Big Troubles and Real Estate playing at Urban Lounge in Salt Lake City, Utah on November 4, 2011.
Big Troubles:
Real Estate:
Posts Tagged ‘Real Estate’
Big Troubles + Real Estate // Live in SLC
Saturday, November 5th, 2011Real Estate // It’s Real
Friday, November 4th, 2011
Hands down, Real Estate is my favorite band of the past five years (and I seem to not be the only one). Ever since their first EP, Atlantic City Expressway, graced my ears I’ve become an insta-fan. Their new record, entitled Days, which has garnered quite the attention as of late, features the track “It’s Real” which is probably my favorite Real Estate track they have ever recorded. The band first performed this song live in Japan about a year ago, and since then I’ve compiled quite the collection of mp3s/videos of this track performed live. You can check out my favorites below:
Real Estate // It’s Real (Album Version)
Real Estate // It’s Real (Live in Shibuya)
Real Estate // It’s Real (Live in NYC) (via: NYCTaper)
I have deliberately not bought the LP yet because I knew the band was going to swing by Salt Lake City in early November (today, in fact) and I wanted to make sure that they got the maximum percentage from my buying the album. Also, I haven’t listened to any other songs that have been released from Days because, frankly, I don’t want to be disappointed. When you record something as great as “It’s Real,” I can only see it going down hill from there — but who knows, hopefully I’m wrong!
Real Estate // Reality EP
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
A lot has been said about New Jersey natives Real Estate (and arguably the best was written by Lou over at Salad Fork), and if the quartet of Martin Courtney, Matthew Mondanile, Alex Bleeker, and Etienne Pierre Duguay keeps doing what they’ve been doing the past year-and-a-half, a lot more will be said. I have to say that I’ve never shelled out twenty-five bucks for a vinyl EP consisting of six crudely recorded tracks, but when I stumbled across a first pressing of their Mexican Summer release at my local record store, I was more giddy than apprehensive about the purchase. That’s how good this band is.
Before continuing, I must confess something: I hate the beach. I hate everything about it. I easily get sunburned, so I don’t particular enjoy sprawling out on the coarse sand and feeling three different types of UV radiation do a blitzkrieg on my skin. I also loathe swimming, so much so that it was the last required merit badge I got before getting my Eagle Scout (I was the lone 16 year-old in a class of early middle schoolers). For me, the entrance to the 7th circle of hell would be Satan handing me a beach towel and saying, with a smirk on his face, “enjoy.” So when people — mind you, most of which sit at the computer 16 hours of the day — talk about how Real Estate produces quintessential beach jams, I don’t particularly view it as a positive.
Somehow though, Real Estate’s music rises above my disdain for the shore so much that I can’t help but call them my favorite band of the moment. Although evidently clear that this was one of their first releases together (background hiss on the recording, a little bit of inconsistency on the tempo, etc…), there is something endearing about listening in at such an early stage. With a solid S/T LP to come later, Reality seems more like a bedroom practice session, giving the listener an intimate look at the inspiration and song writing process of the group. Take for instance the opener “Motorbikes”: a two-minute instrumental jam featuring enough guitar tinkerings that it seems more improv than polished piece. Bleaker gives the group a solid foundation on the bass while Mondanile and Courtney shimmer in and out with whatever rip they feel like playing. Musical discovery at its inception.
Much of the album continues in the same fashion, with half of the tracks on Reality never appearing on any of the groups later releases — and none making the cut for their critically acclaimed S/T LP. For newcomers to the group, Reality is probably not the best starting point, however, die hard fans should really get hold of a copy. Thankfully, Mexican Summer has made it easier by repressed the album, so you can cop one right now at the discounted price of $19.98. To whet your appetite, check out my two favorite tracks from the vinyl as well as a video of the group from one of their performances at SXSW ’09:
Primavera Sound // Best Coast + Real Estate
Monday, May 31st, 2010Two great videos surfaced today from the Primavera Sound Festival that wrapped up yesterday in Barcelona. Although both vids are shot from the outer rim of the crowd and are optically zoomed in to the max, the integrity of the audio remains pretty much intact (a surprise in festival settings).
The first video is of the inevitable cover of Wavves’s “So Bored” by PT-Music favorites Best Coast:
The second is a smooth recording of Real Estate’s “Fake Blues”. Enjoy!
