Way better performance here from Spoon; I was shocked at how bad ‘Written In Reverse’ came off on Conan a while back. Letterman gets a darker treatment with a track that, now having seen performed live, I like a lot better.

Proving what we already know to be true, New Zealand is a great place….to start off a world tour! Normally, bands play NZ at the end of grueling world tours, but the recently reunited Pavement chose Auckland to perform for the first time together in close to 10 years.

Yeah, I’m too cheap and too geographically isolated to have made the gig, but I can revel in the setlist…

‘In The Mouth A Desert’
‘Trigger Cut’
‘Loretta’s Scars’
‘Shady Lane’
‘Father To A Sister Of Thought’
‘Rattled By The Rush’
‘Perfume-V’
‘Summer Babe’
‘Kennel District’
‘Silence Kit’
‘Range Life’
‘Unfair’
‘Stop Breathing’
‘No Life Singed Her/442′
‘Fight This Generation’
‘Date W/IKEA’
‘Box Elder’
‘Grounded’
‘Gold Soundz’
‘The Hexx’
‘Give It A Day’
‘Cut Your Hair’
‘Stereo’
‘Spit On A Stranger’

Love that they played ‘Stereo’ and ‘Cut Your Hair’ as part of their encore!

Dig out all your old Pavement for a nostalgia kick…or take in the classic 90’s video for ‘Cut Your Hair’.

Some people might be mad at the sound, but personally I love it – reminds me alot of Deltron 3030. Pretty sure its Pos from De La Soul on the vocals.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4UtbrbsrjY

‘Superfast Jellyfish’, taken from the forthcoming album Plastic Beach, out on March 8th (March 9th US).

Everytime I see these guys perform my affection for them grows.

‘Nighttime’ is the perfect track for the XX to showcase their l’less is more’ ethos. The track muddles through some throaty vocals building to…well, nothing. But the anticipation is golden.

The XX’s self-titled album is amazing. If you haven’t already, you should.

I’m still working through the new Spoon album. I love it, without doubt, but there are parts that make me contemplate how much…

To me, Spoon are like indie rocks version of Scotty Pippen. On any given year, they’d be the stand out performer, yet there always seems to be someone flashier, or more headline grabbing…but to me, they’ll always be the ones to watch (thought taking in other great players at the same time should not be something we feel guilty about).

Now I’ve done the Pippen/Jordan analogy to death, take in the video for ‘Written in Reverse’. Nice live take of the opening single, with Daniel ’spittin’ it’ (literally).

Having become quite fond of The XX in the past month or so, listening to their early cover of Womack and Womack’s ‘Teardrops’ leaves me confused.

Part of me likes the reinterpretation, with the tension provided by the whisper-vocals of Croft draping over the simple instrumentation providing a nice contrast to the disco-infused original.

Some time before christmas, I was walking through a mall, and the Womack and Womack original was piping out to the shopping masses. For one thing, it was a nice break from the horrible Chirstmas carols you get over the festive season, but also, a great reminder of how much of a stonking track the Womack original is.

Take in the two versions for yourself and make your own decision….

The XX – Teardrops

Womack and Womack – Teardrops

DangerMouse’s Grey Album set the standard for mashups, and many pretenders have come and gone since.

‘Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers’ is less straighforward than DM’s Grey…here the Beatles mainly serve as an accompaniment to the Clan – rather than an equal partner.

It’s very very good. Grab it before the music police lock it down. (requires signup).

Being named as Metacritic’s band of the decade (a decision based on the music media’s overall response to their 2000 releases) is proof that for those who actually follow the industry, Spoon is the most consistent band for the past 10 years. Their catalogue doesn’t feature any ‘marginal’ efforts (in comparison to say, Radiohead with ‘Amnesiac’); any one of their albums would sit pride in place with most bands…which I guess os what makes ‘Transference’ such a hard one to gauge.

In comparison to their contemporaries (though, I am not sure there really are any), this album is an absolute standout. Early album tracks ‘Before Destruction’ and ‘Is Love Forever’ are quintessential Spoon fare. Both hop along in a way that is undeniably catchy, while still sitting a little left of ‘mainstream’. Any one with a passing knowledge of Spoon’s catalogue will know Britt Daniel’s work is typically simple, but full of cues for listeners to draw their own imagery; and these tracks clearly reflect this ideal.

Elsewhere dark tunes ‘Who Makes Your Money’ and ‘I Saw the Light’ capture the band’s penchant for mixing it up; while ‘Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga’ lacked any real ‘dark moments’ (even ‘Black Like Me’ is uplifting), Spoon’s other releases all feature at least some moody moments, adding to the argument that this album shares more with the bands earlier breakthrough work, rather than their later, more popular efforts.

One would be folly to compare any album with Spoon’s previous works however. ‘Girls Can Tell’ and ‘A Series of Sneaks’ for many (myself included) are indie masterpieces, and as strong as ‘Transference’ is, in a a way, it will always stand in the shadows of those albums.

Something tells me though, this album will be a sleeper – my current bugbears with ‘Transference’ (‘Mystery Zone’ seems 2 verses too long and the production sometimes seems a little D.I.Y) will no doubt become things I attribute to the ‘character’ of the album in coming months, leaving me to completely enjoy another great piece of work from Austin’s finest.