Sendai based ambient artist Nerve (Manabu Ito), as NRV, released his latest EP Notari in July 2021 on Foil Imprints and distilled the essence of the tranquil moments captured in deep places in our memories. The hazy drones and distant, abstracted to a blur of melodies and eroded feedback convey a sense of emotional place where the urgency of everyday life is blocked by a protective cloud cover that also conveys your spirit along a path that soothes the psyche and encourages an opening up to simple stimuli that can be missed in a sea of demanding content. “Rice field and river, 1974” and “i want a white petal in my teacup” as titles have a Zen-like poetic quality to suggest times when you are struck by simple things, simple desires that nourish a sense of inner peace rather than call for a dramatic response. In a time and in a culture that all but requires we push ourselves to the maximum for the requirements of an economic system that is destroying the planet and crushing everyone under, even those who benefit the most, music like this may not hit you over the head with its importance, it is not something over which to get “stoked,” but it may be the sort of thing we need more of to get through to a saner future human civilizational baseline as embodied by these gorgeous five tracks. Watch the evocative EP video preview below and listen to the EP on Bandcamp and consider purchasing the cassette version and listen analog in an appropriate setting like looking out the window during a snowstorm.
Julien Baker at The Gothic Theatre 11/13/21, photo by Tom Murphy
At one point in the Julien Baker show at the Gothic Theatre, the singer and songwriter acknowledged, in her offhand, dryly humorous way, that mostly the set would consist of full band songs since she had released a full band album (Little Oblivions) earlier in the year and that it may not be for everyone but that if it was, thanks for supporting the music. Her wry and self-aware wit graced much of the show when the occasion presented itself as a kind of contrast to the intense and raw emotional territory of the music itself.
Dehd at The Gothic Theatre 11/13/21, photo by Tom Murphy
Chicago art punk band Dehd opened the show with their own brand of irreverent intensity. Drummer Eric McGrady seemed to hold the music together while Emily Kempf and Jason Balla traded off and came together with emotionally charged vocals, Kempf’s expressions both refined and eruptive, Balla’s fiery yet thoughtful. After being on the fence listening to the band’s recorded output over the last few years taking a closer listen to the band’s 2020 album Flower of Devotion and seeing the band in action made it obvious that preconceptions of where its music fits in a box are best left aside in appreciation for how its various creative impulses work together well when in the context of a live music setting.
Julien Baker at The Gothic Theatre 11/13/21, photo by Tom Murphy
Julien Baker has always had an uncommonly powerful voice with a widely expressive delivery as a live performer. Impossible to ignore or dismiss because her turns of phrase are often so creative and coursing with genuine feeling. Seeing these qualities in the context of the full band and an expanded sonic palette. Sure, the middle section of the show where Baker performed solo with guitar and then piano were intimate and poignant and a showcase for her immense talent as a songwriter and performer. But it felt like in some ways that not having to make all the sounds of the music happen left her free to express her feelings in an even more potent and direct way. Certainly the band rehearsed before the tour but when Baker got swept up in the moment and cried out in peak moments of soaring vocals it felt like she was really putting herself out there in a radically vulnerable, elemental way, putting her trust in the audience emotionally. And to its credit the audience responded in kind. It seemed like everyone had more than a singular moment throughout the show and Baker seemed to give voice to thoughts and feelings maybe other people don’t know how to articulate as well or as artfully with as much cathartic energy in public.
Julien Baker at The Gothic Theatre 11/13/21, photo by Tom Murphy
There wasn’t a lot of banter during a set of around twenty songs but when Baker did speak it was with a charmingly self-deprecating humor and a spirit of kindness that was unmistakable. Yes, Baker’s song speak to pain and suffering in a poetic yet real way, especially the songs from Little Oblivions. But always with a sense of a shared experience. When her words address or speak about someone it isn’t with a sense of spite or accusation so much as honoring the raw emotions and with an aim of understanding and processing experiences that can be incredibly uncomfortable. Her performance, as with the new album, came across as opening these moments that can get stuck in our heads with an inspiring honesty minus the cruelty that too often accompanies when people are “being real” with one another. Rather Baker showcased a way to be real and honest with compassion and kindness while also feeling in full the power and sometimes psychologically transformative experiences of those feelings.
