Saw Isobel Campbell last night at the MFA (of whose indie music series I'm getting increasing fond). Damon & Naomi opened, and while I was impressed with Naomi's voice, Damon is kinda confusing--boring guitar-playing, barely noticeable vocals, and really odd stage patter. Is he the song-writing genius, and nobody will tell him he's not a performer? Naomi's husband/brother/uncle/second-cousin-twice-removed? The one with the music biz connections? What's he doing there?
Isobel Campbell's voice was lovely, as always; her voice blended and complemented Eugene Kelly's remarkably well, and the band's sound was cohesive. My favorite visual of the night was the contrast between the two bassists: one in a pink collared shirt and slacks, and the other in a t-shirt and trucker hat--I think they're both called Dave, but I don't know which one is Gormley and which one is McGowan, and could be mistaken on that entirely. She did an unexpected Sneaker Pimps cover, too--"How Do." Did it damn well, too, although didn't add much to the original.
13 March 2006
Damon & Naomi/Isobel Campbell
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Damon & Naomi are actually 2/3 of the seminal shoegazey disciples-of-The-Velvet-Underground band Galaxie 500. The hierarchy of songwriting genius basically went Dean Wareham, then Damon, then Naomi.
Number-one genius Dean left for the slightly-less-seminal-but-still-enamored-of-VU band Luna, and later Dean & Britta. That left #2 Galaxie 500 genius Damon as the #1 genius of Damon & Naomi.
Or actually, at first he was still #2, with Kramer's production work taking #1, but now that Damon has also taken on the engineering and production of their more recent albums, you're entirely correct: he's the indispensable member of the duo.
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