Amanda M Hatfield

Portraits: Friends & Their Animals in Nyack, August 13, 2010

Amanda — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 17:38:48 +0000

Old friends, and the newest additions to their household: Sgt. Pepper, the adorable snuggly black kitten, and Pippin, the white dog with amazing rising elephant ears. They obliged me while I stuck my camera in their faces. A few more photos here on flickr.

Dark Sounds: Andrew Bird & Ian Schneller’s Sonic Arboretum at The Guggenheim, August 5, 2010

Amanda — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:45:05 +0000

Anyone who’s seen Andrew Bird live will first gush about the violin and the whistling and the multi-instrumentalism and the distracted absent minded professor mannerisms and the looping brilliance. (It can’t just be me, right?) Then, after they’ve exhausted those subjects, which will probably take a while, they may mention the awesome gramophone speakers he uses, some single large ones and the famous double headed spinney, which Bird uses to throw reverberations of his bowed violin all around the room. These horns, which look as amazing as they sound, are the creation of Chicago based artist Ian Schneller; the collaboration between artist and musician was the subject of this second installment of The Guggenheim’s Dark Sound series. A plethora of horns large and small were arranged on the floor, piping the sounds of Andrew’s violin and whistling throughout the ascending tiers of this uniquely structured room. I’ve been to quite a few Andrew Bird shows and could never accuse the man of simply phoning in the hits, but this evening was a different beast altogether. We were treated to a lovely assortment of improvised instrumental passages brimming with (of course) looped violin, whistling, wordless vocalization, and hand claps. A version of Section 8 City with liberal additions from Take Courage (two of my favorite Noble Beast b-sides) was a particular highlight for me. I’ve been neglecting this blog quite a bit lately, photographing shows for a bunch of different publications, but it was nice on this night to take pictures sparingly (and pretty much only with the 85mm 1.8) and mostly just close my eyes and bliss out. My buddies Dominick and Rachel covered the night for Brooklyn Vegan, and you should check that out here. Dominick seriously worked the room, photo-wise, and Rachel wrote a great review. I also took photos, some of which are below, the rest of which are here on flickr.

Xiu Xiu & Deerhoof playing Joy Division, Why?, Fang Island, & Pictureplane at JellyNYC’s Pool Parties, July 11, 2010

Amanda — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:20:32 +0000

JellyNYC kicked off this year’s installment of their free Pool Parties series, now on its fifth season, yesterday at Williamsburg Waterfront. Over those five years, there have been a number of changes due to circumstance; first the migration from McCarren Pool to the Waterfront last year, a tenuous arrangement aided by support from Senator Chuck Schumer, who’s been known to make appearances on these Sunday afternoons. This year, the venue stays in the same location but the overall setup is quite different. The stage and dodgeball game flipflopped so you don’t see the skyline behind the bands as you’re watching anymore, there’s perhaps a bit more corporate branding and no big blue inflated guy waving in the wind beckoning you to the stage, but despite all that the overall atmosphere hasn’t changed much. There’s still plenty of excellent hipster people watching to be done, endless dodgeball games to watch (and perhaps play, if you’re really brave, which I’m not), and, oh yeah, an eclectic music programming. Yesterday featured Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof performing Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures – you’ve got to love hearing Jamie Stewart sing She’s Lost Control – Why?, Fang Island, and Pictureplane. I photographed the show for The Music Slut, and more pictures of the bands can be seen over there. Below are some shots of the people and the views from my wanderings; many more are available here on flickr.

Peggy Sue at Pianos, June 10, 2010

Amanda — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:23:32 +0000

Peggy Sue takes so many disparate elements that I like in bands and combines them into one neat package. See: lovely ladies! Vocal harmonies! Accordion! Glockenspiel! Instrument swapping! Extra percussion! General delightful British folksiness! Also, they covered a Missy Elliott song, and it was fabulous. Their set at Pianos this past Thursday was totally lovely. Some photos below, and a full gallery is available here on flickr.

