Impulsive Hearts/Fauvely

 
 

  This happens a lot and I am cool with it. Let me explain it.  I go to a concert for Spaces of Disappearance, Axons, or Impulsive Hearts...meaning Elaine, Adele or Danielle. If one person shows up, so will all three most of the time. If one is on stage, they will all be there in the audience. These are the names I think about when I think Frontwoman Fest. They bring with them a network that includes their husbands and friends. Sometimes their network meets with other groups of friends, and I think that is fucking great when that happens. Rani once had an event at Resistor for Adele. And that was a meeting of a lot of different networks of people. If I am name dropping its because these people are important. They create and sustain local culture and music, even beyond what they created by themselves, they support other artists. And I'm so glad they are around, and they let me be around....that fucking blows me away.  So for the last Frontwoman Fest they kicked it off by playing first at around 3pm. They were all going to cover each others music. This moment was unique. I arrived too late for it.  Yah, boo fucking hoo....I know. 
  There is always another chance, and it happened at Emporium when Impulsive Hearts, Danielle's band and Fauvely....Sophie's band. They are friends too. That has nothin' to do with...nothin'.  Yeah....I know I just wrote on Fauvely...so? That was with Stella Donnelly....a completely separate moment. Somehow I feel it is different when you play in support for an artist that is touring the country. This one at Emporium was with friends...mostly right. Or at least this is the moment I focus on. Both bands are playing new songs and seeing them live is for now the only way to hear them.  I gotta say, I like Impulsive Hearts live. She brings that summer-on-the-beach feeling with her. We were in need of that feeling that night. It was fucking snowing outside. The kind of heavy wet snow. It only seemed to accumulate on car tops and windshields. You still could not be careless when driving home. Its just enough to say "fucking really?!" There is a fluidity that comes with the live gigs. DMW is the best. I hear it live and it makes me glad to have the pink vinyl LP Sorry In The Summer. Yeah, the vinyl is pink and the sleeve has an old picture of a couple walking in the beach. It just feels like you found this treasure in a record shop sitting and waiting for you. Its not the only song of hers that has me dancing happy like the fucking Peanuts. I don't think I was making this big spectacle of myself doing that. I should also mention at this point the six track EP for Fauvely, Watch Me Over complicate This. It comes with a tape and a download code. The songs are this sweet self-critical interior view of one's feelings and thoughts, a walking inspection of the interior castle. 
 
  Sometimes Fauvely brings the violin. This time it was Impulsive Hearts who brought the violinist. No....not the same one. Danielle actually played in Fauvely for the Stella Donnelly show. Its an uphill climb keeping a band intact, and still I recognize the tracks that I like. And that in part is what keeps me going to their shows, the intangible combination of what stays and what changes. Both bands have new work they are performing and I am into it. Fauvely is sounding bolder, more assertive. Some of these new songs are in YouTube.
  Impulsive Hearts played last and Adele and Elaine wanted to go on stage and sing support for Danielle for this last song. I think they wanted to surprise her and bum rush the stage. Danielle beat them to it and called them up to the stage and sing this track. I feel good that I was there to witness this moment. This is what I missed at Frontwoman. All three seemed so enthused. Elaine especially looked so giddy.  Its a nice regular thing that happens...not them bum rushing a stage when one is up there. Yeah that is part of it, this time. Its the support they show for each other, by being there when one of them performs. And it's a nice thing to witness.
Zig

Lightfoils

  That Resistor show was some event to be framed and remembered special. One boundary of that frame is made from the music heard along the way as if chosen for me, not by me, to listen to along the way. I was glad to see Lightfoils have a part in making Resistor the something else that it really was. Hmmm, oh yeah Lightfoils. They got new work coming  I think. Meanwhile, we still got Hierarchy and the Lightfoils Remix LP     Mock Sun has that nostalgic sweetness for me. Not retro in any way. Its not to place it in a period. It just has the sweetness that comes presently and suddenly when remembering a period. Not necessarily but not excluding a fond childhood, but something back in the day or two weeks ago. Its from Hierarchy.  That whole fucking CD is great. It was released in 2014 on Saint Marie Records. I can go on about every fucking song here, but perhaps the point is made. Hmm, perhaps I reveal less about the song itself and more about.....oh look over there. Merch table! Its music that you ponder on as you listen and dance to Mock Sun is.

