Just nine days after winning her first Grammy for Best Alternative Album, St Vincent (real name Annie Clark) will make her debut in Taiwan. The 32-year-old singer, who also shreds on guitar, is one of the best acts touring these days.
But just a quick aside about the Grammys, and no, this has nothing to do with Kanye West.
Taiwan band the Muddy Basin Ramblers were nominated but didn’t win, meaning that Taiwan has now received six nominations for Best Recording Packaging and gone home empty handed each time. Rambler’s front man David Chen (陳思銘) was, however, hardly in the aisles carrying picket signs and screaming “Travesty!” Not only did the Taiwanese government sponsor his trip to Los Angeles, he also got to see AC/DC for free. I hate you, Dave.
Photo Courtesy of Earwax
After the awards, Chen made this post on Facebook: “We didn’t win but we’re super thrilled to be here, and we’re having a blast! It’s been surreal. The moment they announced our category, it felt like time had stopped. ‘And the Grammy goes to...’”
... Lightning Bolt, the latest album by Pearl Jam.
Now, let’s get back to St Vincent. She will play as part of a two-day mini festival at Legacy Taipei, along with other top indie acts Caribou, Belle and Sebastian, Temples, Tune Yards and Real Estate.
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It’s an interesting line-up to say the least. Formed three years ago, Temples is a young band playing neo-psychedelic pop that was recently called the best new band in Britain by former Oasis star Noel Gallagher. The Glasgow band Belle and Sebastian has been around for nearly two decades. They just released their ninth album, Girls in Peacetime Want To Dance less than a month ago and are already generating indie dance hits.
Caribou, Real Estate and Tune Yards all had well-charting albums last year and plenty of incumbent buzz.
But St Vincent is the act of the moment. As a teen she was a roadie for Tuck & Patti — a jazz duo who are also her aunt and uncle — and has more recently been a protege of David Byrne, the erstwhile front man of the Talking Heads.
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When I saw St Vincent play last summer at Fuji Rock, her set was nothing short of mesmerizing. It was like watching an off-Broadway play, a fashion show and a concert all rolled into one. St Vincent has great range which mixes dynamic vocal technique, melodies that defy normal notions of pop catchiness, sometimes jarring beats and an intense theatricality.
St Vincent’s background is mainly musical, but it seems she just as easily could have been the product of a drama department. When she performs live, everything is staged or designed to create some intended effect — including hair, costume, the set, her immaculate, kabuki-like hand gestures, as well as the stage movements of herself and the other performers. One hesitates to call them band mates, as they seem more like supporting actors, especially Toko Yasuda on keyboards and bass, who, in certain parts of the performance, robot-walks in complementary movements with St Vincent, like they are riding treadmills in opposite directions.
When St Vincent addresses the crowd, it is like she is opening a play. She began her set at Fuji Rock, saying, “Hello ladies and gentlemen, and a very special welcome to all the freaks and others of Japan.” She then told the crowd that when they were young, they no doubt made their own hot air balloons out of bed sheets, dreaming that this would carry them away from all their troubles. And that they were of course intensely disappointed when this hapless plan failed to achieve its object.
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“But,” she said, “the reason why you are here and I am here is because we never ever, ever gave up hope!” Then she launched into the song Marrow, with its chorus, “H – E – L – P/help me, help me/If you want we could go somewhere else.”
There was no other stage banter. Nothing was unscripted. On the songs Surgeon and Cheerleader, St Vincent rose to literally place herself atop a podium — a small, white three-tiered pyramid, like a minimalistic prop from experimental theater — and then had a sort of death scene at the end of “Prince Johnny”, withering to a prone position, then almost dripping down the podium with her body, until she was lying flat on the stage at its base. When the performance was over, St Vincent and the other players simply bowed in unison, with St Vincent staying for a second gracious bow. Then they all walked off.
The music was astounding, from her choppy, searing guitar licks to her austere pop tunes. It was Bjork and David Byrne and all those other influences, but it was above all, it was unmistakably St Vincent.
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Her Taipei debut is definitely something to look forward to.
■ Belle and Sebastian, Tune Yards and Caribou play Monday 7pm. St Vincent, Real Estate and Temples play Tuesday 7pm. Both shows are at Legacy Taipei, 1, Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市八德路一段1號). One-day tickets are NT$3,000 or NT$2,800 in advance. Two-day tickets are $4,480 in advance through www.books.com.tw.
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