Pharmakon and the culmination of Contact: The Elbo 7/13 with Chasms and V.E.X.

    Shrieks, shrills and trills done vocally and synth-etically inspire a quixotic nausea of the existential kind in the ten year concept that is Pharmakon. Creating this music installation from NYC, Margaret Chardiet’s solo project has released the output titled “Contact” in which she examines “what it takes to be human” in dabbling with trance states and primal vibrations. In her words she explains “Despite all our rambling rejections, we cannot transcend all of our instincts-just animals lost in a confused dream…”.

     One of her fans on Bandcamp.com describes it as “This album sounds exactly as (the cover art) looks like. It makes you feel disgusting. It’s very, very good”. Taking a look at the album cover photo of pink, grubby, slimy fingers, mushing hair and the glistening flesh of a face is a reminder that we are all existing inside a sack of meat, a sort of biological nihilism. Yet, if we accept “this tiny sliver of time it opens us to revel in it, to make CONTACT”. On first listen, I felt ill. I turned the song "Nakedness of Need" off, only to be left with a sense of intrigue. 

     If you are in the mood for the intensity of say, Swans in their Filth-era paired with the dark unpredictability that Nurse with Wound has mastered with bleak relentless synth incisions and human cries from the depths of uncomfortable darkness this is for you.  I would recommend coming to indulge in this show if you want to  trudge in the fear and the glimmer of the human experience.  It might make you sick in a way, but doesn’t life? In the word’s of Chardiet,  “When the mind uses the body in order to transcend- escape it!” 

Also the Chasms duo visits their home town of SF after a move to LA to perform their heroine-gaze-y collaboration as well as Oakland’s own masked demons of light V.E.X., doing their dual synth queer-core weirdness that hopefully involves some improv sax.

Be there and be moved…. 

Group Rhoda// Cost/Worth// Terror Apart// Ssleeping DesiresS--3/14 at the Elbo Room

Written by John Graham

This week brings a three-city showcase of sonic oddities to the Elbo Room on Tuesday, March 14, with two Bay Area bands bookending a pair of Portland acts. Representing SF (though originally from PDX) is Ssleeping DesiresS, the extra sibiliance in whose name gives a clue to the serpentine nature of their post-punk songwriting, with Gabriel Ramos' baritone moans slithering between retro drum machine beats, gothy guitars, and synthesizers that mix equal parts Soft Kill and Soft Moon with a dollop of Drab Majesty. Terror Apart is the solo act of Portland's Anna Leja, whose mesmerizing minimal synth treatments are punctuated by sharp percussive thumps and ghostly vocals. Cost/Worth — a collaboration of Portland projects Cost and Tetrad Veil — plumb the night's deepest abysses with their explorations of cavernous dirges, ominous drones, and dark ambient/industrial noise; if you've got a murderous itch, this should satisfy your cravings for Lustmord. And finally there's Group Rhoda (a.k.a. Oakland's Mara Barenbaum), who lightens up the proceedings with electronics that are tropical and trippy — albeit more bouncy than brooding — with Barenbaum's vocals giving the whole affair the heady feel of Chris & Cosey's Techno Primitiv entrancements.

https://ssleepingdesiress.bandcamp.com

https://terrorapart.bandcamp.com

https://soundcloud.com/cost-worth

https://soundcloud.com/group_rhoda

V.E.X// Night Work// Stacian// The Creatrix upcoming SF show!

For those living in S.F. who cringe at the thought of trying to make the last BART at midnight, here is a night when Oakland comes to you. On Tuesday, February 21, the Elbo Room features an "evening of avant-garde industrial, space synth, and minimalistic cold wave" among other "delights" featuring V.E.X., Night Work, Stacian, and The Creatrix, with DJ sets by Nihar Bhatt (Left Hand Path/Surface Tension) and Demian Glas (Milwaukee).

V.E.X is a meritage blend of no-wave, queercore, and slime punk (you may have heard of their previous, more rock-focused band Moira Scar). Roxy Monoxide and LuLu GammaRay play dual synths, both do vocals, and they sometimes even add sax for an improv jazz element. They came out with two albums last year, Codex Hex ( Cool World/ Fantasy 1 Records)  and Insectsex (the latter on Oakland's own Ratskin Records), and are currently working on new material. Lyrically focused on pro-community, anti-fascist, and anti-racist messages, they take another step in removing any ego-driven barriers by performing in bizarre and bejeweled masks made by LuLu. V.E.X. will steal your little mutant heart. 

Night Work is an experimental industrial pair formed by Henry Larsen (vocals) and Jamile Jackson (drum machine/noise). In their live show, they might make you feel uncomfortable at times, but that's the point. Slamming drum machine work, jarring beats, and vocals that blend screaming and spoken monologues create a performance that is captivating and unnerving — think of splicing Swans' Filth with a Boyd Rice album. "Night Work is a reaction to the evils of our society," explains Henry Larsen. "It is a survival mechanism for our spirit amongst the cancer of capitalism." You won't want to look away. 

