niknak and i always kid around in the radio station, running our show battle-style (we alternate our choices for aired tracks) and finding some witty comment to one-up each other's music. the divide has gotten a little more pronounced recently, as he's been getting a little off the electronic vein and into more post-rock, and i've veered into the lounge + downtempo genre. check out the playlists and see + listen for yourself. to illustrate, on last week's show, fifths of seven ("somewhere between Erik Satie, folkloric Eastern European music and, of course, the Constellation 'post-rock' galaxy") snuggled closely to tosca ("The world of tosca is always connected to the city Vienna, sounds seen through a rain-drenched cab windscreen, a low world full of bluesy gentleness").

do you think our listeners noticed? :)

anyway, last night we went to the zeitgeist gallery in inman square (yay, my soon-to-be-in-the-near-future digs!) to see the montreal peeps perform! you know, the infinitely reinventing groups of godspeed you!black emperor, esmerine, triple burner, fifths of seven, harry newman, etc. it was my first time in the space, and not only was it a cozy little room of artsy comfort, we sat in the front row, not 3 feet from bruce cawdron and beckie foon. they all looked really laid back, in casual tshirts and pants that looked half-skater and half-hiker (in a good way). probably the canadian way. :)

it was an amazing evening on many fronts. probably the most impressive thing was the playing of a glockenspiel with doublebass bows. yep. you thought they were percussive instruments... ha! the sound was resonant with an ethereal purity, the movement akin to pulling threads of sugar or stroking the back of a horizontal tiger. unbelievable. they also pulled bows on a marimba, although the effect wasn't as dramatic on such a low resonance.

also, beckie really rocked out on the cello. harmonics, slapping, and pedal points galore. wouldn't it be awesome to jam with them on something like dvorak's american quartet? get ready to bust out the amp and crank it to 11...

next week bodes a conundrum on monday: brazilian girls at the paradise or keith fullerton whitman at zuzu? i believe we'll hit zuzu (i love both the artist and the venue), but one day i'll have to drag bring niknak to a night of entre rios, bebel gilberto, or jazzanova. heehee.

but before that, fourtet is coming to the MFA on july 6! ooh ooh. fourtet can render both of us into blissfulness. yummmmm....