show review: Gifts From Enola / Glaciers / Winfred E Eye

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

It was already late at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, so I was really hoping tonight would be a success despite the venue being half full. Two decent bands proceeded instrumental act Gifts From Enola.

First up was Winfred E. Eye with their barn-burning hoedowns and in the Pogues-ian joyous-noise (a stomping “Lil Peck”) and sweetly downered folkadelic intropsection (a Wilco-ian “Two Baby Moths”). It was an interesting set…I might want to see them again.

Next up was the Melvins inspired instrumental act, Glaciers. Glaciers‘ soundscapes were intriguing, alternating between a thunderously apocalyptic atmosphere and almost dream-like drones. Unfortunately, the band sometimes seemed lazy and bored, leaving some people nodding their heads to the mindlessly grinding rock music. It was quite good, but even during their set, it felt like an appetizer for the headlining act.

Rolling out huge equipment and several lights, it was a clear signal that Gifts From Enola were going to be louder than any band you’re likely to see outside of a stadium. Fortunately they were never loud for the sake of being loud. They were not, for instance, as blisteringly face-melting as Isis. But they did play music as sonically rich and heavy. You might call their sound a gloriously abrasive flood of dense guitar atmospheres across the sonic spectrum.

Some might wish they were a metal band, but they were too far outside the box on their song dynamics and their penchant for creating ambient stretches inside their songs. Playing some of their greatest song from both their latest onslaught ‘From Fathoms’ (buy) and their debut ‘Loyal Eyes Betrayed the Mind (buy),’ the band barely paused between songs, making the entire experience feel more like a journey rather than a tiny concert in tiny venue. They clearly cared about mood and how their sounds affected the listener emotionally and not merely if they were rocking harder than anyone had ever seen before.

The drummer, though, made their overall sound a lot more organic since he didn’t just play as fast and as furiously as he could. He went for a more tribal sound that always packs more of a punch rather than some acts that think they need to just assail us with double-kick rolls. That kind of thing doesn’t hit you hard — knowing when to use all your components does, and this band knew how to do it. Sure, they ran into a technical issue with the lights out about halfway through their set but they leapt that chasm and showed us how you can use aggression creatively in music while also stirring the body, heart, and imagination.

Gifts From Enola – Benthos

Gifts From Enola – Screaming At Anything That Moved

Tags: concert review, Gifts From Enola, Glaciers, Winfred E. Eye
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This Week In Bay Area Live Shows: July 13th -18th

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Monday edition! Okay yeah I’m late on the Bay Area post but if you saw how my weekend went you’d understand. Anyway, if you made it out to the Laura Stevenson show last night, consider yourself lucky, she’s a special gal. Keep an eye on her. Okay, lets get started!

Tonight Coldplay heads over to the Shoreline Amphitheatre to entertain the white people, post rock heroes Tortoise and Pit Er Pat are leaving the The Great American Music Hall in awe, folk metal band Wolves in the Throne Room hit up Slim’s, Tori Amos plays the Paramount Theatre in Oakland and the San Jose Center For The Performing Arts on Tuesday, also Summer Cats and Magic Bullets perform at The Knockout tonight, New Zealand rockers The Veils and indie pop act Foreign Born crash the Bottom of the Hill.

Tuesday features Blonde Redhead at The Independent for two nights, the beautifully reunited Azure Ray play Nickel City Arcade in San Jose, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head rocks Café du Nord,…oh yeah and some website called Kata Rokkar presents post rockers Gifts From Enola with Winfred E. Eye and Glaciers. That should be fucking awesome!

Wednesday we have the lovely Laura Veirs at Café du Nord, instrumental group Pink Mountain play San Francisco’s Amoeba Records at 6pm, and Tears for Fears stop by the Mountain Winery in Saratoga.

The Mission Creek Music Festival featuring Judgement Day, Evangelista, Ann Magnuson, Jessie Evans, Shogun Kuntoki, William Winant, Weasle Walter, Moe!, Staiano Trio, Pop Noir, Ink Blots, Nacotheque, Juan Son, Curly Lou, Clara Gustavson, Dead Meadow, Xoel Lopez, Mranda Lee Richards, the Extra Action Marching Band and many many others will be pretty much all over the city from the 15th to the 22nd of July. More on that later on in the week.

