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Great American Music Hall March 26, 2001 OOIOO is the newest project from our Sweetheart of Japanese Noise, Yoshimi. The diminutive drummer from the Boredoms has been working in this all-female quartet for a bit now, possibly as a holdover of her days in Free Kitten. OOIOO put Yoshimi at the front of the stage as singer, guitarist, and trumpeter (!), and it satisfied the curiousity of fans like Squid who always wondered about her other talents. The tunes were uniformly freejazz with assorted artrock touches. The highlight of the show was watching Yoshimi flex her insanely powerful vocal muscle in a different way than she has previously. She whispered, sang, yelped and panted all in perfect counterpoint to what was going on around her without ever losing control. It was a more subtle, complex approach than the bloodcurdling shrieks that were her trademark and pretty interesting to listen to. Subarachnoid Space serve up a healthy mix of prog rock and pedal tweakings with their all out instrumentals. While we weren't sure about their pairing with OOIOO, (the first time we saw them was opening up for Acid Mother Temple, which was perfect), it was great to see them reaching a larger audience. They normally remind us of all the best that drone has to offer, (a little Flying Saucer Attack, etc.) but on this particular evening...they ended with a song that sounded exactly like...well, Squid decided not to say anything to Daz immediately, for fear of sounding stupid. So she went up to the merch table to think it over. A girl came and stood next to her, surveying the cds for sale. She looked at Squid. "Do you know anything about the band that was just on? Or which of these cds has the last song that they played? Coz they sounded exactly like God..." "SPEED You Black Emperor!", finished Squid triumphantly. A-ha. She wasn't crazy. Just keep in mind that the song, as great as it is, is the exception to the SS's psychedelic rule. For improvisational freak outs, Subarachnoid Space is the place. Double U are a local quartet with three musicians who manage to swap instruments after almost every song without forgetting what they're doing. Their lead guitarist sings using a hybrid of a whisper and a grunt, and it almost sounds like it belongs in something by the Ruins. Double U's songs sound like a klezmer-esque take on the work of bands like the Ambitious Lovers and Thinking Fellers Local 282. Check them out for some syncopated, freeform fun. ©2001 playinginfog.com |