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And here is one more Primavera 2010 video dug up from the depths of youtube, this time “Cold Freezing Night” by The Books:
Represses // Real Estate, Pearl Harbor, Kurt Vile
Friday, May 7th, 2010
Got some good news to share with fans of the high-cost, high-quality Mexican Summer imprint. As reported on Salad Fork yesterday, the label has decided to repress a handful of some of their long sold-out vinyls including Real Estate’s Reality EP, half of which will be on splattered wax (seen above), Pearl Harbor’s Something About the Chaparrals EP on turquoise vinyl, and Kurt Vile’s 5-year-in-the-making God Is Saying This to You… LP. The supplies aren’t especially limited (2k for the first two; no info on the KV quantity but I’d imagine it’s the same), but nevertheless, the aesthetics alone make me want to shell out the $15-$20 for another copy. So head on over to their store if you weren’t one of the few early adopters to snag a copy.
Videos for the Veekend // 4|2 – 4|4
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010Time for another installment of my favorite video finds of the past week:
Recorded by the talented Austrians at They Shoot Music, the first video is of Thao With The Get Down Stay Down playing “Body” in a hotel bathroom in Vienna. The band uses any and everything they could find in the small space (hairdryer including!), making for an interesting live rendition of the track:
The next amazing video is of Spanish electro-sampling extraordinaire El Guincho playing “Kalise” in the Los Angeles Natural History Museum rainforest exhibit. Recorded by the good folks at Dublab, Pablo Díaz-Reixa’s textured music matches perfectly with the dense foliage of his surroundings:
If I’m living in Portland, I feel the obligation to at least feature some local bands, right. Fortunately the music scene here is first rate, and Reporter is certainly one of those bands that have caught the attention of ears everywhere. Here is a cool video of them playing on top of the City of Portland Metro Department’s ecoroof
It’s no surprise to long-time readers that I like the country sounds of LA’s Dawes, and now, thanks to a recording by Tenth Row, you can experience a complete live set of theirs:
If you haven’t already done so, you need to check out the music site Salad Fork because they are posting some incredible stuff lately. Case in point this unearthed video of Real Estate playing acoustically in an abandoned building in Portugal:
Finally, a video of Bill Murray bartending at SXSW, giving everyone tequila shots regardless of what they ordered:
Vivian Girls // Live on the Radio
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Unbeknown to me until recently, it seems like Jersey independent radio station WFMU has quite a collection of live recordings that have been printed on wax. You may remember a side of Real Estate’s incredibly limited Live on the Radio vinyl was taken from a visit to the famed 91.1FM studios, well it looks like Brooklyn based Vivian Girls also did a lengthy live set in the autumn of 2008 that was good enough to sell.
Unlike Real Estate’s striped down version in their recordings, Vivian Girls take a no holds barred approach to their set, blazing through nine songs in around 25 minutes. However, to keep to the relaxed atmosphere of the session, the girls do take momentary pauses between songs, filling it with lively and oftentimes hilarious banter (“I successfully didn’t curse! That song has like five curse words and I didn’t say one” — from “I Have No Fun”).
There are not too many surprises in this set as much of the songs are standard fare from their 2008 released S/T as well as some “new” songs from their 2009 Everything Goes Wrong release. However, for anyone who loves The Vivian Girls as much as I do, this is a must have as it is probably the closest thing you can get to match their on-stage personality without seeing them in person. Good luck finding a physical copy anywhere though as only 150 CD-Rs were burned (in addition, I can’t find any information about any vinyl release). Don’t sweat though, you can still download their entire performance from the WFMU site right here.
For those who haven’t seen this, the Girls also sat down with WFMU hyperactive interviewer Nardwuar a while back that’s pretty damn funny:
Real Estate // Live on the Radio
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
Because of my George Washington-esque ability to not tell I lie, I must profess that part of my reason for attending the Real Estate show this past Thursday was so that I could cop their limited release tour-only 12” called Live on the Radio. I’ve been excited about getting this since I saw the release pop up on the Underwater Peoples blog.
Both sides are composed of in-studio performances at two different college radio stations (A: WMUA at UMass-Amherst, B: WVKR at Vasser College) taking place in early September. If the turn around from live recording to wax seems a bit rushed, it is; the front cover itself is just a printed out piece of paper pasted to a generic LP sleeve. Regardless, the stripped down performances and the inclusion of some hard to releases and unreleased material made it worth buying.
The reverb and echoed guitar by Martin Courtney is replaced by a cleaner acoustic while the electric of Matt Mondanile is still present but highly tamed. As for the percussion, Etienne Duguay only has a set of bongo drums, a cymbal, and some miscellaneous toys to drive the beat. This more intimate instrumentation sheds the intricate layers and leaves each song solely at its infectious poppy core.
