Winter will soon be upon us, which means more layered clothing and less outdoor activities. If you’re like me, the thought of transitioning from the warm and energizing days of summer to the frostbitten and melancholy days of winter is as shocking as stepping from a sauna into a popsicle. Fortunately, for our emotional well-being, little reminders of summer pop up periodically during these frigid months and warm things up a bit. Land of Talk did just that.
The opening band, a Los Angeles power-pop quartet called Eulogies, merely broke the silence with a handful of proficient but formulaic garage-pop songs that sounded suspiciously like an ode to Weezer. Power-chords and repetitive choruses abounded until Liz from Land of Talk reluctantly agreed to join them onstage for a duet. Unfortunately her talent was muffled by the band’s shrill musical bleakness.
After a suspenseful twenty minutes between sets, Land of Talk crept on stage and started the show with much needed urgency during “Give Me Back My Heart Attack.” Liz, adorned in a little green skirt, red plaid button-up shirt and gray suede boots crooned her songs of conflict and frustration with self-assurance and a refreshingly sunny temperament.
The band was pleased to hear so many requests from the relatively small audience and even dedicated “Some Are Lakes” to a couple celebrating their anniversary. “It’s OK” slowed things down and must have really captivated the audience, because after the applause, the room went completely silent.
Despite their warm impressions, Land of Talk hail from Montréal - a village whose winters beat the snot out of Portland’s. They are quintessentially Canadian indie-rock: a bunch of effortless beauties with the smarts and spirit to amuse, and the aggression and creative talent to be taken seriously. With the likes of Feist, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, The Dears, Metric, Sloan, The Weakerthans, The New Pornographers, Stars, Wolf Parade, The Sadies, and Peaches, Canada seems to own an unfair percentage of the scene. But don’t blame Canada, thank it.
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love the review...makes me wish even more that I’d been there!! & the photos are killer, colin!
by nicci on Fri Dec 4, 2009 at 09.40 pm from the entry: Friendly Fires + The xx + Holly Miranda - Doug Fir (Portland, OR; Nov. 25, 2009)
I thought you’d like this josh.
by colin on Fri Dec 4, 2009 at 06.10 pm from the entry: Full Brother Ali concert from the Fresh Air Tour (download)
thanks austin!
by colin on Fri Dec 4, 2009 at 06.06 pm from the entry: Essential Listening: Priors "What You Need (Hey Champ Remix)"
hell yeah! judging by “us,” brother ali is at the top of his (the) game right now. can’t wait to hear some of his new stuff live.
by josh on Fri Dec 4, 2009 at 05.54 pm from the entry: Full Brother Ali concert from the Fresh Air Tour (download)
Hey Champ really hit it outta the park with this one. Check out the full remix tape at their website, www.heychamp.com
You can download it for free too! Awesome!
by austin on Fri Dec 4, 2009 at 05.54 pm from the entry: Essential Listening: Priors "What You Need (Hey Champ Remix)"
Agreed. I saw him open for them as well and was happily surprised by his talent.
by Siri on Fri Dec 4, 2009 at 03.26 pm from the entry: Full Brother Ali concert from the Fresh Air Tour (download)
openers don’t tend to blow me away and when I saw him open for Atmosphere, that’s exactly what I was.
by colin on Fri Dec 4, 2009 at 03.22 pm from the entry: Full Brother Ali concert from the Fresh Air Tour (download)
