Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Sister Crystals!

  Somehow I made it into a packed Whistler to see Sister Crystals on Monday 13th January. There was a line outside and everything. It don't take much to pack that place. Its a bloody closet to begin with. The pictures I post here will be of the two times I saw them. They have a new self titled LP. I was too broke at the time to buy it off them at the time. That will have to wait. I think I saw most of their set. Still these moments feel brief, and as fleeting as they are I get consistent vibes that remind me of the heady sweetness of John Lennon.  At first this seemed like two random thoughts colliding, and have nothing to do with each other.  There is just something intangible I get from listening to SC that reminds me of post-Beatles Lennon. Perhaps I should explain. To me John Lennon sweetness is not over the top, not too intense that it hurts your teeth. Its moderate, mysterious and cool...of course. It will not give everything at once. And you feel instantaneously a long term relationship, like not only is it there now, but always. There is something held back to discover later, a closed book left behind.  This is how I identify the vibes I get from hearing the Crystals. As many times as they played. I only have seen them twice including this Whistler show, but always a song of theirs circles around. I have their previous work under their old name Magic City. It isn't just Lauren Whitacre's voice, also Colin Croom....well I assume that was him. They only have two members on their Face Book but there were at least three guitars on the Whistler stage. Normally that invites a fog, a wall of sound, but there was enough space between the instruments for me to see how each functioned. I cannot help but tether them slightly to the local Chicago shoegaze culture. Its how I found out about them at a Panda Riot show, and its part of the signature vibe I get from them. Of course just because they played in the same space alone does not make them 'gazers. Yet it is the road that lead me to them. There is just something about this band's music that will have me listening for a long time. Perhaps its completely subjective how they remind me somewhat of John Lennon, particularly my childhood memories of discovering him as older relatives listened to him. Not a lot of music puts me in that spot.
Zig













Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Moritat at Reggies

I took no new pictures for this. I caught most of it, but I put my camera down. Instead I decided to pick from those archived for this post. But I saw them last Friday 10 January. It was important because this was a battle of the bands to decide which will go to SXSW. I don't know if they played it, but I like me some Noise. I know they've played it before. Its from Clil Blanzin'. In that track I look forward to this middle part when they kind of jam session, they reach this stage where they can depart and go into a fog, hover there.....and then the landing back to finish off the piece. Its a thing they do in other songs and thats part of why I listen. I'll say ahead of time they got second place ....the fucking ginsu knives......which was bad. I was in bewilderment, a total fucking mystery! They were the weirdest thing on that stage, avant rock describes them just right and exactly what we need to represent the city. ...Fuck it. I had a good time. I went with them back stage to the green room, and saw them get interviewed. Julie was there. I sat next to Kon, the bass player. Watched this interview take place. I would totally fuck this up like Chris Farley if this were me. Witnessing an interview is perhaps best.
As they went on about the beginning of the band, their story reminded me of Puerto Muerto and their origin. Hmm, stray thought. It was great to feel at ease and just chill with the band Moritat and for them to feel at ease around me. On top of that you get to hear a quick refresher course about them. I got to hear about why and how and also fascinating the roads not taken. I mean this is Tony fucking Wilson awesome! Kon is totally fluent in spanish. So we talk. Its a great moment to see them in, on the verge yet it feels like they've existed two years before you discovered them. They've been playing regularly since 2009. I believe Moritat will perform again and I'll be there for that as well. I just can't recall the exact dates right now.











