For those of you who are not familiar with the Krautrock legends, NEU! was formed by Drummer Klaus Dinger and Guitarist Michael Rother in 1971, after they left an early, traditional instrument-based incarnation of Kraftwerk. Their spacey guitars and driving, machine-like rhythm, dubbed “the Motorik beat”, served as a blue-print for future generations of punks, space-rockers and electronic music producers.

Last Sunday, I headed to the Ibrahim Theater in West Philly for a rare night of live NEU! music presented by Hallogallo 2010 (surviving member Michael Rother on guitar and effects, Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth on drums and Aaron Mullan of Tall Firs on bass), in anticipation of hearing that now-classic “Motorik” beat live. The set was a mesmerizing and thunderous blast of refreshed ’70s NEU! material and tributes to Krautrock legends of yore, some of which could have served as soundtracks to Olympic footage or Sci-fi Thriller films. Brilliant, as expected.

Set list:

Hallogallo 2010
Neutronics 98 (A Tribute to Conny Plank)
Aroma Club B3
Deluxe
Veteranissimo
Dino

You can see photos from the Philly gig here and listen to a stream from their recent NYC show below:

(via WNYC)

The NEU! Vinyl Box Set is available now on Gronland Records.

Photos by Julie Drexler

Prior to its recent release, Laurie Anderson’s Homeland,  has taken on various forms over the years on the road and in the studio. In its current recorded state it’s a  political beast and a masterpiece of topical storytelling. In its live incarnation, it’s a minimalistic, humorous and often chilling experience.

On stage at World Cafe Live’s dinner theater this past Monday, Laurie was joined by bassist Bill Laswell and keyboardist Rob Burger, who also plays The Orchestron aka The Optigan, a vintage keyboard in which you insert optical discs containing sampled sounds (Burger discusses it in this interview.).  But unlike Anderson’s past performance art pieces, this show was all about the music. No background visuals. No interpretive dance. Just the players, the audience, and the music.

With violin, keyboard and laptop in tow, she led us through an ambient landscape layered with thematic stories of behavioral origins, current sociological constructs and alienation. The visual minimalism complimented the dark-natured, sparsity of the material and was often juxtaposed with satirical commentary courtesy of her authoritative and debonair alter-ego Fenway Bergamot (named by husband Lou Reed). Bergamot, who speaks in a creepy, authoritative voice thanks to Anderson’s infamous audio drag voice filter, poked fun and questioned modern-day issues like the BP oil spill and the economic collapse enducing welcomed waves of laughter from the audience.

These days it’s not often that an artist has the ability to mesh profound world issues with challenging, yet accessible music in such a thoughtful and entertaining way, but Laurie Anderson has done just that with her new album and its accompanying live show. This is smart music for smart people.

A one-of-a-kind , tour-only autographed version of the album with a fun, cheeky doodle.

Purchase Homeland now from Nonesuch Records and catch Laurie on tour.

by Nataly Morales

I knew Echo and The Bunnymen were quickly approaching retirement age, but I was not expecting to be the youngest person by 20 years when I attended their recent Philly show at the Keswick Theater.  A crowd sporting Dockers, loafers and budding baldness filled the venue with excited anticipation. Unlike my eager soccer-mom fan-mates, I was pessimistic about the concert.

I have seen elderly rockers perform before and have typically been let down by their shaky, winded vocals and their unenthusiastic performance, fearing that each strum of the guitar might be their last. I expected the same from the Bunnymen. This time I was dead wrong.  Time has not affected The Bunnymen’s talent or tamed lead-singer Ian McCulloch’s spicy personality.

The cocky front man fired commands at the aging audience between each and every song. “I don’t like yelping.  Shut the F*** up,” spewed McCulloch, after the set opener “Going Up”, from their 1980 debut album Crocodiles. And as the Volvo-driving, diaper bag-toting, daily vitamin-taking audience danced to “Book of Love”, not unlike my mother dancing in her living room, the front man shouted, “You are leaning on the stage. Maybe you are one of the band, but I don’t think so!” Sorry moms and dads, but this is still Rock and Roll and McCulloch is determined to prove it to you — even at age 50.

In attempt to ignore the comical insults plunging towards me in an incomprehensible English accent, I focused on the songs. When I heard the beginning chords of “Killing Moon,” I was definitely excited. Sure, most people my age know it from the Donnie Darko Soundtrack, but it is truly a brilliant song, no matter what the context.

Cigarette in hand and microphone to lips, McCulloch continued the evening with a mix of classic and new songs, giving their middle-aged fans and not-so-middle-aged fans exactly what they wanted. Everything was played precisely, carefully and with enthusiasm. Flawless instrumentation, clear-as-a-bell vocals and rocker-diva authority made for a pretty awesome show. I guess you are never too old to enjoy Echo and The Bunnymen.

Echo and the Bunnymen’s newest album, The Fountain can be purchased here.

