Not that you asked...
Sparklehorse came to town last Friday night and brought Varnaline along with
them. Local band, the Comas opened. I absolutely am ga ga over Varnaline
so whether or not I would go to this show was a no-brainer. However, I was
really interested in seeing Sparklehorse since so many people on here are
crazy about them. I went with Rick Cornell and saw him taking notes so I
assume a full show review will appear in some magazine somewhere (nodep
perhaps), but I still wanted to give me informal slant on the whole thing.
The Comas started the show and I thought they were very very good. I
immediately recognized the fiddler as Margaret from the Carbines...but don't
think of this as a twangy venture. The lead singer played guitar and kinda
sounded like Mac from Superchunk at times. The full band had an interesting
sound that utilized all sorts of instruments (turntables, analog synths,
etc). It ended up that all three of the bands this night reminded me of the
Flaming Lips at one time to another; not the actual songs, but just the
experimentation and the attention paid to the mixing of old and new sounds.
The Comas are just another fine local band from the area. They don't have
any recordings out right now, but I hear they are working on one. I'll buy
it.
Varnaline was next. If I redid my topten from last year "Sweet Life" would
probably end up somewhere around #3 (just under Gerald Collier and Bare Jr).
I was so looking forward to seeing them again that I felt like it was 1983
and Billy Squier was coming to the Cow Palace in San Francisco again - I
could barely sleep at night. They played all sorts of songs, new and old,
from their albums and all sounded great. The crowd seemed into it, too.
They ended their set with the title track from their latest album and it was
very very amazing. When the drummer kicked in after the long trancelike
intro I thought the local dead would rise. All in all, they made me really
really happy.
Sparklehorse I had never seen before and I had only heard smattering of
songs here and there. They started with an extremely slow and quiet number
that caught the crowd attention. Have you ever noticed that sometimes the
only way to catch an audience's attention in a loud rock show is to play
quietly? Hmmm. Anyways, immediately I felt like the lead singer reminded
me of someone. Near the end of the show I finally figured it out.
Blasphemous as it may seem (to some people, not me) he reminded me of Roger
Waters of Pink Floyd. Roger often sings in a way that is so quiet that it
is almost a whisper (but they mix him real high so you can hear him) and he
also uses weird electronic thingies to modify the sound of his voice. Mr.
Sparklehorse (don't know his name) did the same, to great effect. A friend
next to me said it was boring, but I liked it. Then again, I think "The
Final Cut" by Pink Floyd is one of the greatest albums ever made...so
obviously I'm whacked. :^) On the show went and Sparklehorse transformed
many times, and I enjoyed all the different sides.
The show was one of the best I've seen in a club in a long time. I was
completely blown away. I've also started listening to all my Varnaline CDs
over again. I need to get some Sparklehorse, though.
The connection to alt.country was pretty darn slight. But it certainly was
there, beneath the wash of noise and notes.
Cheers.
Steve
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Steve Gardner * Sugar Hill Records Radio Promotion
[EMAIL PROTECTED] * www.sugarhillrecords.com
WXDU "Topsoil" * A Century of Country Music
[EMAIL PROTECTED] * www.topsoil.net
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