Kirstiecat | Blog

INARA GEORGE:

I hope someday PT Anderson will do a sequel to Magnolia (with locusts!) and when (if) he does, I think if Aimee Mann isn’t available, Inara George should step right in. I’d never heard of Inara before last night and I didn’t really have an idea of what to expect. The sound fits right in to what you’d expect coming out of LA overall but her songs live and on the album are somewhat varied. At times, they are little pop gems that capture something special. At other times, as on “Mistress,” when she pleads, “Will you take me as your mistress.Do you already know the way to my door because you’ve made your way inside a dozen times before…Could you ever love a mistress? It never feels the same,” it almost recalls Keren Ann when she sings, “In the morning after should I laugh or disappear” on “Right Now and Right Here” (on the album Not Going Anywhere) Inara sings short and sweet notes to melodic crooning of soft melodies with enough wisp to make even the most curmudgeonly person sigh. Not only that but the songs truly end up making you crave for more even after a short amount of time. It’s a masterpiece of an album (All Rise) that isn’t getting enough recognition.

Live, the songs came off perfectly with great sensibility during “Genius” and “What a Number.” Inara was somewhat self assured and witty singing and playing her guitar. She was accompanied by another guitarist, a bassist, a drummer, and a keyboardist. One of the other band members, Chris, apparently has an impeccable memory for composers who have done the soundtrack for any film made in the 50s-70s and so people tried to stump him. After listening to her songs, I really felt like I had just watched a PT Anderson film…don’t take that in the wrong way, though. I truly wanted more.

Here is her web page: http://www.inarageorge.com/

IDLEWILD:

The albums Idlewild have put out really don’t do them justice. They are truly one of the best bands live. They came to play Chicago two years ago at the Double Door and this time around found themselves in the Metro (twice the size) There was a decent crowd for a rainy Thurs. but ultimately it wasn’t what they deserved. Their more rocking songs came off even more edgy, raw, and powerful. Even the ballads came off a perfect anthems. I appreciated the new songs ever more. They opened up with “I Am What I Am Not” and rocked on from thensforth. I would have liked more songs off of 100 Broken Windows besides “Roseability”(as an encore) and “Little Discourage.”

And the best part about Idlewild is how they take a perfect chorus and make it lead into another perfect chorus. Most songs, you only get one chorus but Idlewild often gives you two as in “Love Steals Us from Loneliness” and “You Held the World In Your Arms.”

The energy while playing was in sharp contrast to the perception they gave off during banter. A sheepish Roddy was down on himself for not being able to play guitar a bit (although, he did chirp up that he can play drums) and warned people not to get to the stage as they hadn’t showered in days (now that’s what I call turning on the charm!) He talked about how he loved the rain because it’s most like home to him (Scotland) and how weather wise touring down South was like Dante’s version of hell. He talked about how these shows had been underpopulated on this tour and promised to come around again soon. I hope he keeps his promises.

Oh and they gave away free bookmarks! yay reading!

(now playing: Inara George: All Rise. Perfect…perfect…utterly great. I haven’t felt this way about an album for a long long time. Seriously. So good. It’s almost wrenching my heart from my chest it’s that good. I really like this album so much. I want to share it. Please, people look into this band.)

This entry was posted on Friday, September 23rd, 2005 at 6:34 pm and is filed under music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.