Simon Hanes, Gargantua (Pyroclastic Records)
If you’ve already read the Playlist piece this week, you know I am presently besieged by self-indulgent experimentalists, and this Brooklyn, N.Y.-based composer is not a departure from that; the inspiration for this concept-album-but-not-really-a-concept-album came from 16th-century novelist François Rabelais’ five-volume satirical pentalogy Gargantua and Pantagruel, about a father-and-son pair of literal giants (it gets scatological, for one thing). So, for this, Hanes assembled a large band comprising three drum sets, three electric basses, three trombones, three French horns and three soprano voices, but before you give up on me for the week, know that this is a hypnotizing earbud trip that’s worth taking if you have time for it. Rich sounds morph and combine and then morph into something else, mostly to aurally agreeable effect, but irreverence is indeed a main ingredient here, especially in “Gigantes,” in which comedic nyeah-nyeah vocalizings serve to reveal that the line between regal posturing and self-mockery is and always has been a blur. Lots of interesting twists and turns. A-
Crow and Gazelle, Truth Be Told (self-released)
Usually when I know I’m about to review an Americana record, I start anticipating a lot of dreamy incidental dobro and unabashed prettiness. That may seem dumb to people who’re familiar with the genre’s full range of sound, which can trend a little edgy when things like fiddles and banjos are added, but vocal stylings can also serve up sounds that are outside the (usually sleepy) norm. In the case of this harmonizing Texas couple — Red Dirt pioneer Mike McClure and multidisciplinary artiste Chrislyn Lawrence — the first thing any reviewer would do is scramble for comparative boy-girl pairings from years past, and when they don’t appear (because there aren’t any, really), it’s easy enough to focus on the duo’s messaging, a series of anecdotes from a loving couple trying to navigate the utterly unlivable current era. There’s an appealing honesty in their sound as well, mostly driven by Lawrence’s creaky but adamant voice, which is equal parts Patti Smith and Stevie Nicks. Well worth any folkie’s examination. A
PLAYLIST
A seriously abridged compendium of recent and future CD releases
• Yee-hah, nothing like a new pile of CDs hitting the virtual racks at Soundcloud and Pirate Bay, I always say, and there’s a big pile arriving this Friday, May 22, and now this message. Regular readers know that I’ve been promising to get down to Jewel Nightclub in Manchester to check out its goth music night, lovingly known as Resurrection, which takes place on the second Thursday of every month. And so, on May 9, I donned my ace reporter’s fedora with the PRESS card in its brim and headed down to Jewel to, you know, check out and investigate, etc. Full disclosure, I hadn’t been to a goth night in maybe eight or so years. Upon my arrival I was presented to Lilz, who goes by DJ Sawtooth, the resident DJ there. According to Lilz, they’ve been holding the Resurrection night at Jewel since 2020; before that it was held at the Breezeway Pub, a popular gay bar on Pearl Street (it’s still active), and before that it was held at the now-closed LGBTQ+ establishment Doogie’s on Manchester Street. And so Lilz and collaborator Jim (DJ Pet) have been essential to the local goth scene for quite a while now; we puzzled over the fact that there’s no actual “velvet rope” trance/techno club in the city, which, let’s admit it, sure is strange, but anyhow, the atmosphere at Resurrection is pretty neat, remindful of ManRay in Boston when the crowd really starts to thicken (there were at least 100 people dancing and making out and such in the main room by 9:30 p.m.). Like at ManRay, there are hot dancing girls dressed up like Rammstein groupies writhing in front of big video screens, and on this night the music trended toward industrial and darkwave, which I found, you know, pleasant. The hidden gem is the back room’s “Interference” sideshow, where your all-encompassing $10 cover charge also allows you in there to check out experimental music artists. I met Acton, Mass.-based performer A. Campbell Payne there; his set was heavily steeped in drone (he generally tries to soundscape with a much wider palette of “pattern, chance, time, and perception” in his tuneage, but that night he was heavily fixated on a French experimentalist whose name I didn’t write down because I couldn’t hear what he was saying). Whatever, it’s a fun night, you should go to the next one on June 13; feel free to adhere to the Jack Skellington-inspired dress code or of course your “DAVE MATTHEWS 2013 TOUR” T-shirt if you must (but please don’t), and that brings us to the new album from, coincidentally, Portland, Oregon, experimental duo Visible Cloaks, which started as a project focused on “rare groove new age music and ambient music from Japan.” The pair’s new album, Paradessence, includes the advance track “Disque,” which, between long silent breaks, consists of gentle, woozy, highly melodic experimentalism you’d imagine playing through the overheads at the Boston Aquarium.
• Greenville, North Carolina, is home to retro synthpop band Future Islands, whose new full-length From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth includes “The Ink Well,” which combines (of course) Depeche Mode-style angst with an early Cure drum sound.
• Geez, Bleachers’ new album Everyone For Ten Minutes makes it three DIY albums in a row today! “The Van” is lo-fi bliss if you like Jose Gonzalez and old Beach Boys.
• And finally we have Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien releasing a new LP titled Blue Morpho. The title track will appeal to fans of Sigur Ros, but then again it is very immersive and melodically charming, so maybe they won’t like it, I have no idea anymore.
Featured Photo: Simon Hanes, Gargantua and Crow and Gazelle, Truth Be Told
