Bon Iver at Bowery Ballroom

Ok, I wanted to give a quick review of the Bon Iver show I went to last night (if you haven't heard of him, definitely check him out at http://www.myspace.com/boniver).

The Bowerbirds opened for Bon Iver. They were good--the lead vocalist Phil Moore's voice was pleasant--kind of like if Rufus Wainwright got caught in boon country with a couple of bottles of French wine along for entertainment. I couldn't get over how unhappy and discontented the backup vocalist Beth Tacular looked onstage (which was compounded by the fact that when she wasn't straddling a drum kit like she was milking a cow, she occupied the most prominent place on the stage right up front, which seemed a bit odd considering her disposition, but whatever...

As for Bon Iver, all in all I thought the show was fantastic. The songs from "For Emily, Forever Ago" were even better live than they were on the CD. Justin Vernon has an uncanny ability to conjure an ethereal intimacy onstage, exuding both confidence and humility in the same breath, not to mention having some kick ass harmonies that make my skin crawl. The melodies are pretty basic, but when he sings it's coming from somewhere authentic and I totally dig that. And hey, "Skinny Love" and "The Wolves Act 1 and 2" are just damn good songs. The only things I would mention would be that there were times, like in "Creature Fear" when there was a lot distortion added to the songs that seemed unnecessary and even jarring. Also, the final song was a total let down, with all the band members from both bands standing in one line in front of the stage and singing a cover of some song I've never heard (that didn't seem incredibly compelling to begin with, although I'm working on a rendition here, so that might be unfair). I'm gonna go ahead and say it. In theory it sounds like a nice idea...in reality it was kinda painful and overkill in its intimacy.

Oh, and more thing, as a New Yorker I would like to just say that that unlike other parts of the world, NYC fans are not big into collective sing alongs. Especially not when we are instructed to participate with guilt trips about how great some crowd in San Francisco sang the hook, and huge bright stage lights are turned on us. Bon Iver learned that the hard way last night, when they tried TWICE to attempt to cajole the crowd into a sing along. But bands shouldn't take it too hard, it's just not our style.

All in all, an awesome time and some really amazing music. I hope Bon Iver gets all the attention it deserves. The picture above is credited to my awesome buddy Nellwyn and her trusty iPhone. Danke Nell!

Chats Part 01: i'm just a me, not a blogger, read my lips

John: done
John: yeah
it's done
yup
sure is
uh huh
Ruthy: haha
ok man
going to grab dinner but i will check it out right nw
haha
it's funny
i would maybe even just say "a blog about a girl and boy making music"
Ruthy: i will post responses after the show tonight
John: you should bring your camera to the show
take some pics
and thenm write a review
and then post that and your pictures
Ruthy: arghh
i guess you're right
me: you don't have to
just a thought
Ruthy: no it's a great idea
i should do it
i
am looking for camera now
John: OMG
you are a hipster blogger now
Ruthy: no i'm a lameo blogger
John: you blog
dude
Ruthy: my camera isn't charged
John: you blog?
Ruthy: i can't use it!
John: use your smart phone
dude
Ruthy: i have a crappy chocolate
John: every blogger has a smart
phone
Ruthy: DUDE
John: dude
like
Ruthy: i'm not a blogger!!!!
John: due
Ruthy: like
John: dude
Ruthy: duddddddde
John: blog that shit
Ruthy: i'm just a me
not a blogger
read mylips
John: dude
Ruthy: no blogger here
John: like
Ruthy: dude like
go for your hipster run
and blog baout it
John: OMG
Dude
so
Like
I went for this run
and like
saw some graffiti
and like
dude
blogged that shit
blogged it I tell you
bloooooooooooooooooooged
Ruthy: DUDDDDDDDDDDDEEE
k man
i'm outtie
ttyl

----Post the posting----
Ruthy: I would just like to note for the record that 1) I had no idea John was going to post this last night while I was at the Bon Iver show and he was wishing he was there and hatching nefarious plots of posting our gchat convos. 2) This is the least funny and interesting gchat we have had lately, so I don't know why he posted it. 3) I literally was running back and forth getting ready to leave my house pre the show at Bowery Ballroom and was trying to kindly respond to his chats without getting side tracked. So if I come off like a dumb ass, that is why. Thanks John!

