I was lucky, lucky, lucky enough to see The Magnetic Fields on Friday night in Bloomington, at the Buskirk Chumley theater. The Magnetic Fields are one of my favorite bands, but saying “favorite bands” doesn’t even begin to describe it. I don’t think I would understand myself emotionally in relation to other people without 69 Love Songs. That’s right, an album single-handedly saved me from the autism spectrum.
I have spent so many hours of my life listening to their albums, and the voices especially of Stephin Merritt, Claudia Gonson, and Shirley Simms are permanently ingrained into the folds of my brain. Just seeing Shirley open her mouth and having that voice come out of it was a sort of magical-visceral experience that made me feel giddy and disoriented. And it was weird to look up and see John Woo and Sam Davol sitting in front of me, playing their stringed instruments, wearing the same facial expressions that I use to watch NBC on Thursday nights. Continue reading →
Ben over at Almost Four Stars was kind enough to post my ten song end of year roundup on Wednesday. Since that’s taken care of, here are my top six favorite live shows of 2009, listed in chronological order:
February 9th: The Pretenders at the Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI
Holy shit, Chrissie Hynde can still rock the fuck out.
March 31st: Morrissey at the Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI
He came out wearing a tuxedo and I almost fainted on the spot. I felt an electrical charge just from being in the same room as Morrissey. I don’t even know if I can describe what it was like to be sitting in the front row/center of the balcony, in the same theater where I’ve seen The Maltese Falcon and Sunset Boulevard, and see someone that I’ve spent countless hours staring at (photos, videos, youtube, books, dreams) standing in front of me, breathing the same air as me, whipping a microphone cord around. I feel so, so, so lucky that I could see him live in my lifetime.
Moz live in Columbus
April 1st: Morrissey at the Palace Theatre, Columbus, OH
This time I went with Hilly and Ben (met them halfway), and Shiv and Stacey were also there. Supremely magical. I won’t tell you which one of us cried, because you wouldn’t believe it. I wish I could carry this night forever in one of my cheek pouches, like a squirrel.
Exene Cervenka
June 17th: X at the Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
Went with Jen and Gabe, two of the greatest friends a girl could have. It was supposed to be in the Majestic, which is huge, but there were few enough tickets sold that it was bumped to the Magic Stick, which is tiny. The stage is basically six inches off the floor. I was standing eighteen inches from Exene, and if I hadn’t been busy being jostled by every asshole punk boy in a 60 miles radius, I might have tried to kiss the hem of her garment. In love forever.
July 20th: Future of the Left at the Southgate House, Cincinnati, KY
Probably my least favorite of these shows, but I’m super glad I got to see FOLT live. LIVING LEGENDS.
November 14th: The Minor Leagues at Mayday, Cincinnati, OH
Smooshed right up against the stage with a handful of my favorite humans. Danced my ass off (I was sticky to the touch after, and my clothes were soaked through with sweat), screamed along to every word, and basically felt like my soul was aflame with refulgent splendor. You should consider seeing them live, if you get a chance.
And finally, a roundup of what I was listening to in 2009 that wasn’t new in 2009, but was new to me (or at least, in newly-heavy rotation): Scott Walker, Jacques Brel, The Wizard of Oz soundtrack, the Let the Right One In soundtrack, a lot of early Elvis, the Cocteau Twins (especially “Lorelei”), Margaret Leng Tan, Moondog, Sia, Young Marble Giants, Jo Stafford, Au Pairs, the 2008 Brideshead Revisited soundtrack, X, Emitt Rhodes, and Kronos Quarter Performs Philip Glass, to name the most prevalent. Phew. On to 2010!
I recently had the rare joy of being able to score a free ticket to something I gladly would have paid full price to see: Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips playing their (mostly) original score to 13 Warhol screen tests, which were commissioned by the Warhol Institute in Pittsburgh.
I’ve loved Dean and Britta in pretty much all of their incarnations (for at least the first track, “Night Nurse” on their 2003 album L’ Avventura, for their work in Luna, for Dean’s work in Galaxie 500, and for Britta being Jem’s singing voice (truly outrageous!!!)). Clearly, I would have paid good money to see them without the face-melting hotness of having Warholian screen tests projected behind them. And let me tell you, my face is completely melted. There’s nothing left. I’m writing this as Skeletor.
Spiderman made me gay
Warhol’s screen tests were shot between 1963 and 1966, and are all black and white, on 100 ft rolls of film (2.75 minutes), which in Warhol slowmo means that they’re four minutes each, just the right length for a song. They weren’t actually screen tests in the Hollywood sense, I think, but yet another way for Warhol to capture the fleeting beauty and sensuality of his cast of characters.
The 13 picked by/for Dean and Britta are especially fantastic. Among others, we have Lou Reed, Nico, Edie Sedgwick, and Dennis Hopper. A shitty picture taken with my phone:
Edie Sedgwick
Wareham (and occasionally Phillips) gave brief bits of information before or after a lot of the screen tests. A few folks are still alive, but a lot died or disappeared not too long after their filmings. Speed seemed to be involved in several of the stories, unsurprisingly.
What I liked best was the ways in which the music and film interacted, some literal and some more sweetly subtle. A lot of the songs are lyrically related, either chosen because they thematically relate to the life of the subject, or are covers of a song by the artist. Lou Reed gets a cover of a recently discovered VU song, “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore,” and for Nico a very moving rendition of “I’ll Keep it With Mine,” originally penned by Dylan.
Nico
Beyond the literal, there was a frequent phenomenon that I like to call the “Jets to Brazil” effect, named after the poster in Breakfast at Tiffany’s that says “Jets to Brazil,” which will recall to many modern viewers the contemporary band. Filmed over forty years ago, many of the screen test stars appear to be smiling at or bobbing their heads to Dean and Britta’s melodies. In the Dennis Hopper piece the music builds to an emotional crescendo that breaks loose just as Hopper breaks into a wide grin, nodding his head in time. Ingrid Superstar strokes her face with her fingers, moodily mugging at the camera, but her sleepy grin seems to conspire with the faint rockabilly twang of her song on the soundtrack.
I’m looking forward to finding the DVD and hearing the songs again, but I’m thrilled that I got to see this live and in person. It exceeded all expectations, and with any luck I’ll spend tonight dreaming of Jane Holzer brushing her teeth.
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