since i've last posted i've seen so many good shows, and i've missed so many more.....
i've been too busy with work, moving, and fatherhood these days.
to mention a few of the highlights:
Acid Mothers Temple (under several different names including SWR with the best moment for me being Kawabata Makoto's solo section...)
Brethren of the Free Spirit (James Blackshaw & Jozef van Wissem with solo sections from both)
Caribou
LSD March
Ignatz
Paul Metzger
Evangelista
Sir Richard Bishop
and i missed:
Xiu Xiu
Vetiver
Akron/Family
Gang Gang Dance
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Simon Finn
Religious Knives
A Silver Mt. Zion
A Place To Bury Strangers
Damo Suzuki
Six Organs of Admittance (kicking myself)
Wooden Shjips
Sic Alps
Eric Chenaux
Aleuchatistas
Low
Arborea
Nadja
Machinefabriek & soccer Committee (while i was in holland for christmas, didn't work out)
and coming up soon:
Josephine Foster (yes!!!!)
Sharron Kraus (and apparently Fursaxa just cancelled, she was going to play with Sharron)
i'm really hoping to get some reviews done this weekend of a few shows and several albums that you must hear!!! i have to catch up on my low point reviews too... so check back soon!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Manticornio
new side project with my buddy sam.
psych folk & rock w/ plenty of experimentation and spacey sounds, rooted in some heartfelt melodies... we'll see where it takes us.
Manticornio Family Band Myspace
Manticornio on Last.fm
family band foto
psych folk & rock w/ plenty of experimentation and spacey sounds, rooted in some heartfelt melodies... we'll see where it takes us.
Manticornio Family Band Myspace
Manticornio on Last.fm
family band foto
Monday, April 14, 2008
Concert Review : Peter Walker
So.... lately interesting guitar players have been coming through Madrid and playing at the Casa de los Jacintos.
Saturday night I headed down there to see Peter Walker. I suppose he's basically a legend... being one of the first to combine fingerstyle guitar with Indian scales and raga forms back in the 60's. He's studied with Ravi Shankar (sitar) and Ali Akbar Khan (sarod)... So it was not to be missed. I had checked out one of his albums from back then, Rainy Day Raga, and it was quite nice... but I wasn't sure what to expect from him solo in 2008... He's toured with Jack Rose and has been as inspirational as Fahey and Basho to a new generation of guitarists such as James Blackshaw...
It ended up being a really enjoyable evening, the atmosphere in the Casa de los Jacintos was great (though a bit too smoky... really...) and Peter Walker was spellbinding. He's been fascinated by flamenco for years, and he was perhaps taking a risk by performing flamenco guitar here in Spain, but he's quite accomplished and he's studied with some great names and everyone was into it.
As the night progressed he switched back and forth between nylon and steel stringed guitars, plucking and strumming styles, and improvisation styles.... by the end of the night he was combining flamenco, raga, and American primitive guitar in really authentic and beautiful cascades of melody. It was like a language and he was narrating his life and travels to us, stories he'd picked up along the way, people he'd met, scenes he'd absorbed into his mind and heart...
The whole night he spoke to us in broken Spanish, introducing his songs and sometimes briefly giving a bit of background, but then when he began to play, it was like he was just continuing with a different voice. After finishing a phrase on the guitar he would pause and look around the room as if to make sure we were following his drift, then continue with the tale.
He's currently on tour in Europe, so if he's playing near you, I strongly recommend you go. It was really one of the most enjoyable shows I've been to in a long time.
Saturday night I headed down there to see Peter Walker. I suppose he's basically a legend... being one of the first to combine fingerstyle guitar with Indian scales and raga forms back in the 60's. He's studied with Ravi Shankar (sitar) and Ali Akbar Khan (sarod)... So it was not to be missed. I had checked out one of his albums from back then, Rainy Day Raga, and it was quite nice... but I wasn't sure what to expect from him solo in 2008... He's toured with Jack Rose and has been as inspirational as Fahey and Basho to a new generation of guitarists such as James Blackshaw...
It ended up being a really enjoyable evening, the atmosphere in the Casa de los Jacintos was great (though a bit too smoky... really...) and Peter Walker was spellbinding. He's been fascinated by flamenco for years, and he was perhaps taking a risk by performing flamenco guitar here in Spain, but he's quite accomplished and he's studied with some great names and everyone was into it.
