Pattern Is Movement | First Unitarian Church 2.27.08

I felt ancient standing among the crowd at the St. Vincent/Foreign Born/Pattern Is Movement show last night at the First Unitarian Church. Looking around I realized that I was 10-years senior (or more) to over half of the crowd, which pretty much filled a good portion of the room (Paul, this should make you feel really old, HA!). Shit, there was even an 8-10 year old kid in there who rolled right up front with his parents looking dapper in his suit and all. Must have been first communion, bible night, or some shit upstairs in the church and his parents decided to catch some of the show before heading home.

The “venue” itself is as churchy as church basements get – linoleum flooring, flourescent lighting, a backstage filled with those metal folding chairs and tables, and kid art hanging in the hallways. Stage lighting consists of dimmed incandescent bulbs recessed in the drop ceilings common to these sorts of spaces. Given the “sunday school/bingo night” feel of the place, it’s actually a pretty rad place to catch a show.

Pattern Is Movement was the main reason I braved the frigid weather last night and they were the first of three to take the stage. The classically train duo of Andrew Thiboldeaux on vocals and Chris Ward on drums were situated side by side on stage.

For a duo, the band has an incredible amount of energy and presence on the stage as Ward pounded on the drums with sweat flying and Thiboldeaux sang in an exaggerated tenor as he hammered away on the rhodes and mellotron. The resulting sound is unconventional pop music with weirdly phased rhythms and a bit of classical or theatrical flair in the way the vocals are delivered. This was my first time hearing most of the band’s new songs, so I can’t compare them to the recorded versions, but given the band’s unorthodox sound, their music flows and comes across extremely well on stage. Toward the end of their set, the duo unleashed a pretty kick ass cover of Radiohead’s “Everything In It’s Right Place,” pulling it off surprisingly well with just two people.

Pattern Is Movement is on tour now, making a stop at SXSW in support of their new album, All Together, out May 6th on Hometapes.

[MP3]: Pattern is Movement  ”Right Away”
All Together, Hometapes; 2008

Top 10 Wired Holga Photos

It’s ironic that Nghia sent me an email this morning about Wired’s ‘Top 10 Holga Photos.’ Over the weekend I picked up my Holga for the first time in months which still had a roll of film in it dating back to sometime over the summer. I haven’t been using it as much since getting my Lomo LC-A, which is great because it uses 35mm film and is much easier to work with than the Holga (and smaller too). Anyway, after picking up my Holga, I *tried* to turn the focus ring/lens and it was completely stuck. I was like “wtf!?” and had to hold the camera like a jar of pickles as I wrenched on the plastic lens. It finally gave way and then I realized why the damn thing was stuck in the first place – it was because someone (read: Nghia) spilled half of a beer INTO the camera over the summer. I couldn’t believe the thing was still sticky after cleaning it many times. The shutter was still a bit sticky too – oh well, good thing they only cost around $25.

Check out the Wired’s Top 10 Holga shots. Here (thx Nghia)

“The Day That No Birds Sang”

Favorite site Fecal Face has some horrific images and a personal account from photojournalist Lyle Owerko moments after the events of 9/11. These are truly intense and saddening photographs of that dreadful day. Here

NYC based photojournalist, Lyle Owerko, was one of the first photographers to the World Trade Centers on September 11th and captured some disturbingly intense photographs, one of which ended up on the cover of Time Magazine. These are his words and images of that horrible day.

[MP3]: Queen  ”Who Wants To Live Forever”
A Kind of Magic, EMI; 1986

A Sunny Day In Glasgow | Johnny Brenda’s 2.14.08

While the other contributors to this site were busy celebrating lovers day by romantically going to see Band Of Horses together (HA!), I took a different route and checked out Philly favorites A Sunny Day In Glasgow at Johnny Brenda’s.

It’s been an very long time since I’ve seen A Sunny Day In Glasgow live and I was curious to see how their live show had progressed over the last year or so. Now a four piece after vocalist Lauren Daniels moved out west, brother Ben shared vocal duties with Lauren’s twin Robin. The band played songs from Scribble Mural Comic Journal and their Tout New Age EP, which I was hearing for the first time live. It’s always difficult transitioning to a live show when a band has such a complex sound as ASDIG, but Ben Daniels and crew pulled it off quite nicely last night. Live, the band retains some of the complexity of the record, but overall it’s a sparser, louder affair. Sister Robin’s vocals are given a little more breathing room, while Brother Ben paints the room with a swirling effect laden reverby guitar all while maintaining a pop essence to their sound.

The band has certainly come a long way since their maiden voyage into live performance two years ago at Cake Shop. Head over to the band’s website to read about the CRAZY shit that happened after the show. ASDIG plays Cake Shop on February 22nd, which will likely be their last East Coast date for awhile.

[MP3]: A Sunny Day In Glasgow  ”Summerlong Silences”
Tout New Age EP, Notenuf; 2007

pic of the week — love park

[MP3]: Remote Islands  ”Philadelphia (Neil Young Cover)”
Cover; 2007
Catch Remote Islands tonight @ Johnny Brenda’s with A Sunny Day In Glasgow

pic of the week — dreams

Above pic via Eugenio Recuenco

[MP3]: Kristen Hersh ”Me and My Charms”
Hips and Makers, Sire Records; 2007

pic of the week — i have feelings too

Above pic via *christopher*

[MP3]: The Cinematic Orchestra ”To Build a Home”
Ma Fleur, Ninja Tune; 2007