Reviews – Page 87 – 7th Level Music

Live – The Damned and Bleached – Chicago, IL – April 23, 2017

Spoils of moshing: A Damned 40th anniversary U.S. tour poster, a signed Bleached t-shirt, and a broken watch band.

I’ve wanted to see the Damned for a long while and was bummed that I missed them when they played Chicago’s Riot Fest a couple years ago. Lo and behold, they came to the U.S. again for a 40th anniversary tour, and this time I was able to catch them with Bleached opening for them. That’s a win-win.

I saw Bleached in October of last year in Cleveland. They put on a good show, so I figured they’d be solid again. I did not know that they would be even better in just six months’ time. It was quickly evident (within two songs when they were absolutely gunning on “Trying to Lose Myself Again” from Welcome the Worms) that Bleached has seriously upped their game in just half a year. They powered through many cuts off their excellent new EP Can You Deal? and even one I hadn’t heard before (“Electric Chair”). I was gobsmacked by the end of their set. I caught up with sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin at their merch table between the first and second encores of the Damned. I told them their set was a home run and how much they’d improved since Cleveland.

“Being on this tour has been really good for us,” Jennifer Clavin told me. “Playing in front of a lot of people who don’t know us has really made us work on our stage presence.”

“It’s only been six months!” Jessie Clavin said.

“I know,” I said. “That’s what make it more impressive.”

Speaking of impressive, the Damned were just that.

“We’re back from the mists of time,” said lead guitarist Captain Sensible, “to save the world from shitty music like Mumford and Sons!”

The band tore into literal floor-shaking classics like “Generals,” “Disco Man,” and “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today” before a mosh pit finally broke out during “Love Song.” The first of two beers went flying through the air during this. For the record, I’ve been in some wild, fun crowds at the House of Blues. I’ve never seen cups of beer, hats, shoes, and jackets thrown into the air during a show there until I saw the Damned play there.

I stayed in the pit for “Love Song” and “Street of Dreams.” The Damned continued a great set (and Captain Sensible kept decrying Mumford and Sons – as well as Kurt Vile, whom he called a “pillock,” Duran Duran, KISS, and Billy Idol) that included such fine tracks as “Eloise,” “Wait for the Blackout,” and “The History of the World (Part 1).”

Of course, the crowd (and I) went berserk during “Neat Neat Neat” and “New Rose.” Moshing to those punk classics was a dream come true for me. Truth to tell, I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear “Neat Neat Neat” live, so being in the middle of a friendly mosh pit ten feet from David Vanian as he sung it was great.

As I mentioned earlier, they played two encores. The first included “Jet Boy Jet Girl,” sung by the Captain, “Noise Noise Noise,” and “Smash It Up.” The last track especially showed off keyboardist Monty Oxymoron’s skill. The second encore included “Nasty” (the first Damned song I ever heard thanks to them performing it on The Young Ones) and “Antipope.” A guy near me had been yelling for “Antipope” for the last third of the show, so I was happy for him (and all of us) that they played it. He went bananas.

It was a fun show. They haven’t lost anything. Sensible is still a great guitarist and Vanian (“the Vincent Price of rock,” as Capt. Sensible called him) still commands a stage like few can. The Damned are touring extensively throughout the U.S. before they head to Europe. Catch them if you’re near you.

By the way, here’s the list of things I found on the floor during and after the mosh pit: A button labeled “GW,” a spiked bracelet (belonging to a guy in a Misfits jacket behind me), a nickel, an opened (but thankfully unused) condom, a peacock keychain and attached house key (belonging to a young woman I found after the final encore), a hat (owner unknown), and a sweater (owner unknown). A guy next to me in the pit found a cell phone. I don’t know if he ever found the owner.

Keep your mind open.

The New Pornographers – Whiteout Conditions

The New Pornographers (Kathryn Calder – vocals, keyboards, guitar, Neko Case – vocals, John Collins – bass, Todd Fancey – lead guitar, Carl Newman – vocals, guitar, Joe Seiders – drums, vocals, Blaine Thurier – keyboards, synthesizers) hail from Canada, so that might explain the title of their new album – Whiteout Conditions. Such things are frequent there in the winters. I can’t help but think, however, that the title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the result of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and the voter base that led to that result. Carl Newman and Neko Case are openly critical of President Trump on their respective Twitter feeds, so it’s not too much of a stretch.

