The Juan Maclean @ Old American Can Factory w/ pics

August 8, 2009

John Maclean, the bald front man of electronic group the Juan Maclean, was precarious and awkward in between songs during his group’s late night set at the 12 hour long Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival. At one point he waved a baggie of coke, demonstrating his incentive scheme for bandmates. At others he heavy-handedly mocked the weed “addiction” of his keyboard player, explaining, “That’s why he makes so many mistakes.” And in case his own perfections weren’t clear enough, he boasted of mastering “the hardest instrument in the world to play.” Thankfully the tight time constraints of the festival (30 minute sets) left the Juan Maclean little time for onstage banter. Instead they pummeled the crowd with driving beats, skittish synthesizer lines, and introspective meditations on love. Naturally, dance frenzy ensued. Maclean was impressive on his Theremin—an early electronic instrument played without physically touching it—sounding more precise and liberated on it since last seeing the group. Drummer Jerry Fuchs was punishing and effective behind his kit and Nancy Whang continually proves to be the perfectly earnest counterpoint to Maclean’s brashness. Rain was left to fall on subsequent band 33hz, and previous group Shy Love gained a Middle-Eastern flair to their otherwise keytar heavy songs with a live sax player. Overall the industrial setting of the Old American Can Factory was strangely intimate, lending the outdoor stage a fraternal prison-yard feel.

Miike Snow, the Maccabees @ Mercury Lounge w/ pics

June 22, 2009


Miike Snow is not an individual but a pseudo-supergroup of behind-the-scenes producers and songwriters, Bloodshy & Avant and Downtown Records in-house guru Andrew Wyatt. Though each is best known for pulling the strings on Madonna or Britney records, under Wyatt’s effects-laden vocals they coalesce into affable melodies and synthesizer shaped beats. At the Mercury Lounge’s intimate brick confines the group (backed by three additional musicians playing various samplers and synthesizers) still managed to eschew the spotlight, practically playing in the dark much of the time. Unfortunately the dance party intentions of their record weren’t promulgated clearly enough, so much of the brief 45 minute set was devoid of any stimulus that could match their catchy jams—or the Maccabees’ opening set. They opened with “Burial” and cruised through other hummable tracks, like their single “Animal,” “Silvia,” and “Plastic Jungle.” Canceling an earlier performance at Studio B, the group seemed to still be working out their stage dynamics and roles as performers. Not performing an encore made sense. The energy never quite evolved and the group still needs to perfect the art of working a live crowd. Hopefully Miike Snow’s hooky debut record won’t be their last.

the Maccabees


Miike Snow...