Computer vs. Human: Metronomy at the Red Room

After Fool’s Gold dragged their show on for a little too long, Metronomy lit up the stage at the Red Room with chest lights and personality. The UK band had visited Vancouver last January and played a crazy show at the Biltmore Cabaret. This time, I was excited to see that they were playing at a venue that was constructed a little better for a concert but to my surprise, it wasn’t as packed as their last show. Considering it was a Tuesday night, it was impressive that at least the die hard fans showed up anyway.

They started the show with “Night Out Intro” and transcended it into “Heart Rate Rapid”, which was performed fairly well. My two favourite songs, “The End of You Too” and “Back on the Motorway”, weren’t performed as well as some of the other songs. I felt like songs from Pip Paine (pay back the £5000 you owe) and from the new EP, Not Made For Love, were performed better than songs from Nights Out. I know the band has recently acquired two new members and has decided to drop their computer as a live band member. But when I saw them in January, I felt like the computer did a better job on these two songs. It just seems like the band needs to practice some of their songs a little more.

Besides a couple songs that weren’t played that well, there were plenty that were played well. “You Could Easily Have Me”, “What Do I Do Now”, and “Holiday” were all played excellently. “What Do I Do Now” had a sweet live twist to it. Joseph Mount (vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist) talked to the audience a lot, which was nice. I always like it when the band speaks to the audience. He even invited everyone out to play pool with them at the end of the show. Mount also introduced the new, and old, members of the band while the beginning of “A Thing For Me” (the Breakbot remix) was playing in the background, which ended up transitioning into the original “A Thing For Me.” Very nice touch.

The band had those little push lights on their chests; the same push lights that appear in the “Trick or Treatz” video. These lights were synchronized with the beats of the music. I thought this was very cool, obviously.

I know I’m probably making it sound like the band needs their computer back asap but that isn’t really what I meant. Really, I just think they need to practice a little more. I really think the band will be phenomenal live once they all get on the same page. I still danced a lot and ended up sweating. And to be honest, that was the most I’ve sweated and danced in a long time. I remember the last Metronomy concert was the same; a nice sweaty dance fest. So besides my two favourite songs not sounding as good as I had hoped, the concert was still enjoyable for the most part.

Metronomy – You Could Easily Have Me

Not Made For Love EP

Like I blogged about earlier this month, Metronomy is coming to Vancouver (again) on Oct 13th! Tickets can be purchased at Scratch Records downtown.

I was lucky enough to hear their latest EP, Not Made For Love, before its official release date (Oct 5th). The EP has three original songs on it and four remixes of two of the three songs. The three originals (“Not Made For Love”, “Do The Right Thing”, and “What Do I Do Now”) maintain Metronomy’s abstract funky-electro style from their first album, Nights Out.

“Not Made For Love” is a sad song and speaks out to those short term lovers. “Do The Right Thing” is relaxing and makes me want to do exactly what the song entails. In “What Do I Do Now”, I love the crazy keyboard/computer-like notes. This one is a little more upbeat than the other two, which I really like. It’s mainly instrumentals (there are vocals but they are so computerized it’s hard to make out what they’re trying to communicate). I do like this attribute; I think it’s pretty cool. At the end of the song, the lyrics (“what do I do now?”) are made coherent and repeat until the end, which is a very nice touch to the song. “What Do I Do Now” makes me excited for what their future album is going to be like.

The remixes that follow the three originals are fairly good (which are produced by Joakim, Leo Zero, Wild Geese and Alalal). The Alalal remix stands out the most to me. I think it’s because it uses the elating synth-based peak of “Not Made For Love” throughout the entire remix, making it a little more upbeat than the original.

The band is moving away from having a computer as a live band member so they have gained two new members, a drummer and a bassist (their previous bassist left the band). I’m definitely excited to see Metronomy perform with four human members instead of three humans and a computer. I love computer incorporated music but there’s just something about having a real drummer that appeals to me more than having a computer drummer.

You can listen to most of the EP on the band’s myspace.

Made

Metronomy, my favourite band of last summer/fall, is releasing new music and coming back to Vancouver on October 13th. They are going to be performing in a slightly better venue than last time; The Red Room. It’s only slightly better because you can see everything that’s going on, unlike the Biltmore.

