Sybris/Coins

Sybris played a Free Monday at Empty Bottle, I believe that was 13 Monday and then Coins played Hideout Friday 17 December. Angela sings in both. That Monday night was full of awesome bands. It was Secret Colours, it was Apteka, and then Sybris. Every one of these bands have headlined shows and have their own fan base. To have them all in one place is awesome and rare. It was one of them nights that felt like a weekend. Sybris played the 'Bottle to promote their new CD. I believe it is their third. I didn't even look at it. I was too broke. I had enough for that first CD. That was just $5. I had a passive awareness of them for years and then I finally went to see them at Schubas I think in early 2009. I was sold with "Burnout Babies", from their second CD Into The Trees. I was real impressed with Angela Mullenhour's raw uninhibited delivery. You could hear it. You could see it in her face. Here is what I mean by that. There are artists that are in such control of their performance that they can show off, or not at all and show composure as they do their thing. That's cool and awesome. Then there are those performers who lose themselves, sink into their world, tune out the audience, and surrender control to the moment of the song. At least for me that's Angela in some small way. She has that pre-articulated, sincere delivery that has even goths dancing. You know goths are normally suspicious of cheery. Yet here we were dancing under Angela, that Monday night. And so 'Trees became a part of the soundtrack for me in 2009, in the mental landscape. I know I saw Sybris at least one more time at an outdoor park festival. I know far less about Ellen Bunch. I know she was also in another band called Reds and Blues....I think. The first time I saw them both as Coins was at Whistler, a year or so. So, I'm already a fan of Sybris. Naturally I will be curious about what Angela does next. How different will it be from her previous work? How shall it relate? Coins is very different as it turns out. They are far more minimal, sweet and mysterious. Coins is bigger on the inside. The song that hooked me was "Cave Life" from their newly released Recital Pressures . Ellen plays keys and sings. Angela plays guitar, and sings. "Cave Life" has an imprint with a slight time delay. It sneaks up on you, so let it. Trust the wonder and follow.

Zig

Eliza Rickman!!

This was at Whistler on a Tuesday I believe. She did not have any CDs to sell. Not the ep which I already have, and no new CD. I was so broke and so that saved me some embarrassment. Eliza had new songs, and so that new CD is still to come. Eliza is a university trained pianist. Steampunk fantasy periods are evoked without effort with that toy piano of hers. In her ragtime trained hands, her nursery rhymes haunt. Eliza corners you with a clear angelic voice. So her lyrics land clean. Her words hit hard just as you are disarmed with how she uses the instruments that are her trademark, like that toy piano. So you feel "Black Rose". For goths, this is like a stripped down, early Switchblade Symphony. Oh, wait. I also said steampunk right? Uhmm, yeah. All that. In some of her videos she uses a kick drum. Sometimes Eliza has other musicians Cello's, violins, that kind of thing. Perhaps it's that ragtime training, or not but her songs have that authentic rust color that pickers even have a name for it. It's that period thing. Ms Eliza

I talked to her and she actually recognized me from before, yeay! That felt nice. So here she is trying the Accordion. Eliza is barely learning and so I find her performance with it brave and admirable.

Roma Di Luna Pictures from 11 December

Roma Di Luna. Saturday 11 December at Beat Kitchen. I'm almost done writing about this band here. This is Channy Moon Casselle of Roma Di Luna. Can you believe she's a mom! There is just a spookiness to her voice that just sells you the whole package. Childlike but not girly is how I would begin to describe her voice. I'm sold on everything. The songwriting and all. I think they are from Minnesota. Channy is married to Alexei who is also in the band. They started as a duo and now they have a full band they toured with that night. This band is for fans of Puerto Muerto. I bought two CDs.

