Matt and Kim x 2!

So this is going up WAY late, and will probably soon be followed by the Sufjan review.  Guess I got carried away with other things! Sorry guys...


October was quite the whirlwind, what with the whole running a marathon thing.  But it was also quite the Matt-and-Kim-heavy, too.  Monica, Emily and I caught their concert at Webster Hall on October 27th, and their new album Sidewalks came out on November 2nd, which means that a post devoted entirely to them is completely appropriate.  


The concert itself lived up to everything I'd hoped it would be--Matt and Kim play energetic music, and definitely ramped it up a few notches for their live show.  Before the show started, they played the entirety of Sidewalks, and because of that, they didn't play any material from the new album.  But, it turned into a good way to brush up on some of their older songs, including 5K, Silver Tiles (ok, so they redid this on Sidewalks, so I guess that counts?), Good Ol Fashioned Nightmare, and of course, Daylight (for a CRACKED OUT version from my camera, try this. Good idea of how the concert went in general. Except add some circle pits). 


Looking at the differences between their last album, Grand, and their latest, Sidewalks, you can tell almost immediately that Sidewalks is more polished--while Grand seems raw and sometimes disjointed in the characteristics of the songs (and is therefore personally the album that's harder to get behind), Sidewalks just feels more cohesive and provides a smoother full-album listen.  


The album's first single, Cameras, moves closer to hip hop and gives a bit of a preview of the feel of the album, but I think a few more tracks are necessary to fully appreciate it.  Well, technically listening to the entire album is required to fully appreciate it, but I do that so you don't have to (unless you want to!). After Cameras, head to Block After Block, Good for Great, and wrap it up with the new version of Silver Tiles.  I love that they redid this song--it helps show their development excellently.  The live edition is also excellent because as they explained to the NYC crowd, it's their song for their fans.  Although when I went to double check that, Matt apparently also said it's about knocking his brother's teeth out.  Same difference.  (I also like "Where You're Coming From", but unfortunately YouTube has failed me on that one.)


Anyhow-tons of Matt and Kim made it onto my running playlist because all of their music is so high-energy.  So next time you need a pick-me-up, pop on something from Sidewalks or Grand, and just let the music work its magic.  

Concert Reviews: Tallest Man on Earth

So, one of my goals upon moving to this lovely city was to go to as many concerts as possible given multiple opportunities and a whole lot of people to drag along with me. The first concert that I went to ended up being The Tallest Man on Earth at Webster Hall, along with Christina, Jared, and Jared's friend Betsy. 

The Tallest Man on Earth is actually Kristian Matsson, of Dalarna, Sweden (he wore a shirt from there which sparked a very long conversation about where he's from and he got really excited about it).  You wouldn't be able to tell that English is his second language from his voice, though; if anything, it's got a bit of a twang to it.  

The concert opened with S. Carey, of Bon Iver fame, and from what I've heard and what Jared and Betsy told me, their live set was much more energetic than than the album.  The highlight of their set was definitely "Action" in the middle of the set, which morphed from a 2ish minute song on the album to an 8-9 minute breakdown including building percussion parts which could have made the night worth it by themselves.  

TMOE's set was also wonderful--the set was minimal, with just a chair, multiple guitars, and a background full of lights meant to look like stars.  He's just as enthusiastic as I've heard, throwing himself completely into everything.  I came away with the impression that he might be slightly crazy, but it's all the right types of crazy for someone who performs for a living.  I took a video of The Gardner to have something I could share.  Unfortunately, I took it sideways and couldn't figure out how to fix that, so you might have to turn your head sideways? 

In any case, next concert on the horizon is Matt and Kim at the end of the month.  I'll try to have that writeup a bit earlier than this one.