Apparently, the band is going through some changes so it will be interesting to see what they come up with in the near future. Their new song, “Not Made For Love”, will be officially released September 21st. For now, I have a remix by Astronomer, which is very good.

Metronomy – Not Made For Love (Astronomer Remix)

Into the Galaxy

This is an old remix but surprisingly, I haven’t blogged about it yet so here we go now.

The Australian band, Midnight Juggernauts, released their debut album in 2007, Dystopia. “Into the Galaxy” was the second single from this album. The original lives up to the title of the song very nicely; it’s all space-like. The British band, Metronomy, took this song and put their usual abstract, groovy twist on it.

Both are pretty awesome and should be part of your library if they already aren’t.

Midnight Juggernauts – Into the Galaxy (Metronomy Remix)

Midnight Juggernauts – Into the Galaxy

“G-L-O-R-I-A”

Oh, another Metronomy remix

“I heard she broke your heart again…”

We all know the wonderful song, “Heartbreaker” by Metronomy, and if you don’t, check out the video below.

The Norwegian artist, Diskjokke, has lined-up the lyrics and the instrumentals of this song very well. In the original, the beat is so groovy that the sad lyrics aren’t as effective as they could be; which is a good thing because it makes the song great for the dance floor.
The Diskjokke remix makes the instrumentals a little slower which helps them coincide with the lyrics a little better. This one wouldn’t be as good on the dance floor but it’s still a good rendition to listen to almost anywhere else. The beginning is the best part.

Metronomy – Heartbreaker (Diskjokke remix)

Metronomy – Heartbreaker

R-A-D-I-O L-A-D-I-O

Apologies for the tardy posts. To make up for it, here are three excellent remixes of Metronomy’s “Radio Ladio”. The first two are produced by a DJ duo called Radioclit. I personally like the Swedish remix more than the French one because it’s intensity is extremely increased, it’s turned into an instrumental (a very good one at that) and it makes me feel like I’m in a jungle. The French remix is also good. There’s a female response to the original which is pretty cool.

The third remix is by The Mae Shi. It breaks the song down and manipulates each section of it; making it just enjoyable to listen to the slight changes that were made.

Check ‘em out.

Metronomy – Radio Ladio (Radioclit Swedish Remix)
Metronomy – Radio Ladio (Radioclit French Remix)
Metronomy – Radio Ladio (Mae Shi Remix)

Metronomy and Fan Death – 01.24

Disregarding the intoxication of the Biltmore Cabaret, Metronomy and Fan Death played a sweet concert. Even though some audience members decided to intentionally let their drinks loose on the dance floor (which left us smelling like booze and sweat for the rest of the night), it added to the overall scene of the concert; out-of-control, stinky and drunk. Explanation of the side picture: thanks to the low ceiling of the Biltmore, I ended up only “successfully” taking pictures of the rambunctious crowd rather than Metronomy or Fan Death.

The bands:

Fan Death is a bigger Vancouver band than I had anticipated. Apparently, the lead singer, Dandi Wind, helped produce Metronomy’s video, “Radio Ladio”. She has also done some work with Lady Sovereign. Fan Death is also supposed to be playing at the Bourbon next week and Dandi Wind is playing at Pub 340 Jan. 30th.

When Metronomy took the stage, people started dancing on speakers, crowd surfing and walking on the ceiling (no joke). Half of the crowd was freaking out while the other half just stood there in disgust/shock/amaze at the freak-out session that was going on around them. Metronomy played well throughout the whole show but by the end of it, they seemed a little tired. They mentioned the Lil’ Wayne concert that was also happening the same night and joked around that they were going to play the song that made them famous, “A Milli” (which actually was Metronomy’s song called “Back on the motorway”; not one of the songs that made them famous).
Out of all the songs they played, I enjoyed “The end of you too” the most (which is an instrumental with around 5 different levels of intensity; trust me, it’s a good one).

So overall, it was a sweet concert full of an extreme amount of dancing. I wished the encore was more than one song (“You could easily have me”) but besides that, it was good and definitely worth $20.

