Call it fate or luck, but 24 hours before
Mates of State were scheduled to play the Spring Scream festival in Kenting, Taiwan, I happened to be obliviously browsing the band’s website. Immediately following this exciting discovery my girlfriend and I packed a bag and make the two-hour trip south on our Vespa. Our heads filled with Mates of State’s contagious indie-pop anthems and genuinely sappy ballads helped to build the anticipation as we made the beautiful trek south.
After arriving at the festival we learned that MOS would be playing the “indie” stage, filled with American indie bands, most of which I’ve never heard of. The first band we saw was a four-piece bar mitzvah-inspired act from NYC by the name of
One Ring Zero. Their Jewish backgrounds were made obvious by the lead instruments: accordion, claviola, and theramin; I couldn’t help but think that they’d break into a rendition of Hava Nagila (you know - the Jewish wedding song). Their set was filled waltzes and pop tracks glazed with lyrics commissioned from various renowned poets including Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster and Rick Moody. Their sheer novelty was reason enough for listening, but this genre is not for everyone.
With our dancing feet warmed up and plenty of room in front of the stage, Kori and Jason took their places. They opened the set with the chugging chords of ‘Fraud in the '80s’ and I was immediately impressed at how the two command their stage. The chemistry between husband and wife duo filled the stage and spilled into the crowd until everyone was intoxicated by how incredibly adorable they are. Their set included a balance of tracks from
Bring it Back and
Team Boo including ‘Beautiful Dreamer’, ‘Think Long’, ‘Ha Ha Ha’ and ‘Goods’.
Unfortunately, the setlist was limited by a malfunctioning “D” key on Kori’s organ, preventing the band from playing favourites ‘Running Out’ and ‘Punchlines’. Nevertheless, ‘Like U Crazy’ stole the night when the crowd, the majority of whom weren’t familiar with MOS, swayed and sang along to the infectious “ah-ah-ah…like you crazy” lyrics.
Kori and Jason showed no signs of jet lag throughout the show, belting out their tight melodies and producing a powerful organ-driven dance groove like no other. Even though the twao of us appeared to be the only ones there specifically to see the Mates, there is no doubt that the Taiwanese crowd found every minute pleasing to their ears.
-Marc Bertrand
Mates of State, Spring Scream Festival (Hillside Stage), Kenting, Taiwan
April 7, 2007
Mates of State - For the ActorMates of State - Like U Crazy
Many regard Edwin Morgan among Scotland's greatest poets. My first encounter with his work came with the release of Idlewild's 2002 album The Remote Part. That album solidified the band as one of my personal favorites, and particularly striking was the album closer "In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction." The song features Morgan reciting his poem Scottish Fiction, written exclusively for the album, as the track comes to a thunderous conclusion. A snippet of that poem: "It's a red haunting vibration pushing through the walls of dark imagination, finding no equation." I won't pretend to always understand the intentions of the prose, but his structure and tone resound differently than many poets before him. It was a pleasant surprise then, to discover that Idlewild has teamed with Morgan once again on the new track, "The Weight of Years." Morgan himself does not appear on the song, but all lyrics are his. Roddy Woomble's youthful take on the 86 year-old's words is at times inspiring and at times somber, realizing how Morgan's description of elderly deterioration and acceptance must have been difficult to formulate on paper. Traditional highland string arrangements add to the melancholy, further imprinting Idlewild's footsteps on the cultural landscape of Scotland.
It's no surprise that Arcade Fire chose Brighton's Electrelane as openers for select Neon Bible tour dates. Current single "To the East" has a few shades of Funeral, with a beat akin to "Rebellion (Lies)" and sharply wavering vocals that bring to mind Régine Chassagne crossed with Nico. With continued listening, you'll find that Electrelane quickly deviates from expectations, offering unique harmonies that show an impressive vocal range from frontwoman Verity Susman and guitarist Mia Clarke.
This is, in my opinion, one of the best remixes of 2006. Ratatat takes The Knife's disjointed, frenetic and slightly disturbing 'We Share Our Mother's Health' and restructures it into something much more comprehensible. I particularly like what is done with the rearrangement of the vocals, and where the original is cold and downright creepy the remix is much more user-friendly, encouraging the listener to shuffle their feet and bob their head if not dance outright. As much as I love the original, I love the remix for all different reasons.