Review + photos by Julie Drexler

This past Thursday Philly was blessed with the presence of two amazingly talented bands. Like an astronomical phenomenon that only occurs every 3 years, AIR is touring North America, and the infamous French electro pop duo hand-picked Los Angeles based artist AM to accompany them on tour.  As a huge fan of French electronic music, this was a highly anticipated show…

Tulsa-born and New Orleans-raised, indie artist AM set the stage for a night of cosmic melodies. With his electrified presence, AM seemed just as excited to be playing with AIR as the crowd was to hear them perform. The stripped down, three member band consisting of a vocalist/guitarist, keyboardist and drummer played a short, yet sweet set consisting of songs off their latest album Future Sons & Daughters. It’s hard to describe the exact genre of AM, but their uplifting set was like a mouthful of fruit punch pop rocks! They have this experimental combination of global sounds, folk-rock, pop, with a hint of funk. AM’s vocals were definitely the highlight of their performance -  “Self Preservation” was pitch-perfect. It was an ideal set to start the night off and get the crowd warmed up for some Frenchy flirtation.

Seeing AIR walk out on stage was surreal. The French duo consisting of Nicolas Godin and JB Dunckel were accompanied by British drummer Alex Thomas from Bat For Lashes and Badly Drawn Boy. Dressed in all white, Dunckel stood manning the synthesizers and gazing into the crowd with this presumptuous smirk, while Godin effortlessly rotated between bass, guitar, and synth. The duo performed a number of songs off their latest album Love 2, interspersed with some popular goodies from their previous albums.  Their performance was like a journey through space and they lifted the night off with “So Light is Her Footfall” and “Love”. In between songs, Godin amused the crowd by talking through a vocoder, which transformed his delicate French accent into a sci-fi robo voice. AIR left  the stage  to a robotic “Kelly Watch the Stars!” before returning for crowd-pleasing encore featuring “Heaven’s Light”, “Sexy Boy”, and “La Femme d’Argent”.

Overall, the night was a solid, spacey delight fueled by a French artistry not often seen here in Philadelphia.

More AIR photos and set list after the jump…

READ MORE

Review + photos by Julie Drexler

Let me start by saying I have never seen so many people in Philadelphia ready to bust a move. Call it a case of cabin fever from the snow that swept the city last week, but people were psyched to dance off that extra pent up energy. Over 1,000 people showed up to see Neon Indian and Memory Tapes perform their brand of psychedelic synth-pop this past Friday at Voyeur.

Read the full review (with pics + MP3s) after the jump…

READ MORE

On first, or even fiftieth listen, Phoenix may not strike you as a band that could whip a sold-out crowd into a frenzy, but that’s exactly what they did last night in Philly. Simply put, they killed it. (Full review, photos and setlist after the jump)

READ MORE

Kudos to Dead Oceans for putting these two bands on the same bill. Although I missed the majority of the opening band (members of Bishop Allen), I must say that just the combination of Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band’s indie-prog-math-insanity and Bishop Allen’s thinking man’s folk pop made for a great musical evening. Here are some brief thoughts on each band’s set, along with some cool photos shot by Walrus pal Tiffany Yoon

READ MORE

NY three-piece HEARTS REVOLUTION are a double-edged blade. Their 7″s are multi-layered, sometimes delicate, often intense head-rushes of electronic fury. On the other hand, their live show borders on hip-breaking, neck-snapping punk. I caught their adrenaline-fueled, sweat-soaked set last weekend and was thoroughly impressed. Check out some photos, courtesy of Walrus pal Don Vincent Ortega:

READ MORE

This past Saturday Baltimore’s Beach House opened for The Walkmen at Philly’s Theater of the Living Arts. I was unable to attend, but The Walrus’ good bud Laura Nunzi did make it out to the gig. She captured some awesome photos and relayed these comments…

READ MORE

On Saturday night I headed to JB’s to catch a set from local band Like A Fox, an engaging mix of Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev psychedelia and high-energy, post-punk guitars. In the 90s, lead singer Jay Laughlin and the much-hailed Lenola created low-tech spectacles on stage, covered head to toe in twinkle lights, gyrating around like human lite-brites. They were the coolest looking DIY shows I had ever seen…to this day.

For the release of their new album Where’s My Golden Arm?, LAF rekindled that Lenola aesthetic, albeit not AS intense, dressing their mic stands in a collage of twinkles and autumn-leafy goodness. Yep, the stage was illuminated, not only from the the glow of those golden bulbs, but also from the intensity of the band’s new songs. Filled with spacey keyboards, serene harmonies and guitars that intend on melting your face off one minute and warming your heart the next, the music sped down a path of light, bounced off the walls and headed straight into the subconscious.

READ MORE

With enough fog to simultaneously get you in the mood and suffocate you, Philly’s Human People, became the first band to ever take the stage last Saturday at the city’s newest venue Kung-Fu Necktie.

READ MORE

“Nooo requests!” shouted Colin Newman in his snotty, yet charming British accent halfway through the band’s blistering set at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia.

I thought to myself, “Wait, no requests? Boo! Ok, how about just playing my all-time favorite Wire song “The 15th?” Sure, up to that point, the set was a well-paced mix of old and new material (including songs from Pink Flag!), but I needed to hear THIS song.

READ MORE