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