Han Bennink/Myra Melford/Mary Oliver, Arch St. Music House, Berkeley CA 1/22/12

Disaster Amnesiac had the great pleasure of attending this show with Andrew Joron and Joe Noble, shlepping over to Berkeley in the rain. Han Bennink is the kind of musician that one should not be deterred from seeing.
Han brings fun to the Avant Garde of Jazz, and he can play his ass off. The man has chops and humor and undeniable presence.
Pianist Myra Melford is one of the great post-Taylor players; she can play with incredible control on the keys, using scads of technical prowess to get the desired sound. The S.F. Bay Area is lucky to have her.
Violin player Mary Oliver was a pleasant surprise to Disaster Amnesiac and my pals. None of us had heard before. We were blown away by her techniques, which ran the gamut from Jazz to micro-tonalism to Classical sounds.

The net musical result of this trio was a romping set, comprised primarily of several compositions by Dutch pianist Misha Mengleberg, spiced with tons of improvisatory fire (especially from the ever-puckish Bennink).
The evening's proceedings ended with UC Berkeley electronic musician David Wessel joining in. His clanging laptop-generated sounds clearly made Han very happy!

If you get a chance to see any of these musicians play, do take it. No mere storm can stop a guy like Bennink!

FUCK the U.S. Department of Justice

The take down of Megaupload rests solely on the lying Obama administration and its number one elitist bully boy, Eric Holder. FUCK THE FEDS, AND FUCK ERIC HOLDER. Transparency in government, my ass.

Fugazi Live Series: Live at D.C. Space, 10/16/1987, digital download

As it's been almost ten years since Fugazi played a live show, it makes a lot of sense for Dischord to set up an easy, affordable way to hear this consummate band's live tapes. Ten years in music time equals at least one generation of music fan having gone through the crucial high school/college/young workin' stiff years. It's tough for Disaster Amnesiac to comprehend a demographic that has not at least had the chance to see Fugazi's amazing live energetics, but, it's a fact. I'm sure there are other bands that deliver the kind of live wallop that Fugazi specialized in, but I'm also sure that there was only ever one Fugazi. They were incredibly unique, and were easily one of the top live bands of the 1990's.
My first foray into this deep well of Fugazi live recordings, 10/16/1987, represents a nascent band, playing early tunes (a few of which, to my knowledge, were never formally released), and developing their chemistry.
At that time, Guy was not yet playing guitar with the band. His more melodiously leaning sound added a lot to the band in subsequent years, and its absence here allows for the heavily rhythmic aspects to remain in the fore. Disaster Amnesiac can recall a friend opining that she didn't care for Fugazi because "I don't like reggae"; that was a common refrain from many upon their initial hearings of the band. I'd say, not exactly. While it seems clear the Dub, Hip Hop, and Go-Go (bass/drums music) lent rhythmic and procedural aspects to Fugazi's approach, their one-of-a-kind, bass/drums/guitar full RHYTHM section sound is clearly evident in all its originality. The Canty/Lally rhythm section shows itself as the primal base of Fugazi's music here. Ian's guitar playing would also develop into a tightly coiled rhythmic ballast over the band's life span. This recording seems to show him figuring it out, learning his approach within the monster grooves of Canty and Lallys' base.There are the occasional drops, but how could one not root for the guy?
Fugazi shows were always an event, always a chance for celebratory ecstatic movement. They were pretty clear about their post-Revolution Summer move away from paint-by-numbers Punk Rock ritual behavior into a more all-embracing humanism. The D.C. Space recording features plenty of admonishments from Ian on these themes. At one point he even suggests audience members join the band on stage if they have ideas that they want to share! Having been one of said audience members that evening, I can recall wishing I could have taken him up on that. Probably best for everyone I just remained on the dance floor.
Dischord lists the recording's audio fidelity as "Good", and I'd agree. There are a few spots wherein the audio drops out, but it is very listenable. Definitely worth the $5 cost of access. 
If you're at all interested in Fugazi, you'll no doubt be thrilled with the Fugazi Live Series. 10/16/1987 is a great place to start your investigations of this seminal live band's in-concert, in your face experience. One can feel the juggernaut emerging, hear its early rumblings. Who knows, maybe someday soon the band's Indefinite Hiatus will come to an end, and there will be a 2010's addition to the Live Series Library. One can hope.

Nymph-U.F.O. Over Dome Rock

Disaster Amnesiac was not around for the advent of the first truly Pop movement, but I'm relatively certain that it was an Art World reflection of those products and trends that were contemporaneously popular within the larger society.
I say this not because Nymph's great new on-line single relase, U.F.O. Over Dome Rock, is particularly Pop in nature, or even reflective of the tastes of a wide swath of current society. I do say it because I wish it were true. Nymph have nailed it here, with a catchy, complex song that alludes to African forms (reminding Disaster Amnesiac of the Ex's recent recorded approach), 1970's Avant Garde vocals, Soul Jazz, Sterling Morrison, Krautrock, etc.
Disaster Amnesiac would love to be able to turn on a contemporary FM radio station and hear this track's bubbling, clicking, Harmelodic All-World music ringing forth. A mere $2 got it into my iPod.
Be a true reflection, grab a seat on Nymph's flying saucer flight.

