Thursday, February 28, 2013

Buke and Gase w/ Ahleuchatistas @ Casbah- 02.20.13

Buke and Gase


DIY was the word last Wednesday night as the Casbah welcomed a trio of acts, all possessing an element of the 'made by me' ethos.

Opening act and locals Array Orchestra (once they finally started at around 9:45) put on an abbreviated set of uber-experimental sounds, gusseted by an array of handmade instruments with names like 'nail piano', 'MIDI mbira', and 'array mboard'. North Carolinian duo Ahleuchatistas followed with a much more adept and focused performance which made up for the absence of vocals with aggressively creative percussion from drummer Ryan Oslance and meticulous math-rock style picking from guitarist Shane Perlowin.  As a solid indicator of the sonic fury about to be unleashed, a good ten minutes or so was spent arranging a variety of materials, varying from Mardi Gras beads to a six foot length of steel chain, on and around the drum kit.  The performance was very much a yin and yang act between Oslance's frenetic pounding, shaking and general mayhem and Perlowin's reserved yet spandex-tight improvisational guitar work.  The crowd was very receptive to the progressive stylings and, though it wasn't a sell out, the floor was packed in advance of the headliners taking the stage.  Brooklyn- based duet Buke and Gase came into the evening's show on the heels of their recently released sophomore LP General Dome as well as a notable bump in recognition courtesy of signing with the Dessner brothers' (of The National fame) label, Brassland Records.  Made up of former members of post-punk/ noise rock group Hominid, Buke and Gase isn't named after the performers but rather the instruments they crafted themselves and have since learned to absolutely shred on.  The crux of the band musically lies in multi-instrumentalist Aron Sanchez' Gase, which is a sort of guitar/ bass hybrid which puts out a sound that can shift from a deep, reverb heavy bass to a precise guitar notes and everywhere in between. Lead singer Arone Dyer picked away at her Buke, a six-string baritone ukulele, and kept the beat going (along with Sanchez' kick drum) with her specially crafted 'toe-bourine' continuously through the show, but her primary contribution was the exceptional range and unique cadence of her voice- truly one of a kind.  During the near two hour set the band touched on the majority of the new album as well as a couple of songs from their earlier material, all the while trading glances and smiles with each other and the audience.  Though not all in attendance at the outset made it to the 1:30ish encore, those who did made a point to express their gratitude to a truly exceptional band that is hopefully just starting to gain traction.

Ahleuchatistas:

Ahleuchatistas
Ahleuchatistas
Ahleuchatistas
Ahleuchatistas

Buke and Gase:

Buke and Gase
Buke and Gase
Buke and Gase
Buke and Gase
 
For more photos from the evening click here and additional concert photography click here.

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All photos licensed by Nate Vandermeulen under Creative Commons- BY-NC
Please ask for permission before downloading or linking to them.

1 comment:

catdirt said...

Gd 2 hours??????