Wednesday, December 03, 2008

The Immigrant Dirges of Sebastien Grainger at Union Hall

Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains; Josh Reichmann
@ Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY - December 2, 2008

Way back when, for a very brief time, Death from Above 1979 was one of THE bands of this decade in the eyes of many critics, trendsetters, etc. (except me, though maybe I need to re-evaluate). Fast forward to 2008, and while one half of the Canadian duo has stuck to the DFA aesthetic with MSTKRFT, Sebastien Grainger (that's pronounced "Grain-ger" not "Grahn-yea" for you assumptive French types) has taken it back to the 70's and 80's in yet another (and in this case successful) spin on retro sounds. Drawing from an array of arena and punk inspirations, Grainger's basic goal is to make everything sound like an anthem. The flagship song is, without question, "American Names", described by Grainger at Union Hall as an "immigrant dirge" and it certainly does carry a lot of weight. Not that could you make out what he was singing (due to Union Hall's excessively loud speakers from hell), but Grainger does write some pretty deep stuff - his music may be simple and fun, but he's not singing "I wanna hold your hand".
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3073/3084802613_a4deef75b4.jpg
Fellow Canadian Josh Reichmann (an impressively-haired young man) leads five guys in a heavy soul rock revival, with a slight edge of punk and pop in the background. Incredibly catchy but not sugary by any stretch, Reichmann's music is exactly the kind of party music we need going into 2009. All it takes is a horn and a sax and a few extra lads.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/3084801883_f107a2903c.jpg

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