Michel Kristof and Vinnie Paternostro-A Place You Could Not See. A Time You Did Not Know; Muteant Sounds, 2018

 

There exists a file on Disaster Amnesiac's desktop labeled "Blog Stuff". Within that file there are a handful of releases that I've not ever gotten around to reviewing. I suspect that for the most part this is due to the Event that started in 2020 and its cancellation of the culture that I was involved in. The recordings therein, and appreciation of them, were superseded by my forced involvement in the Event, subsequent personal decisions in the wake of the Event, and probably just general inertia to boot. Apologies to those from whom Disaster Amnesiac received music for review and never got them.....I'm working on it.......

........starting with A Place You Could Not See. A Time You Did Not Know from Michel Kristof and Vinnie Paternostro. Across six tracks of duo action, Kristof on guitar and effects and Paternostro on saxophone, drum machine, and Moog Mother 32 conjure up a suitably dystopian, doomy Jazz Fusion that is heavy on humid, claustrophobic atmosphere. Beats break and pound, saxophone wails atop, and strange atmospheric electronics simmer and swirl around them. A Place You Could Not See is quite the heavy listening experience; indeed it's a perfect soundtrack for our gloomy media world, obsessed as it is now with some war film unfolding in Eastern Europe. Disaster Amnesiac can envision people listening to these wild instrumental soundscapes as they tune in to our next new Collective Event. Hell, I can envision the tracks from this album being piped in to the cyber-steered battle goggles of the various fighters on the front lines in Kyiv or Donetsk or wherever else the various military industrial complexes will insist the people shoot ordinance at each other for "reasons". Yeah, the sounds on this album from 2018 perfectly encapsulate the mood four years later in time. The forbidding, sullen washes of sound on A Place You Cound Not See. A Time You Did Not Know, all mechanically driven and relentless, sound to suit the Next New Normal, coming to a battlefield near you, just perfectly. 

Its sonic shrapnel, sharp and explosive, might just do some damage to your perceptions, but, hey, you'll be able to walk away with your body intact. That's my hope for you, fellow human, anyway.........

Live shot #49!

 

Percussionist, guitarist, composer David Mihaly. Berkeley Arts Festival Building, ca. 2014.

Live shot #48!

 

Tracy Hui, banjo player, singer, composer, interpreter of American songs. 

Temescal Arts Center, Oakland CA Feb. 2018. He's nationwide.

Live shot #47!

 

Three Day Stubble nerding out at Eagle Tavern, San Francisco; July 2019. 

The funniest band ever!

Nubdug Ensemble-Volume 2: Blame; Pest Colors Music, 2021

 

Another Holiday Season has passed us by, and another Nubdug Ensemble disc has arrived! Leader Jason Berry continues his musical quest towards tightly constructed, thoughtful, swinging American Music! Volume 2: Blame brings these elements together in fresh ways, and Disaster Amnesiac has pretty well marveled at it since it showed up in my mailbox. Berry clearly didn't rest on his laurels after 2020's The Machines of Zeno. Not that I can hear anyway. Recalling Varese's quote, "the modern composer refuses to die", Jason's music lives in all kinds of exciting ways. 

Blame starts off with two vocal tracks, Blues and Bluff.  On the former, bassist Brett Warren blazes the path with drummer G Calvin Weston; his flows really move the listener into the song. When Steve Adams and Chris Grady supply the horn harmonies, one can hear the astuteness of Berry's writing, all juicy and jumpin' in ways that are pleasing. Jill Rogers has a powerful alto voice that delivers the lyrics, seemingly about shady financial transactions, with clear articulation. More Jazz than Blues, really, but it works. On the latter, Weston's big tom tom sounds push Amanda Chaudhary's keyboard lines, Rogers hits a bit higher note, and the horns again showcase a sophistication in Berry's writing. Disaster Amnesiac can't stress this enough: Jason Berry writes charts that are MORE THAN GOOD. Look out Gil, stay sharp Carla, you've got some competition. 

Again with those horns on Bloom! Dear reader, are you picking up on a theme here? Clocking in at under two minutes, this song has had Disaster Amnesiac pondering, and then more deeply appreciating, the ways in which Jason Berry can compact a ton of musical information into a tiny bit of time, and not lose any interest. As I've listened, I've thought about an interview with Black Flag from the early 1980's when they defended their songs' brevity as having all of the elements of a "normal" song, but just compressed with energy. It seems to me that the same applies to much of Berry's writing. He gets so many elements packed in, but doesn't lose the idea's thread. 

