Cross Record/Beat Drun Juel

 These two shows at first appear to be in conflict. I can either go see Cross Record at Quenchers or Beat Drun Juel at Cole's. Cross Record was headlining and BDJ was not. That made seeing both possible. Cole's on Milwaukee Ave was free and within a long walk away from Quenchers on Western and Fullerton. Its a matter of arriving on time and parking well between both. I find parking closest to Quenchers. I go in and notice that CR will go on at 12:15. I glance back and notice Emily talking among the crowd. I got time I did not know I had, and I was not really feeling who was playing when I walked in. I can kill time and make this walk to Cole's, at least just to find out. It does not matter if I miss BDJ. I can make it back on time to see Emily Cross. Walking don't cost me shit! Let's do this!
  
  Milwaukee around Cole's is so congested it's almost discouraging if you are driving. That's taken care of so I'm excited. I just need to know if that is possible to see two gigs within walking distance from each other. My glasses fog as I make my way past people that are standing around talking to those seated. Even if I miss Beat Drun Juel the effort is worth it. So I see her on stage, Pasty Face is how she announces herself.  Her drummer has not arrived and so she has to perform solo. At this point I don't connect Pasty Face with Beat Drun Juel. I look around to the merch table and notice the name Fox Face. So I assume I just heard wrong,....hmmm but I really heard Pasty Face. How the fuck can I get it that wrong. So I stay around and see this girl do her solo set because her drummer had not arrived on time, the entire time I'm thinking I'm actually seeing Fox Face.
  
  So she plays her solo set and then with her bass player, and then her drummer arrives and finishes the set. These singular moments often endear the performer to you by how they react to the unexpected. She played on. She trusted her music to the audience even as the components were incomplete. She trusted her own performance. That right there is gonna sell me. By this time I had already read somewhere BDJ sounded like PJ Harvey or at least they were in the same sentence together, and I recall listening to her music briefly. But I wanted the imprint to be this live event. I got to see the full intense continuum from Pasty Face to Beat Drum Juel. Intensity that was evident on her face and on her guitar playing. This is memorable for what happened and how I got there. I got to talk to her later. It turns out I heard her right. And she remembers we met before through Venus from Moritat at Burlington. The songs she played solo I want to hear again. I come out feeling empowered, having heard Beat Drun Juel, and met Ms. Pasty Face. Now, I can walk to go see Cross Record!
  
  One of the most endearing memories of Emily Cross is seeing her at this now closed Hungry Brain on Belmont. She just gave me her CD, which was essentially a double EP, Ring Bell/Magnetic Current. She did this a second time with the LP Be Good. She just gave me the bloody download card. I mean....Wow! These moments are seared into your memory and whatever is heard from that person becomes a voice for your thoughts expressed. Its just the sweet introspective psychedelic sounds and voice that reach into you. Imagine a rustic, psychedelic Julee Cruise. Oh, and the rustic was there before moving to Austin. Cross Record is from Chicago.  Y'all can start taking credit after Be Good. At some point during Emily's gig, she said it was past her normal bed time. She thought it was 1am. It was actually a little past 12. She was tired, and she don't wanna hear there's an extra hour of not sleeping. Her band, which is Emily and her husband played mostly borrowed instruments. The unfamiliar guitar that she was strapping on seemed bigger than she was. The strap was not cooperating with her, and she endured the discomfort for at least one track, perhaps more.  A little bit into this song, she had to stop. The guitar strap was not adjusting to her, she had to switch guitars and while she tuned that guitar, her husband plays on. It actually worked for me, how they weaved

it into their performance. She was tired but it was not evident on her performance. As for me, I'm a fan. It was all good and wondrous. I was happy to witness this. You just have to support the artist. I don't recall a lot of music that I'm familiar with out of her that night. And I was impressed with what she did perform. I saw emerging her own brand of cool, sweet psychedelia. Or perhaps its just the words that I finally found to describe her sounds. It only occurred to ask her what she was playing from after I left. The questions I had that would not take but two minutes, I only put into words well into East bound 90/94, going home. Aside from that last part, this was a wonderful Friday night.
Zig

