August 12, 2009 8pm
The Summit
2210 Summit St.
(614) 268-9377
$10 in advance / $12 at door
Ages 18+, under 21 pay $2 surcharge at door
Dungen
http://www.myspace.com/dungen
Boasting a blend of ’60s-styled psychedelic rock, free jazz, Swedish folk, and instrumental ambience, the Scandinavian collective Dungen is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Gustav Ejstes. Raised in the small village of Lanna in Vastergotland, Sweden, Ejstes was weaned on regional folk music and ’60s rock at a young age by his violin-playing father. He discovered the world of hip-hop as a teenager and quickly embraced the genre, later deeming it his “punk phase.” An obsession with the science of sampling followed, and through his own experiments with the genre he was exposed to a wealth of ’60s and ’70s Swedish underground music. The organic nature of the recordings stirred something in Ejstes, who wanted to prove his capability in playing all of the instruments he’d previously been sampling. He subsequently moved to his mother’s farm in the woods of nearby Smaland and began honing his craft in a studio in his grandmother’s basement.
Ejstes made his debut with Dungen, an ambitious album that was released on his friend Stefan Kéry’s label, Subliminal Sounds, in 2001. The record received enough attention from the underground community to attract the Dolores/Virgin label, and Ejstes found himself back in the studio to record a series of three Dungen singles, one of which appeared on the soundtrack for The Jungle Book 2. Dungen’s breakthrough international album, Ta Det Lugnt, was then released by Subliminal Sounds in 2004, followed by a second release (this one accompanied by a bonus disc) by the American label Kemado in July 2005. Although Ejstes handled many of the album’s instrumental passages himself, he also pieced together a lineup (including guitarist Reine Fiske, bassist Mattias Gustavsson, and drummer Fredrik Björling) to aid him during the recording process. The Dungen collective then hit the road in support of Ta Det Lugnt, whose psychedelic sound had won the band a number of fans in America. The follow-up effort, Tio Bitar, arrived in 2007, focusing on well-crafted songs as well as Dungen’s traditional jams, and 4 appeared the following year. Featuring a newfound emphasis on piano, the album also featured percussion from a new drummer, Johan Holmegard. - ©1992-2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Woods
http://www.myspace.com/woodsfamilyband
Wanting to explore their alternative folk side, bandmates Jeremy Earl and Christian DeRoeck from the Brooklyn indie rock outfit Meneguar gathered up some friends and went into the woods to play. Hence, the band Woods was born. After releasing a double cassette on Earl’s Fuck It Tapes, At Rear House on Shrimper Records in early 2007.
Brainbow
http://www.myspace.com/brainbowband
Stoner wit is a rare find, but you know it when you see it. The band name Brainbow sounds like it comes from a dorm-room listening of Dark Side of the Moon, or the conversation during a long, tripped-out hike. . . you know, “the whole universe … Full Descriptionis, like, an atom in a giant’s fingernail, man,” moment.All jibes aside, there is an amazingly talented local band called Brainbow that may or may not have lived any of those events (though surely they heard “Dark Side” in a dorm room sometime. Didn’t everyone?). But judging by the sound of the band’s self-titled debut disc, full of acid-damaged, desert sun-scorched, instrumental guitar psychedelia, they’ve at least read very good accounts of events like those.Instrumental rock, for all its charms, is rarely anyone’s first pick for a live show, but Brainbow has made a case for it over the past couple of years, even garnering a sizable fan club in the process. Especially with those who like a little experimentation with their wine and cheese.The album opens with the long, slow strains of “The Cast,” which splits the difference between Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and jazz guitar guru Bill Frisell at his most loose and free. Toward the end of its eight-minute lifespan, it takes on the warm, swirling guitar miasma used to such a wonderful degree in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, when shoe-gazers walked the Earth. Those of you bemoaning the lack of a revived My Bloody Valentine show no closer than Chicago should take “The Cast” for a spin.Such an expansive piece is pretty de rigueur for Brainbow, and indicative of the otherworldly mindset their live show induces.Instead of relying on that formula, the band explores a lot of nooks and crannies, occasionally stepping outside the expected prog rock conventions.“Trance Figure,” which picks up where “The Cast” leaves off, is a lot more driving and kinetic, embracing a noise-rock framework akin to a much livelier Jesus and Mary Chain b-side.“Feather Mountain” carries a great deal of weighty darkness amid its seven and a half minutes, and “Hex Remover” manages to tear it up unlike any other track on the album.Keep in mind, this is measuring Brainbow against Brainbow, and if you aren’t up for long, slow-moving guitar jams, even really interesting long, slow-moving guitar jams, this may not be your bag. Which is fine. That means more psychedelic guitar rock for the rest of us. - Rick Allen, The Other Paper