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Archive for the ‘Basic’ Category

Basic / The Early / Totally Automatic (Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, December 7, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Basic, Chris Forsyth, Johnny Brenda's, Nick Millevoi, Philadelphia, PA, The Early, Totally Automatic on December 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 7, 2024] Basic / The Early / Totally Automatic

I have seen Basic twice in recent months and didn’t really feel compelled to go again. I do enjoy their music (and would have enjoyed seeing them at Johnny Brenda’s, but I had tickets to see Ride tonight and there’s no way I was passing up them for this.

The Early says about themselves

Formed in north Jersey in 2004, The Early’s music metabolizes the textural grandeur of post-rock, the communicational intimacy of jazz improvisation, and the patient grooves of minimalism. Currently operating out of Philadelphia, PA.

So what does that mean?  Interesting and improvisational-adjacent jazzy instrumentals, from the sound of their most recent record.  The Early appears to be Alex Lewis – electric guitar, korg minilogue and Jake Nussbaum – drum set, percussion, contact mics.  I’m not sure if there were more people on stage.

The Early released an album with Totally Automatic this year.

Totally Automatic was formed by Anne Ishii, Eugene Lew and Matthew Smith Lee in the summer of 2021. They play unarranged music with each other, on drums, saxophone and electronics, and can be found around Philadelphia.

So this set would be even more improvised, this time with saxophone.

Probably not the most enjoyable night I could spend, but it would have been kinda fun.

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Makoto Kawabata+ Tim Dahl + Simeon Cain (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, November 9, 2024)

Posted in Acid Mothers Temple, Basic, Makoto Kawabata, Mental Jewelry, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Simeon Cain, Tim Dahl on November 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 9, 2024] Makoto Kawabata+ Tim Dahl + Simeon Cain

I had missed Acid Mothers Temple when they played Philly last month, so I was pretty excited to see that Kawabata Makoto was hanging around the Northeast to do a mini improvised tour with Tim Dahl and a rotating cast of drummers.

This November, a collaborative music tour between guitarist Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple) and bassist Tim Dahl (Lydia Lunch, Child Abuse) will hit the American Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, promising rock intensity, avant-garde design, and psychedelic perception. With a combination of predetermined material and improvisation, one can expect a focused yet unpredictable and dynamic sonic experience. This collaboration will take audiences on a journey through chaotic, noise-infused passages that suddenly give way to moments of serene beauty, showcasing variety, creativity, and fearlessness. Each night’s concert will be enriched by the distinctive styles of a notable regional guest drummer, adding fresh, unpredictable elements to the performance. Audiences should expect a whirlwind of sound that pushes the boundaries of conventional music and celebrates the expression of unrestrained artistry.

I had never heard of Tim Dahl and was entirely interested in the show for Kawabata.  But it’s possible that Tim Dahl may have been the real draw?

Tim Dahl is a New York based bassist and vocalist best known for his work with the noise-rock bands Lydia Lunch Retrovirus and Child Abuse.

The name of that last band tells you a lot about Dahl’s sound.  He plays a fascinating bass style–in which it doesn’t seem like he is actually playing notes–just running his hands up and down the fretboard at random.  He also uses a finger slide but in his picking hand, generating all kinds of noise.  Combine this with the fact that his microphone seemed to have a very fast repeating echo on it so whatever he said or sang into the mic was repeated beyond recognition and he really seemed to dominate the room. (more…)

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Nick Millevoi + Mental Jewelry (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, November 9, 2024) [MAKOTO KAWABATA + TIM DAHL + SIMEON CAIN]

Posted in Acid Mothers Temple, Basic, Makoto Kawabata, Mental Jewelry, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Simeon Cain, Tim Dahl on November 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 9, 2024] Nick Millevoi + Mental Jewelry

I had missed Acid Mothers Temple when they played Philly last month, so I was pretty excited to see that Kawabata Makoto was hanging around the Northeast to do a mini improvised tour with Tim Dahl and a rotating cast of drummers.

There hadn’t been an opening band and then it was announced that Nick Millevoi and Mental Jewelry would open the show.

I knew Millevoi from BASIC, the band he’s in with Chris Forsyth.  I’ve actually seen him twice although both times I was more or less behind him (he sat facing the center of the stage and I mostly saw his back).  I had not heard of Mental Jewelry and assumed it was a band.  But it is the stage name of Steve Montenegro, who has also played with Moor Mother (as Moor Jewelry).

Their blurb says

Nick Millevoi and Mental Jewelry’s collab combines repetitive electronic beats and noisy improvised guitars into the groove-fueled future that the ’80s dreamed we’d discover.

And that’s pretty accurate.  Nick set up the drum beats (simple, but with interesting effects on them) and played his baritone guitar.  He mostly played simple chords–riffs would be too strong a word for the chord patterns.  But he manipulated the sounds with effects pedals and dynamic fretboard work.  Everything I’ve read about Mental Jewelry (which is not much) suggests that he is a keyboard player. But he played guitar as well.  He added the higher end to the sound of the songs.  He didn’t add a lot–complimentary chords and minimal “soloing.”

Most of the songs were minimalist and catchy by virtue of repetition.  The fourth (of five) songs was my favorite and felt like an actual song rather than just repeated chords.

At this stage it’s fair to say that this venture is more fun live than on record, but I’m interested to see how it evolves.

