rhetoric, writing, and technology

Anvil

Anvil: The Story of Anvil is a documentary out now on one of the original metal bands from the early 80s. I actually have an album of theirs on tape from around 83-84, Forged in Fire. They were pretty good and I always thought they should have gone farther. I'll definitely have to get around to checking this out at some point. Here's some notes from Rotten Tomatoes and the trailer. This is a great QA after their hometown screening. They really were an influential band for the transition from NWOBHM to Thrash, but they never made it on any kind of large scale. They kind of got lost in that transition. It's kind of nice to see them getting some props.

Posted by: bhawk at 15:41 | link | comments
music, video

Top Five Live

I've been thinking about this post for a while, so after seeing Mace again this weekend I thought I should get to posting it. These are my top five live acts *when you compare the live show to the recordings.* Some acts are just live acts, and a CD just can't capture the live experience.

1. Gore Gore Girls

I first saw GGG in Tempe just down from ASU. We were there at a conference, looked up some shows in the local paper, and decided this was the one. Good choice. GGG are powerful and clean live. The guitars really pack a punch without getting muddy. Plus they have their act down. I went and saw them again when they came through DC and they were equally as good. So, I bought the CD. The tracks they have online and on CD just don't represent what they can do. The guitars are thin and lose all of the punch they get through a big PA bouncing the sound off the back wall. If they come anywhere near you, go. Classic Detroit roots rock. (The vid below just can't capture their power live, but it will give you a taste of what they are after.)

2. Mace

I first saw Mace a few years ago when his band the Rubes played F-burg (they are on the local label Underdogma). The Rubes were good, but ended up breaking up. The upshot was Mace, who played bass and sang in the Rubes, decided to go solo. Just him and a guitar. While the recordings posted to myspace are fine, they just simply can't reproduce the experience of his voice filling up an entire room. When he came through F-burg again a couple of years ago he did an impromptu free show and just set up a pitcher at the stage and asked for donations. By the end of the night he had around 250 bucks. His range of songs from bluesy originals to classics like Zeppelin to underground favs like Raging Slab to a traditional bluegrass song sans guitar all show off his incredible vocal range, power, and feeling. Somehow this guy really needs to get on the road and catch a break.

3. Retarted Elf

Back in the early 90s Retarted Elf jumped on the short-lived funk resurgence brought on by the Chilli Peppers and others. Hailing from TX, they had a record and hit in Japan, if I'm not mistaken, but never got the record deal here to take off, and then the trend fizzled out. But these guys were a live party band all along anyway. Incredibly fun to see live. Again, a record or a video just can't capture the feel of the horns filling the room, the dancers coming off stage and starting a train during "No Stop Party Train," and the energy coming off stage. The recordings aren't bad, just no substitute. (I picked the vid below because it captures a little of what their live show was about, but the sound can't compare to the real live show.)

4. Dan Deacon

I saw DD not too long ago and sort of jumped on the band wagon. Hailing from Baltimore and creating his own persona as techno-DJ meets DIY punk, DD is another act that is really created for the live experience. The songs are written to be performed. Recordings I've heard and fine, but the whole show is geared toward being down in front with Deacon and soaking in the energy and experience. A must see at least once. (See the link above for my review of the show I saw and a vid.)

5. Buck-o-Nine

I decided to round this out with another 90s band. Again the short-lived ska movement was destined to be short-lived. The genre is centered on the live experience. No Doubt aside, bands like Bo9 (named for how much a quart of beer cost at the corner store) were more about fun and performance than hits and fame. Not as much of a distinction between the records and the shows as some of these other acts, but still something better experienced live. Bo9 has a new album coming out (or out). Glad to see they are still kickin. (The vid below is from their newest album and is more polished, hence their lower ranking on my top five.)

RT

Retarted Elf - "What Up G" by Tara Venaruso

GGG:

click here for more videos like this

Bo9:

Buck-O-Nine - Im Not Dead

Posted by: bhawk at 12:47 | link | comments (3)
music, reviews, video

Music Mash Up

So, I've been swamped and let a number of music posts slide, so here's a quick summary.

KSE: I went to see Killswtich Engage at the National Theatre in Richmond. They are one of the few metal bands that I've continued to follow over the last few years. Opener Lacuna Coil were OK, but didn't quite do it for me. They seemed like a less creative Queensryche. The music (guitars, bass, drums, and backing keyboard tracks) all seemed to be there just to showcase the vocals. The vocals were good, but at this point I want to see some more musical creativity. KSE, on the other hand, had plenty of it for me. These guys catch flack from diehard metal fans as being too poppy and from mainstream people for being too metal, but they really hit the perfect balance for me between heaviness, quality songwriting, and creative guitarwork. The crowd went ape-shit, singing along to *every* song. When the vocalist stopped singing, the crowd carried the songs and filled the theatre as if the sound was coming out of the PA. Nothing bad about that.