Julien Baker at The Gothic Theatre 11/13/21, photo by Tom Murphy
Perhaps most telling was a moment mid-set when someone in the audience commented on one of her early songs and Baker said she wrote it when she was 18 years old in her dorm and that she hopes she has grown and developed as a person since then but that yet she feels compassion for the person she was then. There are many lessons to be learned about life over the years but that’s one that Baker learned earlier than most people and a bit of down to earth wisdom she shared without couching it as such and that spoke volumes about her approach to her music and with other people, a subtle yet strong kindness that isn’t common enough.
Julien Baker at The Gothic Theatre 11/13/21, photo by Tom Murphy
Never Kenezzard at Wax Trax, August 2021, photo by Tom Murphy
For over half a decade Never Kenezzard has brought its psychedelically-inflected heavy music to stages in Colorado. Fronted by guitarist Ryan Peru the trio draws a bit of inspiration from art rock and the avant-garde as well as the likes of Faith No More and Queens of the Stone Age, Never Kenezzard released its debut album Never Say… in 2016. Peru came up getting into classic rock and alternative rock like many people that grew up in the 80s and 90s but transitioned into a focus on experimental electronic music including IDM and ambient music in the late 90s going on to spend nearly two decades making music along those lines including his now concurrent project Mondo Obscura with Evan Brown. 2021 sees the band releasing The Long and Grinding Road representing the development of the group including a line-up change so that found members Peru and drummer Jason Starkey were joined by Denver underground music figure Don White on bass. The record, available online on November 20, 2021, is a thoughtfully sequenced journey of urban and cosmic myth and the rewards of perseverance. We had a chance to have an extended conversation with Peru about his youth in rural Colorado, his evolution in music, his life in the local scene including his time providing striking projections for shows in Denver’s experimental music scene as part of 75ohms and the vicissitudes of being an independent band with relatively little music and culture industry support for your style of sound-making.
Never Kenezzard celebrates the release of The Long and Grinding Road on Saturday, November 20, 2021 at The Squire Lounge with Sea of Flames and Master Ferocious. The show is at 9 p.m. and it’s free and 21+. Look for the digital release of the new album on the Never Kenezzard Bandcamp page. Listen to our interview with Peru on the Queen City Sounds Podcast Bandcamp page linked below. Over the summer Never Kenezzard released the fetching music video for harrowing single “Genie” for which we did a write-up but you can watch it below following the interview link.
Reptaliens from Portland, Oregon return with the video for “Like a Dog” (made with Tristan Scott-Behrends) from the group’s forthcoming album Multiverse. Though returning to using guitar and drums following the duo’s excellent 2020 minimal synth/post-punk EP Wrestling, Reptaliens haven’t lost their knack for solid, extended melodies and culture jamming with left field ideas about the nature of society, the universe and our place in it freely referencing Philip K. Dick novels and the work of transhumanist philosopher FM-2030 after whom the band named its 2017 album. With “Like A Dog” Reptaliens use popular culture as a vehicle for time travel and create an a kind of alternative history of the 1990s from the over hyped and bizarre late night/overly sexualized daytime commercials, Chris Cunningham’s phantasmagoric music videos for Aphex Twin, the manufactured grit and grime of many alternative rock videos and perhaps the truly eccentric music video programs as seen on the Canada’s version of MTV with Much Music. The nods to Nirvana’s Unplugged performance on the aforementioned MTV, the dramatic daytime talk show parody and air of general boredom with fake excitement that was often in the air once the then most recent wave of youth culture had crested by mid-decade all point to what seems like the absurdity of nostalgia for a time that was too often characterized by glossing over mediocrity with the patina of significance through surreal marketing and performative enthusiasm. The almost hypnotic melody maintained by Reptaliens in the tuneful psychedelic pop song is almost a parallel to the air of the time depicted in the video and yet it also strangely draws you in like some of the recreations of 90s media tropes that accompany the music. Watch the video below when it premiers on November 15.
Multiverse is out on Captured Tracks on January 21 and the first pressing comes with rolling papers since the band works on a weed farm in Oregon when not engaged in musicianly endeavors. The tour in support of the record launches in SLC on 1/24 (other dates listed below including the show in Denver on Tuesday, January 25, 2022).
