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September 2014

WHY? Fills the Basement of (Le) Poisson Rouge

by Brian CorlissWHY, Le poisson rouge

Cincinnati alternative hip-hop/indie band WHY? delivered a raw and charged display of musical emotion to the packed basement of (Le) Poisson Rouge this past Sunday. Opening was Minneapolis' Margret Wander, better known as Dessa. Leaning a bit more on the rap side of the indie hip-hop equation, Dessa showed herself to be a true wordsmith. 

At times perverse, deftly perceptive, and always wrapped in meticulous arrangements, WHY?'s lyrics are poetic and haunting, painting an intimate portrait of both the loner and radical aspects of ourselves. In some respects, I wanted to compare frontman Yoni Wolf to Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against The Machine, but Wolf crafts a picture book with words, rather than provide the script to a political protest. 

WHY?'s music contains layers of nuance that are brimming with complexity but never overbearing on the ears. Drummer Josiah Wolf (Yoni's brother) set the tone early with a heavy beating introduction to "The Fall of Mr. Fifths" off their 2008 album Alopeciawhile guitarist Doug McDiarmid and Liz Wolf bolstered the band's broad style. Next came "Strawberries" off of their latest full-length album, Mumps, EtcInterestingly, WHY? decided to forego playing anything from their last two EPs, opting instead to focus on their hits. They ended with a two-song encore, including personal favorite in "By Torpedo or Crohn's," leaving this listener in an odd state of pure bliss.

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Nonesuch Records at BAM: Philip Glass & Steve Reich

by Nick Stubblefield and FoM
Fourorgans nonesuch at bam(Photo: Stephanie Berger)

Two weeks ago, Philip Glass and Steve Reich - by any measure two of the most important and influential composers of our time - kicked off the Nonesuch at BAM festival by sharing a stage for the first time in decades, along with their respective ensembles. Over three concerts at the Howard Gilman Opera House, they performed music from across their fifty-year careers, neatly paralleling Nonesuch's own 50th anniversary. 

On Tuesday night, the stage lights came on, and there sat both Glass and Reich, both at electronic keyboards facing each other. They were joined by fellow keyboardist/composers Nico Muhly and Timo Andres, with percussionist David Cossin sitting square in the center. They soon launched into Reich’s Four Organs (1970), which incited a near-riot at its Carnegie Hall premiere in 1973. In typical Reich fashion, the piece is built from deceivingly repetitive musical ideas: the shrill, long organ tones gradually shift in frequency over time, while the steady shake of maracas keeps time throughout. Watching the keyboardists' hands, it was apparent that they were each playing very little.

The genius in Philip Glass' music is that despite repeating ideas over and over, the music actually evolves a lot -- it simply chooses to do so over a long period of time. Glass himself has famously rejected the term “minimalism” to describe his work, instead describing it as, “music with repetitive structures.” The Cologne section from Civil warS (1984) was classic Glass: sweeping and pulsing musical ideas, twinkling, fantastical sounding synthesizers, with epic horn stabs over the top. Often, a performance of Glass’ music is like running a marathon, requiring real endurance on the part of the performers. Here, the musicians provided more than the necessary stamina, with only the occasional break for a sip of water. 

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The Book Of Love Has Music In It: Devendra Banhart, Stephin Merritt & Iron and Wine at BAM

by Poppy Galloway Devendra Banhart, Nonesuch at BAM(photo: Mike Benigno)

As part of the ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of Nonesuch Records at BAM, popular alternative mad men Devendra Banhart, Stephin Merritt & Sam Beam (of Iron and Wine) were let out to play this past Friday night. Playing solo acoustic sets of both old and contemporary gems from their diverse repertoires, the atmosphere was calm and relaxed in the beautiful Howard Gilman Opera House, and the prevailing theme was love and it’s consequential woes. Disguised in melody, naturally.

Devendra Banhart is looking more eloquent librarian than Spanglish magician these days, but appearances can be deceiving. Jumping between Spanish and English, and speaking and singing, he was well and truly in his element as an avant-garde entertainer. Acoustic renditions of “Bad Girl,” “Lover,” and “Rosa” were interspersed with anecdotes and flamboyant hand twirls, as loopy as the man himself. “Never Seen Such Good Things”, from his latest studio album Mala, was the perfect closer: “If we ever make sweet love again, I’m sure that it will be quite disgusting.”

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