hmonk

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...

The New Year, Cass McCombs, The Gospel Wave

The New Year plus The Gospel Wave plus special guests
Fri 5th November 2004, Water Rats Theatre, Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross
THE NEW YEAR is a band formed by Matt and Bubba Kadane, the founding members of BEDHEAD.

THE NEW YEAR was formed in the summer of 1999 and released one RECORD titled Newness Ends on Touch and Go Records in 2001. The new RECORD titled The End is Near was released May 18, 2004.

The band has toured the U.S., U.K. and Italy.

The bands two LP's feature Chris Brokaw on drums, and are on the just amazing label Touch and Go (Slint, Nina Nastasia, Black Heart Procession, Enon, TV on the Radio, Blonde Redhead and so on)

All the deets and ticket info are at http://www.knom.co.uk

Juana Molina, Gravenhurst, Kama Aina

Juana Molina
Gravenhurst
Kama Aina

Thursday 23 September 2004
Bush Hall, 310 Uxbridge Road London W12

Websites: http://www.dominorecordco.com http://www.juanamolina.com http://www.knom.co.uk
http://www.warprecords.com http://www.silentagerecords.co.uk/gravenhurst

Knom is very proud to announce the first London headline show for Argentina’s Juana Molina.

Hailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Juana Molina is an extraordinary singer / songwriter / producer. Formerly a celebrated comic with her own successful Argentine TV sketch show, Juana and Her Sisters, she turned her back on her considerable TV celebrity to return to her first love, music.

Her second album, Segundo, was the first to be heard outside her home country. The impact has been impressive. US showbiz bible, Entertainment Weekly, named Segundo “Best World Music Album of 2003”. After touring the US in the spring, culminating in an appearance at the Coachella Festival and a solo show in New York that received an excellent notice in the New York Times, David Byrne personally invited her to open for his huge US summer tour. Shortly after, Juana Molina headlined to a rapt audience at Barcelona’s SONAR festival on the final day. BBC Radio One’s Breezeblock and One World programs both broadcasted huge chunks of her set and the Daily Telegraph described her as “a musician and singer of often mesmerizing power”.

Juana now follows these triumphs with a new album, Tres Cosas (Three Things). Like Segundo, it was written, recorded, played, produced and mixed entirely on her own at home, with additional keyboards and vocals provided by Alejandro Franov. Equally as riveting as Segundo, Tres Cosas is arguably stronger, the songwriting more bold and realised. As the New York Times put it: “Her strengths — guitar playing and plain-spoken, droney melodies — are in the foreground. The songs have become prettier, with fewer keyboard distractions”.

Realising how far from her original goal she now was, Juana started working on her first album Rara. She moved to Los Angeles in 1998 an started all over again, playing gigs in local clubs. At this time she started work on Segundo (released in Argentina in December 2000), released in the UK in 2004. Juana Molina now lives in Buenos Aires, with her husband and daughter.

Segundo press quotes:
“a kind of Latino analogue bubblebath. A unique and brilliant record” DJ Magazine 4.5/5
“quiet and intimate, each song like a thought that has been brooded on and polished by constant caresses of introspection… It’s the quiet ones you have to watch” The Wire
“sublime” Music Week
“an angelic voice and beautiful line in heady downtempo, Segundo is pretty wondrous” 4/5 Mixmag
“[an] immaculate Latin sundowner” Word
“her haunting post-everything music sends shivers up my spine… lovely” 7.5/10 Vice

Support ably provided by Warp signing Nick Talbot (aka Gravenhurst):

Thinks that Guided By Voices are the best band in the world (although on another day it could be Bert Jansch, Hüsker Dü or Fairport Convention).

Moved to Bristol in the late ‘90s, drawn by work from the likes of Third Eye Foundation and Flying Saucer Attack.

Was a member of Assembly Communications, a My Bloody Valentine-esque troupe whose swift A&R showcase-abetted rise felt uncomfortably beyond the control of the band members themselves.

