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Bottom of the Hill November 1, 2000 Review by Squid Daz has long been a fan of the prog/psych goodness of Ghost, Japan's contribution to the Terrastock crowd. She is also a fan of Galaxie 500, and consequently of Damon & Naomi. So what could possibly be wrong with a bill that promised a collaboration of the two? Well...what we ended up seeing wasn't really a collaboration by any stretch of definition. It should have been billed, "Damon and Naomi Backed By Ghost", or "Japanese band who flew a great distance to stand behind the people they were allegedly sharing the bill with". To be fair, perhaps it was the preference of the members of Ghost themselves, but they didn't step into to the limelight for a second, and one couldn't help but wonder what we missed out on. Although it was too folky for Squid's taste, she enjoyed the chance to watch the prog-rock kids pull out instruments last seen in Jimmy Page's dungeon. (Was that a zither, dude?) In fact, truth be told, Squid prolly would not have been down for this show, had it not been for the inclusion of Spanish chanteuse Ana D. We saw Ana with Ibon Errazkin of Le Mans last year at the Make-Out Room with nothing but a DAT and sporadic backing guitar. Her album, Satellite 99, (partially produced by Errazkin) is totally electronic, and it took a great deal of chutzpah to show up in a country where you don't even speak the language and perform your songs in a totally stripped down fashion. We have heard many singers, but it's rare that we see people who are also performers. Ana sings with a calm that evokes (obviously) the best that bossa nova singers have to offer: a quiet, full-throated attack on even the most caustic of lyrics. It's a fantastic counterpoint most evident in Squid's favorite song, *Carnival*, in which she sings, "la felicidad mentira", or, "happiness lies". Ain't it the truth. Grab some Ghost at Aquarius Records Ana D. is distributed domestically by Grimsey |