Sebastien Tellier - Roche

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So the reason why we’re in London these days is mainly Death Grips gig. They’ve been one of my chéri’s favorite bands for some months now, long enough for me to get to like some of their songs too. 

I didn’t really know what to expect as I was told that their live performances consisted in them singing and drumming above records of their own songs. I guess the overwhelming animal energy of the singer and the all powerful strength of the drummer were enough to overcome the far from perfect set up.

Best moments of the evening were :

1. Miss Red, who was singing with supporting artist The Bug, came on stage during Death Grips performance to dance. When MC Ride saw her behind him, he shoved her violently backstage without even interrupting to look at her. Even if I felt bad for her and hoped she hadn’t been hurt, it was so comical and appropriate that I burst out laughing.

3. At the end of the gig, stunned by the abrupt stopping of the music, I saw the 2 band members go calmly get they laptops. They clearly took the time to shut them down properly while thanking the audience and left, each with a Macbook in the hand. After such a display of wildness and power, it was really funny.

Mazzy Star - Fade Into You

Nanowrimo day 6

After a very good start, I got 2 days without writing so I’m trying to catch up. Still I just stay here, tumbling, smoking, listening to dreamy music and feeling inadequate.

Exo-K - History

Exo is this strange concept band. They are separated in 2 groups that perform in Korea and in China separately, named respectively Exo-K and Exo-M. But you are frown upon if you try comparing the 2 bands (that sing the same song and dance the same choreography). They say they are a one and only band Exo.

Once again I can only marvel at the korean practical ways. They don’t really care if this concept looks more like a product than an art piece. After all it’s common hypocrisy to consider today’s commercial music as art. So SMentertainment thought that it would be more convenient to separate a band into 2 sub groups to make them promote in 2 different countries at the same time. I guess promoting in China takes a lot of time so they wouldn’t risk having their artists disappear from Korean media for too long. And in the end, they get more values for the composers and choreograph that they pay for. It’s like a factory.

This concept made me really skeptical at first. Chinese products already have a “bad copy” image so how would you feel about a band that copies exactly another one in Chinese ? When watching videos of the same song by the 2 different sub-bands, I can’t help but thinking that Exo-K is the real one and the other is just a bad clone. But anyways it seems that Exo-M had it’s own fanbase and that it’s not limited to China. So maybe they got it right after all !

Also each sub-band is composed of 6 members, which makes for very awkward choreography.  And the whole band has 12 members, which is definitely HUGE but Super Junior (a band that I know very little of) debuted with the same number. After watching all of their official videos, I noticed only one member, Kai, who seems to be an amazing dancer. He stars in most of their very artsy teaser videos. I feel kinda bad for this talented guy who certainly trained for years before debuting. Really 12 members bands, it’s too many for anyone to shine !

They also have this concept where the name EXO means that they are from exo planets. And the videos have strange introduction where they explain all this. I personally find it artificial and childish but again, I’m not the target after all.

But in the end what really matters is the music. And they have some pretty good songs. I found this single History is catchy and groovy enough for me to make you listen without the sexy video of attractive guys dancing. Hope you’ll like it !