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Xiu Xiu / mcdazzler / J Lesser (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, October 14, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in J Lesser, mcdazzler, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Xiu Xiu on October 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 14, 2024] Xiu Xiu / mcdazzler / J Lesser

I’ve been intrigued by Xiu Xiu for quite a while.  The band is an experimental art-pop group of Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo, and David Kendrick.  Although I don’t really know all that much about them, I’ve heard their live shows were pretty wild.

But it seems like I’d probably never actually go to a show of them.  Especially if there were other shows going on that week.

Although seeing the opening acts, maybe a future show should be investigated.

mcdazzler is someone I’d never heard of.  She sounds like a wild and fun show–she is in the video for Xiu Xiu’s latest song (it is quite NSFW).

Behind the @mcdazzler handle is Alicia McDaid, a self-proclaimed “disgusting feminist” who has been making confessional, character-driven performance art since the late ’90s. After a stint at Smith College and some time in London she ended up in Portland. While working as a traveling puppeteer touring the Pacific Northwest states she found herself lonely and unhappy, and with a friend’s camcorder embarked on a series of videos where she simply cried on camera or performed monologues in character

J Lesser is the stage name for Jason Doerck–between 2003 and 2006 Doerck was a member of the laptop group Sagan, alongside Blevin Blectum, Wobbly, and video artist Ryan Junell.

He was listed as Lesser on the bill, but there is a band called Lesser from the UK.  It’s not that band.

I listened  to some of his stuff on Soundcloud, and I guess it’s exactly what you might expect a laptop musician who is opening for Xiu Xiu to sound like.  Lots of noises and sounds and no beats or rhythm.  If I was in the mood, I’d have enjoyed this, but I definitely wasn’t.

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Lifeguard (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 15, 2023)

Posted in Cold Court, Font, Lifeguard, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on July 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 15, 2024] Lifeguard

Before this show I hadn’t heard of Lifeguard.  Which is why I was surprised that this was a co-headlining tour. But then I saw that in May Monster Children (yea, I don’t know what that is either) wrote an article called “Lifeguard is a band you should know.”

Their music is youthful, energetic and intentional, channeling the nostalgic sounds of bands like Dinosaur Jr and Fugazi while still remaining distinctly their own. They give a shit, putting all of themselves into the band and everything surrounding it, creating a sound that encapsulates this youth collective that they’ve played such a major role in creating.

I don’t know how old the members of the band are, but I assume they are teenagers.

And the first notable thing about them was that singer guitarist Kai Slater was on crutches.  So he sat for the whole set, his right foot in a boot.

Then he started playing guitar–a great crisp, punky guitar sound.  The reminded me a bit of Gang of Four.  Their songs were pretty catchy and yet they were absolutely unafraid to simply make a lot of noise–screamed vocals, angular sharp guitars and crashing drums. (more…)

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Font (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 15, 2023) [LIFEGUARD]

Posted in Cold Court, Font, Lifeguard, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on July 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 15, 2024] Font

I saw Font back in October of 2023 opening for Chai and I loved them.  They hadn’t released any music at the time but this mini tour was in support of the release of their debut album.

So who are they?

Font is an Austin-based band made up of Thom Waddill, Jack Owens, Anthony Lawrence, Roman Parnell, and Logan Wagner. Fontbegan playing shows regularly in the beginning of 2022.

They make noisy, unexpected songs with catchy parts and decidedly uncatchy parts.  The songs tend to have something–a piano note, a guitar riff–that recurs enough to call it a hook.  And each song is unique in its own way.

The bass wanders all over the place–in a great New Wave sorta way.  And, as it turns out the percussionist is a major component of the band.

I stood in front of singer/guitarist/sound effects manipulator Thom Waddill.  In the center of the stage was Anthony Laurence who played guitar and was in charge of a lot of the other sounds that came out–he had a cool array of equipment up there.  On the far side was bassist Roman Parnell.

Then in the back were the real noise makers: Jack Owens on Drums and Logan Wagner on Percussion.  Wagner had a vast supply of equipment that he kept changing out, creating really interesting organic sounds.  He also triggered some samples.

There were two guys up front.  One was the singer.  He played guitar and all kinds of gear that he had around him.  The other guy also played guitar although he seemed to play more of the electronic gear that was around him.  At one point the guy in front of me also play the gear in front of the other guy–there was a lot of gear.

They have weird, interesting songs that people don’t make anymore.  The laziest comparison I can make is Parquet Courts, for the diversity of style and sometimes angular and harsh melodies, but they don’t sound anything like Parquet Courts, not really.

I can’t wait to hear what else they do.  They were terrific.

I told Waddill that I thought they were headlining and he said that they and Lifeguard were co-headlining.  So that made sense.

I would certainly see them again.