Judging by the bright, uplifting feel of this record, the band assures us that everything will be all right. The opener, “Play Money,” is full of brilliant keyboards even as Ms. Case sings lyrics like “…just when I thought we beat the system, I knew a gentleman of leisure. He loved to talk about his treasure and how he got it for a song.”

The title track is a tale of some depression Newman’s admitted he was feeling at the time he wrote it (Shock at the result of the 2016 election?) “Flying and flat on the ceiling, I’m barely dealing…I wasn’t hoping for a win, I was hoping for freedom,” he sings, disguising the song as a tale of a man who’s sick of his job with pulsing synths and almost New Order beats. The first single, “High Ticket Attractions,” amps up the synths and witty lyrics (“You can’t imagine all the factions that form around high ticket attractions.”) even more, but now they’re backed with solid rock drumming by Seiders.

“This Is the World of the Theatre” pretty much wears its meaning on its sleeve. Like many of the tracks off their last album, Brill Bruisers, it sounds like an ELO track. “Darling Shade” has some of the funkiest bass on the record as Newman and his niece, Calder, sing, “When you give your mind to your voices, you accept the terms of your sentence.” “Second Sleep” is about insomnia (Due to stress?) as Peter Hook-style bass drives the track. “Colosseums” sprinkles in a bit of psychedelia as Newman sings about being overcome by, and warning against the distractions of, grand spectacle (“Colosseums, colosseums of the mind. Right on time, celebration in the ruin. Elation is moving in a wave. I avert my eyes, but I still see the lions.”). I love the percussion on this. It reminds me of Oingo Boingo songs, actually.

“We’ve Been Here Before” doesn’t sprinkle in psychedelia, it lays it on like a sweet strawberry jam. Just listen to those synths and vocals and you’ll hear it. Newman and Case assure us that we’ll get out of these times of “gods of bad parties.”

“Juke” is electro-psych with Newman singing about shattered crystal balls and people diverging on many paths after chaos explodes around them. The much-appreciated dive into psych-rock continues on “Clockwise.” It’s something you wouldn’t be surprised to hear on a Besnard Lakes album. The closer is “Avalanche Alley.” It opens with keyboards reminiscent of Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door,” and then breaks into a great clickety-clack beat. I love that they chose to end an album about post-election blues with such a peppy, upbeat track.

As usual, the New Pornographers have crafted a great record. They’ve yet to swing and miss. Whiteout Conditions let us know that everything will be all right. Winter always gives way to spring. Whiteouts always clear sooner or later.

Keep your mind open.

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Bleached – Can You Deal?

Coming off their highly acclaimed full-length album Welcome the Worms, Bleached (Jennifer Calvin – guitar and lead vocals, Jessica Calvin – vocals and lead guitar, Micayla Grace – bass and vocals, Nick Pillot – drums) found not only more fame, but also more headaches from a music business dominated by men and, at best, dismissive towards women.

These attitudes, and the current political climate, inspired the four-song EP Can You Deal?. It’s a brilliant title. Can you deal with Bleached carving out a name for themselves in the music industry? Can you deal with them being a rock band instead of a female rock band? Can you deal with them not putting up with sexism or giving a shit about what you think?

The title track is all those questions and more amid shimmering punk-pop and a go-for-broke guitar solo by Jessica Calvin. “Flipside” is a lovely ode to a guy who rolls his eyes at the idea of being in a relationship because he’s too hip for the room. It’s undeniably catchy and, in a proper universe, would launch Bleached to the moon in terms of record sales. Seriously, it’s one of the prettiest singles of 2017.

“Turn to Rage” has Bleached showing off their rock chops (particularly the hammering drums by Pillot) while Jennifer Calvin warns a potential suitor not to fuck with her or he might end up “fishin’ for compliments from the grave.” The rock crunch continues on the final track, “Dear Trouble.” “Poor, Jennifer, I’ll be crazy all my life,” Calvin sings as she yearns for a relationship free of drama.

This is a solid EP and another booming step forward for Bleached on their way to being Next Big Things. They are currently touring with the Damned, so that alone should earn your respect if this EP doesn’t (but it will).

Keep your mind open.

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King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana

Named after a yellow guitar that looks a bit like a Gibson Flying V but is built to play microtones, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s first album – of five – of 2017, Flying Microtonal Banana, is another wild mind trip from the Australian psychedelic workhorses.

