Twin Goat Complete Recording of New Album

Husband and wife experimental/country/dub/psychedelic duo from Providence, RI. Twin Goat have just completed their fourth album for the RPM challenge, "Where Are The Ghosts?"

Click Here to stream tracks from "Where Are The Ghosts?"

Click Here to check out some of Twin Goat's other records.

Club Suicide at the Dragonfly

The Suicide Girls have been around for over seven years. Originally their success was due to a combination of a DIY work ethic with an alt-rock aesthetic. Nowadays alt-softcore is getting mashed up with burlesque and other ideas, and we get to enjoy the results. Case in point: Club Suicide.

The Club night is held on Saturdays at the Dragonfly. The club itself is not that unusual - a large stage with a dance floor surrounded by tables and multiple bars. Of course, the first thing I noticed were the Suicide Girls dancing on the go-go pedestals. They're actual members of the site, which makes things rather surreal. Next was the photo booth near the coat room, where people get in on the SG act, at least for a night.

The music driving the club is conducted by two DJs - Amanda Jones and Robert Lockerby, the current crop of synth-heavy bands on Indie103.1's heavy rotation. Occasionally they played something that sounds a little out of place - like the Strokes - but that's probably an attempt to make things more accessible to newcomers.

The crescendo of the evening is the Electric Hula-Hoop performance by Suicide Girl Xiolita. As the club pulsed to Peaches "Boys Wanna Be Her", she whirled her hoops until they practically strobed in the dark (psychotronic pics here). The spectacle was the ultimate in neon noir, bringing out everyone's inner Blade Runner.

CSS & Natalie Portman's Shaved Head at the Echoplex

The first time I went to a show, I had no idea what I was getting into: Sonic Youth at the Living Room in Providence. I walked in and stood right in the middle of the audience, with a perfect view of the stage. The moment they broke into "Mary Christ", the crowd erupted, and I found myself in the air above them. I distinctly remember being able to see the band perfectly...and stepping on someone's collarbone.

Eighteen years later, I'm off to the Echoplex to see CSS. Again, no idea what I'm getting into. I had been to the Echo before (on Election night), but never to the Echoplex. The club was painted in standard red and black, but was much bigger and cleaner than I had expected. The crowd was a sea of Members Only jackets - exactly what I expected on that front. We came in late for the opening act: Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. They were halfway through their set and loud as hell. They reminded me of Ima Robot's quirky brand of pop, but when they broke out "me plus yr daughter", Ursula and I decided to check out the sequined action. The rest of the set was great, finishing up with "Sophisticated Side Ponytail."

CSS was off to an energetic start with "Meeting Paris Hilton", complete with a masked Lovefoxx riling everyone to get moving. The crowd responded, about a dozen twenty-something girls in stilettos and legwarmers bouncing around slumber-party style. But by the time the band got to "Music is my hot, hot sex", things had slowed down. The only action really going on in the audience was six people capturing footage on their phones and cameras. I didn't really check back in until the encore - "Let's make love and listen to Death from Above" and "Alala". I'd probably see CSS again, but it would only be a sure thing if Natalie Portman's Shaved Head opened for them.

Meat Beat Manifesto at the Knitting Factory

My favorite scene in music has always been Industrial, because like Punk, there was not only a community behind the music, but an intersection with philosophy and methodology. To be specific, I'm interested in the deconstruction and reorganization of found elements in order to produce a new meaning, or the "Cut-up". This informed not only my perspective on music, but writing and visual arts as well (I started to touch on this in some entries a while back). The cut-up is still a staple of Industrial music, and although it's not completely accurate to call Meat Beat Manifesto an industrial band, they do use the cut-up technique. Hence my interest in seeing them perform at the Knitting Factory.

The last time I checked out the Knitting Factory was back in 2005 to hear Andy Khouri spin, so all the new businesses in the Galaxy complex threw me off; I almost missed the sign to the club. I had also made the mistake of not checking with friends to see when the bands came on, so I showed up early. Luckily I had my notebook, and the bar had cheap beer. A half-hour later Gabriel Dub opened. The set started off with a guy behind a macbook triggering a grating sound which eventually morphed into heavy heavy dub. Like Bauhaus Dub interludes with triple LFO. A black guy with dreads sang mutant dancehall over it. I liked it alot - at least until two more musicians came out, one of whom was a woman playing what looked like an electric violin. but sounded like a shakuhachi flute in reverse. If the Goths had shown up at that point, their pet bats would be flying into each other. Anyway, the electric violinist eventually playing something less atonal, and I enjoyed the rest of the set.

For this show, Meat Beat was comprised not only of Jack Dangers, but Mark Pistel on electronics, Lynn Farmer on live drums, and Ben Stokes on video. The set opened up with VO samples and shots of Marshall Applewhite over MBM classic techno/hip-hop/industrial beats. The highlight of the set - or my favorite - was "Radio Babylon" in front of shots of Grace Jones and flames. The encore was a barrage of beats and a obama-animation followed by "Edge of No Control". As the show wrapped up, I noticed quite a few people capturing video with their phones, probably for posterity, but hopefully some of them intended to do some remixing of their own.

Queen Kwong at the Echo Curio

Photo by Lou O'Bedlam

Sincerity is hard to come by in Echo Park, especially at night. Drive by the Echo any Friday, and you’re bound to see a dozen idiots with tight jeans, mullets, and Loverboy headbands; Bad outfits to convey irony, where the intent is actually to conform. So when I read that Queen Kwong was performing at the Echo Curio, I was a little skeptical.

The Echo Curio is on Sunset, a ten-minute walk from my house. I got there around 10pm, right at the end of Daniel Ahearn's set. I made my way to the back of the room packed with people, home-made décor, and various items on consignment. I had hoped to find a spot near some circuit-bent music gear (at the shop the last time I checked), but instead found myself near some used books (such as Helter Skelter) and DVDs (such as The Cult Life).

Queen Kwong – AKA Carre Callaway – and her support quickly got in front of the crowd as a group of her friends walked out of the back room of the shop. Some of the friends carried paper cat masks on Popsicle sticks that she had made before the show. She wanted them to hold the masks up in front of their faces as she played. I figured this was to distance herself; it would be easier to sing candid lyrics to a front row of friends that way...one of them told me later that she just really loved cats. Supported by a bassist and keyboardist (who also wore cat masks), Queen Kwong opened up with “Eddie the Kid”, a wall of sound powered by a Fender Mustang.

Barring a couple of deviations into other arrangements, Queen Kwong’s sound is a soft voice against texture. The contrast heightens the stark, direct nature of her singing style. I really enjoyed the set; my only criticism is that it was too short.

Buy Queen Kwong's MP3 EP Love Is A Bruise at Amazon.

Read my other Music Performance Posts:
CSS & Natalie Portman's Shaved Head at The Echoplex.
Meat Beat Manifesto at The Knitting Factory.