The Rosen Association

We are so blessed with the musicians that live here in Chicago, with the music that is produced here. It is a matter of seeking them out in less than obvious places and moments. The cold autumn rain that Thursday night was the kind that can persuade you stay home. You look out the window, and then you look at what's on cable. It was a night slowly driving itself into oblivion. This night was in want to be forgotten, uneventful was it's day. The rain don't even have to be this down pour, just a cold, annoying drizzle. Yet this extreme boredom also compels one to seek out the time killers. The Rosen Association put the night on the map, with their sweet dark electronics.

I saw The Rosen Association perform at The Mutiny, and most recently at Bottom Lounge. They are Jason, Matt, Erin, and Spencer. Erin sings and plays keyboard. I think it's Jason who plays lead guitar. The night I saw School of Seven Bells at Empty Bottle one of them told me about this thing at The Mutiny, when I arrived my expectations were modest. I was expecting to be bored fast so I can go home. I did not know who was going to sing, nothing. I arrived and I noticed a few goths that I kind of know. That can mean something....right? Familiar faces help a lot to shape in your mind what you will listen. The Mutiny is such a classic looking dive bar, exactly where you would expect a goth or indy band to start. That thought kind of influenced me to stay and eventually see The Rosen Association. I've seen them twice now. The second time was different because you can actually see them. At The Mutiny you could barely see them it was so dark, it was like they were hiding. Bottom Lounge had them on a proper stage with much better lights.

They remind me a lot like this band called Mono, very keyboard driven grayish dark electronic music, and when I say dark I mean like Miranda Sex Garden. My reluctance in calling it electronic comes from the guitars. Think Projekt instead of Metropolis. Try calling Black Tape For A Blue Girl "electronic". It's hard right. It's just so many other things as well. One of their songs plays in my head all the time and it's Erin's keyboard. Her voice is not girly young, but womanly angelic. They don't have a CD out yet or anything. For the moment all we have are the live performances, and their myspace page. "Cotton" sweet as "Drones" sounds serious. The alliteration there was unavoidable. I'm trying to get this post out as I have not in ages. And it's in "Drones" where Erin's voice haunts. They are awesome. They can steal a Projekt Fest. It's nice to have them local. It just occurred to me how cool a shirt would look with "Rosen Association" on it. They perform next at Metro 26 February.

Zig

School of Seven Bells at Empty Bottle

School of Seven Bells makes the term "shoe gaze" easy to sell if I may for a moment use that to describe them. They have this mysterious Twin Peaks thing....a little bit in some of the songs, enough to hook you and on we go. Yeah like Julee Cruise with faster cardio...at least for me. This band is something that I believe I will listen to for a long time in part because they evoke and crystalize so much of what I like. Their voices are never over the top, but they calm the storm, or they ride it. They play to my archetypes. They can sound mysterious without seeming pompous about it. They can sound happy, they can sound dark, but the fog is ever present. Still it never bores you. This statement I can perhaps say about all the bands that played that Wednesday night.

Panda Riot I missed but I've seen them a lot, most recently at The Whistler. They are what a goth listens to in the morning. It's happy, feminine shoe gaze, still foggy, urban. They are playing new music now. And they added another singer. Warpaint I did not expect to like. I did no research on them what so ever, and so they hit me over the top when they ended their set with "krimson"(I missed most of it). Hell they are all different embodiments of the same archetype.

I chase after the fleeting moments, even from bands that I have seen before. The Empty Bottle offers an intimacy Bottom Lounge does not have. School Of Seven Bells I've seen previously at Bottom Lounge. Smaller completely enhances the experience. It's really cool when a band that has seen a venue like Bottom Lounge later on play to a smaller place like the Bottle. Every band that played that 14th October, a Wednesday was awesome, Panda Riot....alright so I missed them, but I know they were great. War Paint keeps imprinting on me every day. I absolutely love War Paint. I did not catch them, they caught me with the last two songs from their set and so this impression is more from hearing them on CD rather than seeing them live, but it was clear that War Paint had fans that night. This slow song had everyone kind of hypnotized. I was really praying not to like this, 'cause I save money. If I do...then I don't save money.

I walked in wanting to know if this moment was something I should capture or should I let the sand slip through my fingers. The last song sold me. Depreciation Guild was next and they were great as well but I had to choose what to buy and I got War Paint.. It's nice to anticipate the little things you discovered the first time. Most of the time, that one show you saw is the one iconic moment you frame and you preserve with the CD, with the shirt, with the vinyl that comes with the download code. And you stay broke!

