I totally love living in an international megalopolis like Tor-Buff-Chester because the advantages for us Buffalonians in the creamy center between Toronto and Rochester are numerous and frankly, pretty damn cool if we take advantage of them. Sure there's commercial benefits, but I'm more interested in: 1) the hockey, namely our symbiotic relationship with our farm team in Rochester and our excellent and heated division rivalry with the Toronto Maple Leafs (I despise those ____ers); 2) the cultural benefits, and 3) the music. Especially the music, with Buffalo ideally situated between the two poles of our megalopolis, the megaregion becomes our oyster. Case in point: the skull crushingly fine tri-fecta going off tomorrow night featuring Sharon Van Etten with Damien Jurado at the Town Ballroom (tickets are still available!), Yeasayer in Toronto, and Sleigh Bells and Araabmuzik at the Water Street Music Hall in Rochester.

Tomorrow night we've got ourselves a smorgasbord of shows worthy of interest, even if two of the three acts have already played Buffalo this year. I'm not going to get into the Sharon Van Etten show because that's being covered tomorrow (also, I'm not that excited about it, but that's just me), which leaves the Yeasayer and Sleigh Bells shows, which will be excellent based on what's been seen before by the Town Ballroom faithful. Even though their Fragrant World album let a lot of people down, Yeasayer's Buffalo show was exceptional... a puzzling paradox that will make their show at the Danforth Music Hall an opportunity to perhaps solve this mystery while checking out the allegedly impressive light show they're mounting on this leg of the tour, perhaps as a result of the decidedly mixed reviews Fragrant World received upon it's release in mid August. I myself would like to believe that the band thought they'd be conquering the world behind their new album and went for a light show that'd blow minds while they circled the world triumphantly, but I suspect that's naive tomfoolery. In any case, Fragrant World sounded great live alongside cuts from All Hour Cymbals and Odd Blood, so this ought to be a great show for Buffalonians eager to revisit those heady summer nights when our scene was on fire.



Indeed, one of the hottest and most explosive shows of the summer easily had to be the Sleigh Bells show in July, another Buffalo show strong enough to merit seeing them again, this time at the Water Street Music Hall. In fact I'm bummed that Yeasayer and Sleigh Bells are going off on the same night because the wall of sound laid down by Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss was delicious, utterly irresistible, and something I'd love to experience again. If there is one downside to living in a megalopolis, it'd be the fact that sometimes great shows go off on the same night, forcing hard choices on the part of discerning music fans. Hell, the night of the Yeasayer show at the Town Ballroom, Sigur Ros played Toronto. Sometimes you can't win, but boy is it nice to have options.

Now I know that Buffalonians have a complicated relationship with our neighbors to the North, and it's completely understandable considering their hockey fans mock us in our own building, their poor driving skills make them menaces on our roads and theirs, and their disdain for us does tend to strike a sour note. That said, to hell with them. Toronto is nice, and it's wasted on them... so we might as well partake in the goodness while also occasionally benefiting from our proximity when bands pass thru town on their way to or from Toronto. OK, yes, to be honest, I wish more shows visited Buffalo. Of course. More, more, more. But that's not necessarily how it goes for a struggling Rust Belt city like ours, and while progress is definitely being made cultivating a scene and an audience, this is where living in a megalopolis comes in handy. Between Toronto, Rochester, and Buffalo we get just about everybody... and it is good.




Oh yeah, by the way, Passion Pit plays the Main Street Armory in Rochester February 18. I agree that it sucks that they're not playing here, but the Armory is a fantastic venue (of a size we just don't have in Buffalo), their show at the Rapids Theatre 2 years ago was muy excellent even with light show issues, and that means road trip...

Tom Morello's public war with "big fan" Paul Ryan got a lot of headlines, but for me (surprisingly) it was the social media donnybrook between Yeasayer and Pitchfork over the latter's review of Fragrant World that really got my blood racing. I mean, let's face it- Paul Ryan isn't a fan of Rage Against The Machine. Of course Morello had to defend his turf and set the record straight, but in the end there's no way a career Washingtonian like Paul Ryan could possibly be a fan... unless he's one of those swine that vigorously overlooks inconvenient lyrical content (ahem Chris Christie), but it's neither here nor there compared to almost hilarious brandishing of cojones that's been at the heart of the Yeasayer-Pitchfork beef, that and a mutual desire to get over on somebody perceived to have gotten too big for their britches.

