Jam of the day: "Rag to a Bull"

Artist: Mariage Blanc
Song: "Rag to a Bull"
Album: Mariage Blanc
Released: November 16, 2010 (nationally), October 8, 2010 (Pittsburgh)

Come on out to the Brillobox tomorrow (Friday) night to catch Mariage Blanc playing some tunes from their new, self-titled LP. There's a cover story in this week's City Paper that details the technical struggles the band overcame to even release this album, in addition to the differences between this and their previous release, the Broken Record EP, in terms of instrumentation, collaboration, recording style, etc. It's a good read; check it out and kudos to Andy Mulkerin for his writing. Local musician extraordinaire David Bernabo also posted a slick-as-all-hell review of the album on his blog; check that out here.

So what's my take? This album is well thought out, perfectly planned, and rewarding upon multiple listens. There's something about the way that the guitar layers play off each other without devolving into chaos nor predictability, and the way that the subtle drum beats drive the novel lyrical constructions that just makes the whole thing incredibly listenable. I was lucky enough to snag an advanced copy of the files for this one (thanks Josh!) and have listened to it every other day for the last couple of weeks striving to find something meaningful to say about this record; it's not broken, for sure, yet it's not earth-shattering. I don't know what else to say except that it's really, really good. It has literally left my speechless in the sense that I can't describe it to you in any meaningful way; I'd much prefer to share a set of headphones with you, spin this record, and stare at each other the whole way through as we nod our heads and say, "Yeah, I dig this." Apologies for being entirely inarticulate about it, but you should really blame Mariage Blanc for that. And you should do that in person, tomorrow night. See you there.

This particular track exhibits the kind of lyrical talent I was referring to above, as well as the switcheroo from softish, keyboard-led chamber pop to some solid guitar- and bass-driven melodies. It's delectable either way.

Concert review: Mariage Blanc, Meeting of Important People, All Tiny Creatures

Mariage Blanc, Meeting of Important People, All Tiny Creatures
Saturday September 4, 2010 at Brillobox
with Leigh, Paul, Lisa

If Meeting of Important People play in town, I am definitely there. It seems like others around Pittsburgh agree with that, since it's always crowded no matter where they play, and this show was no exception. If there are other interesting bands playing, as well, I'll check them out. It seems like others around Pittsburgh don't necessarily agree with that, since the room tends to be far emptier before and after MOIP's set, and this show was no exception. Ahhhh, parallel constructions; they're my least unfavorite literary device, right up there with litotes and semicolons.

I had never heard of All Tiny Creatures and didn't know what to expect. The stage was pretty crowded, with 5 band members and plenty of synths and pedals and equipment, including an Apple laptop. Interestingly, the non-singing bassist was placed front and center while the two guys playing guitar/vocals were on either side, with the drummer and synth/laptop operator towards the back. Their songs were atmospheric and ethereal in effect, mostly, and it seemed like I could easily put them on and lay down on the couch for a strange, trippy nap. Every once in a while, a plunky little keyboard melody or some reverb-laden vocals would puncture their soundscape, but for the most part it was droning guitars and bass and synth with driving drums, building an atmosphere and pulling you into it. This made it hard to tell when their songs officially "ended", save for the bassist looking to the crowd and smiling knowingly, prompting a smattering of applause. Their set ended abruptly on an upnote, a fitting end to some long, swirling jams. I really dug it, and ended up buying their Segni EP on beautiful white 12" vinyl. The blurb on the sleeve mentions that band member Thomas Wincek is also a multi-instrumentralist in Volcano Choir, a side project of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, who also contributes vocals on All Tiny Creatures' upcoming LP. Sweet, looking forward to that.

MOIP played next, interestingly; I expected them to play last since they were listed as a headliner on the bill, but I suppose some people tend to skip out before the end of the show. I definitely noticed that the Brillo's upstairs was totally packed for this part of the show, but rather spacious for the other two bands' sets. I've written about their live shows so many times before that I realized I'd have little to add in this review and instead focused my attention on jotting down the set list. This turned out to be more difficult than I imagined it would be, since they played a couple of new songs (yipee!) that were unnamed. So anyway, here's the list with a descriptor or two for the unnamed ones:
1) Nothing's Goin On
2) Leaving Here (orig. Eddie Holland, also covered by The Who)
3) Brittney Lane Don't Care
4) Innocents Abroad (new, Josh says it's their "Pitchfork song" haha)
5) I Know Every Street In This Town
6) Big Muscles (with backup vocals from Nik Westman who was in the crowd)
7) Single Girl, Married Girl (orig. The Carter Family) [acoustic]
8) Hanky Church [acoustic]
9) Pretzel Rod Blues (Riff Song)
10) Love (I think, at the very least they said that word like 40 times during the song)
11) We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (orig. The Animals)
12) Training Song --> lead into...
13) --> Dead Man
14) One O'Clock
I thought it was funny that Josh kept offering to buy drinks for anyone in the crowd who works for the Carnegie Museums, and that those people in the crowd kept yelling out "Miller!" to the drummer. Also, I think I kept hearing the name Cyndi Lauper in the lyrics of the "Innocents Abroad" song; maybe it's about her? Or maybe I completely misheard...