Stella Luce

I just remember it was a Wednesday in October when I saw this band at The Empty Bottle, I did not know Stella Luce existed the day before. I'm glad I did not miss them. It feels as if other performers like Rasputina, Emily Autumn have prepped me for appreciating Stella Luce. There were others that I was going to mention but I can't recall them right now. This is not the same as saying Stella Luce sounds like these other bands. SL I like for how they are different as well as how they are alike. They describe themselves as electro-acoustic, which sounds just about right. I was struggling with how to describe them. It was unfortunate how thin the crowd was for this band, and no one that I would describe as remotely goth. They were quite the thing to witness. Considering the following that Rasputina and EA have now, Stella Luce does certainly deserve the same kind of attention. They all got this same sharp wit like they went to the same Catholic school or something. Well, at the same time smart is what I look for in an artist. In the song "Be Still My Bleeding Heart" Alana Rolfe the lead singer has this rapid fire wit that sometimes sprints across before slowing down and letting the instruments catch up. And there are other songs that deserve attention. "Death March" sounds to me like an Eastern European Waltz. It would be interesting to see how this song makes people move on a gothic night dance floor. It just needs to be expressed and appreciated collectively like that. Nothing here strikes me as sounding formulaic. Each song has it's own gravitational pull. Electro-acoustic is exactly right. I hope to see them again, with a wider audience that I believe goth culture can be. It's a matter of putting the two in the same space.

Zig

Ami Saraiya

This girls music has been in my head ever since seeing her perform at the Empty Bottle. Ms Ami plays the accordion, and guitar. I looked up the Bottle website and decided after hearing a Pretenders cover....at least I think that is who she covered. I liked her voice and how she played the accordion, so off I go to see her. I think the main act that night was a band from France named Cocoon (I think). The way I sometimes research a band, I want to capture as much of the experience live. So, I'll go to the bands' myspace page or something, see a video for maybe a minute or so. I like accordion players. Each band or artist that I like that plays that instrument is a separate reason why I like the accordion sound. Pezzettino plays it differently from Ami Saraiya. A signature of hers is this sad bluesy swagger, a thread that is in a lot of her songs, like "Vegas Moon", "Up, Down, & Charmed", "Archaeologist". This feeling emits from how the songs sound, before the meaning of the words settle. At once you feel nostalgic for the black and white of your own childhood. Well...a nostalgia of some sort. And then the words settle into your mind, words that have been made welcome before the meaning was met. Without the lyrics to read it's just certain phrases that rise out and sink back. So I can't say, "This is what the song says". Her music is not entirely sad sounding. Her swagger is more dominant with songs like "Memphis Train", and "Intaha Ho Gayee". That last one was a Bollywood song. I so love it when an artist so weaves together cultures so vastly apart...but not really. We are all closer than we think. It was a real joy and a privilege to witness this local....I have to repeat this to myself, local artist.

Zig

Phantogram

I saw these guys again, at Bottom Lounge . I got their entire performance. The last time I saw them, at Subterranean I only got on time for their last song, "When I'm Small". The imprint was not set then. I could have been frugal and not get the ep, but I said fuck it and got it anyway. The imprint started after that first show, when I would play the cd in the car. These guys have that Portishead coolness that is effortless, and natural, yet they are an original creation. It's not the same as saying they sound like them. On "Small", the hip-hop beats feel like they are in their natural state, not in a zoo, at ease with the psychedelic. For a band that uses all kinds of electronic stuff, they sound very....organic. I don't get why the crowd was kind of not as into them. They seem to be more of a college, Q 101 crowd, not really into the street wise, Portishead coolness of these two old high school buddies. Their names are Joshua M Carter and Sarah D Barthel from Saratoga Springs, New York. They are best described as street beat/psych/pop. That describes perfectly "When I'm Small". Really these guys were absolutely awesome and they are just beginning. They barely got an ep out with five songs. They combine live sampling with loops, Joshua's swirling guitar, Sarah's keyboard, voice. During the month of October they will be touring England, and I'm happy that they are.

bliss.city.east

I wanted to write separately about bliss.city.east. I said the band moved to Atlanta, but their myspace page says Boston. They also describe their sound best, shoegaze/indie/disco house. I'm over here trying to write a whole paragraph trying to say exactly that.

