Astro (Japanese noise legend) and Keitzer (brutal German

Clavius Productions presents a night of grindcore and noise, with an extremely rare appearance by Japanese noise legend Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro/C.C.C.C.):

Monday, May 19
Velvet Lounge
915 U St NW WDC
http://www.velvetloungedc.com
202-462-3213
$8, doors at 9pm, 18+

Astro (aka Hiroshi Hasegawa of legendary Japanese noise band C.C.C.C., doing analog synth explorations a la Klaus Schulze/Cluster/Tangerine Dream)
Seventh Gate (DC grind)
Keitzer (brutal grind/thrash/death metal from Germany)
Blue Collar War


Astro
http://www.myspace.com/astrojp
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/astro/

ASTRO is Hiroshi Hasegawa's solo project. He was in the band named C.C.C.C. which was one of the biggest Japanese noise group. Born in 1963, Hasegawa has begun his improvisation with his voice and drums. And in 1990, he made the group C.C.C.C. whose concept was improvisatory mass-noise with very loud sound. The group became legend with the members Mayuko Hino, Ryuichi Nagakubo, Fumio Kosakai. Also he has begun his solo unit ASTRO with analog synthesizers in 1993 as well as playing in C.C.C.C. Now he is actively playing and issuing and doing many collaboration with other artists. His playing style is like drifting between the meditation and awakening state with electronics and still he is pursuing it.


Keitzer
http://www.myspace.com/keitzer

25 tracks and just over an hourâ??s worth of absolutely punishing grindcore with all the staples: Blistering speeds loaded with blasting percussion and fierce tremolo picking riffs, a range of high/low vocal assaults, subtle shifts towards more moderately paced breaks for added intensity, etc. While thereâ??s always at least a tinge of a hardcore/punk undercurrent at work beneath all quality grind, Keitzer definitely leans more towards the metal realm, and separates themselves from the pack with an added sense of dissonance and a borderline chaotic edge – though never without some semblance of control. The new tracks tend to be just a tad longer than those on the first LP, but theyâ??re also much more intense across the board: Tighter, more focused, and with a stronger recording that achieves a greater sense of clarity and punch – though not without an aptly rugged aesthetic. They definitely seem to be coming more into their own and developing a truly crushing attack, so keep your eyes peeled for more down the roadâ?¦ (Yellow Dog)

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Tuesday, May 20
Velvet Lounge
$7, doors at 9pm, 18+

The Mutators (noise rock/no wave from Vancouver)
Modern Creatures (post-punk/goth from Vancouver)
Waveformasfuck (DC solo experimental noise)


The Mutators
http://www.myspace.com/mutators

"From Vancouver, Canada, the Mutators have just released their second 7", and their first with a new singer. Having witnessed the band on tour opening for the A Frames and Sexy Prison at the Charred Doghouse here in Davis, I was amazed at how aggressive and imperious her vocals were. Surely, she's the most combative female voice I've heard since…I dunno, maybe Lydia Lunch or Diamanda Galas? She could be almost as quarrelsome, but without the diva-esque posturing. The sparse and stark attack of drums and guitar have ratcheted up the ferocity to match the glass-eating vokills, and now they're doubly destructive since last year's debut vinyl. This lineup should re-record the 'My War' cover."

Damn…was Astro just added?


Wish I had more notice.

yeah, total last-minute addition. he's on last after the grindcore.

that cluster set last night was solid but a bit sleepy; i thought keith fullerton whitman's set was the best of the night. i thought everything else was ok but on the mediocre side, nothing too special. except susan alcorn…she was fantastic.

I agree for the most part. KFW was amazing; wish his set was 2x longer. Cluster was essentially what I expected. I love the cluster '71 stuff so no complaints here. Completely agree on Susan Alcorn too. Axolotl was cut ridiculously short which was lame. It took me a little while to warm up to Eric Copeland but I ended up enjoying his set too. It was the second time I'd seen Tickly Feather and again, she reminded me way too much of Beach House. It's just that Beach House are 10x better which isn't saying much since they're abysmal live. The rest was fairly hit-or-miss. Afternoon Penis started slow but got a lot better towards the end. Blues Control were decent. And the first two acts did nothing for me.

Edit: And what happened to Dan Higgs? I was a little bummed that he got cut seeing as I missed him at the velvet.

WHY IS THIS DURING FINALS

C.C.C.C. BOXSET IS SO GOOD

just got back from eating thai with hiroshi. he's 45, looks 25. c.c.c.c. was awesome, so is astro. we're lucky that he was able to fit dc into his travel schedule. come down to the velvet from 11:30-12:30 and you'll see an amazing synth performance.

How was it?

astro played one of the best psych-noise sets i've ever seen, and that's no bullshit. 40 minutes of pure analog synth assault, oscillators and tone generators and effects. this is what i wanted from cluster. we ended up getting 20 people out on a monday for this, which was amazing and encouraging for the dc experimental scene. everybody was entranced, even the grindcore kids. i'm so glad i asked hiroshi to take the chinatown bus here.

not only that, keitzer was awesome, too, easily the best grind i've seen in ages. they were monstrous and tight, like a jackhammer in the skull. overall, an unexpected but powerful one-two punch to the senses.

listening to the c.c.c.c. "early works" set right now. this is some intense, revolutionary noise.

