percussion

Passages

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Maserati play methodical, well thought out, and percussion-driven instrumental music, described by some as post-rock. I saw Maserati play in Portland earlier this year when they opened for the majestic MONO, one of my favorite bands of all time, also on the Temporary Residence label. I remember being impressed with Maserati’s tight and together live performance, and in particular, was impressed with the talented drummer, who seemed to drive the performance.

Out of eight songs on Maserati’s new Passages album, only two are new tracks. The others are remixes or songs from a split LP with the band Zombi that is now out of print. I know that some people probably don’t see much of a point in putting out a new album for what are mostly old songs and I would usually tend to agree. Not having the other albums from which most of these songs were gleaned however, everything was new to my ears and I am enjoying this album. The song “Monoliths,” one of the previously unreleased tracks, is particularly intriguing and ear-catching.

The structure of the songs is so steady and intentional that it can feel as if there are no climaxes and that the songs never really end, leaving the listener slightly unsatisfied. At points, the tracks can seem repetitive, particularly rhythmically, leaving the songs to blur together. Listening to Maserati makes me feel kind of frantic in a very logical way. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I do feel like the album is missing something I can’t quite put my finger on.

Written by: Liz Simmons, January 7th 2010

The Holy Open Secret

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:53:00 +0000

By Hoots & Hellmouth

Mad Dragon Records

I would not have selected this album to review if I’d actually read the liner notes. However, I did my due diligence, went to iTunes and listened to a sample or two. I loved singer Sean Hoot’s voice, the uncomplicated lyrics and definite rock beat.

When my package arrived with Hoots & Hellmouth’s The Holy Open Secret, my children, who are teenagers, made their way into my room as I played it. Looking slightly bewildered at my musical choice, my son entered with the comment, “Is that really someone playing the saw?”

I am a lover of most kinds of music. I have every genre on my iPod, often listening to Everclear, Annie Lenox, and Frank Sinatra in short order. But The Holy Open Secret threw me for a little bit of a loop. It was like the first time I watched Napoleon Dynamite—I kept waiting for the funny, engaging, or meaningful moment. But it never came. Except that it did—tenfold.

I love this album. Absolutely adore it. I play it for anyone who will listen. I’ve listened to it at least seven times myself. I have come to obsess over the simplicity, the unusual and amazing concept, and the unique instrumentation pulled together by Hoots & Hellmouth. This is amazing stuff.

I’d almost hate to call this roots music and turn anyone off from discovering the depth and strength that is possessed in its simple concept. I want to beg everyone to listen to it more than once before making a decision. I’m not big into bluegrass or Appalachian music, but this is such a unique and phenomenal group—those who venture past the initial moment of understanding that something special is happening will be amazed at the result. There is stomping, clapping, and other unique forms of percussion—I read someplace that they rarely play with a drummer—and it’s an exciting concept to feel the music without the pounding drums that can overwhelm a subtle lyric.

Formed in 2005 as a two-man group, the now four-member Hoots & Hellmouth caught my attention. And how. I’d give anything to see them live—I bet it’s something to behold to see them in person. Stomping on stage. It all but gives me chills.

They have a great website that includes YouTube clips of live performances. Come on, you know you want to check them out—give it a listen and watch this most unusual quartet. I absolutely, positively guarantee that you’ve never seen anything like it before. Of course, too late to do anything about it, I discovered, as I write this, that they’re traveling through my home state. Now, how do I follow someone on twitter again…? Did they play here? That would be devastating, to have missed them when I just found them.

Written by: Rachel Petzold, December 14th 2009

Rashaya & Resistance Cruisers

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:47:00 +0000

By Matt Weston

Matt Weston’s album Rashaya is a fantastic piece of modern art. It is unique in that it is not a standard drum performance one would find at a symphony or pop music concert. Listening to Weston’s music is a different experience in and of itself; there is a variation in the sounds that is reminiscent of the Broadway show Stomp. The tracks have a surprising amount of expressive emotion produced from the unique instruments. Listening closely, there is an underlying accompaniment of sounds that are unusual, but add positively to the piece at large, even though you can’t quite put a finger on what instrument it is. Just when you think he is going one way with the rhythm the song goes in a whole other direction.

This album is not for the novice music listener. I recommend this for those who have a love of percussion-based music. Also I recommend it for those people, like myself, who enjoy having a little bit of everything in their musical library.

I was disappointed not to hear as much percussion on Matt Weston’s album Resistance Cruisers. It is more cacophonous electric noise than interesting and expressive percussion. The first track “It’s your Career” is the only likeable piece on the album. This piece finds balance in the mix of unique percussion with noise, which is tolerable, but becomes tedious by the end of the piece. Perhaps it is the guitarist in me, but the electric solos on this album sound like serious damage is being done to an electric guitar. During the track “Rose is the Color of my Envy,” I wanted to cry. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

Experimentation with music is good - that’s what I liked about Weston’s album Rashaya. However, the Resistance Cruisers experiment failed. This album crossed the line from edgy and new to obnoxious.

Written by: Diana Tierney, June 22nd 2007