Saturday, June 27, 2009

Sparkle Girl sees Zaimph. Pete Swanson, Magnetic Ring and Brother Raven 6.24.09

stole this from Kurt's blog....since I agree

Although Zaimph was was great for two shows the real treat for me was seeing Pete Swanson's solo debut outside of Portland. Loved D Yellow Swans and Pete gone solo was no letdown. Able to hear not only the elements he brought to the Yellow Swans but with more of a postpunkish guitar sound this set with great swelling waves of rhythm.

anyway here is Kurt's take on things...

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Review Of Zaimph, Pete Swanson, Magneticring, Brother Raven at Josephine
Current mood:ambient chillout
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes
Last night The Josephine hosted Brother Raven, Magneticring, Pete Swanson and Zaimph. The unmissable lineup (for fans of spaced out zoned drone synth psych, anyway)delivered the goods. A healthy wednesday night crowd of 30-40 heads showed up to have their consciousness raised by these Kult jammers. Brother Raven are fairly new on my horizon, a local duo (J.Anderson & J.Potter), they purvey a stunning wash of uber spaced out cosmic synth worship. They seemed to take a wholly improvisational journey, navigating dense bass swells interspersed with thoughtful quiet parts. It was as if Klaus Schulze took a less conventional route through the Moog cosmos. They sounded great and ended on a stunning fade that left the crowd momentarily hushed before exploding into applause and howling their approval. I first heard of these dudes when they were scheduled for an in-store at Wall Of Sound Records but sadly missed the show, so it was cool to check them out at the Josephine. They also have a self-released tape out called "A Sound Like Wailing Winter Winds Is Heard" which totally kicks ass (hit them up for a copy at www.myspace.com/broraven).
Magneticring is Joshua Stevenson,who used to be in Jackie O Motherfucker. His first LP as Magneticring is amazing. Here are some words about it from the website: "Magneticring's debut Lp has just been released on the Uzu Audio Label from Edmonton, Alberta Canada.
Magneticring is the solo project of Josh Stevenson, member of Staked Plain (est. 1993), Von Bingen, B.C.V.C.O. and formerly Jackie-O Motherfucker. Not to mention contributions to a Kemialliset Ystävät recording, touring as a member of Samara Lubelski’s live band, Pink Mountaintops, numerous mastering credits, and is currently working on recordings with Montreal’s Sam Shalabi’s ‘Land of Kush Orchestra’ and Steven Wray Lobdell (Faust, Davis Redford Trio) After a couple of cassette releases, we are pleased to present his first long playing LP. Three tracks of hazy vintage synth pieces. This album is a one time pressing of 449 copies of clear 180 gram vinyl packaged in a Tip-on style gatefold jacket with custom silk screened art.
It features EMS Synthi 'AKA' & 'A' / Moog Opus / Maxi-Korg and some fuzz phaser guitar." Totally awesome! Anyway, his set was equally amazing and Kosmische, even though some dude was up in his space checking out his gear while he was playing. He played some unbeleivably vintage gear with his back to the audience and created a perfect trance state for all to enjoy.
Pete Swanson (ex Yellow Swans) played his first Seattle solo set. He played a gorgeous powder blue and white guitar through an array of electronics that metamorphosized his riffs into churning ocean currents and shooting stars complete with tracers. Pete's music is always an impressive mixture of abrasion and beauty, like a much more aggressive Tim Hecker. The room was absolutely thick with sound and vibration throughout his set. Sweet! Pete's got a couple of tapes out which convey a similiar vibe to this live performance, "Denim Life" and "Unlimited Options", both c20. Ask him about them here: www.myspace.com/yellowswans.
Marcia Bassett (Hototogisu, GHQ, Zaimph, Zaika, Double Leopards) put forward an even more mind blowing set than her excellent in-store at Dissonant Plane Records the previous Thursday. Alternating between guitar, electronics and treated vocals, she created a massive wall of dark yet pretty noise and feedback. Of all of the people working a similiar vein, Marcia is hands down the finest. Really, really killer sounds!
If you loved this show, I'll see you tonight at the Good Shepherd for this one:

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