Moving on, Bleep gets a righteous push from Chaudhary, Weston, and Warren before Jason introduces noir soundtrack elements and the Adams/Grady team again evokes the classic Jones/Lewis wing of Big Band awesomeness. Rogers' clipped delivery breathes life into the surreal lyrics. What mystery is being addressed here? And how does this film for the ears give so much in its 2:54 duration? 

The next two cuts, Blood, followed by Blaze, return to the purely instrumental zone. Blood pumps with lovely flute from Adams over a casual ostinato from Chaudhary, with the solid beats of Weston, then cracks into bright trumpet sounds from Grady. It roils and pops throughout its duration, leading into futuristic synthesizer and drum pairings on Blaze. Much like their work together on Chaudhary's Meow Meow Band disc, Amanda and Grant get all sorts of bizarre going within their interaction. Weston's double bass riffing is great, and Chaudhary pulls out the battery of gizmo-delic whatzis, then, suddenly, you're within a straight 4/4 post-Bop rampage, with the cutting guitar of Myles Boisen leading the charge. Great solo there, Myles! Bet you thought Disaster Amnesiac hadn't noticed you! 

Myles shines again on album closer Block. This one's got a street Funk swagger that pulls from the Harmelodic side, made legit obviously from Ornette's star student of such, Weston. Surely Coleman would've smiled at those computer game lyrics, too. Adams is again hella sharp, Warren's bumpin' bass shakes the low end, and you're going to feel pretty happy yourself as well, unless rhythm isn't your bag.  Can this dance spark the revolution? What would this revolution entail? Would it be particle or wave? Choose wisely, and be sure to move that ass. It's good for the heart.  

As Disaster Amnesiac sits here, it's 322 days until Christmas. That's plenty of time in which to familiarize myself and re-visit Nubdug Ensemble's Volume 2: Blame. Rest assured, that will happen. Just like I said last year, anyone desiring tightly focused, well constructed Fusion music should find a way to connect with Jason Berry and then look forward to his Yuletide greetings. He's putting them out there, are you going to receive or what?

The Dead Tones-Deader Than You; self-released CD, 2006

 

When it comes to Horror Punk, Disaster Amnesiac has never been exactly up to speed. I've always had a copy of Legacy of Brutality around since 1986 or so, and I profess to love the graphic design and kustomized culture that so many of its leading lights utilize. It's a highly creative, active subculture, one that has had the admiration of this dude for a long time, albeit from afar. 

In light of that, the Dead Tones Deader Than You came across my visual radar at a Goodwill a few months back as Mrs. Amnesiac and I were perusing for a white elephant gift. The price of the disc, a few bucks at most, was right, so I took the chance. 

Happy to have done so, too. The music, generally performed at an amped up pace, has all kinds of great aspects. Notable is the way in which guitarist Jason coaxes from his Fender Twin-sounding guitar all kinds of examples of the killer ability of the the electric guitar to be both percussive and melodic. The way he plays chords during the verses of the music is always bright and very present, and when he brings a slide for the solo on the title track, or wigs out on Scarlet Street, it's very clear that he has spent time studying ways in which to be expressive with his instrument. Good on him for allowing himself to take some creative license with it. Joining with Jason in the upper registers is the organ playing of Tabitha. When Disaster Amnesiac first played this disc, it was her sounds that I found most intriguing, as they add a kind of mid-1960's Garage feel to the more Rockabilly one that is overarching. I guess that Horror Punk allows for this kind of mashup, and I am happy about that. Her sounds give all of the songs that lysergic edge that helps to bend the mind a little bit or a lot. It's a bold musical move, and it really works to add brightness and melodic atmosphere to the sound. 

Within the rhythm section, bassist/vocalist Andrew and drummer J, as mentioned, keep the pace brisk. Their rhythmic lock avoids a stock polka beat; when J's bass and snare combos kick things along, the listener can definitely feel their physicality. It's my hope that he also bought recording engineer Jason Testasecca (or are these two the same person?) a beer of two after these recordings wrapped. Testasecca captured great drum sounds on all of these tracks. Hearing the ways in which a Rock 'n Roll upright bass clicks and and burrs, along with its melodic aspects, is never  a bad thing, and Andrew accomplishes both with aplomb. His vocals are confident, and, dude can really sing. It's the sound of a front man doing his thing because he knows he can, and it's great to hear. Additionally, his lyrics are creative. The total package! 

As Disaster Amnesiac has spun Deader Than You, I've imagined how fun The Dead Tones shows must have been. Perhaps they happen still? Who would part with this kind of rockin' fun? Top notch Horror Punk, all the way through, ya ghouls!

Live Shot #46!

 

Alien Planet (Sheila Bosco and Collette McCaslin)

Temescal Arts Center, Oakland CA 2018