Thurs. Dec 9, 2021 – Eugene, OR – Sessions Music Hall Mon. Jan 24, 2022 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court Tues. Jan 25, 2022 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge Thurs. Jan 27, 2022 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry Fri. Jan 28, 2022 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen Sat. Jan 29, 2022 – Pontiac, MI – Pike Room Sun. Jan 30, 2022 – Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s Tues. Feb 1, 2022 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Thurs. Feb 3, 2022 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall Fri. Feb 4, 2022 – New York, NY – Baby’s All Right Sat. Feb 5, 2022 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry Sun. Feb 6, 2022 – Washington DC – Songbyrd Tues. Feb 8, 2022 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle Wed. Feb 9, 2022 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle Thurs. Feb 10, 2022 – Atlanta, GA – Aisle 5 Fri. Feb 11, 2022 – Nashville, TN – TBD Sun. Feb 13, 2022 – Dallas, TX – DaDa Mon. Feb 14, 2022 – Austin, TX – Empire Tues. Feb 16, 2022 – Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge
Laraaji at Rhinoceropolis in July 2019, photo by Tom Murphy
Circle of Celebration is the latest release from the NOUS ensemble. The latter is a collaboration between composer Christopher Bono, sound healing artist Arji OceAnanda and ambient music legend Laraaji. Bono had met OceAnanda and Laraaji at the Ananda Ashram near Monroe, NY in 2013 and wasn’t initially aware of their status as accomplished musicians. But the three made an immediate connection over the work of Thich Nhat Hahn, the influential Vietnamese Zen monk and over several years kept in contact and came to record this new album. Incorporating Bono’s classical composition and production background with Arji’s sound healing methods and both Laraaji’s approach to ambient music and his concept of laughter meditation the music goes beyond logical barriers and limitations to stimulate the parts of your brain that create an openness of spirit and relaxation from everyday anxieties. Certainly states of being and emotion we could all use now.
Laraaji became known to a larger world of music through the 1980 release of his landmark album Day of Radiance as the third part of the Brian Eno produced Ambient series. At that time and since his music has exerted an influence not just on ambient music but world music and the use of sound and practice as a meditation for personal and collective improvement and development and Circle of Celebration certainly incorporates all elements of Laraaji’s life in the arts up to this time.
We had a chance to speak with Laraaji about Circle of Celebration and its manifestation of the trio’s philosophical and artistic underpinnings, intersections and goals as musicians linked below through our podcast on Bandcamp. Circle of Celebration releases on Our Silent Canvas Records on November 12, 2021 and you can order the album at the label’s Bandcamp page.
Wolf Alice at Bluebird Theater 11/3/21, photo by Tom MurphyThe Blossom at Bluebird Theater 11/3/21, photo by Tom Murphy
Opening act The Blossom was reminiscent of one of the better bands that you might have seen performing at a party or the prom in one of the better teen comedies and dramas around the turn of the century. Its pairing of pop hooks and production with indie rock riffing and attitude and expansive energy seemed a good fit for the bill. Singer Lily Lizotte brought a sunny enthusiasm to the performance that included songs like “Shapeshifter” and “Hardcore Happy” from the group’s 2021 debut EP 97 BLOSSOM.
The Blossom at Bluebird Theater 11/3/21, photo by Tom Murphy
From the moment Wolf Alice took stage, bassist Theo Ellis looked out into the crowd of the sold out show with a palpable joy. Both nights at the Bluebird had sold out, as singer Ellie Rowsell remarked upon later in the show, something that doesn’t happen much at the venue before bands end up having to play larger rooms so the next time around expect the group playing at least the Gothic or the Ogden.
Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice at Bluebird Theater 11/3/21, photo by Tom Murphy
With the 2021 release of , Wolf Alice revealed that it wasn’t just an able and interesting rock band, it fully demonstrated a knack for eclectic songwriting and masterful dynamics. Live, the songs helped the group’s already powerful and commanding performance style shine brighter. The impressionistic “No Hard Feelings” wherein Ellis left stage and Jeff Oddie played a hypnotically ethereal bass figure and Rowsell sang in what might be described as a soulful folk style going into the more electrifying “Visions Of A Life” is the kind of shift one might expect from someone like PJ Harvey and Wolf Alice this night was reminiscent of that artist had she brought on some shoegaze-esque soundscaping in the guitar work and synths.