And this specific performance.....My friends from Walking Bicycles were there at least for Lightfoils as I recall. They left after they finished. I walked with them stretching this rare moment a little more. Then it was back to Resistor. And so this moment talking with Joselyn and Julius will for me be the default visual whenever Lightfoils randomly plays in my presence. And here is also the piling on of memory on top of fading dark German expressionist memory. I'm a believer in one moment containing many connected stories.
 I wish not to sound obsessive over one fucking night, but it was eventful, there was an after party at the Pandas. It was fucking fabulous. And pondering on Lightfoils helps to keep that memory vivid and framed. Woven with the old roots of memories are the friends that are in the band. I can't believe I can call them friends. Like...wow. And away from the live shows, I do listen to their music actively.
  Its nice to have a night out for it with Shimmer on Slippery Slope and so a space where this song can play and in a dance floor. Its just a casual type of environment, and I go there to dance and to chill under a relentless stream of shoegaze. So I'm really fascinated at how at some level the web is tightly woven, this net is. I know the guys from this band.  So which other songs? Hmm, How It Is,  In To Deep  are the ones that hooked me first in....damn 2011? Wow, fuck....that is a stretch of time. And meanwhile I see them all the time. Its normal even to see the guys from Lightfoils. Its normal to see them at shows. I'm kind of looking over at what I said about Mock Sun....and I get the same feel, different sound and hitting the same spots. I get a wash of nostalgic euphoria, and its not sounding retro, its a romantic nostalgic frame you can put any moment in to remember fondly. The pictures I post are going to be of various shows. The one show I know I will be going to is 14 June at Reggies.
Zig

Frontwoman Fest 2018

   
 
  Freddie Old Soul, Fauvely, Little Church, Decima....those are the names of the performers I can recall. I went early to catch who I knew. And I ended up staying longer as each name made itself memorable. I was ready to go after Little Church, but I stayed for these names that I can remember. Adele, Danielle and Elaine were gonna cover each others work.  I arrived to late for that. That almost does not matter. I am fortunate to see them in the audience and is they is the coolest. They are friends and...wow. I did see them later at Emporium but.....
  This Frontwoman Fest 2018 was to be the last one. Most of the bands that I was familiar with were on the early side. Its not really that unusual to see Fauvely at Burlington I suppose. The difference was that she played early. A sense of comfort comes with the familiarity of her music, and leaves you eager for what is next. I'm already liking the new songs she plays live. Sometimes different people perform with her. Sometimes she has a drummer, sometimes she has Scott Cortez, or Danielle....or a violinist. The music is fluid when its live. And she is playing more new music that is not in Watch Me Over complicate this. She is currently playing locally with gigs only weeks apart. I know that is exhausting, it is appreciated. It keeps the music alive hand in hand with the recordings. Remember there was a time when recordings were not available, and for me each performance is unique with moments never to be repeated exactly. Anyway, that is a rant as to why I see shit over and over again. And that goes for everyone I see repeatedly.
  So Fauvely will play again in on a Free Monday at Empty Bottle. I just finished seeing her with Impulsive Hearts at Emporium and that was a fucking show. I really like the new songs separately from what is already recorded and available as a download and cassette. That's only six songs. Naturally her sets will include new work and its fucking awesome. And so this is the fucking millionth time seeing her in Burlington....and...so? The new work is sounding bolder and louder. It is interesting how six tracks over time leave you with an impression and suddenly the new songs break that are not telegraphed. They seem to come from a different place and give you an additional reason to like them. This is the case with Fauvely. The six are few and incomplete is the sweet and timid picture. Not so with these new tracks. She is bolder and darker. And actually there is a darkness present in the first six. Its....dark sweet, the first six. And now from that is an interesting new direction. Jesus fucking Christ I kinda went on about her. Well, a lot of what I said here I know I will repeat about someone else. 
   I don't know the names of them, but I do know that I like what I hear. Little Church I have seen once before with Adele's Axons at some free show at Schubas. And wow, they had me with their raw, soulful enthusiasm. I was gonna leave and at some point, but  it was one band after another. Freddie Old Soul made her own case for me to stay in that front of the stage. And then Decima, and Ovef Ow...and SuperKnova, damn she did know her blues!  Frontwoman Fest has introduced me to bands that I would not know otherwise.
  There is one other, that I saw that I got pictures for....I don't know her name....and its bothering me. Anyway. Freddie Old Soul, I vividly recall. She is a Chicago Hip Hop artist and poet.  Should I have placed poet first? I feel barely capable of describing her. I am taken back to Monday Night at Weeds, this bar in the north side that I would go for open mic poetry nights. The poets there spoke like

