Thursday, August 25, 2011

Jeff Mooridian photo essay

Disaster Amnesiac caught Vaz, live at S.F.'s Hemlock Tavern last night, 8/24/11. Jeff Mooridian seems a lot like Christian Vander to me, in that the music of his band pivots pretty much entirely around his shifting, machine like drum set POUND. Jeff left me pretty much speechless, so I'll just let the  pics do the talking on this one.











Saturday, August 20, 2011

Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine

Just got home from seeing Cowboys and Aliens, and, color me impressed! The movie is a great mash-up of the best elements of classic Sci-Fi and Western, as the title suggests. Before you go and call Disaster Amnesiac a master of the obvious, I'll list: Alien, Blade Runner, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, West World, Star Wars, The Terminator, hell, even Blazing Saddles! All these influences, and countless more, plus a compelling story and a great performance from Harrison Ford as an aging bad-ass, make for a fun summer blockbuster movie. See it at the theater for its full effect!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

India Cooke/Bill Crossman/Donald Robinson, 8/14/11, Berkeley Arts Festival

The weather was great and the mood was light for this Sunday matinee, presented by the Berkeley Arts Festival, 2011.
India was in fine form. Her earthy, bluesy playing, honed with the likes of Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor, is such a joy to hear. Even when she gets into heavy abstraction, there is always a joyful sound coming from her violin. She's a Jazz Master.
Cooke was joined by pianist Bill Crossman and drummer Donald Robinson. Crossman's swift piano playing, often in duet with India, was at times also bluesy, at times more abstractly Cecil-like. The two chased each others' playing brilliantly.
Drummer Donald Robinson playing the second half of each of the group's two sets. His mallet-driven  playing was subtle, generally quiet, and very free. Perfect for the chamber Jazz feel conjured up by Cooke and Crossman.
It's such a blessing to live in such close proximity to marvelous players such as these. What a fine day for freedom of expression!

Lost and Found in Russia-Lives in a Post-Soviet Landscape; Susan Richards, Other Press, 2009

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the break down of the Soviet Union were noted and celebrated in my family. My father worked for the U.S. Army in Germany. Young Disaster Amnesiac was watching commercials that celebrated the A-10 Thunderbolt II while his contemporaries stateside were watching MTV as it aired live. This must be stated, as formative media such as the Armed Forces Network and the Stars and Stripes newspaper had huge effects on me. The Soviet Union loomed as a large existential threat to me quite early on. I'm not gloating here, just being honest about where certain philosophical outlooks were shaped within my younger consciousness. Disaster Amnesiac is fascinated with the history of the Soviet Union, along with the historiography that has ensued in the wake of its collapse.
Regardless of where one stands in the debate of Right v. Left/Capitalism v. Communism/Wealth acquisition v. Wealth redistribution, it is undeniable that the Soviet Union, at least in its 20th Century phase, failed.  Lost and Found sets out to deal with the fallout of that world-historical event. Richards uses the story of her relationships with seven Russian citizens over the span of several years (1992-2008) as the lens through which to view the post-Soviet evolution of the region. Her use of the travel writing method takes the reader along as she journeys with her various friends throughout Russia and its myriad regions. Often these friends are using their recently acquired human rights to "vote with their feet" as they search for meaning, or profits, or that elusive "freedom" that beckoned to them across the great divides of the Cold War era. It is within the descriptions of the towns that they visit and the people that they interact with therein that Richards paints the picture of a Russia struggling to come to terms with her identity and possible futures. Much attention is paid to the pre-Soviet era and the encompassing influence of Orthodox Christianity. If one comes away with anything from Lost and Found, it is that Orthodoxy looms large within the national psyche of the Russian people, that its influence is as prevalent as that of Stalin-ism.
Chapters describing time spent traveling among an occult-oriented physicist, an intentional New Age community, ancient religious communes, and a traditional shamanistic healer ("witch") are juxtaposed alongside scenes of the crumbling, struggling cities of Marx and Saratov as their citizens adjust to the rampant succession of changes that effected Russia during the book's time frame.  The former are contextualized within the rubric of the older, Orthodox Russia, while the latter are defined more by the parameters of the great struggle of the 20th Century, the cold (economic) and hot (physical) wars fought between the competing ideologies of Communism and Capitalism. The descriptions of her friends' developments within these battles are great. The reader will find his/her self compelled by the stories of these peoples' lives as they unfold, the spanning their youth and developments into maturity. Some thrive, some flounder. Richards writes with insight about all of these developments, bringing a human tenderness to her descriptions of their stories (they, are, after all, friends).
Books like these are very important to Disaster Amnesiac. For one, they bridge the mental divides that were instilled within me as a child. Secondly, they tell stories and show scenes that are in real danger of being wiped away. It would be naive to think that the totalitarian impulse that found perfection within the  Stalin-ist Soviet Union has been abrogated. There are currently powerful forces within Russia that would gladly "disappear" many of the insider views shown within Lost and Found. If for no other reason, I recommend this book to spite Richards' conclusion that gives advantage to the ultimate return of that impulse, in Russia, and elsewhere (italics mine).

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Nervous Gender-Gestalt/Green Tile Floor 7" (TestTube Records, 2011)

 
Disaster Amnesiac was excited to read Razorcake's exhaustive two part interview with Nervous Gender last winter, and had been looking forward to hearing the new recording that they mentioned.
Thankfully, the Gestalt 7" does not disappoint. The two tracks are both jabbing, propulsive, and succinct; cutting synthesizer lines and super-fuzzed keyboard runs, played on what sound to be older analog gear, are punctuated by simple, pounding tom tom drumming.  The vocals and lyrics retain Gerardo's punky, alienated misanthropy, and although his presence is missed, the surviving group members do a fine job of continuing his singular vibe. The overall feel of the tunes compliment the group's name: both of these tunes will make one nervous. You can feel the adrenalin, hear the angst that is its result.
There are times when I'm reminded of the Screamers, but, seeing as Nervous Gender were that great band's contemporaries, maybe that just shows how the two bands influenced each other within a living scene as its nascent development was occurring. The presence of Screamers member Paul Roessler as engineer only adds to the super-legit feel of this 7". The sense that he put a lot of care into the production is clearly evident.  This version of Nervous Gender benefits from the care put into its production.
Here's to hoping that more recordings will emerge soon. The spirits of Gerardo and Tomata live on!