yeknom

Fennesz, Radian

Wed 24th November 2004, Bush Hall, 310 Uxbridge Road London W12

Knom music (by arrangement with Thrill Jockey) is proud to be bringing two of the highlights of Vienna’s underground scene, on the same bill, for the very first time. The world of cutting edge electronic music today has its radar pointing very much in the direction of Vienna, and this is due in no small part to Radian, and Christian Fennesz. Fennesz is one of the city’s many artists associated with the revered ambient and experimental electronica label Mego, for whom he recorded his breakthrough album; Endless Summer, an album of reflections upon the Beach Boys, which received gushing acclaim the world over. His latest offering, Venice, (Touch), is an awesome piece of work. A tremendously beautiful record.

Radian’s connections with Fennesz go much further than residing in the same city. Stefan Nemeth from Radian also runs a label, Mosz, which features upcoming releases by Fennesz, as well as Pan American. Radian are a trio, and one could loosely say they make modern electronic jazz. But this would be lazy. It is a skewed, electronic post-rock jazz, using synths, vibraphone, computers, live drums, bass, and John McEntire of Tortoise (among everything else) at the desk. Radian has also recorded for Mego but now has made Uber Cool Chicago label its home.

"…a band with impressively original density and texture"
-Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
"Radian mics the microcosmos of sonic detail, filtering it into a spray of white noise that's thin as foil and dense as chain mail."
-Philip Sherburne, XLR8R

"Radian are true virtuosi... Rec.Extern is a masterpiece of sculpted sound and daring psychological manipulations! The Wire - Phil Clarke

"a band with an impressively original density and texture." New York Times, Ben Radcliffe

"intense, surprising and complex and well worth looking for." Ampersand Electronica, Jeremy

http://www.knom.co.uk has all the info, tix etc...

Thalia Zedek, Paul the Girl, Madam, Catherine Anne Davies

Thalia Zedek + Paul The Girl + Madam + Catherine Anne Davies
Tue 2nd November 2004, The Spitz, 109 Commercial Street London E1
Having sung with such widely respected underground alternative bands as Come, Live Skull, and Uzi (among others), front woman Thalia Zedek has enjoyed quite a long and illustrious career. Zedek started in the early ‘80s in the all-female Dangerous Birds. ("Smile on Your Face," was featured on the infamous Sub Pop 100 compilation.) By 1983 Zedek had left Dangerous Birds and formed Uzi, which managed to release only a single EP during its existence -- 1986's six-track Sleep Asylum. Later that year she moved to New York and joined Live Skull. By the early '90s Zedek had left Live Skull and relocated back to Boston where she formed Come (along with former Codeine drummer Chris Brokaw). The new band's first release was a single, "Car/Last Mistake," for Sub Pop's monthly singles club which was followed up by 1992's Eleven:Eleven, 1994's Don't Ask Don't Tell, 1996's Near Life Experience, and 1998's Gently, Down the Stream, all on Matador. In 1998, Zedek was invited by the Indigo Girls to join them on their multi-artist Suffragette Sessions Tour. A few years later in 2001 she released her debut solo album and her final for Matador, Been Here and Gone. The following year Zedek, along with what now forms her band, released You're A Big Girl Now on Kimchee records.
When You’re a Big Girl Now was made, the songs were new and the band was still finding its voice as a unit. Now, after touring together for two years, the band made up of Daniel Coughlin (drums, also played drums on Gently, Down the Stream) and Dave Curry (viola), play with much assurance and familiarity. Curry and Coughlin add mournful viola and driving drums to the hypnotic rhythms of Zedek’s guitar and deliberate vocals. The songs on Trust Not Those in Whom… are personal and powerful. For example, on the dark and compelling "Bus Stop" Thalia explains: "Bus stop is actually a bar right around the corner from my house. I sometimes go there a lot, depending on my mood…and yes (not unlike a more well-known Boston bar) they do know my name there". The album was recorded by Howard Bilerman at Hotel 2 Tango in Montreal using completely analog techniques without any use of computers or Pro Tools. The record was recorded and mixed in eleven days. Guest musicians on Trust Not Those in Whom… include Jonah Sacks who drove up from New York on a day's notice to add cello to the melancholic waltz of "Bone", and Harris Newman whose lap steel adds the sense of abandon to the resigned melody of Mel Lederman’s piano on "Evil Hand". These touches are notably restrained yet undeniably powerful additions to the pointed and dark songs of Thalia.