Wolf Alice at Bluebird Theater 11/3/21, photo by Tom Murphy
Though Wolf Alice took us on what felt like a journey into intense and dramatic feelings in a kind of collective catharsis, at no point did the show drag. That happens at most shows at some time but the enthusiasm displayed by Ellis at the outset seemed to run through the band and the audience both in a synergistic dynamic. When the main set proper ended with the thoroughly enveloping and warm atmospherics of “The Last Man On Earth” punctuated by the scorching rocker “Moaning Lisa Smile” you’d have to be more than a little dead inside to not think you just got to see one of the greatest live rock bands operating today making music that isn’t beholden to some trendy style, rather, having established one of its own.
Wolf Alice at Bluebird Theater 11/3/21, photo by Tom MurphyWolf Alice at Bluebird Theater 11/3/21, photo by Tom Murphy
itchy-O at Summit Music Hall, photo by Tom MurphyXordox at Summit Music Hall, photo by Tom Murphy
When Xordox took stage the duo including J.G. Thirlwell looked like space mystics from a post-Solaris society with lights on their headsets and wearing pendants with symbols that seemed to have a significance for the performance ahead. A backdrop of abstract, evolving projections provided an unconventional grounding to melodic synth compositions that gave a sense of a mysterious future. Tonal sequences and distorted, flaring drones over inexorably flowing beats and rhythms captured that feeling you got from some of the more presciently utopian and dystopia science fiction movies from the 80s where bright sounds were often paired with dark themes. “Between Dimensions” from Xordox’s 2021 album Omniverse had one wondering if the robotic voice was a clear nod to early 80s hip-hop and its taking inspiration from Kraftwerk but that and the rest of the performance was a bubble of the otherworldly before the grand ritual of itchy-O’s set started.
J.G. Thirlwell of Xordox at Summit Music Hall, photo by Tom Murphyitchy-O at Summit Music Hall, photo by Tom Murphy
Between the drum corps and the taiko crew set up on and in front of the main stage and a more electronic cadre set up opposite the stage near the sound booth, itchy-O established a sense of space beyond the confines of the venue. In the band’s earliest days and through the mid-2010s the sheer physicality of the band in small spaces and larger places was an undeniable presence that in all its moving parts created a raw and chaotic energy even though the songs were written ahead of time and heavily rehearsed. It always felt like it could go off the rails even as it operated with great cohesion. Sometime between then and now the band has streamlined its performance. The set list felt sequenced in a way to orchestrate the tonal and rhythmic nuances so that the energy never dropped off. Sure the bombast of earlier shows was there but what might be considered by many to be a gimmick wears thin but the flow of the show now seems to reflect the ways itchy-O’s albums worked as a listening experience. The seamless integration of both approaches to executing the music in studio as worked out in rehearsals and composed outside of those and the live show appears to be complete. A listen to the newly released album SYPHERLOT & HALLOWMASS DOUBLE LIVE 2020 (out now on Alternative Tentacles) hints at this reality though thoroughly enjoyable on its own.
itchy-O at Summit Music Hall, photo by Tom Murphy
The two poles of command at the concert established an unspoken creative tension that reconciled and then parted again throughout the evening. The “creeps” that once most often mingled in the crowd also acted as living dramatic props at points in the show as when the speaker read from the book and appeared to criticize its contents as if to suggest that at some point you have to go beyond the rules, beyond established and entrenched authority to grow as a person and as a group. The clawed hands raised around him made it look like some Lovecraftian cult but one more benevolent and more keyed into the dark mysticism of the collective unconscious. One of the creeps did some riding of the crowd across the room while the two lion’s prowled playfully about. Whereas in some older shows the appearance of Larry the Lion could bring some pause to the forward motion of the event, nothing really diverted attention and all components seemed in sync and keeping the audience engaged beginning to end. If the live album is a marker in the life of a band, this show was a display of the lessons of focus and intentionality that the preparations for those shows necessitated and a clear signal that itchy-O has much more to offer with creativity in presentation of its art and the music that drives its expression.
