The Pierces @ Webster Hall

Wednesday night I finally had the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands live - The Pierces. Opening for them was singer-songwriter Trevor Giuliani and a band that I love to watch live, Hymns. Sadly, I'm a bit short on time so this review is going to be very short.

Trevor Giuliani's music is relaxed but catchy. He has one of those effortless voices that is so pleasant to listen to and he was a good start to the night. Hymns were great, as I knew they would be - very rock 'n' roll, lots of energy, got the audience pumped. The giant American flag painted on the wall behind them made me realize how very Americana their music is. I can totally picture them playing in some smokey bar in the South in the '70s.

The Pierces were wonderful. They played most of my favorites (except for "Lies") and a new song or two. They had little synchronized dances or gestures that they would do together, which was cute. They're totally adorable and I loved both of their outfits. And they even slightly poked fun at their Gossip Girl appearance.

All in all a good show. I wish I had time to write more about it.

Wasting Your Town [mp3] - Trevor Giuliani (pre-order his album on mypace)
Streets Alone [mp3] - Hymns (iTunes)
Secret [mp3] - The Pierces (iTunes)

Lists lists lists

This is the time of year when music bloggers compile lists - best albums, best songs, best new artists, etc of 2007. But I'm not going to compile these lists because I didn't start doing this until July. So next year I will compile more extensive lists, but this year I will just rattle off a few albums from 2007 that I really liked in no particular order.

Awesome Albums from 2007
"Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge" - The Pierces (iTunes)
"The Reminder" - Feist (iTunes)
"Balance Between" - Ippazzi (iTunes)
"Marry Me" - St. Vincent (iTunes)
"im on to you - EP" - Ian Axel (iTunes)
"Baby 81" - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (iTunes)
"Kala" - MIA (iTunes)
"Don't Make Me Wait" - Locksley (iTunes)
"Random Spirit Lover" - Sunset Rubdown (iTunes)
"And End Has A Start" - Editors (iTunes)
"Get On With It - EP" - Shoot the Messenger (iTunes)

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Theme Thursday - Ennui

This week has been crazy, so I have been the complete opposite of bored, but I happened to have two songs in a row about boredom play at random on my playlist so I thought I would make that the theme for today.

First let me start out by saying that I first learned the word "ennui" from one of my favorite books, The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey. It is a "children's" alphabet book with a twist (I have a bit of a dark sense of humor...). Each page contains a different gruesome death. For example: "A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears." Each page also has a lovely illustration. And the page that fits the theme of the day: "N is for Neville who died on ennui."

Boring [mp3] - The Pierces - "Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge" (iTunes). This is a great, funny song that I think epitomizes the lives of certain celebrities/socialites/trust fund children today. I also feel like it epitomizes the attitude most hipsters today try to project. I've posted about The Pierces before (and I've posted the music video for this song) and I'm going to keep posting about them because I love them that much. "Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge" is seriously one of the best albums of 2007.

Speaking of hipster attitude... Predictably Sulking Sara [mp3] - Of Montreal - "Aldhils Arboretum" (iTunes). Love it. And I also love how in the Hipster Olympics, Of Montreal is one of the bands that the hipsters "discovered but have since sold out by becoming popular" and so they throw the record away.

It's Getting Boring by the Sea [mp3] - Blood Red Shoes - "Coming Back" (iTunes unavailable). This is a good dance song so I think I've posted it before, as well. But oh well.

Ok, that's all for today. Tata dahlings.

Theme Thursday - Masochism

A few things before I get to Theme Thursday. 1. Photos and a detailed description of The Mp3 Experiment 4 are up on Improv Everywhere's site. 2. I got to see a preview (or well, my friend called it a preview but according to their website, the play runs August 8th to September 9th, so I'm not sure why she called it a preview) of Shakespeare in the Park's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" last night. It was very enjoyable, despite the slightly chilly weather (but hey, it's no more chilly than most of the air conditioned theaters). And it didn't rain, so that's good. The second half of the play is definitely way better than the first half, so don't leave at intermission (I overheard a guy at a restaurant later saying he left at intermission because he was cold and I told him he missed out). I literally laughed so hard I cried. My favorite part (and I think everyone's favorite part) was the play-within-the-play. The only thing I didn't like was how much music they incorporated, particularly at the very end when they ended it with a boring song instead of just the monologues. The music seemed unnatural. It didn't quite fit and a lot of those actors aren't singers, so it didn't even really sound that great. For the most part the acting was great, although I didn't like the way Mireille Enos overplayed the role of Hermia. I'd have to say my favorites were the workers-turned-actors (who put on the play-within-the-play toward the end). They were all such characters and cracked me up every time they did anything. A word of warning to you if you go though, you have to get in line for tickets (because they're free) by about 7am even though the box office doesn't open until 1pm. I tried to go to Romeo and Juliet but I got there at like 9:30am and was already way behind the cut-off point. Luckily I got these tickets through a friend, so there was no waiting in line involved (I love theater but I am not about to stand in line - or "on line" as New Yorkers like to say - for 6 or so hours). Anyway, now on to Theme Thursday.

