Author: andrea Page 61 of 71

My interview with local trio My Invisible is now online.

I discovered My Invisible purely by chance, on the recommendation of a friend. Then I remembered having almost gone to see them last summer when they played a fundraiser for Encyclopedia. (Ialmost go to a lot of shows —it’s increasingly difficult to get me out of the house, I’m afraid, but my intentions are good, they really are.)

I saw them play at White Electric a few weeks ago. Since then, they’ve quickly become my favorite local band. They’re going on a little tour soon, so I hope they become everyone else’s favorite local band too…

Before they were My Invisible, they were a quintet called Television Astronaut. In addition to Popahna Brandes, Carolina Maugeri, and Miranda Mellis, the band consisted of Talan Memmott on mandolin & Tom V. Davis on drums. Their EP, Wigs for the Headless, was super-limited so I’m giving you a couple of songs from that as well as two songs from My Invisible’s eponymous debut (which comes in a beautiful handwritten sleeve).

One thing that (sadly) got cut from my article (due to space constraints) was Miranda’s answer to the following question: “Leaf Records once put out a series called ‘Invisible Soundtracks,’ where they invited their favorite artists to create one piece in a score to an imaginary film. What would My Invisible’s film be like?”

“FROM MY PERSPECTIVE THE FILMS MY INVISIBLE WOULD PLAY WITH WOULD COMBINE THE COMPLEX LUCID AESTHETICS AND PAINTERLY, CONCEPTUALLY HIGH STAKES ABSTRACT SURFACES OF AVANT-GARDE EXPERIMENTAL SUBVERSIVE FILMS LIKE THOSE OF MAYA DEREN, CRAIG BALDWIN AND STAN BRACKAGE WITH THE CROSS-GENRE/POST-GENRE ABSURDISM OF FILMS LIKE THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUT WITH THE SCI-FI NOIR OF SAY BLADE RUNNER OR WONG KAR WAI WITH THE SINCERITY AND PHILOSOPHICAL/POLITICAL EMOTION OF FILMS LIKE WAKING LIFE AND DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST WITH THE UNDERSTATED HYSTERIA CULTURALLY ASTUTE IRONIC MELODRAMA OF FILMS LIKE THOSE OF TOD HAYNES ESPECIALLY SUPERSTAR AND SAFE WITH THE SILLY, HAPPY GO LUCKY, CAN DO, EVEN IF I CAN’T SPIRIT OF THE MARX BROTHERS.”

Happy Go Lucky, Can Do Spirit, Understated Hysteria, and Conceptually High Stakes Abstract Surfaces ~ My Invisible.

A selection from my interview with them:

“Put aside your preconceived notions of a chamber-instrument ensemble. Neither aloof nor pretentious, Providence’s My Invisible maintains a punk-rock subversiveness while gleefully coloring outside the lines of genre limitations. They’re wry changelings, equally at home crafting waltz-time laments as they are writing off-the-cuff paeans to their favorite Detroit Piston. They even have their own cheer.

Fittingly, it’s easier to define them by what they aren’t than by what they are, given that their very name evokes a kind-of absence by design. Neither drawing-room prim or Gothic kitsch (see: Rasputina), their music — although not rock by any stretch — flirts with the same quiet/loud dichotomy first patented by the Pixies, and to equally stirring effect. Exploiting negative as well as positive space, the band shapes gripping music — sometimes out of thin air.

You can hear it on their self-released debut, My Invisible, but it’s even more pronounced during their vibrant live show, in which the blend of cello, violin, guitar, Roxy (an antique instrument), pick-up percussion, and intricate harmonies intertwine to create something that’s hard to pin down. Searching for influences, one hears echoes of the Slits’ percussive, ramshackle humor, of This Heat’s haunting complexity, of Dirty Three‘s sun-drenched expansiveness. And if that sounds complicated, embodying all sorts of seemingly contradictory impulses is part of My Invisible’s considerable charm.”

(Click the link for the rest.)
MY INVISIBLE’S EAST COAST JAUNT

• May 13 2006 2:00PM AS220, Providence, RI

• May 18 2006 8:00P Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, NY

• May 19 2006 7:00P The Poetry Project, New York City, NY

• May 21 2006 8:00P Montague Book Mill, Montague, MA

PHOTO BY TESS TAKAHASHI.