Youtube Sound Collage: Mark Sample sent me this under the banner "most creative use of Youtube." A really cool way to merge video and sound to produce a sound collage that *works*.

Sound Scene: This past weekend we went to the DC Listening Lounge show at The Warehouse. Upstairs they had three installations based on the theme of the body. The first room simply had the sound of a beating heart and blood pulsing through veins filling the room with a blue screen projected on the wall. The second room had a manikin laid out on a table with headphones attached to different parts of the body. Each one played a different sound/audio loop involving that part of the body. The last room had "vertical twister": spots on the wall had places for hands, feet, forehead, etc., and when you placed the requested part there it would trigger a motion sensor that triggered sound. I liked the latter the best. Downstairs we managed to catch Janel and Anthony live for a few songs. She plays cello and he plays guitar. Both run through effects and they weave in and out of song structures and soundscapes. I like the more experimental direction they seem to be headed, but what makes it work is the grounding in solid musicianship. I like.

Flat Fields: So, after I've been getting interested in some experimental sound art stuff, my old friend Paul Bennett comes out of the woodwork with some cool sound collage stuff. It seems like when it comes to art and technology he's always one step ahead. When I'm slaving away commuting and grading papers, he's sitting in his room with a guitar and sampler. Alas. This current stuff shows older musical influences from Daniel Ash/Bauhaus and Butthole Surfers to contemporary sound art/noise genre. Straight up Burroughs style cutup sound collage mixed with some of his own guitar playing. After a couple of emails I got the true genesis of the project: "I used to work near the border of Mexico when I was doing my stint in the oil field early 90's. Radio reception around that area is strange. In the dead of night you could hear several radio stations bleeding into one so you could hear a lot of songs being played at once. Often, some of the songs appeared as if they were recorded back in the early 30's, shot into space, then bounced back." Check out his video too!

Posted by: bhawk at 12:38 | link | comments
music, reviews, texas

Avant Fairfax

So after hearing about this show I thought I'd go check it out to see what kind of local scene is going on. It turned out to be interesting, but overall it didn't satisfy my interests. I liked the fact that there was a wide range in both genre and generation on display. There really needs to be more of both of those. The music, whether post-punk or throwback 70s space rock, rested mostly on a DIY ethic that I love but that left me wanting more. Here's a rundown of the performers:

We missed some of the earlier acts, but got there about mid-second "set" right before Outpost from NYC came on. They were a 70s throwback band on the space rock side of things. A three piece with a bass player, keyboard player and guitarist (who also worked with some sounds). While I liked them well enough, the guitarist should pull back on the scales/solos entirely and I think they should ditch even the minimal amount of vocals they had. Go all the way with the more ambient stuff and update with some more digital elements. I liked it most when they found some grooves (in ample supply from the bass player and the occasional drum loop).

Anduin, from Richmond, was next up. I think out of all of the performers this was the one I might want to see again. A single guy with a computer, he does dark ambient stuff. The mood seemed same-ish across all of his songs but he does it well and the set was short enough that it didn't go stale. Maybe some more elements like the one song with a harmonica accompaniment could add some more layers of interest over a longer set.

Bolmongani was next. Hailing from NC, he was the post-punk flavor of the day. He'd play a bass riff and loop it; then play a guitar riff and loop it over the bass; and then start in on the drums, making the drum the lead instrument playing on top of the looped guitar tracks. I really liked the concept and to some extent the aesthetic, but something about the guitar sound didn't do it for me (yes I'm a guitarist by trade so I'm more picky here). With a more refined sound and a little better riff writing, this could be cool.

Mike Tamburo came on and more or less stole the show. Playing a solo set on the hammered dulcimer, he proved to be the best musician of the night. Weaving in and out of musical and/or percussive movements, he had the crowd pretty much captivated. And got a standing O for his efforts.

The show was running over time, but I wanted to stay for the last two acts, unfortunately. Kohoutek was a throwback 70s jazz-rock fusion band. All improv. The danger of such a project is that when improv goes bad, it goes bad. The first half of the set the drummer basically solo-ed into a cacophony of noise. Maybe that's what they were going for, but it didn't work for me. When the drums finally settled down into some grooves things started to gel, but again the guitarist needs to drop the scaled solos. Go more for the ambient/inventive sounds. This would help get them out of 70s throwback status and into something fresher.

