TONIGHT!
Tuesday, May 2
DC9, 1940 9th St NW WDC
http://www.dcnine.com $10, doors at 9, 21+
Stinking Lizaveta (from Philly, At A Loss/Tolotta/Southern Rec.)
Ostinato (DC/VA atmospheric post-punk, ex-Hidden Hand)
Darsombra (mem. of Meatjack, solo noisescapes on At A Loss)
Stinking Lizaveta http://www.stinkinglizaveta.com "Is there any other band that's SO GOOD live that I would actually plan a trip somewhere thousands of miles away almost entirely on the basis of getting to see 'em play? 'Cause that's what I'm doing for Halloween -- flying to New Orleans, which would be fun anyways but is gonna be extra-awesome 'cause this Philly-based, all-instrumental power trio will be tearing down the house at Checkpoint Charlie's on the edge of the French Quarter, as they apparently do every Halloween. And as if to pile on the excitement, what shows up at Aquarius this week but a brand new Stinking Lizaveta opus? Yay! Their fourth album finds 'em doing what they do best, adhering to their math rock + jazz + exotic flourishes + sheer rock and roll exuberance formula, with perhaps a little bit more stoner rock added to the equation this time around. Imagine an instrumental Spirit Caravan melded with The Fucking Champs and Gone...something like that. Heavy, sinuous, emotive, grandiose, intimate, anguished, epic, melodic, HEAVY. It's not a perfect album, though -- the drum sound could be better (or at least the drums could be not so loud) sez Andee, and it suffers as all Stinking Lizaveta records do in comparison to their spectacular live performances. Basically, they are SUCH a good live band that it's just hard for them to ever make an album that's nearly as good as they are in person. I love their records, but they really don't compare to the band on stage. Their intense playing, telepathic interplay, and sheer energy are all there...but not as much as you get live. That they're such a formidable proposition live works against their recordings in another way: they probably just assume that if they just go in the studio and kick ass like they do on stage, they'll make the best album ever. Of course, it's not quite that easy. Still,
Caught Between Worlds is worlds above almost everything else in the post/math/instro/stoner rock realm... Recommended -- get this and also don't miss 'em if you get the chance, they're on tour right now!" (Aquarius Records)
"I just realized something. Umm, you know Stinking Lizaveta already, right? They are a 6 legged, 4 balled power trio who sound like they live in a hollowed out tree in the petrified forest, but are actually from Philadelphia. Or thereabouts, I donâ??t have a fuckinâ?? map. They play trippy stoner-jazz with a heavy-devy chunka-chunka beat and a guitar that floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee bloated on cough syrup. Sometimes they have vocals, but even when they do, you donâ??t notice. Thatâ??s whatâ??s good about â??em, see, they let you breathe a little. In a world where thereâ??s always somebody screeching at you with their cockamamie theories about whatever, it is quite refreshing to hear a band that just GROOVES and flits around making crazy vapor trails and letâ??s you figure some shit out on your own. Thatâ??s how I figured out that if this CD was on vinyl and you played it on 45 RPM by accident, Stinking Lizaveta would sound just like the Ventures. Therefore,
Caught Between Worlds is not a stoner rock record, oh no. Itâ??s a surf record. If you could surf in mud." (Sleazegrinder)
Ostinato http://www.ostinatoproject.com Ostinato construct their sound in the same sporadic way the mind changes: Emotional impulses are often overwhelming and rampant. Their songs are structured in the same fashion, capturing the inexplicable exhilaration or devastating anger that is often so hard to translate. The result is a rich blend of melodic stimulation which evokes feeling, sonic guitar, swelling drums, and a fibrous flow of bass mesh harmoniously to produce a unique ethereal vibe, surprisingly created by only three musicians. Ostinato, an Italian musical term meaning "a recurring melodic fragment," is a name perfectly suited to the band.
Ostinato hails from the Virginia/Washington DC area. After years of friendship and relaxed free form music creation, Ostinato was officially baptised in 1997. Jeremy Ramirez (bass), David Hennessy (guitar and vocals), and Matthew Clark (drums) rented a house and got focused, eventually amassing the material which was recorded for the 1998 self-release <unusable signal>. Extensive gigging in Washington DC and Virginia followed, as did several extended hiatuses. Their second record was recorded throughout summer 2003 and was released on June 24th 2004 on Exile On Mainstream Records.
Darsombra http://www.darsombra.com/ Ecdysis is the first release brought from the mind of Brian Daniloski under the moniker of darsombra. Still a member of Baltimore heavies Meatjack, elements of their more experimental side are felt in the album opener. However, it quickly becomes apparent this will be the end of the similarities. Passages of ambient drone dissolve into the dark, brooding sounds of "my house" accentuated by the sound of the sitar. The track was written and recorded in a former dwelling that before being a living space was a funeral home. The sights, sounds and feel of Daniloski's Baltimore neighborhood surface throughout
ecdysis. Mixing harsh dissonant guitar tones with field recordings, "thinning the herd" is a direct reaction to the tension and feelings of claustrophobia brought by his environment. "drag the carcass" combines stark sonic landscapes with the rhythm of a local orator as he speaks of a "dead man". The sensations of the heat and humidity of Baltimores summers are conveyed in "swelter".