The Spiritual Bat

So last week. A friend of mine told me that she was having over in her place this band from Italy called Spiritual Bat. They were to perform at Nightlight Cafe Friday 18 September and Darkroom on the 20th. It's fun when you go only on the word of a friend (thank you Michelle) that you will like a certain band and that you can come and meet them. Just like that. When you get included you just go 'cause I'm a fucking moth. I can't tell the flame from the moon light. Off I go to risk the difference, and sure enough there they are on Michelle's couch, this lovely Italian couple Rosetta and Dario who were 24 hours away from making a fan out of me. They were being interviewed, and I listened, because I wanted clues as to what I would eventually listen to live the next night. Rosetta's hair was loosely dreadlocked. It worked very well for her. It felt as if I was the only one in the room that has not done his homework on them. And to a degree it was deliberate. I wanted the live Spiritual Bat experience to overwhelm me. It was very curious to see everyone around me taking pictures with the band and having their CD's signed and all that. If I wait until after I hear them, this moment behind the scenes will have passed and so I had to take it blind. Happy I am now to have done so. When a band or anyone for that matter travels far and wide and includes you in their journey it makes one feel special. This I feel regardless of what I think of the music they play. I'm still very grateful for being included in the journey, and Spiritual Bat came all the way from Italy to do gigs in the States. They are far from home, and so I deeply appreciate their trip to see us here. Before I show the concert pictures, I want to show the ones before the performance.

Labor Day Monday

This was a Scary Lady Sarah event held at The Abbey Pub. It was to be bliss.city.east's last performance in Chicago before moving to Atlanta, and also the second time I see Renee-Louise Carafice. For me a convergence of moments that will never repeat. This fed the urgency to go see them. My first time seeing bliss.city, the lead singer was barely visibly pregnant, I remember this shirt with an ultra-sound picture of a baby in the womb giving the middle finger. The coolest pregnant shirt. Alright, now the music. It's fairly aggressive shoe gaze, and they don't hide from wanting to make you dance. I did when I was not taking pictures. I 've been using this shoegaze crayon a lot, still it's just a crayon, and I do eventually use the others, like black. I suppose shoegaze is a way that I hold on to the goth and....back to bliss.city.east They can sound more giddy than School of Seven Bells, and casual like Panda Riot. They have their faster, harder songs. Perry B.C.E's guitarist goes off, keeps your short attention span from wandering. There were a lot of guitars on that stage but they haze of them don't go off on tangents. Juno would not call this "noise". Bliss.City.East, I will miss them, and I hope the band prospers in their new home of Atlanta.....is that right?

So I've wanted to see Ms Renee' -Louise again ever since Beat Kitchen, about a year ago. I was quite impressed with her then but she had no CD's with her so I don't remember what I liked about her, only that I really did. She's from New Zealand and now she lives here, in Chicago. Her music.....It's just how her myspace page describes her. She's folk, glam, experimental, she owns all these notes. The folk part for me makes everything feel closer, the experimental less remote. Her other-worldly voice captures attention like an elder telling you a story in a camp fire straight out of magical realism. OK, so she's not remotely related to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. But there is this other-worldly thing to her that still feels familiar enough to this world. Like a Vulcan raised by Manchester punks, urban/folk, not mediaeval folk. She seems to know this urban world you live in better than you, in ways you're glad you don't. I listen to the cd "Tells You To Fight", and putting a side for a moment what she says in her songs. I like how she says it. The voice makes whatever meaning I get out of the songs compelling enough. It's the wonder of the how, before the meaning settles, before words settle into meaning, they are instruments that leave you with wonder, I was sold..... and then she named a song after Emily Dickenson.

Literate and street wise. That song, "To Run", I've been listening to it a lot. There is a video on it, and some explanation about the song, yeah, Wuthering Heights fucked with me too. That was a significant novel for me.... Reading about the origins about the song makes me appreciate the artist more, she's described here as "dark-folk pop songstress...Carafice sings with an alarming openness about desperation, love, loss, homelessness and longing, all the while maintaining a sense of glorious hope at the end of the road". I had to quote it direct. I could not say it any better.

Anyway, I ran to The Abbey and made it on time, it was Renee Louise first. She was probably on her second song, and she had a full band this time, her vulcan-punk hair under this aviator hat, only for a moment. The intangible reasons I liked this artist to begin with came back. It's like you're enjoying the memory of the first performance, as well as the one before you, and now I have the CD to take home.

