Tonight: Grand Archives, Kid Koala, Gregory Paul
Grand Archives, the Most Serene Republic at the Crocodile, 8 p.m., $12
Gregory Paul
Keep in Mind Frankenstein opens with the elegiac tale of Topsy, a rampaging elephant electrocuted by Thomas Edison at the turn of the century. Amid plinking guitar and dirge-like strings, Mat Brooke softly and swooningly tells the tale from the voice of the ill-fated pachyderm, creating an unexpectedly poignant composition, rife with the air of unavoidable doom and resignation. From that somber beginning, Grand Archives rushes into the slightly more upbeat sound of "Witchy Park - Tomorrow Will (Take Care of Itself)", which opens with sun-hazed guitar chords before a lovely vocal harmony rushes in. Keeping things moving in a positive direction, "Silver Among the Gold" follows next, with an uptempo beat and propulsive guitars. Multi-part vocals are near constant on this album, used to particularly lovely effect on "Siren Echo Valley (Part 1)", which comes across as a nearly a capella track with a haunting melody and shadowy counter-melody with flavors of traditional folk structure shining through. Finger picked guitar and harmonica brighten up "Left for all the Strays", which likely counts as the album's catchiest track. Grand Archives has created an album of blissful yet sedate folk pop that hints at sunny melodies yet never comes fully out of the darkness, creating beautiful patterns of dappled light and living shadow. NICHOLAS HALL
Kid Koala at Nectar, 9 p.m., $10
Other than Matt & Kim, the happiest, most smilingest artist I think I've ever seen live is Kid Koala, a.k.a. Montreal-based turntable maestro (and graphic novelist) Eric San. While most DJs have that look of concentration, or exude an aura of cool detachment, Kid Koala was beaming from ear to ear last year as he masterfully worked the decks, dropped some wacky samples amid his dexterous scratching and experimental techniques, showed off some of his excellent illustrations on an easel, and got the crowd hyped for "The Hard Sell" set by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist that followed. He's also opened for the likes of Radiohead and Bjork, but for this outing he's the star attraction, though he's got some help: Joining the Kid in a presentation they call the Slew are the former bassist and drummer for the Australian rock band Wolfmother. The trio plans to kick out some serious jams with live instruments and six turntables, which should make everyone in the room happy as hell. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG
Gregory Paul performs at Conor Byrne at 9 p.m. tonight and at Shadowland at 10 p.m. Saturday
When singer/songwriter (and recent Seattle transplant) Gregory Paul first started putting out proper albums in the mid-'90s, he appeared to be on track towards finding his voice as a pop-rock tunesmith working in the bright, radio-geared idiom of the day. At the time, his love for experimental noises and textures was only evident via his primitive homemade cassette recordings that date back to the late '80s . Slowly but surely, Paul kept fusing his experimental sensibilities to his hooks until they began to sound natural together. Eventually, he arrived at a seamless, utterly unique blend that owes as much to modernist composers like Steve Reich and Brian Eno (and even My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields) as to the songwriting giants of folk and pop. In his more recent work, including his latest album, This Side of the Ground, Paul stirs heavy doses of traditional American roots music into the mix, though it would be wrong to confuse him with the hordes of rock musicians on the bus to Americana-ville. Paul's work cuts deeper than that - direct to the bottomless well of sorrow that permeates the land beneath our feet, perhaps just waiting for his soft wail to set it free. SABY REYES-KULKARNI
1 comment(s)
b.buildings says:
Don't forget: Deertick, See Me River, Battle Hymns at the High Dive tonigh
Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 24 2009 @ 10:00AM