Embarked on the DIY path and founded Silent Age Records. Released his debut album, ‘Internal Travels’, as well as the early works of such West Country luminaries as Mole Harness and War Against Sleep (now signed to Fire Records). Also found time to partner Guy Bartell in establishing and maintaining the horror-evoking, experi-electronica outfit, Bronnt Industries Kapital.

First released ‘Flashlight Seasons’ on Silent Age in 2003, a more complex work than the sparse debut long player, not least thanks to the increased use of drone-heavy arrangements in sustaining that ‘foreboding’ mood. Awarded ‘Album of the Year’ by West Country listings bible, Venue magazine.

"I’ve had a modus operandi, which is pretty much recording in my bedroom and overlaying stuff, and everything I’ve written has borne that in mind. I’ve always been a fan of home recording and four tracks – you can kill a band easier than you can improve it in a studio. That said, I really hope now that the three of us [the live band comprising drummer Dave Collingwood and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Paul Nash] will develop into a folk-Stereolab-Crazyhorse." It’s probably important to note that Nick laughs as he says this. But not too hard..

And Kama Aina, Geographic’s new solo Japanese genius…
Kama Aina is the project of Takuji Aoyagi, and is a Hawaiian word for 'native man' or 'islander'. In Japan, Aoyagi is perceived as almost uncategorisable, although, like Tori Kudo of Maher Shalal Hash Baz, he is fascinated by native musics, even if his own music seems closer to a different Japanese underground. This is the first time Kama Aina has played outside of Japan.
With Kama Aina, Aoyagi has shown an impeccable talent for writing instantly memorable melodies, and he’s already constructed a uniquely sparse yet rich style across a catalogue of intimate, personal music which always aspires towards an all-encompassing feeling.

Giant Sand Featuring Howe Gelb plus guest Scout Niblett

Giant Sand is Howe Gelb's one-man-band, plus guests. Operating out of Tucson, Arizona, Giant Sand has been performing original material since the mid-80s that loosely sits in the camps of rock and alt-country. Their last album, Cover Magazine, is a cover album of classic (and kitschy) country and rock songs. This kind of record is usually dismissed as a second-tier project-- just like live albums, and for basically the same reason: going in, you're not expecting a major, original statement. It's true that Gelb never sounds like he's breaking a sweat here, but there's invention and heart in these tunes, and the range is impressive-- stretching from Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash to P.J. Harvey and Goldfrapp. - Pitchforkmedia.com

Giant Sand's Howe Gelb is one of America's great lost heroes. - Q Magazine

Howe Gelb has a voice even scrapings at the bottom of a barrel would deny knowing - think Lou Reed and keep going. It's parched, desolate country-noir of the leanest, most rickety kind. - Q Magazine

"Giant Sand is the best band in the world" - Polly Jean Harvey

"If there were only one person allowed to contribute further to the over-stocked pool of recorded music on this planet it should be Howe Gelb" - John Parish

Tickets are £10 subject to booking fee and are available from Ticketweb and
Wegottickets

get more info at http://www.knom.co.uk

Growing

(from bio on southern website)

Content: Recorded by the band in Olympia, Washington from 2003-2004 and mixed with Rex Ritter (Jessamine, Fontanelle and sunnO))) ) at Magnetic Park in Portland, Oregon in March and April 2004, The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light takes Growing's expansive palette, blurring and disguising instrumental points of origin to a point where sheer sound defines itself with authority.

Now a duo with Kevin Doria on bass and guitar and Joe Denardo on guitar, Growing have pushed into the manipulation of feedback, hiss and static; wringing out waves of delay from their amps while retaining an earthbound mastery of crushing riffage. These grainy textures contrast with a clean, pulsing lushness that carries traces of birdsong and touches on natural environs and the passing of time.

Check the links below for further info and downloads etc...

http://www.kranky.net/artists/growing.html

http://www.southern.net/southern/band/GROWI/

http://www.southern.net/southern/band/GROWI/KRK60.php

http://www.knom.co.uk has the deets on the Elektrowerks show