When the Sky is Full of 0’s and 1’s
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Another new piece posted here as myspace is being dumb. Posted it to my player there and it still hasnt shown up on the profile yet. ARgh

So today I took a class at old town for circuit bending put on by Patrick. Here is his web site. Even though its not listed there if you go to the Old Town School site you can sign up for the november class.

here is the first thing i have recorded with toy that I bent at the class. All the sounds are made from the toy. I fed it through my guitar effects just for the looping and some delay. I know its long and rambly but it was really fun to make so whatever. There are some sections with long pauses, just be patient as I am still fiddeling with the toy and the current knob i have is very sensitive.

Langhorne Slim stopped by the venerable Hideout for his second night in town. While the fans in attendance ate up the opportunity to catch this legend, upclose and personal, I left slightly lost. Not to say it was a bad show, just that I did get from it all that I had hoped I would.

We have covered Langhorne almost everytime he has come through (here & “here”: ) but we thought it would be interesting to give you a different perspective. I must admit I went into the show with very high expectations, exceptions even the best band would have a hard time living up to. They were all based on this photo. The fans screaming, such energy he must be projecting. He projected, very well infact. He and his backing band played some of the best folk rock/country rock that could be played on accoustic guitar/upright bass/ and drums. His lyrics were easily years ahead of his age. This last point was heightened by the fact that I felt the openers Builders and Butchers lyrics could have used some more work.
So where does it break down? I am not totally sure. In one way it was a bit to much country for me (which is weird as I loved the Saddies set just a few weeks ago.) and lacked a few really great hooks to pull me in. Although, I was hanging on every word because I knew there was something there. Perhaps I should have acquainted myself with the songs before the show such that I could totally submerge myself into the live experience.

See the whole photo set from the show here

Yes, despite what we all might think,  bands are able to get up and be at a venue before the noon.  Also, it might be enlightening for people who attend shows in Chicago to know that bars do have windows which allow light to get in. Most of these things one usually assumes are not true due to the nature of rock shows, especially one of this caliber.  Extra bonus, there were free donuts before the show!

First off, I have been finding it difficult to surmise exactly what the point of this review is. If you are not already a Shellac fan you are probably not going to be swayed now. With 4 albums out over the course of 13 years there are not what one would call prolific.  However, they have managed to gather a rather rabid following with such few releases due the the painstaking amount of detail applied to each one. Albini & Weston being rather accomplished recording engineers, the sound of the records have further enhanced the songs as they do the recordings of many musicians varying from the well known to the more obscure.  Tight guitar parts and locking bass and drums with intense and sometimes silly lyrics dominate their song structure.

The live show was not much different, only with stage banter and Q&A when ever Albini needed to tune (which was about 3 times during the 1.5hr set). They set up with Todd (drums) right at the front and center of the stage, all three equal distance from the crowd. It presented the clear equality of the three in terms of both skill and importance. It was rather impressive to witness them just as tight live as on recording, but still having fun. At one point in the set, toward the end of one song, they tried to end it by trying to throw each other off.  At another time, Albini lifted his guitar to to his mouth to scream into the pickups. This required him to remove his guitar strap, which he wears around his waist, and contrasted the rather aggressive screaming with the delicate task of wrapping it back around him 3 or 4 times during about 2 minutes.

The Q&A sections had potential to be both humorous and revealing but instead were a bit obnoxious because of the crowd. Seems Shellac fans (atleast the ones that ask questions) are a bit pretentious, asking questions about football and Iron Maiden in some sort of funny ironic way. I am not good with song names and it seems neither is Bob, who has the only “master” setlist which is simply a listing of all the songs grouped by album, a kind of cookie jar they plucked the songs out of. Even though Shellacs’ music is by no means daytime like, it was fun to be in a bar during the noon hours.  That fun translated to the stage rather nicely.

Picutes of the day time show here

Saturday was most likely the day you stayed in, as sheets of snow/ice/rain accumulated on the streets and sidewalks. I decided to do xmas shopping and then attend an amazing lineup of midwest garage punk. I feared that I would be one of the only few to brave the weather, shocked by a conversation with a myopic books clerk who assured me that, not only would it be crowded but, in 5 years I would have serious bragging rights. He was right on the former and we will see about the latter.

