One of my favorite sets from this year's Coachella was undeniably The Knife, the Swedish electronic music brother-sister duo.
You are probably familiar with them partly or mostly because of their most mainstream song "Heartbeats" :
However, don't be mistaken in believing that all their material sounds like "Heartbeats."
Their sound is constantly mutating, evolving, and becoming something else. Something ahead of their time. And always original.
Just take a look below at their live rendition of their song "We share our mother's health." There is feminist talk about dicks and pussy (#pussypower), hand-clapping in unison, screeching, and theater at work here. Their energy and performance has a kind of magic that is quite beautiful.
Just try explaining that. It's challenging. One must experience The Knife.
Here's "One Hit:"
The finger snapping, the costumes, the make-up, the choreography, the politics of it all. Listen. Watch. Enjoy. Take it in. Take it all in. It's more than mere performance. The Knife's electricity manages to tap into something very human in us all - reminding us of our tribal beginnings and the modern ruling of social constructs.
Given the experience that The Knife gave us at Coachella, I wanted to relive it again and again upon my return to civilization. However, the studio versions of their songs were not the same. They lacked the hand-clapping, the screeching, and other minor yet significant differences found in their live performance.
Fortunately, yesterday, The Knife released Shaken Up Versions, a mini album of their classic tracks reworked especially for the band's North American tour. Thank you, The Knife. Thank you, mighty music gods. Of course, I immediately bought it. Now, I get to relive them and their magic. I'm one happy camper - one happy Coachella camper, to be precise. :-)
* Disclaimer: Videos uploaded to the post are not mine. I found them on Youtube. I would like to thank the users who uploaded them to be viewed with everyone online. At the time of The Knife's performance, I was too captivated by them to do anything else. :-)
Here's "One Hit:"
The finger snapping, the costumes, the make-up, the choreography, the politics of it all. Listen. Watch. Enjoy. Take it in. Take it all in. It's more than mere performance. The Knife's electricity manages to tap into something very human in us all - reminding us of our tribal beginnings and the modern ruling of social constructs.
Given the experience that The Knife gave us at Coachella, I wanted to relive it again and again upon my return to civilization. However, the studio versions of their songs were not the same. They lacked the hand-clapping, the screeching, and other minor yet significant differences found in their live performance.
Fortunately, yesterday, The Knife released Shaken Up Versions, a mini album of their classic tracks reworked especially for the band's North American tour. Thank you, The Knife. Thank you, mighty music gods. Of course, I immediately bought it. Now, I get to relive them and their magic. I'm one happy camper - one happy Coachella camper, to be precise. :-)
* Disclaimer: Videos uploaded to the post are not mine. I found them on Youtube. I would like to thank the users who uploaded them to be viewed with everyone online. At the time of The Knife's performance, I was too captivated by them to do anything else. :-)
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