Syntax Physic Opera - May 5th, 2016 by Kate Warner
Thursday May 5th at Syntax was a special night. It was part dual tour sendoff show for Sister Grotto (Madeline Johnston, who also books Syntax) and C.J. Boyd (on permanent tour for the past 8 years out of California), and part unofficial joint label release for a re-issue tape by Dilute, an album both of the artists fell in love with years ago. Madeline and C.J. both operate labels, TinyAmp Records and Obsolete Media Objects, respectively. The show also hosted Personals on tour from New Mexico, and local opener Ghoulfriend, making for an eclectic night of music that was accompanied with visuals by reel-to-reel projectionist Curt Heiner.
Trey Tafoya aka Ghoulfriend has an unassuming yet powerful stage presence. After hearing his first few chords it’s clear that he is not your average white-dude-singer-songwriter-with-a-guitar. His music could challenge even some of the most comfortable listeners. Ghoulfriend ranged from slow guitar progressions accompanied by a gorgeous falsetto to seemingly structure-free experimental noise and soundscape collage. Drastic volume changes punctuated his songs via pedal-triggered backing tracks. Songs and song transitions were meticulously crafted, with a few moments of improvisation on guitar or effects. The mercurial use of his voice, from crooning to screaming, further widened his stylistic range, but the entire set was made more cohesive by a tone of melancholia mixed with agitated absurdity. His experimental style is illustrated in his performance; animated Tafoya almost appears directionless with which element he focuses on during his set. Whether it’s his pedals, guitar, lights, enigmatic stage movement, or use of props or conversations with the audience (he explained a song he called “Cricket Jay’s Jubilee” was a smooth jazz song about his cat’s 50th birthday), Ghoulfriend is constantly changing. Although his performance and music style may seem erratic, to me it was wonderful controlled chaos. It feels like Ghoulfriend plays future music; music that our brains can’t fully appreciate because they aren’t capable of multi-tasking fast enough.
Personals are Zach Dana on bass and vocals, Jenny Sillery on drums, and guitarist Emma Crane (longtime friend of Johnston’s, Milch de la Máquina, solo as Javelina, and in many other projects.) In Personals, Crane’s guitar work is less minimal. There was plenty of artistry in Personal’s set, and it was the least minimal of the night. Drenched in loud, distorted, beautiful guitar work similar to that of The Catherine Wheel or Starflyer 59, driven by Sillery, Personals had an arresting, satisfyingly nostalgic sort of sound. The loudness of the guitar was balanced by patient song structuring. Slower Lungfish-like progressions and a steady dynamic produced the kind of sound that shoegaze, psych rock, and garage rock are known for. Small changes in playing, and suspense/resolution moments from the guitars and vocals, easily kept me in the music’s grasp. Crane’s sonorous, lilting vocals, similar in range to Hope Sandoval but sometimes with a much stronger edge, wove compellingly with Dana’s. His cadence reminded me of Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, but his tonality was more like Adam Franklin from Swervedriver. Sillery’s drumming was precisely what this kind of music needed - urgent and powerful, while sometimes pleasantly subverting expectations of song structures with interesting subtle fills. Personals didn’t seem purposefully modern, or rather the music wasn’t trying to be the vanguard of something altogether new; their sound instead was different because of the combination of the players’ individual playing styles and backgrounds, which made for a refreshing take on a musical establishment.
C.J. Boyd’s performances have always been meditative experiences for me. On this night he used an electric bass connected to a few pedals, standup bass, harmonica, and voice. Using a looper he introduced and subtracted each of the elements in such an organic way that he didn’t have a pause in-between songs, but rather built one long composition of impressive complexity. He produced a wide variety of sounds from the bass through versatile technique; strummed complex chords, used an e-bow to sustain string vibration, plucked and used the volume knob to create attack swells, and played with both hands on the fretboard. His songs perched atop quiet pillars of sweetness and then delved into disturbing tunnels of cacophony that through increased layering became warm and enveloping, a kind of sonic time lapse. A click of the loop pedal suddenly cut the wall of sound, while Boyd continued to play a soft bass line, a different melody that was reminiscent of the origin, as if the song had traveled a great distance. The song continued as he switched to the standup bass, at which moment Boyd’s preference of smaller venues with specific listeners became noticeably integral to his performance. While the crowd at Syntax is generally respectful and the setup of the building allows for separation between the bar and the performance room, the bar conversation was still loud enough to render much of Boyd’s standup bass playing incoherent. Still, this small situational problem was not nearly enough to detract from the performance of such an incredibly skilled, emotive, and unique artist.
Sister Grotto is a minimalist ambient project that simply captivates audiences. The music casts a spell that calms you into a state of solemn, bittersweet reflection. With a BPM of around 70, nothing about Sister Grotto’s is hurried, nor unintentional, and every small alteration between loops and changes in her singing stand out clearly, keeping things interesting. Johnston began the performance with a vocal melody and organ loop that sounded like the climax of a progression, and then reduced it over more and more repetitions to a simpler selection of notes and harmonies. Through reversing the loop, Johnston was then able to create a mirror image of a part of the progression, a subtle yet effective experiment with structure that Johnston manipulates expertly. The suspenseful compositions Johnston creates with her vocal and instrument loops reminded me of Angelo Badalamenti; textures rested in dissonance rather than resolving into an expected, comfortable harmonic realm. First-time listeners may wonder “where is this song going?”, but those who relax can allow themselves to be enthralled by the non-interrupted set Sister Grotto is known for. I had never before seen a laptop being used during her set, which is exciting in that we will surely see even further evolution of a project that has changed so much in the past few years. Denver is so blessed to have such an individual putting together fantastic lineups at a generous venue, known for giving 100% of door collections to the musicians •
