Part II:
Not many bands can say they played every single day of a four-day festival. Well, Slow Down, Molasses can! The Canadian shoegazers took to the stage at various venues over the weekend. They mostly played songs from their brand new record 100% Sunshine, which you could buy on PINK vinyl (needless to say, we did). Continue reading
We’re back at Incubate Festival in the Dutch town of Tilburg to see all of the weird and wonderful this alternative music festival has to offer. Tilburg is in the midst of its last warm summer days and on our way to pick up a ticket we already see a lot of familiar faces. Incubate, we’ve missed you! Instead of having a week-long festival, this year Incubate has split up into three different editions (May/September/December), of which the four-day long September weekend is the biggest. Continue reading
Incubate Festival, one of the essential yearly gatherings of music, art, film and other cutting edge in Europe is back in 2016. Continue reading
The word “experimental” is a double-edged sword. For some it classifies anything veering from the typical form people are used to. Thus it renders whatever it is; be it medicine or art, undigestable to safer minds. To others the word conjures a magical playground where truly anything is possible. When foisted upon artists, such as guitarist/vocalist Ron Varod (Kayo Dot) and his solo outlet Zvi, we get the latter. Arriving in 2014 Zvi I challenged the listener to feel a piece of music on Varod’s terms. His new release II: Death Stops Us All (Halfpear Records) is no less of an emotional tug of war for the senses.
Composed of just three pieces, Zvi:II differs from its sister release in some ways.’You’ve Charmed Me, I Will Stay’ begins with a swelling guitar repeated like waves with other instrumentation flowing in. The layers of harmony vocals in the background suck in your attention. While the plucked guitars parts are calming, there is a unease that sets the table for what is to come.
‘Black Leaves’ (featuring Alan Dubin of Khanate and Gnaw on vocals) begins with more unsettling bassy notes. They soon stop and the song takes shape with Varod crooning forlornly at first. Moody strangeness pervades the track with, but never confusing you. Finally, a familiar harrowing shriek from Dubin fades in and out from the mix over and over. Jarring stabbing chords, detuning strings along with underlying keyboards flood in, giving a feeling of sonic vertigo. Ending with a mantra type singing wail, some malicious whispering, and other oddities from beyond, we glide into the final track.
We again meet Varod and his voice to some off-kilter balladry and guitar, with a motif close to the first track. What ‘Whale Bone Cage’ does is beckon you to come down from the anguish and recover. A final strum of an open chord seems to breathe out a phrase….. rest.
A release like this can only come from vision of a person without bounds as a writer. Matching Varod’s work are the talents of engineer Colin Marston (Gorguts/Kralice) and James Plotkin (Khanate) to engineer. The only shame of these releases is they are too brief, and leave you lusting for more.
8.0/10
Hex Inverter is streaming “The Mission Statement” off of their self titled debut here. The album was recorded by the band’s own Mick Mullin (Intronaut, Woe) and mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, Palms). The record’s stunning layout and design was created by artist Brian Azer (Sun Kil Moon, Jesu). The band has upcoming tour dates with Kayo Dot and Giant Squid.
Track listing:
01: Led to This Place
02: Even for No One
03: The Mission Statement
04: Bruise
05: Into the Hills
06: Beneath the Weeds
07: Lamb
08: Something It’s Not
HEX INVERTER tour dates:
May 20: BAR New Haven – New Haven, CT (w/ Kayo Dot)
May 21: The Paper Box – Brooklyn, NY (w/ Kayo Dot)
Jun 24: TBA – New Haven, CT
Jun 25: Lucky 13 Saloon – Brooklyn, NY (June 24-27 w/ Giant Squid)
Jun 26: Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA (June 24-27 w/ Giant Squid)
Jun 27: Machines with Magnets – Pawtucket, RI
Kayo Dot and Dust Moth have booked a summer West Coast tour together:
May 20: BAR – New Haven, CT
May 21: The Paper Box – Brooklyn, NY (w/ Kevin Hufnagel)
West Coast Dates w/ Dust Moth:
Jun 25: Hemlock Tavern – San Francisco, CA (w/ Kowloon Walled City)
Jun 26: Sweet Spring Saloon – Los Osos, CA
Jun 28: Complex – Los Angeles, CA
Jun 30: Bunkhouse – Las Vegas, NV
Jul 01: Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT
Jul 02: Crazy Horse – Boise, ID
Jul 03: The Hindenburg – Vancouver, BC (w/ Dama/Libra)
Jul 04: Highline – Seattle, WA (w/ Dama/Libra)
Jul 05: Panic Room – Portland, OR
In addition to the west coast next month we’re doing 2 local shows in May w/ Hex Inverter: 5/20/15 New Haven, CT @ BAR…
Posted by Kayo Dot on Friday, May 8, 2015
Ten years into its uncompromising career Toby Driver has led Kayo Dot boldly through albums of intense complexity, raw aggression mixed with a delicate fragility which only heightens their ability to carve menacing abstract compositions that challenge attention span yet contain moments of jaw dropping high quality.
Urgent brass accompanied by tense fretwork and Driver’s deranged ranting makes discordant parts of ‘Vision Adjustment to Another Wavelength’ a harrowing cacophonous experience. The music is wantonly complex and overtly technical yet it is its ability to through curveball each time which makes you press on. The sweet flute playing of Daniel Meads gives the aforementioned number an elegance and grace many purveyors of extremity sorely lack.
Driver’s death grunt over opener ‘The Black Stone’ feels far too intense for the music it accompanies yet Kayo Dot’s arrangements flow very naturally for the most part. No mean feat considering the ninety plus minutes of chaos this meticulously crafted leviathan drags you through while referencing everyone from Gorguts to Talk Talk.
The sheer unpredictability of it all is a joy to revel in. With songs averaging a minimum of eight minutes, this is a dense and challenging journey into art-house macabre but there are moments of transcendent beauty like ‘The Second Operation (Lunar Water)’ which shatter that mould.
Desolate saxophone accompanies angelic voices and the eerie narrative of Driver. Shifting from crushing technicality to blissful indie rock within a blink of an eye isn’t easy. Recalling the hazy jazz escapades of latter day Radiohead before ‘Floodgate’ pummels your brain with Keith Abrams visceral blasts and layer upon layer of vocal histrionics.
Always eclectic Kayo Dot succeeds in seamlessly blending the terrifying with the tranquil in a manner which almost defies description. The free jazz technicality prog rock ambience, fragile tenderness and vehement blasts of impenetrable art noise all flow throughout this often magnificent double album. There are moments of utter pretentiousness but it’s this resistance to conform which marks Kayo Dot out as a true maverick act who have finally produced a defining statement of their art.
8/10
Ross Baker