This past Saturday night at Lee's Palace was one of those concerts consisting of artists I was mostly unfamiliar with, having read more about them then actually heard. I was mostly there to see Destroyer because I'd warmed up to Mr. Bejar's New Pornographers contributions over the last year[yes, it took me three NP albums and a whole lot of music/blog press to finally take notice] and I've recently been discovering his own project Destroyer's off-kilter pop tunes.From Oakland, California, Kill Rock Stars' Nedelle was up first. The pixie-ish singer-songwriter with her acoustic guitar performed a set of lowkey acoustic pop tunes that glided along with her respectable guitar accompaniement and her clear, melodic vocals[initially slightly off-key but quickly found it's place]. Thankfully, her music stayed away from that coffehouse, folky singer-songwriter aesthetic and her music had more in line with Canada's Julie Doiron and Lois Maffeo. Nedelle was joined onstage by another young lady for a charming duet but other than that it was entirely a solo set. Nedelle's bubbly personality crept up every now and then, especially when she preceded one song with a description of it as "...a true story..." about a grizzly bear who killed a young camper. While the set was short and there was considerable chatter amongst the crowd during her performance, she managed to convince us(at least the attentive audience members) of her talent. Next time, she should book a more intimate venue like The Drake Hotel or El Mocambo.
Destroyer were up next, and it at this point I should just direct you to Zoilus' review and leave it that. But I won't. Here's the setlist(courtesy of suckingalemon). It was a brief but effervescent set that managed to set off fireworks in my brain everytime I heard a song I recognized. Considering I'd only made a concerted effort to sample his music recently, it's truly a wonder how familiar his songs sound. Songs like "Rubies", "It's Gonna Take An Airplane", "European Oils" and "Looter's Follies" brimmed with a vitality that's missing in alot of 'indie' music in my opinion, if only because I couldn't necessarily pinpoint all the influences. Sure, every now and then a Bowie influence crept up but more often than not I was thinking, Destroyer's music sounded like nothing else out there at the moment. Sophisticated guitar pop, combined with twinkling keyboards arrangements, and a competent backing band plus Mr. Bejar's peculiar(but now comforting) vocals made for very a distintive set of pop music. Thanks to lead guitarist Nick Bragg at the merch table after the set for taking the time to take me through an 'oral history' of Destroyer's albums and finally convincing me to pick up "Destroyer's Rubies".
Secretly Canadian's Magnolia Electric Co. were headlining that night and based on evidence both audible(some fans screeching) and visible(fans singing along) it was clear how beloved they were. Fact was I hadn't heard a note from them previously but from what I read about the band, I had fairly accurate expectations of what they'd sound like. Leading the competent backing band were the clear pitched vocal tones of Jason Molina and the amazing guitar lines of lead guitarist Jason Groth. While there was an inanimateness to most of the band, except for lead guitarist Jason Groth, the band made up for it by performing a perfectly competent, if not truly tight-sounding, set of Neil Young/Crazy Horse influenced country rock which also reminded me of early Wilco and Son Volt. Such influences in itself are great, but such conventionality makes me wonder how they ended up on Secretly Canadian. Nothing's quite sunk in yet nor motivated me to run out and buy their albums, but if last year's T.O. Twang festival at Harbourfront is revived again this year, I'd be a truly happy fella if Magnolia Electric Co. are booked.
The Herald Sun spoke to Jason Molina recently.
[my photos from the show]
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