I agree for the most part. KFW was amazing; wish his set was 2x longer. Cluster was essentially what I expected. I love the cluster '71 stuff so no complaints here. Completely agree on Susan Alcorn too. Axolotl was cut ridiculously short which was lame. It took me a little while to warm up to Eric Copeland but I ended up enjoying his set too. It was the second time I'd seen Tickly Feather and again, she reminded me way too much of Beach House. It's just that Beach House are 10x better which isn't saying much since they're abysmal live. The rest was fairly hit-or-miss. Afternoon Penis started slow but got a lot better towards the end. Blues Control were decent. And the first two acts did nothing for me.

Edit: And what happened to Dan Higgs? I was a little bummed that he got cut seeing as I missed him at the velvet.

i don't know what happened to higgs. i saw him leave in a hurry with asa. seems like there's some sort of emergency situation going on. higgs canceled on me two weeks ago but didn't specify why. he's not the kind of person to bail out on shows without a good reason.

my take on the acts on sunday:

susan alcorn: beautiful, impressionistic music. her vocabulary on the pedal steel is incredible. she kept me hanging on every note, sort of like the way charalambides does.

afternoon penis: good, enjoyable set. i like nate's ideas, but i think he needs to take it to the next level. which will hopefully come soon, as he plays solo more often.

tickley feather: i like her split 7" with bermuda triangle more than what i heard live, though the sound sucked, to be fair. she needs to improve her live set, which will come with more experience; right now, she isn't quite on the level of nora keyes or madame p or any other cabaret-esque female singer.

cluster: a slight disappointment. they were pretty mellow and ambient and a bit too digital, hovering too close to the new age side of things at times. the last five minutes of the first piece sounded great, with the electric piano. i was hoping for more 1971 kluster than 1976 cluster, but my expectations were high. still nice to see a krautrock legend at work. i saw michael rother and roedelius in 1998 and that was better.

blues control: not as good as at my house in august, but decent. i like the dronier synthy stuff more than the guitaring. russ' tone just sounds like ass. not sure if the hype they are getting recently is warranted, but they are great people and i love them so i hope they don't read this.

keith fullerton whitman: easily the best performance of the day. keith's analog synth is a beast, and his set sounded remarkably similar to those late '60s subotnick records. this was also more of what i wanted to hear from cluster, though maybe not quite so harsh.

axolotl: i have to say that i thought this kind of sucked. it sounded like a pale version of 1997 berlin/cologne minimal techno (i.e. burger/ink, the modernist, pole, etc). i've liked every axolotl set i've seen but this one. thankfully, it was only 10-12 minutes long. then again, but something better might have developed if he kept going. karl needs to pick up the violin again.

eric copeland: wasn't too impressed by this, but it wasn't terrible. he kept the loops going which allowed no development for dynamics, but the loops were at least wacked out enough for it to be interesting.

overall, two great sets, one good but underwhelming legend set, one awful set, and four mediocre-to-good sets. overall, a great time but musically a little left to be desired.

Wow…definitely sorry I missed Astro after reading that.

Maybe I am writing Tickly Feather off a little too hastily given that both times I've seen her weren't exactly in ideal settings. The other was in a chatty 930 when she opened for Animal Collective. I've also never heard anything from her on disc.

I like Eric Copelands record better than the last few black dice LPs

sucks about blues control, on record they slay

I don't know; Load Blown was pretty solid.


I never made it through Broken Ear Record in one sitting, though.

And Creature Comforts is brilliant; my favorite of theirs.

i like their first 3 7" 's the best

i also LOVE that soft circle LP

The one that came out last year? Yeah I played the hell out of that when I first got it.

He was sadly lackluster live when he opened for the Boredoms, though.

yeah i dont think he was bad he shoulda did it with a band


he was the best part of black dice imo

Chippendale was a tough act to have to follow.

I'm now just seeing this and trying to keep from weeping.

my favortie black dice record is beaches and canyons. i think it is their best combination of noisiness and ambient psych. i like the early stuff just fine but don't listen to it on record much. recent black dice sets have bored me. i thought they were at their peak opening on the godspeed tour in 2002.

terrestrial tones is kind of forgettable, but i do like soft circle. i definitely miss hisham's drumming in black dice.

i've seen blues control four times, and once (at 611 last year) they blew me away. all the other times have been enjoyable but not mindblowing.

I saw Black Dice in 2004, when they still had a drummer and were playing Beaches and Canyons-era shit or manipulations more or less relating to Beaches and Canyons stuff, it was awesome. Haven't listened to anything newer than B&C.

Velvet Lounge schedule is pretty bangin'.

I can't believe the Seventh Gate are still together.