I’ve seen a lot of people do a lot of things with a lot of musical instruments over the years, but I don’t think I’d ever seen an improvising, live-looping percussionist before Mitchell Beck and I shared a Bushwick Book Club bill a while back. (I think it was on the works of Margaret Wise Brown.) What he does with a vibraphone and various other percussive elements, along with looping and other effects pedals, is truly a wonder to behold.
Though I recommend seeing it in person whenever you can, “Cryosphere” is a fantastic recorded example of Mitchell’s work in this vein. Here, the “other percussive element” in question is a ceramic flower pot (bonus points if you can identify which of these sounds is the flower pot), but the vibraphone takes center stage, blasting out of the gate with a propulsive 5/8 phrase, which is developed, layered, fleshed out, and then completely dissected and distorted over the course of five minutes. Even by the end, as everything freezes up and slow down, you can still perceive traces of the original starting point through the layers of icy distortion, calling out to you – either for rescue, or to join them in the blissful oblivion of the cryosphere.
Local celebrity Skerik is known for his larger than life stage persona, his preternaturally rhythmic saxophone soloing, and for bringing the genre-defying instrument firmly into the punk rock aesthetic. In this brief track, entitled “Brad Houser,” Skerik explores ambient textural loops created by a heavily affected tenor saxophone as a backdrop for powerful, ascending saxophone wails. These wails develop into a short technical interjection that melts into nothingness only two and a half minutes in. To me, the wooziness and fever dream quality of the track evoke images of a spectral soul traversing the ether of the afterlife, and the brevity recalls those travels being cut too short. I’m not sure what Skerik believes in, but I choose to believe this is a gorgeous, improvised tribute to Brad.
Brad Houser, bassist, baritone saxophonist, and bass clarinetist, who along with Skerik, Matt Chamberlain, and Mike Dillon founded the iconic band Critters Buggin’, passed away in 2023. We should all aspire to live creatively and with such conviction: in a way that inspires beautiful music like this.
Welcome to Ball of Wax Volume 71: LOOPS! This collection of improvised music created with the help of looping pedals was curated by Leanna Keith and Kate Olson, and honestly it came together better than I ever could have imagined. One thing I hadn’t considered – though perhaps I should have, given Kate and Leanna’s instruments – was how wind-instrument-forward this collection would be, and how few guitars would be involved! As a guitar player myself (whose first instrument was saxophone), I kind of love it.
Trombonist Naomi Moon Siegel, with guest saxophonist Erica Von Kleist, gives us the perfect opening statement for this beautifully wind-powered collection. We start off with a minimalist groove laid down and built up by Naomi, with layers of trombone, drum sounds, and keys. A mellow sax then comes in over it, and before we know what’s happening the groove has momentarily disappeared, and we’re floating out over the open range, buoyed by layers of lush wind instruments. When the groove comes back, Erica solos alongside it, also in layers, beautiful and exploratory but always allowing room for us to hear and feel everything else going on in the music. We close with another trip up into the atmosphere, before being laid down gently in the middle of a babbling brook (or perhaps a stammering stream? a rambling rivulet? I digress).
“A Simpler Life” is a beautiful example of what can be done with just a musician or two, the time to create, and an instrument and some fun pedals to do it with. And we’re only getting started.
Wednesday, June 25 Vermillion, 1508 15th Ave
7pm doors/7:30pm start
Suggested donation $10-$20, no one turned away for lack of funds Ball of Wax 71 CD/download included with entry
Hello there! It’s been a while, but at least we have a new volume of Ball of Wax Audio “Quarterly” for your enjoyment! This collection of improvised, loop-based music was curated by Leanna Keith and Kate Olson, and it’s well worth the wait.
Join us on June 25th for an evening of music created on the spot with help from various looping pedals. We’ll be celebrating this collection and marking 20 YEARS OF BALL OF WAX!!! Please come, listen, enjoy, and give us a big ol’ 20 years high five, wontcha?
If you can’t make it, pre-order your copy right now! Stay tuned here on the Blog of Wax, as we’ll be rolling out track reviews between now and the 25th.
I don’t know how to properly and thoughtfully approach a project that is heavily informed by—nay, founded upon—life experiences that are so different from my own as to be almost alien to me. As it turns out, this idea is actually sort of the point of Death Spa’s new album, Ewwwphoria. Knowing as I do the tiniest bit of background about Death Spa, it is the primary music project of Mia-Rose Malone, a trans woman based in the Pacific Northwest. Is this information relevant to the songs on Ewwwphoria? Absolutely, and the glorious cacophony is even better for it.
I’m writing this post at a scary time for LGBTQ+ people in America and all over the world. I can’t speak for them, but I can speak as someone who’s lucky enough to have queer and trans family and friends who I care about deeply. This blog post is part of an action proposed by Julia Serano to stand in solidarity with LGBTQ+ people and to let our elected officials know we will not allow them to abandon our loved ones in hopes of political gain (which I believe to be deeply misguided anyway).