Stars at Music Hall of Williamsburg, June 4, 2010

Amanda — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:40:36 +0000

I have a major soft spot for the sweet, sometimes silly, romantic pop songs of Stars. A musical crush, if you will. Amy Millan’s soft, breathy voice carries with it considerable seductive power, like a come-hither coo. When she and Torquil Campbell sing together, you’re rocketed into boy/girl duet bliss. Plus, they have the super adorable habit of singing at each other live, with their faces inches apart. Stars have been playing some shows in advance of the release of their latest album, The Five Ghosts, later this month. They play the new album beginning to end, then do a second set of older material as voted for online by fans. I’ve never really been sold on the whole notion of albums performed straight through in concert (except of course for my own personal bucket list of albums I’d like to see live before I die, most of which are unlikely or impossible propositions, but we won’t go there) but it’s certainly an interesting way to break new material, and the band pulled it off well. I can’t say much about the new songs until I’ve really heard them enough times – but the second set was truly a delight. The usual roses appeared on microphones and were tossed into the eager crowd, and Torq shred petals into confetti. Apparently NY was the only city to vote for A Thread Cut With a Carving Knife, off the 2008 Sad Robots EP, and one of my favorites. A sultry afternoon in the city, a doomed love affair, despair and ultimately hope; yeah, I’d say that sums up the appeal pretty well. Some photos below, and a full gallery is available here on flickr.

Holly Miranda, Class Actress, & Grooms at Bowery Ballroom, May 26, 2010

Amanda — Sat, 29 May 2010 21:53:09 +0000

I first saw Holly Miranda last year, when she opened for Florence + The Machine at the very same venue she played on Wednesday night, Bowery Ballroom. I enjoyed her performance, particularly when she was joined onstage by members of Nada Surf, but then Florence came out and totally blew my mind, rendering everything else that evening a blur. I remembered her name enough to check out her debut album earlier in the year, The Magician’s Private Library, and was rewarded by her whispery sleepy vocals over an intricate pallet of guitar, horns, and plenty of reverb. It’s lovely and a terribly addictive listen, but it makes you forget that live, she’s shredding away on guitar, hair tangled in her face, and her voice is huge and commanding. Holly rocked her way through selected tracks off this year’s album, some new songs, and a couple of stunningly gorgeous covers, one of Yoko Ono, and one of Etta James that just about melted everyone’s faces off. She was joined, in addition to her band, by some horn players – and Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio came out and sang with her on Slow Burn Treason – and a whole choir of friends came out to sing in the background on Pelican Rapids, a new song in support of gay marriage. At the song’s climax, the choir threw handfuls of red confetti into the crowd. It was magical. (And, adorably enough, I came across an m4m missed connection ad on Craigslist from the show)

Class Actress and Grooms opened. It was very dark. My camera was not happy, but I got over it. Also, NYC Taper has a fantastic recording of Holly’s set available here, which you should definitely check out. Some photos below, and a full gallery is available here on flickr.

Holly Miranda

Class Actress

Grooms

Woods & Effi Briest at The ‘Gum Bowl at Brooklyn Bowl, May 25, 2010

Amanda — Sat, 29 May 2010 20:08:55 +0000

On Tuesday night, Stereogum held their inaugural ‘Gum Bowl, which was a sort of indie-star-studded bowling tournament for charity, with lots of beer and video cameras present. That portion of the evening was closed to the general public, but afterwards Woods and Effi Briest performed a free show, with Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) playing DJ between sets. Some photos below, and a full gallery is available here on flickr.