Also going on this week is the The Crucible’s Fire Arts Festival with Amanda Palmer, Lucero, Poor Man’s Whiskey, Loco Bloco, etc. I had no idea what this was until just now. It looks wild. The event will take place In Oakland right off the West Grand Avenue exit, between at the Oakland Army Base and the East Bay MUD Facility, at the corner of Wake Avenue and Engineer Road.

Thursday will have me visiting the Great American Music Hall to see Azure Ray and Cursive’s Tim Kasher. It wil a nice evening of calm heartfelt music on O’Farrell Street. Psychedelic rocks Thee Oh Sees with Meth Teeth (best band name?) at The Eagle Tavern, and indie punkers Girl in a Coma play the Bottom of the Hill.

Friday, Brand New returns with Dios at Slim’s, Infected Mushroom plays at The Grand Ballroom At the Regency Center, thrash rocks Sabertooth Zombie rip-up 924 Gilman St., indie hip-hoppers Cage and Yak Ballz come to destroy The Great American Music Hall, THE VERY BEST (Radioclit & Esau Mwamwaya) come to party it up at Mighty, noise rockers Pterodactyl perform at the Hemlock Tavern, and the Great Northern and Eulogies show at Mezzanine is canceled.

Saturday, progressive art rocks Water & Bodies and Ambiance play the Hotel Utah, lounge DJ Bonobo will be at Mighty, and Three Mile Pilot crashes at the Bottom of the Hill.

Oh and hang out with Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth at the San Francisco Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY concert on July 18th at Davies Symphony Hall.

Lots going on. See you out there!

Water & Bodies – Something I Can Grasp

Azure Ray – If You Fail

Blonde Redhead – 23

Foreign Born – Early Warnings

Tags: Amanda Palmer, Ann Magnuson, Azure Ray, Clara Gustavson, Coldplay, Curly Lou, Dead Meadow, Evangelista, Gifts From Enola, Glaciers, Ink Blots, Jessie Evans, Juan Son, Judgement Day, Loco Bloco, Lucero, Moe!, Mranda Lee Richards, Nacotheque, Poor Man's Whiskey, Pop Noir, San Francisco Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY, Shogun Kuntoki, Staiano Trio, The Crucible's Fire Arts Festival, the Extra Action Marching Band, The Mission Creek Music Festival, Tortoise, Water & Bodies, Weasle Walter, William Winant, Winfred E. Eye, Wolves in the Throne Room, Xoel Lopez
Posted in Concerts, Music, This Week In Bay Area Live Shows | No Comments »

Kata Rokkar’s Mid-Year Review 2009

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

So far this year has been quite musically mindblowing. But wasn’t that kind of expected? With even more anticipated albums, songs, and tours on the horizon, 2009 is shaping up to be one of the better years on the decade.

Top 5 Albums That Met/Surpassed My Expectations

Simplistic and a combination of years of timeless work.

Meticulously crafted and easy to get obsessed with. An instant classic.

Too easy? STFU! This album will forever be an example of when everything we knew about experimental pop changed.

Sunlight and skill in a 12-track album. Way better than expected.

Took some time to love but there is something special going on here that is beyond a simple rock album…

Top 5 Songs That Caught Me Off Guard (in a good way)

Sleepy Sun – White Dove

St. Vincent – Save Me From What I Want

Bat for Lashes – Glass

Mos Def – Auditorium – Mos Def,

Clues – Remember Severed Head

Best Compilation For Anyone With Good Taste

The Grizzly Bear and Feist song alone is worth purchasing this perfectly crafted comp.

Top 5 EPs That Teased Me To The Point Of Joyous Anger

The amount of imagination and playfulness is undeniable. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

They never cease to amaze and pull at the heart strings.

This is the evolution of true rock music in the making. I can’t wait until August 25th for the full product.

Spoon at the their most dramatic and dreamy. An interesting listen.

Is he seriously of this world?

Top 5 Instrumental/Ambient Album That I’ve Been Reading To

This is a monster that has been awakened to destroy your eardrums.

A moving debut masterpiece.

Refusing to be pigeon-holed or classified. Gifts delivers their most personal record yet.

I am so happy this finally got a proper release. An emotionally effusive debut.

Calming and disarming for anyone with a heart.