Doors opened a touch late but after about 20 minutes there was already a decent crowd. The Bold Ones took the stage and set the pace for the night. Fast and a bit dirty but with a bounce that got the crowd going. Before the end of the first I had a grin from ear-to-ear, easily forgetting how cold and crappy it was outside. Listen to the only song they have on their myspace called “Screwin’ Around” for a taste. They promise some kind of release soon.

Next up was Johnny and the Limelights dressed in semi-matching pink 70’s prom tuxedo’s save for the bass player who wore a sleek black dress. They sang songs about summer and kissing and pizza parties. They asked us if we knew what 69 means. More dancing was done and a pizza was passed around, literally. It was great fun. I recognized the guitarist and was informed that he was also in M.O.T.O

Third of four and I was still ready for it. The Busy Signals took the stage and continued with the aforementioned full throttle rock. This time lead by a woman, Ana, who spitted out lyrics while backed by a tight fervor of guitars/bass/drums. What this band lacked in fun they certainly made up for in fierceness and intent. As quickly as they took the stage they left, leaving a little but dust in their wake.

Finally, although I was nowhere near exhausted, (far from it actually) King Khan & BBQ show take the stage. Having been uninitiated to this band, I was expecting more than 2 people. Wrong! King Khan also has a band called King Khan & the Shrines while BBQ Show is Mark Sultan, who has a solo record. King Khan wore a black wig that was braided and decorated with pretty barrettes and ribbons, while wearing a low cut dress and necklaces. BBQ Show had a turban on and sat in front of a sole kickdrum while playing a rather small guitar. Their set was psychedelic and entrancing with an element of surf rock thrown into the mix. For 2 people, they created as much noise as all the previous bands. King Khan interacted with the audience, asking for participation and cursing the side that was just standing there. The crowd really got into this set, pushing and bouncing joyously.

There wasn’t a down set the whole night and the crowd knew it would be this was in advance. That is why they braved the weather to practically (almost definitely) sell out the night. This is the “other” Chicago scene I wish I could see more of (another one being the city’s terrific jazz players) but there simply isn’t enough time in the week…

As part of the Chicago Humanities Festival (which ran from Oct 27 through Nov 11) Max Eastley provided live accompaniment to a video he worked on with David Buckland called Artic . Using a the homemade monochord electo-acoustic instrument called simply “Arc” he created haunting all encompassing drones that mixed well with the sound and vision of ships and icebergs in the high artic.

If you are like I was about a week ago you maybe asking “who is Max Eastley?” I have to say that for all the ambient music I listen to and read about I am not sure how he slipped under my radar. Plainly put he is one of the masters of ambient electro-accoustic music. A painter and sound sculptor (see youtube for some examples) he apparently started out making music on Eno’s Obscure Music and has since continued to refine and perfect his sound.

You may now be asking yourself “how is one a master of ambient music?” This is where the importance of seeing live music comes in. Watching Eastley tease the sounds out of this monochord so effortlessly and with such freedom was impressive. Never was it too loud or too soft, neither were there tones picked that clashed with the video or its self contained soundtrack. He looked neither frantic but rather one with both the video and the instrument. It was a tough call figuring out his delicate balance. At times, I would watch him perform only to remind myself that I should watch the video and vice versa.

The video itself was somewhat interesting. Juxtaposing footage of scenic and sprawling arctic ice flows with words that stabbed at the heart of American consumerism and carelessness, the video was fairly engaging for its duration. The only other thing that was superimposed over the footage was the image of a naked pregnant woman walking. For most of the film I was confused by the meaning of this but afterwards while thinking about the piece as a whole it started to make sense. I will save my interpretations for a later date, but I welcome anyone else who saw the piece to chime in with her/his 2¢. The raw footage was taken during one of three expeditions that Cape Farewell has led into the high arctic. The purpose of this organization is to:

bring artists, scientists and educators together to collectively address and raise awareness about climate change.

The video and soundtrack are only one of the many pieces of art to come from these trips.

Overall, this was a unique was to spend a saturday evening outside. Its great that the city sponsors events like this. It was fitting that it shown ourdoors, even though Chicago in mid-November is nowhere near as cold as the artic. The snap in the air completed the ambiance.