Beginning with the sound of wind across the desert, “Rattlesnake” is over seven minutes of toe-tapping, head-nodding, mind-altering psychedelia. The beat is venomous and the microtonal guitar work in the last third of it is great. It flows straight into “Melting” (a song about the damage we’re doing to the environment), which your mind might already be doing by this point. The dual drumming is hypnotic, as is the bass line, organ, and the near-lounge jazz sound of the whole track. The sound of ocean waves keeps you drifting on “Open Water,” and the surf guitar certainly helps. Could it be another environmental warning about all of us living in a water world after the ice caps melt (as mentioned in the previous track)? The microtonal guitars on it are like something you’d hear in a Marrakesh bazaar.

“Sleep Drifter” almost sounds like a slower version of “Rattlesnake” at first, but it’s about sleeping and dreaming with a loved one instead of a song about a wise animal / Midgard serpent. The track gets into a sweet rock groove by the end (love the harmonica and that porn guitar!). “Billabong Valley” is another microtonal freak-out as we hear about an outlaw who enters the mystic valley and is “shot in the back by mornin’.” “Anoxia” gets us back to the environmental themes of the record (The album cover features a man in a haz-mat suit and a snake emerging from a biohazard waste barrel.). The double drums almost play lead on it.

Don’t worry if the previous couple tracks didn’t have enough fuzz for you, because “Doom City” has enough for the entire side of an LP. The microtonal guitar in this sounds like creepy laughter from an evil imp hiding in a dark corner. I’m sure it’s not a random choice that “Nuclear Fusion” follows “Doom City.” The songs flow together and the groove is downright radioactive. It gets under your skin and might make you hear colors as they sing about patterns in the sky and on the subatomic level.

The title track (an instrumental) closes the record, and the band brings in cool Australian Aboriginal percussion to meld with the squealing, hypnotic microtonal guitars. KGALTW are off to a great start in their five-album quest. The second one, Murder of the Universe, is already available for pre-order. Get caught up now while you can by picking up Flying Microtonal Banana.

Keep your mind open.

Sleater-Kinney – Live in Paris

The first ever live album from alt-rock / punk / riot grrl legends Sleater-Kinney (Carrie Brownstein – guitars and vocals, Corin Tucker – guitars and vocals, Janet Weist – drums and vocals) is a doozy. Live in Paris captures the band on their 2016 tour supporting the No Cities to Love album (their first in over a decade), and the only show of the tour where they performed a second encore.

Opening with the fiercely funky “Price Tag,” the band is already firing on all cylinders within the first thirty seconds. Tucker is growling and spitting lyrics like a rivet gun throughout it. “Oh!”, one of their biggest hits, keeps up the pace and you can envision the whole Parisian crowd bouncing throughout it. The crunch of “What’s Mine Is Yours” is only outmatched by Tucker’s battle cry voice. It also has a cool breakdown that flirts with psychedelia before Weis hammers out a tremendous fill that takes them back to angry rock.

“A New Wave” is chock-full of fuzz and bent notes as Brownstein and Tucker sing great double vocals on the chorus. “Start Together” is one of Sleater-Kinney’s best songs about rocky relationships. Tucker’s vocals are always pleading on it, as is the guitar work. “No Cities to Love,” from the album of the same name, is a slick song about attachment and how many of us never truly connect with the place we live (“There are no cities to love. It’s not the cities, it’s the weather we love.”).

“Surface Envy” has Tucker crying out for a little help in a relationship (“We win, we lose. Only together do we break the rules.”) and Brownstein and Weis pound out a hard rhythm behind her. I would’ve flipped had I been in the crowd when they played “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.” It’s a powerful song about a girl with an unrequited crush and one of my favorites by them. “Turn It On” is a song about what might happen if that crush returns the affection.

Weis cuts loose at the beginning of “Entertain,” proving yet again that she’s one of the best rock drummers around nowadays. It’s a scathing song about a lover who expects Brownstein to entertain her all the time, but she lets her lover know that “reality is the new excitement.” “Jumpers” is one of Sleater-Kinney’s great examples of dual vocals from Brownstein and Tucker. The encores are “Dig Me Out” (a scorching punk track) and “Modern Girl” (a simple, but slightly fuzzed ode to being okay despite being alone).

Live in Paris might be the closest I get to a Sleater-Kinney show in a while, and I’m happy they released it. Everything you’ve heard about a live Sleater-Kinney show is true. This album is proof.

Keep your mind open.