Shana Falana/Panda Riot

  It was a long drive from near Joliet to East Chicago then a pit stop to Burbank on my way to Coles on Milwaukee Ave to see Shana Falana and Panda Riot. And its different when you are now familiar with the music, as I am with the Pandas. Why do I go see them so many times? This was their first gig since I think December. Ehhh,... that's no reason. They were mentioned in the Tribune I think. Its nice to see them in traditional print. The need to see them is rekindled. It seemed to be normal to have them mentioned in shoegaze blogs or specialized websites of that kind. Print or just the Tribune is like getting recognition through a rip in space/time from a parallel universe. Its unexpected and so when its there....wow! Rekindled. What took you so long, you feel like asking. Their performance was very well received, and they seemed to have fun. Cory's bandmates from Lightfoils were there and they are always so cool with me, I feel at ease around them. Philly Peroxide was there. I was glad to see him. He actually made it to Covenant at Abby Pub and Shana Falana! He left early during the Panda's gig.
  At some point, you've had your fill of it, and you want to bask in the afterglow. And you can walk confidently assured of its continued existence without having to see it.  It's perhaps the reason I chose not to go to see Covenant (which is a great fucking band) and instead rushed to see Shana and Panda Riot. They played a new song that does not have a name yet.  Goodnight Rich Kids you can easily call Buenas Noches Mirreyes. Mexico's rich and tacky elite drifting into my stream of thoughts. Most of what I recall Panda Riot playing is from their newest Northern Automatic Music. That I don't get enough of. And it has me anticipating whatever comes next. Its not just from hearing their newest. Its also from talking to Brian and saying what direction they are going. Cory I can tell was into his bass playing. Brian after their gig was up was having a cigarette outside with everyone. If I would have arrived late for this it would be apparent to me on his face that they are done, and he is happy. This was not the show at Emporium after all where he was waiting for his gig to start when I arrived.

There was no time delay. This was not something that needed time to build. This was a stick of dynamite with a very short wick. Shana was absolutely impacting since I first heard Anything. I'm still listening to the two CD's Velvet Pop and In The Light. Them two kids look about as related as Four Brothers. So many tracks dropping on top like stacks of library books all at once. The songs are so different from one another. You can't tell the kids are related. With a lot of artists, and its not a bad thing, you notice faint intangible signatures that bind their music together. It can be in how they phrase things, how the keyboard sounds....how they play the guitar, something. Within Velvet Pop, Brainy Fox does not telegraph I Don't Want It. And that whole album does not telegraph In The Light. Shana is a walking compilation of a bunch of different artists. So this is what I thought I was missing as I was driving people home across county lines....hell, across state lines. As far back as East Chicago I was anticipating.....hmmm, and that's the difference from the first time around. Her music was now something familiar in my head. It plays in there often. Awareness is the gravitational pull.
   I have not seen Shana since that one time at Empty Bottle. Her show then was absolutely impacting, and I believe it was also with the Pandas. The crowd at Cole's I recall was into her. A phalanx of people in front, close enough to see her sweat. Some were taking pictures. There was a real mutual energy between audience and performer. And she called us beautiful. She is touring for her latest release Set Your Lightning Fire Free. In some ways for me it is the middle sibling between her two previous releases. Some like Go display that raw, dark energy that can be seen through the fog. For me it leans more Velvet than Light. It reminds me of what sparked my interest when I first saw her. Hell she even has refined versions of tracks I have been into. Know UR Mine, Anything are reworked to sound like they could have come from In The Light. Even as I write this, the impression is still evolving and leaving marks. Stray lines of her lyrics emerge like a hand writing on the wall. I give up on explaining the impact of stars, now I just enjoy them.
Zig

 

Dahlia Revolt

They bring a a sunny ray of daylight into their electronic sound.  Normally I like the dark, brooding shit. That makes you suspect anything that feels too bright and cheery. Yet tracks like Warpaint Sound, Portraits snuck into the regular rotation in my head, made nice and is at home with all the brooding, dark tracks that are the norm. A few Daniels in the Lions den is a great thing. Dang....they even shoveled the sidewalk for Sleeping On The Sun, the same fucking lions! Their genuine sweetness is not too intense. There is a natural space for it to warm to you. Electronic and also warm and organic. Really anyone not liking electronic music is just too willfully Amish. I mean really what the fuck. They just wake you up in this non intrusive, organic yet still addictive way.  Their live set was louder and aggressive in a way I did not expect just glancing on their band page.....well I didn't just glance, I listened for a bit. Loud and robust and I have to really count this live encounter as my first real impression and....pow, nice. Its actually then two separate impressions I get from this band, the recorded work and seeing them live. And here I am happy to weave the two threads into a single cloth. Dahlia Revolt first caught my attention when I looked up what was going on in the parallel world that is Elbo Room.  They are classically trained pianist/producer Mallory Miller and singer-songwriter Adam Reese.  Their debut album is Rooftops and Graffiti. The picture of them both sitting between a descending sun caught my eye.