Television Astronaut, “Cryptic Little Finale”

Television Astronaut, “Valentine for Guy Debord”

My Invisible, “Aggression”

My Invisible, “Duplicity”

• Glass Candy has been kind enough to post all of their ridiculously out-of-print tour CDs on theirwebsite sorry, fan site. I immediately went for their 12” remix of “Life After Sundown,” which is guaranteed to turn any cubicle into the Paradise Garage circa 1983 (minus the disco ball & the mountains of blow, of course —those you gotta supply yourself). But I’m looking forward to investigating the rest someday soon… For more on Glass Candy (including their summer tour dates with Chromatics) visit their Myspace page.

• This week I seem to be rediscovering music on my hard drive that I’d mistakenly overlooked.

First up: Old Time Relijun, a free-wheeling quartet who —despite the seemingly “olde timey” trappings are more like a punk rawk jug band seriously tweaked on home-stilled moonshine and pure sweaty religious fervor. The vocalist —who claims to be a student of Tuvan throat singing and, given what twisted utterances I’ve heard emanating from his gullet, I’d say, “Sure, why the hell not?”— is one part Gordon Gano and three parts James White. (A little bit of neurosis, a hell of a lot of gutter-weary soul.)

Old Time Relijun play at Providence’s own AS220 on May 22nd. For more tour dates visit the K records site. OTR’s albums are available from the K Punk Shop.

• Lenya Tilber. I first got Lenya’s CD when going through submissions to help book a show waaaay back when. I quite liked what I heard, but she didn’t get booked (for unrelated, completely banal reasons). I kind of forgot about having these tracks until just the other day, when I scrolled past “The Honest Voluptuary” in iTunes. But the bright-eyed clarity of her voice stopped me in my tracks and forced me to listen. Her voice is limited by a certain, slightly deceptive wide-eyed innocence (very ingénue) but the music, thankfully, shades in just the right notes of dread and sorrow.

Last I knew Lenya was attending Mills College. A quick web search yielded a sum total of …nothing. If anyone knows anything more about her or what she’s up to, drop me a note.

• And lastly but certainly not least, we have Montreal’s Shanghai Triad. A brand-new trio (but a few months old), they already have a visual polish and charm that eludes many a more established outfit. The group currently plays a repertoire of Chinese folk, jazz and blues from the 1930s and ‘40s, but promise originals soon. Listening to the impossibly elegant, mournful “Plum Blossom” (a traditional melody) I was transported back to the exquisite yearning of Wong Kar Wai’s “In the Mood for Love.” The warm tones of erhu (a two-stringed Chinese violin), guitar and accordion give an earthy backdrop for the lush, otherworldly vocals of Yi-Hsiuan (Shien) Lee.

Shien Lee and Lucas Lanthier’s other group, the Deadfly Ensemble, are currently on tour. Tour dates as follows:

• May 6: Albion NY, NY 9:00P
• May 7: Club Hell, Providence, RI 6:00P [with Holy Cow]
• May 9: Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, NY 6:00P
• May 10: The Rotunda, Philadelphia, PA 8:00P
• May 13: The Playhouse, Montreal 8:00P

SHANGHAI TRIAD PORTRAIT BY VALERIE SANGIN.

Glass Candy, “Life After Sundown 12” Version

Old Time Relijun, “Tigers In The Temple”

Lenya Tilber, “Pinafore”

Shanghai Triad, “Plum Blossom”

I think I’m still wrung out from Terrastock. I’ve been trying to write this post for a couple of days now and getting nowhere fast, not because I don’t have anything to say about the festival but because I feel as though I’m still in there. There’s an aura clinging to me —a happy blissed-out feeling— that must be directly related. (Lest you worry I’ve gone all Peace & Love on you I wager I’ll be back to my usual misanthropic self in no time.)

I’m not going to offer you an overview of the entire event —AS220’s done that for me, pretty much (complete with photos, even) here.