Effi Briest

Annie Clark

Woods

Phantogram, Light Pollution, & Railbird at Bowery Ballroom, May 19, 2010

Amanda — Fri, 21 May 2010 04:16:03 +0000

There’s a new indie-electro (whatever, fine genre distinctions clearly are not my strong suit, moving along) it-girl in town, and her name is Sarah Barthel. When the skinny, leggy half of the duo Phantogram took the stage at a sold out Bowery Ballroom last night, she was greeted to shouts of “Sarah I love you!” and “you’re hot!” It’s easy to see why; Eyelid Movies, the pair’s debut LP, is filled with a textured, atmospheric array of various electronic blips and bloops, interspersed with eerie chilly guitar and keyboards and Joshua Carter’s voice frequently in the background, warbling on the edge of control. What really elevates it to something special, though, is Sarah’s high, cool voice. On record the whole sound is at turns spare and dense and always compelling, a strong contender for one of my favorite albums of the year. Live… well, I frequently have issues with “live” dance/electronic music, but I was really quite impressed. This brings me back to my assertion that Sarah Barthel is well on her way to being some kind of it-girl: she’s an enigma in black with her swingy perfectly angled hair and heavily reverbed voice, even when speaking. These guys are going places – try to catch them while they’re still playing small venues, which probably won’t be for long if last night was any evidence.

Light Pollution opened, and alas, they weren’t really my cup of tea. Railbird kicked off the night, and I heard a lot of potential in their slightly off-kilter sound. I was also charmed by singer Sarah Pedinotti and the feathers in her hair: kinda kooky front-women are totally relevant to my interests. (In case you weren’t aware) It looks like they’ll be doing a residency at The Living Room in NYC in early June, and I definitely intend to check them out again. Some photos below, and a full gallery is available here on flickr.

Phantogram

Light Pollution

Railbird

Broken Social Scene at Music Hall of Williamsburg, May 8, 2010

Amanda — Mon, 10 May 2010 02:52:13 +0000

Broken Social Scene is back, and as many a music fan can tell you, that’s a damn good thing. The Canadian super-connected – err, super-collective – just released the long awaited follow up to their 2005 self-titled. It’s been a long wait, but the time between hasn’t dulled the group’s keen musical sensibilities. I felt that the couple of BSS Presents albums released during the interim were sort of hit or miss, but Forgiveness Rock Record, while it hasn’t grown on me all the way yet, seems to be a return to form, with Kevin Drew’s rambling stream of consciousness lyrics paired with instrumental passages that worm under your skin. Live, the band is unwieldy, shambling, and constantly on the verge of collapse as members go on and offstage and switch instruments. It should be a trainwreck, but it all hangs together with a sort of fierce energetic musical magic, and that’s what makes them so special. The boys’ club camaraderie evident in the playful onstage interactions between band members contrast nicely with the moments of breakthrough when a female guest vocalist takes the stage – this tour it’s Lisa Lobsinger, but we were also treated, on Saturday night, to a guest appearance by Emily Haines of Metric. She began intoning Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl‘s repeated chant at a crouch, and ended it jumping up and down as if in slow motion by the force of the words. Broken Social Scene plays some pretty big stages these days, so I was really excited to be able to catch them at Music Hall of Williamsburg, a much smaller club than their usual, but I think they might’ve been a little too hemmed in by the size of the room; I look forward to comparing this performance to the one they’ll give at Central Park Summerstage in September. Some photos below, and a full gallery is available here on flickr.

Shout Out Louds & Freelance Whales at Webster Hall, May 5, 2010

Amanda — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:04:59 +0000

Sometimes when you’re feeling down and discontent, as tempting as it may be to reach for your old, familiar, dirgey/sad singer-songwriter tunes, the best thing to do is listen to some upbeat, anthemic, life affirming Swedish pop, and dance it out. Work is one of my favorite albums of 2010 thus far for that very reason. Sure, it isn’t a total panacea for all upsets, but I arrived at Wednesday night’s show feeling pretty miserable with the world and left nearly giddy. Freelance Whales started the night off with a short but very sweet set of their handmade arts and crafts style pop, a perfect warm-up for Shout Out Louds to leave us all swooning with their wonderful earnestness. It was the sort of show where I would leave my camera dangling, forgotten around my neck for periods to dance; those are usually my favorites. (Which isn’t to say that this wasn’t just as much fun to photograph, because it was: lots of bright changing lights, some smoke for atmosphere, plenty of opportunities for silhouettes, insert more photo-nerding here if you like…) Some photos below, and a full gallery is available here on flickr.

Shout Out Louds

Freelance Whales