I WAS THERE: Jamie Lidell Switches to Mad Scientist Mode At Le Poisson Rouge’s Warp Anniversary Party, His First Solo Show In Forever

Posted on September 6, 2009
Filed Under I Was There, Reviews | 2 Comments

Words and photos by Andrew Parks

Pure camp. That’s the path Jamie Lidell embraced last year—intentional or not—as he turned the robust R&B tracks of Jim into his very own Saturday Night at the Apollo. It was as if Lidell heard the criticisms of his blue-eyed soul side and decided to drop Multiply’s diabolical “Dock of the Bay” nods for something even simpler: soulful shower songs, best paired with tall Bloody Marys and bleary-eyed Sunday mornings.

That’s impressive and all, but we couldn’t help but miss Lidell’s mad scientist side as he dropped the sheer hysteria of his solo shows for a proper band. Fast forward to the closing night party of Warp’s 20th anniversary celebration and we’re suddenly back in 2005, watching Lidell bounce between the center stage spotlight and racks of buttons and knobs. Surprisingly enough, Lidell avoided Jim altogether and dove right into a somewhat conservative spin on his old Multiply sets—every time things threatened to teeter over the edge, he reined those manic tendencies in for something a tad more tuneful.

Good stuff indeed, but we’d still like to see something as genre-less and downright mad as Lidell’s first run of stateside gigs were. That’d be the period where he’d perform in a kimono, delivering peak hour dance hooks alongside brittle IDM beats and that voice. We hear a new album’s on the way in the next six months, so we’ll settle for this until then.

Jamie Lidell @ Le Poisson Rouge, 9.5.09:
What Is It This Time?
You Got Me Up
A Little Bit More
Game For Fools
Untitled
When I Come Back Around
Another Day
Music Will Not Last

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2 Responses to “I WAS THERE: Jamie Lidell Switches to Mad Scientist Mode At Le Poisson Rouge’s Warp Anniversary Party, His First Solo Show In Forever”

  1. PEEP SHOW: Gonzales Backs Jamie Lidell on a Piano-Driven Version of "What Is It This Time?" At Joe's Pub | self-titled magazine :: s/t daily on September 26th, 2009 1:33 pm

    [...] As much as we despise the table service setup at Joe’s Pub (either you buy a drink minimum for the privilege of sitting down, or you dodge waitresses and drunks while standing all night), self-titled was psyched to see Gonzales play his first New York City gig in nearly nine years last night. We’ll get to our coverage of his epic piano battle with Andrew W.K. a bit later. For now, here’s a special duet between the Parisian pianist/producer/MC and his old friend/Multiply collaborator Jamie Lidell. [...]

  2. HYPE CHECK: If Mayer Hawthorne's Brooklyn Debut Is To Be Believed, Maybe All We Need Is Love After All...And A Slamming Argyle Sweater | self-titled magazine :: s/t daily on October 2nd, 2009 1:29 pm

    [...] Our Take: We were shocked when self-titled’s very own J. Bennett—the writer of this award-winning Jay Reatard story—proclaimed his passion for Mayer Hawthorne’s R&B revivalism. “I listen to his album everyday, twice a day, while singing along.” Here’s the thing: J. looks like Jesus and really likes shooting ranges and Norwegian black metal. In other words, he’s a scary motherfucker. Mayer Hawthorne is not a scary motherfucker. He’s a smooth operator version of Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air, a DJ/producer/MC who decided to give the soul singer thing a shot after moving from Michigan to L.A. And since he spent years digging for dusty samples like his hero J Dilla, he already had an ear for arrangements that’s lacking in the more streamlined work of, say, Jamie Lidell. [...]

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