Cool Shows Next Week 4/15 – 4/21

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Tuesday 4/16

Girlpool and Hatchie at the Turf Club – TICKETS

The music Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad release as Girlpool occupies a transient space. Their constant evolution makes it perfectly impossible to articulate exactly where their project falls within the contemporary musical canon; this is one of the many reasons Girlpool’s music is so captivating.


Never before has a group’s maturation been so transparently attached to the maturation of its members. This is due in large part to the fact that Girlpool came into existence exactly when Girlpool was supposed to come into existence: at the most prolific stage of the digital revolution. Both online and in the flesh, Tividad and Tucker practice radical openness to the point where it may even engender discomfort; this is exactly the point where it becomes clear why theirs’ is such a special project: they accept the possibility of discomfort—Chaos—and show you how to figure out why you might feel it. This is achieved through their ability to empathize as best friends and partners in creation, with the intention of making music that provokes.

They met in November of 2013, and released their self-titled EP just 3 months later. Both were playing in multiple bands at the time. Harmony was 18. Cleo was 17. The growth they have fostered in one another over the years explains the project’s disparate discography; each record is a photograph of Girlpool, growing over time. Their roots are a certain shade of punk—organized chaos dressed as earworms. “Where You Sink,” one of the first singles off their upcoming record, What Chaos Is Imaginary, gives you an idea of how much things have changed since 2014.

On her debut EP Sugar & Spice, Hatchie delivered the sonic equivalent of falling deliriously in love: a sustained rush of feeling, rendered in swoony melodies and gauzy guitar tones and endlessly hypnotic layers of sound. Now, with her full-length debut Keepsake, the Australian singer/songwriter tries on countless new textures, exploring everything from industrial to new wave to dance-pop, handling each with understated elegance and pure, powerful feeling.

In the making of Keepsake, the Brisbane-bred musician otherwise known as Harriette Pilbeam recorded in a home studio in Melbourne and worked again with John Castlethe producer behind Sugar & Spice, a 2018 release that prompted Pitchfork to dub her the “dream-pop idol of tomorrow.” And while the album begins and ends with two massively catchy pop tracks—the brightly defiant “Not That Kind,” the euphoric and epic “Keep”—many songs drift into more emotionally tangled terrain, shedding light on experiences both ephemeral and life-changing.

Throughout Keepsake, Hatchie’s kaleidoscopic sonic palette draws out distinct moods and tones, continually revealing her depth and imagination as a musician and songwriter. On lead single “Without a Blush,” jagged guitar riffs and woozy rhythms meet in a sprawling piece of industrial-pop, with Hatchie’s gorgeously airy voice channeling loss and longing, regret and self-doubt. Another industrial-leaning track, “Unwanted Guest” unfolds in wobbly synth lines and fantastically icy spoken-word vocals, along with lyrics about “being dragged to a party I don’t want to be at, then getting at a fight at the party, and kind of hating myself for it but hating everybody else too.”

 

Wednesday 4/17

Kung Fu at the Cabooze – TICKETS

Proud to be firmly installed in the new-funk movement, KUNG FU is quickly popularizing their unique sonic contribution, blurring the line between intense electro-fusion, and blistering dance arrangements.  Making fusion music “cool” again, the band draws on influences such as early Headhunters and Weather Report, and merges those ideas with a contemporary EDM informed sensibility. Imagine 70’s funk-fusion meets a modern dance party!

Although the ensemble cast enjoys a seasoned pedigree that reads like a late-night summer festival all-star jam, this fledgling “nu-sion” project is growing a unique and rabid following by commanding audiences at theaters, clubs, and major national festivals since 2012.

The powerhouse quintet’s live show has been described by critics and fans alike as “lethal funk”, “explosive”, “jaw dropping”, and “musically mesmerizing”.  For the uninitiated, the experience is typically shocking yet the focus is simple: just sit back and enjoy the ride!

 

Thursday 4/18

Chastity & Dilly Dally at the Turf Club – TICKETS

In the short time since they released their acclaimed debut record, Sore, Dilly Dally toured the world and took the press by storm, only to nearly collapse under the weight of their own success and call it quits forever. Rising from the ashes with more power and conviction than ever before, the Toronto rockers’ new album is, appropriately enough, titled Heaven, and it’s a fierce, fiery ode to optimism, a distortion-soaked battle cry for hope and beauty in a world of darkness and doubt.

Frontwoman Katie Monks describes the songs as coping mechanisms, and the collection does indeed form something of a survival kit for hard times, but even more than that, it’s a declaration of faith in the power of music and a burning reminder that we need not wait until the afterlife for things to get better.

Recorded with producer Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith, Beck), Heaven highlights Dilly Dally’s rough edges in all their ragged glory, drawing every potent ounce of energy from the foursome’s swampy tones, raspy vocals, and volatile rhythm section. While the music is undeniably ferocious, there’s uplift woven into the fabric of every track. Heaven opens with the dreamy “I Feel Free,” which begins as a floating, untethered soundscape before transforming into a soaring anthem for a world that’s ready to finally turn the page on all the darkness and disillusion the last few years have wrought.

Chastity is a world of its own from the mind of Brandon Williams. Reflecting the working class background of Whitby, Ontario, Chastity’s songs are charged with the ethos of archetypal youth on the fringe. A project more aptly characterized by its intentions than specific medium, Chastity stands to confront the struggles of those existing in the unseen, often silenced periphery. It is an artifact of youth culture constantly working to form community, bridging isolation with collectivity.