When the futurekind define "music blog buzz band," the example they will cite will be Yeasayer's 2010 sophomore album Odd Blood. Yes the buzz entirely justified, but that hype was intense, and it got more intense as they toured behind that breakthrough album before retreating to work on their insanely highly anticipated third album. Needless to say, the hype during the run up of the release of Fragrant World has been crazy, in part due to some clever social media maneuvers from the band themselves. Was Yeasayer setting themselves up for a backlash, an inevitable backlash as these things go? Perhaps. What one person would consider a warm and fuzzy connection to a band via Twitter can be perceived by somebody else as shameless hype. In any case, Pitchfork, a previous champion of Yeasayer, obliged with a review of Fragrant World that was a certified smackdown.

Now, I don't want to get into the particulars of the Pitchfork Fragrant World review or the album itself because Steve Dobek will be reviewing it and I don't want to prejudice anybody against a fellow buffaBLOGGER. That would indeed not be cricket. I will say that the Pitchfork reviewer seemed to definitely have an agenda as evidenced by among other things the "better luck next time because we know you can do better" tone and a desire to bag on every song on the album while still giving it a 5.4. "Eleven unremarkable songs?!?" Having chased all of the songs down during the run-up to the Yeasayer show a few weeks back and after, that criticism just didn't seem kosher to me. And it must not have seemed kosher to Yeasayer either because they issued a Tweet (again with the social media) lambasting an anonymous reviewer who only could have been the dude from Pitchfork. 

And apparently Yeasayer wasn't the only one, the Twitterverse lighting up as scads of angry Tweets flew from Yeasayer fans at Pitchfork decrying the review, prompting Pitchfork to later ironically give props to Yeasayer for having an army of fans so keep to do battle on their behalf. Of course as an occasional critic, I'm not entirely crazy about this turn of events, but then again, I try to avoid agendas and using my reviews to take the piss out on somebody, something Pitchfork cannot always say themselves. Pitchfork has become the daily hipster music missalette, and boy do they know it. Pitchfork This and Pitchfork That. Pitchfork TV. Pitchfork Fest in Chicago. Pitchfork Fest in Paris. Pitchfork Here There and Everywhere. Don' get me wrong, I regularly check out Pitchfork; I don't live by it but I know it's there, and let's face it, Pitchfork has been very good to us as music lovers. But their influence on music and music culture is becoming more and more outsized, and sometimes power goes to one's head, even at a music blog/website, and that might very well have been the case here. In many ways it was Pitchfork that was setting itself up for a backlash, and Yeasayer did their best to oblige.

Yes, I do believe it's possible for a music blog to be trippin.' Of course that won't happen at buffaBLOG. Never. Trust us. And don't @#$% with Yeasayer. They might mess you up (on Twitter).

Yes, we've reached August. And while the summer is fleeting past, there's still plenty of time for new music to find it's way to your ear canals and then to any subsequent barbecues, frisbee golf tournaments, or Sunday afternoon naps. Let's face it though, this has already been such a substantial year for new music; I still find myself catching up on past releases. Just wait 'til December when we come out with our "Best of 2012" lists. It's going to be insanely difficult.


10. Niki and The Dove - Instinct

Before I start this review, I have to do a little bit of scolding. In one sentence, this was the best bill of music I've seen all year and I am still gushing about it two days later. Why then, was the venue so criminally underattended? It might be understandable, considering it was Yeasayer's first time in Buffalo, evidenced from singer Chris Keating's awkward Buffalo 66 shoutout. Opener Daedelus, however, is no stranger to Buffalo's music scene, having played to packed houses at Soundlab on several occasions. I entered during his set about 10 minutes in or so and was shocked at how empty the room was. I won't dwell on it for long because I have nothing but nice things to say about the show, but if Buffalo doesn't turn up to see acts of this caliber, we'll cease to seem attractive as a music market, and that's not something we want. (is it?)

