CD Short Take: Hayoung Lyou- The Myth of Katabasis

There are a few albums that have been sitting on or around my desk that I've been meaning to write about here. Some are close to 12 months old. But I still feel like writing a few words about them in hopes that it might motivate someone to check them out. This is one of them.

Hayoung Lyou

The Myth of Katabasis

(Endectomorph) hayounglyou.bandcamp.com/album/the-myth-of-katabasis

The New York-based label Endectomorph was the brainchild of saxophonist Kevin Sun, who began releasing music on the imprint 10 years ago. The Myth of Katabasis is the second album by Korean-born/New York-based pianist Hayoung Lyou, whose music feel equally familiar and engaging while delivering it with a style that feels rather original and intriguing. 

The album's title comes from classical mythology, referring to a trip to the underworld. In some ways, it is a concept album, using the mythological term as a metophor for the challenges we face each day, But the album's running order doesn't exactly stick to the theme in a linear way. The nine original compositions include three numbered solo improvisations titled "Descent," which appear in reverse chronological order and are spread out through the album. "Ascension," the finale of the suite, appears following part two.  At the same time, each individual track stands on its own without the need to source the thematic inspiration.

For most of the album, Lyou is joined by bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Steven Crammer. They play very active roles in the shape of the music, which often seems to blur the lines between written and improvised passages. Morgan often moves with the pianist, such as when he utilzes the upper register of his instrument to echo what she plays in her uppermost range of hers at the start of "Negotiation." On the other hand, Crammer often takes liberties with the placement of his snare hits, preferring to add tension rather than settle easily into a form. It helps the deepen the scope of a piece like "Windup" which feels like a small suite in itself. A few minutes into it, a quasi-ragtime interlude breaks into the moody piece, and Lyou redirects things towards a passage with the melodic qualities of a lost ballad.

"Introducing the Hero" and the three "Descent" pieces feature Lyou playing solo. "Descent I" closes the album and lasts longer than the other two combined, with single note lines in the left hand transferring the right hand and accelerating and developing into a richly detailed meditation that never flags in the drama or focus.

With any luck, Hayoung Lyou might have recorded a new album since this one was originally released. And hopefully she'll use a brighter color of ink for text if it appears on a dark background on the CD cover.

On the Town, Checking out the Kyle Sowashes, Juanita & Juan and their friends

Last week, the rock and the roll - or permutations thereof - were happening on back-to-back nights, and I made it out to both.

The Kyle Sowashes hail from Columbus, Ohio, fronted by the band's namesake (that's him in the two photos below). In some ways they're keeping an Ohio tradition alive by cranking out anthemic power chord music with a lyrical sensibility that is both reflective and humorous at the same time. It reminds me the things I like about bygone bands like Great Plains, who managed to filter a post-punk literate sensibility with a straightforward rock delivery. 

I can also see why Kyle Sowash and Karl Hendricks appreciated each other - their lyrical matter is drawn from a similar observance of people and things around them. Yet while Hendricks often took a literary angle with his songwriting, Sowash is content to turn what feels like regular conversations into song lyrics. Hence he comes with titles like "I'm Sorry, But We've Done Everything We Can At this Point" and "It Really Doesn't Matter What You Think," both of which kick off the latest Kyle Sowashes' album Start Making Sense, which has a cover that either tips the hat or thumbs its nose at the source material. 

The KSs shared a bill at the Spirit Lodge with locals Red Star Sky and the Zells, getting the Coveted Second Slot on the bill, which is nice for a Thursday night show. Red Star Sky has moved away a bit from the alt-country sound that could be felt in their early shows, to a bigger, dramatic sound that relies heavily on frontman Corey Layman's guitar work, which is now has a strong foil in Pittsburgh veteran guitarist Alexei Plotnicov.

If the Kyle Sowashes take a light-hearted approach to the lyrics, their focus on the music is anything but light. "I Guess I'm Still Weird About It" launched the set with stop-start pair of ringing chords and from there, the energy never ceased. The band segued the early part of the the set together, an admirable task, still leaving room for intros and wisecracks. The Zells proved a good followup to Kyle and the gang, with their own batch of catchy indie pop, bolstered by a three-guitar attack that never got heavy and a set that, as always with them, drew on songs by several members of the band. 

