, an Israeli cross-cultural project came on at 6:30pm sharp and played an entertaining set. As with most things Radiohead, it was a tasteful, off-the-wall choice for a supporting act.

 

But by 7:30pm, the anticipation for Thom Yorke and the rest of the band was tremendous. Joining Yorke was the usual touring lineup of Ed O’Brien, Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Phil Selway, and guest drummer Clive Deamer. They opened with three songs from their latest album, “A Moon Shaped Pool:” “Daydreaming,” “Desert Island Disk”, and “Ful Stop.”  Radiohead’s live sets are  always a fluid, unpredictable trip through their full discography. Of the 25 song set, only 6 came from their latest album. High points in the set were a powerful rendition of “Airbag” from “OK Computer,” which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its release this year, and “There There,” from “Hail to the Thief.”

 

A six piece band with bass, two drummers, and three guitarists conjures images of prog rock at its worst, but the way Radiohead deploys its musicians is what makes them unique, and for a band with three guitarists, their sound is very un-guitar like. Jonny Greenwood tortures and twists his guitar into the sounds that you hear on their post-“Kid A” albums, and Ed O’Brien is continuously adjusting the speed/duration of his sampled and looped guitar chords to create noises like those in the outro of “Climbing Up The Walls.” Together with the two drummers (Portishead drummer Clive Deamer doubling up with Phil Selway), the overall performance is amazingly “analog,” Yes, there is clearly midi sync between the drum beats and the delay loops, but no sequencing or pre-recorded noises that I could detect. It was real-time performance art and not the “off-line programming” that many EDM acts specialize in.

 

But the most memorable moment of the night might well be Yorke’s “save” of the delicate song “Give up the Ghost”. While laying down the backing loops, Yorke looked across to Jonny Greenwood and punctuated the vocal track with the expletive “Aaaw Sheeeit” –  which then looped around every 8 bars for the rest of the performance. Apart from a fit of giggles, he played through to the end of the song to the delighted whoops and cheers of the audience. What a pro. Watch the video here:

 

Overall, it was an evening full of outstanding creativity, musicianship and showmanship, covering the spectrum from grungy indie guitar rock through EDM, and even Krautrock. If you ever have the chance to see Radiohead perform live, I highly recommend it, no matter your taste in musical genres.