As for Deadelus, I couldn't have imagined a better opener for a band as eclectic as Yeasayer. Dressed to the nine's in an all black shirt, tie, vest and napoleanic sideburns, Deadelus is a rare DJ who's fun to watch perform. Instead of a mousehead mask, insane lighting rig, or bizarre pointless miming, you just saw a guy performing on his monome. That's all he needed, as the small crowd was still an enthusiastic one, giving a loud applause as he exited the stage. As always, the set was different than the last one of his that I saw (April 6, 2011 at Soundlab), but I enjoyed seeing him embrace some more downtempo sounds. Deadelus always manages to give his sets the feel of pop music without sounding pandering or pretentious, this is mostly due to the great vocal sampling he does. Vocal heavy sets can often be tiresome and cheesy but Deadelus mixes his vocals with staggering tastefulness, never distracting from the other elements but still existing on their own.

After a lengthy breakdown, Yeasayer took the stage and opened with new single "Henrietta".  The crowd had filled out a little better by this point, and most of them seemed to be familiar with the song. The production heavy studio track was served nicely by the more live feel, giving prominence to the great three part harmonies that ride out the song. The band was flanked on all sides of the stage what appeared to be circular glass mirrors. Colored lights lit them up, giving the background lighting a unique and steady movement. I enjoy unique light shows, so this was a treat. It wasn't until the band broke into Odd Blood favorite "One", that the light show took a step up.  White beams filled the room from the floor of the stage, giving the appearance that the entire stage was a giant disco ball. This was somewhat nostalgic as I remember the days when Town Ballroom would unleash it's own giant disco ball from the ceiling, which was always a show highlight, but more on that later.

I feel like I've said the words "Town Ballroom has been kicking ass" a little too much lately. A lot of great bands have come through the past few months, but they're about to get a run for their money. Through two full length albums (and hints of their third), Yeasayer have remained delightfully unclassifiable, making it a pain in the ass for someone like me to sum up their music in a short paragraph. The tighter, poppier approach of Odd Blood seems to have given way to a more droning, electronic sound on new singles "Henrietta" and "Longevity", taken from their upcoming album Fragrant World. The former taking the A and B approach, switching gears halfway through from dub basslines to a wall of layered ambience, the latter maintaining that vibe throughout, albeit a bit more sparce. The variety makes for a dynamic live show, high on energy but never letting a particular rhythm get stale.

A midweek bill with Yeasayer should be enough to get you out of the house, but electronic producer and sideburns aficionado Daedelus will be opening the show, making this in the running for show of the year. Slide those dancing socks into your sandals and get there early.  Doors are at 7 and this is an all ages show, so beware the little buggers with blown minds.

Oh I absolutely hold with Yeasayer on that. This is the month for sticking it to those mother____ers, and we were definitely doing that Thursday night at the FNC as Roger Waters and his magical band mounted The Wall for the sensory overloaded enjoyment of an insanely appreciative Buffalo audience. Indeed, we got our minds blown for a wonderful cause, and for that, and for coming to Buffalo again, I profoundly thank Roger Waters. Thanks, man.

Buffalo's phenomenal year of concerts continues with a long awaited Western New York appearance by Brooklyn indie pop band Yeasayer August 1st at the Town Ballroom. The band will be in town in advance of the August 21st release of their hotly anticipated third album Fragrant World, hopefully giving local audiences an early sneak preview.

Formed in Brooklyn in 2006, Yeasayer released a 2007 debut All Hour Cymbals, but exploded fully onto the international scene with their second album Odd Blood in 2010. A perfect combination of indie electronica, African poly-rhythms, earnestness, and classic pop sensibilities, Yeasayer's Odd Blood sounded like pop music beamed to us in the present from the future, and it became an internet and music blog darling, finding places on a multitude of year end "best of" lists all over the world, and justifiably so. 


That said, the stakes are high with the release of Fragrant World. The good news for Yeasayer is that Buffalo audiences are known for their enthusiasm. That audience can get their hands on tickets this Friday metaphorically speaking via Tickets.com or for reals at the Town Ballroom box office, and tickets are $20.