Doom & Gloom Dispatch #52: Almost Pretty
Seawind of Battery + ragenap, New York Dolls, Powers / Rolin Duo, Damon & Naomi, Sonic Youth
Seawind Of Battery & ragenap - Chaos Life Preserver
Since it was just Halloween, here’s a chocolate-and-peanut-butter kind of situation. Seawind of Battery (AKA Mike Horn) and ragenap (AKA Joel Berk) have joined forces for this massive slab of dangerously beautiful dronecore released on the esteemed Eiderdown label. Billowing feedback, shimmering soundscapes, heady interplay — Chaos Life Preserver is a fully transcendent trip (and hopefully just the beginning of this pair’s collaborations).
And hey, today is Bandcamp Friday! Even though the recent news about the platform is a mess, this still seems like a good way to support artists for the time being. Here’s a new Bandcamping column if you need further recommendations.
The New York Dolls, Waldorf Astoria, New York City, October 31, 1973
How did you celebrate Halloween this year? I took time machine 50 years back to see the New York Dolls in the Waldorf-Astoria’s Grand Ballroom. Or, rather, I watched this raw video of this legendary occasion … close enough! It’s a blast, but I’m sure nothing could compare to actually being there.
Will Hermes set the scene in his Love Goes To Buildings On Fire: The Waldorf-Astoria was the epitome of uptown, up-tight, upper-crust New York; whoever agreed to give the ballroom over to the Dolls and their wasted fans was either clueless or wickedly subversive. By midnight, a thousand-some freaks of various stripes were packed into the ballroom entryway, pressing against doors that were supposed to have opened at 11:00. Tempers flared, doors were smashed, and someone lit a stink bomb in the hotel lobby in protest. Security guards admitted a portion of the mob but hundreds were turned away. Arthur Bell described the scene as “Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange and Joel Grey in Cabaret by the dozens, chains and hoods, silver buttocks, scarlet breasts, dildoed noses,” with old-school trannies washing down demerol capsules with swigs of whiskey.
In other words … Happy Halloween!
Powers / Rolin Duo - Live On WFMU, October 3, 2023
The world’s best cosmic dulcimer / guitar duo paid a visit to the world’s best radio station earlier this month — and the results were predictably awesome. “Mama mia!!” exclaims DJ Matt Warwick after Jen Powers and Matthew Rolin wrap up this 20-minute excursion. And you’re going to agree with that sentiment, I guarantee it.
I’ve loved the Powers / Rolin Duo for quite a while now, so it’s a pleasure to tell you that Prairiewolf (that band I play in) is sharing a bill with Matthew Rolin next week in Fort Collins, CO (Jen, alas, isn’t on this particular tour). This will likely be Prairiewolf’s final gig of the year, so if you’re in the area, come on out! If you’re not in the area, check out the rest of Matt’s dates and go see him if he’s in your neck of the woods.
Damon & Naomi - Best Video Film & Cultural Center, Hamden, Connecticut, May 12, 2023
Following up Powers / Rolin, we’re keeping it duo-y this week with a fabulous tape of Damon & Naomi in the “almost pretty” state of Connecticut earlier this year. D&N were playing Best Video Film & Cultural Center, a nonprofit venue/community gathering space that honestly seems like one of the coolest places in the entire Nutmeg State. “I don’t know why we haven’t played a video store before,” Damon marvels, later noting the unexpectedly excellent acoustics that a wall of VHS tapes provides.
And yeah, he and Naomi are wonderful as always, playing several tunes from their latest/greatest A Sky Record along with some welcome dips into their rich back catalog, which now stretches back over 30 years. I especially enjoy the songs in which Naomi picks up her bass — such a unique and absorbing sound. In the first issue of the highly recommended new zine Head Voice (more on that soon), Ben Chasny and Elisa Ambrogio go deep with Yang about that sound. “[I]f you play really low all the time, the club starts to vibrate and everything falls off the shelves. It’s like a seismic sound, all those super low notes. But I think I really started playing higher up because I always write the bass lines by singing them, so that is where my voice is. I also just thought it sounded pretty and it cut through.”
The laid-back setting also encourages banter, so we get to hear about D&N’s newly adopted cat, misadventures on the Merritt Parkway and Tim Buckley’s appearance on The Monkees. And hey, there’s even a majestic rendition of the old Galaxie 500 chestnut “Another Day” … though I’m also going to suggest you check out the radical version of this song from around the same time with Meg Baird and Charlie Saufley. (Oh and then maybe you can dig the quartet’s radical Popol Vuh cover???)
In case you haven’t guessed yet, this recording is another dig into the Alex Butterfield Archives, which have given us untold treasures over the past several years. Go dig through the tapes! Thank you, Alex!
Sonic Youth - Greenspace, Valencia, Spain, October 28, 2005
One more trip to the Dude Ranch! This entry in the #SonicSummer extravaganza comes toward the tail-end of “The Jim Years.” Soon, O’Rourke would bid adieu to Sonic Youth, eventually leaving the USA entirely for the Steamrooms of Japan. It was nice while it lasted — and this slightly overdriven Spanish broadcast shows that Jim left the band on a musical high note. (I also like that the announcers/DJs who pop up between songs kind of sound like they’re at a football match. Goooooaal!)
It’s a slightly truncated festival set — but SY makes the most of their onstage time, adding a little extra energy and rambunctiousness to the proceedings. The Sonic Nurse material is still sounding rad, with a tightly wound “Stones” and an extremely explosive “Pattern Recognition” leading the way. Elsewhere, the off-the-rails “Mote” blends beautifully into a kraut-tastic “New Hampshire.”
The evening in Valencia concludes with a truly unique happening — a fiery free-form jam with legendary Flamenco vocalist Enrique Morente. Cante jondo! Morente's incantatory stylings might seem like an odd fit for Sonic Youth’s shards of noize, but by the end of this 13-minute trip, you might wish they had made an entire album together.
Bandcamp | Merch | Concert Chronology
From the Doom & Gloom Archives
Unearthed, vol. 13 :: All Wrongs Reversed
Did indie rock peak in 1995? It feels like it did — but it’s possible that I think that because I was an impressionable 16-year-old then, having my mind blown week after week by the underground’s leading lights. Whatever, we can all agree that the indie scene was thriving 25 years ago, and the latest Unearthed bootleg mix gathers together some tasty live ’95 jams for your listening pleasure. Most of the big names are here, along with a few slightly under-appreciated artists. Turn back the clock and take a dip in the Diamond Sea.
Grounded – Pavement / My Valuable Hunting Knife – Guided By Voices / Pablo and Andrea – Yo La Tengo / Butterfly Effect – Pell Mell / 23 Minutes In Brussels – Luna / Tin Cans and Twine – Tortoise / Still In Love – Cat Power / My Pal The Tortoise – Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 / The Recognition Scene – Mountain Goats / Soul of Patrick Lee – SF Seals / Baby – Beck / Shimmer – Throwing Muses / Pop Quiz – Stereolab / May Queen – Liz Phair / Tantric Porno – Bardo Pond / Twin Falls – Built To Spill / The Diamond Sea – Sonic Youth
Currently Reading: Head Voice #1