Corporate Park | Dos Jackulites | Betdat | Lars Larsen | DJ G (Rubber Gloves) This show is being billed as a "very rare all hardware Live-Pa electronic music event". OK. Chicago's Dos Jackulites synth approach is rooted more in the chiller side of the analogues as opposed to the local players more dissonant work. I'm not sure if Lars will be performing or just doing the visual presentation along with Lychgate's Jonah Lange. I hope we get to see a performance because Lars always brings interesting theatrics to the stage. Even if you are not a gear head, this should be an interesting night of aural and visual delights. And of course it is always great to see DJG on a Thursday night. Speaking of Lychgate, was anyone else a little bored during their performance last Saturday night? Interested in others thoughts on that project.
Iskra | Doom Siren | Vorvadoss | Rotnudus (Phoenix Project) I'm not even going to pretend like I can offer a reasonable opinion on this line up because obviously it is not my forte. I have seen Vorvadoss a couple of times and enjoyed myself. They incorporate enough prog-art elements to keep me entertained.
Eddie Izzard (American Airlines Center) Unlike most comedians who tend to focus on the absurdity of organized religion (Lenny Bruce, David Cross, Bill Hicks), Eddie Izzard has always been able to poke fun while not being too big of an asshole toward the believers. I wish more people would dress as the opposite sex, gender lines are soooo 20th century. I haven't heard much of his new material, but let's hope his spotty film career and failed television series hasn't killed his sense of humor. Unfortunately I can't think of a worst place for this event to take a place at, other than a church of course.
First of all, we've added two MP3s Ga'an shared with us to our interview post, and you can download them directly below this post. Shows tonight:
The Skuds | Akkolyte | Man the Conveyors | Life Erased (Phoenix Project) I love it when decent hardcore/grindcore/gutter shows come through town and Akkolyte is still the best band of the bunch. Not feeling much of what the Skuds do, which seems to be more or less by the book yet effective, but Man the Conveyors sound fairly brutal.
The Ish with Classixx (Ghostbar) Ok, so Classixx are probably pictured in the dictionary next to "hipster remix broz," and their work on tracks from Major Lazer and Yacht would be the attached MP3s for the entry if said dictionary happened to be online. Most of the stuff I've heard from them over the past year or so has been more or less workman-like and solid, and I'm sure you could probably have a pretty good time at this if you're the kind of person who would even consider going in the first place, not that there's anything wrong with it. Seriously. It's just that I've wondered lately where this entire scene and aesthetic is going to go from here-- it just seems that the actual output from this crowd, whether it be music or fashion or whatever, kind of stopped being interesting a while back, and I feel like its been a couple years now since any of these Hollywood hipster scene bros have done anything very compelling, artistically or otherwise. I'm not really attacking anyone in Dallas who's involved with these shows, either, because I'm no longer there and don't have personal knowledge concerning how these parties go down, but at the risk of sounding trite, I feel like Fergie really captures what I want to say about this stuff: so 2000 and late.
Apparently, according to the other members of the band, this interview was conducted, unknown to us at the time, with Jason Sublette, who is now the former bass player of Ga'an. The other members of the band plan to continue making music as Ga'an without Jason Sublette, and just wanted to clarify in case there was any confusion. The link below has been switched to their new Myspace, and we're going to be talking to the rest of the band soon concerning their new music and plans for the future as a group. Sorry for the confusion.--SR
I'm going to be writing more about Chicago from now on. This is an interview with a band from Chicago (Ga'an shared two MP3s with us and we've added them below)
Since we're new to covering the city, we'd like to get a little bit of background information on the band: your names, how long you've been together, and previous and other current projects you guys are and/or have been involved with aside from Ga'an.
Jeremiah Fisher, Seth Sher, Jason Sublette, Lindasy Powell. Jeremy and Seth helped out in Panicsville, and Oakeater. Seth did that load thing. We've all been in bands, here and there.
Could you briefly discuss how Ga'an came to be a band, and what it was about the project that made you want to pursue it in the first place?
