NEW YORK CONVERSATION: Björk Blows Off Ólöf Arnalds Gig, Patrick Wolf Goes Easy On the Costume Changes


[Ólöf Arnalds media by Aaron Richter; Patrick Wolf media by Andrew Parks]

Andrew Parks: so we sent you all the way to sycamore because we thought bjork was going to show up
Aaron Richter: Bjørk let me down
AP: did it seem like other people heard about it?
AR: walking out in my old Flatbush neighborhood, I quickly realized that there was no way she’d show up there
AR: nah. everyone there seemed to be there for Olof
AP: too far?
AR: just..it’s Flatbush
AR: the venue was pretty awesome
AP: how so?
AP: pretty tiny?
AR: just a really sweet bar
AP: is it a legit venue? or a bar with a small stage?
AR: and then there’s a door that they eventually opened that led down stairs to a cellar
AR: and there’s a stage in the cellar
AR: one light, candles, wooden benches
AR: it was like a cult suicide room
AP: too bad matthew barney didnt show up either then

1:45 AM
AR: right. he would have sacrificed a goat or a whale or something
AR: Olof covered Caetano Veloso
AR: and Johnny Cash
AR: It was really loose. She messed up her songs a lot but in like a LOL endearing way
AP: what cash song did she play?
AR: That Lucky Old Sun
AR: she brought a friend up onstage for a few songs
AR: and they did that one because they did it together when they were in Japan the day Cash died
AP: a friend who wasnt bjork
AP: but icelandic?
AR: right
AR: yeah. Icelandic. Kristina something or other
AR: she sang sort of like an elf, Olof’s friend did
AP: because theyre all storybook characters there
AR: bankrupt storybook characters

AR: was patrick wolf all slutty and gay?
AP: at the risk of sounding gay myself, he was quite endearing and adorable
AP: a loose set like olof’s
AP: a lot of the new songs
AP: played with the violinist he’s brought here before
AP: pretty spare tunes with dulcimer, guitar, piano,
AR: I’ve never seen him live before but I imagine it’s a lot of him in like a leotard and like draping himself atop a grand piano like some chick in a sparkly dress
AP: ha
1:50 AM
AP: his full-on live shows have evolved into quite a glamtacular event
AP: lots of costume changes and such
AP: not tonight though
AP: he kept joking about that
AR: Sasha Frere Jones Twittered: So Patrick Wolf is Antony if Antony had gotten laid.
AP: yeah i saw that
AP: and thought it was reaching
AP: and didnt make sense
AP: the only conneciton between the two would be them being gay
AP: voices arent similar
AP: songs are pretty different
AP: antony is awkward and otherworldly onstage
AR: yeah, but they’re guys who make music so…
AP: patrick is laidback and quite funny


AP: anyway, ive seen him several times before and used to be obsessed with his first two records
AP: so i enjoyed it, as his voice can hold a song together just fine without all the buzzing beats and such
AP: but it wasnt ‘exciting’, per say
AR: he didn’t beat up his drummer and quit showbiz, I guess, so it was probably a successful show from his perspective too
AP: and le poisson rouge decided to pull one of those table sitting things again
AP: which would be fine if they sold a certain amount of tickets
AP: and assigned you seats
AP: instead 40-60 people have to mill about throughout the venue
AP: angry and growing sick of standing
AR: weird. i wonder if the Mono show is gonna be the same thing?
AP: oh that definitely will be
AP: all those wordless shows are
AP: i dont mind seated shows
AP: i prefer them in something like “an evening with…patrick wolf”
AP: where its all acoustic and shit
AR: my wooden bench was kinda fun. until it got uncomfortable
AP: but provide everyone with a seat
AP: or arrange the seats in a way that makes sense

1:55 AM
AR: so it’s a good thing that Bjork rumor didn’t get around, too, cuz that bar would have been fuuuucked
AP: in what way?
AR: there was one woman who was sort of working the door
AR: but basically just floating around the venue asking people if they were there for the show so she could collect money
AR: but you couldn’t go downstairs
AR: and she was also sorta having to block the door so people wouldn’t go down there
AP: weird
AP: you like olaf enough to check out her album(s)
AP: apparently she has a new one soon
AR: welllllllll
AP: i love her cousin–or is it his sister?–who has almost the same name
AR: i might listen a time or two
AP: olafur arnalds
AP: he rules
AP: neo classical type dude
AR: i got the sense that the records are a lot more full
AR: it was just her and a guy and a tiny piano
AP: im not sure they are
AP: pretty sure theyre spare
AR: but sometimes she’d start singing horn parts and string parts
AP: are the joanna newsom comparisons apt?
AR: or like going “blam blam” like there was supposed to be a tympani there
AP: maybe shes just crazy
AR: yeah. a little bit like joanna newsom
AR: mostly just cuz they’re both a bit chirpy
AP: less harp, more blam blam
AR: i think joanna has better control over her voice though

2:05 AM
AP: another observation about p wolf: dude has a weird audience
AP: i cant quite pin it down
AR: young/old?
AP: a mix really
AP: some hot topic type kids too
AR: a regular st. marks
AP: yeah
AP: he kept talking about how he was always nostalgic for bleecker st when he was a kid
AP: then he finally came here and realized all that cafe culture shit happened in the 60s
AP: apparently dylan doesnt have espresso around the corner anymore
2:10 AM
AP: props to patrick for busting out a dulcimer by the way
AR: but I did see Lee Renaldo on my Q train yesterday
AR: which was dope
AP: you should have asked him what its like being the guy no one cares about
AR: yeah, but he writes better songs than Thurston
AR: i think steve shelly is the one no one cares about
AP: oh right. so anyway, are we done talking about how uneventful tonight was?
AP: definitely psyched to see patrick wolf with the full band next month
AR: yeah. Damn you Bork for riding your magic wheel somewhere other than Flatbush, Brooklyn
AP: and you lucky people who can afford charity shows will likely enjoy the guaranteed bjork/olaf collab this friday
AP: in themeantime, im listening to olafur arnalds’ “eulogy for evolution”
AP: sooooo good
2:15 AM
AR: and I’ll wait until ABC.com puts up tonight’s Lost
AP: oh right
AP: whos the focus this week?
AR: power struggle between jack and sawyer
AR: next week is the finale
AP: right on
AR: if you’re a musician and you’re reading this and you like Lost, hit us up.
AR: correction “if you’re a good musician”
AP: (bjork, you and matthew are invited)
AP: and we can have pig destrtoyer come by too

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