As the night progressed he switched back and forth between nylon and steel stringed guitars, plucking and strumming styles, and improvisation styles.... by the end of the night he was combining flamenco, raga, and American primitive guitar in really authentic and beautiful cascades of melody. It was like a language and he was narrating his life and travels to us, stories he'd picked up along the way, people he'd met, scenes he'd absorbed into his mind and heart...
The whole night he spoke to us in broken Spanish, introducing his songs and sometimes briefly giving a bit of background, but then when he began to play, it was like he was just continuing with a different voice. After finishing a phrase on the guitar he would pause and look around the room as if to make sure we were following his drift, then continue with the tale.
He's currently on tour in Europe, so if he's playing near you, I strongly recommend you go. It was really one of the most enjoyable shows I've been to in a long time.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Concert Review: Tom Carter
Tom Carter live @ El Ateneo de Madrid, Saturday March 1st, 2007
Saturday night Sam, Noemi, and I met up outside the doors of the Ateneo of Madrid... those hallowed halls where literary luminaries gathered for tertulias that shaped the written words of the golden ages of Spain... It was really an impressive venue and I couldn't think of a better place to hold avant-garde and experimental concerts...
As the hostess said at the beginning... this would be a bit of a risky proposal for Madrid, but I can't express how happy I am that these acts are making an appearance in a city that has a reputation for an infertile music scene...
The first group to take the stage in the beautiful auditorium was En Busca del Pasto, Madrid's very own. They were an improv band that impressed me but didn't quite convince me. They had a lot of things going for them, but in the end it was a bit too much in that Euro-improv-jazz-electronic vein. That's not to say that there weren't some aurally brilliant moments, and the interpretative dancer was quite entertaining with all her dadaist charm.
They made use of several laptops (which only really did anything worthwhile once--a Fennesz or Tim Hecker-like moment of granulated ambience), a bass guitar, bowed cymbal and a floor tom, occasional electric guitar and vocals, and various ethnic noise-makers like a cluster of goat hooves, rainstick, bowl, cymbals, and the like.
Then after a brief intermission Tom Carter took the stage. The list of groups and artists Tom has played with is endless, but here are some highlights for me: Sky City, Badgerlore, Charalambides, Mudsuckers, Kyrgyz, Robert Horton, etc... His solo works are not always as dynamic in my opinion, but they are always interesting and even engrossing. I recommend Monument (on Kranky records) and Shepherd at Lexington for starters...
Sometimes Tom plays in a folky context, and sometimes it's more noise-oriented, but it's always psychedelic, experimental, and improvisational. This night was a dreamy psych drone work out that put a smile on my face and filled the darkened hall with layer upon layer of warm fuzzy tones.
The first thing he did was ask for the lights to be dimmed. He had two amps set up and started out setting the mood with a metal slide creating tinkling textures on a guitar tuned to an open major chord. He didn't just use the slide on the strings though, he was using it on the edge of the guitar body as well... something I think I'll have to try now;-)
This was abruptly cut short and he jumped into a full-fledged drone. He built up some lovely textures for a while with delays and loops and then began improvising some solos over droning pulses of distortion. The delay decay was the natural propeller between "themes" or "movements" and Tom continued the pattern of building up texture and then developing a bit of melody throughout his performance. He used the e-bow for some really climactic chord-flutters that reminded me of some of Robert Fripp's more abstract solos. Towards the end he incorporated the tremolo pedal for some very nice psych-ambient drone work. Overall it didn't get too loud and was more soothing than rocking. I'd say that some Fripp & Eno tracks wouldn't make bad comparisons actually... Someone started clapping early and a bunch of people joined in, while he was obviously not finished yet. That bothered me. I don't know if he was annoyed or not, but he finished off quickly after that, just letting a solo trickle off to nothing.
It was quite an impressive show, and I've been looking for some more of his solo albums since then. My friend Sam isn't as crazy about the drone as I am, but he was impressed with the depth and texture of Tom's guitar playing. After the show I went to ask Tom about his involvement on the latest Badgerlore album, and he was just telling me "Well, I took these steel strings, and--" when we were interrupted by someone with a phone call for him. So I didn't get to hear what he did on it, but it was something more "electronic" he had said earlier.... Badgerlore has to be my favorite thing he's involved in (free folk), followed by Kyrgyz (improv with a bit of folk and noise), Charalambides (free folk jams), and Mudsuckers (power electronics noise drone improv).