Both CDs are indeed awesome for their own individual reasons. That first CD is so bleak in so many different ways. The latest one "Then The Morning Came" is far more light-hearted and hmm, urban sounding. Once they sold me the first time, whatever they do next is usually good with me. I'm having all kind of reactions to it to this day. Each new experience with a song imprints visually the way I saw it this Saturday 11 December 2010. I may not have necessarily have seen a certain song but my mind will have a new excuse to rebuild and tweak the memory. "Many Pretty Women" is one from the first CD. I actually caught it on camera. It's one of them songs that you have to pull the mic from the stand, or your not feeling it, surrendering to it. And this is quite the monster to surrender to. Some bands just cover Dolly Parton's "Jolene". So yeah Roma Di Luna have their own and Chenny indeed convulsed to it on stage. They were touring for "Then The Morning Came". It's the coolest without being sappy. I go on and on about bands for the female singer. Alexei Moon Casselle is Chenny's husband and he's awesome in "Mars", the second song on Morning. Yeah, I'm still feeling this band. Zig

Laura Meyer pics

So Far these are just pictures of the post I have coming. Laura Meyer at Uncommon Ground Friday 3 December. The CD "Been Here Before" crystalizes moments you will feel are all your own. She played Uncommon Ground but she has the subcultural coolness of PJ Harvey at Metro next door. She deserves far more attention than she gets. That is said a lot, yes. But I saw it happen with Laura fucking Meyer. But I saw her. So I guess I came in already half-sold on her. I tuned out the indifference of that crowd, used it even. More personal becomes the moment when the performer remembers you for not ignoring her. And so you try to be gracious and not make an ass out of yourself, later. You can be remembered nicely or you can weird them out. I really wish Laura would give Chicago another go. We are cultured enough to appreciate ms Laura. "Been Here Before" is really something to listen to. It's cool, blusey, intelligence has a long shelf life. Laura is bold without being obvious. I bought two CDs from ms Laura. "Been Here Before" has been kicking my ass. The songs are deep and cool. The coolness comes in how she says things. The depth in what she says, and on and on. I haven't even started on the other CD yet. All this is just gonna build and build this time that I saw her. After this I went to Lucky Number Grill on Milwaukee Ave. Scary Lady Sarah had a Batcave/ Deathrock night. Unrelated, yes. The euphoria of seeing Laura Meyer carried over into it. So I can't entirely separate the events. They re-enforce each other in fact. I danced with wilder abandon. Well, not going crazy, just really enjoying that deathrock with the extra edge of Laura Meyer fresh in my memory.

Roma Di Luna

Saturday 11 December. Roma Di Luna played Beat Kitchen promoting the new CD "Then The Morning Came". But the CD that came to my attention first was their first one, "Find Your Way Home". I've been aware of them for less than two months but I feel like I've been inclined, prepared to like this far far end of country. This kind of music always evokes wilderness close by, the ominous mystery of it. The rural frontier of Roma Di Luna is bleak and sorrowful. Each little song stares into the face some ......fucked shit. A long time ago I saw Ethan Hawke in a Steppenwolf play in Chicago. He was in Buried Child, a Sam Shepard play. I think Channy and Alexei must have been there to. "No Child Of My Own" is like the soundtrack. The names of some of the songs stick out, and you can't miss Leonard Pelteir, and his quote. "Ghost Dance", I wondered if this one is a Wounded Knee reference. I mean there's a Leonard Peltier quote inside the sleeve. There's just too many things I can string together. The original Ghost Dance was this last gasp of defiance for the Indians that performed it. It was a ritual dance that all tribes did. And so they end this song with that same dead cold middle finger. And it's just Channy and a guitar, and no where to escape. You just have her fearless, delicate-sounding voice to walk you through whatever she stares at.

So, they had me with "Devil Walks" from the CD "Find Your Way Home". Channy sings "well the devil walks and the devil is real to me", and I get a chill. You combine that with that wilderness feel and suddenly driving through the Willow Springs forest preserve is scary again. "Devil Walks" has all kind of quirks that are noteworthy to me. Try to follow the song while reading the lyrics . Turns out Channy slurs a lot of her own words. Just go with it. A lot of things to chew on in this song once you read it. It turns out far darker than that first imprint can suggest. It's like the nightmares Nick Cave gets in a mid afternoon nap. Yes, it's bleak! It's dark. But it puts all of that in a very specific "...north country". I briefly wondered if that was a real reference, an actual place. It's quite unsafe what Channy describes. Whatever ray of hope the song does have is snuffed out before it concludes. In the world that first song describes, the devil hunts freely for fun. Children aren't safe, parents suffer the loss, and the pain begins bright and early. You do not want to be from here. I keep saying rural this, rural that. "Devil Walks can be about anywhere urban as well. Urban decay is a kind of frontier too. Right near the wilderness.

