It's my first post for Brookladelphia, which is exciting. I don't have much of a connection to Philadelphia anymore, other than the time I played a gig there and wound up sleeping in an abandoned halfway house, which is a story for another time. But I do have connections with Brooklyn, especially the Brooklyn music scene: I cover music related stuff for Brokelyn http://brokelyn.com/new-music-friday-frankie-cosmos-on-the-lips/, which is another cool blog you should read. Anyway, I got excited when I learned that my first assignment would be covering a show featuring a bunch of cool bands comprised of members of other cool bands. This past Sunday I went to Mercury Lounge to see Sound of Ceres, Pick A Piper, and Innera. Sound of Ceres involves Karen and Ryan Hover of Candy Claws, as well as a revolving cast of collaborators: three members of Apples In Stereo (Robert Schneider, John Ferguson, and Ben Phelan) and Jacob Graham of The Drums. Innera is comprised of Perrin Cloutier of Beirut, along with Jessica Kepler and Mike Ciardi. Pick a Piper involves drummer Brad Weber of Caribou joined by Angus Fraser and Dan Roberts. Having some knowledge of most of these prior endeavors, I was stoked to see what these new bands would be like.
It was an early show on a Sunday evening and the audience was clearly there for the music. Smiling faces bobbed their heads as they grooved to the first band, Innera, which again is a project of Beirut co-founder Perrin Cloutier. There was no accordion involved as in his other band, though - Cloutier operated a fairly extensive synthesizer configuration while Jessica Kepler's airy voice floated over beats that were almost ambient, but brought to nearly danceable status by Mike Ciardi's drums. The blend of actual drums with electronic everything else was pretty cool, and actually came back later in the show. I did wish that I could hear Kepler's vocal a little better- her voice is so airy, almost ethereal, that it was difficult to hear over the band's intense instrumentals. The rest of the sound, though, enveloped the room, joining forces with a video light show situation for a pretty neat experience. Innera was the only band this evening who were actually based in Brooklyn, and I felt like their dreamy experimental pop sounds, combined with their excellent taste in printed shirts, was solid evidence of this. Check out their bandcamp to hear it for yourself. https://innera.bandcamp.com/releases The friend I was with told me a rumor that Mercury Lounge’s stage was built over a bunch of sand: I have no idea whether or not there is any truth to this, and if i felt like googling it I would, but I don't. I did speculate as to whether that was the reason for the room's great acoustics, and I wonder what other things might be under there creating natural amplification. Astroturf, perhaps, or marbles, or a colony of gnomes with minuscule amplifiers strapped to their shoes.
It should be noted here that I have never been, nor should probably ever be, in charge of sound design for any performance space.
So Innera was first, then Pick A Piper https://pickapiper.bandcamp.com/, the band that I knew the least about before attending the show. They may have also been my favorite. I'm probably not supposed to play favorites, but I like to live on the edge. They started out their set as three dudes behind three synthesizers, or, some configuration of synthesizers and drum machines; throughout the set they played with different combinations of electronic instruments and real live drum sets. Which was really cool - almost ancient, tribal rhythms combined with fast paced beeps and boops and melodies, which all three guys then sang over. At one point they sounded very Death Cab For Cutie, but specifically the Death Cab For Cutie sound that's faster and dancier than some of their other stuff. The last band was the headliner, Sound of Ceres. Karen and Ryan Hover, of Candy Claws, are the backbones of the group; they are joined by a revolving cast of collaborators from other bands like Apples in Stereo and The Drums. This evening, Karen's airy vocals, Ryan's pounding synth beats, and drums courtesy of another of their collaborators, were accompanied by Jacob Graham of The Drums. Only, he wasn't playing the drums: he actually wasn't really playing anything. Their set began, and I heard eerie melodies that were set off by what looked like outer space footage on the screen behind them. There were two people on the floor, Jacob Graham and a lovely lady whose name I forget, who were moving their hands up and down in time to the music. I thought at first that they were theremin players, lending the spookier tones of Sound of Ceres' catchy, ethereal sound. Upon further investigation, I.E. the time Karen told everybody, it turned out that they were performing a liquid light show. Those things I thought were theremins were actually old school overhead projectors, like, the kind you used in seventh grade biology class (if you're my age). The bouncing, dancing, pools of colored water swished and swirled in time with the music in a way that almost made me wish I was still in the midst of that weird hallucinogen phase I went through in college. Almost. And those "spooky" sounds I heard were just one example of what Karen and Ryan's dual synthesizers could do. According to their website http://soundofceres.com/press/, "While Candy Claws explored terrestrial realms such as the ocean, the forest and the Mesozoic, Sound of Ceres expands to contemplate all of space and time, and the human place within it." That seems fairly accurate: their sound seemed to transcend the room and envelop the audience in another place and time entirely. Tricky time signatures and pounding beats combined with the liquid light show, which at one point involved live fish, to create something I'd never encountered before. They're from Colorado, and while they tour all over the world, their sound and their light seems to belong in Brooklyn. Not that I'm biased. Sound of Ceres and Pick a Piper are on tour together right now, and by the time this posts I suppose they will have just played Philly staple Kung Fu Necktie. I'm pleased that I got to see them with Innera when they were in my fair city. Check out all three bands on their websites using the handy links above, and follow them on social media for tour dates and more exciting things. You can also follow me on twitter, @LillyVanek, for more stuff about music and musings on why I should never be a sound designer.
Story by Lilly Vanek
Lilly will be performing this evening at TROOST for the 1st Annual Notes & Cloud Festival. Click on the link below for more info.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/951194845001087/
Don’t forget to reserve tickets for our Brookladelphia tribute to The Beatles this week! We will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Revolver at The Bell House in Brooklyn April 14th and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, April 15th.
brookladelphiamusic.com