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Tinariwen (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, July 24, 2024)

Posted in Basic, Chris Forsyth, Philadelphia, PA, Tinariwen, Underground Arts on July 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 24, 2024] Tinariwen

Tinariwen is a pretty legendary band.  They play a guitar driven “desert blues” in which the guitar is played pretty much non-stop.   It’s unique and original to American ears but is apparently part of a Mali musical sound that combines traditional Tuareg and African music with Western rock.

I’ve been trying to see them for a number of years and things never seemed to pan out, until this year.

The night was a challenge as parking was limited and I wound up coming in later than I intended.  It was also much more crowded (so early) than I anticipated.  So I had  to stand off to the side.

About half way through the show, I had to get out of the crowd and Underground Arts was super nice in that someone got me a chair (I’m using a cane at the moment).  I actually felt obliged to stay in the chair which meant I was in kind of a crappy location visually for most of the show.   But it was so crowded that I wasn’t going to see much anyhow, so I’m grateful for the seat. (more…)

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Basic (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, July 24, 2024) [TINARIWEN]

Posted in Basic, Chris Forsyth, Philadelphia, PA, Tinariwen, Underground Arts on July 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 24, 2024] Basic

Philadelphia’s own BASIC, Chris Forsyth on guitar, Nick Millevoi on baritone guitar and drum machine, and Patrick Avery on percussion and electronics.  I saw them open for Tortoise back in 2023 and really enjoyed their rocking, possibly improvised set.

The venue was super packed.  I started in the center but couldn’t see anything so I moved to the Nick Millevoi’s side, but was still blocked by a pole.  Eventually I sidled up and managed to see all three of them.

Last time, I felt Christ Forsyth’s guitar was a little quiet, but this time the sound was great.

Like last time, Avery had a tiny bass drum that he hit with a mallet.  On it was a kind of woodblock, which he hit with a plastic mallet.  That’s all he had.  Millevoi often started a drum machine as he started playing so technically Avery didn’t have a lot to do, but seeing and hearing him add bass drum was a nice touch.  Avery also played with some electronics on a table near him–I think he was doing a lot more than I realized (since I couldn’t see him very well, it’s hard to know).

They played for about 40 minutes and it was a great rocking set.  Nick and Chris both played great solos from time to time and Mikel held it all together.

I do hope to see them one more time, hopefully from the front where I can really see what’s going on.

And what was fun was that Chris and his family (I assume) stood next to me at the end of Tinariwen, and then he was super friendly after the show where we chatted about the upcoming Basic album.

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Tortoise (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 6, 2023)

Posted in Basic, Chris Forsyth, Mikel Patrick Avery, Nick Millevoi, Philadelphia, PA, Tortoise, Union Transfer on November 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 6, 2023] Tortoise 

Back in the 1990s I really liked Tortoise.  I was especially fond of Millions Now Living Wil Never Die.  But as they released more instrumentals, (all of the songs are instrumentals–more or less), they veered more into a jazz and lite-jazz field.  I didn’t mind it all that much at the time but I definitely listened to them a lot less.

I didn’t even realize they were still an ongoing concern (their last album came out in 2016).  When this show was announced I was intrigued.  I knew my friend Lar had experiences with them (good and bad), but his description of both shows was enough to make me think I should check this show out.

It turns out they haven’t been to Philly since 2016, so this seemed like a reasonable enough reason to check them out.  I mean, even if the songs were jazzy, the musicianship would be excellent.

I was pretty excited to get their early enough to be on the railing.  So I could see everything perfectly.  Well, except that there were two drum kits right in front of the stage.  Which was awesome, but did tend to block my view of the vibes.

Yes, vibes. There were actually two sets of vibes on stage.  One must have been electronic (I was right in front of it and couldn’t see what it was), while the other was across the stage. (more…)

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Basic (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, November 6, 2023) [TORTOISE]

Posted in Basic, Chris Forsyth, Mikel Patrick Avery, Nick Millevoi, Philadelphia, PA, Tortoise, Union Transfer on November 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 6, 2023] Basic

Basic is a trio comprised of Chris Forsyth and Nick Millevoi on guitars and Mikel Patrick Avery on drums.

When I found out that Chris Forsyth would be opening this show for Tortoise, it pushed me into the “I gotta go” category.  I knew that whatever it sounded like, I would enjoy it.

I sat near Millevoi, who I didn’t know–he’s a Philly guitarist in Desertion Trio who has released a bunch of solo stuff as well.  For the first song he was pretty quiet while Chris Forsyth soloed.   But for the second song he played a lot more loudly.  He seemed to be the low end–paying riffs and chords while Forsyth was the high notes.

The only problem for me was that Millevoi’s guitar was pretty loud and we were standing in front of his amp, so it made Forsyth’s solos a little hard to hear.

Avery had a tiny bass drum that he hit with a mallet.  On it was a kind of woodblock, which he hit with a plastic mallet.  That’s all he had.  Millevoi often started a drum machine as he started playing so technically Avery didn’t have a lot to do, but seeing and hearing him add bass drum was a nice touch.  Avery also played with some electronics on a table near him.

They played five songs.  The first three were about ten minutes each.  The fourth one was a little shorter, and when I assumed they’d be finishing up around 8:45, at 8:40 they started a new song which took them to a full fifty minutes of jazzy guitar improv.

It was pretty great.  Catchy and fun and interesting to watch these three dudes jam with each other.

They didn’t introduces songs so I have no idea what they played.  In fact the only words spoken their whole set were at the end when Chris said, “that was Basic.”

Great instrumental fun.

And Markit Aneight recorded the whole set

 

 

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