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More reviews. What binds these three bands together is that each is tied to a concert story for me. I saw Citizen Fish at the same show where I saw Cringer for the first and only time. The latter would go on to become J Church, one of my favorite bands ever, and the singer and guitarist Lance would become a good friend. R.I.P. I saw Street Eaters more recently, fucking shit up while opening for Forgetters. (Pic from The Echo, above.) The guitarist and I have become correspondents since then, and I was stoked when the band's latest releases were sent my way. I guess the Internet is pretty cool, after all. As for The Two Koreas, their CD has been in my stack of music to review for a few weeks now on the basis of their name alone. However, I didn't give it a listen until my friend Tom told me that there was this other really interesting band from Canada as we waited through Gang of Four's opener earlier this week…
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Sandy Vu from Dum Dum Girls turned me on to the music of Alex Zhang. Over lunch, she mentioned that the band that she drums for was going on tour with Dirty Beaches (his musical name) and then she sent some links. Holy crap. Obvious touchstones are the crooning of Elvis and distorted guitar of Suicide, but those are just starting points for an post-retro, completely reimagined aesthetic that's as realized as music by The Cramps or Guitarwolf or a movie by Jon Mortisugu or Wong Kar-Wai. And like all rad music, it's even better live. I had the pleasure of meeting Alex on a break during his current tour opening for Dum Dum GIrls, and it turned out he used to buy GR at the Tower at A La Moana. If you miss Dirty Beaches on tour this time around, don't stress. He will be back for a second round of gigs a few months. GR: Last week on your blog, you wished that music journalists would do half the research that CHRW's Bill Murray radio show did. As I read that, I thought, “Aw shit…” Do most of your interviews go poorly? DB: That guy did so much homework… I've met people who thought I was Japanese. I'm like, “What?” That's the rudest thing you can do in an interview–say I'm from a different country. GR: And has anyone ever complimented you on your command of the English language? DB: That happened with some French people. I should have said, “I speak English much better than you, motherfucker!” GR: You should have bust out with some Pidgin! DB: Like scrap or wot? I take care of you right now! GR: That was really good… So, brah, can you tell me about your dad? His picture is on more than one of your 7″ single sleeves now. DB: He sent the whole family to Canada and stayed in Taiwan working to support us. As a result I didn't see him much, and pretty much grew up without him. GR: Was he a musician or did he just dress like one? DB: He played in a band. You know all the kids with greasy hair in Asia during the '60s? In Cantonese they called them fay jai. Basically, they were like delinquents. My dad was definitely one of them. He was in a gang and he was a debt collector. Then he went into the military, and that's when he straightened out. He started working construction and became a real estate guy. GR: Does he always look hip in pictures? DB: Those are the ones that speak to me. They also remind me how much my parents love posing. You know, like one leg on a tray? They love doing that shit. I pick the ones where they look more natural. GR: They're Chinese and they're cool. I like that, and feel the same way about the mix tapes you post on your blog. I've discovered so many cool new...
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I'll admit the largest concert I've ever attended was my first. Rush played to a sold out arena at the Fabulous Forum in the 80s. I went along without a parent supervisor in a scene that resembled the kid from Almost Famous except I went with three other geeks and met no girls. Since then, it's been a series of smaller shows from a living room to the Hollywood Bowl and even a “smaller” festival or two.