*

On Friday night, Juanita and Juan set up shop at the Government Center, The name comes from the third verse of Eno's "Baby's On Fire" and also from the Hispanic origins of the two performers, punk rock legends known as Alice Bag and Kid Congo Powers. Their previous work with the Bags and the Cramps, respectively, leaned more towards punk rock and psychobilly. But Juanita and Juan came off more like a lounge act, in the best way. Alice's keyboards had kind of smooth feel and her partner in crime had a drum machine setting the tempos. Their casual conversation onstage with the audience drew on the wild adventures of their youth. 

That same sense of the past crept into songs like "The Prez," Kid Congo's hilarious and charming tale of being the West Coast president of the Ramones fan club; and "DBWMGWD," Alice's reflection of being saved from the perils of adolescence by a certain British performer. (The initial abbreviate "David Bowie Was My Gateway Drug.") 

Before and after the show, both of them mingled with the audience of long time fans, posing for photos, signing books (like mine!) and generally carrying on that same spirit of enthusiasm that inspired them back in the early Hollywood days. On my way out, I tapped Kid Congo and told him that, back in high school when I was listening to the Cramps, I never would have guessed that he was such a ham. And we laughed.

Special mention should also go to openers Clickbait, who got the evening started with some taut, groovy punk rock that reminded me of bands like Gang of Four, ESG and PiL. Vocalist Sandra Yau was a strong presence onstage, banging on a cymbal to kick off "For Sale," singing through an old telephone for a few songs and crashing the hand-held cymbals on a few songs. I tried to get a good shot of her with the cymbals but she was too fast for me.

Bassist Jen Lemasters really held the sound down with some steady, groovy bass lines. Guitarist Ralph Darden (aka DJ Major Taylor) was a fill-in for their regular guitarist but his sharp, biting string work sounded like he'd been with the band since the beginning. Just to prove this is a small world, the guitarist listed online as mthe regular string slasher of the band, Kelsey Henke, not only used to live in Pittsburgh, but worked at the same place I did for a few years. Funny how these things work. 

Dromfest '25 - More Photos and a Few Words

Back over Labor Day weekend, I drove up to Catskill, New York for Dromfest '25, a three-day festival of indie rock music from past and present. A full account of the weekend appears on The Big Takeover's website, which can be found here. The whole event was revelatory for me and I encourage you to check out my dispatch for details. 

Rather than retreading that article, I thought it would be cool to post some of the many photos that I took that weekend, excluding ones that already appear on the BT site. So these are some of the folks I saw. Hopefully the photos taken in the Avalon Lounge aren't too dark for details.

It took two photos to get an accurate shot of Sunburned Hand of the Man's personnel. (The drummer in the far left is Chris Corsano, free jazz extraordinaire.)

At events like Dromfest, it's always a good idea to check out bands that you don't know, in addition to your faves that you came to see. Case in point: the band $500, seen here. They blew me away and I'm glad I didn't miss them.

Guitarist Chris Brokaw (far right) was one of the busiest people at Dromfest. He played solo on opening night, accompanied Beth Kaplan, sat in with Yo La Tengo and, in this photo above, he played with the group Lupo Cita'.

Note to self, pick up any New Radiant Storm King release you see because they, too, were awesome.  

Going a little out of order here. Thalia Zedek has a way of pulling you in with her mid-tempo music, and awesome guitar work. From Sunday afternoon.

Mark Robinson, once and forever of Unrest and Teen Beat Records, played non-stop for about 45 minutes, seguing one tune into another for a 52-song medley (that is, if he stuck to his setlist).

Before Robinson, Fly Ashtray kicked off Sunday afternoon with their wry, brainy pop tunes, in their first set outside of the New York/Brooklyn area in the 21st century.

Sue Harshe, of Scrawl, looked so happy during her band's set, a feeling that pervaded the whole room.

Back to Saturday afternoon, it was so great to see Beth Kaplan, founding member of Salem 66, performing again.

Rebecca Gates, once of the Spinanes, played a beautiful solo set on Sunday.

Note: There should be a photo here of the great Phantom Tollbooth, but I was so enamoured with them that I didn't take any photos, just some so-so videos. 

Will the guys is Cathedral Ceilings be bothered by my continual comparisons to Hüsker Dü? Hopefully not because their speed, clarity and hooks had me by the ear from the minute they started. 