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  Elbo Room.....to glance in that venue is like checking out who is playing in a parallel, bizarro Chicago, or some other city. People that perform there I rarely see anywhere else. I know perhaps its me creating an artificial distance to make something close and local seem more....exotic, otherworldly, a pocket parallel world. Local bands that I see in every other venue for some reason I don't see there. I don't know if there is a reason for this. The few bands that I have seen there hit me like a ton of bricks and are iconic to me.  I missed that show, but a chance to see them again came around.... anyway, out of that  Chicago venue it seems and into familiar radar is Dahlia Revolt ...... Briefly, I  look up the music and oh, behold they are playing The Whistler.  So I jump at this thing that I've kind of built up in my head and when you miss it the first time it builds more. The CD they had they gave it for free, and I've been listening to it ever since.  They bring a sunny mood that is like smelling fresh rain on grass. How awesome is that. I did not expect or automatically assume I will bring home a CD to listen to.
Zig

Oaks

  I bought the CD Field Beat from Oaks this one show they did with Population and Staring Problem. I liked their performance. They are Erica Krumm  and Jim Kolles, a married duo from Minnesota. In The Minnesota Daily they are described as shoegaze. I'll just run with that because I agree, and it gives me permission to continue using that crayon.  Erica in that same Minnesota Daily article sums up the band's lyrics as about "love, death, and nature".  Now I really want to pay attention to their words, because I like how they sound before even understanding. So in ways they are a darker shade of shoegaze, but they are perky too. The fog sometimes clears and you can proceed faster. This is goth club worthy shoegaze. I bring up goths because we are the only ones that even bother to dance to this while the hipsters cannot be pulled away from their iphones. I can seriously dance to this, and that's another way of saying that it keeps my attention effortlessly. And now its something I would love to see again.
 
 I was indecisive about buying the music or letting it slip forever and ever.  I fucking hate that. I'd rather just fucking know. Hell I'm in the fucking North side and I may go for some Indian. Devon Ave ain't that far from Burlington. Some opinions don't survive pizza, but this one did so long enough to have me buy that CD. That implies some commitment to figure out if you like the music further down. For some reason I took few pictures. Perhaps I was just irritated at myself for having missed Staring Problem.  Well, Oaks did come all the way from Minnesota. Buying the CD was almost a hedge on a bet, a willingness to let the seed grow.  Just buy the bloody music. You don't know the true value until the blossom explodes with time or tripping the right wire. I don't recall listening to the music on the way home. That was a Saturday. The following Sunday later early after noon I get a call to help a friend deliver a hand made work of art humidor.
  It was this spontaneous Sunday after noon car ride adventure, my first time at Eric's new place, that tripped that wire. He transformed what he called "the museum of half-assed home repair" into this beautiful apartment you would want to live. He added value to the entire building. He uncovered and polished a diamond in the rough. Made the rough even look good. The rough became functional, and not a symptom of neglect. You would want Eric to do what he does to your place. As we were touring from room to room, the spark of wonder was on that band I saw with Population, and almost with Staring Problem.  It was amazing and it felt great to have been given the tour because this is my friend and I get to see this great side of him. Now I was ready to discover the awesome sounds of Oaks. And now I really wish I bought the shirt.
   
  The main differences with the two versions of Feathers. Hmmm, the self-titled CD version has more gears moving, more textures of sound. Demo version feels stripped down. Its not a complaint at all. I love both versions. They both have this cool dramatic start that for some reason reminds me of Bauhaus Bela Lugosi's Dead. Less instruments means more parking space for the instruments to bring their 70's muscle cars. Like driving at a moderate speed in the middle of a fog that occasionally recedes to allow you to speed up.  Now other songs are fascinating me. Fur Shadows, from their self-titled debut is fucking wow!  I'm discovering that I really like this band with each passing song, Save Sleep....hells yeah. They are brilliant. Admiring how Eric rebuilt the bathroom, so nicely you can picture yourself showering in bathtub. He put layers of bricks around, creating a deeper space while keeping this rugged look. This place he chose with all the mystery that he would uncover and then recreate, and it was the catalyst that compelled me to look at Oaks from Minnesota. Now I'm wishing them back so that I can buy that shirt finally.
Zig