bliss.city.east

Where do I start with this band really. Officially, bliss.city.east is back. I do recall one time saying the band was no more.....hell I recall them saying the band was no more. But it never really felt that way. Perry/Kim are in other projects. We're always going on Facebook. Perry posts and people answer. There is a whole presence there. Perry's a dad. Kim's a mom. Imagine that whole other side in addition to being musicians. And perhaps this lends a maturity to their music.
  I see bliss.city.east as part of the local shoegaze constellation....to be short. When I say local, I do not mean small and inconsequential to a larger thing. Chicago is just where they live now. Perry has lived in the East Coast and I think London. Perry/Kim have deep old roots and familiarity with what we call shoegaze/dream pop... enough to take the piss out of it on occasion, enough to feel the weight of it's baggage. Meaning this. When the bands that we first reference, the old pantheons that reunite and sell out Metro, Riv, Aragon, they get the glory. The smaller bands get the baggage, the smaller clubs  and crowds in the north-side, bewildered expressions on the south-side. The term "shoegaze" gets resistance from all fronts. And the recoil can have you move away from it like the house on Amitiville. I see the term as a piece of old furniture that somehow finds its way back to your ass. You thought you threw that old couch out last night before garbage day....and days later you realize you've spent hours on it while on X-Box...or something. Some how it finds its way back. So is it This Old House or comfort furniture. When it's furniture it's not the whole of identity, only part.
  References to shoegaze go back to the 90's....ok beyond, but lets look at the 90's when Perry was in Skylight in Boston. Perry has old roots but we give exclusive credit for that elsewhere. Alright, I am biased. They are friends of mine, from when I saw them at Mutiny when Kim was pregnant with Ada. The last time I saw them I think was at Late Bar. The band complete with the the inclusion of the long trusted Eric D' Asto on guitar and Melanie Yodane on drums. Yes, they got a real drummer! Perry is used to his drum machine. Was that Melanie I saw at the Killer Moon show at the Bottle? I hope I'm not wrong about this, Perry and Kim were finally happy with their inclusion. Eric has a long history with Perry. The mention of Melanie and Eric are brief here but they are far more important than I can say here. I don't even know how long. Oh, anyway...... Kim's vocals are nice and breathy. Yeah, so that term shoegaze I throw around a lot.  Dream pop on occasion, but mostly, you know. And I apply it to b.c.e, thats because I see an inherent maturity in both the term and the band. And that means a long half-life in the archive. I call b.c.e shoegaze but they are not bound to producing nothing but. I've said it before, they are in other projects as if on the cross roads to other sound possibilities....like with SPC ECO and Morpheme, Curve with Dean Garcia,...oh and now A*Star!  Perry actually has a very close working relationship Dean Garcia. There is a reason for all this. All these other projects have music that are dance floor worthy yet not pandering to a low common denominator. They don't do culo house music. Did I just sound like a snob? Shoegaze I think the term at worst implies soft, toothless, sleepy fuzz hype...to detractors, but I've learned to dance on it. For me there is flexibility in the term. It's outer fringes invites enthusiasts that like all kinds of punk/goth/industrial music, as well as those Empty Bottle indy folk that don't have a Bauhaus shirt in the closet. By the way, that is a nice Joy Division shirt you got on. No...it won't look out of place where we are going. So let us leave that old couch alone. You do like it, and it likes you. The resistance is understandable. Sometimes it's a fucking octopus that clings to you, and where is that damned spear. No one wants to be packaged into a corner. And that is where the resistance comes from.

