The Devil's Tongue

I am sitting in my living room and relaxing to the sounds of Talkdemonic's second full length LP, Beat Romantic.  From the opening track one may prepare themselves for a journey into minimalist string simplicity...but then we hear the drums...and the banjos...and the synths...and the horns...and eventually some electronica.

Talkdemonic is Kevin O'Connor and Lisa Molinaro of Portland, OR.  He plays drums, fretted instruments, piano, synthesizer, horns, and implements the electronic elements of their music.  She plays viola and synthesizer.  The "folktronic hop" music they create together is beautifully warming, and smoothly chill; it's energizing and relaxing at the same time - like a slow walk through the woods on a sunny Autumn day, or laying out on the beach at night gazing at the stars and observing to the waves crash.

I was very happy to have caught them at MFNW during my trip.  Rosie and I forged our way into an industrial part of town to The Branx.  With a small bar on the right and a small stage at the far end of the room there wasn't much here save for people...but what it lacked in stuff it made up with character and energy.  The Branx is a unique and fun place to see a show; it makes you feel as though you're at an illegal party hosted in an abandoned warehouse...well, kinda.  Watching Talkdemonic perform was a real treat; the organic vibration of live viola in combination with raw, real drums allowed preprogrammed backtracks to come to life.  Throughout their set the digital and analog world continued to crash in front of us in truly splendid ways.

Video for Mountain Cats

The record holds the same feel - especially on vinyl.  The voila is vibrant and pops out of the mix while the drums provide an earthy and primitive energy to each track - capable of picking things up when needed, but also of slowing the pace back down to a mellow crawl.  A lovely addition of flute is featured on the track White Gymnasium, which I regret to admit I cannot find in a streamable format to link here.  Instead here's Bering, another gorgeous example from Beat Romantic:

Bering

Talkdemonic's fourth record, Ruins, comes out next Tuesday and can be preordered from the bands website, here...and here is a really cool video for the first track, Duality Of Deathening...

A Course In Mindscrew Consonance

From the opening percussion and hand-clapping of Split The Lark to the heavy powertrip and stuttering finale of Width Of The Tunnel, Brainstorm's Battling Giants more than pleases the ear with interesting musical antics and fun ideas...all executed in such a way that appeals equally to the inner child, musician, and poet.  This is some seriously creative indie rock from Portland, OR.

Photo From Brainstorm Facebook page.

The sometimes overlapping and/or harmonized vocals ebb and flow, usually crescendoing just in time for squiggly, trilling guitars to writhe in distortion or fuzz, scampering around their favorite scale and crashing into walls of power chord waves.  Rattlesnaking, jangling, and thumping percussion manages to ride along and keep things as "structured" as they'll get.  Brass makes its way into the mix rather randomly at points in the record, teaming up with some synth goodness for the poppy title track.  The anthemic We Are Free resurrects a spirit from the 1960's, while Bottom Of The Sea adds some southern fried, foot-stomping folk-and-roll.  Uh Oh Black Hole! is something like They Might Be Giants performing a traditional Russian dance for the first surfing astronaut brigade.  Impressively, Brainstorm know just when and where to take their songs...nothing here is forced or feels contrived - it's zany not by design, but by nature...and it all works brilliantly.  It's hard to believe this is just two guys (with occasional guest female vocals).

Catchy, inventive, and full of energy, Brainstorm are an exploratory playground of awesomeness...like a rock-and-roll ice cream truck operated by a poetry professor - and it's just as beautiful as it is unusual.  You have to hear it for yourself...

The entire album is available on their bandcamp page here.  It is highly recommended.  5/5

Opeth @ The Palladium

September 19th, 2011.  Opeth's 10th record in not a metal record.  No death vocals.  No detuned, wildly overdriven guitars.  Mikael Akerfeldt has moved on and has been quite frank about it in recent interviews.  Still, there were many disappointed fans at Monday night's show which kicked off the world tour for Heritage.  I was not one of them.

Opeth's change of pace comes at a great time in my life, so perhaps I am just more open to it at this particular juncture.  The Heritage album speaks on its own - its blend of 1970's prog, hard rock, and fusion elements combined with Akerfeldt's caliber of songwriting is a welcome addition to my collection any day.  This turn in Opeth's sound also allowed them to rethink their live performance - they opted to fill the set with oddball songs and "obscure" b-sides, which never had their place when Opeth had to fill our ears with metal and could only select maybe 10 or so songs due to song duration and set time.