Richard Serra-Drawings, MOMA SF, 12/30/11

Disaster Amnesiac made it over to San Francisco MOMA to check out the exhibit of Richard Serra's drawings, along with Mrs. Amnesiac and our pal Cynthia.
Minimalism always brings out an interesting response from people. I heard one waggish teen put it bluntly: "this SUCKS". There were also plenty of bemused looks from various viewers.
That said, I loved the work. Serra's stark, paint stick-on linen works were very complex, despite their outward simplicity. The textures, pocks, lines, and drips that different light angles revealed within them were wondrous for this viewer.
Disaster Amnesiac was also reminded of Nordic Black Metal as I gazed up into these works that were tacked onto various gallery walls. Their immense blackness would surely go well with some Burzum or Darkthrone. I could definitely see Fenriz appreciating their stark black forms.
The linen works had the same mass of volume as Serra's metal sculptures in many aspects. The weight and feel are very similar, and the fact that this effect was achieved with cloth is amazing.
Serra's paint stick-on homemade paper were amazing as well. With their black forms on white space configurations, they had the feel of Zen drawings. Some had impasto inches thick. I marveled at the amount of drawings Serra must have done to get that effect. Striking.
Also on display were many notebooks with plans for his large scale sculptures. It was cool to see the early imaginings of these monumental works, especially those at Bilbao.
Disaster Amnesiac left the gallery thinking about Minimalism and its effect on the viewer. In my opinion, Minimalism offers a lot of freedom to one who is taking it in. The viewer's perceptions are free to go wherever they go, unencumbered by representation. It also offers the chance to be disciplined and attentive. When these aspects of the mind are employed, its vistas are endless. That sucking sound heard by the surly teen was the sound of his own ignorance. Given time, I hope that he will cultivate the willingness and discipline to gaze at the vastness that Serra's art can offer.

Pere Demo

Disaster Amnesiac downloaded Pere Ubu's most recent demo release for their forthcoming Lady From Shanghai record over the weekend. Hearpen clearly states that many of the tunes on the release are still quite embryonic, while others are near completion. The whole thing is "nowhere near" mixed. I just wanted to chime in and say how brilliant it seems, from a marketing perspective, for Pere Ubu to do this. In an era of the hyper-niche market, it makes absolute sense for what is probably the ultimate niche market band to do this. It lets the the band's hardcore fans glimpse into its process, something that Disaster Amnesiac is sure appeals greatly to many of them. It provides revenue to Ubu, something that Disaster Amnesiac is sure appeals greatly to the band, if for no other reason than to help pay production costs for the album. It's a spin on the Kickstarter patronage system, a logical, effective way for underground bands to operate their business. As usual, David Thomas is WAY ahead of the curve, blazing trails that others will likely profit more from. At least he'll get the satisfaction of saying "I told you so", or maybe something harsher. Disaster Amnesiac has seen him be that way. He earns the privilege again and again.

Black Face-I Want to Kill You/Monster; 7" vinyl, Hydra Head Records 2011

Billed as a revisiting of songs that Chuck Dukowski wrote for early 1980's Black Flag, only to have been rejected, Black Face has had Disaster Amnesiac intrigued since my good pal Max Sidman told me about them in September. Needless to say, I put a pre-order in at the earliest possible opportunity. It has arrived. I have listened.
Opener I Want to Kill You is a fast paced, stop/start Hardcore rant, featuring excellent, throaty declamations from singer Eugene Robinson. The lyrics are definitely evocative of the Creepy Crawl/My War paranoid vibes that characterised the early 1980's iterations of the Flag. Musically, it reminds Disaster Amnesiac more of SWA than Black Flag, owing to its bass-driven, stuttering feel and more blatantly psych-colored guitar sound from Milo Gonzalez. It seems as though it's very difficult to approximate the physical weight of Ginn's riffing, especially of that within Black Flag.  Drummer Tom Dubrov does a nice job of keeping the quick pace of the song flowing without ever resorting to the standard Hardcore oom-pah-pah blast beat approach.
On the flip side, Monster seems to tell a tale of self loathing and the desired love interest of him doing that self loathing. This song is closer to the then-emerging musical aesthetic of  Black Flag ("let the rhythm ooze"), again with bass-led and psych-fueled sounds from the strings, and heavy rhythmic trudge from the drums. Robinson sounds downright scary on this one. Although he seems to have checked his more manic vocal approach with Oxbow for a more "normal" one within Black Face, it still sounds unsettling as he comes a-courtin'.
This 7" is an impressive opening salvo from what will obviously be a great band. I look forward to seeing Black Face live!