  Gabriel Garcia Marquez didn't one day decide to write AVery Old Man With Enormous Wings out of his ass and just call it Magical Realism. I think the term helped to sell the novel. And so b.c.e. didn't one day decide to do .....their take on shoegaze. They did not seek that name out. Sometimes they run with it. Sometimes they feel it's weight.  Hmm, this one last point, some will not like to hear this reason but here it is. I don't feel shoegaze is for the young, or else they would be promoting this to the 18 and over/all ages market. Perhaps its different somewhere else. Perhaps there are other reasons that can explain how the sub-genre finds itself lighting up with older musicians.....as in older than 27. I don't say "older" in a bad way. I don't feel old when I go to shoegaze events like at Late Bar with Philly and Scary Lady Sarah, or when Empty Bottle fills up for School Of Seven Bells and WarPaint. The music naturally appeals to age. The road that Perry has traveled as a musician and father has to find itself expression in the tangible end result of the music he puts out. The music that he produces ages with him. We as audience do as well. If I ever felt like I was aging away from it, then selling it like I do would be difficult if not impossible.

Lightfoils

As I write this I still feel the sting of missing some shows. They are almost harder to forget for not seeing them. Yeah, I've seen Eliza Rickman a good number of times. There is something about that one elusive time. I think that was this one chance to buy the CD or something like that, the one chance to catch that asteroid on time. The night before that I missed Angel Olsen. That one hurt, 'cause you don't know when she'll be back. So this last Wednesday night 2 May 2012 I boo-hooed my ass all the way to Subt's on time to see Lightfoils. And I finally got the CD to take home, and explore. Now I can kind of go on about this song and that. I missed more of their shows than I've seen. There's always something thwarting the effort. That makes you hungrier for the next time you see them. The show that eludes always feels like the best one, and on that pain comes another pulse for having a friend on the band. You feel twice as bad, like when I went to go see the Panda Riot/Magic Key/Kodacrome show at Hideout instead of Ligtfoils for free at Double Door.  Anyway so there I finally am to see them and whether it is apparent or not what plays before me is a band with some milage to them. They all are well traveled as individuals and now as a band they got here with SXSW in their rear-view. I believe this is my first time since their tour. Most of the times that I've seem them it was in the context of a shoegaze related event. Not this time, and not next time since they will play Hideout next month with My Gold Mask. So they can be Lightfoils without needing the shoegaze tent even as its part of their sound. I think it's great to be something without....depending on it.  I say that about a lot of the music I listen to yes, divorcing music from the scene.  Which ever one it is at the moment. I spend like half a paragraph writing this divorce clause....in case the subculture .....fads out or something. It's my primitive way of finding the difference. In case the ship sinks, here's your life raft, right? In the end we all want to stand out from our contemporaries as timeless. At the same time it's always the subcultures or enthusiasts of those subcultures that support a band with that full sincere faith from the humble beginnings until the bitter theatrical divorce. We like something, we support it. I don't know if it's just me but shoegaze is a great goth ambassador. At the very least I consider the two linked. In Chicago its goths that put shoegaze related nights up, promote the bands because it's part of what we like. So if I have not gave that away already, this is how I came to know Lightfoils, but it is not what shackles the band down.
  Ah, yes the Remix LP as it is called. It has 4 original songs with 8 remixes from Unicycle Loves You, New Canyons, Bloody Knives, oh yeah Panda Riot among others. The remixes I want to take my time on but their appearance is significant for me because it shows support among the various bands. Into Deep Sea had me with the bass, and I'm not just saying that because I know Cory the bass player. Bass is just...the muscle behind the sweetness. That is probably a sentiment that can echo across all the music that I listen to. Bass keeps me from turning diabetic. Deep Sea is the first to imprint During that live show it was apparent how much fun Cory was having playing. I listen to Sympathy Lies and I fondly get hints of New Order. Yeah so it's that dance-worthy type of shoegaze. All the songs are actually. How It Is..I gotta tell it the long way. I used to play Sonic The Hedgehog. I always liked the background music of that game. Very colorful was that music. That song brings me back to that. Perhaps that is too subjective a description. How It Is can take you to a familiar if ill defined place. It's easier to write about the music in greater detail with the actual CD in hand. Lightfoils were at Subt's as a support band. My focus was not on the headliner. The audience was indeed attentive to all the bands that played. Lightfoils had a good solid crowd for them. I noticed all my friends that know Lightfoils also went to see the headliners but I was oblivious, but not willfully so. I was just glad I got to see who I went there for.
Zig