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Live – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, ORB, Stonefield – Chicago, IL – April 08, 2017

I knew it was going to be a wild crowd for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard when I saw a woman in line pick up a roach she’d dropped after her friend had taken a toke and then passed to her. Yes, she finished a joint that had been dropped on a filthy Chicago sidewalk (on North Clark, to be precise) and then joined the line of people who had been “pre-gaming” at the pub next door.

I met a friend of mine, Amy, I hadn’t seen in years for the show. She hadn’t heard of KGATLW, ORB, or Stonefield. She told me she didn’t listen to anything by any of them before the show. She wanted to be surprised. She wore a walking boot as a result of a foot surgery, and that allowed us to sit in a specially designated “handicap seating” area in the Metro balcony. I’m not sure how anyone with an affliction worse than a post-surgery walking boot could make it up to the balcony, but we had great seats regardless.

Stonefield were already playing when we arrived (The Metro is one of the few venues I’ve visited that is serious about the starting times of their shows.), and they had already swooned most of the crowd. Amy was a fan within two songs, and their blend of 60’s psych and doom metal was a heady brew and a fine start to the evening.

ORB were onstage not long after Stonefield had finished their set. I was keen on seeing them as their Birth album is one of my favorites from 2016. Their hard-hitting stoner metal sounded great. They played a fast set that left all of us wanting more (in a good way). I hope they release another album or EP soon.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard came out to an enthusiastic crowd who were crowd surfing within three songs. Amy cried out, “Look at that crowd!” The main floor was a rolling sea of bodies and limbs for KGATLW’s entire set. They played a lot of tracks from their new album, Flying Microtonal Banana (review coming soon). “Sleep Drifter,” “Rattlesnake,” and “Billabong Valley” all were hot cuts. Another big hit with the crowd was “Altered Beast.”

The crowd, which was crazy enough already, went bonkers during “Robot Stop” from their amazing album Nonagon Infinity. “People Vultures” and “Gamma Knife” were also big hits. “Vomit Comet” was fun, as was They didn’t play an encore. Instead, they played a stunning medley of “Cellophane,” “Head On / Pill,” “I’m in Your Mind,” “Altered Me,” “Rattlesnake,” and “Robot Stop.” It was like they had looped the show back on itself like a snake eating its tail. I’ve never seen a band do anything like that live.

It was a killer show. My voice was hoarse by the end of it. By the way, KGATLW has already announced the release date of their second album (of five planned) for 2017. Murder of the Universe will be out June 23rd (and you can pre-order it as of today). Look for them to tour near your town soon!

Keep your mind open.

Kelly Lee Owens – self-titled

A strong contender for my favorite album of 2017 has arrived in early spring. Kelly Lee Owens’ debut self-titled album is a refreshing, sensual, and dreamy electro album that’s a great change of pace from all the EDM and dubstep ripping through festivals every weekend and seemingly everywhere. I don’t mind those genres at all, but Ms. Owens has crafted something that stands out and finding such records in EDM and dubstep is tough nowadays.

“S.O.” sounds like something Vangelis might’ve crafted until Owens’ incense smoke-drifting-through-sunshine vocals appear. Poppy beats that sound like electric tablas root the track, but it will make you float on your feet or in your chair. “Arthur” begins with birdsong and rainfall and looped moans as the beat builds and the song becomes a beautiful mist you can feel but can’t quite see.

I think “Anxi.,” which features Jenny Hval on lead vocals, is about anxiety. Hval sings about “keeping it together” and “doing Barack badly.” Does she worry about not living up to expectations she set for herself during Obama’s presidency or ones set by others, like the family she mentions? I’m not sure. All I do know is that the bass at the halfway point of the track is so damn funky that all anxiety you might have is washed away because you’re too busy dancing.

“Lucid” is a good name for the next track, because it’s like something from a dream. “Different from the rest. Don’t you see it? Where we ought to be. Lucid, lucid,” Owens sings in some of her clearest vocals on the record. She seems to urge a potential lover to see the love she’s offering that’s right there for the taking but is going unnoticed.

“Evolution” should, by all rights, be tearing up dance floors in various remixes by now. It’s a great mix of industrial dance music, EDM, and synth-pop. “Bird” throws you for a loop by starting with a synthesized strings and tubular bells. Then, dear God, that synth-bass wallops you upside the head and you’re practically drifting around the astral plane. “Throwing Lines” continues the poppy electro beats, but the vocals are reverbed to the moon and back (which is great).

