The Frame

Music Monday – Rilo Kiley In Concert Edition

On October 8, 2007

Do you know how many YouTube concert videos you have to look through to find ones that both look and sound decent? Lots. Many, many, many. But I think I have been mostly successful in order to bring you this (still grossly inadequate) approximation of last night. Thing to note. Amateur videos on consumer cameras DO NOT sound anything like as awesome as live sounds. Other thing to note–they are a pretty good visual approximation, since we were standing in almost the same place as most of these. Oh, and last thing to note–I did not take any of these, and none of them are actually from last night’s concert; but several of them are from earlier on Rilo Kiley’s current tour.

Grand Ole Party

This is actually a television show shoot, so the quality is better. But they messed up the drum placement–the three should be in a straight line. The song is called “Bad, Bad Man.”

Grand Ole Party – Look Out Young Son

MySpace

click the cover to go to iTunes; it isn’t available elsewhere until January

The Bird and the Bee

Last night, it was during this song, “I’m a Broken Heart,” that Inara George broke out the bubble machine. At this concert, she batted a balloon around a bit, but the bubble machine was cooler. Sorry people at that other concert.

And this is the video for the single “Again & Again,” which was probably my favorite of the songs they did. When she goes up for the “do it again,” it just sends shivers down my spine–love the ethereal tone.

The Bird and the Bee – Polite Dance Song
The Bird and the Bee – So You Say

click the covers to go to Amazon.com’s new MP3 store, which you should do because Amazon.com’s new MP3 store is awesome, DRM-free, cheaper than iTunes, and I’m so excited about it!

Rilo Kiley

By the time Rilo Kiley came on, I was exhausted. I’d been standing up for two and a half hours, and it was hot and crowded. But when they came out and Jenny Lewis started singing, it was all totally worth it, and everything was wonderful. If the concert videos don’t convince you how wonderful her voice is, and how perfect her stylings are, make sure to listen to the studio-produced recordings. Concert footage doesn’t always show tone quality, but the band also puts on a great show and I wanted to get that in here (which was why I was trying so hard to find passable videos).

“Moneymaker” is off the new album, Under the Blacklight, and they played it pretty early in the set. It’s really not much like anything else I’ve heard them do…but girls with guitars, I just gotta say. Good stuff. (The music video version is critiquing the porn industry, so while it’s a well-done video, I’ll leave it to your own judgment whether or not to seek it out on YouTube.)

“I Never” got probably the loudest, most sustained ovation last night. It was incredible, and deafening. Even Jenny was putting her hands over her ears! And they performed it pretty much exactly like this, only imagine about two solid minutes of applause and screaming before the crowd quieted down enough for them to play the next song.

And this is the video for the first track on the new album, “Silver Lining.” It may be more distracting than helpful as far as interpretation goes, but it is interesting to note that Jenny and Blake Sennett (the guitarist/singer who is also the groom in the video) used to date. And no longer do. But I don’t know if we’re supposed to read that into the song or not, and I don’t know the details. In any case, it’s a very pretty song and video both.

Rilo Kiley – With Arms Outstretched (from The Execution of All Things)
Rilo Kiley – Breakin’ Up (from Under the Blacklight)
Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight

click the covers to go to the regular Amazon CD store, because Rilo Kiley isn’t on the new MP3 store…yet…

Reasons Today Rocked (most of which involve Rilo Kiley)

