Hausu is a band from the Pacific Northwest that is currently on tour throughout the West Coast. Their song “Makiadi” features a cool blend of sinister, swallowed baritone and shimmery, early-REM style arpeggiated guitars. They remind me a bit of Orange Juice. You can download a couple of other songs by them over at their website.
Here’s their week of California shows, beginning tomorrow in Davis:
- July 14th – Davis, CA at Davis Bike Collective w/ Psychic Feline & Loftons
- July 15th – Stockton, CA at Empresso Coffeehouse w/ Surf Club, Loftons, Fine Steps and Monster Treasure
- July 16th – Oakland, CA at Mama Buzz w/ Twin Steps
- July 17th – LA, CA at Lot 1 Cafe w/ Yohuna, Cobalt Cranes & Sunken Ships
- July 18th – Van Nuys, CA at Take Off! w/ Tan Dollar, Sea Lions & Sweater Girls
- July 19th – Whittier, CA at Half Off Books w/ No Paws (No Lions), Summer Twins & Dirt Dress
I asked the band to share a few things that inspired them and got some pretty interesting responses. Click the link to see.
Group Bombino live at the Agadez central mosque
Ben…
“In high school I spent a lot of time cruising the Internet looking for new and interesting music. I ended up falling in love with sub-Saharan African guitar pop, mainly highlife from Ghana and rumba from Congo. This led me north to the desert guitar styles of Nigerien and Malian Tuareg musicians such as Bombino and Group Inerane.
The Tuareg ethnic group is battling the governments of Mali and Niger for autonomy, and they use music to spread revolutionary messages across the region, which is nearly impossible to traverse because of its poor highway system and heavy government road blocking. In this video, we are witness to Bombino’s first legal concert in his home city of Agadez, Niger, in front of the central mosque. You can see how much respect he holds and really feel the excitement at getting to see such a dynamic performer. It really gives me chills.”
Interview with Akiane Kramarik, age 12
Ben…
“I chose this video not only for the sheer insanity of the subject, but also for the synchronous approach undertaken by Akiane to create art and self-expression. Her faith is spontaneous. Raised atheist, she began having visions from God and now uses painting as a means for expressing the ‘impossible’ beauty of heaven, which I take to represent her faith as a whole.
For me, I approach the writing of songs using guitar pieces and represent a specific inexpressible feeling; I try to draw from specific moments where I feel unprecedentedly alive and, without words to describe those feelings, work the song around them. I feel inspired by Akiane because she is attempting to achieve (and succeeding far more than I) a similar goal with her art. I think her paintings are atrociously tacky, but the purpose and feeling resonate with me.”
Yellow Tears
Santi…
“Yellow Tears is a performance group that I had the opportunity to see in Austin, Texas during SXSW this year. Their creative product is something that draws many parallels to the style, imagery, and conceptual framework of the “Monster Roster” of Chicago. One of the most engaging groups of artists for me, the Monster Roster was a group of figurative painters active during the mid 20th century in Chicago. Many of them served in the Second World War, and, as a result of their experiences with atrocities, created products that were grotesque, surreal, and unnerving.
Very few artists seem to truly harness the energy of the abyss that we might associate with death, psychosis, sexual perversion, and the animalistic aspects of our humanity. I respect those who can use this, since there is nothing more powerful than reaching the brink of your own sanity, feeling the void begin to give way underneath you, remaining calm and conscious of the fact that you are looking at the worst of yourself and of those around you. Yellow Tears is fucking disgusting… I am invariably influenced by the utterly horrid nature of their work, not really on a surface level, but their process of artistic creation evokes crying, puking, cutting, masturbating, hurting and then emerging more enlightened. Artistic creation is not a habit or a hobby, it is a continual process that is neurotic, depressing, full of doubt, erotic in an odd way but ultimately productive in some way.”
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult – The Devil Does Drugs
Santi…
“This band is super goofy and I love it because the seriousness of their music only arises from their over-the-top imagery and performance methods. Much like the Yellow Tears video, the TKK’s music is saturated, colorful, deep, and full of little bits and pieces of media that has been overlooked or banished. Their music is not truly special in itself because of the sequence and structure of the chords, riffs, and rhythms present in each of the songs, but rather because the sonic structure, lyrical content, and imagery are seamless, almost possessing a synesthetic quality. Taking influence from B-Movies, Electronic music, pulp fiction, heavy rock, and goth they create a hybrid of these separate disciplines and media that is no less than the sum of it’s parts. My interest in the TKK is rooted in the observation that they seem to execute (very well, it seems) a hybrid musical style where the intentionality of the art does not rest solely in the musical structure of the performance.”
Built to Spill: Live on Reverb (1999)
Alex…
“With so many new bands and mp3s flooding the Internet, I usually find it pretty hard to keep up with much of the new music. So, most of the time I’m content with the older “classics.” This Built to Spill video captures everything that is slightly cheesy and enjoyable about the guitar bands of the 90s. There are shredding solos and sappy, clean arpeggios. Sometimes it feels that the aesthetic of bands has become more important than solid, unique songs put together on a cohesive album. In this live video, Built to Spill display what is inspiring about musical performance. They wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to their music and do not follow aesthetic trends, which is something that is becoming increasingly rare in popular music.”
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