George Watsky: giving all he can do once more?

George Watsky has had a couple of turbulent years behind him; gaining widespread popularity via Youtube in 2011 and attracting attention in a quite negative way last year, the young rapper is becoming more well-known every year. With increasing attention also comes the opportunity to go on worldwide tours, which the San Francisco native has been doing for quite some time. Last year the Diggers had the opportunity to see him in Amsterdam for his Cardboard Castles tour in Paradiso, where Watsky played an amazingly intimate concert for his audience, which is an experience we yearned to be a part of again. Luckily for us, 2014 brought a new album called All You Can Do and an accompanying tour; October first, it was time for us to see if George Watsky would do justice to the tour’s name and give us all he could do once more.

This year, the setting was slightly different. The venue had changed from Paradiso to the Melkweg, which was paired with a slight increase in the capacity. Fortunately this increase in capacity came with almost no reduction in intimacy, one of Watsky’s trademark features. Combine that with the fact that the Melkweg is one of our favorite venues anyway and you’ve already satisfied an important requirement for a good concert.

Anderson Paak, one of Watsky’s band members, opened the concert in a soulful way. Being quite a talented vocalist and drummer, and having a small band to support him, he took his audience on a journey that was eclectic in the fullest sense of the word. Alternating between his own songs and covers (including an awesome version of Seven Nation Army) that spanned multiple genres, all while interacting with the crowd, Paak did exactly what he was supposed to do: warm up the audience. Unfortunately the last song’s trap beat sounded too un-originally plastic to us and could surely have been left out, but that’s only a small blemish on an otherwise solid performance; Paak’s charisma, musical talent and seemingly casual, self-assured attitude made him a great opening act.

After a brief pause to get some beers, it was time for the Lafontaines, a five-membered band that came all the way from Glasgow to support Watsky. Entering the stage with a loud “What’s up Amsterdam?” and roaring guitars, the band caught the crowd’s attention and got them to jump to their heavy drumbeat immediately. Though the band could simply have been a less impressive crossbreed of the Beastie Boys and Linkin Park, they turned out to be unique soon enough, proving to be very well capable of blending hip hop and indie together into a whirlwind that was only interrupted to catch a breath in between songs. As Paak did, the band took their time to interact with the audience, crack a few jokes and make them bust some moves, which is again exactly what a supporting act should do. Some sweaty 50 minutes later they left the stage, leaving an amped up audience hungry for more.

Another short break gave the crew some time to clear out the stage for the man everybody came to see: George Watsky. Accompanied by his band Crème Fraîche, Watsky came out strong, capturing the audience with his presence from the second he started rapping. Old songs and new ones alike flowed from his mouth like verbal waterfalls in the impressively fast fashion that we’re used to hearing from him. And engaging his listeners from the beginning, Watsky did an even better job in terms of interaction than his supporting acts did, mostly because the audience was more familiar with his songs.
The concert had a nice flow to it. Riling up the crowd with songs like Whoa Whoa Whoa was nicely balanced by quieter songs like Cannonball which, by creating an intimate moment with Watsky as the focal point, was one of the show’s highlights in general. Other memorable moments include an amazing medley of Watsky’s older songs that provided plenty of opportunity to shout along with the lyrics and some of the moments that revolved around the individual band members. Being a true team player, Watsky made sure that the focus wasn’t only on him and gave his band members plenty of room to express themselves and play solos. This led to an amazing drum solo that lasted for a couple of minutes and an intimate song by Anderson Paak and the band’s bassist.
No matter how many songs were played, the audience was so captivated by the music that they did not seem to get tired. Unfortunately though, all good things have to come to an end eventually, as did the concert after almost 1.5 hours. After an encore that did justice to the entire evening, the people were left satisfied and were provided the opportunity to say hi to Watsky, shake hands and take pictures shortly afterwards.

Overall, we can conclude that the evening was not only a concert, but a true event in its own right. Not only Watsky provided a great show, but Anderson Paak and the Lafontaines surely contributed to the vibe of the night as well; as the evening’s name suggested, the artists surely made it seem like they did all they could indeed. We’d therefore recommend seeing any of the artists by themselves, but even more so when they’re performing in the same event. Unfortunately though, us Europeans seem to be in for quite of a wait until that’s going to happen again. However, if you’re a resident of North America, Australia or India, you’re in luck. If you want to be a part of the amazing experience that is a George Watsky concert, there are ample chances to do so. Tour dates can be found here, so be sure to get tickets for when the tour hits your home town. (San Franciscans, put November 28 in your agenda.) All we can do for now, is wait.

-The Biologist and the Chemist

This Is All Yours, but do you want it?

Whether you’re an avid indie music connoisseur, friend of hipsters, or casual music listener, surely you  have heard of Alt-J. Their first album, An Awesome Wave, one of the most successful debuts of 2012, was greeted Monday by its long-expected successor This is All Yours. Of course this is the moment that everybody has been waiting for, the opportunity to discern whether this band is still worth all of  fuss. Let’s dig into it, shall we? Is the album worth buying?