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This morning I saw a press screening of Kim Jee-woon's I Saw The Devil, which opens in Los Angeles and New York City next week and rolls out to other cities after that. The bad-cop-versus-serial-killer/revenge movie is both glossy and gritty, with amazing production value, a gorgeous visual style, and no-holds-barred depictions of violence and man's capacity to do evil (to women and each other). Both seasoned fans of cinema and hardened fans of gore are given mountains of conversation topics to match the piles of naked, dismembered bodies. It's hard not to think of Silence of the Lambs during the opening as the serial killer played by Choi Min Sik (Oldboy) drives around in his creepy vehicle looking for prey–in this case, the fiance of a special police agent played by Lee Byung-hun (A Bittersweet Life, JSA). As the former continues on his sadistic spree, the latter begins his own bloody manhunt. Neither actor's character is given much background or exposition, but that isn't really the point. Despite the foes' different backgrounds, their actions become identical and are portrayed in shining, sickening detail as they call each other “bastard” the entire time. It isn't a perfect movie. Audiences looking for plot nuances, gray areas, turning points should go somewhere else, and even die-hard fans of revenge cinema will find the antagonist's friends to be conveniently creepy and wonder why a hungry cannibal wouldn't seek out plumper victims. But the director of the masterful horror movie, A Tale of Two Sisters, and the hybrid Western, The Good, The Bad, And The Weird, takes the manliest of genres–slasher films, violent cop movies, revenge cinema–and turns them into an undeniable dynamo of an experience. Although the movie clocks in at 240 minutes, the tension never wanes for one moment. Audiences may feel trapped by the escalating violence but they will never be bored or feel that the director, actors, or crew are just mailing it in. Yes, the special agent's cat-and-mouse game can be as torturous for the viewer as it is for his wife's killer. And if the devil is a fallen individual who gets off on tempting flawed people to do wrong, then that's exactly what the cop does. The dynamic that results is truly difficult. It's hard to root for the hero and impossible to have pity for the bad guy, but no audience member will leave without feeling exausted, confused, and brutalized. I Saw The Devil is a no-win situation presented in a stunning fashion–a real, rare gift for the few who dream of being flattened in a movie theater.
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For a guy who doesn't get out much… I guess I it happens once in a while. On Sunday afternoon, Ted Leo squeezed in a free matinee for parents and kids at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts before the evening's sold-out evening show (with stand-up comedians and a Q&A with Keith Morris) and following the previous night's appearance at the fancy Mondrian Hotel's Skybar. I'm a big fan of his music, and thought it was cool to expose young minds to a left-leaning vegan who tends to wear anarcho-peace punk shirts. Oh, yeah, he's an amazing songwriter and performer, too. The show started out with a DJ set by Morris, storytelling by Dallas Clayton, and free ice cream! I'm not sure if there were dairy-free options. Although Leo has faced plenty of tough crowds, this one's attention span was even shorter than usual. However, a veteran of not one but two record label implosions must have the PMA to carry on, and the ex-Chisel member has it in spades. Without support from his tack-sharp backing band The Pharmacists or the lively, witty crowd interaction that he usually elicits, he soldiered through a short-but-strong set. And the short list of songs got even shorter. No new covers were thrown in the mix (although Squeeze got in) but they would have been lost on most of the kids anyway. Afterward I thanked Ted for playing the free show for such a small and rough crowd, and he admitted that it was difficult to follow a confetti cannon. Nonetheless, I love his catchy, smart, poetic, and muck-raking pop and Eloise dug it, too. She even got the setlist! Hopefully, my three-year-old daughter will continue to go along with my musical tastes for a while and not rebel with her own, inevitably opposite direction too soon. The next evening I happened to be invited by a good friend to see Gang of Four at the Music Box in Hollywood. I got to see the offshoot band Shriekback on the Big Night Music tour way back when at Fender's Ballroom (with Hoodoo Gurus at their peak!) but never saw the highly influencial group that bassist Dave Allen came from. Yes, Gang of Four were amazing. Singer Jon King and guitarist Andy Gill remain, and still play the best funk-informed, Maoist-inspired post punk ever–blowing away the copycats–and their copycats, too. King does not stop moving. While the front man's movement often seems to correspond with the lyrics he's singing, the effect is not theatrical in any way. It's more like he's being shocked by electricity or being controlled by an invisible (and cruel) puppet master Meanwhile, Gill is as stoic in his demeanor and masterful in his playing. When he sings, it's similarly straightforward–a perfect foil to King. They played songs of their cool new album, but didn't neglect any of the hits: “Damaged Goods,” “To Hell with Poverty,” “At Home He's a Tourist,” “I Love a Man in a Uniform”… During “Anthrax,” Allen...
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