Mariage Blanc played last, and we stuck around until the end, although many others didn't. Sobeit. I've seen them before and they're all well and good, but it's honestly really tough to follow a MOIP set. Their songs are pretty solid and they sound good on album, but the live show is not overly exciting or engaging. They played a song or two from their previous EP (free download!) and a bunch from their forthcoming album. I'm looking forward to hearing that one, since I think the carefully-crafted arrangements and instrumentation will come across far better on recording than in a live setting, particularly at the perenially-chatty Brillobox.

All Tiny Creatures
MySpace, website, Twitter, Facebook
Live song at the Kitty Kat Club, Minneapolis
Live songs at Hopscotch Music Festival, September 9, 2010
Blurb about "An Iris" on P4k

Meeting of Important People
MySpace, website, Twitter, Facebook
Fascinating interview with lead singer Josh Verbanets from the guys at Draw Us Lines.

Mariage Blanc
MySpace, Twitter, Facebook

Concert review: Cymbals Eat Guitars, Mariage Blanc, Big Hurry

Cymbals Eat Guitars, Mariage Blanc, Big Hurry
Monday May 3, 2010 at Brillobox
with Lisa, Deepak, James

Loud Quiet Loud is not just the name of a movie about the Pixies; it's also a perfectly apt description of this show, in more ways than one. The first of the openers, Big Hurry, played a loud and dance-worthy set of tunes with their signature punk/synth/jam rock sound smothered with lead singer Kelly's soothing yet urgent vocals that seem to be beamed in from an overhead satellite. I've seen them a number of times around town, and they seem to keep getting better. The second opener, Mariage Blanc, wasn't exactly quiet, but their indie chamber pop stylings were markedly different from the other two bands. Their stage presence was much more polished and confident than what I remember from the last time I saw them, and they supposedly have a full-length album in the works and almost complete.

Cymbals Eat Guitars played last and they themselves rode the loud-quiet-loud wave like pros. Most of the songs were from their debut album, Why There Are Mountains, except for a couple of songs that the singer noted were new (but unnamed, as far as I know). One of the more striking elements of their album is the ability to switch from interludes of soft strumming and hushed vocals to frantic string-shredding and yelling, but equally compelling is how those big bangs of sound don't feel forced or loud-for-loudness'-sake but rather exuberant and perfectly-placed. The live show was no different. The crowd fell quiet (for a Brillobox crowd, at least) at the right moments and alternately rocked out when the loud parts stormed in, which was quite often. The band even offered free earplugs at the beginning of their set, and I should have taken their offer. Oh well. I also found a link on the band's
website to this blog post referring to lead singer Joseph D'Agostino as the “sweatiest front man” around. I concur.

Review by PGH Music Report featuring videos from the show
Review by SITKOT, with a shoutout to Big Hurry's awesomeness
"Wind Phoenix" live on KEXP
"And The Hazy Sea" live at Brooklyn's Northside Festival (amazing guitar solo)
"Cold Spring" live at Pitchfork Festival 2009

Concert review: Bear in Heaven, Freelance Whales, Mariage Blanc @ Brillobox

Bear in Heaven, Freelance Whales, Mariage Blanc
Saturday January 16, Brillobox
with Lisa, Robert, Jessie

This was a really good show, overall. Each of the three bands was enjoyable, energetic, and happy to be performing music for the Pittsburgh crowd. As always, the Brillobox crowd was way too fucking chatty, and I remember being momentarily impressed when Freelance Whales managed to lull everyone into a relative silence towards the end of one of their songs.
Specifically, I was very impressed with the drummer for Bear in Heaven; he was proficient, played fast notes with no apparent effort, and played very loudly. But most significantly, he performed with a lucid, loose, flowing, organic manner that made it seem like the music was flowing out of him and not like he was a human metronome (which he was). Also, the constant lineup changes during the Freelance Whales set would perhaps be overwhelming or annoying to some (like Jessie, as she pointed out during the car ride home) but I was thoroughly impressed by it. Plus, the bass player (well, primary one, at that) was carried onstage via a piggyback ride from the guitar player. Who doesn't love that? It seemed like they were incredibly excited to be onstage playing music the whole time, and that energy got fed right to the crowd. Their songs included 5 part harmonies and bowed guitars, which is awesome. Mariage Blanc was fun and melodic. I feel like they weren't entirely confident onstage, but that comes with time. All of their riffs and melodies were catchy and fun sounding, and everyone seemed to be quite skilled at their instruments.
Oh, I think we're deaf now, too.

I think I'm going to try to always post links to youtube videos of bands playing live so that you can get a better idea of what I saw. Enjoy.

Bear in Heaven live
Freelance Whales live
Couldn't find video of Mariage Blanc, but here's their first album available for free download.