Predictable opener The Devil's Orchard was followed by its successor on the record, I Feel The Dark, and then by the classic Face Of Melinda.  But that's where predictability ended, and because of what came afterward I felt very lucky to be seeing the first show of the tour.  From Watershed came Porcelain Heart, which even though was a single has never before been played live.  They followed this with another new track, Nepenthe, before derailing us on an acoustic foray.  "This is going to get strange...", Mikael warned as he tuned up his acoustic.  What came next was a fantastic first live performance of Throat Of Winter (originally recorded for the God Of War 2 soundtrack and recently released on 7" vinyl), followed by a tripped-out rendition of Credence which featured light synthesizer accompaniment, and another first-time performance of a formerly rare Patterns In The Ivy II.  The acoustics were taken offstage and the crowd responded in anticipation and need for a few heavy cuts; "Deliverance" was repeatedly screamed from somewhere far off behind me...boy was that guy disappointed when the next song was introduced as a Rainbow ripoff and tribute to Ronnie James Dio - Slither, a new shorter song certainly stepped up the energy a notch, but just wasn't enough to satisfy the crowd's craving for progressive death metal.  The set was rounded off with an extra lengthy version of A Fair Judgment with an ultra slow doom-laden ending, and Hex Omega.

The set choices really reflect a deliberate shift, and opened up the possibilities for Opeth to play some really interesting songs that never found their way into live performances on past tours.  Further, all of the set's tracks really fit together and create a sense of cohesion between their new sound found on Heritage and their previous work.  Really breaking tradition was the new song Folklore as an encore in place of the tried-and-true Demon Of The Fall.  Maybe I'm the only one, but I had become bored of always hearing Demon as the standard Opeth encore time and time again.  While many others walked way grumbling and moaning, I found myself filled with a refreshing energy and happily soaking in the sounds of new Opeth.  Like the new record, the live performance contained not a single death growl...indeed we're at a crossroad and to make room for the new, some older things, though missed, must be discarded.

Listen to the entirety of Heritage on NPR Music here.

Opeth @ The Palladium Sept 19, 2011 (Photos by Dan Wyatt)

Refresh

I've been on unannounced and unofficial hiatus from TimbreLeaf the last few months.  This has been for several reasons, but primarily due to the slump and/or rut in which I found myself.  It seemed the thought of writing had become a nagging self-imposed expectation I put on myself, and due to lack of time and inspiration this indeed lead it to feel like a chore rather than a love.

Since my last June post - besides working on the house - I've entered my 31st year, bought a Martin DC16-RGTE, read several great books, resigned from my job, and took a long vacation in Portland Oregon.  Autumn is fast approaching and I am embracing many changes in my life, attitude, and creative endeavors; my trip to Portland was a culmination of this harvest.  Rosemary and I timed the trip to coincide with MusicFestNW, five days filled with a wide variety of music of local and national acclaim.  You can expect to see a short post about the trip soon.  Other than the myriad of music at the MFNW, this summer I've ventured out to see Soundgarden, Bon Iver, and a few local shows at the Toadstool.

Soundgarden July 10th 2011 (Photo by Andrew Bruss)

I've done some soul-searching, meditation, and healing...and feel ready to get back to TimbreLeaf.  My vision of TimbreLeaf has changed a little; since I haven't posted at all in regard to music equipment and technique I plan to drop that idea.  It may resurface in the form of another blog, but for the time being I want to center my attention on one thing and grow TimbreLeaf into what I want it to be.  I plan on posting more and making pieces shorter - get my thoughts out and move on.  Posts will probably shift to music that is new to me and stray from well-known acts altogether.  The format will be much the same: reviews, links, and pretty pictures of vinyl.  Thank you to those who read and/or follow TimbreLeaf; your time and comments are very much appreciated.

Cheers ~

The Thing (Part II) or Why Late Is Better Than Never

At this point I am writing this in an effort to clear my pallet for future posts.  As you may have noticed I have been absent from TimbreLeaf in the last couple of months.  I'll explain more about that later...for now please enjoy the startling conclusion of The Thing In The Spring...

One of the best shows at this year's Thing was held Saturday Mat 14th at Harlow's Pub: a wonderful place to be for great food and great taps.  Harlow's often hosts blues and rock bands, and sometimes the occasional foray into reggae or even things as cool as Balkan/Klesmer/Gypsy/Bellydancing (The Underscore Orkestra which appeared just last Friday).  These performances by Coke Weed and Mmoss were ones I just couldn't miss.  Rosie and I procured the perfect small pub table in the center of house surrounded by the eclectic barrage of quirky beer signs, obscure personalities, adverts, and other art adorning the walls and ceiling of the establishment.  With a beer already in my stomach Coke Weed took the stage to fill our ears with their throwback blend of chill, reverb soaked ditties.  With both male and female vocals, often in duet form, Coke Weed's songs are melodically strong and rich with mellow but fun textures.  Named after perhaps both the most famous upper and downer, the band energizes your spirit to dance...but in a stoned, shoe-gazing sway.  Like and unlike a darker, psychy She & Him, Coke Weed, rather, are inspired, thoughtful, and a pleasure to experience live and on record (sorry Zooey, I do love you very much, but it's the truth).  I hope Coke Weed are not displeased with the comparison...or more truthfully the contrast as it is.
"Not My Old Man" by Coke Weed (Uploaded by The Walkmen)
 
