Friday, April
23
@ CLUB CAFE
Most bands in their infancy must pay their dues by playing
smaller venues in opening slots before getting the chance to play some of
the area's well known stages, much less headline their own show.
Miraculously, this wasn't the case with the Lights Ahead. Even when singer
Jon Zebraskey and guitarist Josh Shapiro were playing as an acoustic duo
back in October, they were turning heads. After enlisting drummer Jay
Fanelli in January, they played, and nearly sold out, their first
full-band show at the Rex Theatre. They have played shows with School of
Athens and Mushcup, as well as with the newly re-vamped Tangerine. Sharing
the bill with such diverse bands is made possible by their mix of sounds.
Citing influences such as Wilco, the Cure, Interpol and Radiohead, along
with Shapiro's stint in the hardcore House of Kali, their songs run the
gamut from hard-hitting guitar riffs to mellow, keyboard-driven tunes.
This week they play Club Café with one more piece of the puzzle intact;
Devan Goldstein recently signed on as the band's bassist. Zebraskey's
powerful vocals will have no trouble echoing throughout the intimate
venue, and the musical chemistry of the Lights Ahead is its perfect
complement. Each show the band plays is different from the last, as they
take the time in between to hone and rework their music, providing
multiple versions of the songs. If the previous months offered any
indication of what's to come, this could be the last time that Club Café
will be able to accommodate their crowd.
-- KATIE MAVRICH
With Black Crash, Alisium. 10:30 p.m. $5. South Side.
412.431.4950
DARKEST HOUR
PLEA FOR PEACE TOUR
Saturday,
April 24
@ THE WORLD
When members of hardcore metal band Darkest Hour set out
to make an album influenced by the volatile sounds of Scandinavian death
metal, they went straight to the source. They flew from hometown
Washington, D.C. to Gothenburg, Sweden to work with the top musicians and
producers of the trade, including Tomas Lindberg of At the Gates, Anders
Bjorler of the Haunted and renowned producer Fredrick Nordstrom. Though
their approach was partially intended as homage to the genre, they added
their own frenzied punk for flavor. Once it was finished, Hidden Hands
of a Sadist Nation was a masterpiece of brutality and turbulence and a
winning combination of hardcore punk and straight-out heavy metal. John
Henry's vocals are so hoarse they're painful to hear, and the lyrics are
nearly impossible to discern, buried under Ryan Parrish's machine-gun
double bass drumming, Mike Schleibaum and Kris Norris' thickly distorted,
harmonic guitar work and Paul Burnette's heart-thumping bass. But their
too-fast, too-furious approach appropriately takes the place of clarity,
where the hostile energy of the songs conveys just as strong of a message
as the lyrics assumedly would, as noted in the liner notes, which are
printed on paper that when touched captures all the sweat, grease and
grime of your fingertips -- an appropriate metaphor for the utter
nastiness contained inside.
-- CINDY YOGMAS
With Cursive, Denali, Mike Park. All ages. 7 p.m. $15.
Strip District. 412.642.2941
ERIK FRIEDLANDER
Sunday, April
25
@ GARFIELD ARTWORKS
Cellist Erik Friedlander had finished recording a piece by
Michael Montez for violin and cello when the composer convinced him to
take part in another project. They dimmed the lights of the East Berlin
studio and Montez placed 10 poems on the music stand, one by one, asking
Friedlander to improvise based on the words. These were no ordinary works
of literature; they came from Maldoror, a volume written by
19th-century poet Isidor Ducasse under the name Comte de Latréamont, which
became an inspiration for surrealists. The subjects ranged from the flight
of starlings and mathematics to unsavory thoughts towards young men.
Friedlander captured the mood of each one, droning, plucking and fiercely
bowing his instrument as the subject called for it. The resulting
Maldoror album, released last fall, documents the recording,
standing tall with or without the accompanying text to guide listeners.
Having played jazz, classical and free improvisation, Friedlander never
lets the music fall into any particular camp, going instead with the rich
textural possibilities of the instrument. "May It Please Heaven" opens the
album with rich, declarative strokes of the bow, while on "I Am Filthy,"
he sustains a low drone and adds pops and flicks over top of it.
Maldoror capped off a year of critical attention for the cellist,
with Public Radio International and progressive music magazine The
Wire bestowing praise on it and Quake, the album made with his
progressive jazz quartet. His current solo performances contain new
compositions, as well as interpretations of Santana, John Zorn and Dave
Brubeck.
-- MIKE SHANLEY
With Comprov Group. 8 p.m. Garfield.
412.361.2262
GET HUSTLE
Monday, April 26
@
MODERNFORMATIONS GALLERY
If Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon had a younger, slightly less
rabid but equally artistic little sister, she might sound like Valentine,
the vocalist of Get Hustle. Chances are Valentine will resent such a
comparison, but the similarity creeps up in the band's smashed-up blend of
lounge music, free jazz adventure and arty screeds. Get Hustle's music is
built around piano, drums and guitar -- although it seems that the touring
lineup of the band forgoes the latter instrument. With this
instrumentation, there isn't much grounding the band's music, leaving it
free for anyone to take off in any strange direction. Valentine often
sounds like she just wandered into the fray, although simultaneously, she
seems to be on top of things as she cuts loose. Pianist Mac Mann and
drummer Ron Avila approach their music in the same manner: They sound
chaotic, but this type of music requires focus to keep it from collapsing
into noodling. After forming in Los Angeles during the late 1990s and
releasing a few singles, the band released their debut album Earth
Odyssey. It crammed 10 songs into 27 minutes, but the taut
arrangements and quick changes proved that the brevity was a wise choice.
Two years and a move to San Diego later, they released an EP that made
comparisons between their music and that of both Nick Cave and classical
composer Erik Satie.
-- SHANLEY
With Ice Capades, Curses! All ages. 7:30 p.m. $5.
Garfield. 412.361.2262
LLOYD COLE
Thursday, April 29
@
CLUB CAFÉ
Music in a Foreign Language, the latest CD by
singer/songwriter Lloyd Cole, marks the 20-year anniversary of his
recording career. It began with Rattlesnakes, his first album with
his band the Commotions, which was released in the post-new-wave,
pre-alternative days of 1984, spawning the minor radio hit "Perfect Skin."
What separated Cole from most of his contemporaries was his ability to
combine intelligence and emotion in clever turns of phrase. His voice was
plaintive, emotional and sexy, angst-ridden without being whiney. It was
the perfect combination to appeal to what was then called college rock. In
1990, after three albums, he dropped the Commotions for his eponymously
titled Lloyd Cole. The decade saw him experiment with different
sounds. Both Bad Vibes and Don't Get Weird on Me Babe
featured richer sounds with full orchestration. His last major label
release in the U.S., The Negatives -- with Jill Sobule -- featured
the return of a more traditional band structure. Since then, Cole has sold
albums directly from his Web site, maintaining a close, personal contact
with his fan base. Music in a Foreign Language was originally
released in Europe last year; the American label, One Little Indian Us,
picked it up. For the first time in years, Cole is getting airplay. The
sound is stripped down, focusing primarily on his voice and guitar. The
other instrumentation serves to underscore these strengths. His lyrics are
still literate and intelligent, laced with melancholy and yearning. His
voice is older now, more experienced, accepting of life instead of
resigned to it. The last lines of "Shelf Life," the album's final track,
seem to reflect that more mature attitude: "No longer waiting for my
prayers to be answered/ No longer waiting for my publisher's call/ No
longer charming in my reminisces/ Only immersed in a faint
afterglow."
-- WAYNE WISE
With Dave Derby. 7:30 p.m. $14. South Side.
412.431.4950
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