Cheer-Accident from Chi-town was the final act. I've been a little captivated by "The head works as an inhibitor" song/video, so I was interested in seeing what their full set would be. While on the one hand they were the act that seemed to be more of an organized band, on the other they came across as disorganized and sloppy. Disappointing. I like the fact that they really stretch the notion of genre from song to song, but when they launched into their heavier, choppy rock stuff the guitar sound was bad and their timings got way off. Again, stick to the more abstract stuff, more sounds, more horns and keys. Give up on the 70s throwback stuff.

On a more positive note, I picked up a flier for the DC Listening Lounge, which is having a show on May 8. Planning to check that out. Off to KSE tonight. Maybe I'll report tomorrow.

Posted by: bhawk at 15:21 | link | comments (2)
music, reviews

Posthuman Rhetorics

Someone on the media ecology list posted this and I have to admit loving this kind of stuff. Reminds me of the Humanities conference in NC. It has real implications for complex vitalism, posthumanism, rhetorical ecology, and material rhetorics: Bonnie Bassler: Discovering bacteria's amazing communication system

Bassler studies the ways bacteria communicate collectively, not as individuals. Similar to an ant colony, they release hormones/molecules that other bacteria sense/recognize. She calls it “talking with chemical words.” The releasing and reception of these molecules she calls “quorum sensing” because the groups of bacteria collectively “vote” with the chemicals and once they reach a certain tipping point in terms of numbers the collective group acts in particular ways. This functions both as intra and inter species communication. Some molecules are only recognized by the same species of bacteria, some are recognized across species. Bacteria don’t live only in groups of their own species so they have to have ways to negotiate these ecologies. Bassler’s team is hoping that this new information about the ways bacteria communicate will lead to new forms of antibiotics. Rather than killing the bacteria, they hope to disrupt their communication and stop groups of bacteria from becoming virulent. Plus you have to love the fact that humans are 10% human and 90% bacteria.

Just as an aside, I also like Bassler’s homepage. All of her articles are linked to a database of abstracts. I’m kind of surprised it isn’t full text. When are we in the humanities going to move toward these kinds of models?

Posted by: bhawk at 13:04 | link | comments (1)
video, rhetoric, vitalism, posthuman

Another Side Band

I always thought the White Stripes were OK. I appreciate what they are after but never blown away. Ractonteurs? A couple of songs are OK but I followed them less than even the WS. Now it looks like Jack White is in another side band: The Dead Weather. This is a nice live review from the NYT: Jack White on the Drums? Don’t Worry, He Still Sings. I have to admit to liking their first single, "Hang You From the Heavens," which loads immediately from their homepage. This one is all about the guitar sound for me, courtesy of Dean Fertita, Queens of the Stone Age. Almost reminds me of a cleaned up version of the Melvins. We'll have to see what the rest of the album is like.

Posted by: bhawk at 11:23 | link | comments
music, reviews

Big Tex

My last Melvins post had me thinking about other great bands we've seen via academic conferences. One year at Western States in Tempe we opened the local paper and decided Big Tex and the Blazin Pintos with Crack Sabbath opening was it. CS played 80s covers in the style of Black Sabbath. Not the best musicians I've ever seen, but great concept and pretty funny. Along the same lines, Big Tex was pretty funny and good. They play original material in a range of genres and are a party band in the style of Retarded Elf from Austin (early 90s "funk"). Apparently Big Tex is still pretty big in the Southwest. I can see why.

Posted by: bhawk at 11:22 | link | comments (1)
music, video

Melvins - Hooch

Back when CCCC was in Minneapolis, we were standing around the hotel trying to decide what we should do. Stepped out of the hotel, looked to our right, and there is was: a big sign that said Melvins one block over. Couldn't believe it. The Melvins were playing at the club where Prince filmed _Purple Rain_. Had to go. Great show. Ever since then we try to track down live music at every conference we go to.

Melvins - Hooch

Posted by: bhawk at 10:07 | link | comments
music, whatever, video

Mopho

Thanks to JB over at Blogora for this one: Mobile Music: Band Geeks Play iPhones, Not Instruments. We're probably only going to continue to see this kind of stuff.

Posted by: bhawk at 17:00 | link | comments
music, video, new media

Flute Beatbox

A friend passed these on to me. Pretty cool. Took me a minute to figure out that the flute was doin' the boxin'.

Posted by: bhawk at 15:43 | link | comments
music, video