Thursday, May 24, 2012
Music / Post No Bills Friday at the Bottle: the polystylistic grind of Starring
Posted by Peter Margasak on 05.24.12 at 06:16 PM
Of course, Cimini also continues to play in chamber quartet Till by Turning. I think it's safe to say that she's interested in all sorts of music, and was well before she split town—I often forget that she played regularly in Kent Lambert's art-pop band Roommate when she lived here.
I wasn't too impressed with Starring's first album, Wife of God (Death by Audio), but the forthcoming (and somewhat irritatingly titled) ABCDEFG-HIJKLMNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ, due June 12 from Northern Spy, pulled me in with just a couple of listens. It's got huge organ riffs by somebody calling himself Peachy that recall the glory days of Deep Purple, exploratory electric-viola improvisations that suggest Amon Düül II, screaming guitar solos that split the difference between noise-rock and metal, trance-inducing Krautrock grooves, and Philip Glass-style minimalism—but often, amid all the roaring and chugging, there are sweet, ethereal vocal melodies by guitarist and front woman Clara Hunter (who also plays with Cimini in the Fancy). I swear she rips off the melody from the Sesame Street theme on the album's closer, "Wo." Below you can check out the punishing opening track.
Starring, "The Best"
Today's playlist:
Teddy Edwards, Heart & Soul (Contemporary/OJC)
Maxine Brown, Best of the Wand Years (Kent)
Bibio, Ambivalence Avenue (Warp)
Elza Laranjeira, A Música de Jobim e Vinicius (RGE/Som Livre)
Cabaret Voltaire, Mix-Up (Mute)