Her songs, like the blues, speak not about the struggle to survive, but to the struggle of surviving. Although the subjects of the lyrics are often less than happy events or situations, the music reflects the overall message of strength and optimism. This is not a surprise coming from Thalia Zedek, an artist of enduring quality, who is one of the most compelling and strong performers wielding a guitar today. Trust Not Those in Whom… is the finest recording of her career.

all the deets are at http://www.knom.co.uk

The Album Leaf, Rameses III, sAnso xtro

The Album Leaf, Rameses III and sanso-xtro
Tue 19th October 2004, Bush Hall Theatre, Uxbridge Road W12

There are fewer locales more awe-inspiring than the frigid recesses of Iceland’s Western coast, a calm, glacial landscape at the polar opposite of Jimmy LaValle’s sunny, bustling California. Mossfellbaer, Iceland and its surrounding areas are host to one of the world’s most secluded and spotlighted meccas of creativity – few outsiders are invited in. LaValle – a classically-trained and prolific pianist and musician whose ambitious projects have involved San Diego’s seminal ambient piano-rock outfit Tristeza, the noise punk of The Locust, the beat-driven GoGoGo Airheart and the gloomy, brooding epic-core outfit Black Heart Procession – is one of the lucky elite.

LaValle has released critically acclaimed solo work as THE ALBUM LEAF (the name comes from a Chopin piece) since 1999’s mellow An Orchestrated Rise to Fall (Linkwork). The releases that followed bubble with moody, contemplative slow builds and Brian Eno-inspired compositional atmospherics. Structural drum and bass undertones ground and direct dreamscapes that are painted with varieties of organic instruments, making for sonic journeys that are as whimsical as they are epic. During the realization of 2003’s Lifetime or More (Arena Rock) and Seal Beach (Acuarela) EPs, he prepared himself to take on a new direction by experimenting, merging his rich, textural documents with minimalist beats. At the time of 2003’s recording sessions, however, nothing could have prepared LaValle for the experience he had overseas.

“It was a constant invite. They kept asking me,” says LaValle, who befriended Icelandic sensations Sigur Rós on their first U.S. tour and eventually began occasionally joining the group onstage several tours later. Along with Sigur Rós, members of Amina (Sigur Rós’ string section) beckoned LaValle northward until he gave in. “There was this crazy rolling green countryside with horses and ponds. It was really surreal. I felt like I was on Mars,” he chuckles warmly. Outside of the hustling, bustling confines of his previous environment, LaValle realized that he was in a profoundly different mental space, one that would deeply change the very nature of his compositions. He was IN A SAFE PLACE.

“I’ve always felt that the music I make is perfect for that kind of (Icelandic) setting,” he explains. Inside Sundlaughin – the name of the studio means “swimming pool” in Icelandic – and with the help of his hosts, including members of Sigur Rós, Mũm, Amina and Black Heart Procession, LaValle was able to craft an album that ventures into new, at times indie-electronic territory. Chillingly delicate and more pop-based than ever before, IN A SAFE PLACE masterfully negotiates the spaces between minimal electronic music and melancholy instrumental neo-rock. The inclusion of vocals from The Black Heart Procession’s Pall Jenkins, Sigur Rós’ Jon Thor Birgisson, and LaValle himself is one of the striking new strides that resulted from this collaborative event. “If I wasn’t in that environment,” he marvels, “I sure wouldn’t have sung!”

Look for THE ALBUM LEAF’s gorgeous live show, which includes a large touring entourage involving projection art and live strings, throughout 2004.

http://www.thealbumleaf.com

http://www.knom.co.uk has the details and ticket info...