#laura bettison

[seasons-trees]

Laura Bettison,Ultraista

Live@cable,London/Dec 2012.

[opentracks-blog]

Ultraista/Zammuto live (10/24/12) [Concert Review]

Last Wednesday night, Ultraista played their first show in New York City at Le Poisson Rouge to a crowd of just a few hundred people. Consisting of producer Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker and Laura Bettison, Ultraista performed songs from their debut self-titled album. The performance was very synth heavy, with all three members playing some sort of synthesized keyboard or instrument at one point during the performance. The perpetual use of these synthesized tones made the songs sound almost too monotonous at times. However, the variety of rhythms coupled with melodic vocals were sonically engaging and provided anticipation for the seemingly endless layers that made up the song. These countless layers were created by Nigel Godrich who played bass while using a synth, Joey Waronker who kept a steady beat while simultaneously using a synthesizer and Laura Bettison who looped her voice. The band impressively tackled an arrangement which would usually be suited for more people. Ultraista concocted a buildup of sounds to begin their songs, differentiating themselves as artists and initiating the excitement from the audience. The finest example of this was “Smalltalk”, which initially sounded nothing like the song, with Laura Bettison adding loop upon loop of background vocals. It was satisfying to see the buildup and transition at the beginning of the song to when it finally broke into the recognizable first verse. Although their music has danceable grooves and rhythms, one of the most disappointing aspects of the show was the crowd interaction. The audience acted almost zombie like, having no desire to physically engage themselves to the beat. Regardless, it did not stop Ultraista’s enthusiasm to be playing in New York, which for Laura Bettison was her first time in the city. Though they only played for about 45 minutes, Ultraista put on a solid show, replicating many of the same sounds that they were able to achieve on their album. They are set to play additional shows in Europe this year.

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Opening bands can often be a hit or miss opportunity to grab your attention and keep you interested enough to want to invest more time into listening to a band. In the case of Ultraista’s opener Zammuto it was quite a surprise to listen to an opening band so carefully put together and well versed in their instruments. The rhythms of the songs were the most impressive part of the performance, seeing the raw energy that the bassist was feeding off to the drummer who was feeding off to the two guitarists. All of this energy together was amplified along with the projected videos ranging from zebra butts, to cheesy product commercials to home video to disperse a set of songs that made you want to dance along. Though comical most of the time, the videos added to Zammuto’s set, bringing not only a sense of the bands personality and humor to the show, but showing a unique set of imagery that might not normally be thought of as a soundtrack to video. From hearing of and seeing the band live for the first time they were excellent, not only from their musicianship, but their sound and variety of arrangement, making me want to see them again live.

[octopuswindmill]

Ultraísta - "Smalltalk"

Between recent record production for the likes of Radiohead, Here We Go Magic and Atoms For Peace - a band in which he also performs - it's hard to imagine where Nigel Godrich finds the time to eat, let alone start another new project. Whatever the case, his latest musical endeavour, Ultraísta, was revealed via Pitchfork yesterday and, no surprise, it delivers. The first taste, "Smalltalk", finds Godrich, along with Atoms For Peace drummer Joey Waronker and London artist Laura Bettison, honing in on some kind of Stereolab-meets-hip-hop vibe that's sure to please. No details yet on an album or tour of any kind but keep an eye on their site for any updates. Ultraísta - "Smalltalk"

Ultraísta - "Smalltalk"

[pookage]

For fans of the magnificent Laura Bettison of Dimbleby & Capper and Femme- she's now in a band with none other than Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich!  The result is an incredible eargasm.  Seriously rad stuff.