Showing posts with label Salem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salem. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
3/15 show Recap
Thanks to everyone who came out to see The Fortieth Day + Noise Crush last night at The Empty Bottle. We had a great time and hopefully this will not be our "annual" show. Preparing for shows with Lisa is always a pleasure, as we get to re-introduce the mesmerizing video element to our weekly sessions. It was also excellent to have James involved, for the first time. The fuller synth sound really clicked for us and definitely helped balance the rumbling bass and chiming guitar. I guess that it turned out to be sort of BLOODYMINDED in disguise. It was nice to have so many friends there, at what turned out to be a "technically" sold out show. The technicality was that there were a bunch of unclaimed pre-sold tickets. Weird. Neil Jendon was up after us, and while he seemed to offer the beat hungry audience some hope -- as Isidro's beats were about 20 BPM -- and people were bobbing their heads to Neil's throbbing modular synth -- it was only a matter of time before he switched to kill mode and unleashed some ear-gouging frequencies on the full house. You could literally see people recoil in horror. I have to say that it was a beautiful moment. Silk Flowers were up next and it was great to have them back in Chicago and back at The Empty Bottle. Compared to their previous show with Anatomy of Habit, their sound seemed clearer and more balanced and it felt like a totally accomplished and in-control set. Salem were up last and while some in the crowd were patiently waiting for a (Levi's/Fader Fort video-style) trainwreck, it never occurred. While the music was pretty basic dark dance music... sort of in the Q Lazzarus realm of synth-pop, with several songs having a strong female lead vocal presence, and their stage set had a handsome Dan Flavin influence, I could not personally get into the rap vocals, which were a visual disconnect, and simply not to my taste. It never got as syrupy-slow as I thought it might, either. The crowd remained pretty low key throughout the night, but polite and seemingly appreciative of the mixture and the progression of artists. Again, thanks to our friends, for their support. Thanks to Pete at The Empty Bottle for setting it up. Thanks to Patrick (Unur) at The Empty bottle for the great sound (all night) and the emergency guitar repair (phew!!!). Maybe again in the fall???
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tonight - 3/15
Note: James Moy (BLOODYMINDED/Anal Hearse) will be joining The Fortieth Day on synth for this increasingly very rare performance. Copies of the new "Constantinople: 746 AD" (Parts One and Two) CDs will be available at the show.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
More from Time Out on 3/15
From Time Out
Music
Esben and the Witch at Empty Bottle; Salem at Empty Bottle | Concert previews
Salem and Esben and the Witch fly on broomsticks into the Empty Bottle this week. But which is truly bewitching?
By Brent DiCrescenzo
One of the more inane microgenres born on blogs, witchhouse is merely a new spin on goth. Chillwave’s evil doppelgänger buries spooky keyboards in shallow-fidelity graves as obscured vocals sing of bones instead of beaches. Honestly, it’s like Bauhaus, had Bauhaus grown up on hip-hop and been given no budget.
Salem has become the most publicized face of the sound, primarily because the Michigan trio serves up great journalist juice. Member John Holland was quoted in BUTT magazine talking about his days as a teen prostitute, and the band has titled an EP Yes, I Smoke Crack, modeled for fashion spreads in The New York Times Magazine and generally bombed hard onstage.
Less discussed was the group’s debut album, 2010’s King Night, a murk of cheap gangsta riddims, menacing keyboards and mumbled threats. Like a wet dream of Larry Clark, Jack Donoghue raps monosyllabic, nihilistic thoughts on “Sick.” But strip away the layers of gimmicks and you’re left with little more than a smoke machine.
To be fair, the far more literate Esben & The Witch merely have the misfortune of putting “witch” in their name during this witchhouse trend. The Brighton, England, threesome goes trad gothic on its recent first record, Violet Cries, something that could have easily fit alongside Dead Can Dance on 4AD circa 1986.
Rachel Davies takes her bittersweet time, chanting low in drawn-out vowels over a fog of delicate feedback and faint tribal drumming. What at first seems like a palette of pure gray reveals surprising detail on closer listens, as when the keyboards tink like dripping icicles in “Hexagons IV.” There’s a seamless mix of digital and organic textures, but more important, some real emotion. Esben can be harrowing, gorgeous or somehow both, but it’s not all shock tactics and makeup.
Music
Esben and the Witch at Empty Bottle; Salem at Empty Bottle | Concert previews
Salem and Esben and the Witch fly on broomsticks into the Empty Bottle this week. But which is truly bewitching?
By Brent DiCrescenzo
One of the more inane microgenres born on blogs, witchhouse is merely a new spin on goth. Chillwave’s evil doppelgänger buries spooky keyboards in shallow-fidelity graves as obscured vocals sing of bones instead of beaches. Honestly, it’s like Bauhaus, had Bauhaus grown up on hip-hop and been given no budget.
Salem has become the most publicized face of the sound, primarily because the Michigan trio serves up great journalist juice. Member John Holland was quoted in BUTT magazine talking about his days as a teen prostitute, and the band has titled an EP Yes, I Smoke Crack, modeled for fashion spreads in The New York Times Magazine and generally bombed hard onstage.
Less discussed was the group’s debut album, 2010’s King Night, a murk of cheap gangsta riddims, menacing keyboards and mumbled threats. Like a wet dream of Larry Clark, Jack Donoghue raps monosyllabic, nihilistic thoughts on “Sick.” But strip away the layers of gimmicks and you’re left with little more than a smoke machine.
