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Monday, April 18, 2011

Tonight! Tonight in Music: Rabbits, Maserati, John Vanderslice, and more

Posted by Colleen Smyth on Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 3:53 PM


RABBITS, GONE TO CROATOAN, DJ NATE C

(East End, 203 SE Grand) Portland trio Rabbits' debut full-length Lower Forms is a thing of cracked-out, violent beauty: earthquake-heavy brontosaurus rock with fierce riffs and crustpunk roars. As good as the record is, Rabbits are even better live, so prepare to have your ears blasted off the side of your head. Bonus: Ladies get in free! NED LANNAMANN


MASERATI, WE'RE FROM JAPAN, VANIMAL

(Mississippi Studios) Losing a drummer of Jerry Fuchs' magnitude—he died in a tragic elevator accident in 2009—would cripple a lot of bands. Athens, Georgia's Maserati, though, have bounced back from that awful setback with 2010's Pyramid of the Sun (which contains some of Fuchs' last musical contributions). The album further strengthens Maserati's status as an instrumental group of exceptional cinematic grandeur, atmospheric creepitude, and rhythmic vigor. Their sound's blossomed into a panoramic extension of Goblin's vibrantly morbid disco, Neu!'s motorik fever dreams, and the heroic prog pyrotechnics of Zombi, whose bassist/keyboardist, Steve Moore, plays on two tracks here. (That group's drummer, A.E. Paterra, joins Maserati on this tour.) Maserati, aptly enough, make you want to get in one and speed down highways for hours (sorry, environment!). DAVE SEGAL Also see My, What a Busy Week!


JOHN VANDERSLICE, IVAN AND ALYOSHA

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) The new record from Bay Area songwriter John Vanderslice was recorded in a mere three days—live, with a 19-piece orchestra to boot. This is an about-face for Vanderslice, a compulsive craftsman whose career thus far has been an enjoyable series of excursions down the layered and overdubbed rabbit holes he's carefully concocted in the studio. But White Wilderness—a collaboration with the Magik*Magik Orchestra, arranged and conducted by Minna Choi, who also provides backing vocals—is a buoyant listen, full of involving textures and a striking musical palette. Choi and the Magik*Magik Orchestra won't be present at tonight's show (a full-fledged orchestra show is scheduled for San Francisco in June); instead, Vanderslice will front a trio that will reinterpret some of the White Wilderness tunes plus cuts from Vanderslice's impressive back catalog. NL


MOVITS!, ALICIA MCDAID, JESSE MALMED, SARAH JOHNSON

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Movits! pretty much have the Swedish swing/hiphop niche all to themselves. Yes, they make novelty music, which is notorious for its frightfully brief shelf life, but while it's fresh, it packs a serious punch (line)—Stephen Colbert's a fan, too. As gimmicks go, Movits!'s is ingenious: Three Scandinavian dudes in somber black suits, bowties, and Malcolm X specs blending '30s jazz with banging, bulbous beats and Norse rapping is an idea whose time has come. Sure, it will go sooner rather than later, but in the meantime revel in Movits!'s charmingly clunky and jaunty hybrid. You're gonna laugh long and hard about it in 2013. DS

A complete listing of this week's shows can be viewed here.

 

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