So, a political call to action: CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS AND THE SENATE. Call them right now. Put their numbers in your phone. Call them weekly or daily if you can. Even if you know they don’t agree with you, or know they do, they need to hear from you. I recommend – following Julia’s lead – letting them know: “1) you will not tolerate any backpedaling on LGBTQ+ rights whatsoever, and 2) if they fail to strongly stand up against these attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, then you will take your vote elsewhere next election.”
(If you have Republicans representing you, there’s language you can use around personal liberties, nanny state intrusion, even parents’ rights. You don’t have to tell them who you voted for or your own political leanings.)
But also, this is a music blog, so let’s dig into some fantastic – and fantastically queer – music to meet this moment.
First, of course, is the brilliant Ball of Wax 70, curated by my friend and bandmate Mia-Rose Malone. It’s all brilliant, all from trans and nonbinary artists in Washington, and all proceeds go to Rainbow Railroad, an org helping get LGBTQ+ people to safety around the world.
Mia’s band – with me on bass and Jonathan Rodriguez on drums – is called Death Spa. We just finished our album, and are very excited to share it with you. You can hear a single with early mixes of a couple songs here:
I discovered a bunch of brilliant bands and artists through Ball of Wax 70, but one that has become a mainstay is Seaside Tryst. Their album Different Places is great for roller skating, cooking dinner, and driving, among other activities.
Lys Guillorn, an old friend and Ball of Wax semi-regular, has recently remastered and re-released Wayward Children, a collection of “One-offs, comp tracks, and frighteningly loose teeth” that is well worth your time. I’ve been a fan of Lys’s since we first played a show together at Mr. Spot’s Chai House about twenty years ago, and it’s great to see they’re still going strong.
You probably don’t need me to tell you about this one, but let me join the chorus celebrating the new Black Ends album, Psychotic Spew. Holy crap what a ride:
I could go on, and on, and on, and on (have you ever noticed LGBTQ+ folks are, by and large, an astoundingly creative and inventive bunch?), but I’ll leave you with one of my kid’s current favorite tunes (or, at least,current favorite non-Taylor Swift tune), from the artist Corook, who has a new album coming out soon and will probably be coming to your town soon. Check ’em out!
How lucky are we Of all the fish in the sea
You get to be you
And I get to be me
Thanks for reading, and for listening. Please take care of yourselves and each other.
Atrocity Girl‘s “Ego Fix” is a powerful call to arms against patriarchy, focusing on the rampant misogyny in media by alternating each verse with samples of various right wing blowhard spouting anti-feminist and anti-woman nonsense. As hard as it is to hear these hateful, moronic soundbites in the context of the song, I can only imagine the soul-crushing labor of clicking through hours of idiots on YouTube to find just the “right” clips.
Countering all this is the song itself, a heavy, yet uplifting slab of post-grunge featuring Johnny-Angel’s impassioned and ferocious voice. Her words and delivery pull you right into the struggle with every phrase, ending each chorus with a scream that reaches right into your chest and grabs your heart. The band is right there with her every step of the way, meeting each moment with the righteous fury it deserves.
Gemini Affinity, an elusive project with minimal online presence, bring a
mysterious air of mid-tempo guitar sophistication with “Dig in Deeper.” The song seems to float like smoke, with a clean electric guitar sitting atop the dreamy vocals for most of the song. While the lyrics are tough to make out with the way the vocals are mixed, the song has a decidedly witchy feel, though in a white magick, “let’s camp on the beach” kind of way. It’s a well-produced, well-played track with a groovy little bass and synth breakdown a little after the mid-point that adds some nice dynamic variety. It definitely leaves me wanting more, so let’s hope there more on the horizon from this band.
Give Seattle’s Gender Envy any and all awards for best song title with “Mads Mikkelsen,” which I hope is just the start of a deluge of multidisciplinary tributes to the iconic Danish actor, former gymnast, and dancer (that’s right, you read the last two parts correctly – now pick yourself up off the floor). Like its title subject, the song is steeped in a sort of dark classicism, with its ominous guitar vamp and goth torch singing. Gender Envy seems to be exploring high period Hole with a dusting of Bauhaus, an unabashed return to devil-horns and smeared eye-liner RAWK that feels novel nowadays. Tons of young bands are working through the Pavement and Breeders catalogs, not so many Love-era Cult and, frankly, I’m here for it. If you walk into a club and hear a song that sounds like “Mads Mikkelsen,” be prepared for bathrooms painted top-to-bottom jet black and at least one bartender with a backstory best unexplored.
Kitty Junk is yet another duo that refuses to let their small numbers limit the heaviness and power of their music. Ryan manages to deliver the depth and breadth of two guitars and bass (even live, as I have witnessed), and Angela seemingly thrashes the drum kit to within an inch of its life in support of every last riff. Ryan’s vocal range is another highlight here; she growls and screams her way through this blistering anthem, achieving junk punk perfection without seeming like she’s even trying – which is, of course, the hardest part.
Kitty Junk’s fearless devotion to self-expression, empowerment, and spectacle is both something to admire and something to rock the fuck out to. Do yourself a favor and catch them live before the venues they’re playing catch up to the size of their sound.
Ball of Wax 71: LOOPS!
