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Lazy Susan is first group to perform in program that will be continuing through May in Akron
By Malcolm Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
POSTED: 07:58 p.m. EDT, Oct 08, 2008
The Akron Art Museum's summer Downtown@Dusk series has been a good way to wind down after work. That program's success has inspired the museum to try a new set of early evening free concerts dubbed Third Thursdays.
The series begins on Oct. 16 (because it's the third Thursday of the month, get it?) and is to run through May.
First up is the aptly named Lazy Susan, a quintet from Kent that travails in soft, minimalist indie rock. The band released its third album, Perpetual Motion Machine, in June.
The few songs I've heard are fairly diverse, with Tiny Kitchen floating on gently picked guitar arpeggios and singer Kevin Yohn's soft tenor vocals. On Belle, he sounds a bit like a less self-conscious Bono, and on Barnacle Belly, he sings like a less miserable Ian Curtis of Joy Division, while the band lays down a head-nodding new wave groove.
November's guest will be Minneapolis-based disc jockey ''sound artists'' Beatrix*Jar, which raises an interesting ruckus mixing electronic beats, found sounds, live instruments, synthesizers and vocals with odd manipulated samples from equally odd sources such as old films and the now ancient Texas Instruments learning toy Speak & Read, pocket radios and disposable flash cameras. The pair, Bianca Pettis (aka Beatrix) and Jacob Aaron Roske (aka JAR), are an actual couple, and they call their sound manipulation ''circuit bending'' and even offer workshops on their techniques.
The two say their mission is to break musicians out of the traditional guitar/bass/drums lineup and open up their minds to the many possibilities available in these high-tech times.
The group has two albums (available at CDBaby), the most recent being 2007's Golden Fuzz. After listening to a few tracks, I think it's almost a case where the process is more interesting than the result. But the group's beats are usually pretty interesting and varied, and picking out the weird samples amongst all the electronic bleeps, bloops and blorps is kind of fun.
It will be interesting to see how the post-work Akron crowd takes to two folks drawing weird sounds out of a bunch of toys, samplers and CD turntables while abstract films play on a screen in the background.
The year wraps up on Dec. 18 with local favorites Missile Toe, which turns Christmas and holiday classic songs into fuzzed-up punk and classic rockers. Missile Toe always offers a goofy smile-inducing good time.
Of course, the audience is invited to shop ''special sales'' at the museum store and visit the galleries, if you don't mind paying. In addition, there will be a cash bar, and after each show, the party continues at nearby eateries/bars the Lockview and Musica.
Singing at the Lounge
If you're looking for something to do after the Black Keys' concert on Saturday night, you may want to consider going to the relatively new downtown nightspot the Lounge in Akron, where singer/songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield will perform an after-party/concert. (The Lounge is next to 69 Taps, on Paul Williams Street, off West Exchange Street.)
Mayfield, a Kent native, is riding high on the positive critical reception from her beguiling debut full-length album, With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt, produced by the Keys' Dan Auerbach. She has been praised on NPR's World Cafe and has been heavily touring, garnering choice opening spots with the Black Keys, the Avett Brothers and singer/songwriter Tony Joe White.
This will probably be the last chance to see Mayfield on her home turf for awhile, as she is traveling to Europe with the Black Keys in November.
The show starts at midnight. Tickets are $12 and are available at Spin-More Records in Kent.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
The Akron Art Museum's summer Downtown@Dusk series has been a good way to wind down after work. That program's success has inspired the museum to try a new set of early evening free concerts dubbed Third Thursdays.
The series begins on Oct. 16 (because it's the third Thursday of the month, get it?) and is to run through May.
First up is the aptly named Lazy Susan, a quintet from Kent that travails in soft, minimalist indie rock. The band released its third album, Perpetual Motion Machine, in June.
The few songs I've heard are fairly diverse, with Tiny Kitchen floating on gently picked guitar arpeggios and singer Kevin Yohn's soft tenor vocals. On Belle, he sounds a bit like a less self-conscious Bono, and on Barnacle Belly, he sings like a less miserable Ian Curtis of Joy Division, while the band lays down a head-nodding new wave groove.
November's guest will be Minneapolis-based disc jockey ''sound artists'' Beatrix*Jar, which raises an interesting ruckus mixing electronic beats, found sounds, live instruments, synthesizers and vocals with odd manipulated samples from equally odd sources such as old films and the now ancient Texas Instruments learning toy Speak & Read, pocket radios and disposable flash cameras. The pair, Bianca Pettis (aka Beatrix) and Jacob Aaron Roske (aka JAR), are an actual couple, and they call their sound manipulation ''circuit bending'' and even offer workshops on their techniques.
The two say their mission is to break musicians out of the traditional guitar/bass/drums lineup and open up their minds to the many possibilities available in these high-tech times.
The group has two albums (available at CDBaby), the most recent being 2007's Golden Fuzz. After listening to a few tracks, I think it's almost a case where the process is more interesting than the result. But the group's beats are usually pretty interesting and varied, and picking out the weird samples amongst all the electronic bleeps, bloops and blorps is kind of fun.
It will be interesting to see how the post-work Akron crowd takes to two folks drawing weird sounds out of a bunch of toys, samplers and CD turntables while abstract films play on a screen in the background.
The year wraps up on Dec. 18 with local favorites Missile Toe, which turns Christmas and holiday classic songs into fuzzed-up punk and classic rockers. Missile Toe always offers a goofy smile-inducing good time.
Of course, the audience is invited to shop ''special sales'' at the museum store and visit the galleries, if you don't mind paying. In addition, there will be a cash bar, and after each show, the party continues at nearby eateries/bars the Lockview and Musica.
Singing at the Lounge
If you're looking for something to do after the Black Keys' concert on Saturday night, you may want to consider going to the relatively new downtown nightspot the Lounge in Akron, where singer/songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield will perform an after-party/concert. (The Lounge is next to 69 Taps, on Paul Williams Street, off West Exchange Street.)
Mayfield, a Kent native, is riding high on the positive critical reception from her beguiling debut full-length album, With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt, produced by the Keys' Dan Auerbach. She has been praised on NPR's World Cafe and has been heavily touring, garnering choice opening spots with the Black Keys, the Avett Brothers and singer/songwriter Tony Joe White.
This will probably be the last chance to see Mayfield on her home turf for awhile, as she is traveling to Europe with the Black Keys in November.
The show starts at midnight. Tickets are $12 and are available at Spin-More Records in Kent.
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
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