Caribou - Emeralds -- Black Cat - Sep 23 2010

Emeralds - Evening four of my eight-night journey of different genres begins with the first of two electronic pop bands. This Cleveland based trio features guys on keyboards, electronics, and guitar. They play a non-stop set where they weave their songs together with nice transitional, melodic noise. I am reminded of Tangerine Dream, who although featured lots of keyboards,also had a guitar they used for jarring effects. Emeralds lets the guitar work be a strong part of the sound which I find to be successful. They also use more pulsating sequencer rhythms as opposed to drum machine programs, which could be monotonous, but for their songwriting. I often preach variety and there was enough of that here to sustain my interest. A good effective set perfectly placed before this headliner.


Caribou - It is nice when I "get one right". I only saw this band last May at the Rock'n'Roll Hotel (reviewed here). I dug into my crystal ball and thought that the next time through, this band should move up to a larger club. Well that, and the fact the show was a sell-out with a high percentage of rabid fans. The Black Cat filled to about 90% capacity tonight which makes me wonder how high this band can go. Based on the music tonight, the sky is the limit (or maybe Merriweather Post Pavilion). Nothing has really changed since the May review. It is the same four-piece playing in front of projected animation with some strobe effects on stage. Daniel Snaith is still the leader of this band and the mainman behind the studio recordings, but like other one-man bands (Dungen, Bevis Frond, NiN) he tours enough that the live band becomes a viable unit. He even has his bass player sing a couple of leads. The music is as good as ever with lots of dreamy dance quality to it with enough attack mixed in to keep people on their toes. And how did the crowd respond? Well, I have never heard such a rousing ovation for a recorder solo. I (of course) preferred the 2-guitar song. The crowd was not exactly subdued the rest of the time either, as feet were moving. This is one excellent band I can recommend to anyone. After all, I am hardly the expert in this field and this my third time seeing their show and it likely will not be the last. Unless the venue and ticket prices get a little to big for me.

Quote of the Night: Well, I didn't hear anything of note, so this is something I read from Raymond Chandler talking about his screenplay work... "What Hollywood seems to want is a writer who is ready to commit suicide in every story conference. What it actually gets is the fellow who screams like a stallion in heat and then cuts his throat with a banana. The scream demonstrates the artistic purity of his soul and he can eat the banana while somebody is answering a telephone call about some other picture."