More Albums That Are Blowing My Mind This Year

Tags: Animal Collective, Bat For Lashes, Bon Iver, Clues, dark was the night, dredg, Gifts From Enola, Goonies Never Say Die, Grizzly Bear, irepress, Jeremy Enigk, jonsi & alex, mew, mewi, mewithoutyou, Mos Def, pan-american, Portugal. The Man, sleepy sun, spoon, St. Vincent, SUNBEARS!, The mary onettes
Posted in Favorites of 2009, Music | No Comments »

Kata Rokkar Presents…Gifts From Enola / Glaciers / Winfred E. Eye

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Gifts From Enola

Sometimes Virginia based instrumental act Gifts From Enola start with a whisper and end with a scream, but on their latest album, ‘From Fathoms’, they begin with a scream and proceed into a symphonic odyssey that Aaron Copland might have composed if he’d played electric guitar. The sophomore effort from this band of epic-style prog-rockers, ‘From Fathoms’ was released on June 9th–and changes all preexisting assumptions of what ‘experimental post rock’ is supposed to sound like. Intense, instrumental music infused with fatalistic affect, this is a requiem for a planet. Expressionist, it recalls a simmering Arctic landscape placid for days, suddenly punctuated by a punishing electrical storm. Playing like a symphony in eight movements, the album is composed entirely of bass, guitar, and drums. A moody but gorgeous album infused with youthful sincerity, it is cinematic in scope with soothing soundscapes of atmospheric, ambient, and shimmering chimes interspersed with crashing interludes of heavy metal-style guitar explosions and drums with intricate time signatures. File under post-rock . . . or modern composition.

Gifts From Enola – Weightless Frame

Gifts From Enola -Benthos

Glaciers

Glaciers is the project of British musician and illustrator Nicolas Burrows, based in Leeds, UK and Montreal, QC. The material was originally initiated to create songs for a 6-track ep, released on Nous Vous Press in 2007. Glaciers is intended to be a collaborative musical outfit, with contributors so far including Mike Payne (Mechanical Owl), William Edmonds (VFT) and Katie Harkin (Sky Larkin). The songs are often based on sketchbook material built up over several months and eventually worked into songs. He is currently already working on his next album with Mike Payne as of May 11th. We look forward to see what arises.

Glaciers - How Long

Winfred E. Eye

Oakland based act Winfred E. Eye’s (which is actually 4 guys) music defies description except to say it is coming from somewhere steeped in early blues with a Neil Young overlay and the feel of country, blues, pop, and folk. Some would point to Tom Waits and others as Winfred E. Eye’s forbearers, but the muse here is genuinely unique and the sounds are those that only budding geniuses could make. Winfred E. Eye’s music features deft, poised guitar playing, vivid lyrical imagery, and melodies that burrow into your brain–as if they’d been there all along.

Winfred E. Eye - Lil Peck

Winfred E. Eye – Two Baby Moths

Tags: bottom of the hill, Gifts From Enola, Glaciers, kata rokkar, Winfred E. Eye
Posted in Concerts, General, Web Site | 2 Comments »

Kuestionnaire: Gifts From Enola

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Harrisonbug, VA’s Gifts from Enola are in a difficult position. They are a post rock instrumental group that needs to set themselves apart from instrumental giants like Explosions in the Sky, Mono, and Mogwai and raising stars like Caspian and God is an Astronaut. The good news: they are doing very well at keeping afloat in a over-saturated genre filled with wannabees and copycats. The very good news: Gifts will be releasing their second full length, From Fathoms on Mylene Sheath Records on June 9th on CD and double LP. Gifts from Enola slowly became a respected member of the instrumental rock movement with their cinematic and mountainous album, Loyal Eyes Betrayed The Mind. An album as epic as it is emotional. Raw in production yet beautiful in execution, the album towers with a genuine emotive power. You can purchase the double LP of Loyal Eyes Betrayed The Mind (recommended) here.

Gifts from Enola will be doing a short 4 date tour in their home state of Virginia before heading to Rubbles in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to open for the always amazing Appleseed Cast.

Guitarist Andrew Barnes was ever so nice to swing by the Kata Rokkar and answer the world famous Kuestionnaire.

1. Of all the bands/artists in your CD/record collection, which one is your most cherished?
My Dad had me grow up on “The Band” (bob dylan’s old backing band), and I’ve realized lately that I’ve been constantly influenced or inspired by their music in some shape or form for all 22 years of my life. So I’d have to say The Band’s 1969 self-titled album.

