Lost in the Trees (good god look at them all!)
I’m glad I finally got to experience North Carolina-based Lost in the Trees last night at Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar. I arrived in time to catch the last handful of local cello-looping folk master Wes Swing, who spun delightfully pretty indie-folk tunes ala-Damien Rice or Bon Iver. I was impressed with the texture that was built up in a few of the songs, reminding me a bit of TV on the Radio, without all the avant garde. His set ended with a Bjork cover which annoyed much less than any of her own versions could have.
Next came Lost in the Trees, a NINE-piece chamber rock group from the Chapel Hill & Raleigh/Durham areas of NC. If you’ve ever been to the Tea Bazaar, then you can imagine watching as they practically defied physics and squeezed themselves into the performing area, complete with drums, bass, 12-string guitar, a 4-piece string section and two auxiliary players that sported various brass, percussion and stringed instruments. I couldn’t help but think that the only thing more annoying than touring with 9 members using well over a dozen different instruments was waiting for them all the set up, tune up and get ready to perform. After awhile, I thought that the entire show was going to be the group noodling, tuning and whispering to each other.
The set began with a trumpet, tuba and euphonium with strings quickly joining in along with a slightly more than mediocre vocal melody. I caught hints of fellow uber-orchestrated indie rock acts like Starlight Mints and The Polyphonic Spree. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience with great instrumentation and a very generous and attentive crowd, yet I wasn’t convinced that the majority of the band’s songs would have been as convincing without all of the extra frosting. I DO recommend checking out Lost in the Trees’ music online, however as they seem to pull it off quite well in the studio. I can’t guarantee it wasn’t just that I had to see them at the Tea Bazaar, battling over the annoying little PA and its shrill feedback.
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holy shit, Nate. you know the FUCK out of indie pop/rock/shoegaze bands. awesome. any way to give us a few of these comparisons/classifications in warning before the shows? i bagged this one, not realizing who-what the band is.
did you catch the Of Montreal guy’s solo-performance at Southern? Very curious what that’s all about.
Ian–any luck on setting up a place on Cvillain as an encyclopedia/reference guide to all local bands (and others touring frequently through here) with a line or two of description by Nate and an MP3 or two downloadable from each (i’m sure they’d give one or two each, and permission to post)?