AIR, The Theatre @ MSG, NYC. 5/10/2007

Good week for “A” bands, first Arcade Fire, and now AIR. Like Arcade Fire, I had not seen AIR prior to last night. It was an excellent show. They had TV on the Radio open for them, which seemed odd. TVOTR (as I’ll abbreviate it), is very much a reggae rock band, which did not fit so well with AIR’s modernist interpretation of 70s electronica. I liked the guy’s voice, and that counts for something.

The show was part of the newly founded Highline Festival. The Highline was co-created by David Bowie, this years “curator.” From the press I’ve read there will be a different curator each year, and it is the curators job to chose the talent. In addition to AIR, Bowie has scheduled performances by Arcade Fire, Björk and Ricky Gervais, amongst others.

This concert was the first time I attended a show at the MSG Theatre, and I liked it. As awesome as old theatres are to look at, they are uncomfortable, hot, lacking concessions and feature inadequate restrooms. This theatre had none of those problems. Not only that, but I doubt there is a bad seat in the house; the whole place looks very well laid out.

On to the music.

I don’t know the names to many AIR songs. I know which songs I enjoy (most), and I could point them out if we were listening to a CD, otherwise I’m clueless. To fill in the gaps I’ll give a little background on AIR. AIR is an acronym for Amour, Imagination, Rêve, which translates to Love, Imagination, Dream. The band has two members, Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin, each of whom are quite skilled on various instruments. Live Dunckel plays primarily keyboards and synths, while Godin plays guitar and bass. It is Godin’s bass playing that steals the show. His bass signal is processed and put through effects to make it sounds just as obtuse as Dunckel’s Moog.

Most of the songs played were drawn out beyond the length of their recorded counterparts, featuring both Dunckel and Godin improvising along with the rest of the band. They played for about 55 minutes before taking their encore break. They came back and played for another 15 minutes or so. The last song, whose title I do remember, was La Femme d'Argent which clocks in at around 7 minutes on the album Moon Safari came in at over 10 last night. The song was the highlight of the show, with Dunckel playing a very impressive synth solo. A majority of the songs played seem to have come from Moon Safari, which is interesting when you realize it was the groups first album, and they have released 4 more since then. One of my favorite parts of the show was that they played a set list for fans, not an LCD (least common denominator) set list that most bands will play. I was surprised by the fact that they played so few of the songs that you would thing of as being “hits,” not that they actually had any hits per se. It was a good surprise though. My one complaint was that $46 seemed a steep for a 75-minute concert (including encore break).

Trying to save money sucks...

Especially when you buy music like I did this week. I don't normally go crazy like I did this week, but I ended up with 3 eps, 4 full lengths & one 7". Here's a quick run-down of what I picked up.

Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible" This is a winner. I got the "deluxe edition" which came with a couple of flip books to play around with. Because I hate the annoying contrived "behind the scenes" DVD's that usually come with "deluxe editions" the flip books really impressed me. And the music blew me away. Too many excellent tracks to listed 'em all.

Air - "Pocket Symphony" I'm not crazy about this album. It's not as pop oriented as their last few albums. It feels like a throw back to earlier Air albums. One thing I can't fault them for is having Jarvis Cocker sing on a track. If I could have any singers voice it would be his.

Darkel - "Darkel" This is Jean Benoit Dunkel's (of Air) solo project. This did sound like the last 3 Air albums. If given a choice or this album or the new Air album, pick this one instead. If I had bought it when it came out last year, I probably would have dropped it into my 10 Favorite List.

New Order - "BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert" a lala trade, but worth it. You really can't go wrong with New Order.

Pelican - "March into the Sea" It may only be a two song ep, but it is so good I can understand why someone would want to name their blog after it. It's like post-rock meets metal; Post-Metal?

Mum - "Dusk Log" I accidentally bought this. I thought it was something else. But, it is still excellent. Only complaint is that the disc is a 3" disc, not a 5", which means I can't play it in my car or on my PowerBook. I'll have to copy it in another computer, and then put the copy on my PB.

The Flaming Lips - "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell" I love this. There are 3 really good remixes on here, as well as 4 new tracks. Being "Yoshimi" era Flaming Lips, the best remix is the T.P.S. remix of "Do You Realize???"

Mogwai/ Magoo - Split 7" : The 45's from 1998, and features Mogwai performing Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf," my all time favorite Sabbath track. I've never heard of Magoo, but their cover of "Black Sabbath" is pretty bad ass as well. My only complaint is the boys in Mogwai don't seem to take the singing very seriously.

Hopefully that'll hold me over for the time being. I don't think any new music comes out for at least a week or so. At which point I'll spend more money, and try and justify one way or another.