So why do I go after this kind of music? Why seek out every chance I can get to say "Bleak!" and "Dark", and "Nick Cave coolness"? I suppose it's like Virgil guiding Dante through hell. It's a little cathartic to be walked through all that. You feel like you've strolled where angels fear to tread. And while we are at it why do y'all go see SAW VI?

It's easy to identify with the dominant sentiments each song describes. "Plenty" hits with that same authority of Dolly Parton's iconic "Jolene". It explores the same overpowering doubt in one's significant other. Is she pretty enough and so forth.

So Channy has this voice that I will attempt to describe in the poor sad way that I know. It's smokey and child-like. The Cranes! Just like The Cranes they are cool in part because of Alison Shaw's quirky voice. It's too weird and child-like to call girly. The Cranes are solidly urban. Roma Di Luna are rural, lets just say. Both are weird and mysterious and that is evoked primarily with their female vocalists. Having gone on about Channy I like Alexei as well. I just don't really go on about the male voice even when I like it. It's the girls that get me writing.

Even as I go on about the CD "Find Your Way Home". It's not what they toured with this time that I saw them. "Then The Morning Came" is what they toured with and performed from and it's also awesome. They relaxed their cold black grip to show a cool, sweet side.

Laura Meyer....!!!

When I see these things ahead of time, and plan to see them, I still don't feel fully prepared for how much I will like them. The time of discovery is just a snap shot of something that I like but can afford to miss. The frugal voice tells you to deny yourself for some bullshit higher purpose. It's a different voice that urges me to see performers like Laura Meyer. The smallness of a great artist performing in a restaurant style venue. Uncommon Ground is a nice little restaurant with a stage. Well, a space that can be set aside for a stage is what they got. What UG did not have that Friday 3 December was an audience that gave a shit. People seemed to be just interested in their own affairs, like eating. If they paid attention to her, it was to get her to play some bullshit cover. I left that night a fan of Laura Meyer so I'm not going to blame her. Uncommon Ground seemed more a restaurant than music venue. It's not on them either. Hell, they at least had her performing. So I had to listen to her through a filter of voices that shared the same space but not the same experience. It did feel as if I was the only one that went to see her. Most of the video I took I had to delete because of all the people talking over her. That's OK too. There are a number of youtube videos with her as well. So I took pictures. OK, so good venue, good singer, bad, indifferent audience. I'm really amazed that it did not in the end influence my decision to buy her CDs. So that made me listen to Laura a little more and I bought the two CDs. I listened to "Been Here Before" on the way back and pow! I met Laura Meyer! I saw her play at Uncommon Ground! I drove home in complete disbelief. Some of these songs she played on stage, I recognized them, but I had to listen to them through what seemed to me an indifferent crowd.

She strikes me as a bluesy, Aimee Mann. An intelligent, thoughtful songwriter with a flexible blues impulse. And an excellent guitarist. That's Laura. I say blues but not like say The Pack A. D. It's not abrasive like them, and they seem to just have like two speeds. I can't see them slowing down like LM. Having said that I like The Pack A.D. They are about strength in the outer shell, which is awesome. I hear them and I feel the coolness of Patrick Swayze driving a truck in that movie he was in Black Dog? Yes? Well, Laura does cool introspective blues, most of the time, strengthening the inner self. You just picture yourself in that slow motion cool swagger that you see on TV when you hear these songs.