philosophers. And so I see her as a philosopher. I was fucking in awe of this person as she was bouncing all over the place. I am struck again as I see her videos on YouTube. This first time was at Frontwoman, the last home, the only home at Burlington. I hope to see her again and again.  YouTube helps me to find these great and informative videos on Ms Freddie Old Soul. Her name is so spot on because something about her is old and wise. I don't know what made me think YouTube would not have videos on her.
  So I have a go again, this time to look up Little Church, and that search was some fucking discouraging shit. No way am I gonna sift through videos on weird ass churches, Christian parodies....that don't know when they shot themselves in the foot. After looking up Ms Freddie, and on a high on what I found on her, searching for Little Church on YouTube, that almost killed my high.  Well, let me this up. I did not find any videos for the band. I did find their music on bandcamp...Little Church, and all was well again. There is not a lot I know of them. I don't even know the name of the singer. I was blown away by her infectious enthusiasm, and soulful, blusey guitar playing. I hear the Demos from Bandcamp and Gangster is the one song that really reminds me of what I heard live.
  Ovef Ow, no I did not misspell that. That's their name. I just keep tripping over myself. I gotta get out of the habit of saying "Over flow" when referring to them.  Anyway they were great. They reminded me a bit of The Dials, another great Chicago band. There is more than one singer, the keyboard also reminded me of Dials. There is a retro thing about them, I cannot quite nail down, but I like it. They also remind me of The Long Blondes only with more girly voices. Sometimes a single performance only reveals part of what you like about the band. And so I am glad I now have the download Working to listen to.
  I almost forgot about Decima. There is an accent mark that goes over the "e". With this bloody keyboard I don't know how to do it. It is important that I mention that for me because I get the feeling that she is a spanish speaker, perhaps with origins from a spanish speaking country.
  Hell, I think she sang in spanish. Decima is right up there with bands like Pixel Grip, Spaces of Disappearance, Sexy Fights, Fee Lion, in terms of how she sounds. Decima  performed with two hooded dancers next to her. I think that was nice, it added a layer of mystery, performance art to her....performance. This was my first time seeing Decima, and now it would be cool to see more shows of her. I believe she is from Chicago.

  This Frontwoman Fest was the last one, and I feel fortunate that I was able to go to it, hell all of them. Even the bands that I missed, they were on my radar because I saw a name in the poster. I think Pixel Grip was on there once.  I got a separate rant on them coming....let me just post this one up.
Zig