So I hope to be catching more similar artists at the Ateneo in the near future.... I've discovered a great new venue with an excellent program. (Brethren of the Free Spirit will be playing there in early April.... that's James Blackshaw and Jozef van Wissem)
Photo taken by Luis Diaz, lifted from visiones en 50 milimetros (the hostess of the show, I believe) :::::::
I'd like to see his other photos from the night....
Saturday night Sam, Noemi, and I met up outside the doors of the Ateneo of Madrid... those hallowed halls where literary luminaries gathered for tertulias that shaped the written words of the golden ages of Spain... It was really an impressive venue and I couldn't think of a better place to hold avant-garde and experimental concerts...
As the hostess said at the beginning... this would be a bit of a risky proposal for Madrid, but I can't express how happy I am that these acts are making an appearance in a city that has a reputation for an infertile music scene...
The first group to take the stage in the beautiful auditorium was En Busca del Pasto, Madrid's very own. They were an improv band that impressed me but didn't quite convince me. They had a lot of things going for them, but in the end it was a bit too much in that Euro-improv-jazz-electronic vein. That's not to say that there weren't some aurally brilliant moments, and the interpretative dancer was quite entertaining with all her dadaist charm.
They made use of several laptops (which only really did anything worthwhile once--a Fennesz or Tim Hecker-like moment of granulated ambience), a bass guitar, bowed cymbal and a floor tom, occasional electric guitar and vocals, and various ethnic noise-makers like a cluster of goat hooves, rainstick, bowl, cymbals, and the like.
Then after a brief intermission Tom Carter took the stage. The list of groups and artists Tom has played with is endless, but here are some highlights for me: Sky City, Badgerlore, Charalambides, Mudsuckers, Kyrgyz, Robert Horton, etc... His solo works are not always as dynamic in my opinion, but they are always interesting and even engrossing. I recommend Monument (on Kranky records) and Shepherd at Lexington for starters...
Sometimes Tom plays in a folky context, and sometimes it's more noise-oriented, but it's always psychedelic, experimental, and improvisational. This night was a dreamy psych drone work out that put a smile on my face and filled the darkened hall with layer upon layer of warm fuzzy tones.
The first thing he did was ask for the lights to be dimmed. He had two amps set up and started out setting the mood with a metal slide creating tinkling textures on a guitar tuned to an open major chord. He didn't just use the slide on the strings though, he was using it on the edge of the guitar body as well... something I think I'll have to try now;-)
This was abruptly cut short and he jumped into a full-fledged drone. He built up some lovely textures for a while with delays and loops and then began improvising some solos over droning pulses of distortion. The delay decay was the natural propeller between "themes" or "movements" and Tom continued the pattern of building up texture and then developing a bit of melody throughout his performance. He used the e-bow for some really climactic chord-flutters that reminded me of some of Robert Fripp's more abstract solos. Towards the end he incorporated the tremolo pedal for some very nice psych-ambient drone work. Overall it didn't get too loud and was more soothing than rocking. I'd say that some Fripp & Eno tracks wouldn't make bad comparisons actually... Someone started clapping early and a bunch of people joined in, while he was obviously not finished yet. That bothered me. I don't know if he was annoyed or not, but he finished off quickly after that, just letting a solo trickle off to nothing.
It was quite an impressive show, and I've been looking for some more of his solo albums since then. My friend Sam isn't as crazy about the drone as I am, but he was impressed with the depth and texture of Tom's guitar playing. After the show I went to ask Tom about his involvement on the latest Badgerlore album, and he was just telling me "Well, I took these steel strings, and--" when we were interrupted by someone with a phone call for him. So I didn't get to hear what he did on it, but it was something more "electronic" he had said earlier.... Badgerlore has to be my favorite thing he's involved in (free folk), followed by Kyrgyz (improv with a bit of folk and noise), Charalambides (free folk jams), and Mudsuckers (power electronics noise drone improv).
So I hope to be catching more similar artists at the Ateneo in the near future.... I've discovered a great new venue with an excellent program. (Brethren of the Free Spirit will be playing there in early April.... that's James Blackshaw and Jozef van Wissem)
Photo taken by Luis Diaz, lifted from visiones en 50 milimetros (the hostess of the show, I believe) :::::::
I'd like to see his other photos from the night....
Friday, March 7, 2008
Self-promotion: Antilope - Foundland demo
When I was living in a basement without my papers in Nijmegen, Holland I began my musical identity as Antilope. I didn't know it at the time, but there is another Antilope who makes techno beats. Which isn't so cool, but maybe I can keep the name.