More from Moritat

28 November, Moritat at The Whistler. This band has grown on me. My head has them on random. Was it last year when I saw them at Quenchers? Yes. It was a dull, boring Sunday that they saved me from back then. The boredom made me wander there, it made me explore. As accidents go, that was one that keeps on giving, because I keep seeing this band deliberately. I don't think I was all that familiar with Whistler at that time. So getting to know this Moritat and this tiny closet of a venue have been almost simultaneous. You will never soak up all that you can about a band in one performance. At Q's, I only recall Venus on vocals and keyboard and then everyone else. It's also a matter of what I actively look for, which is the female voice. Other things will naturally assume a support role in my eyes. Back at Whistler I'm noticing everyone else now, the bass player, drummer. And they all sing, like with "Pregnant Ladies", one of my favorites from the new CD "One Minute Fade". In a bizarre twist they dedicated that song to pregnant women....my sister was due to give birth herself that very week. So, it's still mostly Venus who sings. And it's her keyboard that keeps hooking me in these subtle ways. And then it's what the music fondly reminds me of when it grabs me. Remember "Sesame Street" during one of those little cartoons that help you count with some kind of pinball rolling around with that crazy jazz piano going and then they yell "Seven!"? I know they don't purposely want to sound like what I describe. These weird ways of describing them come out of me and stick to them like a nickname you can't live down.

Moritat's music plays a lot in my head. They indeed held the audience as they played. Not as many people casually talking. It's nice to bullshit with the band afterwards but I always fall into this rut talking about the same two songs or how I think they are awesome. Here and there I don't always embarrass myself.

The Whistler is awesome. It's not just because it has no cover. It's a small, classy place. There is a patio in the back. When it's open, people go back there to smoke cigarettes and talk. You can take your drink in the back to give that illusion of drinking outside like they do in England. The drinks there are absolutely outstanding, expensive, but worth it for the professional effort the bartenders put in. Yet you can still drink really cheap. I've noticed how musicians casually come see other musicians at Whistler. This time with Moritat I saw Julie Meckler.....well Venus and Julie are already friends, they are always at each other's gigs. Still Whistler seems to have become a kind of casual haven for all kinds of musicians. I should have posted this ages ago.

Zig

Oh yeah I saw Natalie Grace

Wednesday 10 November. Natalie Grace Alford plays Pancho's Bar. I've never been there. The show originally is supposed to be at Ronny's. That place is such a dive, small and kinda gross. The place is underwhelming, and yet it has seen some really cool bands. And so they move all those shows to Pancho's Bar which is a block north. I don't know why but I don't blame them. And so I'm there at Pancho's on this Wednesday to see Natalie Grace. This girl belts out this deep and womanly howl. If she was your third grade school teacher Ms Nat instead of a singer, that voice would make you piss yourself from across the room when she catches you not paying attention. Everybody has a crush on her, and everybody fears "Iron" Ms Nat. Seriously, she has this booming, dominant voice. Natalie Grace can shout you down, and the next homeroom can hear it how badly you fucked up the homework. So in many ways I feel fortunate to have encountered her as this awesome singer rather than one in a pantheon of many traumatizing teachers.

Her voice is deep and booming, and her delivery is passionate and dominant. You have to hear how she emphasizes repeated lyrics. Natalie often rasps her voice like she's been screaming at you the whole time. Not that she does scream, but you get that energy from someone that hits you with her hips behind every punch. So I said she's passionate and dominant, but not in the indy rock star mode. I've really struggled as to how to describe her. She's not in the mold of PJ Harvey, Melissa Auf De Maur, Katie Jane Garside. She is indeed intense. There is a sincerity in her delivery. But she is different. Her full hearted belief in what she says resembles a soul music artist. Well let me explain that. She has this way of letting the innocent moment move you without filtering the full weight of sincerity. The artists that have this sort of thing into their identity and sort of wave it around are Soul Music artists. Some of Natalie Grace's early performances have her using hand claps, looping together a gospel like chorus. She played the keyboard in most of her performances. This was the first I've seen her with a guitar. And that changes things, but the constant thing is this blue-eyed soul. This term fits her perfectly in her stage presence, style of music. I have once described her music as being kind of doo wop, like her demo CD which I don't think Natalie just carries around her when she plays. That one day she had it, and I asked. And now I got a point of reference to compare the live shows to. The live versions of her songs are rapidly evolving away from the original demos. Still, if you like what Natalie plays live would you not want to hear how her music sounded when she first put it down?

