Jun 02 : "7:30 am" - Slothrust (Brooklyn)

(( May 29-30 Mix & Match, Part 1 ))

I first heard Brooklyn band "Slothrust" play in Philly at Kung Fu Necktie, when they were an opener for local band The Silence Kit. The date was October 18, 2012, to be exact.

I was impressed with their sound and had been keeping my eye open for another opportunity to hear them play. ... That time came on Thursday night when they headlined at Glasslands. They did a good show, playing a lot of songs from both of their recent albums.

From their last.fm page ::: Slothrust is a blues-influenced grunge project consisting of guitarist/vocalist Leah Wellbaum, bassist Kyle Bann, and drummer Will Gorin. Jazz and blues graduates of Sarah Lawrence College, the three gravitate toward music that is heavy and full of lyrical grit, dynamically fusing the rawness of the 90s with contemporary edge.

I've been listening to their Soundcloud page which contains a lot of the music I heard Thursday night. One of my favorite songs is "7:30 am", which is playing right here on my blog page. Listen to how they play with the tempo and sound volume, switching back and forth between milder and more frantic phrasings.

"7:30 am" is just one example. They've got surprises, they've got unexpected stylings and they've got some idiosyncratic song structures. Here is the click to their Soundcloud page ::: Slothrust on Soundcloud. And here is their click to Facebook ::: Slothrust on Facebook. Even though Slothrust ventures into different tempos and styles, their music has a well-developed persona that binds their work together.

As a side comment, I've just started reading "The Windup Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami. Both the themes in the book and some of the Slothrust lyrics have me on edge. Each has seemed to enhance the experience with the other. Strange coincidence.

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Thursday night was special; altogether heard a few bands of note. Check back here in a few days for "Part 2".

May 18 : "Tourism" - Garciaphone (Auvergne, FR)

Monday night I went to Pianos and heard a show by "Garciaphone", a band with roots from a lot of places, but currently from Auvergne, France.

The band has three musicians on its team. I enjoyed their show and have been listening to their Soundcloud page. One of the songs featured is "Tourism" ::::

Garciaphone doesn't have any other shows listed in the near future, but here is their page to check them out ::: Garciaphone (CLICK HERE)

(((I still get to Pianos a little late. They always start on time, which is a good thing, but I'm just not accustomed to that based on my experiences from most everywhere else. The band had just started before I got there. :) )))

May 08 : "Republic of Outsiders" - Alissa Quart

I just finished reading "Republic of Outsiders", by Alissa Quart. This is a very positive and uplifting book. The subtitle of this book is "The Power of Amateurs, Dreamers, and Rebels". The book talks about how people moving on the fringes of society have done things their own way, creating new norms that have then been assimilated by society as a whole.

The book has seven chapters and is divided into three parts, the first of which is titled "Outsider Mentality". Part of this section (Chapter 1: "Beyond Sanity") is where the author interviews people with mental health issues who talk about some of the problems they face, such as "over-diagnosing" and "over-medication", and how, through their uniting with each other, have successfully brought some of these issues to the attention of the medical community to bring about actual change.

Part two is "After the Gatekeepers" where she talks about how individuals have brought about change in entire industries. In Chapter 5 "Beyond Top 40", she interviews musicians who tell about how they more and more often are defining their own personae and marketing themselves directly to their fans with less help from middle men who formerly would have exercised too much control and grabbed a huge chunk of their profits, and maybe stifled creativity along the way.

And lastly is Part three which is "The Center Cannot Hold", she talks about the huge impact that some innovators have had on the total market. In Chapter 6, "Beyond Meat", one of the stories she tells is that of David Lee, a man who was a chef at a prominent restaurant in Seattle. One day while riding his bike in a commercial area, he passed a slaughterhouse, and in the parking lot saw a chicken lying on the pavement. It was half-alive; it was bleeding and gasping for breath. ... He was moved by the chicken's suffering. The event haunted him for weeks. He later arranged for a professional chef's tour of the facility and saw for himself what went on there and what he was collaterally involved with.