Fee Lion/HIDE

  Would it not be grand to have these two play the same place, and not just on the same night, miles and 45 minutes apart? They played separate places but my friend Marci and I planned it so that we saw them both. We talked about it over Facebook. Damn....they are on the same night! Fee Lion was set to play this venue on the 25th floor of the Virgin Hotel....which actually was on the 25th floor....I thought it was just a name. HIDE was to play Empty Bottle as the headliner. Castration Anxiety is the name of the latest release and this was the party for it. Fee Lion had a 6 track CD I bought already at the Ela Minus show.
  We looked into who was playing before HIDE. Hmmm, they did not interest us. So it looks like we wanna do this.  Fee Lion was to play first at her venue and that got the gears working in both our heads....can we make it to both shows? Parking around Empty Bottle would not likely be an issue, but by the Virgin Hotel right in downtown it would be a fucking headache. No parking kills a good plan. Its a fun journey with my friend Marci, and going with someone makes me be on time, no bullshit. This is a fucking operation. She is constantly introducing me to new music. So we gonna do this. I arrive at Marci's on time and from there we take a taxi. We get there at the Hotel and we go to the 25th floor venue....on the fucking 25th floor, and it was a really nice place. I apologize for that. I honestly thought it was just a name. Hmmm, well. The washrooms were clean and spacious. I would go there again. We arrived at around 9pm with the belief that Fee Lion will be playing at around that time. It turns out it will be closer to 10pm. And so we thought, "oh shit", it's just one fucking first world problem on top of another.
  I don't recall who it was Fee Lion was supposed to open for. I got some idea based on the music they were playing which was very dance heavy, and also chill. No one was really dancing and my mind was on how much would we get to see from who we intended to see. This fucking Red Bull I was drinking made my stray thoughts run laps around my mind.

  Anything would do to count as one part of this mission done. It looked like we would have to leave within a few songs. I have seen Fee Lion before when she played with Ela Minus. Ms Lion's music is dark disco dance with some Warpaint guitar thrown in. Very resonant, bass heavy, infectious and...clean sounding. Dark sounding....not dark feeling, if that makes sense. The empowering sensation  I get from a Fee Lion show is a happy type of passion.
   Heather Gable....HIDE, with her its the passion of sharpening your weapons for battle, the hunt. Its music that is angry on the edge of rage. Its the industrial music as played by Klingons, messy and angry brand of dark industrial. And she gives you something to get angry at.....but, hey...we still are waiting for Fee Lion. Hmm, yeah I jumped ahead. Fee Lion...I bought from her the CD with 6 tracks on it, at this show with Ela Minus.  And I like all 6.  Whatever praise I got for one song goes for all. Ad/Just is fucking fabulous, it builds and you just follow her voice! Her voice! Hmm, is clear. Vision, fucking bla bla fabulous for a whole other set of reasons. And so on. Her vibrating beats compel you to dance. Its 10pm and she finally plays....I don't mean to sound it like that.  Our strict schedule is not on her. So we watched her with part of our mind on not wanting to miss HIDE, but that was just a matter of getting to my car and going to Empty Bottle. Marci early on introduced me to her briefly. I forgot exactly which songs we heard before we left but I made sure, hmm.....we made sure to see Fee Lion on top of HIDE. Two mother fucking shows!!!.
  A taxi ride to my car and then from there to Empty Bottle, once in motion we did contemplate on how much longer we could have stayed but no longer now since we saw her at Hideout. And ...That...Show....Was...Fucking Crazy. But, that's for later......... So we arrive at Empty Bottle. We say hi to people, talk. I know I talked to Rani from Girl Detective. And this fucking weakness, I  bought the album and went to the front of the stage....no, it was after the show. Finally, Heather Gable....HIDE! She has such a commanding presence, many things at once, possessed, and in full command of her inner demons.  She writhes about the floor of the stage. Heather seems to retreat, fall back and let her demons handle it, making this forth wall complete with a moat.  The lights and fog make the mysterious complete.
  HIDE simmers in hypnotic rhythms and has you captured until that corner is turned and the machine takes off, in a faster mechanized pace. I'm taken back to where industrial music was created with the rhythms of the noises of machinery, sounds that were incidental and not meant to create music from. I really like this from HIDE. Even if I was on acid, I don't really think I would have a problem with the light show. Fog and flashing lights, yeah fucking bring it. So I am into Castration Anxiety. As I listen to it and make it familiar, I run through the other times I saw her. I'm glad HIDE plays a lot locally. And its the same with Fee Lion. They are from here, and that is so fucking cool and amazing.  I get these random chances to see them. I like all if not most of Castration Anxiety, now that I can relax and hear it on my own time. Still...I like to visit and renew the memory of actually seeing them. What do you mean which ones. Just, all of them. Same as with Fee Lion. All of them. And more on that Hideout show later,
Zig

