The Word
Several years ago I saw múm in New York City and very much enjoyed the show. It was glitchy and experimentaly, but the drummer was a machine and held it all together. No matter how noodly the others got with their wide array of instruments, the drummer was there to actually make music of it. I saw part of their show in Barcelona last year and was not as impressed. Though, to be fair it was 3:00 AM. I'm not sure if it came off as especially sloppy because they were so tired or because I was so tired. Nevertheless, I didn't feel bad not being able to see the whole show. I gave them a third shot in Austin this week.
Every time I go to Austin I like it less. As I stood waiting for the band to set up, the club decided it would be a fun idea to play a Manchester United football anthem album. Okay, one song is amusing, but a whole album? I guess they wanted to make sure we knew how clever they were being.
Once the show started, this place whose sound people keep telling me is good had trouble controlling the feedback. I expect that for the first couple songs, but it was a consistent problem throughout the show. That's bad for quiet music because it ruins the mood. There's nothing like an errant squeal to prevent the appreciation of something that may have been beautiful. To be fair, there were seventeen open mics (I counted), so it wasn't an easy job. But this is the live music capital of the world, right? You would think with that kind of hubris they would have soundmen who are up to the challenge. We're not talking empty concrete room here--this place was well peopled and paneled in wood.
And then there was the crowd. During múm's performance, the loudest cheers came when the singer did a stumbling shimmy that approximated dance--because, you know, that's cute. And that sort of thing goes over huge in Austin. I blame Calvin Johnson for initiating this phenomenon. May he be forced to suffer hours of the painful warbling of the cat-eye set whom he has inspired. Just when I had settled in and begun ignoring the problems around me, the members of múm joined hands and took a bow. It was over. So, of course, it was time for more soccer fight songs--just in case you missed how clever it was the first time around.
How was the music? It was better than Barcelona. A festival, with its myriad of distractions is bad for this type of music, but it turns out that sometimes even small indoor venues present their own set of problems. All that aside there were definitely some lovely moments and the drummer is still a machine. All the crazy, glitchy beats which sound like they can only come from programmed drums are actually played by a human. He wasn't all that cute though, so he went mostly unappreciated.
In other news, it seems Roger Waters has some inside information on U.S. foreign policy.
And also this.
Every time I go to Austin I like it less. As I stood waiting for the band to set up, the club decided it would be a fun idea to play a Manchester United football anthem album. Okay, one song is amusing, but a whole album? I guess they wanted to make sure we knew how clever they were being.
Once the show started, this place whose sound people keep telling me is good had trouble controlling the feedback. I expect that for the first couple songs, but it was a consistent problem throughout the show. That's bad for quiet music because it ruins the mood. There's nothing like an errant squeal to prevent the appreciation of something that may have been beautiful. To be fair, there were seventeen open mics (I counted), so it wasn't an easy job. But this is the live music capital of the world, right? You would think with that kind of hubris they would have soundmen who are up to the challenge. We're not talking empty concrete room here--this place was well peopled and paneled in wood.
And then there was the crowd. During múm's performance, the loudest cheers came when the singer did a stumbling shimmy that approximated dance--because, you know, that's cute. And that sort of thing goes over huge in Austin. I blame Calvin Johnson for initiating this phenomenon. May he be forced to suffer hours of the painful warbling of the cat-eye set whom he has inspired. Just when I had settled in and begun ignoring the problems around me, the members of múm joined hands and took a bow. It was over. So, of course, it was time for more soccer fight songs--just in case you missed how clever it was the first time around.
How was the music? It was better than Barcelona. A festival, with its myriad of distractions is bad for this type of music, but it turns out that sometimes even small indoor venues present their own set of problems. All that aside there were definitely some lovely moments and the drummer is still a machine. All the crazy, glitchy beats which sound like they can only come from programmed drums are actually played by a human. He wasn't all that cute though, so he went mostly unappreciated.
In other news, it seems Roger Waters has some inside information on U.S. foreign policy.
And also this.
2 Comments:
#8 kills me!
I really liked Mum at Barcelona, much more engaging than I expected. If that was a bad show, I can't wait to see a good one.
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