Bottling Smoke Day 2 was a lesson in psychedelia, free improvisation and avant-garde composition. My day began at roughly 2pm when I walked over to Echo Curio. I bumped into some people I had met the night before and we headed around back to the merchandise booths that were set up in the rear of the building. I purchased some CDs and CD-rs, then headed inside to catch New Fairfield Parks And Recreation and their melding of folky acoustic guitar with homemade signal processor glitch-work. The Alps (a Jefre Cantu project) did not perform, so the next act was Brad Rose as The North Sea, and he enlisted several over musicians to fill out his acoustic singer/songwriter compositions. The final act of the afternoon was Xela, who sounded fantastic. The best description I could give would be, imagine a boatload of very sad ghosts lost at sea. Excruciatingly haunting, mesmerizing sounds.
New Fairfield Parks & Recreation
The North Sea
Xela
After Xela finished, everyone departed with plans to reconvene at Mr. T’s in Pasadena later that evening. During my break, I watched some of the Mets game and then met Steve at Fatburger for dinner. We headed over to the converted bowling alley and arrived shortly before the first act of the evening, Robedoor. Before the band went on, Jefre brought over Jim Redd so we could catch up and chat for a few minutes. It seems life is treating him very well these days. We shared a few laughs and then Robedoor began their set. The duo performed beneath a makeshift tent and pounded out heavy drum rhythms that swirled together with heavily affected vocals. They were followed by Thousands, a local group comprised of folks associated with Echo Curio. Upon completion of their set, the stage was emptied and Ghosting knelt in pitch blackness orchestrating a huge maelstrom of guitar drone and eerie, spiritual singing. It was an enrapturing performance, and exactly what I expected after enjoying both Cloudburst and Why Not Be Utterly Changed Into Fire. Starving Weirdos definitely lived up to expectations. The stage was packed with people and obscure instruments. At the front of the stage, two Parthenon-like columns stood holding ghetto blasters. There were cassette players and tapes strewn across the front of the stage, candles were lit, and a giant painting of Abraham Lincoln sat in the center, like a fucked up shrine to God-knows-what. The boom-boxes and cassette decks played sounds ranging from running water and crickets to electronic pulses. The band’s sound is impossible to describe; it is a style is completely unique from anything I’ve seen or heard before. You must witness them in a live setting to truly grasp it. Tarentel took a while to set up, but once they were ready, they (along with one a member of Starving Weirdos as a second drummer) created the most transcendent set of the weekend. The combination of ambient, sonorous beauty and gnarly, off-kilter beats, with Paul’s super-8 film projections was capable of catapulting listeners into a fuck up nether-world. The evening closed with a soul-crushing set from Heavy Winged.
Robedoor
Thousands
Ghosting
Starving Weirdos
Tarentel
Today I went to see the Dodgers / Cubs game with Fawn, Brian, Eric and Tina. A good time was had by all.
Here’s Derek Lee striking out, and here’s some Dodger relief pitcher.
Finally. Your Mix Tape.
RULES for uninitiated noobs: With 100MB of webspace, I give birth to a weekly Mix Tape to be deposited on your iPods or Zunes or Kingklangs or whatever the industry is currently pushing on you. Sometimes there will be themes that link all the songs together, other times I’ll just throw songs at a wall (not literally) and see what sticks. There are a couple themes this week: color, the blues (the style, not the color!), women, love, and time. See if you can figure it all out. As always, these songs will be removed if desired by the band or those who represent them. Let me know and I will gladly comply. The goal of this endeavor, as always, is to pique your interest in these artists so you’ll support the artists and buy their albums.
Sunday Mix Tape Number 68 – “Incandescent Silk Strands From The Sky”
01. Skip James – Devil Got My Woman – (buy this album)
02. Weed – Sweet Morning Light – (buy this album)
03. Helium – Silver Angel – (buy this album)
04. Vashti Bunyan – Glow Worms – (buy this album)
05. Les Rallizes Denudes – Mizutani 3
06. Nico – Frozen Warnings – (buy this album)
07. Selda Bagcan – Dam Ustune Cul Serer – (buy this album)
08. Gal Costa – Sebastiana – (buy this album)
09. Marvin Gaye – Mercy, Mercy Me – (buy this album)
10. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – Siguiendo la Luna – (buy this album)
11. The Flying Burrito Brothers – Cody, Cody – (buy this album)
12. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Helpless – (buy this album)
13. Bill Frisell – Tales From The Far Side – (buy this album)
14. Japancakes – This Year’s Beat – (buy this album)
15. Del Shannon – Colour Flashing Hair – (buy this album)
16. Broadcast – Colour Me In – (buy this album)
17. Charlie Feathers – Wedding Gown Of White – (buy this album)
18. Blind Willie Johnson – Dark Was The Night – (buy this album)
19. Brainiac – Velveteen Freak Scene (vinyl-only bonus track) – (buy this album)