�I know that many have been taught to think that moderation, in a case like this, is a sort of treason�

Edmund Burke (British Statesman and Philosopher, 1729-1797) (ps thanks google/thinkexist.com)

Yes amp’s going up to 11 and blaring your favorite song so that the neighbor’s can hear it is really cool. When you were 15 it was the world, but after a week if you had any real interest in music you were trying to think of what to do next. Something to push it forward, taking this raw energy and coupling it with some emotion. I am a huge fan (as are many reading this I am sure) of Can’s output with Damo Suzuki and was thrilled to see he was brining his touring “network” back to Chicago’s Empty Bottle. Then, having Rob AA Lowe and Ben Vida open up and eventually join him on stage was icing on the cake. Unfortunately the cake was just inedibly sweet.

After stopping to see a friend in the area, we arrive at the bottle minutes after 9pm. An early start time considering only one opener, I was surprised that it was followed rather closely. By 9:15 Rob and Ben take the stage and for the next 45 minutes create the most dark and mesmerizing space with just their voices and sparsely anything else. Rob started it off, looping some low vocal chants which he further lowered by slowing down the loop. This created some deep pulsing rhythms to which he added some bells. Ben at this point started adding some higher pitched vocal sounds fed through a bit of a phaser, creating a nice gurgling noise. Ben then turned to the a large hand drum while Rob began screaming the highest notes imaginable. It really lifted me off the floor, momentarily forgetting I was at the bottle. I felt I was floating in space listening to the noise created by background radiation and the pulsing of quasars. Yes this is drone music, based and constructed around a single chord. Its not music of movement but there is skill to the construction. Its the aural equivalent to a abstract painting. To cap it off, Ben and Rob brought us back down to earth even though we wanted nothing of the sort, leaving us wanting for the next show.

Now, if only Damo Suzuki had that kind of control. It started off well, with Damo taking the mic and singing in a deep guttural, almost bluesy voice. The backing band, as is customary with Damo current idea, was made up of local free jazz/improv luminaries: Joshua Abrams on bass Jason Adasiewicz on vibes David Daniell on guitar John Herndon on drums Jorge Ledezma on rhodes and moog Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Steve Krakow on guitar. As Damo started to lead the band with random rhythmic lyrics in a language not always comprehensible, Krakow and Herdon began with some simple scratches and brushes. Abrams fat low end locked in with Herdon and the group really started to take off. Slow and careful notes were replace with hectic raw energy. Adasiewicz banged the vibraphone in fits of euphoria, totally bug eyed. This pattern dominated the whole set, and for the first hour the crowd dug it. We were packed in tight, hanging on every shout and turn of Damo and the band. At time it really rocked, on par with those Can records. An hour in it started to slow down and I began to think “oh no, its almost over” while secretly wanting it to be the end.

There is a reason why you don’t eat your favorite food at every meal, why you go to that expensive savory restaurant only on special occasions. The contrast is what you really crave. At the hour and ten minute mark it picked back up again. Now the crowd had started to thin. This was becoming a test of endurance, for the crowd and the band. Over the next hour I would notice the crowd dwindle to well over half of its oringal size, and even members of the band appeared stunned. Fred Lonberg-Holm took a smoke break. At a point early in the set Ben and Rob joined the group, but by this late point they were also taking breaks. I know that this is part of the art of group improv, knowing your place in the larger group. Seeing how this was the first time any of the members stopped playing, I had a different idea. I am not completely down on this show, I am glad I went. Being the presence of one of my favorite singers of all time was special. It was a good set, unfortunately it would have been a great set if it was shorter.

View the complete photoset on flickr

I unfortunately missed the first few nights of this festival, there was just to much good music going on in Chicago. So while Gruff trumped Hair Police and the Lucksmiths won out over Pere Ubu nothing was going to keep me from missing this final night of the Wire Adventures in Modern Music (AIMM) festival. The line up was interesting, as is the magazine’s prerogative, with heavy Japanese rock trio Boris and soft and spacey Galaxie 500 spin off Damon & Naomi on the same bill. Besides being on tour together (the fest was the first date) the guitarist of “Ghost”:, Michio Kurihara, whom both bands have made records with, joined each set.