This photo of Al Crisafulli also appeared on The Big Takeover site, but it's worth repeating. Al is the guy who put Dromfest together, and despite being busy the whole weekend, he still had plenty of time to mingle and chat with everyone there and to make sure everyone had a good time. Kudos to him and his crew of helpers. See you next year.

Destroyer Returned to Pittsburgh and Left Me Charmed and a Bit Puzzled

While watching Dan Bejar prowl the stage during Destroyer's Pittsburgh show on October 7, a big part of his appeal finally occurred to me: I like Destroyer because I can't figure out what the hell Bejar is trying to be with the band. Is he a modern day lounge singer? Is he an old-school indie rocker who likes esoteric arrangements where trumpets and synths can comingle with standard rock instruments? Is he some sort of folk singer trying to find the best way to present his lyrical outlook? 

No answers really came that night at Mr. Small's, but it was the act of exploring those questions that made the songs even more appealing. This is a guy who opened his most recent album, the hilariously red-herring Dan's Boogie, with the lyrics, "Your entrance was its own Red Scare/ You quote unquote the French au pair/ where did you invent this learned behaviour?" This only surfaces after 65 seconds of synth strings and flanged piano that sound overmodulated and loud. Bejar, on the other hand is a study in restraint.

The last time Bejar came to town in 2016, Destroyer was just him and an acoustic guitar. Two weeks ago, he had a full band with two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and trumpet/keyboards. His songs often feel both deceptively simple, based on a few chords, and complex at the same time, due to shifts in dynamics and mood. Surprisingly, Bejar relied on a notebook of lyrics during songs like "Hydroplaining Off the Edge of the World," which has at least five detailed "verses" that would be hard for anyone to commit to memory. 

The band brought the songs to life with the precision of a machine, even if the tempo often seemed to be settled too comfortably in the mid-level for the first part of the set. Bejar's high, reedy voice constrasted with his shaggy long hair and full salt-and-pepper facial hair. If the characters he portrayed in his songs might be on the roguish side, Bejar the performer seems positively charming. 
 

Jennifer Castle, who opened the show singing her own songs with only her acoustic guitar and occasional harmonica backing her, joined Destroyer for a few songs later in the set, one of which might have been "Bologna," a torch song from Dan's Boogie sung by Simone Schmidt.  

A week after the show, I ran into a high school friend who I had seen briefly at the Destroyer show. He said Bejar's music reminded him of the first two Roxy Music albums, a comparison I can see. 

As I was preparing to write this post, I pulled up a preview I had written on Bejar nine years ago to preview that show (which I recall was pretty packed). Roxy was mentioned in that article, in connection to Destroyer's Kaputt album, which hinted at the former band's Avalan. The article began with Bejar aligning himself with the late singer-songwriter Scott Walker too. “I’ll spend my life trying to get around [his] records," he said. "Even when I’m not listening to it, I’ll find myself just thinking about it, being in the middle of a conversation with someone about groceries and I’ll be like, ‘What about that song?’”

Kind of the same way I feel about Destroyer albums. If you'll excuse me, I might have to pull out Poison Season.

PS About a year before the previous Destroyer show, Bejar's mug was plastered across two pages of JazzTimes magazine in an article about rock musicians drawing from jazz in their own work. The article opened with a quote from our hero on jazz influencing Kaputt, cited from a different article. During our interview, I asked if he knew about his inclusion in the article. "Nooo.... was it a mistake?" he asked. At the 2016 show, I gave him my copy of that JazzTimes issue. 

Artifacts, Live at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild

 

Photo by Liina Raud

Last Thursday, the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild presented a performance that swung a bit to the left of the nearly 40-year old musical institution's usual programming. Artifacts, the trio of Nicole Mitchell (flute), Tomeka Reid (cello) and Mike Reed (drums), was on tour and needed a spot to play. Mitchell, who ran Pitt's Jazz Studies program from 2019 to 2022, reached out to MCG Jazz executive producer Marty Ashby, who welcomed the trio to the space. Although all three musicians have played in situations where the music moves in an outward direction, their sound combined a sense of adventure with a hard-swinging mood.

Reid avoided the bow in the early part of the set and plucked her instrument like a bass. It set up a vamp in some of the tunes, like "Pleasure Palace" to which Mitchell added a throaty solo. One of the microphones on the flute ran the instrument through a set of effects which often gave it a theremin-style sound, which Reed and Reid abetted during "Giddy Giddy" with stops that alternated on every two and three beats. Reed got some drones going on his drum heads in "Torps," with his cymbals eventually blending into long tones from his bandmates before things broke into a solid 4/4 backdrop for the flute and cello. 

