I miss reading, I really do. Earlier this year, I tried my best to fit in a few pages on the bus or before class started. I enjoyed it so much but looking back on it, I don't know why I stopped. So this is my declaration that I will start again. And in the spirit of determination, here's a NYT list of the books of 2011.
Foreign Policy's "The Best 23 Books of 2011" also had a decent selection if you're looking for some non-fiction material. Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal definitely caught my eye from this list. Check it out.
Also, I <3 hyperlinks. Can't you tell?
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Modern Skirts (Review) : Musical hit; Performance failure
I love the Athens, GA music scene -- these are the bands that I prefer and have crafted my musical tastes. So I was excited when I was able to be back in town to catch one of my favorite Athenian bands -- Modern Skirts (being opened by a new band that I have been following: Easter Island). Here are my thoughts (new album and concert):
The Music: Yay!
"Happy 81" from MS's latest album Gramahawk is automatically one of the best tracks. It gets it right and hits you from the first play. It embodies peppy beat-catchy lyrics that make Modern Skirts -- the Modern Skirts. The album, as a whole, is better than the previous release (All of Us in Our Night -- only a few tracks worth mentioning -- "Chanel" and "Like Lunatics"). Gramahawk delivers more tracks that capture the uniqueness of MS. Overall: I'm satisfied with the album (was worried for a bit with the last...)
The Concert/Show: Nay.
Some shining light amidst an ultimate failure. It started great! The Skirts began by doing what they do best -- owning the stage with a variety of instrumental accompaniments. The crowd loved the drums being beat out on the floor; cello brought out for a few of the songs. I am drawn to the Skirts and their concerts b/c they are able to re-create time and again that feeling -- the one you get when your friends bring out their guitars and jam out. Pull a wool of intimacy around everyone. The music pervades into your body, and the drum beat resonates in everyone. It's familial, and you feel alright.
Sounds like a good start, right?
And then the show fell to failure. Props/dancers/abstract and artistic endeavors ensued making the audience lose focus. The song -- to be enjoyed and completely absorbed by all senses -- was lost amidst bad choreography, a very roughly practiced play-acting (in a very self-conscious manner that made it even worse), and just..............................
[Notice my Loss of Words.]
I was annoyed. People in the audience were upset.
I have been to concerts where "art" is incorporated into the show. You'll have the weird dancer shaking his fro; cardboard placed on the floor to stomp on (no kidding); and the like. This doesn't work for the Modern Skirts.
The allure of seeing the Skirts live is the performance of a band that makes it seem as if there is no real distance between those on stage and the people in the crowd. There is an intimacy between the band and its audience. This is the Skirts's appeal -- and which was absent. Instead, the feeling of alienation set in.
The familiarity of a usual Skirt concert was lost with all the extra bodies on stage who appeared to be in on some personal joke -- they were having a separate party with the audience left merely to watch. Now the band has drawn a curtain into who is In and who is left Out.
I would have left except that I have a strange loyalty complex and here was a band that I had seen/grown with and so I couldn't just walk away (not this time, at least). No one encored. I think some of the pubescent attendees liked the champagne being thrown at them towards the end when everyone on stage started dancing -- once again -- having their own party on stage. That's fine. It's fun, sometimes, to have one big send off. My advice: Just save it for one song and leave the music be.
How sad is it that I ended up closing my eyes for many of the songs so that I could attempt to capture that feeling of previous Skirts concerts and try to enjoy the music (and to avoid the distraction/horrible imagery/wrecked performance onstage)?
Disappointment. Sigh.
Highlight of the show: Easter Island (opening band I will write about later). And the couple of songs by Modern Skirts (left to their original appeal and absent the onstage party).
I love your music. Please change (back) the show.
The Music: Yay!
"Happy 81" from MS's latest album Gramahawk is automatically one of the best tracks. It gets it right and hits you from the first play. It embodies peppy beat-catchy lyrics that make Modern Skirts -- the Modern Skirts. The album, as a whole, is better than the previous release (All of Us in Our Night -- only a few tracks worth mentioning -- "Chanel" and "Like Lunatics"). Gramahawk delivers more tracks that capture the uniqueness of MS. Overall: I'm satisfied with the album (was worried for a bit with the last...)
The Concert/Show: Nay.
Some shining light amidst an ultimate failure. It started great! The Skirts began by doing what they do best -- owning the stage with a variety of instrumental accompaniments. The crowd loved the drums being beat out on the floor; cello brought out for a few of the songs. I am drawn to the Skirts and their concerts b/c they are able to re-create time and again that feeling -- the one you get when your friends bring out their guitars and jam out. Pull a wool of intimacy around everyone. The music pervades into your body, and the drum beat resonates in everyone. It's familial, and you feel alright.
Sounds like a good start, right?
And then the show fell to failure. Props/dancers/abstract and artistic endeavors ensued making the audience lose focus. The song -- to be enjoyed and completely absorbed by all senses -- was lost amidst bad choreography, a very roughly practiced play-acting (in a very self-conscious manner that made it even worse), and just..............................
[Notice my Loss of Words.]
I was annoyed. People in the audience were upset.
I have been to concerts where "art" is incorporated into the show. You'll have the weird dancer shaking his fro; cardboard placed on the floor to stomp on (no kidding); and the like. This doesn't work for the Modern Skirts.
The allure of seeing the Skirts live is the performance of a band that makes it seem as if there is no real distance between those on stage and the people in the crowd. There is an intimacy between the band and its audience. This is the Skirts's appeal -- and which was absent. Instead, the feeling of alienation set in.
The familiarity of a usual Skirt concert was lost with all the extra bodies on stage who appeared to be in on some personal joke -- they were having a separate party with the audience left merely to watch. Now the band has drawn a curtain into who is In and who is left Out.
I would have left except that I have a strange loyalty complex and here was a band that I had seen/grown with and so I couldn't just walk away (not this time, at least). No one encored. I think some of the pubescent attendees liked the champagne being thrown at them towards the end when everyone on stage started dancing -- once again -- having their own party on stage. That's fine. It's fun, sometimes, to have one big send off. My advice: Just save it for one song and leave the music be.
How sad is it that I ended up closing my eyes for many of the songs so that I could attempt to capture that feeling of previous Skirts concerts and try to enjoy the music (and to avoid the distraction/horrible imagery/wrecked performance onstage)?
Disappointment. Sigh.
Highlight of the show: Easter Island (opening band I will write about later). And the couple of songs by Modern Skirts (left to their original appeal and absent the onstage party).
I love your music. Please change (back) the show.
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