Julie Meckler

She did a Free Monday at Empty Bottle about a month ago. The EP Julie has available and is on her myspace page, has just three songs. And I like them all for the music and the message. Well, I can't help but read a message, especially with "Deportation Blues" and "Mexico". I can't help but read an affinity for Mexicans and undocumented immigrants in general. I don't always meet people that put that sympathy so out there, if they have it at all. It's always very impressive to see immigrants support each other's struggle because indeed we are the same. Anti-immigrant campaigns always have Mexicans as the poster children of what you don't want crossing the border. We have Minutemen in Illinois as if we were a border state. So back we are at the Empty Bottle with Julie. I don't want to overemphasize that message/affinity while forsaking the fact that Ms Julie rocks like a French PJ Harvey, feminine and dominant. What I emphasized earlier does not make her music sound bleeding-heart-whiney. I can't help but see what I do because I don't believe that music is escapist entertainment. The very act of escaping is a reaction to the world around you. You don't run and not leave tracks. You don't call something "blues" for nothing. The blues is the very edge of the blade that Julie forges and wields. "Deportation" has muscle even without the lyrics. People in the front were all over this. The crowd that Monday night would easily over-crowd the sweet little closet that is The Whistler. The rest of her awesome set still has yet to be committed to CD. I think that is what they will be doing this winter. So, I don't recall what I heard so much as recalling how I liked it. There's a folk element to her music as well. Her music can easily work acoustic. She left behind an acting career in France to play the blues in Chicago. That statement sits in my head a certain way. You gave up all that for us? Damn....thank you Ms Julie! She has played as far as I know five gigs here and I have been to at least three of them and she is amassing an audience. Parking around Empty Bottle was indeed difficult that Monday night.

Zig

Spiritual Bat

These are from the first time at Nite Lite Cafe in Berwyn I think. This most Unchristian band playing an all-ages Christian venue. At least they had pizza and soda so I indulged in that while I stood gawking at Rosetta the dreadlocked goth rock lead singer of Spiritual Bat. The bottom text is about the second time earlier this year 2010. I will add pictures from both performances as I find them. And after the shows as well.

For these pictures with the white wedding dress, it was in the Christian venue. At first that felt weird but then the place began to sell itself. The couches were cozy. You can eat pizza and drink soda. These sneaky Christians. The crowd was light medium and young looking. It was at first strange to share this with a bunch of kids, but then again would it not be cool to see Cocteau Twins at eleven, Strange Boutique at thirteen. These bands I discovered afterward. I wonder how these kids will reference this night with Spiritual Bat.

This was so long ago, I can't remember exactly when but it was in the summer, or was it this past spring and it was at Darkroom when I saw Rosetta and Dario from Spiritual Bat all the way from Italy. It was the second time they visited Chicago. I specify their names because I was fortunate enough to get to know them. They are a sweet couple that play awesome goth rock. I met them before seeing them play, and perhaps that influences. You want to like them and therefore you do when you see them on stage. Off stage is indeed where they first secured my loyalty as a fan.

So they already had me by the time I saw them cover Joy Division's "She Lost Control" on youtube. It's not the only video of them performing. There seems to be a lot. Spiritual Bat is a touring work horse with the cardio that takes them across the world. On top of the fact that I like the music, I'm fascinated with the wisdom they have earned in miles on tour. I guess now is when it occurs to write about them because their dark rock is so autumn like. When I saw them this last time the weather was mild and pleasant. The second time seeing them is indeed the sweetest.

I had a whole year to take in the CD "Through The Shadows". Goths like to dance, it's not a frivolous thing for us. It's what gets us to to floor that is different. "...Shadows" does that in the Batcave tradition. So, if that is what you already like, then this is what keeps you in. The more movement inducing songs come late. I'm talking about "Newdance" and "Sogno Tribale". The crowd was small for them unfortunately that night at Darkroom. I do wonder how they were received elsewhere on this tour. Chicago let it slip, but I still noticed. It was this small turn out that saw Rosetta moving about the stage with her real natural dreadlocked hair.

Naturally but not deliberately dark sounding rock music. But this is not saying they are dated to an obscure 80's style. To say Batcave is to imply a certain timelessness, a phase shift away from timely shackles. That is what they evoke to me off the hip. I believe this is what will keep the name Batcave current and running. I don't know if this will sell away from the sub culture that it spawns from. But if you are in, this is what keeps you in.

I:Scintilla at Reggies...again.

