M.Ward

at Birchmere, 9/15/2006

The review in the Post (quoted below) covers the basics... The show was excellent. This guy has really found his voice, and is at the top of his game. He's got crazy skills with the fingerpicking guitar. He's a great singer. Not bad at the electric piano either. He's not much for banter and chatting between songs. The set was pretty much all business - just blowing through the songs with hardly enough time for his band to keep up. And they nailed it. Each song really came to life perfectly - the uptempo ones totally rocked, but with nice subtle touches which also transferred to the slower material.

There was much instrument swapping. Band consisted of M.Ward plus two guitarists who switched often among acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and electric bass, plus two drummers - one female who also did backing vocals, and one male who spent about half the show at the vibraphone, and half behind a drum kit (and one song at the piano). Funny, another band with two drummers... used very effectively, they did quite a bit of unison playing, but really for emphasis. At one point, a quick stream of steady 16th notes doubled by both drummers added a cool sounding layer of strange high harmonics.

One of the encores began with M.Ward solo, doing "I'll Be Yr Bird." Gorgeous. He changed the lyrics at one point - from "I'm not your chestnut, I'm not your mole" to "I'm no Vic Chestnutt, I'm no Bob Mould." A few of us old folks in the audience chuckled, and hopefully picked up on that as a local reference. The crowd was really quite strange - young, old, everywhere inbetween.

There are many reasons to dislike the Birchmere, and I'm happy to go on about many of them. For now, let's just complain about $5 for a 10oz. solo cup of beer. On the other hand, they have Shiner on tap. Mmmm. Also, sound was quite good and we got there a bit late, but still were able to get a spot right up front where we could see (and hear) very well.

If you don't know about M. Ward, you can watch the video of "Chinese Translation" on YouTube. And/or download the title track of his new album, Post-War, at Salon.com's "Audiofile."

From the Washington Post, Monday, September 18, 2006; C05

Shortly after M. Ward played "A Voice at the End of the Line" and "Poor Boy, Minor Key" at the Birchmere on Friday night, it seemed he longed to be a soft-rock troubadour. Then, back-to-back Daniel Johnston covers indicated he was bent on embracing the eccentric singer-songwriter model. Later, as he waved his band into a galloping trifecta ("Right in the Head," "Flaming Heart," "Four Hours in Washington") of indie rock, he sounded as if he could be the savior of that musty genre. But unlike the Ward of, say, five years ago, this hour-long set was far more than just a series of clever genre-hopping tricks: It was cohesive and stirring in the manner of an artist whose vision has crystallized.

Ward's artistic maturation isn't readily apparent on his discs; this year's "Post-War" is only sporadically excellent. But supported as he was Friday by a sympathetic band (a percussion-centric quartet featuring two drum kits) in a judicious investigation of his back catalogue, his live show was revelatory. His song structures suddenly made sense -- an aesthetic that equally values John Fahey, Fleetwood Mac and Sonic Youth. His voice buzzed uniquely -- an oddly rousing paste of John Fogerty and Popeye. And though the show wasn't perfect -- "Post-War's" title track was sluggish, and taking a second encore was unnecessary -- it was close enough to warrant a serious escalation in Ward's musical standing.

-- Patrick Foster

Beauty Pill

at The Black Cat (mainstage), 9/2/2006


An expanded Beauty Pill put on quite a show. They're up to six people now, including two drummers for most of the set. Aaron cracked me up by referring to them as the "indie rock Steely Dan." Not really a bad analogy... The band is driven by Chad Clark who happens to be a studio wizard who makes gorgeous recordings with very high production values, then the band is pulled together to realize the songs live. I'm not 100% certain about their creative process, so I'm assuming that's an oversimplification, but maybe not so far off?

Set seemed really short, but maybe I was just cranky after waiting so long (Soccer Team and Aquarium were fine, but seemed totally rudimentary in comparison with the headliners). Highlights included "Lifeguard in Wintertime," and "Prison Song" delivered by Jean Cook and a rippin' version of "The Western Prayer."

Devin Ocampo on drums = always rock solid. Chad Molter also on drums = sometimes overkill, but sometimes cool. With the large band, they're able to double lots of things, recreating some of the lush textures on the records. And another band in town featuring two-thrids of Medications... Ubiquitous is an understatement.

Excellent performance - really well put together and well executed. I think it's safe to say that this is one of the most sophisticated bands in DC. They operate, technically, on a level that most of their peers simply can't reach.

Photo by Flickr user goodgovernor.

Shellac

at The Black Cat (mainstage), 8/31/2006

Not sure where to start this one... If you're unfamiliar, the wikipedia entry about the band seems dead-on to me. They certainly sound unique - from Albini's very strange guitar sound (like a nasally chainsaw?), to the bad vocals, all delivered over-top the rock solid bass and drums. Their songs rely so heavily on repetition of short riffs (including nifty off-balance rhythms and odd meters), that they take on a certain kind of inevitability - and then when a small change occurs, it takes on great significance.

Todd Trainer (drums) really makes it all work. He's magnificent. When they're locked in together, it's quite a machine. And they didn't disappoint live. I think they sounded every bit as good as the records (which sound really good, in my opinion).

Bob Weston's bass tone (and playing) are perfect. His sound is full and heavy - but with no mud. Albini's guitar tone mystifies me - I'm not sure why he wants it to sound so shrill and tinny... but maybe so there's no guitar overlapping the bass guitar frequencies? His sound is certainly intentional, and getting past my own preferences, you can certainly hear every note very clearly - which has pros and cons. You can hear every flub and mis-hit note as well as the "right" ones. I can't quite figure him out. Some of the guitar lines seem quite difficult and he sails right through them perfectly, but other things come off as so sloppy? Maybe the slop has it's place too - since there's none to be found in Trainer or Weston's playing...

Unfortunately, they took several Q & A breaks that dragged on too long. Eventually, I found Albini's idiosyncrasies a bit tiring. So, I guess I have mixed feelings about the show. On one hand, they totally rocked. On the other hand, the show dragged at points (and an as-yet unreleased song, "Lulabelle" really didn't go anywhere). Maybe I'm just getting too old for club shows on weeknights?

Photo by Flickr user haydn sweterlitsch.