Scrappy Joe Sorriero
and Entente Cordiale
The Bug Jar, Rochester, NY
1/6/04
A blustering midwinter night, and still, a good few handfuls of adventurous souls were willing to brave the weather and lend their ears to a hefty dose of Rochesterian avant-rock at its boldest and most disorienting. Scrappy Joe kicked off the evening with some oddly dyslexic strumming on a hot-rodded SG, which seemed to be run through a bass-heavy harmonizer. There's something disarming about Scrappy's offhanded vocal improvisations. Unlike his role in Nod, which is more streamlined Velvetsy or Modern Lovers-type fare, this solo context allows him to stretch out to the point of distraction. Which is good. I personally preferred the more melodic, songwriter stuff towards the end of his set, but I respect the fact that he's willing to throw traditional song structure and out the window and just sort of...wander...blissfully.
Next up were Entente Cordiale, an all-star guitar troika manned by Will Veeder of Hinkley fame, Carbon Records magnate Joe Tunis, and Sneaky Dragons/ Wills Wilde heavyweight Otto Hauser. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in the textural potentialities of the electric guitar and tube amplifier buy their debut CD-R "1904" and strap on some headphones. If you check them out live, be sure to wear some earplugs, though- the density of shuddering feedback simply can't be achieved without attendant decibel levels that may scare away the tamer sheep. They performed two extended pieces and over the course of a half hour set managed to explore some eerie sonic terrain that at its most howling and drone-heavy might remind some of Ranaldo/Moore's more anarchic breakdowns. There's more rigor here than The Sonic Youth, though the improvisational sensibility is more expansive, more richly striated. Teetering on the edge of a yawning abyss of tube-driven mortal terror, I was transported - momentarily - to a truly Apocalyptic Industrial dystopia. A must for people who like to flirt with humanity's more sadistic urges. Marijuana also enhances one's appreciation of The Entente's post-psych sound text. Don't miss their next gig if you know what's good for ya.
Recordings by both Scrappy Joe and Entente Cordial are available through carbonrecords.com.
-- Kenneth Tyrone
kennethmichaeltyrone@yahoo.com
Here is what I perceive in my aural culture, at this moment. Sultry midsummer night full of crickets, and the box fan running at medium speed to keep the second floor air tolerable. Together, the crickets chirping and the fan's vibrations comprise a counterpoint which at its heart is "about" the vibration rate of all molecules, which we feel as "heat" and quantify as "temperature." Could Little Willie John have said it any better than these collaborators (inexpensive machine sold by Lakewood, and crickets born to live a brief and hot life in the central Massachusetts summer)?
Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
(continue until morning)
Cree, cree, (rest), cree, cree, cree, cree, cree.
(continue, but neither so reliably nor so late).
Cultural critic (nouveau),
and historian of science (en peu vieux),