Julie Meckler at Whistler..again

Much has changed since last I saw Julie Meckler play Whistler. I saw her at Beat Kitchen, Empty Bottle, Subt's, Schubas...I may have made one of those up. Oh, yeah and things change around the performances. The world spins. I don't really mention how the world spins because they got other sources for that. The point being here is that I'm not oblivious to it. What I choose to document is not either. I can roughly recall what went on around the time I saw whoever. My dad had his accident occur some time after I saw Ebsen And The Witch. A lot goes on around the pictures I post. They hold more than what is apparent.

So Julie plays Whistler and I see the usual friends that she attracts. Yeah, Venus from Moritat was there, and they got all kinds of new music they are writing. So it's that kind of place, small and intimate, The Whistler. I don't recall it being noisy for Julie. The place devolves badly when they don't give a shit and you can hear rude voices speaking through the performer. I've seen that too and it's embarrassing. I don't remember that this time. Julie can whistle for days man, like in her song Manhattan. She has a video for that. Slows down the New York minute to wander in. And who can sustain a constant whistle for an entire song?....alright there's that girl from the Bangles, but that's only for part of "Walk Like An Egyptian". Julie has traveled and I'd like to think that is why she names some of her songs after places,(Manhattan, Mexico). It does not stop with just naming songs. One of them is so clearly reggae. With the fondness for all the places that Julie has visited she still chose to live here, and that is fucking sweet, and a little incredulous. It's common for me to hear of musicians moving away from Chicago, to the coasts. So when they move here, I'm like "really?, cool!". I don't know if this really convinces anyone to listen to Julie Meckler. I read back at this and it does not even come off like a real review. But my enthusiasm for this musician is real locally we should take more notice.

architecture

Along with Some Community I saw that Chicago shoegaze workhorse architecture at Empty Bottle. Rebecca Scott's other band besides Panda Riot. It's usually very hard to read the crowds this band plays for. They play a lot right? I should start to recognize some fellow fans right? Not really. Some home crowds felt...half won over. It's bizarre because they play often enough to build a fan base from one performance to another. Yet it seems to me that each crowd is new, or too chill and casual to read. I remember as a kid we used to launch so many fucking space shuttles people stopped giving a shit. Well, perhaps I go on about the state of the audience too much. To me they deserve the same success as and are similar to War Paint, Asobi Seksu, School Of Seven Bells, so excuse me we got space shuttles here! Fucking hell that was some crazy groupie endorsement. So, these urban faeries performed new songs....under the name architecture, the crowd seemed supportive like they waited for them. There is also new work from Panda Riot. I guess my point being that these bands are breathing, living, active. I don't tire of the songs I downloaded from them already. Shoegaze music is naturally mysterious lets just say, it's what we like it for. Rebecca's crystal clear voice is the perfect shoegaze tour-guide with it's signature casual giddiness. They have their music available on vinyl. I believe they have shirts...in girl sizes. This band is small enough now for support to be the most meaningful to them and also the fan, right?

