the fyrehaus

So, Nicole and I braved the brutal (first) snow of the year to catch Foals at The Bowery Ballroom last night.  Nicole loved them at CMJ, and I found Yannis somewhat cute on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. (Now you see how I make music-related decisions.)

We both found the opening acts (Teeth and Team Robespierre) completely awful.  We are clearly alone on that opinion re: Team Robespierre, as Brooklyn Vegan and The Music Slut both loved it.  Me, I got throttled by the lead singer. It was startling.  It was basically everything I don’t like in punk music. (Though you can spot Nicole and I in the background in the BV pics of Team Robespierre.)

But Foals did not disappoint.  The music is brilliantly complex, and they manage to be engaging with minimal vocals. I’m told it was mostly newer stuff from their upcoming album, which sounds like it will be fantastic. I can see where people get the term “math rock”, but can we all agree to make that phrase go away? You know, because it sounds douchey?

Unfortunately, jet lag seemed to catch up with the rhythm guitarist, who got sick at the back of the stage towards the end of the set. But, after some gentle teasing and applause, he rallied and they finished the set. And even managed an encore. (Honestly, I never would have realized they were exhausted from the performance; they were on fire.)

Nicole got all arty black and white with her pictures last night:

More pictures here.

“I like Gwen Stefani but then I like stuff that will only sell three records. I won’t not listen to something because it’s commercial. That’s a weird idea that you enjoy a band but then the moment they become more palatable to more people all of a sudden they’re not as cool. There’s something almost elitist about it, like you’re only into bands that are part of some secret Masonic thing - free masonry - secret handshake, the way you fold your letter when you send your demo to the press. Popularity’s good, it means we get to eat, otherwise we’d be washing dishes - the more pop kids that like our music the better.”

- Yannis Philippakis of Foals

If you’re in NYC, catch Foals at Bowery Ballroom on February 12. I can say this because I already have a ticket.

One thing that consistently annoys me, like a toothache, is famous people whinging around about how they don’t WANT to be famous. Tim Jonze of the Guardian clearly agrees with me.

“It’s horrible. I feel all this hype does is expose the conglomerative, sadistic nature of the music industry.”

These are the words of Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong. Nothing wrong with hating hype, you might say. But then, if they genuinely feel this way, why do interviews and photo shoots?

They’re not alone, though. On 6Music news the other day, Adele was claiming “the hype” was a bit of a pain, but that there was “nothing” she could do about it. Apparently, she’d only done a “couple” of interviews, the rest just came out of nowhere. That’s odd, as the magazines I work for have been bombarded with requests to do features on her. Is the press office going against their client’s wishes?
. . .
It’s fashionable to hate the establishment, to want to represent the alternative… but if there’s nothing to back this up, who are they kidding? I suggest they all either take a leaf out of the Arctic Monkeys’ book (who made it a right pain in the neck to get an interview and refused to bow down to radio and TV station demands even before they were signed) or admit that, deep down, they secretly love having journalists frothing at the mouth over their unique ability to play a bass guitar in time with the drums.

The BBC Sound of 2008 poll is out, and the top ten is:

1. Adele
2. Duffy
3. The Ting Tings
4. Glasvegas
5. Foals
6. Vampire Weekend
7. Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong
8. Black Kids
9. MGMT
10. Santogold

You can check out the bands at the BBC site, and the other links are the “I told you so’s” from the Fyrehaus. (Of course, I’m guessing the Guardian critics probably voted in the BBC poll, ya?)

And the Guardian both reports, and blogs about the list.

Industry insiders tip who they think will be huge in 2008. The consensus is Vampire Weekend (who L magazine loved in their “NYC bands you should be listening to” feature) and the Foals, among others.

Bonus: If you’d like to download free Christmas pop songs, the Guardian points you to the sources.