Damon & Naomi rounded out the line up with Helena Espvall (of Espers) on cello and Bhob Rainey on sax. For those keeping score at home, notice the lack of a drummer. This was really quiet but not at all loose. Damon’s strummed acoustic guitar and Naomi’s keyboard or bass parts created a solid foundation to which each of the other musicians added the most beautiful parts. The set pulled heavily from D & N newest release “Within These Walls” which is a sad and wonderfully lush record. I lost myself in the sound many times through the set, everything coming together just so. Kurihara’s very electric guitar meshed well with Helena’s cello, the two of them seamlessly bouncing sounds around the stage. Damon said at one point during the set that they promised Boris they would play as quiet as possible, luckily they were atleast loud enough to be heard over the usual empty bottle chatter.

I was in absolute suspense as D&N stuff cleared the stage and the little red/orange lights of the Boris’s 4 full guitar cabinets turned on. There was a full Marshall stack and a bass rig on each side of the drum kit, which included a huge gong. Each moment as early Pink Floyd drifted through the PA I dreamt about what was in store. I am such a bad judge of crowds, would Boris fans be moshers or not. It was super crowded and getting a bit warm but finally Boris took the stage and started with a slow droney track, the first track from the album Rainbow which they did with Kurihara. Most of the set pulled from this record with a few tracks off of last years heavy metal album Pink . You could tell the crowd really wanted more Pink tracks but were equally satiated with the variety. Surprisingly, they weren’t as loud as I feared, the big amps on stage really just making the PA mostly for vocals. This actually sounded really good, the guitars were bright and thick. Takeshi’s doubled necked bass/guitar created some heavy drones and thick chords which Wata and Kurihara soloed over nicely. Wata sang about 3 numbers, including the very low key and spacey encore, showing off the psych-rock side of Boris. I think some of the attendees in the audience who may have been dragged to this show left with a better appreciation for the band as more then just a heavy drone act.

View the photo set here

I will start this off by saying that for $50 for 2.5days of music is really a steal. Water was still a buck (even though guys outside the gates were trying to tell newbies that it would be $3 inside), there was still 3 stages, and still more music then you could shake a stick at. New for this year was more people, it seemed like they upped the limit so I was consistently farther away from stages this year then last.

These extra tickets seemed to go to pot smoking gabby meatheads. I will go on record and say that I don’t like causal drug use, espically at an outdoor festival. It gives me a migraine, which make me grumpy and then even more mad. It was worst for Sonic Youth set, possibly due to GZA sharing the same stage. Coupled with the crazy moshing and pushing going on I was not as into the set as I was hoping I would be. I can understand getting into a set but crushing people and beating them up is not acceptable. There seemed to be a lot of that pent-up 90’s macho aggression all weekend, with Dan Decon’s set getting cut short due to crowd issues and multiple bouts of crowd surfing at all stages. I mean really, who the fuck crowd surfs anymore. The last thing I want to do in the sweaty heat is hold your ass above my head. The last straw for me was the booing and throwing of stuff at Yoko Ono. I am not the hugest fan of hers and I agree that she may be a bit much to take at times but no one is forcing you to stay. It was the end of the day, go head over to an after party early. I will say that she actually delievered one of the most impressive and memorable sets I will ever see. The free noise advant duet with Thurston Moore was breathe taking. It almost made me cry it was so moving and powerful.

That brings me to other things I liked. Deerhunter was a surprise hit for me. I have been listening to the record a bit but their set Sunday was amazing. Reverb heavy and super fuzzy I was surprised the PA system was able to hold up. It was one of the few mouth agape sets of the weekend. Jamie Lidell was also quite impressive, with his beatbox looping and soulful voice. I was interested in catching Mastodon until they finally appeared, then I was scared shitless. I would have liked Vandermark’s Powerhouse Sound but I could barely hear it, a constant theme at the balance stage. Battles were impressive and much tighter then the record would indicate.

Overall, I am getting old and bit worn out. I like things the way there were. I am happy more people could get in this year, but if it was only so that they could pay for the video projection of the stages I think other choices could be made. Every year the sound has been stellar, I could easily hear one stage from the other in year past. This year I couldn’t hear Slint from the the other stage as I was camping out for Sonic Youth. We’ve already heard the problems with the third or “balance” stage. I will echo the opinions and say bring back the DJ’s and make it a place to chill and catch some shade and maybe eat a bit.