Throughout their set, the rapport between all three players was clearly on display, with an ability to move from jerky stop-start parts to a steady groove in a new, untitled piece. In Mitchell piece "B.K.,"  the composer's flute and electronics were really lifted by the drums and cello, raising the excitement of the set. 

MCG doesn't allow photography during the performances, but my friend Wayne was quick to snap the above photo at the end of the set when Artifacts posed for another photographer. I was too busy hoping to br a fanboy with Reed, expressing my fondness for his Flesh and Bone album, which can be found here. (Read it and find a copy of it, pronto.) Reid's 3+ 3 album from last year was also a great find. And of course, Mitchell's discography continues to grow as we speak. 

Hopefully these three won't be strangers in the Steel City. When Mitchell gave the city a shout as things were setting up, the response indicated we were glad to see her again.

A Return, and a Report of Roger Clark Miller's Return to Town

Two months is a long time, even for me, to let things go dormant. Things got precariously close to abandonment of the blog. But only because there were writing assignments for other places going on, in addition to family stuff (cleaning out a house, getting a kid off to college, albeit one in the same city as me). Plus travels to an amazing music festival.

So maybe it's time to catch on things. In reverse order...

Roger Clark Miller, once and forever the guitarist of Mission of Burma, was in town last Saturday (October 18) at Government Center. In a matter of speaking, this is probably the re-scheduled visit for him, since he was slated to play here in early 2020, right as the world was starting to shut down. He and I did a phone interview at that time, but, going back through my folders, I don't know if I even got as far as transcribing it. 

One thing I do remember from that conversation is how he mentioned in passing that Mission of Burma was broken up at that point. No one had really come out from the band and said it yet. In fact, I think that an online article appeared a few months later talking about it, and how the band was so much the sum of its parts that no one was going to do an interview just about that topic without the other two (or three) members. Suffice to say, in talking to Roger, it seemed like nothing bad had happened. The group simply felt they had done what they set out to do and everyone was ready to move on.

Last week, Miller, as the photos show, set up onstage with a battery of equipment: a guitar, two lap steel guitars (though his albums credit him with three, this was all I could see), a pedalboard and a few other pedals to boot. This looping-and-playing-along-with-it thing was something that he has been doing since the late 1980s with his Maximum Electric Piano. Twice I saw him generating percussion parts by putting a brick or comb on the piano strings and looping that, before playing a "bass" line that also got looped, topped off by a melody and vocals. 

Last week, it was all instrumental, with music inspired by his Dream Interpretation projects. The music ranged from raucous and noisy to steady and controlled, almost reaching a bit of either surf tone or noirish twang in a piece like "Russian Spy Cannisters" which appears on his latest album Curiousity for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble. (The word "ensemble" refers to the way he can create the swell of a full band with the equipment at hand.)

Throughout the set, Miller kept looking back at the music stand to his left, which made it seem like each piece had a score which he was following. To add to that, the music itself flowed as pieces, not merely looped riffs that he jammed on until he switched to another. When he switched from his six-string to run a slide up one of the lap steels, it all connected to the dynamic and structure. These were extensive ideas that took time to unfold. The most notable example of this came in the final performance of the night, "Curiosity On Mars," a five-part piece inspired by the shapes of rocks and mineral caught in photographs by the Mars Rover. It was wild listening to him play and envisioning the way the photos shaped the sound. 

Back at the end of August, I drove up to Catskill, New York for Dromfest '25. Miller kicked off the event and he was the one act I missed, due to my late arrival. (Goddam that New York State Thruway.) I bought the Curiousity CD that night and was glad that he came to Pittsburgh. He's still creating new, bold music with the same level of commitment he had four decades ago.

The evening began with two local acts adding to the edgy, experimental mood of the night. Satryr/Elfheim was a solid guitar player whose left-hand vibrato made his songs stand out. His technical problems almost derailed the focus of the set at first, but when he got into it, he sounded solid. Full disclosure, Business Jazz features one of my bandmates, guitarist Erik Cirelli, with Chris Cannon, a longtime fixture of the local scene, dating back to his time in bands like the Johnsons (Big Band) and Raw Blow. Their set was a swirling mass of sampled lectures, bossa nova samples and a little bit of skronk. 