Metronomy – The end of you too
Fan Death – Veronica’s Veil

Love is to share

“La Ritournelle” – a musical refrain that is regularly repeated throughout a song.

I’m going to give it to Tellier, he can come up with some pretty heart-breaking piano ballads; “La Ritournelle” being one of them. This song comes from his third album, Sessions (2006). It’s a long song which is a good thing; decent songs these days are too short, in my opinion.

Sébastien Tellier – La Ritournelle

And once again, Metronomy has proved to me that they can remix exceptionally well. This remix is good for when you’re not feeling the romance and you just wanna bust some funky moves. I also owe the discovery of this remix to my good friend, M-ilicious. Shout out!

Sébastien Tellier – La Ritournelle (Metronomy remix)

Back to Tellier, he WAS coming to Vancouver this year. According to his Myspace page, he was supposed to be coming to Richard’s on April 14. I don’t know why it was removed though.

Sweden wrap up

Stockholm, Sweden
I’ve been back in Vancouver for a bit now; still slightly off-balance and mentally exhausted. Considering my mental state here, I would say my trip to Sweden was very good. The great shopping, the amazing company, the interesting food, the Stockholm club full of 16 year-olds, the dirty streets of Malmö, the DJ lesson, the indie dance work-out, the candles, Christmas Day 2008, New Years Eve 08/09, the new music, the culture; are all entities or memories I will never forget.

Short music summary:

Travelling
Metronomy – The End of You Too

Gothenburg
Bon Iver – The Wolves (Act I and II)
As in RebekkaMaria – Yours Truly
Convoj – My Timekeeping Heart

Stockholm
MGMT – Time to Pretend (YouTube link)

Kristianstad
Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah (YouTube link)

Malmö
Hot Chip – Over and Over

5 Best Albums of 2008

I’ve decided to write one category which focuses on the five best albums (in my opinion) released in 2008. I have justified my list to myself by listening to all these albums once more and appreciating them again like I did previously in the year.

So here they are…

Best Five Albums of 2008:

Lykke Li – Youth Novels
Released: June 2008

Lykke Li was no doubt my favourite artist of the year. Her album, Youth Novels, was introduced to me by two of my favourite Swedes. Since then, I’ve posted six blog posts revolving around her.
This album, along with her performance and style, is innovative and irresistible. Even though she had a hard time starting out at first, I believe her motivation and passion have paid off and I think will continue to do so.

Lykke Li – Breaking it Up

Metronomy – Nights Out
Released: September 2008

This album was unexpectedly well-done. Via Hype Machine, I mainly focused on Metronomy’s remixes when I first started listening to them (which are usually always good). Then, I got a hold of “Heartbreaker” and became obsessed. I just recently listened to all of this album and I was very impressed. It takes its listener through scenes of medieval electronica to modern love-dance melodies. This album doesn’t appear to be on anyone else’s “end of the year” pieces but I think it definitely deserves a spot in my top 5 best albums of 2008.

Metronomy – A Thing for Me

Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
Released: May 2008

One of my close friends introduced me to Cut Copy’s second album, In Ghost Colours. This band has been frequently played at the clubs I attend which has made me enjoy their music even more because it’s ideal for dance parties of any type. This album will forever remind me of Vancouver now. Even though they hail from Australia, the Vancouver “scene” has submitted this album deep into its roots.

Cut Copy – Lights and Music

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Released: March 2008

Surprisingly, I discovered MGMT on the Canadian music channel, Much Music, when their song “Time to Pretend” was released as their first single in March. I immediately looked them up and discovered the rest of the album which I digged right away. Since the release of this album, MGMT’s fanbase has grown extremely.

MGMT – Electric Feel (Youtube Link)

Plants and Animals – Parc Avenue
Released: February 2008

I was introduced to Plants and Animals while listening to CBC Radio 3 (oh so Canadian). This band was short listed for the Polaris Music Prize and I had fate that they would win but unfortunately, they did not (though, Caribou was a fine choice anyway).
Parc Avenue has been a critically acclaimed album of this year. The acapalla arrangements, numerous instrumentals and nature-like lyrics supply this album with an original sound.

Plants and Animals – Feedback in the Field

Now, we’re ready for 2009!