Last Wednesday I found myself at the swank yet dank Boardner’s for a performance by Julian Shah-Tayler. I’ve mentioned Julian’s interesting brand of high-brow low-brow music before when he released his song “Wetter.” If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend it.
Musically, Julian’s style is all over the place. He mixes a little rock and electronic elements with some piano pieces, but his polished attitude remains throughout. He’s sort of the artsy rebel type and it really comes through in his performance.
Anyway, the beginning of the set got off to a weird start. I’m not sure what the song was called but it didn’t grab me from the get go and come to think of it, it didn’t fit in with the rest of the set either.
The part of the show that I really enjoyed was when he played “Wetter” (obviously) and “Beautiful World.” Not only was the crowd really into it but “Beautiful World” has a brilliant piano intro.
I also found that his songs sound different live. His sound has a grittier edge that’s missing from the album. I wish he’d bring that out more.
Check out his new album Coito Ergo Sum or find him here (but I suggest you turn off the volume before you do, it’s intense)