On the face of it, clear attention has been paid toward the aesthetics of the album. The cover, a seemingly abstract painting of a triangle that looks and feels like canvas, makes the album special at the instant touch. The print of the CD precisely overlaps the background (when oriented correctly of course), which is actually much more exceptional than we’d prefer. In short, it’s detailed all over, which is already a good reason to buy a physical copy of the album; it’s always nice to see artists paying attention to the appearance of their albums.

But what about the music? The album opens with an intro that intrigues by its experimental approach, to say the least. Short vocal samples are strung together to create something that sounds more like an instrumental chord progression than Alt-J’s usual, more lyrically focused songs. Initially containing only two layers, the song gradually develops, as more sounds are added, varied and taken away, ultimately evolving into a multi-layered composition that combines sampling with a more traditional instrumental approach. The piece spans 4 minutes and 37 seconds, which is very impressive for an intro.

Following the intro’s abrupt end, the album transitions shifts to Arrival in Nara, the first track of the three piece musical Nara song cycle on the album. Calm piano and guitar pieces indicate we’ve reached a slower part of the album and set the stage for the enigmatic lyrics that tell about a drowning girl. The mellow pace of the album is continued in Nara, the second part of the cycle, before it changes once more when moving to Every Other Freckle.

Though Every Other Freckle is undoubtedly one of the greatest on the album, the sudden change feels slightly out of place, since the tempo difference with Nara is slightly too big. Fortunately enough, the quality of the song more than makes up for this awkward transition, since it’s one of the album’s little gems: it features Alt-J’s signature cryptic songwriting style, but the lyrics are of a very seductive nature -making it very catchy and intimate overall. Following the sensual escapade of freckles is Left Hand Free which, in spite of initially being created as a joke, shows us a new catchy blues rock side of the band.

The album turns at this point, from the its previous upbeat and exhilarating progression, to the interlude. The Garden of England – Interlude, which feels more like a ringtone than a song, announces the second half of the album, which is characterized by calmness throughout. Choice Kingdom is a decent song, but nothing to get too excited about in relation to the rest of the album. It’s successor, Hunger of the Pine brings back the interest; dark vibes match the songs reminiscence of lost love.

However, it pales in comparison when the next song starts playing. Calm as it is, Warm Foothills is clearly a highlight of the album, thanks to its unique approach and flawless execution. Uplifting guitar play lays the foundation for one of the absolute singing and production highlights of the album. Male and female vocals are alternated within sentences, creating a wonderful mosaic of sounds: switching between vocalists makes the song beautiful from a musical perspective by harmonically combining high and low voices, whereas taking a step back and listening to the lyrics reveals the bigger picture. They paint a love story that reminds of the early happy, careless and tender period of a new relationship. Mostly though, this song offers an extra dimension that several others lack: music and lyrics truly combine to paint a complete picture of love and happiness, making the track a true masterpiece on its own.

The final third of the album continues back into the mellow, decent and unsurprising; more cool and cryptic Alt-J lyricism, more cool little details and more of the low-tempo chillness. And of course, for those who are able to wait for a while, there’s a hidden track; this is always a cool addition, but maybe even more so annoying to have to endure over five minutes of silence to hear it.

After this walk-through, where are we left by the music? Impressed? There’s no doubt the album carries particular aspects of what we consider Alt-J-esque. At first naive skim the lyrics may come off as simplistic ramblings of a hormonal freshman who has just discovered girls, but with attention it’s clear that these musings are clear facades of much deeper contemplations. (Thank you genius.com!) Most of the songs are lyrical gems, since their cryptic nature leaves room for interpretation, allowing everybody to discover their own meaning, which may even change in time. And the overall vibe of the album is great as well. Contrary to what some of the attention demanding singles of the album suggest, a tangible soft and mellow mood permeates the album, making large parts of the album a great background soundtrack.

Despite that this may make your mind wander, the music is still an intriguing assemblage of musical experimentation that’s waiting to greet you as your mind wanders back. Every Other Freckle and Left Hand Free are obvious examples of the band exploring different styles, but most other songs also reveal musical details that are a true sign of craftsmanship. The album’s extensive experimentation with vocal samples, and countless cryptic cultural references and innuendos are only the most concrete examples of such details. Thus, it is the albums complexity that makes the music worth listening repeatedly; you may forget about the details, but additional listening sessions will then allow you to rediscover them and relive the excitement.

But even though the album is some kind of triumph, there’s one small caveat. The album’s eclectic hop among styles indicates that Alt-J was looking for direction, rather than having a clear musical theme. Surely experimentation is great, but it also prevents the album from feeling like a completely polished whole. The extensive range of subjects and styles presented in the album tend towards the incoherent, leading to awkward transitions and uneven flow. A bit of a shame to fall prey to poor organization.

Conclusively though, it’s still a great album: an experimental but good addition to their oeuvre. Sure, it’s not as coherent as we had reason to expect, but it makes up for lack of continuity through the particular qualities of each song. As picking up the sleeve of the album foreshadowed, it’s the simple distracting, possibly deceiving look of things that can distract from the real details that are only revealed when listening with keen ears; this elusive collection of songs is a true experience in its own right. Alt-J’s sophomore album is a worthy successor of An Awesome Wave and will put the band ever so slightly back in the spotlights, only to keep us waiting for the next. We’d warmly recommend it to anybody who’s looking for music that’s experimental and very well executed.-The Chemist