Kuschty Rye Ergot - Borborites - Blue Sausage Infant -- Velvet Lounge - Mar 20 2012

Blue Sausage Infant - The one man electronica act also known as Chester Hawkins returns to the Velvet Lounge. This is the third time I have seen his set and although I have always enjoyed it, I can now affirm that I am a fan. There is one word that tells me why: krautrock. There are two things present here creating a sound that works so well for me. First, is the krautrock style of Tangerine Dream, Cluster and many others. Second (and what complements the first reason) is his use of a sharply treated steel guitar and barely recognizable harmonica. These added sounds to the expected electronic washes and pulses add so much more sonic pleasure. Even his electronics are a bit more old school and don't merely resort to throbbing dance beats and deafening blasts of noise. There was even some nice use of stereo channels, although a bit overuse of looped dialogue (something I find more distracting than helpful in most instances). The 27 minute set established a lot of musical character tonight.


Borborites - This trio has a similar experimental approach of Kohoutek or the next band tonight. They have percussion, a guy on effects and a guy on guitar and effects/pedals. It is more on the experimental landscape side of sound with less rock moves than the other bands. They also lacked the drama in building and deconstructing the sound. It was only 21 minutes, but seemed a little long to me as it was pretty much just there with some nice sounds here and there, but fairly forgettable. Nothing harmful and they certainly may be capable of more. We shall see.

Kuschty Rye Ergot - Hmmm... the ever revolving line-up takes a sharp shift tonight with just John on guitar and no Kohoutek rhythm section. He is joined by a guy who played with Kohoutek the last time or two on a box of noise equipment and a third guy on keyboard and effects. You can pretty much guess the changes in sound tonight and the good news is that it all worked out well. The noise guys laid down a nice smooth throbbing slab of near-melody, allowing the guitar to move around and create interesting passages. There was a lot of vibrato going on and enough bite in the music to keep my interest level high. Although I did shut my eyes and imagine Comus playing "In the Lost Queen's Eyes" over the top of this for some reason. I know the band will not mind me saying that. When the guitar stopped, the two guys on effects kept going for a bit and the sound reminded me of a hurdy gurdy almost. A nice little finish to another fine set.

Quote of the Day: From the Mediawatch column of Football365.com ...
 

Unnecessary Word Of The Day
From the BBC's gossip column: 'Barcelona are plotting a shock summer move for Manchester United twins Fabio and Rafael da Silva, both 21.'

Twins. Both 21. Who'd have thunk it?