oops

I miss oohing and aahing about some fabulous song or new band I've discovered, on this here blog. The countdown has begun, we leave Canada in early September. We'll be sailing south to Mexico... After that, we don't know. I have been busy with all it entails to leave the country for an indefinite period of time. It is kind of cool that in all the madness, I managed to discover a lovely singer/songwriter who's name was the only thing I was familiar with, until this past week.

My friends were appalled to find out that somehow, it had escaped their attention that I really didn't know Neko Case's music. (Yes, we're all music nuts.) I got inspired to check her out after a chat my friend D and I had about "must-haves" in one's music collection.  I believe that according to Dana, Neko is a must-have.

And, here is my latest favourite song:

Actually. Allow me my nerdy moment, I'd like to change my mind. Though this next one is written by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Neko Case owns it.

K’s Choice: Echo Mountain tour at Effenaar, Eindhoven (the Netherlands)

Today's guest author,`Lil' G:

Lil' G is a globetrotter, who divides time between East Canada and West Europe. A part time musician (guitar, drums, and some keys) and hobby photographer, Lil' G loves pop quizzes as much as good food. Lil' G has written articles and columns for several websites, with topics ranging from graphic novels, travel to music and eye candy.

K's Choice’s was supposed to play Effenaar shortly before Christmas 2010, but I heard their American record company planned a US promo tour, which took precedence over their European one. Part of their European tour got postponed to a later date. I was informed the Eindhoven date was set for March 2, 2011. That was fine with me until I found out Serena Ryder and Melissa Etheridge were going to play Halifax Metro Centre the exact same day. Well, poop!

I first heard of K’s Choice in the 90s while listening Studio Brussel, a Flemish radio station that used to play alternative rock and pop (these days, they play a lot of mainstream music as well). K’s Choice started out as a Flemish band, hailing from a town near Antwerp, Belgium, and the core basically consists of siblings Gert and Sarah Bettens. At one point Sarah moved to the US, where she now resides with her partner and kids, and their bass player is an American as well.

I can’t recall which song I heard first, but I remember both “The Ballad of Lea and Paul” and “Breakfast”. Given the amount of airplay they were getting I figured they must be the hottest thing happening at that time. What caught my attention was singer Sarah Bettens’s voice: it’s smokey, seductive - the kind I find pleasant to listen to. When it comes to their music I love the harmonies. Speaking of harmonies: back in the 90s, one of the acts K’s Choice opened for was Indigo Girls. (I have a recording somewhere of them performing Neil Young’s “Rocking in a free world”.) They also opened for Alanis Morrisette. So that’s their six degrees to Canada.

They went through a few bass players before settling down with Eric Grossman, for whom “Favorite Adventure” was written. (The band played it on his wedding day.) They kicked off the Eindhoven concert with that song. And it was very clear that this audience showed up to see K’s Choice - even though they gave opening act Arid, fellow Belgians, a shot. I have heard of them, and the one song I recognized off their set list was “Too Late Tonight”, (which they played early on). Judging from the  audience's response, it might have been better if they played it towards the end of their set.

Singer Sarah announced at the start that this show consisted of two parts: An acoustic set and a full on “rock and roll” set. It’s very much like their latest album Echo Mountain of which the first disc contains uptempo songs, and the second one consists of the slower songs and ballads. I was glad they decided to turn that around for the show and start off with the acoustic set first to get everybody warmed up and ready to rock out later.

The acoustic set lasted about half an hour (it seemed shorter), after which the band took a quick break, allowing their roadies to ready the stage for a regular rock concert.

I was pleasantly surprised when the band also played “Virgin State of Mind”: Buffy fans may recognize this song from an episode in which K’s Choice had a cameo. They, of course, played their biggest hit - worldwide - “Not An Addict” as well. (You may recognize that song). Watch this clip, where Skunk Anansie singer, Skin, joins the band at a Dutch festival called Pinkpop. And there’s your link with the band I previously wrote about.

I had a great time people watching: it was almost like Pride. The audience consisted of people of all ages (anything from teenagers to your mom and dad), straight couples, lots of queer women. I eaves-dropped on a conversation happening behind me where a straight guy introduced his lesbian friend to K’s Choice. (He, too, appreciated Sarah Bettens’s singing voice.)

K’s Choice came back for two encores. The first one was kicked off by Gert performing “Shadowman”, a song which (in a past tour) he had paired up with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. It’s a slightly haunting song, and in total contrast to the rest of the show, but a good indicator the show is coming to an end. Both encores consist of songs that are slower and have a more intimate feel to them.

If I remember correctly they ended the show with “God in My Bed”. People in the audience either hummed along, or were silently listening. And I was reminded of the fact there once was a time where smoking at venues and public spaces was still allowed: Moments like these lent themselves to fish out one’s lighter and sway along to the music. Not anymore. People didn’t even take out their cell phones to do something similar.

Lyrically, K’s Choice is nowhere near as political as Skunk Anansie (or Otep). I think they tend to be poetic, but (dare I say it?) a little simplistic at times, and often laced with sarcasm or self-deprecating humor. Singer Sarah, apparently, once replied: “Listening to the lyrics for the first time, you may find it hard to understand their meaning. When you listen to them a second time you may sense a basic truth in these cryptic words. If you do so, please let me know.”