I never tire of seeing I:Scintilla. I can safely say about them is that their songs don't fall into ruts, when songs start to resemble one another, a certain predictability. I:Scintilla does not do that. They also don't just have one awesome song. When you like this band it's for many songs or at least so it is with me. I can hear that entire album "Optics". My impression of the new album is coming up but first I must marvel at that first CD. You got that crunchy but dance- worthy industrial beats and guitar, only with songs that don't sound all that alike. I can't say that about Blutengel. They can't seem to get out of this same rhyme scheme, it works for them for about three songs per album. Their beats are aggressive but it's that songwriting. I gotta say the same for L'ame Immortelle only not to that same extreme.
Is I:S strictly a subcultural industrial band? That question always brings up in my mind their appearance on JBTV. Look that up on youtube. The show is a regional pulse on all that is subcultural and some that emerges from that. This show introduced me to grunge. Fed into an already existing familiarity with industrial with bands like Front 242, Ministry, and then left turn with a Material Issue video and interview. And now I:Scintilla gets airplay and an interview with Jerry Bryant. This guy likes it all. Will they find a wider audience? I believe they carry the torch effectively within the gothic/industrial enough to sustain a loyal audience.

Hearing the CD feeds the need to see them live, because once again, it's not about one single song. It becomes about all of them. And so I'm happy to have them play here locally. They have done so a lot in support of their debut and now I'm happy to see them work from the new album. You see, some impressions only sink in after hearing them repeatedly. It's good fortune to say that about seeing bands as well. Live performances count for a lot of the dominant common identity, part of what they will be remembered for. If you live far, then you just have that one iconic time, after that it's the CD in the car or on your itunes. I've seen I:Scintilla a lot of different times. And so this post reflects that.

On Saturday 23 October I saw I:Scintilla at Reggies, our local female fronted industrial band that is well on it's way to have a national touring presence. They have already done at least one national tour supporting their debut CD "Optics". I believe they have played California, New Jersey, Iowa. "Optics" is a solid CD to go touring on. I like nearly all the songs, industrial dance-floor classics the lot of them, and they sound awesome live. Upon hearing "Optics" I believed the band had much more in the tank. The well is deep indeed. This past Saturday at Reggies they played mostly from their new CD "Falling And Dying" and that shows to me that this is what the band will bank on. It shows that they trust their new material, as great as the old was. "Falling And Dying" is great. The debut CD has all these songs that are not formulaic. One song does not telegraph how they will write the other. Some bands find themselves in a rut where you can spot a mile away what they will say, or where the music is going. Things start to sound alike. Not so with I:Scintilla. The only thing that was telegraphed is their consistent ability to write resonant music for the industrial subculture. This is not saying that I:Scintilla panders to that subculture. They belong to it. The more I listen to "Falling", the more I like it. Even them slow songs are awesome. Normally I just skip the slow songs like they're infomercials, but Ms Brittney sold it like Hooverphonic. This contemplation has more to do with repeated listening of the new CD. The concert experience is separate.

So, they could have leaned heavily on "Optics", but they did not. Good for them. I think they played very few from that first CD. But they seemed to know when to place them, almost to renew the crowd with something familiar. 2007 is not that long ago, but it really feels that way. In that year I was barely in my awareness of the band. One of their most unusual gigs in October 2007 was at Brauerhouse in Hillside, Il., right near a cemetery. It was my only visit to the place. It burned down in 2008. When I:Scintilla played there I assumed it would be packed. I counted less than 10 people there. The venue was probably too far away for most. It felt like I was witnessing an exclusive performance. Anyway back to last Saturday. Britney and the band had amassed a good local crowd to perform for. I had no problem reaching the front. The casual porous fans hanging around the middle, or everywhere else but the front. It was not difficult to move around, which was nice. I don't like a packed, packed crowd.

Zig

Ami Saraiya

Alright so I saw Ami at Jerry's I believe. I arrived there thinking that I missed her whole set but in fact I was right on time. I was always impressed with Ami's backing band, precisely honed for her. The entire band (Ami included) once were called Radiant Darling. They put out the CD "Cryptomnesia" under that name. I always thought that was appropriate since one can tell how truly this was a collective thing. Then they dropped the name and it was just Ami Saraiya, but still with all the same wonderful backing band. Now we are back to naming the band. They are now known as Ami Saraiya and The Outcome. A reference to one of their songs. And it is right that the band be named. Ami tells an interesting story behind the songs "Familiar", and "By Jove". The songs answer one another in this immortal conversation between the gods, and so the name 'Jove".