As mentioned, three of the ten songs are “new” (i.e. I don’t have them in my assumed complete collection of Real Estate tunes). On Side A, “Younger than Yesterday” is as straightforward of a song as you can get. Certainly a throw away track, it has very few changes structurally and musically (the same four chords on acoustic repeated over and over again) and absolutely no surprises. The B-side houses two new additions with “Basement” and the “The Mall”. “The Mall”, clocking in at under two minutes, is definitely the shortest and the oddest on the LP. Featuring some modest scatting and “whoo-whoo”-ing by Courtney as well as some uncomplimentary rhythms, it is easy to see why this one was left on the cutting room floor. However, “The Basement” is a rather standard Real Estate track with Mondanile’s twangy guitar effortlessly floating over Alex Bleeker’s constant subterranean bass line. Lines like “See me in the classroom / watching the seconds tick by … I was on a stony beach / watching the sea birds fly” certainly epitomizes the summertime vibe that Real Estate is so good at harnessing.
As soon as I get a vinyl rip, I’ll be sure to post some mp3s.
Real Estate // Portland // November 19, 2009
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
There was a sweet show yesterday featuring recently crowned Best New Music inductee Real Estate alongside future Underwater Peoples labelmates Pill Wonder with Northwest homegrowns Rainbow Bridge sandwiched between. Holocene, the very slick venue where the bands were playing, also had a DJ spinning some 80s-tastic tracks in between sets with acid washed stock video footage playing on a huge projector screen — mixing nicely with the “chillwave” vibe of the acts.
I was excited to check out openers Pill Wonder just because I noticed they had a 12” in the queue and was hoping that they played some of their new material (a man can only gauge so much from four tracks on their myspace). I wasn’t disappointed as the seven piece (!) band exceeded their 30 minute time slot churning out their patented psychedelic tinged garage rock for a crowd of about forty. They ended strong with a solid funkadelic/r&b number with bassist Hans doing his best James Brown impression. All-in-all, it was a lively set.
Next in line was the male/female guitar/drums duo Rainbow Bridge. With a set of trolls on stage and the drummer donning a fake beard, I was halfway expecting a quirky kitsch act. Much to my surprise, they played some kick ass garage rock tunes which made me think about how Jack & Meg White probably started out playing to similar crowds in Detroit in the late 90s. Undeniably the crowd pleasure for the group (and arguably the whole night) was their hit track “Big Wave Rider“. With simply sung lyrics “big wave rider / try and ride a little higher / you’re a glider / smile wider” over sparse instrumentation, it didn’t take long for the audience to join in and sing out the chorus.
By the time Real Estate took the stage at 11pm, the crowd had swelled to around eighty or so folks, mostly clad in skinny jeans and eighties regalia of some sorts. In response to the size, the band said this was one of the best crowds on the tour — something that I am sure Porlanders hear quite frequently. Any questions about whether this band was overhyped or undeserving of a constant stream of buzz since their SXSW showing were put to rest when they opened up with the infectious guitar line on “Beach Comber”. Now most reviews I’ve seen of Real Estate tend to follow a madlib like recipe: “Their [adj. / wobbly] guitars invokes a sense of [childhood story of the beach] — with the repetitious [instrument] enforcing that feeling”, however, when you see them live you get a sense on how much more this group is than some band riding the “chillwave” fad of ’09.
Through the glimmering tautophony lies these bluesy syncopated guitar solos that Matthew Mondanile (aka Ducktails) and Martin Courtney shine on — not to mention the commanding power bassist Alex Bleeker has on his instrument (something that will surely translate over to his “solo” work with The Freaks). As time elapsed, you couldn’t help but be swept away by their performance and get lost in their sound. This partly affected my determining of the setlist, as I tended to loose interest in knowing the exact song they were playing and got caught up more with the feeling they were invoking through their tunes:
1 // Beach Comber
2 // Pool Swimmers
3 // (?)
4 // Fake Blues
5 // Suburban Beverage
6 // Black Lake
7 // (?)
8 // (?)
9 // Atlantic City
10 // Fake Blues
I think it goes without saying that if you get a chance to see this band play in an intimate venue, do it because these guys are just going to get more of a following as time goes by. Here is a video of them playing “Fake Blues” at SXSW this past year along with some songs of theirs:
