Neon Indian is a bit of a darling of the Pitchfork set, with their album “Psychic Chasms” making several end-of-the-year best of lists in 2009. I must confess that I was never totally enamored with Neon Indian’s recorded output. After seeing the band live however, I have been forced to re-think my original assessment. I was expecting to encounter a self-indulgent exercise in electronic noise, but instead I was treated to an fantastic rock show. Drums and guitar, while not a prominent part of the album, were front and center, adding a different feel to the songs. Much like on the album, the vocals took a backseat to the music, with the mic turned way down. That’s not to say it was a bad thing. Though it was really hard to understand what they were saying in between songs.
“Psychic Chasms” consists of about 8 or 9 songs and various interludes clocking in at just over 30 minutes. Naturally, I was intrigued as to how the band planned on filling up the 50 minute or so set time normally afforded a headliner. I figured to hear every song on the album, plus a new song or two, maybe a cover. Neon Indian went for a bit of a different approach, using interludes and soundscapes (including electronically manipulated snippets of obscure classic rock songs) to go from one song to the next and maximize the length of time between songs while still being entertaining. They also threw in a song that was recorded for their album but left off the final tracklisting (“Sleep Paralasyst”) and had an encore consisting of new songs from bandleader Alan Palomo’s VEGA project.
Included from the show is “Should’ve Taken Acid With You” and my personal favorite, the melancholy “6699”
Neon Indian, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 06-18-10
Setlist
Local Joke
Terminally Chill
Mind, Drips
Psychic Chasms
Should’ve Taken Acid with You
Sleep Paralasyst
6669 (I Don’t Know If You Know)
Deadbeat Summer
Ephemeral Artery
Download: Neon Indian – Should’ve Taken Acid With You (Live)
[audio: http://www.thesoundofindie.com/archive/2010/20100727/NI-ShouldveTakenAcidWithYou.mp3|titles=Should’ve Taken Acid With You (Live)|artists=Neon Indian]Download: Neon Indian – 6699 (Live)
[audio: http://www.thesoundofindie.com/archive/2010/20100727/NI-6699.mp3|titles=6699 (Live)|artists=Neon Indian]
Digging the live versions of these tracks much more than the recorded. The emphasis on guitar/drums really helps out.
Sounds amazing.