Visuals play a meaningful role in this world with Williams using his penchant for crafting consistently sharp, challenging imagery to personalize the narratives running throughout all of Chastity’s work – most discernibly, a call for disruption. It was clear from the release of Chastity’s first demos that this was not “another punk band that can operate at only one speed.” Always concerned with the trending lack of accessibility and inclusivity in public spaces for the arts, the first Chastity show was held in Williams’ own bedroom where, packed wall-to-wall, the police were quickly called. But after the project’s second show supporting DC punk band Priests, Chastity was off to the races, sharing stages with the likes of with Metz, Chelsea Wolfe and Fucked Up. All without a full length recording out.

 

Echos at Skyway – Studio B – TICKETS

Echos, the Portland duo, fall into a genreless mist of both cinematic post-rock style instrumentation and left-of-center pop writing; paving a new path, and style along the way. Clash Magazine notes Echos are “Oddly infectious […] in an electronic haze”. Often self-referential and coated in bitter-romance lyricism, Echos brings the angst of 2006’s emo days and reinvents it with 2018’s anti-pop pop-music. Have been working with with online promotional mecca ‘MrSuicideSheep’ and his label ‘Seeking Blue’ for the last 3+ years – Echos has seen the fortune of millions of streams, impressions, and eyes on their music. Finding importance in the physical, Echos has not only seen gains digitally, but they have found themselves supporting large-room sold out tours with electronic acts like Illenium, on the festival stages of Electric Forest, Snowglobe, and more as well as a bus tour with Alternative metal good-boys ‘I See Stars’.

 

Friday 4/19

Victor Wooten at the Dakota – TICKETS

A few times each year, five-time GRAMMY award-winning bass player, producer, composer, author, and educator Victor Wooten hosts a series of music and nature camps at his namesake Center for Music and Nature, an all ages camp retreat located near Nashville, TN. Teaching not only music, these camps teach theory, nature, and most importantly, the relationship between music, nature and life.

For the first time ever, and in celebration of the camp’s 20th year, Wooten will bring the camp experience to the public with an 11-city Wooten Woods Experience tour. Filled with spirited music, jaw-dropping musicianship, and sprinkled with education and audience participation, these shows are for the whole family. A full list of dates is below.

Known for their funky/jazzy music and powerful performances, the Victor Wooten Band is comprised of Victor’s brothers, Regi and Joseph on guitars and keyboards and Derico Watson on drums, offering a dynamic mixture of old and new music mixed with improvisational jams and classic cover songs.

As the youngest of five brothers, Victor began playing music at the tender age of two years old. Under the tutelage of his older brother Regi, Victor was playing gigs and touring with the family band by the age of five. The Wooten Brothers performed with the likes of Curtis Mayfield, War, and the Temptations, among others. Rolling Stone Magazine lauded Victor, a founding member of the supergroup Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, by noting, “every player in the Flecktones is a master, but when Wooten busts out a solo at a concert, every jaw in the audience drops to the ground.”

“Music is a great way – and a safe way – to teach just about any life principle,” Wooten declares. “To be in a band, you have to listen to each other. Bands are at their best when every instrument is different, not the same. Everyone takes turns talking and everyone speaks with their own voice. A lot of times musicians might ask, ‘What would you like me to play?’ I say, ‘Listen to the music. The music will tell you exactly what it needs.’”

 

Health at the Amsterdam – TICKETS

 

HEALTH recently released a collaborative track “HATE YOU” with high-profile rapper & producer JPEGMAFIA, which followed a string of additional fascinating collabs with Youth Code (“INNOCENCE”), Perturbator (“BODY/PRISON”), and Soccer Mommy/Corin Roddick of Purity Ring (“MASS GRAVE”). At the top of March, the ever prolific artists dropped Grand Theft Auto Online: Arena War, the official soundtrack for the new GTA game, which Games Radar wrote about here: The rock stars who love Rockstar: Inside Health and the Grand Theft Auto studio’s unique friendship. HEALTH had also partnered with Rockstar Games on scoring for Max Payne 3.

 

The Murlocs and OTHIS at the Turf Club – TICKETS

The Murlocs are a tight knit rhythm and blues garage outfit from Melbourne, Australia. The band has been steadily working on a new record in-between Ambrose and Cookies touring commitments with King Gizzard. The other members also play in such acts as Crepes, Orb and Baked Beans. After touring Europe in February the lads will be gearing up for the states in April/May! Expect new material, a new show and whole heap of dance party boogie. Uncle Murl Lives on.

The beautifully dark country-Americana and vivid lyricism on Curve of Earth is a fitting introduction to songwriter Sam Swinson’s autobiographical journey through indoctrination and addiction; an endlessly inviting confession from his past battles with substance abuse, and the religious demons lingering from his upbringing in a fundamentalist evangelical cult. The links that run through Ohtis’ songwriting reflect the bonds in the project itself; driven apart by addiction, they were pulled together by music, made stronger by their experiences. This weight of experience is what gives the album its incredible power.

 

Saturday 4/20

Zwaremachine at Red Sea – EVENT INFO


Zwaremachine & I Ya Toyah have announced co-headlined tour Code Blue and “Smile That Killed A Country” bonus single! Two industrial electronic acts are coming to multiple Midwest U.S. cities including Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis, LaCrosse, Kansas City and more! Tour dates start March 1st through May 2019.

In Conjunction with the Code Blue tour Mach Fox and I Ya Toyah are releasing a single titled “Smile That Killed A Country” which features both artists as well as Zwaremachine bassist D-bot. This track will be available on bandcamp and performed live exclusively at these shows. This collaboration shows both artists truly being themselves while also sharing a common edge in this whispering tale of deception and promise.

 

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