There is music that you like because somehow you have been conditioned to like because of the times, and your surroundings. You liked it then but not now, you've outgrown it. Then there is music that you will like forever, no matter when or how it hits. It strikes as timeless personally. This is Ami and The Outcome. To me they evoke the 1920's,30's,40's . They wear the rust of blues. They don't wear costumes that evoke the times. The vivid period pictures are painted with sound alone. I don't know if this sound is deliberate, or even if this description is purely subjective....only in my head. They can easily headline a steam-punk event. Yet, I don't know if they are aware of such a vast potential fanbase. Projekt would love them, but that's speculating on a national level. If you live here, it's not enough that you buy the CD at Reckless Records. You have to see Ami play "Up, Down, and Charmed" right in front of you. On CD the music you never get tired of, a movie, story, play that somehow even as it stands still in time, is relevant for years. The official, static version of the breathing, live performance is what plays in the car, or ipod. And man, does the music breathe when they are live. I feel fortunate to call Ami local, and so I go see her live. It's a good time to see them because they play such small, intimate venues. The band is playing new songs. I recall at least three new songs. "Cattle-Prod Hands" I like a lot in part because I feel so well prepped by Ami's last two albums that I have something to anticipate from her. The new songs enhance the appreciation of the old songs while forging ahead. She...Ami and The Outcome are scheduled to play The Hungry Brain I think. Look up her myspace page. I still have to figure out where is this place and when she is playing. I have so many pictures of all the performances that I can pick and choose which ones to show.

Zig

Aleks and The Drummer

So I saw Aleks and The Drummer last September on a Free Monday at Empty Bottle. I know this is already October and so the fuck what. Why am I regurgitating this now or at all. A live performance in general lasts for me far beyond the fraction of time it occupies, a long shelf-life for me. This band is pumping out new songs in each of their live sets. The 5 song ep is now only a fraction of the foundation, a scene in a much anticipated movie with characters and storylines yet to be revealed. More and more, what they choose to present live is the most dominant trait, and yet their most delicate 'cause it's not recorded. Part of the experience is seeing how differently Ms Aleks dresses up. On top of that you don't know what she will play for that night. For this night at the 'Bottle she indeed was a sight to behold. And now most of the duties of playing the instruments were all delegated to her band members, including keyboard, freeing her to be at the front of the stage. When Natalie Grace had a full backing band, that unshackled her to deliver her full performance on stage. And so we let someone take over keyboard, to let Aleks bring to us with costume and sound the wonder of her world and work. And it was all new music. Any way, so Aleks is now free to move about the stage. In red, black, orange and gold, she was a glam rock villainess from Buck Rogers. Just like her music, her outfit must imply a narrative beyond the snap shot of the performance. And so Aleks seemed to be out of a sci-fi subcultural legend. Her hands and wrists were bound in black tape like a boxer. The music was all new with more instruments; a cello, another keyboard I believe. It was an awesome performance. I captured maybe one song on camera, and then I turned into a fucking deer to wonder and marvel at the incoming light. I loved all of it. The new combinations of instruments and voice. All this for the moment we can only see live. It's all yet to be recorded. And Chicago is home to this! It was put together here, and influenced by being here. The whole time as I listen I want this down on CD. I'm already missing the fleeting performance. There was one other performance after this one. Aleks' opened for Shonen Knife at Schubas. I could not go to that.