The core of the band came together about 4 years ago as vigilante. Vigilante was louder, and more chaotic, a real mess. It was heavy on the noise side of some sort of "noise rock/prog" thing, a real beast. One third of the band, Jason/Bass/Keys, moved to St. Louis, the remaining two thirds of Vigilante helped form Oakeater. Roughly 2 years ago all of the thirds converged on the windy city, reforming Vigilante as Ga'an. Our inspiration was to try our hand at making the sort of music we were digging from old prog records, and 70's horror soundtracks. As best as we could filter it, and reform it in our own way, that is.
The music I've heard on your self titled cassette sounds like it has very little to do with Western music at all, much less pop or rock n roll, other than small traces of things here and there. Can you tell us about some of the music that inspires your group collectively, and what it was about the sound you eventually ended up developing that made you want to play this kind of music in the first place? Essentially, what attracts you to the sounds you make?
Rock and pop have little to add to our deep pool of influences. Collectively things that have influenced us have always been sounds and music that are somewhat on the fringe. Prog and Krautrock, for sure, but what are the difficult albums, what are the dark, strange bands from these genres? That's one thing for sure. There is a sort of drone, minimal side of things as well that comes out, naturally, perhaps. The attraction is certainly giving sound and shape to these dark things lurking behind the veil.
On the flip side of the coin, can you talk about some of the more traditional rock/prog/electronic music that might have inspired you when crafting Ga'an's music? I've read your mentions of groups like US Maple and Chicago no wave stuff in previous interviews.
Kultivator. Goblin. Grand Funk? Classic rock and Prog, Metal, all sorts of stuff. Yeah, Chicago music has also shaped some of our sound, for better or for worse.
In what ways better AND worse, would you say?
Well on the plus side of things, a lot of great music has come out of chicago, and we sort of grew up listening to it in one form or another. One the minus side, well we don't want to be labeled as a sounding like we are from Chicago, or anything close to ugh, postrock, or "chicago sound."
I really enjoy the way your self titled cassette sounds-- sort of hazy and dense, but much clearer and less gimmicky than what many people think of as "lo fi" these days. Can you tell us about how you went about recording it and some of the equipment/techniques you employed to get the sound you got?
We recorded digitally, then mixed down to VHS tape, no shit. After that it was mastered digitally, and then put back on to cassette tape. So the recordings bounced back and forth between the analog and digital realms a few times. As far as equipment used, nothing incredibly out of the ordinary. We weren't honestly trying to go for any certain sound, maybe just some forgotten tape...
Do you find it difficult to replicate this sound live, or are you even interested in sounding like your records in a live setting?
Our concern at the time was making the recording sound like our songs live! There are so many factors when playing live you have to take into account... It takes a hell of a long time to set up 5 synthesizers, that's for sure.
Ok, so are you happy with your records' ability to capture some of the energy and/or experience of your live shows?
Yes, and no, as it can just get to a point of being some sort of weird loop. Trying to have the recordings have the energy of playing live, but alternatively trying to play the songs live the way they were recorded. It's not necessarily (impossible), it's just not always going to happen. There needs to be some sort of balance between the two. Whether we pulled that off is debatable.
Some of the press I've read on Ga'an has been very heavy with metaphors involving shamans, ritualistic sounds and vague notions of spiritualism in general, I suppose because your name, according to one article, comes from the name of an Apache ritual dance. Does any of this stuff interested you as a group and does it have any impact on or importance in relation to how you go about developing your music?
We admire peoples and cultures who are, and were, more in touch with nature, and spirituality in general, but it's not like we're sitting around a room pouring over some ancient texts to get ideas. It's bullshit. It's more about certain sounds, choir sounds, chanting, or repetitions...
Is this in part because you feel too detached from such cultures to truly parallel these kind of mystic or spiritual experiences, or are you simply not interested in them, at least when it comes to Ga'an's music?