Instead I’m going to tell you which bands were my favorites —some I was unfamiliar with, and others impressed me anew. I may throw a couple of caveats or quibbles in there —just to be contrary.

1) Black Forest/Black Sea. Formerly a duo led by former Iditarod members Miriam Goldberg [cello, voice] and Jeffrey Alexander [guitar/electronics/various], now a trio augmented by Miriam’s sister, BF/BS played a set on Sunday afternoon that seemed far too short. I loved their textural precision —the cello harmonizing beautifully with mandolin, guitar, and vocals. I need to see them again, preferably when Jeffrey hasn’t been up for a week straight organizing a certain festival.

2) Charalambides. They played at the late, lamented Eli’s Mile High Club when I lived in SF but I missed it. (Tom Carter later told me that one of the bands got mugged on the way to the show so maybe I should be thankful I stayed away.) So I was happy to get another chance to see them live and they didn’t disappoint.

3) Lightning Bolt. OK, as a local I feel incredibly remiss that I’ve never witnessed the ‘bolt. When I lived in SF the Providence scene was spoken of in hushed tones and the reverence rested pretty squarely on LB’s shoulders. Maybe that’s why I’ve resisted for so long, because I had this inkling they couldn’t possibly be as innovative or as interesting as their reputation would suggest —that their singular mystique with the SF hipsters had as much to do with the limited, handcrafted releases, the staunch independence, and the live performance gimmickry (they always perform on the same level as their audience, rather than on a stage) as with the actual music. And now that I’ve seen them —well, not SEEN them. ‘Cause you don’t SEE Lightning Bolt —you see a tightly-wound crowd of their acolytes. (That makes them sound like a cult, doesn’t it? What would you call them?) Craning my neck to try and catch a glimpse of the elusive duo in their natural habitat, I wondered if any second I’d get chucked out for being an interloper. Then the music started —a low buzz that grew and grew into a massive, overwhelming wallop. It wasn’t …bad, exactly, but it was pretty samey. Crash, bang, rumble. It was kinda like if Skullflower had been wrangled into a Thrasher pool party and been asked to “shred, dude.” It makes for great fucked-up party music, if your party is a mescaline kegger. But it was monstrously, ear-splittingly loud. I fled after ten minutes. Lightning Bolt make me feel crankily old and out-of touch (even if I did graduate from RISD the same year they did).

4) Kemialliset Ystävät. Kemialliset Ystävät shares some members with Avarus, who also played at the festival. If I had to characterize Finnish sounds, I’d say that a Surrealist’s finely honed sense of whimsy seemed to be at the forefront. Plenty of humor animates this music, chiefly a Schwitters-like love of delightful nonsense. Ystävät sounded like an orchestra of Rube Goldberg contraptions, all wheezing and clanging and chirping in perfect harmony. Music should always be such a joyous discovery for the ears. Another Finnish discovery: the delightful tape-loop experiments of Kemialliset associate Kuupuu[aka Jonna Karanka].

5) Spires that In The Sunset Rise. Astonishing female-led quartet that called to mind a heavily folk-influenced Slits. The four band members traded off on instruments constantly throughout the set —an impressive array of harps, guitars, cello, drums, harmonium, banjo, mbira, spike fiddle, and bells. People often talk about “visionary” music but this struck me as the real thing —organic, unselfconscious, and earthy, they left the most indelible impression of any of the bands I saw this weekend.

6) Tanakh would be on this list if I hadn’t missed their (very early) Friday night set. I’ll have a proper review of their latest album soon, I promise.

I definitely enjoyed myself more this time around. Perhaps it was the fact that the bands were skewed heavily towards the pastoral folk end of the psych spectrum (T1 was more heavily garage-influenced), or that I didn’t have a twenty page paper to write (thank god). I got to catch up with friends I see all too rarely, I went record shopping, I saw Lightning Bolt at long last.

I’m so ready to do it all again next year.

Kemialliset Ystävät, “Paha” [from the T6 Compilation]

Kuupuu, “Myrsky Lualu”

Spires That In The Sunset Rise, “Imaginary Skin” [Available from Secret Eye]

PHOTO OF LIGHTNING BOLT FROM THE TERRASTOCK FLICKR PAGE.