2. What have you been listening to lately?
Lots of Tortoise, Rob Crow projects, Talk Talk, Botch, Early Day Miners Hieroglyphics and American Football.

3. What’s your favorite local band?
I’d have to say “A Cosmonaut’s Ruin” from Charlottesville, Va.

4. What was the last show you attended?
I saw my friends in Nervous Habits play right down the street in Harrisonburg, Va. Punk rock done right.

5. What was the greatest show you’ve ever been to?
That’s really hard to say. I’ve came out of lots of shows thinking they were the best I’ve seen, but they are all for different reasons. I don’t think I can choose just one.

6. What show are you looking forward to?
We’re playing with our friends in Constants and Caspian in a couple weeks and I’m really excited to see them again. Del The Funky Homosapien is coming close in May…that man puts on a hell of a show. I think Mogwai is touring the states sometime soon. I might have to check that out, I’ve never seen them live. I’m really bad at keeping up with shows in the area.

7. What musician would you like to hang out/work with for a day?
This question would be answered wayyy differently by everyone in the band. I don’t know if I could pick just one. For me; I would love to hang out with Rob Crow. He’s such a strange and unassuming guy that writes some of the simplest and most amazing songs I’ve ever listened to. I’d want to hang out with Dave Knudson so that he can teach me his ridiculous guitar techniques. I feel like Mike Patton or Tom Waits would have some great stories and be really interesting dudes to hang out with too. Like I said though, this would be wayyy different if you asked any of the other guys.

8. What four albums you would bring to a deserted island?
Really hard. I’d probably change my mind about this in 5 minutes.
Tim And Eric- “Awesome Record, Great Songs”
Botch- “We Are The Romans”
Pink Floyd- “Meddle”
Mr. Bungle- “California”

9. Would you call yourself a music geek?
I’d say so. I don’t know what that defines exactly, but I’m constantly searching for new, interesting music to keep my ears and brain content.

10. Any favorite music-related videos/DVDs you own?
Our bass player (and roomate) Nate has the “Refused are Fucking Dead” DVD that documents the career of Refused. That one is put together amazingly. Botch’s “061502″ is a great raw dvd of their final show. And of course, Sigur Ros’s “Heima” is pretty breathtaking.

11. What’s the last book you read?
The last book I read was “The Plot Against America” by Philip Roth. Right now, I’m in the middle of “Cracking India” by Bapsi Sidhwa.

12. Do you prefer live performances or recording in the studio?
They are two totally different worlds for us. The amount of fun and instant gratification of playing a live show is irreplaceable by any other kind of musical experience. On the other hand, having a record in your hands of something you put months or years into and feel proud of, is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

13. Any embarrassing moments on stage you’d like to share?
The first that comes to mind is a show we played about 2 years ago. I think it was maybe like the 9th or 10th show we had ever played. Nate, CJ, and I all live in Harrisonburg, Va and our show was about an hour and a half away. We packed up our gear and drove to the venue. We get there and CJ realized he forgot his guitar. This usually wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but he’s left-handed and there weren’t any lefties there that night. So, we tried to play the show as a three piece doing terrible improv versions of our songs as CJ scrambled to string a guitar backwards on the side of the stage, which ended with no luck. A lot of my friends were there to see us for the first time and their reactions were priceless. “Umm……that was….um….unique?”

14. Any favorite tour locations?
Boston, LA and Austin have all been incredible for us. There are so many other great towns we’ve played in too. All of the shows get better and better each time we go out on tour, so the list of favorite places quickly gets larger. I’m really excited to play in Montreal this summer.

15. Lastly, what have you done today?
It was just a boring ‘ol collegiate day. Went to class. Had a midterm. Had to give a presentation. Had a cold. Decided against going to a show right down the street because it’s like 9 degrees outside. Looked at the pile of clothes on my floor. Decided against doing laundry. Took a bunch of mushrooms and made snow angels on the top of city hall. Normal day.
I wish I answered this on a weekend, the stories would be wayyy better.

Gifts From Enola – Early Morning Ambulance

Gifts From Enola – Screaming at Anything That Moved

A Cosmonaut’s Ruin – Sanctum

Tags: A Cosmonaut's Ruin, From Fathoms, Gifts From Enola, Loyal Eyes Betrayed The Mind
Posted in Kuestionnaires, Music | 1 Comment »