kevin barnett

The Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible in the Judson Memorial Sanctuary. Photo credit: Pete.Mac @ Flickr

Impressive.

I finally understand the fanatic love of The Arcade Fire’s music which is their performances as a fun, celebration of music. It never dawned upon me listening to Funeral and now Neon Bible that this band can encorporate “ooohs” and “la la la’s” as beautifully as it can a mandoline or pipe organ. There are plenty of classically trained rock musicians, yet only a handful know how to perform rock music arrangements utilizing the range of instruments used in tonights show. I haven’t seen a hurly burley used since Led Zeppelin’s MTV Unplugged appearance. But it’s Led Zeppelin we’re talking about, isn’t it.

No wonder David Bowie likes this band - they are legendary yet extremely humble in their performances and presence. They remind me of a traveling family of folk musicians based on their dress and attitude - they just seem to be happy playing their music, especially for other people.

I’ve heard reports to the contrary from friends although I believe the experience with the band most likely has to do with the venue. Their eclectic energy maybe hard to translate in an outdoor festival setting but in a more intimate setting, I feel the audience is in a much better position to fully realize their performance. Part of what makes the Arcade Fire special is the fact that most of the band members including hubby and wife Win Butler (from Texas!) and Régine Chassagne constantly change their rolls in the band from lead vocals to accompaniment on a variety of instruments. This suggests not only raw musical talent but also a unique relationship with each other as a band and with the music they are performing.

It goes without saying that I’m hooked on this band permanently. It certainly doesn’t add objectivity to the evening after watching them perform in a West Village church of all places. The scene was unlike any rock show I’ve been to before. With 300+ people in attendance (including Drew Barrymore, Spike Jonze, Andy Samberg, Robbie Guertin of CYHSY) and the pews removed from the sanctuary, there was a lack of the typical rock audience crowding. My guest at the show was able to place her coat and bag on the floor without it getting trampled on. People were having a good time yet the venue commanded a reverence that on occasion seemed to limit the reaction of the crowd…

I danced around a bit - even drank beer. In a church. That’s still a weird one to say outloud or even write.

I’m not sure who else could have pulled off a convincing performance using a church as a backdrop of imagery, acoustics and mystery. I will be hard-pressed to match an experience like this in any of my live music or New York experiences.

No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Mirror
Keep The Car Running
(Antichrist Television Blues)
Black Waves/Bad Vibration
My Body Is A Cage
Windowsill
The Well & The Lighthouse
Power Out
Rebellion (Lies)
Intervention
———————
Oceans of Noise
Neighborhood #1

I was just listening to The Arcade Fire - Haiti

Need a last minute gift idea for Valentine’s Day? Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg had some thoughts on that last week at MSG:

Thanks to a friendly Italian Wikipedia moderator, my relevance to the world increased by one hyperlink today after being mentioned in the Wikipedia “Whamola” article. The Italian contacted me (via e-mail in great English) asking permission to use photos, etc. from my aging webpage on building my own Whamola instrument which I posted 4 years ago. Inspired by the original wielded by Les Claypool, I built the instrument in my Dad’s basement workshop with his expert handyman guidance for a college multimedia class project.

The project was specifically about affordance, a term used in interface and interaction design. Although I deemed the instrument itself a failure, I believe I was successful in demonstrating the concept of affordance not just to myself but to my classmates as well.

The instrument itself worked well enough to play it through my bass rig (I have a recording of it) and I enjoyed many subsequent “jams” experimenting with the unusual range of sounds it was capable of reproducing. Of course, it was nowhere near production quality and would break the expensive upright bass strings I was purchasing for it. I know others with access to better tools and materials have done a much superior job in crafting the instrument.

I still get inquiries on how I built the instrument. I developed a form letter to respond with stating that I did not document anything but you wouldn’t want to follow my process even if I did.

Well, that is not entirely true. I did write a paper for the project titled The Whamola Project: A Lesson on Affordances (PDF) which I am now offering to anyone who wants more background and information on how I created the Whamola. Hopefully, those interested can learn from my experience and make a much more successful instrument than I was ever capable of. If you do, please keep me posted on your progress.

I was just listening to Les Claypool - Whamola