Oh and Chicagoist I was that kid with the “I listen to bands that don’t exist yet” shirt. I don’t think it was ironic but I do think it funny that you’re legs were tired after seeing 2 bands, try biking 18 miles each day with 30lbs of crap on your back and catching all 24hrs of music. You should say Hi next time, I promise I don’t bite.

So I am completely hooked on the Vague Angels and the newest liam singer album. os its those 2 and a bunch of elliot smith and daniel johnston…with a bit of the high dials thrown in so that i dont kill myself.

While not the most accessible night of music at the bottle , it was well attended. Most of the people that where there knew what they were in for and they loved every minute of it. Even those dragged in by friends were mostly converted by the end of the night. Considering that each band that played mostly played one “song”, the time flew by, leaving us all wanting more.

First up was Good Stuff House, which contains members of another great Chicago band Zelienople . They didn’t ease us into the water at all, starting with a caterwaul of guitar noise and drum set smashing. The 3 of them, Matt Christensen and Mike Weis (Zelionople) and Scott Tuma (Souled American, Boxhead Ensemble, et al.), took us through the depths of raw noise first, slowly allowing us to emerge into a soft sublime jazz drone toward the end of their set. You could see the concentration and feel the communication between them, each note and beat picked for a specific reason to create the most perfect musical space.

The first time I saw “White/Light“:http://www.myspace.com/whitelightdrone was at one of those monday free nights at the bottle. They were second of 3 and I completely forgot what the other 2 bands were that night. I had read alot about drone musics at the time, and even tried to listen to records by Boris and SunO))) not really understanding them. After that set I realized 2 things 1) drone/metal was a hipster way of saying they listened to low-frequency ambient music and 2) this music was something that needs to be experienced live. Sitting in the bottle the crushing volume and low-frequency rumble almost made me faint. I would buy their record if I could play it in my house loud enough to do it justice. Matt Clark and Jeremy Lemos used guitar, small pump organ, keyboards and multiple pedal effects to resubmerge us. Their set was the mirror image of Good Stuff House, starting with a light drone on the pump organ eventually climaxing to full guitar/keyboard/effect noise. They have a record coming out with lichens . Hopefully a record release show at the bottle will follow. That would be a show not to be missed.

The final performance of the night was something I had been waiting for all year. After seeing Rhys Chathams “Essentialist” at the wire fest (which accoording to a friend was Rhys’s first time performing in Chicago) I started to consume his whole back catalog. I knew of the man, minmalmist composing god in the realms of Glenn Branca , but never got around to listening to his stuff. For this show he was performing his Guitar Trio the same way he did at Max’s Kansas City in 1979, except with 9 guitarists instead of 3. I had a hard time convincing my co-workers the greatness of a composition that consists of one chord (E) played for over 40minutes. There is more to it then that though, there is the volume that allows the listener to hear many overtones and a heavy sense of rhythm and dynamics that draw you in. The first run through the piece was subdued but still intense. John McIntyre’s drumming was limited to mostly high-hat hits for the duration and the dynamics were primarily driven by the guitars and bass (which included a whos-who of Chicago musicians; Rob Lowe, Ben & Adam Vida, Doug McCombs, Jeff Parker, and Josh Abrams). At the conclusion, Rhys approaches the microphone and asks the crowd if they would like to hear one more song. When we answer loudly “Yes” he gets as giddy as a school girl, responding “Oh, I hoped you would say that!”. He then turns to Ben Vida and asks what key the song is in, jokingly answering his own question “B flat, right?”. The ensemble launches back into the piece again, this time accompanied by the original slides that were shown at the 1979 performance. The slides are grainy black and white photos, one of which adorns the cover of An Angel moves to fast to See . During this take the drums are powerful and the guitars have kicked it up a notch. Even though I knew what was coming I still stood with my mouth agape, the power of the piece lifting me off the floor and giving me a strange sense of vertigo. We managed to get them back on stage for an encore that consisted of a piece called “just intonation” in which everybody randomly retuned their guitar, thus completely focusing the piece on rhythm. A fitting desert for the thanksgiving sized feast that was Guitar Trio Hero’s.

