Month: October 2008

You probably don’t need me to tell you twice to go see Wire if they come to your town. No, Bruce Gilbert won’t be with them. On the plus side, Margaret Fiedler (Moonshake, Laika) will be filling in.

Laika appear to be dormant at the moment, sadly. But I always keep an ear peeled for any project that Margaret’s involved in, because they’re always worthwhile. (Not that Wire is an unknown quantity, mind you.) I wish this show weren’t on a weeknight, because I’d love to be there. (I’m missing Stereolab tonight for the same reason. Meh.)

I interviewed Margaret and Guy (Fixsen) of Laika for Warped Reality back in 1995. A soundbite:

Margaret: “I think lo-fi can cover up for a lack of ideas. Some people are really good —it really doesn’t matter if it was recorded in a tin can or a studio; the song and the idea transcends the medium.

“But some people are all ‘feel’ and there’s nothing else there. I’m kind-of reactionary against it, because I really don’t understand ghettoizing anything. I’ve always made music to communicate and I think anybody who actually goes to the effort of releasing a record is trying to communicate. I don’t really buy it when people want to be obscure.”

“I went to a Tricky show [recently] and met his video director Mark Lipscombe. He’s not a frustrated filmmaker like a lot of video directors are. He doesn’t want to make feature-length films. He wants to make pop videos, but he wants to bring all these fucking weird cinema ideas into it. I completely understand it, because that’s the way I feel about music. I don’t want to sprawl out. I don’t want to do some magnum opus. I’d rather do pop music but with fucked-up ideas.”

Upcoming Wire gigs

Oct 06: Barrymore’s, Ottawa,
Oct 07: Lee’s Palace, Toronto, Canada
Oct 08: Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Oct 09: The Fillmore at Irving Plaza, New York, NY, USA [WFMU Free Music Show]
Oct 10: Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Oct 11: 9:30 Club, Washington DC, USA
Oct 12: Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA, USA
Oct 14: The Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Oct 15: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, USA
Oct 16: The Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Oct 17: First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Oct 18: Metro, Chicago, IL, USA

Laika, “Looking for the Jackalope”

Laika, “Spider Happy Hour” [from Silver Apples on the Moon, 1994]

Moonshake, “Girly Loop” [from Big Good Angel, 1993]

“STRELKA & LITTLE ARROW,” RUSSIAN MATCHBOOK COVER, 1960s

Kristin Hersh
The Shady Circle
Franklin, MA

I recently stumbled across a blog post about Kristin Hersh that referred to her as “not terribly prolific.” I’m not really sure which KH this author of said post was referring to, because the KH I’m familiar with is a constant whirlwind of creative activity. At this very moment, she’s working on a memoir and accompanying multimedia stage presentation called Paradoxical Undressing (recently premiered at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe); her next solo record, Speedbath; new 50 Foot Wave material; and a long-awaited follow-up to her 1998 collection of Appalachian folk songs and murder ballads. Oh, and there’s that unsubstantiated but highly probable rumor of an upcoming Throwing Muses record. Phew. I’m tired just thinking about the multi-tasking required to keep that many creative projects running concurrently.

If that weren’t enough, she recently embarked on a new solo venture called the Shady Circle, eschewing the unappetizing club circuit for the lower-key, far more welcoming world of house concerts. Last Sunday night, about 25 of us had the privilege of hanging out, drinking apple cider and eating cookies with Kristin and her husband Billy O’Connell. We were having such a good time hanging out, in fact, that Billy practically had to drag us all into the other room, jolting us with a loud “Hey, isn’t there supposed to be a concert?”

We all decamped to the cozy living room to find Kristin shyly perched on a chair in the corner, a guitar resting in her lap, the muted candlelight setting the properly eerie tone for a night of intense, often macabre songs. “You can tell which songs aren’t mine,” she joked. “I don’t sing about killing my girlfriends. And they’re not about Jesus.”

Maybe not, but the singular intensity of Kristin’s performances has always struck me as spiritually ecstatic, so pure is her vision. When Throwing Muses started out as a teenage band, the undeniably powerful, off-kilter muscularity of Kristin’s music was startling, even to the group —like a storm that needed unleashing.

The storm’s calmed down a bit since then. These days, Kristin’s a relaxed, genuinely funny performer, cracking jokes and regaling us with stories between songs. Which is not to say that there weren’t any edges to her performance, or that she’s become in some way complacent. Not at all. She’s just found a new kind of equilibrium. And no-one sings songs about zombie brides quite like she does.

I’ve seen K. a lot. I’ve seen her in London, New York, San Francisco, Providence, Boston —just about everywhere. And I remember a special little something from every one of those performances. At a club show, the performer is inevitably put on a pedestal, and it skews the vibe of the show —gives it a worshipful air, no matter how down-to-earth the performer. This night was made special not just by the music, but the overall vibe —all of us felt like old friends who’d been brought together by their favorite music. It was an absolutely lovely evening. And if that sounds incredibly dorky, well, I’m a dork. And I’m okay with that.

Thanks to Kristin & Billy for making it such a special night. And big thanks to Tine & her family for making us feel at home and for being such gracious hosts.

***

I’ll leave you with some music: two songs from a full band with strings performance in Pittsburgh last year, and one song from K’s recent mammoth undertaking of recording an A-Z songset spanning her entire career. All 5 discs are available (as a box set and separately) here.

If you like what you hear, I humbly ask that you please leave a little something in K’s tip jar. (It’s over to the right, above the Amazon logo.)

Twitter: Kristin Hersh | Kristin Hersh [official site]

Kristin Hersh, “Hook in Her Head”, Live in Pittsburgh, May 26, 2007

Kristin Hersh, “Sugarbaby”, Live in Pittsburgh, May 26, 2007

Kristin Hersh, “Pearl” [from 10-4 Volume 3]

PHOTO BY DINA DOUGLASS