I noticed with embarrassment that I neglected to post anything about Rebecca Guay when I made her my Artist of Indeterminate Time Period. Let me remedy that now.
The first exposure I had to her art were the many illustrations she contributed to the Changeling: The Dreaming RPG by White Wolf. I fell in love with her ethereal figures done in pencil and watercolor. She puts incredible amounts of texture and motion into her work.
I later discovered she also contributed to another staple in the geek world, art for Magic: The Gathering cards.
In visiting her site after adding her as AITP I also discovered she's a big Obama supporter as well. She's one of the first contemporary artists I've considered ordering prints from to hang and display at home. They just feel fantasy to me.
Less than a week after the Cut Copy show I was back at the Urban Lounge again for VHS or Beta. The group hasn't had a single of the week on iTunes but I've heard them named by more than one person with whom I share musical taste. For a band that hails from Louisville Kentucky they don't really look or sound the part.
The club was a little more low key this time, being a weeknight, and people slowly trickled in before the first act took the stage. There's something about sitting in a smoky bar with a big mug of beer in my hand, not ten feet from the stage, that just feels right to me.
The opening bands, Starmy and Tigercity, were both great though I can see some finding the falsetto of the lead singer of Tigercity off-putting. VHS or Beta finally hit the stage and the lead singer asked if we really paid to sit and watch from the back. Some filed to the dance floor in front of the stage while others looked away, unsure.
The first strains of Burn It All Down brought everyone forward and they had the audience's full attention from that point on. These guys have been playing together for 11 years and it showed. They're one of the tightest sounding indie acts I've had the chance to see live and I would put their technical ability above even Shiny Toy Guns. The guys can play and damn can Craig Pfunder sing! They ended with Night on Fire and with the whole crowd moving and clapping.
Last Friday I hit the first of seemingly innumerable shows I had planned on seeing in the next few months. This was my first time at Urban Lounge and it was a cool little club. Two bars on either side of a dance floor with a stage against the wall.
I'd found Cut Copy like I found a few other bands, as the iTunes single of the week. Also similar to a few other bands I discovered they were playing a show here within a couple months of finding them. I liked them enough I grabbed both their albums and listened to them almost non-stop in the car and at work. To me they sound like a fusion of the pseudo-new-disco sound of Daft Punk with the tight guitars of New Order.
Those boys from Australia knew how to work an audience and they had the whole crowd jumping up and down nearly their entire set. I was surprised to see how many people were already familiar with their music.
The opening acts, Mobius Band and Black Kids, were both pretty enjoyable as well. I have yet to be disappointed by a small club show, I always come away with great memories.