Mmoss are no strangers to the TimbreLeaf blog.  I've been greatly enjoying their vinyl release of i quite a bit in recent months.  Their last performance at the Toadstool was a short one; for The Thing they played a complete and masterful set.  I will'n't belabor this...Mmoss are a mind-blowing phenomenal paradox of a band.  Born out of their era, they create the perfect music of a by-gone day with such impeccable skill and natural talent you just cannot not like them.  Lush organ chords waver in and out between telecaster secret agent alchemistry and catchy vocal melodies...think a psychedelic rock & roll super group from 1968.  Mmoss did not disappoint at Harlow's, in fact this may have been my favorite performance from 2011's Thing.
Another Dream by Mmoss 

Sunday saw the last show of the festival return to the Peterborough Historic Society for Goddard, Giraffes? Giraffes!, and Kayo Dot.  Goddard, a three-piece from Worcester Massachusetts, brought me right back to my junior high school days.  With a dress code, attitude, and stage presence straight from 1994 - in a really great way; I can imagine them having opened for Tool or Henry Rollins back in the 90's.  This post is actually well timed as Goddard have just released a new record, Bishop, which is available on their BandCamp page...and it is fantastic.  Their music has just the right parts grunge, groove, and grit; each third of the guitar-bass-percussion triad complements its opposite and adjacent quite naturally.  Hear for yourself...

Giraffes? Giraffes! are apparently the hot ticket item.  The duo from western Mass have accumulated quite a healthy following, even in far-from-home regions.  Though G?G!'s two members have been involved in various solo and other musical projects and styles, their set was comprised of their latest spastic, tumbling instrumentals.  Aided by phrase looping effects and synthesizer they constructed and demolished riffs and structures throughout each piece, layering subtleties and bridges to connect the dots.  Outside of the Harlow's show The Thing crowd was most densely populated and animated during this set - my socks were indeed rocked clean off.  Recently G?G! rather successfully persued funding for their new record via Kickstarter.  Hopefully we can expect it out soon?  Try this on from their last record, More Skin With Milk-Mouth, which can be purchased here....
"When The Catholic Girls..." by Giraffes? Giraffes! (Uploaded by amystafford)

Kayo Dot (Maudlin Of The Well in a previous, more metal life) is a large group from New York consisting of horns, guitars, percussion, bass, and vocals.  They were last up and the crowd thinned out considerably.  I get it...Kayo Dot are not conventional by any means and while I enjoy the band quite a bit, their live performance at The Thing could have been better.  In contrast to the last time I saw them they opted to focus on their more ambient cuts - horns droning, bass chiming natural harmonics, and somber drawn out vocals.  Folllowing G?G!'s set this felt just a tad flat energy-wise.  The highlight was their finale - cresendoing and instense, it ended with pots-and-pans calamity eventually and reluctantly giving way to a meditative silence and peace...this is what makes Kayo Dot great.

This year's Thing was more formal and put-together than last year; everything about it was stepped up a notch.  I am very impressed with the talent and names that were brought to a small place, but I personally enjoyed last year's Thing more.  This is probably primarily due to my personal experience; last year nearly everything I heard was new to me and that was something that I enjoyed immensely.  There also seemed to be more experimental performances and collaborations which were not only very interesting, but also something you couldn't see anywhere else.  I am hoping for a more mixed experience next year - some big names, and perhaps some local one-off collaborations.  My suggestion....a 48 hour local music mashup - combine willing members of several local bands to write songs 48 hours before the festival and then perform at the The Thing alongside the bigger names and established acts.  This would be very cool.

With all that said I am beyond amazed and impressed with Mr. Gagne and the rest of The Thing's crew.  From the average attendee's perspective it may not seem like the tremendous amount of work that it is.  I feel indebted to those who put this festival together.  It's one of the big events of the year that I look forward to with great excitement and I hope the tradition carries on for a long time to come.  Thank you to everyone who was involved and to all the musicians and artists who contributed.  You are all what makes Peterbough, NH a great place to be.

*Broke: The Affordable Arts Fair is coming back this November 26th and I strongly recommend checking it out if you are anywhere near the Monadnock area.  Cheers!