Hellos –
Over the past three years, we have been thrilled to find some pretty big success in bringing some of our favorite young composers from all over the world to come perform in unique, alternative spaces like the First Unitarian Church (ie. not “performing arts venues”, which are generally pretty stuffy). It makes us so happy to be able to provide a setting which reflects our ideals and ethos from doing punk shows for 18+ years while simultaneously bringing along some new people who typically do not listen to “classical music”. In other words – we want to have these young artists play a cool show in a “weird” venue for some new fans.
We have three composers performing live in the Sanctuary of The First Unitarian Church over the next few days. If you have a moment, we highly recommend scrolling below and checking them out. If you enjoy the quiet more subdue parts of Sigur Ros and Godspeed You Black Emperor our enjoyed our recent shows for Nils Fraham and Olafur Arnalds – take a quick listen to the youtube links below. All of three of these artists put out albums in 2014 which were ALL in our top 10. You don’t have to take our word for it, they received mass acclaim from a variety of publications from The New York Times and Pitchfork to Thom Yorke selecting Bing & Ruth (playing April 1) as his second favorite album of the year.
*This* Thursday March 26th 8pm
at The Sanctuary of The First Unitarian Church
A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN w/ LOSCIL
Featuring members of one of our all time favorite groups, guitar-drone minimalists Stars Of The Lid. The mood and vibe of A Winged Victory, is not that far removed from SOTL. It’s the same sort of moody, broody, slow build majesty. The real difference is a move toward a more electronic sound, taking the dark chamber music drifts of SOTL and adding more in the way of electronics and modular synths.
The results are stunning…Equal parts Stars Of The Lid, Rachel’s, Godspeed You Black Emperor. Long stretches of hushed drift, dense, dramatic swirls of stirring strings, alternately somnambulant and nocturnal, tense and intense. Dark pointillist pianos drift in fields of sun dappled symphonic thrum, long tones tangle softly into cosmic swaths of dreamlike ambiance, aching melodies unfurl over swoonsome swells of deep resonant rumble.
The sound at times bordering on pure chamber music, but usually evolving into something more abstract and ethereal, sometimes droned out and minimal, other times sweeping and majestic.
*NEXT* Wednesday April 1st 8pm
at The Sanctuary of The First Unitarian Church
BING & RUTH
Bing & Ruth stunned EVERYONE last year with an amazing album. “Tomorrow Was the Golden Age” is an unmistakably gorgeous and refreshing suite of minimalist composition helmed by writer, conductor and lead pianist, David Moore, and supported by two upright bassists, two clarinetists, a cellist and a tape delay tech.
Bing & Ruth genuinely sweep us off somewhere sublime without recourse to overblown conceit or cliche. Their skill lies in the ability to drift, almost imperceptibly, between micro-tonal harmonies and silent/grand dynamics with patent subtlety, segueing gradient fields of color with a grand, yet never imposing, effect. In that sense ‘Tomorrow Was the Golden Age’ surely recalls Phillip Glass and Steven Reich, but also the time-smudging transcendence of Brian Eno or Stars Of The Lid (See above!) for their keen attention to contemplative quietude and involving, delicate depth of field.Ripe for long headphone commutes and gazing out of the window. Warmest recommendations.
Tickets and more info can be found on this very website.
We hope to see you at these two shows as we LOVE the music they make. We hope you do as well.
xo/r5