To say that we are some how attached to these cultures would be arrogant, or perhaps misguided. We simply wanted to convey some elements of it in our music. We certainly are interested in various forms of human spirituality, but it may be more of an afterthought than the music implies.
Can you tell us about some of your favorite new bands and venues in Chicago right now?
The Mopery is a great venue, the Viaduct Theatre, also there is a great new spacerock/CCR mutation of a band called "ET Habit" that we are excited about.
How do you think the contemporary underground music scene in Chicago compares to what its been like in the recent past?
It's all the same people, just in new bands! No, really, new ideas get circulated through, it's exciting to see it first hand.
Could you please list all of Ga'an's releases so far, and tell us about any new releases you have coming up any time soon, and any shows you might be playing in the Chicago area in the near future?
So far there are 2 cassette tapes, one is the proper studio recording, the other is our "jam" tape, just edited down improv. Nothing new as of now, the band is in flux.
One of the reasons we've always been anonymous is because we felt that content, above all else, was more important than the individual personalities of the people writing it. Has it annoyed us when people try to figure out our identities? Sure it has. That's mostly old news anyways, and I'm trying to ask a larger, and rather hypocritical question here: Isn't the "Why Denton Sucks" Twitter intriguing, and wouldn't you like to know who writes it? I go back-and-forth between thinking that it's a pretty lighthearted local celebrity roast, to wondering if maybe it's just the sounding board for the petty and personal grievances of someone who goes out every night in the 940. I can relate since I've been accused of both, but I've mostly tried to avoid the personal digs, as have most of the contributors here. But still, it sure would be interesting to find out who's behind it all. I now leave it to you: the mature, educated, and refined comment-posters of We Shot JR to share your thoughts and ideas with me...
Pretty busy Sunday with the extra day off and all, but we wanted to give you guys a quick reminder of what Martin Iles is up to tonight, because it looks good (Dan's Sliverleaf, 1030PM)
JUMPING Osamu Tezuka, 1984 (6 min.)
Anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka’s short film shows the world from the point of view of a bouncing ball (or jumping child). Each jump of the camera goes higher, each landing is a visual surprise (i.e, a city setting, a jungle, the ocean floor, a battle field in wartime, the depths of Hell, etc.). Jumping won the Grand Prize at the 1984 Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films.
GOD DAMN RELIGION Richard Bishop, 2008 (30 min.)
“This film is a diabolical experiment in hypnotic mind control—a phantasmagoric presentation of demonic and divine imagery, meticulously assembled and designed to put the viewer into an altered state of darkened awareness. Includes original music from ‘Elektronika Demonika’, as well as unreleased material... Contains some strong sexual content. Not for the weak-minded, faint of heart, or those suffering from occasional seizures.”
IGGY POP LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO TARGET VIDEO, 1981 (60 min.)
“This concert film captures the former Stooges front man performing in San Francisco during a 1981 tour. Although the tour was in support of the album Party, Pop serves up songs a dozen songs that draw from every era of his career. The set list includes "T.V. Eye," "Lust for Life," "Some Weird Sin," and "Bang Bang." His backing band includes such famous faces as Clem Burke and Carlos Alomar.” - Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Busy weekend, so lets get started (all written by FP)
edit: but before we get started if you haven't donated to help people in Haiti and you have the ability to do so please do it. If you don't you are really lame and shouldn't be an American. Here is a link so you can put your conscience at ease click here to donate and be a great person (FP)
Red Hot Poker/Spring Break '89/Andre the Giant's Bowel | Record Hop | 1670am (Rubber Gloves)
This is a going away bash night for Denton awesome person Colin Carter. If you might be in the group who do not know this dude but still want to come out tonight with out feeling awkward, here are some highlights from his Denton time line posted on the Rubber Gloves website.
