April 04, 2009

{{-Start from the crazy all we were, maybe that / Think about it, did you ever?-}}

The "Hope" through "Voices" section is original as hell and a supreme example of what the Biscuits could create in 2009. One of the greatest mid-tempo frankenfunks of the year. Yes, I will gobble, gobble, gobble this section to no end. I'm so goofy for this set it's ridiculous. Oh...and the 2nd set? That "I-Man"? The triple cut of Paintspay? Lastly, 2009 is also a time when all their shows suddenly sounded like Betty boards.

Much love. As you were.

M80 to begin the show is jamless. Hope doesn't have anything going on here, and although I liked parts of the Liquid Handcuffs, they never get out of first gear. What follows is one of the best versions of Voices, ever. This is spacey, psychedelic, and awesome. Brownstein switches on to the MIDI keyboard immediately, and Magner has these surreal soundscape noises that serve as the backdrop for this outerspace exploration theme music. Barber's play is subdued and straightforward, but against the hypnotic sounds of Magner and Brownstein - coupled with Allen's e-drums littered throughout - this is exactly the juxtaposition that's needed here. Around the 13-minute mark, Brownstein hints at some dissonance in his theme, but somehow this never gets fully "dark" and remains this interesting alien groove throughout. It's hard to overstate how cool this is, especially given that Barber willingly takes a backseat to the rest of the band. Some of the thematic work Magner does between 14-16 minutes is so, so, so great. Scifi stuff, writing scores for other worlds. Awesome. When the band begins building around the 17-minute mark, Barber is patient and restrained, and while he eventually does Rock God Barber at the peak, he really earns this one. This is one of the best jams of the year, which is saying a lot. The first 2-3 minutes of the Air Song jam are essentially an extension of the song itself. Atmospheric, ethereal, airy jamming. Around the 7-minute mark, Allen drops a four-on-the-floor beat, and the band is off and going. The resulting dance party is absolutely fantastic. This is one of my favorite versions of Air Song, and while it doesn’t quite reach the high highs of the jam preceding it, it’s incredibly great on its own. The second half of this jam, the band shifts into a major key to head back towards Voices. Around the 14-minute mark, Brownstein sounds like he’s teasing the Air Song intro bassline. This could just be a coincidence, but doesn’t feel like it given the rhythm. In any event, a cool little thing. The Helicopters jam is fine, but nothing special.

High Speed Racer and Tamarin Alley are both jamless to begin the second set. Spraypaint has a very long jam coming out of it. 15 minutes or so. I noted this as a highlight, though I wasn’t overly impressed by much of this. The first 5 to 6 minutes are largely filler, and the next 9 to 10 minutes the band is locked in a dance groove without much evolution at all. Overall, there was a lot of filler in this one. There is a very long intro into I-Man as well, like 7-8 minutes. The first I-Man jam features a 7 Nation Army jam/tease. Most of this is forgettable other than this novelty. The second jam begins with this blissful, ethereal theme, though the band eventually gets away from it. I wish they would’ve stretch this out further but overall I really like the fact that they did it anyways. Shelby jam is very straightforward and features a mediocre peak. Spectacle encore has a 3-4 minute intro jam that is decent.

Highlights: Liquid Handcuffs, Voices**, Air Song**, I-Man (2*), Spectacle