Anyway, I began experimenting with my laptop and really horrible recording techniques... so it was a bit limited, but I had some good instruments at my disposal... I currently own a ukelele, acoustic guitar, various tin whistles, a cracked ocarina, a flute (that was recently stepped on), a set of Scottish shuttlepipes, a saxophone, an accordion, and I'm borrowing a dilapidated electric guitar missing a string and a little amp.
After a couple of CD-rs worth of experiments, some better than others, I think I finally started to get my vision focused by the time I was leaving Holland. I'd been listening to all sorts of music, but in the end a few definite influences emerged that would inspire me and leave a mark on my sound:
Badgerlore: on all their albums there is a sound that I love, but in particular it's the individual elements each member brings that really struck me-- Tom Carter's improvised guitar textures and electronic noises, Ben Chasny's mystical and primitive melodicism, and lately, Liz Harris' (from Grouper) heavily delayed hazy vocals...
Fripp & Eno: Fripp's improvised electric guitar solos are otherworldy, and I could never hope to do anything nearly so good, but the style has really impressed me. And I've been a fan of Eno's ambient soundscapes for a long time...
Then there is a series of groups and individuals that have inspired me in their amazing use of feedback in their music. The list is quite diverse, and artists come from different genres, but they all use and manipulate feedback quite masterfully for a beautiful outcome:
Boris, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Kawabata Makoto, Oren Ambarchi, and Thuja.
Next is a sound that haunts my dreams. Quite a few artists have begun using it, but for me there were three in particular who introduced me to it and use it to spine-chilling perfection: Daevid Allen of Gong, Mike Moya of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple. They are all masters of the glissando guitar drone, a sound I could listen to and make for days...
Another more general sound that has caught my attention is ambient-folk: Rameses III (also the North Sea & Rameses III), and Hush Arbors have been making beautifully spaced-out and dreamy folk music that could be easily associated with the ambient genre.
Stephen O'Malley has been involved in many incredible projects, but Ginnungagap and Aethenor have particularly caught my ear with their dark ambient, freely drifting, drones. The keyboard on Aethenor's album was especially arresting...
The Jewelled Antler Collective of San Francisco has been in my ears a lot. Their many bands and artists have been a huge inspiration to me. Their use of feedback, improvised folk, drones, and their choice of instrumentation is truly incredible... My favorites are Thuja, Steven R. Smith and Hala Strana, and the Skygreen Leopards.
Acid Mothers Temple is a very eclectic band, but their more folky songs have definitely left their mark on me. They start with a folk riff and just build on it.
Then there are a few things that make my music distinctively mine... mainly these are things that have arisen from my limited resources and have turned out to be good things. Necessity is the mother of invention they say, and I use what I have access to. I don't own any slides, so I've been using my tin whistles, flute, and other metal objects like scissors. This has lead to some great sonic discoveries...
Also my low-fi equipment has definitely marked my overall sound, as well as the instruments I have access to.
In the end I think my sound is coming out like a combination of Sky City, Thuja, Tom Carter, Drona Parva, and William Hooker with Eyvind Kang and Bill Horist... for example.
My latest recordings, which I think are the best, are three tracks that I've called the Foundland demo. They were all improvised. The first two were recorded last fall in the garage of a house my wife and I stayed in for a few months. My computer crashed during the recording of the second track so the levels were not good at all, but fortunately my pal Joe Diaco back in North Carolina mastered them and they sound better. The final track is an electric guitar improvisation, the first thing I've recorded since moving in to my new apartment and since my daughter was born. It hasn't been mastered and I think there are some phantom noise issues. But for now it is how it is. At the end I used my accordion and voice.
You can hear my Foundland demo here:
Antilope – phoenix above and below
Antilope – third green falcon
Antilope – Malleable Moonbeams and the Birth of a Moëss
So far I don't have any real prospects of getting this released on any labels, but I don't know if it's ready for it yet... My pal Bo White from Kinnikinnik Records in North Carolina asked if I'd like to release something, and I'd love to, but I'd like to get some more feedback on the "Foundland Demo". So let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate all comments (good and bad), advice, etc...
Some photos I took mostly in Nijmegen that for me represent the beginning and essence of Antilope:
Anyway, I began experimenting with my laptop and really horrible recording techniques... so it was a bit limited, but I had some good instruments at my disposal... I currently own a ukelele, acoustic guitar, various tin whistles, a cracked ocarina, a flute (that was recently stepped on), a set of Scottish shuttlepipes, a saxophone, an accordion, and I'm borrowing a dilapidated electric guitar missing a string and a little amp.