 

2024 2023
Cattle Prod § The Golden Calf §
Two Answers Sentence I §
It § Hey Kekulé §
Hey Kekulé § It §
Looking At Engines § Two Answers
Natalie’s Song § Looking at Engines §
The Golden Calf § Cattle Prod §
Signal Drama Natalie’s Song §
Sentence 1 § [maybe one more]

§ Strange Burden (2024)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Font (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 15, 2023) [LIFEGUARD]

Posted in Cold Court, Font, Lifeguard, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on July 16, 2024| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 15, 2024] Font

I saw Font (from Austin, TX) open for Chai about nine months ago. They weren’t really compatible in terms of style, but they were both a little weird an a pretty noisy.

I really enjoyed Font a lot and was a little bummed that they had, basically, one song available online.  Well a few days ago they released an actual album.  It’s not long (less than half an hour), but it’s packed with all the weirdness that makes Font awesome.

They play a great mix of catchy and really abrasive–repetitive sounds that contrast (in both time signature and style) to the drum/percussion or the great bass sound.

There’s five guys in the band: vocalist/guitarist/sound creator Thom Wadhill, guitarist/sampling savant Anthony Lawrence, bassist Roman Parnell and dual percussionists Jack Owens and Logan Wagner.

Last time, I noted

The bass wanders all over the place–in a great New Wave sorta way.  And, as it turns out the percussionist is a major component of the band.  From where I was I couldn’t really see the drummer (there was so much STUFF on stage), but I could clearly see the percussionist who had cowbells, blocks, cymbals (which he moved around to make different sound) and some bongos.  He must have been exhausted.

There were two guys up front.  One was the singer.  He played guitar and all kinds of gear that he had around him.  The other guy also played guitar although he seemed to play more of the electronic gear that was around him.  At one point the guy in front of me [Wadhill] also played the gear in front of the [Lawrence]–there was a lot of gear.

(more…)

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Cold Court (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 15, 2023) [LIFEGUARD]

Posted in Cold Court, Font, Lifeguard, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on July 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 15, 2024] Cold Court

I saw Cold Court back in July of last year when they opened for Black Midi.  All I could find out about them then was that they were from Philadelphia.

They have an Instagram page but there’s not much on it.  And any searches reveal pretty much that they opened for Black Midi and very little else.

According to live at the Lawn Jawn (a video online), this was the lineup of the band about two weeks before the Black Midi show:

Mini Serrano (Guitar, Vocals), Josyah Lavina-Maldonado (Guitar, Vocals), Theo Shuttleworth (Bass), Jett Mann (Drums), Charlie Westlake (Saxophone, Synth), Alex Ramirez (Viola), and Joe Kuck (Percussion).

There were five members of the band for this show.

I didn’t know what songs they played last time.  And I’m not really sure what they played this time. (more…)

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Emily Robb (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, July 10, 2023) [MDOU MOCTAR]

Posted in Emily Robb, Mdou Moctar, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on July 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 10, 2024] Emily Robb

Emily Robb is a guitarist from Philadelphia.  I didn’t know much about her, but the last time she opened a show (which I didn’t attend) I wrote:

Emily Robb plays an electric guitar (and is referred to as a guitar abuser).  She has a solo album out that is an incredible amount of fuzzy guitar noise.

No vocals, no artifice, barely even a drum. It’s a totally fried, mutant offering that’ll entice the twisted seekers– a sustained, distilled meditation on the unabashed revved up freedom of rock.

She came up on stage with her guitar and pedals and amp and… played.   For forty plus minutes.

She played bluesy riffs.  She looped herself.  She played solos over those riffs.  She made noise.  She experimented with melodies and feedback.

Sometimes it was interesting.  Sometimes it was tedious.

She played a whole section in which sliding her pick up the strings was a major part of the sound. (more…)

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Grails (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 30, 2024)

Posted in Grails, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Soma on July 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 30, 2024] Grails

My friend Eleanor told me about this show and I immediately grabbed a ticket.

Grails opened with a mellow almost spooky instrumental with Jesse Bates playing synth and flute.  Alex Hall did something with his phone in front of his guitar’s pickups.  I wonder what app he was using.

Then the whole band kicked in drummer Emil Amos (who was incredible but who I couldn’t see very well because of the keyboard in front of me) played a delicate rhythm.  I stood almost in front of Ilyas Ahmed who played guitar in so many different styles, he was marvelous to watch.

And there was a keyboard player in the back who I literally never saw but who was playing low end and waves of sounds.

As the song progresses, Bates played slide guitar–a pretty melody  over the waves of music.  And the song builds and builds.

Through the course of the night, there were excellent bass lines, some wild drums, and more flute.

The whole night set was terrific.  The moods and emotions that they conveyed through these instrumentals were terrific.  What was interesting/amusing was the videos the venue showed behind the band. I don’t know if the band had any say in the video but I enjoyed screen shots like “Rivers turn to blood” and what looked like someone having a psychedelic trip.  At one point during a quiet moment I saw Amos look up at the screen and chuckle.