Get Your Tom Waits On

NPR is now streaming a full 2 1/2 hour Tom Waits performance recorded July 5, 2008 at Atlanta's Fox Theater. I love me some Tom Waits. A true artist with vision and integrity. A Classic! Mr. Waits' humor is a treat as well. To promote his current tour aptly entitled Glitter And Doom he released a press conference vid (it's recommended to watch to the end) and an interview which, was conducted by none other than Tom Waits himself. Get your link on:

Tom Waits Performance Stream on NPR

Tom Waits' True Confessions Interview

Stop Rubbing Off On Me! I'm having an outer body experience

This somehow became the mantra for this weekend. Don't ask me how or why, but it seemed hilarious in the midst of working on our tunes this weekend. After returning to our song "The Rain" on Saturday and playing it for a friend of mine who stopped by to see the space and hang out, both John and I realized that what had sounded rad to us in the studio the night before didn't sound as great with a third person in there (and especially in juxtaposition to the other tune we played her that we finished arranging called '212'). So, after she left John turned to me and said "I think we need to overhaul the song. It doesn't feel right anymore," and so that's exactly what we did. We stripped away bits that didn't add anything to the tune and took out everything that we thought didn't add anything to it. For example, we had this sample that we manipulated to sound like a crashing thunder ball of rain, which we ended up dialing down a lot in volume and just using as a subtle build up to the chorus.
I really think that part of the joy and challenge to making music is being willing to completely disassemble a song you think you've finished, and start from just its barest bones to create something even more cool and bizarre.

Speaking of rain, on Sunday we caught MGMT's show at Mccarren Pool, which--I'm not going to deny it--was even cooler because of the downpour you had to endure to watch the show. Granted, I wore cowboy boots so I was semi-prepared...can't say as much for my friends with flip flops. Too bad we got too drunk to work at the studio after. I guess it was a pipe dream to think we'd be productive after an entire day of imbibing. I blame it on the free shots at brunch. We should have known.

John's Update: After listening to the new track it really didn't snap. I have always stuck to the mantra of taking away rather than adding to make something better. Yeah man, I was exhausted after the show. Should have known: Drinking all day lowers productivity.

Fond farewell to WWW

It saddens me to announce the demise of our other band What What Where, the electronic dance rock band that John and I formed with our good friend Dinesh back in 2006. This week we officially decided to disband the project to pursue our other musical paths. Dinesh will continue DJing and manning the board at his Sweet Sounds Studio in NYC and John and I will continue our hell raising with Syvia.

And just to show that I can also offer visual stimuli on my blog posts, I'm attaching a photo from one of our last shows in late June 2008, when we opened for Mindless Self Indulgence at Terminal 5.

To all of you lucky fans who somehow managed, despite our best efforts to remain somewhat elusive when it came to merch, to receive a rare piece of WWW flair and/or demo, I would hold on to that stuff because you never know what it may be worth in a few years. Someday you may count yourself among a rare breed of music fans who own a piece of "vintage WWW."
I, for one, have already locked mine in a time capsule and buried it under the corner of the new monstrosity of a condo that's being built next door. Just saying.

First Post With A/V

Hi There -

John here, this is my first post to the Syviamusic blog. It's very exciting I must tell you! I wanted to share a video with everyone. The vid is appropriately entitled "Bert & Ernie tries Gangsta-Rap." The song in the vid is from one of my fav Hip Hop artists of all time: M.O.P.

These dudes don't fuck around. When they say they are going to kill you, I really think they mean it. I saw them live once and it was like a punk / hardcore show. People were moshing and going nuts. Producer Extraordinaire, DJ Premier, was up front moshing along with everyone else. Shit was bonkers.

So here it is, Bert & Ernie doing "Ante Up" by M.O.P.:



How's the spelling and grammar Mirsky?

When sickness strikes, the music suffers

So Sunday was a wash out, not because of rain, which would have been a godsend because I literally melt just sitting in my living room surfing away on the internetz, but because John got deathly ill on Sunday and had to cancel our session in the studio. The upside was I got some chores done that I've been putting off (like...laundry! and...watering my dad's roof plants so he doesn't kill me! and...filing away receipts! Yay!) I wished we could have finished up tweaking "The Rain" tune, but it's cool. C'est la vie and you gotta move on.

What sucks is that I started trying to work on this song that has popped into my head, which I have lyrics for but I haven't quite settled on a melody or figured out the emotion that I want to convey in the song, so it is sort of in music purgatory right now, continually shifting between being a random lyric idea and an actual part of a song. Right when I think I've got the melody that feels right, I try to recreate it or I listen back to it recorded and it doesn't work. I think I just need to spend a little more time batting around with the lyrics in my primo creative spots--which I will someday reveal. Someday. They really aren't that interesting, but I'm trying to create some degree of mystery here. I'm also trying to cut down on the amount that I end up writing in these blog posts, but it is just SO HARD! Once I sit down and write I can't stop, but I am tryi n g t o f i g h t t h e u r g e t o c o n t i n u e , s o y o u a r e n' t b o r e d.

Hmm. If I tried putting a space after every letter it would definitely make it a lot harder to write as much. Hmm... interesting.