After a couple of CD-rs worth of experiments, some better than others, I think I finally started to get my vision focused by the time I was leaving Holland. I'd been listening to all sorts of music, but in the end a few definite influences emerged that would inspire me and leave a mark on my sound:
Badgerlore: on all their albums there is a sound that I love, but in particular it's the individual elements each member brings that really struck me-- Tom Carter's improvised guitar textures and electronic noises, Ben Chasny's mystical and primitive melodicism, and lately, Liz Harris' (from Grouper) heavily delayed hazy vocals...
Fripp & Eno: Fripp's improvised electric guitar solos are otherworldy, and I could never hope to do anything nearly so good, but the style has really impressed me. And I've been a fan of Eno's ambient soundscapes for a long time...
Then there is a series of groups and individuals that have inspired me in their amazing use of feedback in their music. The list is quite diverse, and artists come from different genres, but they all use and manipulate feedback quite masterfully for a beautiful outcome:
Boris, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Kawabata Makoto, Oren Ambarchi, and Thuja.
Next is a sound that haunts my dreams. Quite a few artists have begun using it, but for me there were three in particular who introduced me to it and use it to spine-chilling perfection: Daevid Allen of Gong, Mike Moya of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple. They are all masters of the glissando guitar drone, a sound I could listen to and make for days...
Another more general sound that has caught my attention is ambient-folk: Rameses III (also the North Sea & Rameses III), and Hush Arbors have been making beautifully spaced-out and dreamy folk music that could be easily associated with the ambient genre.
Stephen O'Malley has been involved in many incredible projects, but Ginnungagap and Aethenor have particularly caught my ear with their dark ambient, freely drifting, drones. The keyboard on Aethenor's album was especially arresting...
The Jewelled Antler Collective of San Francisco has been in my ears a lot. Their many bands and artists have been a huge inspiration to me. Their use of feedback, improvised folk, drones, and their choice of instrumentation is truly incredible... My favorites are Thuja, Steven R. Smith and Hala Strana, and the Skygreen Leopards.
Acid Mothers Temple is a very eclectic band, but their more folky songs have definitely left their mark on me. They start with a folk riff and just build on it.
Then there are a few things that make my music distinctively mine... mainly these are things that have arisen from my limited resources and have turned out to be good things. Necessity is the mother of invention they say, and I use what I have access to. I don't own any slides, so I've been using my tin whistles, flute, and other metal objects like scissors. This has lead to some great sonic discoveries...
Also my low-fi equipment has definitely marked my overall sound, as well as the instruments I have access to.
In the end I think my sound is coming out like a combination of Sky City, Thuja, Tom Carter, Drona Parva, and William Hooker with Eyvind Kang and Bill Horist... for example.
My latest recordings, which I think are the best, are three tracks that I've called the Foundland demo. They were all improvised. The first two were recorded last fall in the garage of a house my wife and I stayed in for a few months. My computer crashed during the recording of the second track so the levels were not good at all, but fortunately my pal Joe Diaco back in North Carolina mastered them and they sound better. The final track is an electric guitar improvisation, the first thing I've recorded since moving in to my new apartment and since my daughter was born. It hasn't been mastered and I think there are some phantom noise issues. But for now it is how it is. At the end I used my accordion and voice.
You can hear my Foundland demo here:
Antilope – phoenix above and below
Antilope – third green falcon
Antilope – Malleable Moonbeams and the Birth of a Moëss
So far I don't have any real prospects of getting this released on any labels, but I don't know if it's ready for it yet... My pal Bo White from Kinnikinnik Records in North Carolina asked if I'd like to release something, and I'd love to, but I'd like to get some more feedback on the "Foundland Demo". So let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate all comments (good and bad), advice, etc...
Some photos I took mostly in Nijmegen that for me represent the beginning and essence of Antilope:
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Concert Review: MV & EE with the Golden Road
Matt Valentine & Erika Elder with the Golden Road - Live @ the Wurlitzer Ballroom, Madrid, Spain
So, Wednesday January 30th at 10 pm I headed downtown Madrid to the Wurlitzer with a couple of friends. I was rather excited, because we seldom get music that I actually listen to (and have albums of) here in Madrid... Though I hadn't heard this incarnation of MV & EE, I have been a fan of them with the Bummer Road and by themselves for a while now. I knew the basic sound to expect: off-kilter singing, psych-folk, heavy on the improvisation....
