Jeff Mangum held a captive audience at BAM last Friday night. Unlike some other shows I had attended there, no one rushed into the aisles on the main floor or crowded the stage. Everyone remained seated, focused, faced forward to hear every note and see every strum of his guitar. About 1/3 of the way through the set he broke the fourth wall to tell us that "you know, you can yell things at me!" The crowd perked up slightly, but for the most part it was still very reserved. Perhaps the location, perhaps the fact that Jeff Mangum has only recently come out of "seclusion," but the reverence in that theater could be cut with a knife. It had the potential to be a wild sing-a-long. It could have been a crazy dance party. From someone I know who went to the Saturday night show, they had more of a crowding-the-aisles type of experience. Instead, Friday was beautiful and somewhat somber.
The first section of his set was done solo, surrounded by the three guitars he was not currently playing. In this sense, it brought back memories of college and my friend who used to play Neutral Milk Hotel songs late at night on his guitar. But as things progressed, he was joined on stage by horns and accordian -- a piece of the overall sound that I had notably been missing (I wish they had accompanied during King of Carrot Flowers. I love their parts.)
I never really imagined that I would get to see Jeff Mangum play live... that's one to knock off the concert bucket list. I'm not sure if my friends loved it quite as much as I did, but I could point to the backs of a lot of heads that certainly agreed with me. They really were a crowd that looked like NMH fans / BAM patrons, ifyouknowwhatimean.
Opening for Jeff was the current Julian Koster project, The Music Tapes. Their the live act really has more of a "variety show" feeling than your typical concert set and reflects the quirky nature of what they're doing. I'm not sure that I'd recommend them...or not recommend them. It was definitely a unique experience. I'm a big fan of the 7' Tall Metronome (though, I don't understand why the arm doesn't actually keep time properly. If you're going to go to such lengths, you may as well make it be functional). You can see it in the background of the photo above.
- A standby ever since it came out, getting consistent plays during my subway commutes to work and appearances on various mixes.
- I should call this section of the list "your last album was impressive in how it was depressing, but this one was happier and I still liked it." Not that this album is particularly joyous, but at least it isn't about watching someone die of cancer.
- The title track on this album is one of my favorite songs of the year, too. I listened to it constantly before realizing that I might also like/want to purchase the rest of Wye Oak. It's highly representative of the type of music that I listened to all year, and was a really great album over all.
- Oh, here we go. Here's the depressing/breakup album. You'd think I was chronically plagued by heartache. (I'm not). Something about that process drives musicians to write songs, and sometimes those songs end up being whole albums, and on rare occasion those albums are really great. This is one of those rare times. Clearly appreciated by the music-buying population this year, I think it's well-deserved.
- while I sit at work all day, I have a lot of TVoTR-fueled (seated) dance parties. The album just makes you want to wiggle around in your chair (inconspicuously, of course). It has a similar appeal to the other albums they've put out, so it was a solid outing if you already enjoy TVoTR.
- if my love for Donald Glover isn't clear yet, then you're not reading closely enough. 2011 has been the year of Donald Glover love around here: meeting him at MSG, seeing him in concert twice, endless dance parties and bike rides on his namesake two-wheeler (yes, my bike really is named for him.) As a person, Donald Glover is smart and hilarious. As a rapper, Childish Gambino is smart and witty, and a little bit gross. But in a good way. He continues his previous themes of loving Asian girls and being a nerdy black kid. He makes more references than Gilmore Girls, and when you can catch them all it's ah-may-zing.
- the tour schedule for this album says more about it and the evolution of the Black Keys than anyone could put into words. They're playing an arena tour (Madison Square Garden in NY; the United Center in Chicago; etc). They've gotten big both in popularity and also in their sound. When did it become such mainstream-accessible Rock? Regardless, I spent a solid chunk of time watching the Lonely Boy teaser video for the album before it came out, and the rest of the album managed to also carve out a place into this mix.
- There is so much talk about Justin Vernon lately with all this Grammy stuff and the Bushmills ads and being friends with Kanye. But I really don't care about any of that. Whether he's writing in complete isolation or giving titles to songs which confuse people unfamiliar with Midwestern geography, his music is what stands out. And once again, it's beautiful.
- I often associate certain bands or albums with different seasons. However, having gone through most of the seasons with this album now, I feel that it transcends seasons. And you know, it's full of "I'm in my mid-20's" poignant 
- In trying to create this list, I noted all of the songs on every album which seemed like standouts to me. The types of songs that I get a hankering to listen to or put on mixes, the ones that get stuck in my head from time to time. The songs of Strange Mercy overwhelmed the pack, making it my clear #1 for the year. Annie Clark is a bit odd sometimes, but in an undeniably captivating way.