The set ended with Origin-ing–a fast bassline with some terrific starts and stops as the band was totally in sync.

It was a great show and I’m so glad I got to see them live.

  1. Word Made Flesh ♦
  2. Sisters of Bilitis ∇
  3. Immediate Mate ♠
  4. New Prague Ψ
  5. Burden of Hope ß
  6. Belgian Wake-Up Drill ≡
  7. Lord I Hate Your Day ß
  8. Evening Song ∇
  9. Sad & Illegal ∇
  10. Origin-ing ∞
∇ Anches En Maat
ß The Burden of Hope
≡ Black Tar Prophecies, Volume II
∞ Burning Off Impurities
Ψ Chalice Hymnal
♠ Doomsdayer’s Holiday
♦ Redlight

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Soma (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 30, 2024) [GRAILS]

Posted in Grails, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Soma on June 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 30, 2024] Grails

I saw Soma play at a church in Asbury Park.  The night was an evening of cool video projections and transcendent music.

I really enjoyed their set which was based around sacred music inspired by Krishna.  At the church I really couldn’t see them because lights were low so the projections on the walls would show up better.

At this show the whole band was visible and I enjoyed seeing the vast array if instruments they played–including two double-barrelled flutes and a shell (I’ve never seen anyone blow into a shell to make a sound before).

The music has a trance-like element with repetitive phrases, chanting and simple percussive beats.  At this show a woman sat cross legged on the floor as soon as they started.  And a guy on the side occasionally burst out in joyous affirmation–which I thought was weird, but which the bands seemed to find normal.

There are two main vocalists and virtually every song is a call and response in which the rest of the band (and crowd) sing along.  I enjoyed watching everyone playing their instruments up close and seeing the random assortment of instruments that they were playing as well–so much percussion. (more…)

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Isiliel (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 2024)

Posted in Isiliel, Necronomidol, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on June 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 21, 2024] Isiliel

Seven months ago, I spontaneously bought a ticket to see Isiliel at PhilaMOCA.  The show was weird but fun.

I’m going to repost (almost my entire review from that show and then add some details for this one:

So, who is Isiliel?  She is Himari Tsukishiro who is the main singer in the Japanese band Necronomidol.  As her site puts it

Isiliel is a solo dance/vocal project by Himari Tsukishiro (NECRONOMIDOL).
Mixing genres as diverse as folk, blackgaze and city pop via a worldwide team of veteran songwriters such as King Dude and NARASAKI of COALTAR OF THE DEEPERS, through Isiliel Himari will express hitherto unexplored depths of pathos and beauty on stage.

As Isiliel, she has one album out.  It is, as implied, a heavy metal sounding album, with heavy guitars and a lot of double bass.  But she does not sing like a heavy metal singer.  Her delivery is quiet and slow (and it’s in Japanese).

I hadn’t heard of either her or her main band until about a week before this show was announced.  But when I saw what Necronomidol looked like, I wanted to go to this show too.  It turned out she has some real fans in Philly.  The audience was probably about 30 people, but the show had about a week’s notice.  And several of these fans brought identical small red lanterns which they waved in time to the beat (I asked the merch guy if he was selling them and he said no–they brought them in!)

She wasn’t in corpse paint (like the other band), rather she was dressed much like she is on the album–a midriff baring top (with a metal breastplate) and short skirt.  Her hair is crazy long.

When the music started she began dancing.  It was sweet and a little weird–it reminded me a but of when my daughter was little and she would make up dances that seemed to fit with the music. (more…)

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Isenmor (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, June 21, 2024) [ISILIEL]

Posted in Isenmor, Isiliel, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA on June 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 21, 2024] Isenmor

I hadn’t heard of Isenmor before this show.  They are

a dual-violin-fronted Gewyrdelic Folc Metal. Isenmor fuses the heart of the Old World with the spirit of those who sought out new shores.

They were good fun, dressed in vaguely period and vaguely authentic-looking costumes (not in the picture on the right), the two lead violins (Nick Schneider & Mark Williams) were great fun.  They both played lead, but there was also Pete Lesko on lead guitar who played solo or in harmony with the violins.  There were two lead singers.  Schneider was also the main lead singer and Tim Regan the second guitarist also sang a few songs.  David Spencer was on drums.  Folk metal has lots of stylistic changes and the drums have to match up–slow and quiet or some hefty double bass action.  (Keyboardist Jon Lyon was absent).

There were a surprising number of technical issues.  From the start, bassist Mike Wilson told us that he broke his bass just before the show!  So he was playing a guitar (although I thought his bass sound was still really good).  There were also a few glitches with the drums.  But they dealt with the problems very well and during one pause Schneider played a ripping jog that got the crowd clapping along. (more…)

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