Pickup Sleepy While AC and Grouper were both phenomenal last night, the highlight of my evening may have come before the show when I noticed that Animal Collective was selling Kria Brekkan'sWildering 7" alongside their own merch and a bunch of Grouper vinyl. (If you are heading to upcoming shows, be sure to snag the Pumice split, I can't believe it's still available.) For a long time now I have been under the impression that this limited run single was long out of print, so finding it for 5 bucks at a former shipping terminal in the absolute middle of nowhere Manhattan was quite a pleasant surprise. Like much of Kria's work, Wildering plays like a black lullaby from a decrepit, abandoned old barn, where a young orphan girl lives with a family of mice, subsiding only on bread, water and worms. The sound of the wind in the house is like her dead parent's voices and often comes clattering in from the cold shore, shaking windows and making the floor boards creak an unsavory creak. Often horrifying, the young orphan girl takes comfort in the company of her rodent friends, who bundle crumbs for her and make sure not to naw away at her only blanket.
"I Need Another World...This Ones Nearly Gone" (Photo by automaticbobby) It's funny how a little bit of snow can bring a city to a stop. Aimless and carefree, it floats amongst smoke stacks and skyscrapers, lulling the avenues to a quiet hush. Quickly, it builds, hypnotizing wide-eyed onlookers as it dusts dirty streets with crystalline sparkles that shine under street lights like diamonds in a summer sky. Quiet. It swirls, whirls and falls. You stick your tongue out and taste its frozen delight. "Ahh, nurishment." And all of the sudden, the world is anew. Bobkast #22: Listen...The Snow Is Falling Galaxie 500- Listen, the Snow is Falling Yo La Tengo- Nowhere Near Alela Diane- White As Diamonds (Daytrotter) Bjork- All is Full of Love Grouper- Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping Koushik- Morning Comes Apollo Sunshine- Happiness Japancakes- Blown A Wish Julianna Barwick- You Were Waiting Mum- I Can't Feel My Hand Anymore, It's Alright, Sleep Tight Mogwai- Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home Antony & the Johnsons- Another World
Pixie Dust Todd P sent out an email yesterday that read:
2NITE -> a special beautiful night of quieter sounds w/ Múm alums Kría Brekkan -&- Ólöf Arnalds (both from Iceland) -&- Sam Amidon @ LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH
Immediately, I knew I was in. Even more so after my delirious eyes realized the Lutheran Church of the Messiah is a few measly steps from my front door. The basement of the Greenpoint church was dark and dank, quite the contrast from the cool evening outside, which seemed to usher in autumn. We arrived at 9 just in time for Kría Brekkan's set of tape looped, piano driven, whimsical dream cycles that flutter in and around your head like specs of gold dust after you've run into a brick wall. Quite refreshing, and entrancing too. Kría wanted the room dark and finagled with the lone flood light that lite the stage. She pushed a table in front of it so its ominous glow was more of a shadow than a spotlight. Her live show was much like I envisioned after hearing the Wildering 7"; gorgeously quiet, as if her music was seeping out from 5,000 years of frozen dreams. Kría often stopped songs claiming she was messing up, or didn't know the words, but she is so beautiful and charming on stage that none of that mattered, as if it should. Music to dream to, most definitely. Even reminded me to get back into William S. Burroughs My Education: A Book of Dreams.
Her former múm partner Ólöf Arnalds set was similar, albeit totally different than Kría's more experimental set. Leaning closer to traditional Icelandic folk than Lau Nau-ish experimentalism, Ólöf stunned the crowd with her voice, which sang like you wish your mother would've sung you to sleep. Of course, Ólöf is a new mom and her son was in the audience, arguably making more noise than the dudes running down the stairs, popping beer bottles and shuttering lenses. All good though, he was just hungry and when Mommy called him on stage for some food, and an acapella lullaby, he seemed to relax. Ólöf ended the evening by bringing VT bred ambient folkie Sam Amidon, whose set we regrettably missed, and Kría back on stage for a string of collaborations that carried me off into a purgatorial state, which I may still be in while writing this. Absolutely beautiful evening from some of Iceland's most provocative, most enchanting songstresses.
Next up, Sigur Ros tonight. Iceland's really taking over.
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While AC and Grouper were both phenomenal last night, the highlight of my evening may have come before the show when I noticed that Animal Collective was selling Kria Brekkan's Wildering 7" alongside their own merch and a bunch of Grouper vinyl. (If you are heading to upcoming shows, be sure to snag the Pumice split, I can't believe it's still available.) For a long time now I have been under the impression that this limited run single was long out of print, so finding it for 5 bucks at a former shipping terminal in the absolute middle of nowhere Manhattan was quite a pleasant surprise. Like much of Kria's work, Wildering plays like a black lullaby from a decrepit, abandoned old barn, where a young orphan girl lives with a family of mice, subsiding only on bread, water and worms. The sound of the wind in the house is like her dead parent's voices and often comes clattering in from the cold shore, shaking windows and making the floor boards creak an unsavory creak. Often horrifying, the young orphan girl takes comfort in the company of her rodent friends, who bundle crumbs for her and make sure not to naw away at her only blanket.