I don’t know what “Cbm” stands for, but I do know it’s a floor-stomper of a track that speaks of colors in motion – which only adds to the trippy atmosphere. “Keep Walking” reminds me of old Chemical Brothers tracks (the ones on the mellow side, at least). It’s full of deep bass, fuzzy guitar, clockwork beats, and lovely female vocals. The tenth, and final, track is called “8.” Only Owens knows why. It has nothing to do with the length of the song (9:39), but perhaps it’s a reference to infinity or a Mobius loop. The song is definitely spacey enough to justify that guess.

I don’t know where Ms. Owens has been hiding all this time, but I’m glad she’s here and has given us this album. This has to be one of the best debuts I’ve heard in a long while. All other 2017 electro albums will have to bring their A-game to match or top it.

Keep your mind open.

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Rewind Review: Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage Acts I, II, & III (1979)

My best pal and I used to crank Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage a lot in college. It has a lot of rockers, humor, and weird stuff you love from Zappa’s work, but I never realized until I picked up my own copy that it’s a concept album about music being outlawed and Zappa’s masterful skewering of the record industry, commercial radio, religion, government censorship, and sexual repression.

The first song on the record, “Central Scrutinizer,” introduces one of the main characters and narrators of the album / play. Zappa plays the Scrutinizer and the character introduces nearly every track. The Scrutinizer’s job is to enforce laws that don’t exist yet, especially those related to “a horrible force called music.” The album is a presentation by the Scrutinizer to warn us against pursuing a career in such a dangerous thing.

The title track tells the story of Joe and his garage band’s meteoric rise to success and plummet into irrelevancy. It’s a groovy cut that salutes 50’s doo-wop, surf rock, and hard rock. Joe runs afoul of the law for dabbling in grooves, so the Scrutinizer sends him off to church to get his mind right. However, he runs into a lot of fun “Catholic Girls” there and is soon getting a blowjob at the CYO. It’s a gut-buster of a song that also has killer bass guitar throughout it and two switches to lounge-style jams that Zappa’s band pulls off with super slick ease.

Joe’s girlfriend, Mary, becomes a “Crew Slut,” in which Zappa sings about the groupie “way of life.” She joins the crew of another rock group and leaves Joe behind. There’s some fine harmonica playing on this track. The disco sound of “Fembot in a Wet T-shirt” shows that Zappa and his crew could (and did) play anything they damn well wanted. Mary gets back “On the Bus” after winning $50 in the wet T-shirt contest, and we’re treated to a great instrumental guitar solo taken from earlier live recordings in a process called xenochrony. Joe hears about Mary’s infidelity and finds solace in a new girl, Lucille, who gives him a venereal disease, which leads us to “Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?” – a song only Zappa could get away with putting on an album back then, let alone load the song with rock guitars and drums big enough for a concert hall. The following track, “Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up,” is a slow reggae jam as frequent Zappa collaborator Ike Willis sings Joe’s cries for love.

Joe joins the First Church of Appliantology (Yes, Zappa was satirizing Scientology years ahead of everyone else.) in an attempt to shed his earthly desires, only to learn he’s a “latent appliance fetishist.” Joe then heads to a fetish club on “Stick It Out,” where he hooks up with a “Sy Borg” and bursts out in German, and English, “Fuck me, you ugly son of a bitch!” Not only is this a song that will have you laughing throughout it, but it’s also one of the hottest rockers on the whole record. The band has a blast on it and everyone fires on all cylinders. Joe goes too hard on Sy Borg in the next track (while the band plays over eight minutes of weird lounge jazz) and is soon apprehended by the Central Scrutinizer’s thugs.

In prison, Joe is told about “Dong Work for Yuda,” which is perhaps the funkiest song about prison sex you’ve ever heard, and “Keep It Greasy” is a far funkier rocker about the same subject than Tool ever made. The rhythm section is on fire for the whole track.

“Outside Now” has Joe dreaming of playing guitar again to at least mentally escape from prison. The guitar work on it is suitably strange and sorrowful. “He Used to Cut the Grass” is a story of Joe’s woes once he gets out of prison and discovers all the other musicians are gone and the world is a squeaky clean plastic world of consumer goods so he has to retreat once more into his mind. The guitar solo on this is almost ethereal and a perfect reflection of Joe’s melting mind.

“Packard Goose” is, on its surface, a song about Joe’s descent into madness but is also a diatribe against music critics like yours truly. It’s a wild, almost freestyle jazz tune with stunning guitar shredding throughout it. Speaking of amazing guitar work, that’s all of the instrumental “Watermelon in Easter Hay.” It is easily among Zappa’s greatest solos and, according to Zappa himself, the best song on the record. Zappa’s son, Dweezil, has been quoted as saying it’s the best solo his father ever played.