Read more about Rhys Chatham here

Rhys @ myspace here and here for The Essentialist, his 5 piece metal band

Flickr set for the night here

qouted from the latest Reckless Records email:

Reckless Records Chicago
3161 N. Broadway 773-404-5080
1532 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-235-3727
new location to be announced soon
www.reckless.com
bring us your used everything, special order everything else

(i added the emphasis to the above)

lets spectulate where this could be? and does it mean 3 Recklesses or is it curtians for the lakeview one ? (since the wicker park one just got new carpet i doubt that they were going to leave it any time soon)

Arlo Guthrie - Alice’s Restaurant
Neil Young - Zuma
Juana Molina - Salvese Quien Pueda (Four Tet Remixes)
Caribou - Yeti EP
Pieces of April (dvd)
Bonnie “Prince” Billy - Summer in the Southeast
Bonnie “Prince” Billy - The Letting Go

So last night Kirstie and I went to Muse Cafe because every first thursday of the month they have what they are calling a:

Electro-Acoustic Workshop Electronic and analog musicians alike come together on 1st thursdays to participate in a jam session unlike this city has ever beheld. Hosting band TBA. Plan on bringing your instruments and be ready for some live improvisation, jungle, idm, early fusion, junglebop, and avantrock

Last night the hosting band was a band from New Orleans called The Other Planets . They were really the best when the songs became unscripted, while the written riffs were quite good the dense sound they would build up during the middle was very good. The sax player and some guy on a sampler were the 2 that I like the most. After about a 40 minute set of theirs the floor was opened to the jam session. I walked up with my stuff along with another guitar player, a bass player, a drummer and another guy on a drum machine type thing that was quite intersting. Being that I think most of the ppl seemed to know eacher and the instrumentation collected the set (about 2 songs totaling 30 minutes or so maybe less) was a fairly straight ahead guitar jazz/funk set. I am not trained at all in this type of music (or any music really) so my brain was working overtime to figure out where the band was at all times and how I would fit myself in. I have never done anything like this before, but there I was and I had to do something. At times I tried picking notes and overtones that sounded right over the top of the guitar wankery that was going on. I really never felt like I fit in and then I started to get really frustrated becase this other guitar player was really just there to show off and so I started to take it upon my self to attempt to destroy the whole set. After a few minutes in this mode I turned up to see this girl, sitting off to the side, who I hadnt noticed before. She was trying to skat and was doing a pretty good job and this changed my mood immediatly. I started to again really listen and try to find a place but the music was still really fast and it was becoming more clear that the other guitarist had no interest in trying to start a dialog.

As I mentioned Kirstie was there as was a friend of mine from work, Steve Richards. He came and let me use his amp but didnt actually play, which is sad because I think he would have been much better at this then I was. Kirstie told me later that he really didnt come to play but just to see me. How nice. Kirstie was also way to kind (and crazy) and did all this crazy running around and stuff just to get the car done early so that we could get down to this thing. She is the greatest.

Overall, my brain has never been pushed to the limits it was last night. Through countless chemistry/math/physics tests in college that would take hours to complete, I would leave felling slightly euphoric (espically if I think I did well) but this was totally different. After the 2 peices finished my brain was still flying away at 100mph which made talking and ordering cake and saying the various thankyous incredibly difficult. Besides learning about playing in group and discovering those difficulties I also found out something about playing my guitar psyically in a live setting. And that is: it feeds back like a mother being that its semi-hollow and do to the small confines I had to either stand infront of the amp that I was playing or sit on the other amp to be able to both hear my guitar and hit my pedals. The whole experience was very much like the first time I used chopsticks. One of the first times I went out to lunch with my group at work we went to a sushi place and everyone was using chopsticks. I was forced to eat with a utensil that I had never used before but by the end of the meal was getting pretty good at it and actually started to enjoy it. I will attempt a few more of these nights in the coming months and see if a change in hosting band changes the jam session in some way.

that I did not hear, but I have read read a lot about.

So with that muddling around my head I composed this Human-Animal Hybrid. Enjoy