Milagres w/ Plume Giant Bar 2/26/14

You may have read me rave about Yalie trio Plume Giant. Two males, one female multi-instrumentalists that have captured beautiful harmony vocals. First time I've seen them since they graduated and moved to Brooklyn (which seems like the indie path of least possible resistance for east coast bands). Genuinely nice, this threesome has latched on to a Bon Iver meets Grizzly Bear vibe. Wielding some boho effects (xylophone, triangle, drumpad) in addition to the regular instrumentation of guitars and fiddle top with soaring vocal harmonies, this band is one ear away from stardom, if they want it. Plume Giant even crafted a light sculpture band sign. Let's hope that the ear that can push PG to the next level, passes by the right dive bar on the right night in Brooklyn.
   Milagres is another Brooklyn band of hipsters. Tight and technical, Milagres had a Robert Smith (The Cure) type front man. Muscular guitar and bass were at least brothers (if not clones), and excitable drummer made up the quartet. Higher energy and less finesse than PG, Milagres are another good example of Brooklyn's sea of hipster musicians. How bout a battle of the bands reality show highlighting one of the worlds best breeding grounds for new music?

William Kentridge "The Refusal Of Time" ICA Boston, 2/22/14

Conceptual artist Kentridge from South Africa has his Refusal of Time installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. A five channel video and audio project is very difficult to describe. A 30 minute project takes place in a room with a central "breathing machine", a large wooden metronome that pumps during the installation. All four walls have processional video comprised of black and white clips of dancers, sound comes through megaphones aimed at chairs in various locations in the room. Some video clips have torn paper mosaics arranged by Kentridge that are blown apart in slow motion. The soundtrack is a mixture of horns and tribal songs depicting South Africa. Unlike anything I've ever seen.

Cibo Matto 2/7/14 Spaceland Ballroom

Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori, the asian hiphop duo that are Cibo Matto, are kind of an enigma. A cult classic in the late nineties (Viva! La Woman), multiple name-checks by the Beastie Boys and Handsome Boy Modeling School, odd appearances on tribute albums (KCRWs sounds eclectic, Concert for Tibet et. al.), these ladies are free spirits. I knew I was in for a treat when I found myself standing next to Chris Frantz (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club drummer). The crowd was appreciative of CMs return to the scene after a decade hiatus. Opening with the classic Sugar Water, playing some material from their new Hotel Valentine release, these musical chameleons are comfortable in hiphop, soul, and pop-punk. I dare you to put on your most sincere (or maybe cheesiest) asian accent and recite their lyric "Obi-wan Kenobi told me in the lobby" from Sci-Fi Wasabi and try not to smile.

Greensky Bluegrass 1/29/14 Toads

Medium turnout for "casual wednesday" show at Toads. It's amazing how many performers name check the Rolling Stones surprise show in 1986. I chuckle, because aside from maybe a bartender or "turban man", I am probably the only one in attendance who was actually at that show. Greensky Bluegrass was made up of banjo, mandolin, bass, guitar, and national steel standup slide guitar. Kind of a Yonder Mountain String Band plus one. These guys were capable, and have been around for 7 or 8 releases. It was a head-scratcher to enter the club at 10pm and be in my car at 11pm after they finished ,including one encore. Bluegrass bands are notorious for longer sets. Nice reggae intro to Mr. Charlie, a hoe down of a Midnight Rider, and a sweet Sittin On Top Of the World were not enough to outweigh the brevity of the set. Even the aging Glimmer Twins played longer and only charged me $3.01 to get in.

Merkit Hadero 1/14/14 Cafe 9

Call me a sucker for the Daptonian Formula of voluptuous african-american female and skinny white jazzbos. In the case of Merkit Hadero, a young ethiopian poet and songstress. The band consisted of Hadero on vocals and acoustic, trumpet, bass, and drums made for a funky world stew. Hadero channelled phoebe snow, betty carter, angela davis, erykah badu. She had a great vibrato and sang several songs in her native tongue. Many songs followed a call-and-response jam feel. Awesome covers of Talking Heads' Naive Melody, and a jazzy version of the Police song "Bring On The Night". Merkit Hadero is one song away from world music stardom.

Mark Dresser Quintet 12/13/13 Firehouse 12

Expert bass player Dresser played with piano, drums, trombone, and the versatile Rudresh Mahanthappa on sax. On the way in, I overheard Mario Pavone lauding Dresser's first set, "I heard Duke and Muhal, thanks for the nourishment." Turns out Dresser's recent release is titled "Nourishment" from which much of the second set was culled. Five players gave a full sound with waves of improv onslaught. Telemojo started with an odd prepared piano intro that grew into a five-man blowout. Dresser talked of a new technology that allows him to play, realtime with players in other parts of the world...like a hi-fi super-skype. He is working at NYU with artists playing in Belfast and Zurich simultaneously. I have been a fan of Dresser's since his Knitting Factory days. Equally adept at plucking or bowing, Mark Dresser is a restless improviser.

Grandchildren w/ Snake Oil 12/4/13 Bar

   Regional opener Snake Oil was billed as an instrumental rock band influenced by Can, Lungfish, and Fela...count me in. Muscular drums and bass were the perfect backdrop for shapeshifting guitarist and organ/keys. Classically trained asian woman played moog and korg that gave the feel of 70s instrumental work like Soft Machine or Planet Gong. Trippy guitar workouts enhanced by moog atmospherics were nice. This band reminded me of the 90s No Wave band Pell Mell.

  Grandchildren from Philly were a rock sextet with a multi-instrumental flair. Acoustic guitar/lead vocals, melodica/drums/trombone, bass/percussion, keys/laptop/trumpet, drums/synthdrums, and guitar gave a loud percussive sound. Song structure that ebbed and swelled was great. This band reminded me of Blitzen Trapper or another Philly product Dr. Dog. Good live show, lots going on.