By Jandy

On October 8, 2007

In Music

Met some interesting new people at church. Okay, this didn’t really rock that hard, but usually the greet-the-people-near-you part of the service (before the sermon) devolves into “hi, I’m ____, nice to meet you” unless I already sort of know the people near me. So it was nice to actually have a conversation.
Went to lunch with friends and had a caesar salad! I haven’t had a caesar salad for about two months, or salad at all really. I need a good salad once in a while, and the kind I try to make at home never turn out good.
Having lunch with friends for reasons apart from the caesar salad.
Almost spur-of-the-moment trip to Austin with other friends to see Rilo Kiley (tickets bought on Thursday, so it was planned, just not for long).
Introducing friends to Waterloo Records, which they loved as inordinately as I do. (Slight moment of suck encountered when I was unable to locate any of the supposed four copies of the Ingrid Michaelson CD they were supposed to have in stock–I find it rather interesting that a lot of the current crop of commercials that use indie pop songs are not very effective at getting me to by the product advertised, but are very effective at getting me to buy the CD with the song on it. Assuming I can find said CD.)
Suck caused by lack of Ingrid Michaelson CD countered by finding Sons and Daughters EP, which I have been sort of half keeping my eye out for since a friend sent me a mix with “Fight” on it.
Pulled pork sandwich at Stubbs! And being able to get to the bathroom without fighting my way through a room-full of partying people like the last time I was there.
First opening band Grand Ole Party, who none of us had heard of, and who rocked pretty hard. Most of the comparisons I’ve seen online tonight have been to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which I can totally see now that I think about it. At the time, the closest I could come was a young, angry Gwen Stefani while with No Doubt (there’s a similar use of vibrato). Anyway. The weirdest thing is earlier in the day, we’d been mentioning the fact that very few drummers are also lead singers. Well, the lead singer of Grand Ole Party is a female drummer, which is awesome on both the drummer-singer level, and the female drummer level.
Second opening band The Bird and the Bee, who I hadn’t heard of, but one of my friends highly recommended. And they were really good, too, but very different. Really whimsical, sometimes ethereal, and a bit gimmicky, but in a GOOD way. She had a bubble machine, folks. A bubble machine. It was awesome. They were so adorable, I wanted to pack them up and bring them home with me.
RILO KILEY. RILO KILEY. RILO KILEY. When I first got into Rilo Kiley I passed up an opportunity to see them open for Coldplay (a double temptation, because I really like Coldplay too, and at the time, they were probably my favorite band), because the tickets were mucho expensive and I didn’t have anyone to go with. This was much, much better. Three times cheaper, plus twenty feet from the stage instead of who knows how far back at the big St. Louis auditorium they were at, plus friends. It was a great show–not sure if it was as good as Snow Patrol back in March, but pretty darn close (and since that’s all I have to compare it to…). And even though they’re promoting a new album (which I haven’t heard enough yet to know all the songs), they still did my two absolute favorites from earlier CDs, as well as a pseudo-cover of one of Jenny Lewis’s solo songs, which was fun. I’m hoping to resurrect Music Monday from its couple of weeks rest to post a song or two from each band.

Grey’s is back…yay!…?

By Jandy

On September 27, 2007

In Television

I’m having a love-hate relationship with Grey’s Anatomy right now. And I need to talk about it. But after the jump, because it’s going to be spoilery for tonight’s premiere. Ooh, but first, I just want to point out that the Ugly Betty premiere was very close to perfection, and if you’re not watching it, you should be. Because it’s awesome, and I’m so glad that it’s awesome, because I need a show to love unconditionally while I’m ranting about Grey’s. (Actually, I also love The Office unconditionally, but I haven’t watched its premiere yet, because I was watching Grey’s.)

Buster Keaton Series at Webster University

By Jandy

On September 23, 2007

In Film

For those of you in St. Louis, Webster University is running a Buster Keaton Retrospective starting September 28th and running through October 14th. If Charlie Chaplin is the king of silent comedy with a streak of pathos, then Keaton is the kind of silent deadpanning. Both are incredible filmmakers, but laugh for laugh, I might actually have to give Keaton the edge. The General still stands as one of the greatest comedies ever made, silent or not. If you get the chance, you should try to get down to Webster and see some of these classics.

The General still

Here’s the schedule. All the features start at 8:00pm, and are accompanied by a shorter Keaton film; as a further treat, each is screened with live musical accompaniment, just like they would have been when they were first released.

Three Ages – September 28th
Our Hospitality – September 29th – I’ve seen this one and enjoyed it a lot, but it’s been a while; Northerner Keaton inherits a Southern manor home, only to be embroiled in a long-standing feud
The Saphead – September 30th (screens with Sherlock Jr., which would actually be the draw for me – Keaton is a projectionist drawn into the movies he shows)
Battling Butler – October 4th
The Navigator – October 5th
Go West – October 6th
Seven Chances – October 7th
College – October 11th – the view of college in silent films is always fascinating to me, whoever’s doing it; I don’t think I’ve seen Keaton’s version, but if you ever get the chance to see Harold Lloyd‘s The Freshman, it’s a lot of fun (Lloyd is the now-much-lesser-known third great comic of the silent era)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. – October 12th – Lots of great sight gags in this one, largely based around escalating natural disasters that Keaton narrowly manages to escape.
The Cameraman – October 13th – This one is a lot of fun, too, but then I’m always a fan of films set in the movie industry.
The General – October 14th – This is it, folks. If you ever only see one silent film in your life, ever, make it this one. Yes, even over Chaplin. Of course, you should also see Chaplin’s Modern Times, but it’s not showing at Webster right now, is it? So yeah. See The General. I only wish I were in St. Louis to see it myself.

Fall TV Planning

By Jandy

On September 15, 2007

In Television

The fall TV season is nearly upon us again, and I can’t wait! On the other hand, there are so many things I want to watch that I’m going to be overwhelmed within a few weeks. Thank goodness for DVRs, but there are still some timeslots that have three or four things I want to check out, and my DVR can only record two a time. (We’re not dealing with actually finding the time to watch all the shows…we’ll figure that out later.) Anyway, here’s what I’m looking at this fall. What’s everybody else watching? Anyone want to join me and Becky in chatting about the shows on YahooMessenger while we watch?

BTW, spoilers after the jump for all the returning shows I’m watching, especially: How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, House, Bones, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, and Desperate Housewives.