Not a lot of folks showed up for this one; I counted fourteen or fifteen people, including me. That was too bad, but at least those people gave this music the warm reception it deserved.
Shana Falana went first this night. She came armed with a guitar, some recordings and loops, drummer Michael Amari and a tone poem projection show. I've always had a soft spot for a certain type of shoegaze music, and damn if this New York-based musician didn't hit it just right. It helped that Falana sang like an angel descended to earth (one with a great sense of humor to boot), that even her slowest material had a strong beat, and that a big chunk of her set's songs rocked hard enough and smart enough to satisfy the part of me that loves the Pixies and PJ Harvey. Wave upon wave of melodies, harmonies, riffs, hooks, textures and beats washed over the small audience until the only thing to do was surrender to the sheer rapturous beauty of it all. The music meshed perfectly with the images on the screen to create a truly hypnotic experience. This was one of the best performances I've seen so far this year, and I highly recommend Shana Falana to fans of Le Fleur, Dark Swallows, CAMP, Tartufi and Youth Lagoon.
Local experimental duo Mozam closed out the night with a much mellower but equally hypnotic set. Instead of overpowering my defenses like Shana Falana, Trevor Kamplain and Christopher Smith's Brian-Eno-goes-trip-hop music snuck around them. Textures, samples, synthesizer hooks, guitar riffs and funk-beats built upon and played off each other. Before I fully realized it, they had me in their grasp. Some ultra-distorted vocals here and there added to the whole subliminal effect of this music. Very cool stuff.
You can find info about Shana Falana and Mozam on Facebook and elsewhere online.
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