Thursday, Sept. 22
The Canopy Club
Easter:
Easter @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Adam Barnett
Kyle Lang’s Easter opened up Thursday’s “early show” lineup at The Canopy Club. Playing with a solid handful of friends from U of I and elsewhere, they were easily one of the liveliest sets of the night. With just 30 minutes, they played all four songs from his Spring 2011 EP Demonstration and covered the 1961 Roy Orbison song “Crying.” Starting with the immediately energetic “Absence,” the rambunctious group made it clear how the next half hour would go. Barely fitting on the small stage, utilizing all possible range, they still managed to bounce around and bump into each other with unfettered musicianship.
While Demonstration was recorded and written entirely by Lang, his friends filled in to cover all the instruments and then some, including two on trumpet. Their set was full of crowd surfing and what seemed to be improvised ideas that turned out pretty well. —Carrie McMenamin, buzz Asst. Music Editor
Easter @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Adam Barnett
Ava Luna:
Ava Luna @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Adam Barnett
No matter what you think of their quirky, soulful indie, it’s easy to say they are one enticing group. Ava Luna’s sound is unique enough that it’s not going to strike a chord with everyone, but in that same regard, they make it hard for anyone to deny the joy and talent on stage. With three females on backing vocals and Carlos Hernandez on lead vocals, the Brooklyn seven-piece make beautiful, jumpy harmonies and old time soul meets innovative indie-pop. At times, their rhythm is reminiscent of Dirty Projectors, but other times they delve so deep into soulful melodies that you forget the year. Their short set was one of the first of the day, yet they captivated a smaller crowd with their attractive chemistry, synched swaying and impressive harmonies layered over driving bass and synth. —CM
Ava Luna @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Adam Barnett
Bachelorette
Bachelorette, with her soft spoken voice and New Zealand accent is a sweet, perfect gift to an able body and relaxed mind. Combining atmospheric serenity with danceable beats, her music is irresistible, just as it was live. Playing to the small room at the Canopy Club, she humbly took the stage and introduced her one-woman act, and then began her haze of eloquence. Most songs started fairly simple, gradually coated with layers of her serene voice and extra beats and noises to create what is often fairly complex within a few minutes. The only compliant for most was the need for more time, as the minutes went far too fast for her well-delivered trance.
Bachelorette @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Sean O'Connor
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Unknown Mortal Orchestra @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Sean O'Connor
When Unknown Mortal Orchestra walked on stage, a lot of the people in the surprisingly small crowd at the Canopy Club probably didn’t even know who these guys were. Soon enough however, the band managed to win most of the audience over. It might have been Ruban Nielson’s accent (a New Zealand native) or the impressive instrumentals, or a little bit of both.
UMO opened with “Little Blu House,” a track off their self-titled debut. It appeared the band was giving it their best throughout their set. Nielson played the guitar with all his heart (figuratively). The end result of that was someone in the crowd actually saying, “Can you do that again?” once he was done. The band’s first “last song” (they decided to keep playing after realizing they had more time), “How Can U Luv Me” sounded like an electronic version of something you’d hear on Soul Train, which was pretty cool and unexpected. The only downside of the performance was that a good portion of the lyrics were nowhere close to being discernible, maybe it has something to do with all the misspelled song titles (“Ffunny Ffrends,” “Thought Ballune”). Really though, it is creative, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra proved itself to be a band that truly should have brought in a larger crowd. —Maggie Labno, buzz Music Writer
Unknown Mortal Orchestra @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Sean O'Connor
Youth Lagoon:
Whenever a band dedicates a song to someone, it can either be really cheesy or really touching. The singer cried during “The Gambler,” a song about his parents and siblings. That was touching (it was also the first time I saw a grown man cry). When Trevor Powers of Youth Lagoon introduced and played his song “Bobby,” dedicated to his brother, it was a moment similar to that. I don’t think anyone cried during this one, and although I only have slight recollection of the lyrics, the tune itself is somber enough to know the song is nowhere close to being cheesy. The band finished their set with “July,” yet another very honest (as all of them appear to be) song.