Sunday, January 12, 2014

Videotape

I saw Videotape at a Free Monday 6 January at Empty Bottle. It wasn't just any Monday. This was the first day of the deep, deep freeze of the Polar Vortex just sitting on Chicago. The weekend before Lightfoils played Coles during the snow storm Saturday the 4th. I missed that so that made Monday more of a mission for me. Timely, uneventful drive....wait, the worry was parking into a space with a massive uneven layer of snow, yeah. It was in front of the church. A brief, careful walk through Dr Zhivago cold white surface. Now there I am adding one more gig of theirs to memory.  Now I can remember the extreme cold kind of fondly as background. They have a significant showcoming up at Schubas 27 January with Frankie Rose. Well that just broke the thought! I came by this band through the local shoegaze channels. You become barely aware of this the more you listen to them. Their hold for me is transcendent of that. To call them shoegaze is for me an accurate yet brief beginning in describing them. I always start from there. They take that world with them, stretch it, and keep its boundaries fluid and permeable.
  The Creeps from This is Disconnect nicely reminds me of Placebo. That entire LP is worlds different from the EP. Their range is incredible. Even now I discover new things to like about the music. Songs that did not engage in the beginning have now begun to imprint their singular mark.  Glass Ceiling's otherworldly charm is so worth the wait. I don't recall if this was played this last time. While looking them up again, I stumble upon....and so enters my compulsion to go on about it.  Fourth of July is rural down to the urgent horse driven pace and landscape. So it works wonders acoustic. Its on the Ep that does not prepare you for how amazing the LP is. Ship is Sinking chugs along in a pace that does not rush and compels you to follow. Soon your gate has this extra coolness, just below a strut. And some body write a cool movie to write around 1994! Floating delicately that feeling of underdog optimism. I believe I got Pulling Teeth covered in another post. The live gig is a brief flash that gets the thoughts going to continue shaping when listening in the car. Even if you were not sold with the live moment, the recorded work can still win over.
Zig














Wednesday, January 1, 2014

VERMA at The Owl

It was a Thursday night because I met with friends at Neo. That for me was the after-glow a moment that started with seeing  Verma. This is who I saw before Circuit Des Yuex. They are a raging psychedelic monster, introduced to me by way of Killer Moon hmmm, fuck knows when, a vaguely recalled tether. I remember ........how tall Whitney next to Amaris. I'm friends with KM. Both will play at Hideout for  Chicago Psyche Fest V this January 2014.  The Owl feels long and cavernous and somehow the stage feels smaller than Hideout's. I've seen them far more times than I have recorded. Some bands I can tell you exactly when....its more vague with Verma. Now I have downloaded music of them to match the live moment. The Owl is just blocks away from Whistler on Milwaukee. Its long like a tunnel with a small stage in the end.  Now Verma are part of what holds my ear to Chicago's psyche end of the music continuum. I really couldn't tell you what Whitney sings about. So its more about how the voice sounds as another instrument. For me it puts it all together. She is in the middle creating and distant from the churning, rugged landscapes. Its probably me but I can really dance to Verma now. I found my rhythm to them. It took me a while to reach this point, series of accidents I barely remember. For me this is best introduced live. I mean the only reason I'm willing to listen to 9 minutes at home or driving is because I saw them. The songs are long with segments that take their time to fully express and they can really sell it live. In the car with sober friends on the way to something else even if its 9 minutes. Hell no! I won't chance it. But let me put you in front of them in a small Chicago club and you will want to take home the bloody shirt, and binge download all they got.....that last part I guess applies to all the live bands I have seen, but right here, right now lets apply it to Verma. They recreate intensity with each track and know how to carry it long distances. Imagine you are following a parkour runner through different sets of terrain. That is the pace of this psyche engine. Every corner turned changes the ground beneath your feet. Different moods and you are dancing to all of them, well I am anyway. They know how to capture and carry the live moment, without losing you in their jam sessioning. You're into it.  The guitarist was so into it. Some feel like briefer moments of Dazed And Confused on mushrooms.  At this point its pure speculation which songs I heard but I can easily picture Saqqara from their self-titled 2012 LP. Its forward aggressive runners pace gives you that energy to bounce. The trance establishes fast and just builds up slowly, crashes and builds again.  See them and you'll want to see them again, and this is the time where they play a lot locally, a great time to get to know them.
Zig