It List: Tuesday

I just got done watching the Scott Walker documentary 30th Century Man and found it quite fascinating despite the fact that I honestly haven't dug too deeply into the guy's catalogue thus far in my life. I think I might be tempted to explore it quite a bit more, however, after learning more about Walker's ideas and approach to recording, even though I can't say that I've always been particularly moved by every piece of music that I've ever heard from him.  Anyway, shows tonight:

Patrick Wolf/Living Things/Jaguar Love/Plastiscines (Granada):  Patrick Wolf is one of those musicians who is initially intriguing to me because of the level of anger he seems to inspire in the kind of people that are full of "opinions" about music but are usually totally wrong about everything.  This isn't to say that the guy isn't pretentious, of course, or that everything he does is great by any stretch, but his musical ambition, and particularly his attempts at reaching grandiose heights at almost every moment throughout his recordings, are certainly interesting in their own way, and much of his material often works very well despite the inherent difficulty, at least on paper, with combining elements of classical western music and literature with electro-pop and folk.  And because Wolf always seems to reach so high with everything that he does, even his failures are somewhat appealing in that wonderful train wreck sort of way, as his over the top persona becomes campy and cartoonish, providing entertainment, whether purposefully or not, even in his worst moments.  I saw someone in one of the comments sections comparing him unfavorably to David Bowie, but come on-- since when is "not as good as David Bowie" an adequate reason to dislike a musician?  If big egos, high drama and an almost fascist admiration for classics are a turn off for you, then by all means skip out on this show.  But within the confines of our current "indie" "subculture" that seems to value comfort over innovation and pastiche over purpose, its at least a little bit refreshing to encounter a musician as over the top as Wolf, whether he succeeds in his efforts or not.  If Grizzly Bear can get away with posting Youtube videos about how to make veggie omelettes or whatever the fuck they do, then surely we can avoid getting angry with Patrick Wolf for cross dressing and singing about mythology with just a touch of mystery, can't we?  

Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge)

90's Night with Yeahdef (Hailey's)