Sleepy Kitty

Imagine for a moment...say John Lennon survived the attempt at his life and became a successful indy film writer/director like David Lynch. And you know how David Lynch has these long associations with certain musicians like Julee Cruise. Sleepy Kitty would have that same connection with John Lennon. He is in there like it's his haunted house. In some rooms he talks with the Ghost Adventures crew, all three not just Zak. Alright so at the very least I get strong John Lennon vibes from Sleepy Kitty, in the faint intangible traces of its big bang. No, it's not just the cover of 17. Actually that cover has the most minimal Beatles vibe. Paige just updated this favorite Barbie doll with new clothes. Yeah, yeah, it's not what you know, it's what you can prove. And on that, true converted believers in their delerium will speak in tongues to the faerie that gave Blondie it's disco charm. I get moments hearing this. I finally see them at Empty Bottle Thursday 12 April and I'm finally able to buy the CD. Sleepy Kitty are from St. Louis. Ridin' With St Louis Tonight captures the coolness of that city like a signature local perfume. That song is on the CD Infinity City. My first awareness brought me to see them at Whistler Sunday 9 October. It's just two people with a massive presence. Paige sings, plays guitar and Evan plays drums. I can really go on about how awesome I find Ms Paige as a guitarist. At the time all I could afford to get was the poster which I believe they have their own printing press for. So there was time enough for the novelty of discovery to wane or take on a second life. All this before actually buying the CD. It's possible to build false expectations and be disappointed later. That is not at all what happened here when actually hearing the CD later. It has the sweetness of pop but with the depth and maturity of something that feels like for your age. Like generationally speaking to you. I'm now in the process of forming a relationship with the actual songs. When next I write it will be with a greater familiarity. For now her are the pictures, I hope I got someone curious about them.

Zig

Bone And Bell

The id lets say for a moment is the eternal high school campus inside your mind. Just follow me for a moment. Vulnerability, melancholy, sweetness lets say are the science nerds, goths on campus. They are perpetually in the wrong fucking school. The id can't help this. There will always be nerds that you not want but will have and even need. Always they are misunderstood teased, even bullied. They are not immediately sexy right? Some people make something out of these nerds, make something great. The sexiness starts to show. What do I mean when I say the id is high school and melancholy, vulnerability etc are in the Dr Who Club? Some people can make really wonderful music where these sentiments seem expressed. Bone And Bell has already been compared to Sharon Von Etten, Neko Case. Among the artists I've seen, Pezzettino, Uni And Her Ukulele may have well been girl scouts together with Heather of B&B. They know how best to articulate powerfully from a similar engine. They go dark with Katie Jane Garside street cred. Wait, I don't mean that Heather spazzes out like her. Just the same bluesy edge as some slower Queen Adreena songs, like Pretty Polly. What do you mean who's that? You know what, fuck it. I'll just revert to comparing everything to PJ Harvey. Alright, so out of nowhere B&B has this lean muscle to flex. It's just the side you know is there and want to see. Until the CD release later on at Schubas this can only be seen live....and on Youtube. Sunday 8 April, Bone And Bell is who I go see at Whistler after an entertaining family gathering near Joliet. I have to say that Heather can hold a crowds attention and Whistler was no different that night. As of late I've noticed it get louder like it doesn't give a shit sometimes but not so much this time. Heather and full band held their own. I can speculate a large crowd for her later on at Schubas.

Some Community

Some Community is from I think Sao Paolo Brazil. They played Empty Bottle on the same night that architecture headlined. It was actually on their recommendation that I listened to SC. I must confess the name alone would not get my attention. The name just does not stick. It was a long matter liking this band, and it has nothing to do with the name. I can forget the name tomorrow, but the band they are something else, hiding under a plain sounding name. Lets see. It was on architecture's word ....that means I had to like them first right? Then I hear the first song Tereza and wow! I'm going to see Some Fucking Community!! I think Chicago was the last leg on their tour from the east. Damn are they far from home. I go on a lot about local music and all that but I also like it when they come here from far their normal orbit, because they bring their unique collection of culture themselves. They represent their town in subtle and obvious ways. They can represent what is local, normal and abundant or unique even in their native lands. Some Community brought all that here last Thursday 5 April. Cultures are not created in exclusive isolation. It's not just about what Chicago has internally but also what it attracts from abroad. Normally I'll just arrive on time for the main act if that is who I intend to see. Not this time I was proactive! I was on time for SC! I loved their show and hope they want to make it back. I think the Empty Bottle gave them a warm enough welcome. I'll write more about them later. For now I post this to note the fact that they played and were seen. Thanks to architecture for introducing me to these guys.

Zig