Zig

Ryat at Reggies

I saw and heard the organic, beat heavy, electronic sounds of Ryat last fall I believe when they played Reggies. They were promoting the CD "Street Noise orKestra". That title right there tells you what they sound like live. And it was just two of them, and they both had drums on the side. They had their way of making each show a finger-print different from the last. In part its how they use the live drums to site just one thing. That first Chicago visit had them on the cheaper side of Reggies, long tables for people to eat as they kinda pay attention to you. So the crowd was luke-warm to indifferent as I recall. Well, the long tables and booths kind of discourage dancing. They encourage passive observation. So that makes the crowd hard to read. There was one other person as into them as I was. I've been into them since. I am a fan. After that visit to Chicago they toured Europe I think. Well, I know Italy and Spain and...perhaps London. I wonder at how well they were received. I feel real lucky to have gone on a whim to see Ryat instead of what I originally planned. Ryat I discovered by accident. This second time 13 September after touring Europe and The States I saw them purposefully. There is something very original in terms of how they use beats, keyboard, and guitar; where and how they produce them. When I say organic, that means that all the elements seem to land where they may, not where expected. I don't mean that the music sounds like disorganized noise-jazz or something. Everything that we are familiar with are renewed here in how they are used. Like in a dream. Dreams twist and reinvent what is familiar to one's experience. Ryat does that with the guitar, keyboard and drums, .......the drums. They use their instruments in unconventional ways without really wanting to alienating an audience, and also without pandering to expectations. Remember how original and resonant Portishead sounded. How they sounded just came naturally, and internally, and yet it resonated worldwide. Most music that aims to make you dance I believe panders to expectations, and so can strike the music snob (yes me, I admit) as corny. That is not the case with Ryat in both CDs they now have out. I do speak more about the new CD "Avant Gold" as it sinks into my mental landscape and becomes permanent.

Ryat was fun to watch because they do all the percussion live, and that invites the unexpected. Ms Ryat herself beat her drum so savagely it broke apart. That was fun to watch. Oh, yeah Ms Ryat is also quite the attractive lass. The CD "Avant Gold" is awesome and hints at what they are capable live. From the first song "In Your Face" you want the space to dance. I knew from that song that I would stay broke, 'cause I had to buy the CD and shirt. And as you are feeling the effects of that first song, the rest come at you like a Wing Chun chain punch. They can make beats out of anything in front of them. The first time there were just two of them and both multi-tasked their instruments with live drums. Now they have a live drummer and he has to add more drums to his drums. Everyone beats on something and it makes for an awesome live organic show. They were here promoting the beat-driven electronic trip-hop leaning "Avant Gold" CD this time to a hard to read crowd that mostly stayed back at the booths. I was glad Reggies had them again but it was awkward to see such a dance-inducing band in a place that has tables to sit, and booths to hide in, and tacos that make you sit. If this was the Empty Bottle people would be dancing, or at least would have the space to. This post has been sitting and fermenting for ever it seems in search of more words to put into it. Sometimes it's just best to kill the beast of the process and post the bastard already

Zig

Tiny Concept

I forgot exactly when I saw Tiny Concept or Ms Leticia. I missed most of her show but hell I caught a piece of it at Empty Bottle. Somehow this curious rock minimalist had and continues to hold my attention well after the show, and it's not just her endearing French accent. Her voice had a slight husk to it, almost boyish......almost. Solo artists fascinate me. Their ability to go it alone I find admirable. This time at the Bottle there was almost no crowd for Tiny Concept. Few people to bounce her voice from. I saw her set up and loop each part for her cover of Devo's Mongoloid. I have to say my first impression of the song is from her and not Devo. So that long term relationship with this song I do not have. Devo's Mongoloid is indeed a time capsule, youthful and energetic. The song is a product of its time and yet it stands the test of it. On its own it's timeless. Yet Hers is the first version I hear of the song. I had to look up the original later to see the kind of leap I took. Since there was very little audience it almost felt like I was watching a private jam session. I really like the Tiny Concept cover. She makes it a defiant candle in the dark, with it's own power to haunt. Something to accompany you in deep thought. The archaic early electronic madness of the original Leticia strips down, and reveals the lean muscle it's always had, never lost. The song is longer than the original and you don't even feel it, because she does not slow it down. That original impatient bounce she retains, and in the end makes this song her own. As minimal as Tiny Concept is, she is not slow, and that helps when it's just the one person. I had to buy her CD. You can say that her own songs are minimal, but as a lot of such artists, she does all the instruments herself. The guitar loops and drums. That's fascinating to watch when it's only one person. On CD especially her voice and French accent and even more endearing less than perfect use of English is clear. Tiny Concept grows on me for some reason that I can't fully understand or control.

Zig