Etikett: Death Cab for Cutie

A brief recap of the latest shows.

Dear reader,

My last post was a while and regarding me attending the Death Cab for Cutie show in Stockholm, late winter. Since then i have been to a few show, not many, but a few. And unfortunatley, i do not have any new upcoming shows booked.

Back in April i saw Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Berns Salonger in Stockholm, an old venue with a lot of cultural heritage. The show took place in a beautiful ballroom that helped create a fantastic atmosphere together with the magnificent and spacious music. The warm up act was a band called MANAS, they played music in a similar genre and it felt like a very fitting warm up act. This gig was very cool, and i am very happy that i catched them when they were in Stockholm!

A few days later in April, i was able to catch Arctic Monkeys when they played in Globen, in Stockholm. I’ve been a huge Arctic Monkeys fan since i i first heard Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not back in 2006. However, i haven’t ever been able to catch them playing live. When the tickets to this gig was first announced, i lucked out and wasn’t able to get any tickets, and this bummed me out. However a few days before the gig the promoters announced that they had found a few more tickets, and i managed to snag a ticket on the floor.
This show was fantastic. Arctic Monkeys last two albums has been met with a wide variety of reactions and the feedback has been ranging from bad to excellent. I think their last two albums has been cool. I love when bands shake up what they are doing, and try to evolve as bands over time. If i don’t like their new releases, i can always fall back on their old content. For this show, the mix of new songs and, old songs was nicely weighed. I missed a few songs that i would’ve liked to hear – but, since this was a show promoting their new album, i was positively surprised of the mix of new and old.

Mid May, a friend and i, on a whim went to see BORIS and Pupil Slicer when they were playing at Debaser in Stockholm. Debaser is a good venue, they host a lot of smaller acts and the venue is located under a road, and the venue itself is a bit rough and sparesly decorated. A couple of years ago i saw the danish band Iceage play at Debaser, and i fell in love with the venue.
As for BORIS and Pupil Slicer, i had no real knowledge about them, and i had at most heard a few songs from BORIS completely randomly – Pupil Slicer on the other hand, i had never heard anything from, or about them, either. They play a very different type of shows, but some of the music have some overlapping. Pupil Slicer played a hardhitting and rough metal set, and it was great! BORIS played a very, very hard set, that was very theatrical! I did enjoy this set very much!

Early June i went to Rosendal Garden Party on Djurgården, in Stockholm. As soon as they announced that Aphex Twin would be headlining the saturday, i got myself an early bird ticket, not knowing any other act that might play. Later, closer to the event, Rosendal announced that Fever Ray would be playing aswell, on the same day as Aphex Twin – i was thrilled, let me tell you! I’ve been a long time fan of Karin Dreijer, since the The Knife days.
It was a beautiful sunny, yet cold day outside in Stockholm. Fever Ray played the slot before Aphex Twin and they put on a great show, playing a bunch of songs from their latest album.
The headliner of the night was Aphex Twin, and this was his first concert in Sweden, ever! And you noticed that it was a special thing – comparing the crowd from last years Rosendal Garden Party, the crowd was way more international this year, as well as there was a lot of swedish musicians and people in the cultural sphere.
I had no idea what to expect from Aphex Twin, and i was completely mind-blown. He played very few of his own songs, and it was mostly a HARD electronic set, with an insane light show, the craziest i have seen. There was some parts he played that sounded like Aphex Twin, but that i haven’t heard before – which leads me to believe that there are new releases coming in the near future! Since the gig he has released an EP that was really cool. Hopefully we can get a full album soon. It’s already been 9 years since SYRO was released.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT

Asphalt Meadows – Death Cab For Cutie

This past friday, the 16th, Death Cab for Cutie released a new album, that’s called Asphalt Meadows. I fell in love with Death Cab for Cutie 16 years ago, when i heard their song Soul Meets Body off of their 2005 album Plans, when someone put that song in a video montage of a player versus player video of the computer game World of Warcraft. Can’t remember what video, or who made it, but hats off to you, for introducing Death Cab for Cutie to me.

This american rock band has put out a lot of music since their debut in 1997. Asphalt Meadows is a 11 track album, that stretches over 42 minutes and 5 seconds. And my impressions are that this is an album that sounds very much like a Death Cab for Cutie-album. Some songs that are very gentle and downtempo, some songs that features gentle parts with temposhifts and some songs that goes a bit harder than the other songs, with lyrics that are sung a bit harsher, with an overall tempo that is paced quicker than other tracks.

And this formula is what Death Cab for Cutie is known for, tempo-shifting songs, beatiful lyrics with the angelic voice of Ben Gibbard, that is tightly knit into a package with the help from the very instrumentally strong support from the rest of the band. And this is both a strenght and a weakness from Death Cab for Cutie. You get what you expect, it’s very tight and efficient, but you don’t ever get surprised by a release from them. And i assume that this is what has kept them in the game for so long. The fans, me included, always know what we’re going to get, and it’s often, nearly always, very good. However, i would like to see some experimenting, as i believe that they’re competent enough to make a lot of different genres work. And, you can always fall back and listen to Ben Gibbards other band The Postal Service, that in all honesty sound a bit like DCfC, but it’s also very good.

All in all, to round this text off. I like this album, a lot, i think it’s good, and it will be heavily rotated by me. Have you given it a listen? If not, give it a chance!

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.