To be fair, the far more literate Esben & The Witch merely have the misfortune of putting “witch” in their name during this witchhouse trend. The Brighton, England, threesome goes trad gothic on its recent first record, Violet Cries, something that could have easily fit alongside Dead Can Dance on 4AD circa 1986.
Rachel Davies takes her bittersweet time, chanting low in drawn-out vowels over a fog of delicate feedback and faint tribal drumming. What at first seems like a palette of pure gray reveals surprising detail on closer listens, as when the keyboards tink like dripping icicles in “Hexagons IV.” There’s a seamless mix of digital and organic textures, but more important, some real emotion. Esben can be harrowing, gorgeous or somehow both, but it’s not all shock tactics and makeup.
Time Out previews 3/15 show
From Time Out
Salem + Silk Flowers + Neil Jendon + The Fortieth Day & Noise Crush
Critics' Pick
Salem has become the most publicized face of the witchhouse microgenre, primarily because the Midwest trio serves up great journalist juice. Member John Holland was quoted in BUTT magazine talking about his days as a teen prostitute, and the band has titled an EP Yes, I Smoke Crack, modeled for fashion spreads in The New York Times Magazine and generally bombed hard onstage. Less discussed was the group’s debut album, 2010’s King Night, a murk of cheap gangsta riddims, menacing keyboards and mumbled threats. Like a wet dream of Larry Clark, Jack Donoghue raps monosyllabic, nihilistic thoughts on “Sick.” But strip away the layers of gimmicks and you’re left with little more than a smoke machine. Colorful psych outfit Silk Flowers supports with churning, intense sounds.
Salem + Silk Flowers + Neil Jendon + The Fortieth Day & Noise Crush
Critics' Pick
Salem has become the most publicized face of the witchhouse microgenre, primarily because the Midwest trio serves up great journalist juice. Member John Holland was quoted in BUTT magazine talking about his days as a teen prostitute, and the band has titled an EP Yes, I Smoke Crack, modeled for fashion spreads in The New York Times Magazine and generally bombed hard onstage. Less discussed was the group’s debut album, 2010’s King Night, a murk of cheap gangsta riddims, menacing keyboards and mumbled threats. Like a wet dream of Larry Clark, Jack Donoghue raps monosyllabic, nihilistic thoughts on “Sick.” But strip away the layers of gimmicks and you’re left with little more than a smoke machine. Colorful psych outfit Silk Flowers supports with churning, intense sounds.
The Reader on 3/15
From The Reader
With their Ryan-McGinley-goes-to-the-trailer-park looks and trendy witch-house sound—imagine a goth DJ's record collection chopped and screwed—Salem effortlessly leapt from obscurity to indie-music-blog ubiquity. Soon enough, most of the people paying attention to the group went from loving them to ignoring them in favor of the new-new—as is usually the case in these situations—but sticking with Salem has proved interesting. I still find much of last year's King Night (Iamsound) unlistenable, but in a really fascinating way that continues to compel me to put the album on. With their daring way of being tunefully terrible, their ability to attract frequent accusations of exploitative cultural appropriation, and their druggy-cool image, Salem just might be this generation's Pussy Galore. It's about time. —Miles Raymer
With their Ryan-McGinley-goes-to-the-trailer-park looks and trendy witch-house sound—imagine a goth DJ's record collection chopped and screwed—Salem effortlessly leapt from obscurity to indie-music-blog ubiquity. Soon enough, most of the people paying attention to the group went from loving them to ignoring them in favor of the new-new—as is usually the case in these situations—but sticking with Salem has proved interesting. I still find much of last year's King Night (Iamsound) unlistenable, but in a really fascinating way that continues to compel me to put the album on. With their daring way of being tunefully terrible, their ability to attract frequent accusations of exploitative cultural appropriation, and their druggy-cool image, Salem just might be this generation's Pussy Galore. It's about time. —Miles Raymer
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Flavorpill on 3/15
From Flavorpill
Gutter industrial trio Salem make their Bottle debut after much praise for their two stellar EPs - the first of which, Yes I Smoke Crack on Acephale, sold out before it finished pressing - and a punishing new full length out via Merok. Conceptually, they're almost classical, but screw, juke and disembodied bass all feed into the murky lo-fi sound and, in the words of FADER, "celebrate release, whether from comfort or nightmarish inevitability." Silk Flowers are new signings to No Age-run PPM label and bring some east coast grit to the roster. Dean Spunt has called them "the weirdest band I know;" that's saying something. Analog synthesizer maestro Neil Jendon and BloodLust! labelmates Fortieth Day rejoin recent MCA video artist Lisa Slodki (Noise Crush) to open tonight's explosion of unholy rumbles.
Gutter industrial trio Salem make their Bottle debut after much praise for their two stellar EPs - the first of which, Yes I Smoke Crack on Acephale, sold out before it finished pressing - and a punishing new full length out via Merok. Conceptually, they're almost classical, but screw, juke and disembodied bass all feed into the murky lo-fi sound and, in the words of FADER, "celebrate release, whether from comfort or nightmarish inevitability." Silk Flowers are new signings to No Age-run PPM label and bring some east coast grit to the roster. Dean Spunt has called them "the weirdest band I know;" that's saying something. Analog synthesizer maestro Neil Jendon and BloodLust! labelmates Fortieth Day rejoin recent MCA video artist Lisa Slodki (Noise Crush) to open tonight's explosion of unholy rumbles.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
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