Saturday, November 8, 2008

Sunburned Hand of the Man and Gang Gang Dance in Denver


No, not together, nothing in Colorado could be that rational. Sunburned Hand of the Man was scheduled to make their first Colorado appearance at Hi-Dive Nov. 7, and I absolutely had to put highest priority on that. This is the first effort at touring since band member Adam Nodelman died. My only regret in capturing a few short clips (drum destruction above, along with this, this, this, this, and this) is that the lovely and talented Sarah O'Shea, playing electronics on an ironing board, is barely visible. Learned after I had gotten the ticket that Gang Gang Dance was making a return appearance at Larimer Lounge the same night. When the Sunburned show ended at 12:30, I raced over to Larimer and caught the last 30 minutes of Liz and the drum gods, including the clip of "House Jam" below.

What suddenly struck me last night is how much women have taken a crucial role in the experimental noise scene of late. A year ago, Craig M. got me the 4-CD Women Take Back the Noise collection, and since then I've watched women form their own collectives, like Leslie Keffer and Valerie Martino in Nashville, while women have taken lead roles in previously all-male avant-garde collectives: Bridget Hayden in Vibracathedral Orchestra and Telescopes, Inca Ore/Eva Saelens in Jackie-O Motherfucker, Michio in No-Neck Blues Band, and Sarah O'Shea in Sunburned. Personally, it seems that women are more innovative and precise in using noise than all those dorky men. I'm just glad the Tom Greenwoods and Dave Nusses of the world are willing to step into the background a bit, as women take back the noise.

4 comments:

Sharon said...

FROM LARRY:

Is this a reaction to the evangelicals in Colorado Springs? Sounds like noise to me. Actually I like Sunburned Hand of Man (4) in the this, this, this, list. Also enjoyed the House of Jam clip. They were all better than the "Head Bashing Monks" group! Keep up the good work of enlightening us Wyomingites.

Loring Wirbel said...

Actually, all of these are out-of-towners, but Colorado Springs was the original home of one of the first great 1990s improvisational-noise bands, Blowhole. The members departed for two different destinations, Tucson and Seattle, around 1997 or so, and the band just dissipated away. But if you can find any of the ten or so Blowhole albums from the 1990s, they go for a fortune on eBay. They did a wonderful interpretation of Coltrane called "A Love Extreme."

John G said...

I'm REALLY looking forward to finally seeing Bardo Pond next week.

Loring Wirbel said...

Bardo Pond! They're still touring? Are they playing Baltimore or DC? I haven't seen them since some show with Fursaxa at 15th St., must have been around 2000 or so. Let me know how they were!