With two analog keyboards, a sequencer, and a drum machine, Milwaukee-born solo act Stacian fuses minimal/cold wave sounds with darkwave female vocals spiked with nostalgic moments of '90s techno. Inspired by Kraftwerk and Doris Norton, what you get is moody, haunting club bangers to sway and dance to. Also make sure to check out her most recent album, the ambient collection Drones for Everyday Use. Swoon!

More approachable in delivery, The Creatrix is all electronic melodies and cosmic-wave/techno meditations, sonically plush yet cool in tone, and erring on the side of hypnotically upbeat grooves. No vocals here, but who needs that when you're going down the rabbit hole of rave cave soundscapes? "Breach in the Hulll" is a fine example of this mind/body journey. 

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/244398036010417

V.E.X.: https://xanaxax.bandcamp.com

Night Work: https://soundcloud.com/nightwork_inc 

Stacian: https://stacian.bandcamp.com

The Creatrix: https://soundcloud.com/fanciullagentile

Chasms /// Pale Dian at the Elbo Room 6/13

              There were two acts at the Elbo room show Monday night and it was a well thought out pairing. Kerri Lebon (Discipline) was spinning dark acid techno in between Pale Dian of Austin, TX and our treasured local symbiosis, Chasms.  The streets were unoccupied in SF’s mission district as the night seemed very dark with this persistent, icy wind. However, this weather just spurred more intrigue. There were only a handful of people that showed but the ones who did were dedicated supporters of both acts. Everyone who couldn't go missed out on what seems like the viewing of some clandestine gems.

           Pale Dian was here showcasing their first album- “Narrow Birth” that was just released a mere two weeks ago, with a successful release party in LA the night before. The dream gaze trio Ruth Ellen on vox/synth, Derek Kutter on guitar and Nick Volpe on the bass.  They opened the night up with the glimmery and ethereal slow instrumentation of  “The Avenue” and they immediately drew you in by your heart strings. They moved onto many depths and terrains.  “Evan Evan” is a perfect example of that, graduating to more intensity- back lit with a swarm of buzzing hums, painted by melodic, fluid guitar swaths and well crafted bass cameos.  “Diana” showcases Ruth Ellen’s angelic range and Volpe’s memorable bass lines that ring true to beloved BBC sessions of the post-punk era. I got the shivers listening to this track. “Truth or Consequences” takes you down a road, possibly leading you to a scene from “Mulholland Dr.”  Kutter agrees as he is often inspired by Lynch's "Twin Peaks" series. "I'm just here to add texture, not to be the 'stand out' part" he explains on his role with the guitar.  Their set finished with their first single, “In a Day”, which will make you feel like you're in a summer afternoon under a cold pale sun.

photo courtesy of Geoff Smith

                                                                                                                        
                  Kerri LeBon came back in between sets to fill the sonic space with more alien dance beats.  Jess Labrador on vox/guitar and Sky on bass are the SF gloom gaze pair Chasms. Newly signed to Felte records, they will be delivering us with all new material, tours and a video by Kristin Cofer coming this fall. Framed with the two golden dragons that live on the Elbo Room’s stage, they started up with the low tempo mode of “More Love to be Found’. Shrouding the stage in a veil of fog and illuminated by a yellow globe light in the between them, they wandered through their paths. We encountered more subtle intensities with “Beyond Flesh” and “Black Ice”, also peppered with minimal drum machine. Sky coincides with Labrador using bold open notes creating depth to Labrador’s whispering vocal style and noisy distortion guitar themes. Their energy crescendoed into a meddling of manipulated reverbed bass while Labrador went off in a gritty and emotionally felt solo with “Come to Harm”, crushing the night. It’s for those who are drawn to the noise/shoe-gaze/drone genre but maybe would like a more feminine quality to it.  It isn't as focused on devoted melodic concepts but it’s not all out experimental.  When you're in the mood to get into that cavernous realm, you do this. You go here. You go into Chasms. (PS- if you are in LA June 26 you can see them with Oil Thief at Non Plus Ultra)

     “It will be sad to leave the west coast. It’s always the best” Kutter, said smiling upon his departure as he thought about the twenty plus shows left in their tour. It was a very special Monday night, indeed. Bon Voyage, PD! and looking forward to new that new Chasms album! 

                                                                                                                                        Chasms set 6/13

Check out Chasms music! http://chasmssf.bandcamp.com

Check out Pale Dian! http://paledian.bandcamp.com/album/narrow-birth-2

——You will never run out of the Strange and Delicious——