The author writes on page 136: The slaughterhouse was Lee's final epiphany. He decided then and there to leave the job where he cooked meat. He then, with the help of family and friends, founded the company, "Field Roast", where he is trying to make "faux meat" the center of the plate for American consumers. ... She goes on to talk about how many branches and levels of the animal rights movement are encompassing more people and bringing about change.

In Chapter 7, "Beyond Mass Markets", she talks about another new trend, one that we're familiar with here in Philadelphia, and that's the movement towards more urban farms. One of the stories the author tells is about Annie Novak and her massive "Eagle Street Rooftop Farm" in Brooklyn.

In "Republic of Outsiders", you spend time with some interesting people who are proactive about implementing some very creative ideas. The book is a worthwhile read, and its stories of many daring accomplishments by individual people is a hopeful and positive antidote to the all-too-frequent stories we hear about overbearing corporate power and greed.

If you think you may be interested in reading this book, I would recommend, to be consistent with the spirit of the book, that you consider purchasing from an Indie Bookseller. :)

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"Republic of Outsiders"
(c) 2013 by Alissa Quart.
New York, The New Press.
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6/15---Of course I would just have to add that I feel privileged to know and work with people who are all doing their parts in being part of the Republic of Outsiders. What was so refreshing about the book was the documentation of the efforts.

Apr 05 : "I Could Be" - The Silence Kit (Philly)

New Music / Freshly Written & Formally Released Tonite!

Philly Music!

"Wow" I said when I first heard this song. I've been listening to Philly post-punk band The Silence Kit for several years now, and hearing this track for the first time instantly made it my favorite Silence Kit song.

I like complex instrumentals, and this song has so much going on. Listen to the track, especially around the 2.00 mark when a few different background patterns start to kick in, each going its own way.

"I Could Be" is the first track on the band's new full-length album, titled "Watershed", which will have its special release show this evening at Bourbon & Branch, here in Philly.

My work sked has me on an early-morning routine this weekend, so, unfortunately, not being able to go to their show myself, I'm writing about it in advance, rather than afterwards. The Silence Kit always does a good show, and I'd recommend everybody go.

The Silence Kit has a presence all over the internets. Here is a click to their band page. The Silence Kit, band page (CLICK HERE).

Apr 01 : "Tune Out" - Raindeer (Baltimore)

New Music / Freshly Written & Recently Released (July)

Went to Williamsburg last night. Cameo Gallery.

I had waited a long time to hear this band again. When I had gone to Hampdenfest in 2011, Baltimore band "Raindeer" was a band I heard for the first time. I immediately liked them. Something about the variety of textures in the instrumentals.

When I got home I liked them on all the appropriate pages and hoped for a time when I could see them again.

Nothing ever seemed to work out until last night, when I saw they were going to be playing in Willimasburg on a day when I was going to be working up in New York anyway.

The band has changed since I originally saw them. They've had a personnel-shuffle-around and they've now expanded to become a five-piece.

I liked them even more last night. The extra members as well as the indoor setting gave the band a richer, fuller sound. The band sounded good at Hampdenfest, but that was an outdoor stage with a relatively impromptu sound system set up for a one-day event. The sound system at Cameo Gallery as well as the room's high ceiling and nice acoustics served the band very well.

Altogether the band played eight songs. When I talked with the band afterwards, they told me that six out of the eight songs were new. When I asked about a particular song that I especially liked that had some unusual and powerful drum work in the intro, they told me that the songs were so new, they hadn't decided on final names yet.

So this was a really good chance to get a sneak peak as to what their next album will be like. From what I heard last night, the band is continuing to explore some interesting textures. The new album is titled "You Look Smashing". I'm looking forward to getting my own copy of that song with the drums. :)

Here is a sample of some of their recent work, "Tune Out" from the band's album "Tattoo", released last July.

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6/27/20 UPDATE! ::: OOPS! Looks like the band removed this song from their page!

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The band has another show coming up on Saturday, April 12, at Johns Hopkins University. In the meantime, here is the click to their Facebook page ::: Raindeer on Facebook (CLICK HERE)