The closer is “Little Green Rosetta,” a song the Central Scrutinizer believes is the best type of music. He (Zappa) freely admits “this is a stupid song,” but it’s a goofy yet fine piece of craftsmanship from him and features nearly everyone who worked in or hung out at Zappa’s home studio back in 1979.

It’s a fun, wild, amazing masterpiece. There was a stage show of it in Los Angeles in 2008, but where’s the Broadway version? We’ve had shows about gay puppets, anthropomorphic cats, goofy Mormons, and even adaptations of Monty Python films, why can’t we have Joe’s Garage: The Musical?

Keep your mind open.

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So Pretty – Suck It Up

Chicago funk-punks So Pretty (Ashley Holman – guitar, vocals, Stefan Lindgren – drums, vocals, Rachel Manter – guitar, bass, vocals, ukulele, James Seminara – bass, guitar, vocals) seemed to have walked out of a John Waters movie. They’re brash, a bit trashy, self-deprecating, and snarky. Their second album, Suck It Up, is like a refreshing gulp of fruit punch that you realized is spiked with gin about thirty seconds later.

I first heard the band, and Suck It Up‘s opener, “Comfort Service,” when I saw them play in Chicago earlier this year. Manter delivers a fiery rant from the perspective of a 1%’er chewing out hotel staff. I can’t help but wonder if she works or used to work in a hotel and wrote it as a middle finger to dickweed tenants. Basil Fawlty would love this tune.

Manter’s vocals and the band’s hard hitting on “Think Again” show they could start a metal project if they wanted. Holman takes over vocals on “Blueberry Blues,” in which she screams that she wants “to be punk rock royalty.” She’s well on her way, judging by the vocal and guitar shredding she unleashes on the track.

You can’t help but think of the Violent Femmes (thanks to the ukulele and funky beat) during “Nice Guys,” an ode to guys who treat women well and women who prefer to date douchebags. The following track, “Whisper Corner,” is like a left hook to the liver after the gentle feint of “Nice Guys.” It has Seminara and Lindgren unleashing a sonic assault in under two minutes.

“Chub Rub” is probably about what you think it is, and it’s a fun, trashy punk number. They get funky on “Limbo,” with Seminara singing about the rut of modern living (“I felt a little bit better when I felt a bit strange.”).

“Manhandler” has Holman returning to lead vocals and she and Manter crank the distortion on their guitars. It’s like a Bikini Kill track, and Holman’s ass-chewing of the song’s subject is great. Whereas that track reminds me of Bikini Kill, “No Hamburger” reminds me of Sleater-Kinney with its nice double vocals from Holman and Manter.

The album ends with the gloriously weird “Don’t Give Up the Ship” as Seminara sounds like a drunk trying to explain the world’s problems to everyone stopped at the red light. The whole band goes bonkers by the end of it, ending the album in a frenzy of punk chaos.

This is a fun record. Fun punk, and especially good fun punk, is hard to find nowadays. It’s nice to hear So Pretty keeping punk not only alive, but fun.

Keep your mind open.

Live – Anoushka Shankar – Ft. Wayne, IN – March 26, 2017

Sitar master Anoushka Shankar and her and put on an excellent ninety-minute performance of classical Indian music at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne’s Rhinehart Recital Hall. It was a nearly full house and Ms. Shankar and her band played three ragas for us.

Her band consisted of gentlemen playing bass and treble tanpurs (drone instruments), tabla (hand drums), flute, shehnai (a sort of trumpet), and mridangam (hand percussion). Her tabla player, Ojas Adhiya, had only played three times with her on this tour so far, but he played like he’d been touring for years. He and mridangam player Pirashanna Thevarajah had a great “duel” during the last raga in which they matched beats and fed off each other’s rhythms.

In the meantime, Anoushka Shankar was shredding her sitar. I saw her play, along with her favorite, the late, great Ravi Shankar, at Notre Dame University years ago (who was still killing it in his late 80’s). She wowed the crowd there, and she stunned the crowd in Fort Wayne. “I’m speechless,” said a man behind us at the end of the show. He’d never heard classical Indian music before.

I think a lot of people hadn’t. It was a lovely, almost intoxicating performance and a stunning bargain at only ten bucks a ticket. Don’t miss her if she comes near your town.

Keep your mind open.