Music

Gallery Spotlight: Altered Esthetics

In 2004, Jamie Schumacher founded Minneapolis’ Altered Esthetics Gallery with the intent of “bringing artists together and creating a community dialogue.” The non-profit gallery is a space where both emerging and established artists can interact and explore their own creative interests without the pressure of producing work that is commercially viable. Since opening, Altered Esthetics — which is currently one of 18 galleries operating out of Minneapolis’ historic Q’arma building — has built a solid reputation within the Twin City’s creative community.

Triptykon

The Metal Examiner: Triptykon’s Shatter EP

Every Friday, The Metal Examiner delves metal’s endless depths to present the genre’s most important and exciting albums.

Triptykon: Shatter: Eparistera Daimones Accompanied (Prowling Death, licensed to Century Media, 10/25/2010)

Triptykon: “Shatter” Official Video

Tom Warrior’s creative output is both extensive and divergent. Since 1983, Warrior has released music as part of Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and Apollyon Sun, and now his current project is Triptykon. If one takes inventory of the music created by this man over the last two-plus decades, one finds that none of his albums really sound all that much like any of the others. There are common threads and tendencies that tie everything together, but each release stands on an island of its own.

Rita J

Rita J: Lyrical Resilience Sparks Hip-Hop Evolution

Rita Jackson works to represent the “middle-ground” woman in hip hop — unfitting of the sex-kitten or tomboy labels usually attributed to women in the genre — delivering smooth rhymes with a confident swagger.

Moses Supposes

Moses Supposes: The new team

Moses Avalon is one of the nation’s leading music-business consultants and artists’-rights advocates and is the author of a top-selling music business reference, Confessions of a Record Producer. More of his articles can be found at www.mosesavalon.com.

Many “how-to” music biz books like to discuss the concept of the “artist’s team.” This refers to the business machinery behind the creative product. Typically the team members are: the lawyer, manager, publicist, and business manager. Each still play very significant roles in the process after the artist grows out of his garage and is headed for stardom. But how about before all that, while the artist is still developing? No one seems to want to talk about what personnel the artist needs to get to that higher plateau.

DeVotchKa

Concert Photos: DeVotchKa @ Lincoln Hall

The indefatigable DeVotchKa, with its distinctive brand of Eastern European and Southwestern pop music, rolled through Chicago recently, playing a show at Lincoln Hall. The long-independent, critical foursome — Nick Urata, Tom Hagerman, Jeanie Schroder, and Shawn King — was supported by Angus & Julia Stone and Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. The band’s most recent album, A Mad & Faithful Telling, was released on March 18, 2008 on Anti-.

DeVotchKa

Raga Bop Trio

World in Stereo: Raga Bop Trio

Each week, World in Stereo examines classic and modern world music while striving for a greater appreciation of other cultures.

Raga Bop Trio: s/t (Abstract Logix, 7/20/10)

Raga Bop Trio: “Tug of War”

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Carnatic and Hindustani music, the classical music forms of North and South India, provide the base for the Raga Bop Trio. Saxophonist George Brooks is an established fixture in the Indian fusion scene as a devout student and purveyor of Hindustani music. He has collaborated with India’s most respected artists and his deep understanding of raga is a vital element to the trio’s melodic force. Guitarist Prasanna brings an avant-garde approach to the table by taking the ornamentations and tones found in South Indian Carnatic music and transferring them to the electric guitar. While he is able to mimic the subtle microtones of the sitar, he is also able to incorporate within them modern shape-shifting technology, demonstrated by his 2006 Carnatic/rock tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ganesha Land.

The Groove Seeker: Andreya Triana’s Lost Where I Belong

On a weekly basis, The Groove Seeker goes in search of killer grooves across rock, funk, hip hop, soul, electronic music, jazz, fusion, and more.

Andreya Triana: Lost Where I BelongAndreya Triana: Lost Where I Belong (Ninja Tune, 9/7/2010)

Andreya Triana: “Far Closer”

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With her debut release, Lost Where I Belong, soul singer Andreya Triana transitions from being a go-to featured guest vocalist to a full fledged solo artist.

The Brighton-based songstress has been favored by left-field producers and beat-makers such as Flying Lotus and Mr. Scruff, offering a distinct voice that points back to the deep and sensuous tone of Nina Simone. Under the production supervision of fellow Ninja Tune multi-instrumentalist and overall groove peddler Simon Green, a.k.a. Bonobo, Lost Where I Belong places Triana’s soul and folk-inflected vocal-jazz style under a well-deserved spotlight.