Camera Obscura @ Grand Hall, Manhattan, New York
This is my first review for thatsound and I was lucky that this first report was about a very special concert. Camera Obscura is a Scottish indie-pop band that presents with a paradoxical sound, in the sense that is both happy and melancholic, danceable and still, sweet and sour. Overall, they have a mellow style that takes you across other musical decades but with a modern touch. Camera Obscura is also the name of a device that projects an image from the surroundings into a screen. Various painters, such as Vermeer, used this device in the creation of their works. As the device, that gathers light and condenses into an image, Camera Obscura, the band, transforms feelings into music. The delicate voice of Tracyanne Campbell is definitely one of the key ingredients of this alchemical process.
They were formed in 1996 and since then have steadily gathered a growing fan base. The turning point of the band’s history happened with the release of their third album “Let’s Get Out Of This Country” due to a more polished production. With last year’s “My Maudlin Career” finally hitting mainstream, a bigger audience was given the opportunity to appreciate one of best pop bands of the last ten years.
The venue was perfect for the band. The Grand Hall is on the 7th floor of the Manhattan Center, in the same building as the Hammerstein Ballroom and right across the street from the huge Madison Square Garden. After entering directly from the busy streets of midtown Manhattan into an elevator, the dimension of the room comes as a surprise - a classic New York ballroom with a pretty high ceiling, a balcony on top for a quiet experience and wide ground area completely carpeted, giving an extra cozy feeling.
The opening band, Love Language, was also a very good surprise - catchy pop-rock songs that got the attention of everyone. Certainly they will be a major act in the future. On top of this, the show was sold-out, so the conditions were ideal for the concert, and Camera Obscura did not disappoint. They even treated the audience with a string section that gave an extra touch to their performance, presenting a “best-of” from their career. The interaction of the band with the public is modest, but sincere. In the middle of the concert Tracyanne even satisfied a personal request from the audience and took a photo with a fan. The highlight came when some of the most popular singles were played in succession, “Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken” (a song that is a reply to Lloyd Cole’s “Are you ready to be heartbroken?”), “If looks it could kill” and “French Navy” (the first single of their most recent album). They wrapped up the concert with a three song encore – “Let’s get out of this country”, “80’s fan” and “Razzle Dazzle Rose” leaving a satisfied audience behind.
Camera Obscura showed that night the reason why we should go see a band playing live. This is the kind of concert that a boy should take a girl to, to dance softly with her, and everyone else to understand the subtleties of getting heartbroken.
Tiago Gil
Noiserv @ Subscuta, Barcelos
It's hard to please when you're a one-man band. Let's face the facts: after the five minute moment of novelty and amusement, few find one-man armies interesting enough to keep ears fed. Noiserv is different, though. Keep reading.
As you entered the small and cozy auditorium, things started to feel a bit more artsy than in your average garage project, with David Santos literally surrounded by all kinds of real and toy instruments and Diana Mascarenhas, David's cousin, sitting with a laptop and a drawing tablet.
As soon as the show started, the tablet was put to use and during the whole of it Diana (who is responsible for all Noiserv's artwork) kept on drawing some Radiohead-esque scenarios, projected on the wall. In fact, as odd it may seem, there were glimpses of Radiohead's depth and sonority here and there, even if caused by a single person with a looping pedal - B.I.F.O being the epitome track of it all.
Quite an amusing show, David made it clear that with the right ideas everything can be put to sound: even an old, analog photographic camera was made an instrument, along with several toys, retro keyboards and the likes. Besides the interesting fact of being able to cope with the dictatorial layering loops live, it was clear this wasn't just a concept showoff: the result was indeed music, the kind you'd likely hear on the radio without ever thinking how many members the band had playing.
Be sure to check out Bullets On Parade (probably the most well-known song of Noiserv) live at Cinema São Jorge - and pay attention to the background drawing!
Tete Plongeant @ Jardim do Principe Real, Lisbon
You probably haven't heard of them before, which is perfectly acceptable, as they're a very recent and garage-wise project. Hailing from Lisbon, Portugal, Tête Plongeant deliver a very interesting fusion of styles in their music, something that caught my attention - bringing us to this review.
The concert itself was set right in the heart of Lisbon, in a very beautiful zone called Jardim do Príncipe Real. The band was playing for free to whoever was passing by, in a very simple stage, setting the right mood for what they were offering.
Tête Plongeant mix genres in a very uncommon way, with the lead guitarist bringing shades of blues and rock, only to be followed by a Didgeridoo intro in the next song and several other odd combos between world music, rock and funk. During the show, there were some loose ends in need of solving, something that rehearsal time can and will fix; sometimes it felt like things weren't completely rock solid in some of the songs, but putting things into perspective, there's a very good vibe about these guys, and what they're aiming at is really nice and, more importantly, fresh in today's musical panorama, where it becomes really hard to have something new to say without leeching others' recipes.
Though there's not much to be heard (unfortunately), you can check them out at their myspace page.