itchy-O at Summit Music Hall, photo by Tom Murphyitchy-O at Summit Music Hall, photo by Tom Murphy
Though officially announced on Monday, November 11, we found out that notorious L.A. punk legends FEAR will perform at The Gothic Theatre on New Year’s Eve with Potato Pirates and Cease Fire. The group took great pleasure in taunting self-righteous punks and conservative American culture equally with its irreverently humorous, sometimes nihilistic, lyrics and outrageous performances with lead singer Lee Ving commanding the stage like an insult comedian. The band was featured in Penelope Spheeris’ classic 1981 punk documentary The Decline of Western Civilization as well as the infamous 1981 Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live arranged by show writer Michael O’Donoghue and former SNL star and then cinema luminary John Belushi. On the show the band performed and the audience included members of Minor Threat, Cro-mags, The Meatmen and Negative Approach and mayhem ensued including profanity broadcast before the live feed was cut. So plenty of anticipation was in place when The Record came out on Slash in 1982 and it delivered some of the most caustic and boisterous punk in an era not short on such offerings. Since that time FEAR has released a handful of records, the final being 2000’s American Beer, and occasionally toured and still worth showing up to see. But with Ving turning 72 next year this may be one of your last chances, if not your last chance, to catch these heroes of punk before Ving calls it a day. Please visit gothictheatre.com to buy tickets once they’re on sale November 12.
FEAR NYE at the Gothic Theatre poster by Lindsey Kuhn
Uniform is an industrial hardcore band from New York that came out of the city’s punk and extreme music scene. Its fiery and abrasive electronic onslaught articulates issues of existential confusion and frustration with the destructive forces of society and within our own minds and clawing a path to catharsis. The group’s 2020 album Shame (Sacred Bones Records) is perhaps its most accessible but also its most deeply personal and raw.
Singer Michael Berdan grew up getting into punk and edgier metal and Singer Michael Berdan grew up getting into punk and edgier metal and eventually helped found Drunkdriver. But in 2011 when stories of drummer Jeremy Villalobos’ rape allegations started coming to light, Berdan left the band citing the aforementioned acts and, with the help of people who wouldn’t coddle him, set about trying to confront any mindsets and behaviors in himself that might have a chance of leading to abusive behavior of any kind.
Uniform got together in 2013 when friend and former bandmate in other projects, Ben Greenberg moved in down the street from Berdan and the two Uniform got together in 2013 when friend and former bandmate in other projects, Ben Greenberg moved in down the street from Berdan .The two shared an interest in industrial music, noise and punk that they used those sounds and textures as a vehicle to express feelings of alienation and comment on that state of the culture and the world. With confrontational performances has connected with fans and other bands leading to multiple collaborations with noise rock duo The Body resulting in an expansion of the scope of its themes and its expanding soundscaping palette.
We recently spoke with Berdan about his early days in music, his handling of the breakup of Drunkdriver and the ever evolving songcraft of Uniform. You can listen to that interview on Bandcamp linked below and you can catch Uniform with Portrayal of Guilt and Body Void at HQ on Monday, November 8, 2021.
Plack Blague started as a side project of grindcore outfit Wasteoid. Drummer Raws Schlesinger wanted an outlet for his interest in electronic music, noise and dance music and Plack Blague became, for about a decade, the occasional vehicle for that when it launched on Halloween 2001 and a pretext for Scheslinger to play some of the weirder shows he would have been going to anyway. With the untimely passing of Jeffmetal Sayers of Wasteoid in September 2011, Schesinger went on to focus his energy on Plack Blague and hone its craft, visual style and performances and along the way went from something of a local and regional legend to a star of the American underground able to fit bills of multiple musical genres and one of the most powerful and compelling live acts running. Depending on which record you pick up or show you catch you might hear more of the noise side of Plack Blague or more of the electronic dance aspect but in place is the leather daddy gear and Schlesinger’s dynamic stage show comparable to a more industrial and noise Big Freedia—the same raw intensity and infectiously fun energy. Schlesinger also regularly issues aesthetically striking merch and does t-shirt screenings for himself and other artists. But as you will hear in our recent interview with Raws he has a strong sense of community and connection to underground music culture both within the rich history of Lincoln, Nebraska punk and extreme music and the larger culture beyond his regional scene.
You can witness the spectacle of Plack Blague for yourself at the Hi-Dive this Saturday, November 6, 2021 for the 4 year anniversary of the Eventually It Will Kill You label along with Kontravoid, Many Blessings and Closed Tear. But until then, please listen to our extended interview with Raws Schlesinger below and hear about his deep roots in Lincoln punk and the modern era of underground music in America and beyond. And o check out Plack Blague’s music and order merch, visit the Bandcamp page.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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