The Ettes at Sub T's

I go see The Ettes 28 August, a Friday. I was really anticipating it. White Mystery played before them. It was something to go on time to. I still missed the opening act Tiger Spirit. They got them out of the way far too early. Their CD was just two dollars so I took my chances. White Mystery I've known about for a while but this was my first time seeing them. I liked them, enough to wish their CD wasn't sold out. The Ettes I've only known about since June I think. They have been to Chicago at least 3 times before. Where the fuck have I been? I liked this band so much I wished I was there those previous 3. The brief research I did made me want to go see them. The individual members all come from the east coast, but they all met in L.A. Indeed the band formed there around 2004, and now I think they moved again, to Tennessee where it's a far cheaper cost of living. They have traveled and called many places home, I imagine. The lead singer Coco, .......I love that name, she looks latina to me. Anyway, that Friday she was all in black and mod. This was one of those performances when it is a struggle between wanting to dance and wanting to take pictures and video. And perhaps that betrays the mood of the crowd. A lot of people danced. The crowd was way into them. It really is something when they are beautiful and fem and still have this naturally dominant authority come out of the music, like a muscle car that they fixed themselves. And they are all drivers. Their second CD will come out on 29th September. I love the EP and the previous full length, I'm glad they will be back with Juliet Lewis on Friday 2 Oct. This time I'll get the shirt.

Panda Riot at the Whistler!

This was a nice thing to come back home to from traveling to my cousins wedding in New York. The Whistler is such a small intimate place. You can feel like you're on top of the stage as soon as you walk in. Panda Riot on a Sunday night felt like a welcome home. And as one changes from seeing loved ones marry off, so does this band as one was away. They played new music. And I have the CD. It's awesome. Wait, first the performance. So I left the house late I thought. I was fully expecting to miss the show, but something was making me follow through with driving to The Whistler. When I walk in and sit down it was not clear if some band just finished playing or is about to begin. Damn, I just realized this is the same fucking narrative as always.....anyway, the euphoria of seeing Panda Riot play when you thought you missed them, white washes the bitterness of the ride. They played new music and they added a second vocal. I did not expect this pleasant discovery. The place often seemed packed, not to capacity, but a good modest sized crowd. It was not clear how many went specifically for Panda Riot. And so they play the familiar songs from "She Dares All Things", more people. There was this white couple at some point dancing salsa like they were ordered by their Mexican kidnappers. And now my gringos it is time to dance. I mean they were really into it. It sounds like I'm taking the piss out of them, but I remember them fondly, as part of the spontaneous appreciation of the band that played in front of them. It was nice to see them like Panda Riot. I go see these guys a lot, just like Alla. There are some things that are best appreciated in the long term. Like the transition into having another singer, who apparently will play a drum as well.

Even as I have that CD, I constantly rediscover songs by hearing them play out live. This is a band that plays in my head all the time, in the car, ipod. It's giddy shoegaze that wakes you to a morning in a happy mood. Thats the intangible feel I always get from Panda Riot without reading lyrics, none of that. They are the sound of early morning wonder. The new songs from the EP "Far and Near" are no departure of that sentiment, they just have a faster cardio, well on one song. And yet they are still casual in their quicker step. In the goth club this is the sort of sound that brings that early morning splash feel to the blood stream. You don't move faster, just with more enthusiasm. The second song on "Far and Near" has this fast trip-hop thing that the vocals still ride casually. I like every song in the new EP. Even as they are new they remind me of why I liked the band to begin with.

Catch a Tiger, at Reggies

This was an awesome and full Wednesday night for me. I came to Reggies to see The Start, not expecting this local band Catch A Tiger to impress, and yet they did. I was fully expecting The Start to keep me broke but it was this band that I eventually liked. I walked in as Catch A Tiger was playing. I liked what I was hearing from probably the end of the second song I heard. Ms Andrea stood out from the crowd precisely because of her plain gray and blue, well at least to me. There was something sweet and understated about it. She didn't throw herself around like Katie Jane. Didn't need to. The music was not plain, it got my attention, and I was fascinated by her understated presentation of it. A calm in the midst of the storm of guitars and drums. The demo CD they have grows on me. Some songs sound to me like Placebo only with a female voice. I got it. Auf Der Maur.

