Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ohbijou @ The Exchange


Indie darlings Ohbijou made their way through our neck of the woods Monday, bringing their brand of orchestral chamber dream pop to a decent sized crowd. Ohbijou have been getting lots of buzz across the world since their debut album Swift Feet For Troubling Times came out a couple years ago. After seeing them live and listening to their two albums, I can definitely say the acclaim is well deserved.

Ohbijou are a band that are not going to leap out at anyone. Their music, which is infused with violin, cello, horns, and lush keyboards, is ideal for movie soundtracks or for chilling out at a coffee shop. If you are a fan of Stars, Broken Social Scene or Metric's more mellow offerings I would highly recommend this band.

The band, which is based out of Toronto and led by sisters Casey (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Jennifer (violin, vocals) Mecija, perfectly replicate their layered sound onstage. Casey's voice is very soft, but shows flashes of gutteral power every now and then. This is pretty impressive considering the diminutive size of the singer.

Overall, I was really impressed with the show. My only complaint, which is very minor, is that their music might be a bit TOO mellow for a live performance. That being said, after listening to their two albums on my iPod for the last couple of weeks I knew what to expect. But it might be a bit off-putting for a newbie to the band.

The band were pretty serene and sedate during their performance. However, given the music they play, you can't exactly expect scissor kicks and windmill guitar strokes. Casey kept her onstage banter to a minimum but when she did speak she was extremely soft spoken, exhibiting a hint of shyness. However, this added a certain charm to the performance.

Long story short, it was a great way to spend a Monday night. You can check them out at their myspace page here.



... submitted by JJ

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