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indie-snob>+!#
Azure ray @ the abbey (3-9-04)
With the elected, neva dinova, consafos |
 How much do I love that Saddle Creek-related bands all tour together? A lot. It gets a lot of the bands I want to see down with one shot. I had been dying to see Azure Ray. They tour a lot, landing opening spots for Crooked Fingers or going on the same bout as Now It's Overhead, but every time they come to Chicago, it's 18+. But after my success at the Rilo Kiley show, I figured: hey, let's try this again. So, I took both my mom and my dad out to the Abbey for what I figured would be pretty much a surefire hit with older audiences such as my parents. With Azure Ray, it's hard not to be captivated by the harmonies of the more clear-voiced Orenda Fink and the sultry Maria Taylor. On stage, they look like the perfect match–both fair-skinned with dark hair–however they have two very different musical personalities. And, as with any largely band where the voice stands out more than anything else, it's hard not to pay attention to these two emerging beauties. I picked up the Consafos album sometime around January or so, shortly after it came out. I thought it was a fine attempt, but was thoroughly unimpressed with it. The lyrics were cute at best, but more weak attempts at something in the general Omaha David Dondero/Simon Joyner style. "I carved our names into the tree / so deep that it would bleed" opens "The Only Ones," one of the more stand-out (but not necessarily better) tracks on their EP, The Way of Things. After that, I had trouble listening through, but found relief in the untitled bonus tracks of the album. Live, however, something stood out about the band. On the EP, I found the soft-voiced female singer to get on my nerves, too self-conscious to have much effect and too quivering to deliver much of anything meaningful. Seeing them perform, though, led to the decision that the band was more endearing than anything else, trying to survive as a Chicago band without the help of the Saddle Creek labelname behind them (except, they are on Greyday Productions, which also features Head of Femur, another strongly Saddle Creek related band with members of Bright Eyes, Lullaby for the Working Class and Mayday). One of the more interesting aspects of their live performance was the mandolin, which brought more of a traditional folk feel to the music and kept my mind off the sometimes too ballad-like keyboards. I still am not quite sure what to think of Consafos, as the album did not particularly win me over, but their live performance was good enough. Perhaps new material shall find them in a more musically familiar place (I would hate to say inexperienced, as the average age of the band was probably nearing to mid-thirties). Grade: B-  Consafos When Neva Dinova opened for Cursive at the tiny Fireside Bowl here in Chicago two and a half years ago, I liked them more than I liked Cursive. Which, on that night wasn't hard, as the Fireside (which is a bowling alley and not exactly the best for acoustics) severely damaged their sound, whereas Neva Dinova sounded better echoing through the open space. Even though I bought their album that night, I found it difficult to listen to them once again. Nothing really struck me quite as it had that night, and even when I saw Jake Bellows (lead singer of Neva Dinova, who also features members of the Good Life) open for Rilo Kiley, there was a large part of me that was left unaffected by his set, even though he's extremely talented. So when I saw the band this time around, I was a little surprised. Armed with dozens of pedals (every member has somewhere from 5-10 it seemed like), the band created a tremendously rich soundscape without any changing instruments. However, I was surprised to hear a lower quality of songwriting than I've noticed in some of Jake's solo work (take "Trapped in a Hole" off of his split with Bright Eyes, One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels, which is easily better than any of Conor's work on the album). At times, Neva Dinova became a bit droning, but in a true shoe-gazer style. It was, what I call with ease, space rock: mellow, but loud and complex, Grade: B-  Jake Bellows of Neva Dinova On Rilo Kiley's records, I had tended to ignore the songs that Blake Sennett sings; Jenny has always had the more consistent folk troubadour wail. But after hearing the Elected, Blake Sennett's solo project (along with a Jason from Rilo Kiley on lap steel and two other friends), I appreciated his work a lot more. His Rilo Kiley songs are quiet and very inspired by traditional folk music. At the core, the Elected is no different, except for the PowerBook on stage delivering Dntel-style drum loops. This more experimental approach Blake takes seemed instantly successful, as songs like "Go On," "Greetings in Braille" and "7th September 2003" are some of the best songs I've heard in all of 2004. While the Elected seems more like an experienced band rather than a simple project, admittedly Blake wrote all these songs on his own in the past and remains at the forefront of the band. However, it was easy to tell that the band was hot of the press, as their set was filled with mistakes, false starts and feedback. "Go On" was not even possible to play due to the problems they had with it in the past. What was interesting about the set, though, was that Blake came out in a gas mask with the house lights turned off and only the red bulbs the set up on stage on. It was, at very least, an amazing effect that seemed to suit the band perfectly (even if it made for horrible pictures, with or without flash). Despite their problems, I found their set to be amazing and truly hope that another tour and album will come, but find that quite doubtful. So, for those who did get to see the Elected on this tour, aren't we lucky? Grade: A-  Blake of the Elected in his gas mask When Azure Ray came on stage, the room went silent. Even at the Abbey, which seems to be filled with drunken 20 and 30-somes, no one said a word, as the incredibly soft music of Azure Ray came pouring out in each heartfelt, depressing lyric. I mean, really, if you don't find Azure Ray depressing, then something's wrong with you. There were times during the winter when I would hide in my room, listen to Azure Ray, and get really really depressed. Seeing them live, however, brought a far different feeling for me. In this setting, I found Azure Ray to be delightful and comforting, and in their graceful opening with "Displaced," I felt some sort of retrospection. A lot of what makes Azure Ray's music different on the album seemed to be gone for this show, the soft backbeats and electronic aid that began to be used after Burn and Shiver were instead taken care of by the traditional drummer, making tonight's set a more traditional approach for the band. The more powerful songs like "November" and "If You Fall" were a bit dulled down and produced more even-tempered results. In a way, the set was one big lullaby, but it certainly didn't feel that way. I was a bit disappointed not to hear more from the band's self-titled debut and they stuck largely to the Saddle Creek released material, but it is understandable in the sense that that material is where the band currently is. To be completely honest, I was totally taken by surprise with Azure Ray. Songs like "We Are Mice" that would have put me to sleep before were this time thrilling. I absolutely loved their set: definitely a recommended band. Grade: A Azure Ray's Setlist: Encore: Related Reviews: |