I took pictures and video as this appreciation of the band formed. I didn't see any CDs of the band at the merch table so with more urgency I took video. These early performances of any band, before they are signed are the fleeting moments that I like to record. For me it's not just the performance the videos record, but you know, the things that happened around it. What was going on in the world around it. Sure there is the escapist quality in going out to see these shows, but I know these events do not create themselves in a vacuum. Indeed they are reactions to the world around. Anyway, uhm, I like how these guys react to the world. I am a fan.

Chinese Stars, Tinsel Teeth

I was anticipating this Free Monday night at the Empty Bottle. I looked up Tinsel Teeth after reading about them at the 'Bottle website. The Chinese Stars I read on some death rock/gothic magazine review on them that I recall. This is something to go on time for. Upon arriving I noticed how they were setting up the stage on the floor where the crowd would be. As I was processing the fascination of this, everyone was taking their places as close to the band as possible. Tinsel Teeth from Providence, Rhode Island were about to begin. This already felt like the kind of performance that shatters the fourth wall with the audience by setting up in their very space. I find a good spot to sit down on. The female lead had this blond wig on, and a skinny black dress with black cowboy boots on. The crowd gathers not to party but to witness. It's like they're gonna see an accident. If they are setting up on the floor it's for a reason. And so the reason started, or uhm, was set off like a short fuse.

The girl just went ape shit like Queen Adreena. The girl growled and convulsed over the chaotic drone of the guitars. She was just throwing herself all over the place. The girl had this growl of a voice, deep.....not girly at all. At some point she strapped on a dildo, and bounced around with it, until it broke off. The wig had long since fallen to reveal this shock of black hair. The girl's dress, soaked in sweat rolled up and stayed up, and her red striped panties were there for all to see. She spat out fake blood all over the place, looked like a roller derby vet. Everyone in the band actually looked bandaged and battle scarred. The girl often would convulse herself into the crowd, and merge back out, thrashing about the whole time. It was crazy and I loved it. The black dress the singer had on, was so soaked in sweat that her top fell off....or rolled down, just like Queen Adreena. And the band played on. At the merch table the band members were real cool, this is when the girl's tattoos were more noticeable. Katie Jane Garside from Queen Adreena I would not expect at the merch table at all. I believe her to be too shy and aloof. But not this lead singer. She was cool, not aloof. She didn't even seem drunk. The craziness was put away, spent during performance. In case one notices that I don't use her name, I didn't ask......it just didn't come up, and the band's myspace page does not help.

This Monday night suddenly did not feel like one. It's so cool when that happens. You are having such a good time that your internal calender does not register the night as Monday night. The main act, Chinese Stars had yet to play at this point and I was not expecting to like them as much as I eventually did. I was ready to go home after Tinsel Teeth. I stayed around and met people that I knew from going to Veggie Bite so much. The wonder of that moment had me stay long enough to wait for the middle act to finish. I kept recalling in my mind how I read about Chinese Stars in a death rock magazine but I can also go home sooner. Tinsel Teeth already made this night memorable. I figured I can wait and hear one song, and then go home. I'm so into female vocalists that sometimes I don't know what I'm saying no to until I miss it, or almost miss it. I could have walked out before Chinese Stars, but I did not and I feel fortunate.

Monday nights at the 'Bottle can peak and then empty out fast. Well that can be any night anywhere, sometimes the main act has the least amount of people in the audience. The crowd just thins out. They saw who they wanted and then go home. On a Monday that can happen fast 'cause the next day is still Tuesday no matter how Friday-ish the Monday night felt. So when the crowd stays and actually gets bigger until the very end that is very special. Now, I did say when Tinsel Teeth played, people gathered to witness. They all knew that there was something to see. For Chinese Stars, it was the people who went apeshit. Perhaps this betrays my relatively short relationship with Empty Bottle, but I have never seen a mosh pit there, at least not before this band. I absolutely loved it. These guys just owned the joint. I took no video, because for anyone that sees it would only see a bald guy with a slight gut using the mic like he's beating off, as fans cheer him on. That and I was too busy enjoying it myself. As mosh pits go, this was relatively we behaved. It's quite something when you see girls in the pit, I assume them to be more reserved, less reckless than guys, and yet there they were pitting. I was a fan from the first song. Their blood pumps fast, their bass is bouncy and dance friendly. In a goth club this can work to wake people up. The singer has this cool pervy type of voice. I still can't get enough of the two CD's I got. They will come back to Chicago I think next year.