CD Review: Joe Morris/Elliot Sharp, Wolf Eyes x Anthony Braxton

 
Two new releases from ESP-Disk' present two different kinds of collaborations. One is a first-time meeting of minds, the second a follow-up on a combination that shows the players from vastly different backgrounds coming together to blend cohesively.

Joe Morris/Elliot Sharp

Realism

(ESP-Disk') joemorriselliottsharp.bandcamp.com/album/realism

Putting two free-thinking guitarists together in a studio can present a risk. Things could get cluttered quickly, with scads of ideas shooting out at once. But Joe Morris and Elliot Sharp both play with intense focus to the extent that, even if things seem to go off the rails, they always have control and vision to know where things will proceed in tandem. 

The incredible thing about Realism is the way both players seem to maintain a deep concentration on the sounds they produce while using their playing to complement and respond. Each guitarist is panned hard to their own speaker (Morris on the left, Sharp on the right). Sharp creates sustained electric washes that flow around Morris's plucking in "Shapes Maintained," never getting in his way. When Morris utilizes effects, his attack seems to move backwards, with Sharp becoming the player who works without sustain. Both of them plink away in "Neither Odd Nor Even" each in a different register with a different approach. Sharp's harmonics add a rich texture and later in the piece this sound takes on the guise of an organ.

The metallic clatter at the start of "Light Asking" evokes the idea of Morris and Sharp literally building something. Morris ends up exploring the harmonic universe with a fast array of technique that may or may not be picking or hammering but sounds beautiful, regardless. This track ends with Sharp sounding like a blend of claves and dead wax record static. Even a track title "Soft Version" manages to combine a plucked melody that is soft while the dialogue still manages to keep it rough around the edges.  

There are moments on Realism where it's easy to imagine Morris and Sharp exchanging glances of excitment about what they are creating. Yet it's just as easy to imagine each player looking down at the strings, lost in thought. Figuring out when those moment are provides the rewards of the listening experience.

Wolf Eyes x Anthony Braxton

(ESP-Disk') wolfeyesxanthonybraxton.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-pioneer-works-26-october-2023

It's hard to believe that 20 years have passed since multi-reedist/composer Anthony Braxton first collaborated with noise musicians Wolf Eyes at Victoriaville, the results of which appeared on the album Black Vomit. That pairing said a lot about the wide-ranging sonic perspective of Braxton, who had seen the group a year prior in Sweden and liked them so much he bought every release on their merch table. The onstage meeting of the minds felt brutal and might not have gone too far beyond the scope of mutual appreciation. But hearing Braxton yell excitedly onstage brought back memories of his early days in Circle performances and proved he was having a good time.

Wolf Eyes x Anthony Braxton feels less like an odd pairing (though "pairing" isn't a truly appropriate description since Wolf Eyes is a duo of Johnny Olson and Nate Young) and more like a meeting of the minds where the various contributions come together in a cohesive manner. It consists of two tracks, "Side A" and "Side 1," which last 20 and 16 minutes respectively.

Things begin with electronic drones fading up and down as Braxton blows a quick sopranino fanfare before switching to alto. Electro static drops in occasionally as the saxophone lines get more aggressive. Braxton never sticks with one horn for very long but the quick changes complement the way the soundscape frequently morphs behind him. The  performers are all have a good sense of how to use open space to their advantage before submitting to a haphazard pulse and extra layers of electric waves.

The opening moments of "Side 1" (the second track) include a whoop, presumably from an audience member at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, New Jersey where the performance occurred in 2023. It's tempting to conclude that the listener might be reacting to the force of the sub-bass tones coming from the stage. They sound as if they could rattle one's sternum in real life. But it's likely the person whooping was excited to hear Braxton approach the mighyt bass sax again, which delivers nearly four minutes of aggressive honks (longer than usual) before he moves to the sopranino. 

Those low electronic bass notes never really go away but they do create a rather enthralling blend of sounds that often have a choral feel behind Braxton. Olson or Young's array of sounds include something that could very well be Braxton sampled and manipulated to complement the maestro. Or it could be Olson's pipes (the credits don't specify what kind of pipes) or even Young's harmonica doing the work. 

Whatever adds to this swell of sound is not the main thing. The final result, a real confluence of sound that feels like a difference type of Ghost Trance music, brings these two no longer disparate forces together in a wild manner that fits with the ESP tradition.