Show Preview/CD Review: DeVotchKa Brings 100 Lovers to the Paramount, Sat. 3/5

If DeVotchKa did not exist, the world of music would be a much paler, less interesting place. It’s comforting to know that from time to time – most recently every three or four years – Nick Urata and his multi-instrumentalist friends and bandmates will put something new out there, something that’s been quietly aging like a nice whiskey or a bottle of good rum. DeVotchKa’s newest full length, 100 Lovers, (officially released March 1) is a stunner of a record – expansive and wild, but perhaps their lightest and most playful record to date. Which isn’t to say the band has lost their poetic seriousness – it’s still there and quite intact in “The Alley” and “Ruthless”. But the joyous streak that runs through all of DeVotchKa’s records is a little closer to the surface, in all its heartbreaking beauty. “The Man from San Sebastian” is cinematic with a dash of post-punk (Echo & The Bunnymen-esque, even). The complex album is still sinking in, but those of you in Seattle and Portland can see the band this weekend when they hit the Northwest. Get tickets to the Saturday, March 5 Seattle show at The Paramount HERE and for the Thursday, March 3 Portland show at The Roseland HERE. –J.Price.


Cover art for 100 Lovers

Interview: Praga Khan of Lords of Acid

Lords of Acid has remained one the best bands to emerge from the ‘90s. They began as a project of the equally sublime Praga Khan [Maurice Engelen] and have so far released four albums, Lust, Voodoo-U, Our Little Secret and Farstucker, as well as several compilation/remix albums. Lords of Acid’s next CD is set for release this year – I cannot wait to hear it. They’ve maintained a permanent spot in my musical pleasure and the band returns to Seattle this Sunday, March 6th for a show at Studio Seven. I saw their Seattle show last year and it was one of the most important shows in my life. The driving force behind and in front of Lords of Acid, artist Maurice Engelen, aka Praga Khan, talked with me the other week right before starting the 2011 SonicAngel Lords of Acid Tour. Talking to the man who wrote some of my favorite music ever? Wonderful.

What do you think is behind Lords of Acid’s and Praga Khan’s popularity in the States?

Praga Khan: I think it was the fact that we were doing something unique. In those days there were two different two styles of music – you had dance music and industrial music. What we did was a mixture of these two, so we were using European dance beats but we were also using guitar lines. I think that combination made it special. On top of that we had these erotic lyrics that added a flavor to it. It was just a combination that wasn’t around. Sometimes you have dance stars trying to copy other bands and you don’t sound unique. I think that sounding unique was part of the success.

Your dad was an academic. Did you parents want you to go into music?

PK: No, not at all. He was really against it. Also my mom was really against it. In those days in the record business you didn’t make a lot of money, especially in Europe because there was not really a big record market. They thought I was going to end up a busker. It turned out fine. Now my mother is really proud – she follows everything I do.

She should be proud . . . I read that you toured in India early on and that’s where you selected the name Praga Khan?

PK: I was touring in the East, and Japan. It was always really difficult when I used my real name, Maurice Engelen. I always had to repeat it twenty times. So I thought maybe I better call myself John Doe or something. In India Raga Khan is like the most common name, but then I went to the offices of the composers society they had about fifty people with that name. So I said put a p in front of it – and they said, we do not have that. I said, okay, that is going to be me from now on.

What was traveling there like – have you been back?

PK: I’ve been to a lot of Eastern countries – it’s always a long flight of course. It’s very different from our Western society. There’s a lot of rules that need to be followed. I remember one of the first concerts I did in Japan – people were not reacting at all. When the show was finished they all gave me a standing ovation for ten minutes. That was really strange. During the concert I was wondering, what am I doing wrong? It’s their way of showing respect – not making noise between the songs. That’s just one of the things – there are dozens of things.

Have you finished the new Lords of Acid album?

PK: At this moment I’m working on the album. What I’ve experienced over the years is that it’s always very good to do a tour just before you go back into the studio. There’s a lot of fans you can talk to and get feedback. I always appreciate what they think of it. When you’re on tour you learn a lot.

What’s behind the song “I Sit on Acid”?

PK: It’s something you can see in different ways. You can see it in a sexual way, but you can see it in a drug way. We just wanted to play with the lyrics. Like the song “Pussy,” when you’re an innocent kid there’s nothing wrong with it, but when you’re an adult and you listen to it it’s something else. That’s really what I like – teasing people and trying to check out how far I can go. The good thing about Lords of Acid is that, over the years, we could always play all ages shows. Other bands who would copy Lords of Acid – because it was successful and they thought that’s what they had to do – would take it a little bit further. But when you take it further, then it loses the humor. That’s always been very important to Lords of Acids – that it’s not over the top. It’s tongue-in-cheek humor. When you’re a band and you try to copy Lords of Acid and you take it further then it becomes cheap. It needs to be funny. It was a problem – we didn’t do a lot of concerts in Belgium or in Europe because people all came out to see a sex show. If you want to see a sex show you better go to a sex club. With the shows we’ve always tried to create a social experience. People get dressed up and they’re part of the show.

Do you think the lyrics in Lords of Acid songs are empowering for men and women?

PK: A lot of people have told me over the years, that by listening to Lords of Acid they could express their sexuality. There’s nothing wrong in singing about sex. At the end of the day sex is the most normal thing in the world. It may be one of the few things that we all have in common.

Which Lords of Acid and Praga Khan albums are your favorites?