Youth Lagoon’s performance had to have been my favorite of the night. It was relaxing, it was calm, it was dreamy, and it made me want to drink a cup of tea and cuddle up with someone. It was perfect swaying music, and a perfect break in between sets. Youth Lagoon’s debut album The Year of Hibernation comes out on September 27. Although dropping out of school to pursue your musical career isn’t the best thing to exemplify on a college campus, Powers seems to have enough talent to make it work. —ML
Toro Y Moi:
Toro y Moi, aka Chaz Bundick and friends, started their set with a simple “Wazzup?” The crowd’s excitement was pretty evident and there were a lot of hands up in the air from the moment the music started. It’s hard not be excited about a band that’s been getting so much good attention in the past months, releasing what seems like good song after good song. Which brings me to my main point: the show was good mostly because Toro y Moi succeeds in making good music, not because their live performance at the Canopy Club was in any way breathtaking, mesmerizing, or amazing. It was good, but it wasn’t memorable.
Although Toro y Moi didn’t really succeed in hosting a massive dance party throughout their whole set (something I personally expected), the crowd was very active during certain songs such as “All Alone.” The band was accompanied by projections that were “trippy” (as Bundick himself pointed out), sometimes cool, sometimes distracting. Toro y Moi finished their set with “Low Shoulder” leaving the crowd presumably satisfied, since no one bothered to ask for more. —ML
Toro y Moi @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Sean O'Connor
Krannert Art Museum
Teeadora Nikolova:
Teeadora Nikolova’s show was one for the performance-art lover. Nikolova’s image was half of the entertainment. He tiptoed in place, with a blank stare, mouth gaping open, as if he were lured into reverie while the audience observed him in his trance. His legs were inhumanly thin and his hair was a black mop atop his head. He sang in a remarkably feminine high-pitch and strummed his bass guitar into a droning, atmospheric timbre. His poetic lyrics were piercing as they lingered beneath the drawn out murmur of the guitar, a quality that resonated through each song in the show. The most notable part of the show was when Nikolova sang “I love you” and proceeded to scream them at the top of his lungs. He eventually threw himself on the ground, continually screaming “I love you.” As an audience member, I found myself unable to watch and had to force myself to look up from my notebook. Nikolova then stood up, requested that we withhold from clapping, and left the room thirty minutes before his set was up. When he was clear from the gallery, we applauded. Nikolova certainly knows the art of entertainment. The show was a glimpse into the ultra-indie, abstract realm of music performance today. —Hillary Waldstein; buzz Music Writer
The Capstan Shafts:
The Capstan Shafts @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Adam Barnett
A three-piece lo-fi punk outfit headed by Dean Wells, The Capstan Shafts probably wasn’t the best suited for an art gallery lobby. It was odd seeing these guys rock out a free show where 40-50 (mostly) college students hung back by the glass windows at least 15 feet from the small stage. The songs were fast and raw, much like the recordings, but to the point where Wells himself admitted they were “playing the songs too fast” after he heard they had 16 minutes left on stage. Wells showed off some excellent guitar work, the band kept up a good amount of energy, but the crowd just didn’t seem like they wanted to be a part of it, as opposed to being innocent bystanders to some welcomingly harsh punk. —Adam Barnett; buzz Music Editor
The Capstan Shafts @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Adam Barnett
Bear Hands:
This is the second time I’ve seen them in the past couple months on a free stage at a festival, and it makes a lot of sense. They play big, and I mean fucking big. I’ve mentioned before that they’re a post-punk band gone electronic on their most recent record Burning Bush Supper Club, but it’s the most apparent in their live set. Equally as heavy on the guitar, bass and drums as they are on the Microkorg and samplers, frontman Dylan Rau was able to convince the distant crowd to finally move in at his request. That, right there, is why the free stages make sense. While the band plays big, the members have a timid stage presence that doesn’t command much from the crowd; though, their music does. They hit some new tunes, some from the record, including catchy-chorus heavy “Crime Pays” and “Tablasaurus” to which very, very few knew the words, but some were definitely inclined to dance, but still not as many as you might expect hearing the music from afar. Eventually they closed with old single “What a Drag,” you know, the one that talks about “dreaming of your goddamn long nails.” That’s the one, and they executed it perfectly. It was a great way to end a night at the Krannert Art Museum. —AB
Bear Hands @ Pygmalion 2011; photo by Adam Barnett
buzz Magazine: Music 
Posted on September 24, 2011
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