Stella Donnelly, Fauvely, Girl Valley

    She just won over Empty Bottle.  One of her most powerful songs was Boys Will Be Boys, and I don't know if the audience went silent over it, I was just too concentrated on it. I'd like to say that they did. Stella Donnelly warned, this song dealt with sexual assault.  And I'm thinking now, was this not one of the building blocks of blues. Ya'll can relax, I didn't call her a blues artist. Meaning that, out of this suffering comes out this cathartic music, that resonates. Boys is based on something that really happened to someone close to her. One degree away from her. She is from Perth, Australia.
   I was glad Fauvely played that night with her. Fauvely deals with things you think about, what I call the interior castle. Self-doubt, being over critical of one self. Fauvely writes and sings about what goes on inside ones own mind, the struggle within it. Stella Donnelly sings about exterior forces, specifically male that act towards women, attack women actually. Boys is that kind of song. Not all of them are that dark. There's one about how her boss owes her money.....quick update. The boss paid her in full eventually. She just writes really fast. Her voice is clear....she sounds to me like Paige Brubeck from Sleepy Kitty. And its just her and a guitar, so there is no mistaking, no escaping what she says. The slow moving blade is what penetrates the shield. Her clear, and minimal form of expression cuts straight into you.
So when she says "boys will be boys" with the sweetest voice, there is no escaping the bitter taste that comes with that cliche'. What do you mean who is  Paige Brubeck? Fucking hell, have y'all forgotten already? I don't have time, let me get back to Stella Donnelly, her songs are lessons on how not to act. There is almost no need to say, her songs are about this or that, because her words are clear and understandable. She is a natural in disarming her audience with her genuine, vulnerable charm. She swears in her songs. She swears in between songs. Not a problem girl. You is cool like Samuel L Jackson sayin' "motherfucker" all the time. I like how she seems to include asides within her songs. One song I think is called Swipe Left ....no it was it called I Should Have Stayed At Home...well it is about a tinder date that was ehhh....The reason I mention it, is that it has these aside moments, that for me is part of her signature. These asides almost make the music take these improv breathes of air, and they brake the ice with the crowd. By now Youtube is full of her videos and its great to see these moments documented an hopefully preserved there. I got into all her songs that she played, I walked out of Empty Bottle a fan of Stella Donnelly. And she was way, way cool after the show.
  This was on my radar since missing Fauvely on that Oak Park show. And I knew very little about Stella until the day off the concert. So I went on time and saw all three bands including Girl Valley, she was great. I will want to see her again, she opened the show. This was my first time seeing her. Fauvely played new songs that I really got into. Ohh, and something else first! Danielle from Impulsive Hearts played in Sophie's band! I thought that was so cool!  Another cool noteworthy thing. This was one of those shows in which I see my three friends Adele from Axons, Elaine from Spaces of Disappearance, and Danielle from Impulsive Hearts. I have been to so many shows where all three are there and at least one of them plays on stage. They all have their own bands that play regularly in Chicago. And I am into all of them. Ohhh, and also I saw Scott Cortez,  a pillar of the local shoegaze culture..... Scott Cortez, from Astrobrite? Star? Is my fucking bubble really that impenetrable? I mean there are only so many Cubs games y'all can go to....never fucking mind. I will say this and leave it alone. I saw friends that are in bands that went to see Stella Donnelly, Fauvely, and Girl Valley.  

This new music Sophie plays is about her home town of Savannah, Ga. In the last few shows of hers that I have seen, she says this, so its important. Home towns....and Savannah is fucking old historic, have that gravitational pull. I think the age of a place, gives strength to that gravity. I have never been to Savannah. My only tether to that place is her, and her word is strength enough. Her picture of it, is fascination enough. And it will get more clear as I get to know the music more. Now that I think about it, this is a departure from what she has previously written about. Watch Me Overcomplicate This looks inward with this self-critical eye. I think writing about where you came from is a natural departure from that point....anyway, that's just me and I'm happy to anticipate what she has coming. And...Chicago of course is not as old as Savannah, but hearing these artists that I like so much that (I can't believe) live here, makes me appreciate living here with them. This is my place.
Zig