BLOODYMINDED Live 3/22 Recap

BLOODYMINDED
22 March 2011
The Abbey Pub
Chicago, IL

With Cult of Youth, Socially Retarded, Population

BLOODYMINDED
James Moy - Synth + Mix + Vocals
Isidro Reyes - Synth + Vocals
Mark Solotroff - Vocals + Synth

01: LAKE STREET
02: ANGEL OF DARKNESS
03: TROPHY
04: WITHIN THE WALLS
05: GIRLFRIEND ATTEMPTS TO EXPLAIN SCHIZOPHRENIC EPISODE BY REVEALING CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE
06: IN THE MOOD
07: MIND THE GAP
08: PORN LORDS
09: A SONG FOR LISANNE, A YOUNG MODEL
10: LEAK (CADAVER IN DRAG)
11: GENITAL PANIC
12: PRO-ANA
13: BLIND FURY
14: TWO DROPS OF BLOOD
15: VISITING AN EX-GIRLFRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL – AIDS WARD
16: OUTSIDE THE GATE
17: CHALK EATER
18: CHINATOWN

Population kicked off the night with a great blend of coldwave, post-punk (ugh, that term), and death-rock inspired songs. It was great to see them live and I hope to do more shows with them in the future, particularly with Anatomy of Habit. I think that would be a good match-up. I would definitely recommend picking up their CD demo.

Socially Retarded were crushing, this being their first club show, blasting out from a full PA. Brutal hardcore/punk... power-violence? Sure, I guess. But with a strong power-electronics foundation. I got a feeling of Flux of Pink Indians for some reason. Maybe it was the noise element, the non-stop feedback tones, and the vocal delivery.

We had a pretty fast, heavy and loud set. We slid in under the 24-minute mark. Not bad for this set-list. Great sound from Steven, who has mixed Anatomy of Habit a few times at the Abbey Pub, but not BLOODYMINDED. He kept some great rumble in the bass, kept the ring in the more shrill synth tones, and allowed the feedback to blast out. Heber was a no-show, so we played as a three-piece. James is on probation for bringing a Roland SH-101 to the venue. I know we are in pretty rough shape, synth-wise, but that is crossing a line! That said, it sounded excellent. Everything felt good that night, even if the whole show seemed stripped down. No lion taming. No climbing. Just a go-for-it kind of performance .

Cult of Youth put on a great show... Sean is such a good front-man... and it was nice to have a bigger and more enthusiastic crowd for them, compared to their Viaduct Theater show in October 2009, with Anatomy of Habit. It was a pleasure to hang out with Sean, Glenn, Micki, and Christiana, and I am looking forward to the band's quick return visit with Zola Jesus, next month.

Thanks to Sean and The Abbey Pub, for hosting the show. Thanks to Steven for such great live sound all night. Thanks to all of our friends, who made it out to support us on a cold and rainy Tuesday night!

Tonight - 3/22

Time Out previews 3/22 show

From Time Out

Cult of Youth matches intensity and menace with disarmingly tactile, even deceptively delicate arrangements. Long-running local noise-monger Bloodyminded delivers more traditionally aggro synth-rock, with even more agitated postpunk noise and industrial grime from openers Socially Retarded and Population.

Flavorpill on 3/22

From Flavorpill

Editor Pick

"If you're a fan of the Todd Pendu school of event booking, you have most likely encountered Sean Ragon's band Cult of Youth at some point. And while its sound is dark, this band's darkness is decidedly uplifting, its martial rhythms transporting you alternately to the barren West and to the heart of battle. Called a band to watch by Stereogum, Cult of Youth head off on tour shortly after their performance. So catch them before they go. They appear tonight with local noisemongers Bloodyminded, Socially Retarded, and Population. This is music that rises clear and strong above the noise and confusion of your internal battlefield.”

Rozalia Jovanovic, Flavorpill

Sneak Peek: 03/22/11

Event links:
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/6yexnt7
Last.fm: http://tinyurl.com/6j7zkes
MySpace: http://tinyurl.com/6cnukd8

After Ringing Comes...

Well, I think that I reached a new level of deep ear damage today, due to a heavy-duty recording session that occurred this afternoon at the Plague Bringer/AoH space. Isidro and I joined in to raise one hell of a racket with Adam and Mike from Winters in Osaka, Mack from Koufar/Bachir Gemayal, Omar from Socially Retarded/Constrictions, and Rich Hoak from Brutal Truth/Total Fucking Destruction. With a small window of opportunity to meet up and play with Rich while he was in town, it was great to completely blast away, even if I will be feeling like I am underwater for a while. Rich (on drums) and Isidro (on bass+FX) locked into some really cool motorik passages, and the rest of us layered in acres of synth, feedback, noise, etc. It seemed like there were some extremely effective moments, particularly when we managed to pull back back a bit, allowing some completely unexpected combinations of sound to swell up. I am giving a listen to my recording of the session right now, as I transfer it to my computer, and aside from some frustrating MiniDisc glitches, there seems to be some nice material that we will be able to work with. I think that after some careful listening, thought, and editing, there could easily be some very releasable music here. Thanks to Rich for making the effort to play with us while he was back in town. Thanks to Adam for arranging everything. Thanks to Josh and Greg from Plague Bringer and my other band mates for making the space available to us today - and especially to Dylan for the use of his drum kit!