For many jazzophiles, The Allen Room in Lincoln Center is Mecca. The space is intimate, the acoustics are phenomenal, and the dramatic wall of glass offers one of New York City’s greatest backdrops, with picturesque views of Central Park, Columbus Circle, and the Manhattan skyline. It feels like sacred ground.
Recent highlights from The Allen Room include saxophone master Maceo Parker—perhaps best known as the second-in-command to James “The Godfather of Soul” Brown—as well as Manhattan Transfer, the most enduring vocal group in jazz history.
Friday evening, indie chanteuse Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) shanghaied the joint with an infectious blend of glitchy synth-pop beats, elegant ballads, ferocious guitars, and cinematic arrangements. She also got a little help from friends including David Byrne (yes, David freakin’ Byrne of Talking Heads!), Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Bryce Dessner of The National and Budos Band horns.
The set kicked off with “The Strangers,” the opening track from St. Vincent’s 2009 release Actor. Dizzying horns clashed against scathing, fuzzy guitars that would have made Lou Reed crack a smile.
Justin Vernon lent his melancholy falsetto for “Laughing with a Mouthful of Blood” and “Roslyn,” the latter of which also saw Bryce Dessner provide ethereal guitar drones. You might remember “Roslyn” as the haunting tune about teen abstinence from a recent vampire flick. Interestingly, Clark and Vernon wrote it together via Skype. St. Vincent and Justin Vernon performing together was quite simply one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard—a rare musical occasion that left me with chills.
Other highlights from the evening included a distorted violin feedback-driven badass cover of The National’s “Mistaken For Strangers” and the David Byrne piece “Breathing.” Showcasing the innate connection between the two experimental artists, “Breathing” was funky, danceable, and a sweet taste of (hopefully) future collaboration.
With such fantastic performances by a Who’s Who list of the current indie scene, the show felt like a crazy dream that was too good to be true. I have been fortunate enough to see almost all these performers before, but never together on the same bill. I left thinking that I had just shared in a very special experience.
DOWNLOAD: St. Vincent - The Strangers (MP3) or Follow us for more St. Vincent MP3s (Twitter)
he is amazing bro his style can not be touched....some people dont know what he is talking about caz u dont do what he does he is sickkk bra
by dylyn on Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 11.59 am from the entry: Wiz Khalifa: Burn After Rolling (Mixtape)
Wow,Great post.Thanks for sharing with us. land wi
by wisconsin land on Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 09.53 am from the entry: of Montreal + Gang Gang Dance - Orpheum Theatre (Boston, MA; Oct. 30, 2008)
Ugh. Paste’s profile of Free Energy made me kind of hate them. So does your review. It’s this unctuous defense of good-time rock-and-roll ("we’re just here to party, and we’re awesome!") that seems more self-serving than fun-loving.
by beth on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.41 pm from the entry: Foreign Born + Free Energy - The Knitting Factory (Brooklyn, NY; Mar. 12, 2010)
that inescapable feeling you are referring to, is that like when you hear something and you could have sworn you heard it before because of the nostalgic catchy quality? or is is like when you’ve heard a band exactly like said band?
great post by the way!
by paul on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 03.15 pm from the entry: The Novel Ideas - "The Sky Is A Field" - Borrow It
Whoa! I had no idea she was enegaged. You would never know with the way she behaves! Wow!
by art on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.48 am from the entry: Nikki Darlin and John McCauley: 1+1=1
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