In case you’re interested you can watch a slide show of band pictures taken at the Eindhoven show here.

Skunk Anansie: Wonderlustre tour at HMH, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)

Today's guest author,`Lil' G:

  

Lil' G is a globetrotter, who divides time between East Canada and West Europe. A part time musician (guitar, drums, and some keys) and hobby photographer, Lil' G loves pop quizzes as much as good food. Lil' G has written articles and columns for several websites, with topics ranging from graphic novels, travel to music and eye candy.

Another concert review from across the Atlantic. This time I’m going to introduce you to a British band: Skunk Anansie. Besides Mother’s Finest and Living Color, I don’t know any bands - not at the top of my head anyway - of which (some of) their members are of African descent who rock hard. It shouldn’t matter, but I remember a time, where the number of non Caucasians at a hard rock concert were far and between. (I was usually one of the few.)

You may have heard of them (SA had a cameo in a movie called “Strange days” starring Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett), but I won’t be surprised if you haven’t. This British band is pretty popular in Europe, where numerous dates of the Wonderlustre tour (including the Amsterdam date) have sold out.

Skunk Anansie released their debut album in 1995 (Paranoid & Sunburnt) and turned quite a few heads. It wasn’t just their political and sexually charged lyrics wrapped up in a punk rock jacket, it was also their leading lady Skin. An out and proud woman from the start, and at one point tired of the same old boring questions by journalists (her bisexuality, being a front woman of color etc), she dubbed SA’s music “clit rock”.

Their second album was released in 1996 and was called “Stoosh”. This album definitely showed the band’s more “poppy” side. “Post orgasmic chill” was released in 1999, and (lyrically) saw a darker side of the band. Musically, they mix, punk, rock, pop, reggae, funk, and dance influences.

After the tour that followed the release of their last album, the members took a long break to reform in 2009. They went back into the studio to record a couple of new songs (for a “best of” album) and found the entire process so much fun, they immediately started writing songs for an entirely new album: “Wonderlustre” (2010).

I had seen Skunk Anansie play a European music festival after the release of “Stoosh”, and I had enjoyed their performance immensely. So, while taking a break from The Great Lunenburg Schooner Race last year (I was crew on the Avenger), I received an E-mail from my friend EJ. He informed me that SA was planning to tour Europe, and asked me if I would like to see them. I can assure you I was looking forward to February 25th ever since EJ told me he managed to get tickets to the concert.

The Virgin Marys, fellow Brits, were Skunk Anansie’s opening act. The music was alright, albeit mediocre. The singer’s vocal abilities were pretty much limited to one style of singing, and I was wondering how he could have been performing all this time without completely losing his voice (especially, after noticing how he sounded like towards the end of their set). Anyway, I think the drummer was entertaining to look at for a while (think “Animal” of The Muppets). Right then, it wasn’t really showing the SA concert was sold out: there was plenty of empty space towards the back - in front of the seated area. (Have a behind the scenes peek here, with guitarist Ace joking around a bit at the end.)

Then, finally: Skunk Anansie time! After an intro where the band made a grand entrance, they kicked off with a song off their debut album (check out the Amsterdam set list here). It was obvious Skunk Anansie was ready to blow their audience away, and that they had planned on having a good time. By the time the band finished their first song the venue was packed.

Singer Skin needed about three songs to get her vocal chords properly warmed up. Little time was wasted in between songs for meaningless chit chat, which only added to their high energy performance.

Their second song (“Charlie Big Potato”) is one of my favorites off the “Post Orgasmic Chill” album: after a Drum n’ Bass inspired intro, the song takes you on a little musical roller coaster ride. (If you haven’t checked out the video through the set list, you might want to do that now to get what I mean.)

“I can dream” is another one of my SA favorites (“Selling Jesus” is my other fave off their debut album, but they didn’t play that one) and is blatantly sexual. When I heard the opening riff to “Twisted (Everyday hurts)” I was super thrilled: that bass line still kills in my opinion.

The band made up an excellent set list in my opinion: uptempo rock songs were followed by poppier songs or ballads in an inconspicuous way. The audience was in for the ride and having a great time. Skunk Anansie treated us to a new song (“I don’t want to kill you”), which I found to sound promising (another Skunk Anansie album in progress?).

Even though the sign to NOT crowd surf were clearly visible, Skin had no problem ignoring them, and the audience in the front rows love her for that: they made sure she didn’t fall. She did, however, trip about halfway through the show and came close to landing ungraciously on the floor. But she quickly regained her balance and continued singing.

When it was time to introduce the band, Skin had a little fun with the guys in the band, and they each had their moment in the spotlights. Literally. (I have to admit I was envious of Mark’s drum kit: what a beauty!)

I noticed that the Dutch audience just seem to love their ballads, which I found interesting.

The band came back for two encores, ending the show with an acoustic rendition of “You’ll follow me down”. Again, Skin’s sense of humor shines through, when she made a reference to her  trip earlier that evening.

And just like that, the concert’s over. Skunk Anansie played a great show, and I had an excellent time.