While these elements were there, what surprised me was the rock & roll and the blues...
The Wurlitzer was definitely not the place to see this band, though. First, it's a long, corridor-like venue where the stage is at one end and is not elevated at all. So it's difficult to see the band, even if there aren't that many people there. Second, the sound guys didn't know how to treat them. This is a venue where loud Spanish indie and punk bands blast it out with everything just pushed to the max. So a lot of the musicality was lost, and there wasn't a very good balance in the mix.
But. It was still a great show, and I had a good time. The Golden Road was an excellent backing band for Matt and Erika's new songs, which were more country-rock and blues oriented... Samara Lubelski played bass, and she was really the perfect foundation for the extended psych/drone jams that most of the songs ended up as. (and you'd be a fool not to check out her amazing solo work, look for some on Sub Pop) They had a good drummer whose name I can't remember, with a fairly simple drum kit that sounded great and fit in with the overall country sound. And then they had what for me was a real treat: Doc Dunn, a pedal steel player from Canada. He really formed an integral part of the band, soloing and adding esoteric space-country touches all over the place. Occasionally he'd put on the echo effect and really make my day:-) If only the mix had been better and we could have heard it more....
And Matt and Erika were great. He sounded like Neil Young never did... Just-off-key high-range wailing with a southern drawl... with some interesting guitar solos and some solid country picking and strumming. Erika played an electric mandolin, with the distortion to the max... Again, the sound guys didn't do her any favors, especially with the vocal mic. Plus, she had a sore throat... though it didn't stop her from a killer performance of "Hammer" which is one of my favorites off their album. "Hammer" and "Easy Livin'" were definitely highlights of the show...
There's a bootleg circulating out there somewheres.... going by the name of "Ringside Seat Nosebleed Tour". It's quite good, but doesn't really reflect the Madrid show's sound. What we heard was much louder, and rocked pretty hard. Which was great, but it would have been nice to be able to pick out some of the subtleties that make MV & EE with the Golden Road magical.
Their album "Gettin' Gone" is out on Ecstatic Peace!
So, Wednesday January 30th at 10 pm I headed downtown Madrid to the Wurlitzer with a couple of friends. I was rather excited, because we seldom get music that I actually listen to (and have albums of) here in Madrid... Though I hadn't heard this incarnation of MV & EE, I have been a fan of them with the Bummer Road and by themselves for a while now. I knew the basic sound to expect: off-kilter singing, psych-folk, heavy on the improvisation....
While these elements were there, what surprised me was the rock & roll and the blues...
The Wurlitzer was definitely not the place to see this band, though. First, it's a long, corridor-like venue where the stage is at one end and is not elevated at all. So it's difficult to see the band, even if there aren't that many people there. Second, the sound guys didn't know how to treat them. This is a venue where loud Spanish indie and punk bands blast it out with everything just pushed to the max. So a lot of the musicality was lost, and there wasn't a very good balance in the mix.
But. It was still a great show, and I had a good time. The Golden Road was an excellent backing band for Matt and Erika's new songs, which were more country-rock and blues oriented... Samara Lubelski played bass, and she was really the perfect foundation for the extended psych/drone jams that most of the songs ended up as. (and you'd be a fool not to check out her amazing solo work, look for some on Sub Pop) They had a good drummer whose name I can't remember, with a fairly simple drum kit that sounded great and fit in with the overall country sound. And then they had what for me was a real treat: Doc Dunn, a pedal steel player from Canada. He really formed an integral part of the band, soloing and adding esoteric space-country touches all over the place. Occasionally he'd put on the echo effect and really make my day:-) If only the mix had been better and we could have heard it more....
And Matt and Erika were great. He sounded like Neil Young never did... Just-off-key high-range wailing with a southern drawl... with some interesting guitar solos and some solid country picking and strumming. Erika played an electric mandolin, with the distortion to the max... Again, the sound guys didn't do her any favors, especially with the vocal mic. Plus, she had a sore throat... though it didn't stop her from a killer performance of "Hammer" which is one of my favorites off their album. "Hammer" and "Easy Livin'" were definitely highlights of the show...
There's a bootleg circulating out there somewheres.... going by the name of "Ringside Seat Nosebleed Tour". It's quite good, but doesn't really reflect the Madrid show's sound. What we heard was much louder, and rocked pretty hard. Which was great, but it would have been nice to be able to pick out some of the subtleties that make MV & EE with the Golden Road magical.
Their album "Gettin' Gone" is out on Ecstatic Peace!
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