Thursday, November 24, 2016

Daniel Bachman w/ Alexander 11/23/16 Best Video

Opener Alexander was a young hipster that played acoustic finger style acoustic guitar. Droney loops of runs gave an almost trance-americana feel. All original compositions that had "no titles", were deftly exhibited. He did mention that one untitled tune was on a split with Swamp Yankee whose members were in attendance. I find it hard to believe he couldn't go to the paint section of Home Depot and come up with titles like "Forest Glen" or "Flippant She-Creature" to chronicle these instrumental gems.
Daniel Bachman is a young guitarist in the tradition of John Fahey, Glen Jones, and Jack Rose. The style is called "primitive guitar" for reasons I don't quite get. The music is technical and complex. Bachman, no relation to Michelle or Turner-Overdrive, played a 12-string ( with the accompaniment of a friend on harmonium (that looked like a backgammon set)), lap slide, and acoustic 6-string all to great effect. Bachman tuned a lot, saying that he's ending a long road stint that took it's toll on his instruments. Daniel seemed most like Jack Rose with his familiarity with the blues, coaxing an awesome tune from the lap slide. Another song was listed as a "sped up version" of an old ragtime song. While the performance space at Best Video is no frills, I am glad to have seen this rising star of this type of music.

Monday, November 21, 2016

The Kitchen Dwellers w/ Upstate Rubdown 11/20/16 Spaceland Ballroom

Upstate Rubdown was a curious mash of styles hailing from New York State. A trio of female singers, standup bass, mandolin, multi-reedist, and percussionist.The percussionist tapped and strummed and even used brushes on a wooden box contraption that he sat on. The mando and bass were the members with the most bluegrass chops. The reedist played flute, sax, and baritone sax. The ladies had nice vocal harmonies that were emphasized by an old-timey microphone, like the Andrews Sisters on Hee-Haw. The bari sax did a nice lead in to a rousing rendition of Billie Jean. These kids were not even born when MJ's Thriller came out.
The Kitchen Dwellers are a straight up bluegrass outfit from Bozeman MT. Acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, standup bass, and mandolin comprised the quintet. These guys were somewhere between Railroad Earth and Yonder Mountain String Band on the bluegrass continuum. Somewhat jammy, but definitive song structure made for an enjoyable listen. Sparse crowd for a Monday, which was too bad.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Xylouris White w/ Marisa Anderson 11/16/16 Bar

Caught the last half of Marisa Anderson's set. Solitary female guitarist, Anderson has been positively reviewed in this blog before (opened for Tashi Dorji at Cafe 9). Anderson plays loud, just shy of distortion, but the wide open feel to her songs really resonate. Her new record references the American west and has a lighter feel than her previous bluesier outings. Lamenting the recent election results, Anderson played a great take on "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" saying it was a historic call for action and readiness.
Xylouris White is the duo of Cretan lutist George Xylouris and Australian drummer (and member of The Dirty Three) Jim White. The lute was amped in such a way as to not sound medieval. Xylouris' vocal style was tender and abrasive. Songs were sung in Greek. White had an odd avant grade drum style that looked like he was a puppet lifting his arms high above his head. He used mallets and sticks to great effect. Both of these musicians were middle aged and hairy. During one soft ballad, George put the lute down and went to the bar to scold some chatty millennials for not respecting his concert space. I know what you're thinking, Cretan lutist was a term that I convulsed toward president elect Trump in a fit of denial, but apart from noteworthy hair, and a language I don't understand, the comparison stops there.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Amirtha Kidambi's Elder Ones Quartet 11/11/16 Firehouse

Still reeling from the election, but made it to the second set at the Firehouse for Amirtha's quartet. Drums, standup bass, and soprano sax were the canvas for AK's harmonium and India-inflected vocal stylings. The group skronked and wailed while AK chirped and warbled over the fray. The harmonium looks like a fancy file folder that is pumped to make a sound somewhere between accordion and bagpipe. I felt bad for this female Indian American citizen who was " grateful for our attendance" , but did not want to "talk much between songs" for fear of losing it. Good set of straight ahead jazz.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Everyone Orchestra 11/9/16 Toads Place

Nice diversion from the verge of trumpocalypse. Everyone Orchestra is a jam alum consortium conducted by SF native Matt Butler. Steve Kimock on guitar, Vin Damico (moe.) on drums, Marc Brownstein (Disco Biscuits) bass, Aaron Manger (Disco Biscuits) keys, Tim Palmieri (Kung Fu, Z3, and local hero) guitar, singer/congas from the Motet, sax and trumpet players nicked from Brooklyn jazzbos Snarky Puppy. The group played extended jams with Butler goading members with hand gestures and iPad directions. Butler had a handcrafted garish suit and matching hat, prowling the stage he looked like a psychedelic mashup of Cab Calloway and Hunter Thompson. The funky soul stylings of the Motet guy grounded the extendo jams. Two full sets of music at this historic venue offered several hours of escapism from this hell-on-a-fast-train "society" that we live in. We can only hope that Johnson and Johnson is working on a long term ecstasy drip that will be over prescribed in 2017.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Ryley Walker w/ Circuit Des Yeux 11/2/16 Bar

Hayley Fohr performs under the moniker of Circuit Des Yeux. She was the cover feature on a recent edition of Wire magazine. Her drone-like guitar was augmented by a truly unusual voice. Fohr looked like your average Chicago hipster, but had a huge baritone voice that assaulted the crowd. She seemed shy between songs, but the voice left a mark. Closed her set with a rousing version of Sam Cooke's Change Is Gonna Come.
Ryley Walker is a Chicago singer songwriter who is comfortable with noise and jazz leanings. He played Wilco's Solid Sound Fest at Massmoca a couple of years ago. His release Primrose Green a few years back was critically received. His song structure is loose, with most songs allowing for some lysergic noodling. The band was Walker on guitar and vocals, another guitar, standup bass, and jazzy drummer. Good version of The Halfwit in Me from his most recent record. He closed the set with a fantastic version of Van Morrison's Fair Play. After the show, the final game of the Cubs-Indians World Series was still going on. I was chatting with Walker who was a Cubs fan natch, as the game went to a 10th inning rain delay, I said to Ryley that he'd always remember where he was for this historic win.