Since nobody gave me any suggestions, and since I did sadism last week, I thought I would make this week's theme masochism. Music for Masochists? Yay aliteration. This one should be a lot easier. As I said before, a lot of songs about unrequited love have a certain masochistic undertone.

Let's start with a classic 90s pop song: Love Fool [mp3] - The Cardigans - "First Band on the Moon" (iTunes). This song and I have a sordid (and masochistic) history and so it was the first one I thought of. It's so catchy and upbeat, despite it's rather depressing premise. Maybe this song doesn't seem masochistic to everyone else, but staying with someone you know doesn't really love you is pretty masochistic in my book.

Another upbeat-sounding song: Again and Again [mp3] - The Bird and The Bee - "The Bird and The Bee" (iTunes). This song's masochistic undertones are more subtle. But the lyrics have that sense of repeating mistakes because you just can't help yourself and it hurts but you can't get enough of it. Lyrics: "You're so stupid and perfect and stupid and perfect. I hate you, I want you, I hate you, I hate you. Again, again, again." I'd say it fits.

Mama Mia [mp3] - ABBA - "ABBA Gold" (iTunes). This song is the epitome of that whole "not letting go when you really should" thing I have been describing this whole entry. This one's pretty upbeat too. Why are all masochistic songs so upbeat? Strange, right?

Kill! Kill! Kill! [mp3] - The Pierces - "Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge" (iTunes). I don't know if this song is so much masochistic as just about not being able to get over someone. But I'm totally obsessed with The Pierces and have been looking for a excuses to post about them again. Seriously people, "Thirteen Tales..." is definitely on my list for best albums of 2007. Listen to it. Love it.

My Man (Medley) [mp3] - Regina Spektor - "Live at Bull Moose" (iTunes unavailable). I'd say this one fits the theme best so far. "My man don't treat me right... but he loves me, he loves me, he really really loves me..." And hey, this one's not so upbeat either.

Ok, that's all for today. Leave theme ideas for next Theme Thursday! Tata dahlings.

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Music that "Pierces" my heart

I just found out that one of my favorite bands of the moment, The Pierces, are opening a show for Suzanne Vega tomorrow at the Highline Ballroom. I'm debating whether or not to go, as it costs $30, I am broke, and since they're the opener they may not play that many songs.


The Pierces are two sisters from Alabama, Catherine and Allison. I would try to describe their musical style, but I couldn't do it better than they did on their myspace so I will simply copy and paste: "like a fever induced, gypsy dream that you have after drinking too much red wine while listening to a cabaret singer in a southern speakeasy that is run by witches." Seriously, i don't think it could be said any better.


From the sounds of it, they had some management/production troubles, got lost in the shuffle of their label and didn't really get to make the music they wanted to make on their previous albums (I believe they referred to this period in time as "selling their souls"). Now they have found a better producer who lets them do what they want musically, and I must say I approve of the changes.

While I was really not impressed with any of their older albums, their newest album, "Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge," which came out in March this year (2007), is one of the best albums I've heard all year. It's one of those great albums where every song sounds so different. The amazing thing is that despite the different tone of every song, the girls manage to make their voices basically indistinguishable from each other no matter what sound they're going for.

I first discovered The Pierces while listening to The Current. They played the sultry but funny "Lights On," a song that starts out "some people say that I want you for your money but I really want you for your body" (to give you an idea about what the song is about). This is definitely one of my faves, though as I've said, I pretty much love the whole album. Two of the songs from their album that I think epitomize their "gypsy/wine/southern speakeasy/witch" sound are "Sticks and Stones," a song that even has witchcraft references in the lyrics, and "Secret," an exceedingly dizzying song about not trusting others to keep your secrets.

Other favorites include the downright danceable tune "Lies," which I would almost dare to say has a small hint of reggaeton influence in the beat (if I'm totally wrong I apologize, as I don't know reggaeton very well except for the bass beat I hear pumping out of people's cars as they drive by) and two banjo-laced songs: "Kill! Kill! Kill!" a song about not getting over your ex, which I can totally relate to as I'm sure a lot of you can too, and "Turn on Billie," a song that I'm not quite sure what it's about (I think there's even a line in the song that says "you can't recall what this song is about"). Haha, wow, so that's almost every song on the album.

Now, for your enjoyment, the "Boring" music video ("Boring" is yet another great gipsy/wine/witch song about, well, boredom. I would like to dedicate this to Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan):


The hipsters up against the brick wall kind of reminds me of Misshapes...

And a few of my faves for you to sample (let's see if I can get this to work...):

Lights On - iTunes

Secret - iTunes

Lies - iTunes

Turn on Billie - iTunes

Ok, that's all for now. Hopefully those links work. I'm at work and this computer is stupid so I can't test them. Assuming it doesn't rain, I'm going to go see Spoon perform for free at Rockefeller Park after work. That should be fun. Tata dahlngs.

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