1993: pushed down the stairs by Don Bonneville; pretends he’s part of the prank instead of the recipient of said assault 2002: spends most of the year depressed in the RGRS office listening to Lambchop and playing solitaire 2006: no-call no-show to his temporary job that was actually a pretty good opportunity; spends the rest of the year sort of looking for a job (read: sitting in the green recliner) Sounds like a cool guy to me. Now I have to warn you there is a cloud of mystery around this performance. We are being led to believe that some fantastic local acts have been booked for the show under mysterious alter ego stage names. This could be a big rouse or it could yield a pretty big payoff, especially seeing as how it is a free show. The one confirmed name that we all can recognize is of course Record Hop, which is a good start. Seeing as how cool this guy obviously is to have a party hosted in his name, I'm sure the insiders say this will be one hell of a show. (FP)
Haven't had a chance to check out Boom Boom Box or True Widow and I want to really bad. Not enough to go to a Paper Chase show of course but still looking forward to it guys. (FP)
Broken Teeth 1 Year Anniversary Bash featuring Jubilee | Select | Prince Will | Mike Townsend | Merritt | Anna Love | Red Eye (Zubar) Looks like a good place to do some boogieing tonight. If someone could please tell me what the proper attire to a thing like this would be I might go. (FP)
Seems to be a fitting bill to have in a church. Still kind of weird to have to go into a church for any reason. Please forgive my ignorance but is this some kind of hipster church that host shows or just an ironically named bar? (FP)
This is the record release for Drug Mountain's debut LP. If you haven't caught them lately you might not know that Zanzibar Snail member and poster art guru Nevada Hill is now on the roster. Nevada's strong avant garde background and aesthetic brings a new dynamic to the very, very brutal sound of the original line up. It sounds amazing. Will be nice to see them finally in a proper venue. We'll see if Lychgate have learned any new tricks on the road after their recent tour. Should be harsh. (FP)
I was so pissed cause SR got to write about Baruch because I had been really excited about releasing some negative energy out there into the blog-o-sphere. But I got over it. I feel much better about being here now recommending something in the same ballpark but a little more...honest? I caught The Fox and the Bird on the same bill as the aforementioned Scribe and was really captivated by The Fox's performance. It is no frills group centered folk music. It may be totally unoffensive but the craftsmanship and simplicity of the music was very effective. The band members all share duties which keeps the music varied just enough and the performance more exciting than the standard folk outfits. It's not exactly plucked straight from the mountains, but there is an authenticity in the music that comes from somewhere. My guess is that they love the type of the music they play so the play it the best they can. I have a feeling if you are going to see Doug Burr at the All Good Cafe you are already quite familiar with The Fox and the Bird. But for those of you thinking about skipping that opening band for your favorite new faux-folk artist next time you go out, try to make the extra effort and see Fox and the Bird. I bet you will like it. (FP)
Up until recently I was always confused by all the indie folk jokes concerning Denton I see in the comments here. I guess I just haven't been going to them because they sure are there. I don't know what to make of this all. I really like folk music. All types of folk music. Yet I really don't like whiny pretentious music, which is what most of the stuff the kids are playing these days seem to sound like.
We all learned yesterday from our Local Q&A section that Dark Forces contains a member from new Denton band Final Club. So here is an opportunity for you Dallas folk to get a taste of what all the Denton kids are talking about.
I caught this in Fort Worth last year at Lola's and really enjoyed myself. Similar to this year, the show was a diverse and educational experience. One of the things that really added to it was the shows taking place in a bar in downtown Fort Worth. The show was originally suppose to be at the other Lola's venue but fell through for some reason so it was relocated to the bar. It was really interesting to be in a room with just as many people completely unenthusiastic by the music as the ones that are totally digging it. The patrons staring at the Cowboys game completely bewildered as to why these outsiders are enraptured by these weirdos making funny noises. And of course it went both ways. Honestly I can't blame the hapless sports fans. A touring experimental noise festival isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea. But for those who are into this type of thing, which I'm sure you are, this is a great opportunity to see local artist work with noted artist from far and wide. Hopefully this more appropriate venue will get a large draw out because it is a pretty cool deal. Along with the collaboration aspect, it's also a great way to see some other regional music that you might not have the opportunity to other wise. (FP)