PK: They all sound quite different from each other. It’s not like we were a band that had a typical sound we tried doing over and over. There are a lot of bands that do that. I always want to be innovative. I always want to take it to the next level and I’m not afraid to change styles. I think that’s what keeps it interesting. When people hear the new tracks they’re going to be extremely surprised. The last thing I want to do is copy one of my own albums. You have to take some risks in your life. A fan who’s followed Lords of Acid all through the years is a real fan. Not the fans that keep nagging about the first album. When you follow an artist, you follow his career. That’s what makes it interesting, that it’s not always the same. There are a lot of popular bands nowadays who are using the old sounds again – the ones we used in the early ’90s – like next month there’s this new movie coming out called Sucker Punch. On the trailer they used “Crablouse” and new fans think it’s a new song. It was recorded back in 94. It sounds so up-to-date – that’s because people like Lady Gaga and Ke$ha are using these sounds so it’s like a cycle in time. We’re back where we started. They have virtual synth and we have the real ones.

Do you have a lot of keyboards/synths?

PK: I have, like a museum of them. It’s funny because these youngsters come into the studio and see these real synths and ask, is it real? They didn’t even know it existed. They’d only seen the virtual versions of them on their computer screens. It’s weird. It sounds almost the same but it’s virtual.


Praga Khan [Maurice Engelen] – photo from Lords of Acid’s facebook

How did you come up with the name Lords of Acid?

PK: In those days acid music was big in Europe, and on the other hand acid the drug was big in Europe. We just made the combination of the lords of the acid movement and also lords of ecstasy.

I was looking at some of the Praga Khan videos, like “Love” and “Tausend Sterne“. What do you remember about making them?

PK: These are cool videos. The thing about videos is that it looks amazing but when you have to do it, it’s something else. It’s either a really long day . . . [for “Love”] it was extremely cold, in the evening and I had to jump around in the rain with my feet tied up. It looked amazing but it was extremely unhealthy.

You’ve started your own label, SonicAngel. What does it involve?

PK: It’s a new business model. Nowadays young musicians don’t get a lot of opportunities to release their material. It’s such a shame because they’re really talented. We came up with a new business model where we put the artist and the fans in the middle of a musical ecosystem. The fans can buy a share of the artist, and in return they get a free download. On top of that, they get a share of the profits when it turns profitable. It’s working extremely well. In Europe we’re now in our fifth month and so far we’ve had sixteen bands realize their dreams to make an album. We’re bringing the business model to the States so we hope there are going to be a lot of young American bands to come onto the platform. It’s a new way for launching new artists as an answer to the dying record business. The first artist we did in Europe – fans who invested 10 euros got a 26 euro profit. We were the best investment of 2011. After four months there are so many talented artists who are getting the opportunity to work in the studio. I hope that we can do the same thing in America.

That’s awesome. . . In the song “Kiss Eternal” there’s a lyric, You just don’t know how sweet it is/To die from a vampire’s kiss.Are you interested in vampires?

PK: About 10 years ago a good friend of mine was the leader of the vampire community in New York, Father Todd. In those days he had a very interesting website called Sanguinarium. I don’t know if it still exists. He was always coming to the show and that’s why I came up with the idea to do a vampire song. Now it’s extremely popular – vampires are everywhere now. In those days it was really cult. Now if you’re not into vampires, you’re not part of society anymore.

Will there be more Praga Khan albums?

PK: I think we’re going to do an album next year. Right now Lords of Acid is my main concern. I want to make an innovative, great record that everybody’s going to say we had to wait ten years but it was worth it.

Do you see a lot of live shows?

PK: I can go to a rock concert or I can go to a dance venue. I’ve always been like that. I remember back in the early ‘90s, in Europe – not in America, because I think people are so much more open minded in America than they are in Europe when it comes down to music – it was impossible for a dance band to perform in a rock venue or in a festival. If you were into rave you had to perform in rave festivals or in discotheques. When you had a rock band you played in a rock venue or a rock festival. Now people listen to everything. I’m really happy that it changed.

Lords of Acid had a cameo in a porn movie. What movie was it?

PK: It was called 54. We were the house band. A lot of crazy stuff was happening around us, in between us, everywhere. Just yesterday my ex-guitar player in Lords of Acid [he’s working in the studio now] said I’m so thankful that you asked me to do that movie. That was so crazy. That’s probably one of the craziest things we’ve ever done.

Not many bands can say they’ve done that.

PK: No, that’s for sure.

interview by Dagmar

Show Review & Photos: Swans & Wooden Wand @ Neumos

I could tell that Swans were really happy about how Saturday night’s show went. And they should have been happy about it. While the audience applauded and moved to the music, there was very little – if no – conversation among the capacity crowd. Instead, they hung onto each lyric and note.

Swans’ music can make me feel really uneasy. I think it’s meant to unsettle. They began their show with a 25-minute version of “No Words/No Thoughts,” the first song off their new album, My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky. The song built up with each band member hitting the stage one by one, starting with a one note droning beelike hum began by Thor Harris. By the time singer/songwriter Michael Gira came out we were ready after the pulsing combination of sounds moving from the floor into our feet and through our bodies. It’s impressive to build this noise and not have it be a painful experience – I’ve been to a lot of loud shows that just really hurt the eardrums.

Other powerful songs were “Jim” (Let’s walk barefoot on this carpet of air/ Let’s piss on the city . . . Ride your mechanical beast to heaven/ Ride your beautiful bitch to the ultimate sin). “Eden Prison,” “Sex, God, Sex” (Praise the Lord . . . come into my heart sweet lord . . . I am open . . . I am torn apart/ I am naked and I am impure/I am sexless), “I Crawled” (Come into my room/ Put your hands on my throat), plus the absolutely great and new “Avatar”. When Swans came out for the one song encore of “Little Mouth,” Gira told us, “You’re all such a good-looking bunch of boys and girls in Seattle. You make me want to teach you a lesson.” “In Little Mouth” he used only his breath at times as vocals – it was beautiful. Gira’s voice was clear and it dug deep. Combined with the music it created an unrelenting symphony of what I might call submission music.

Opening the evening was Wooden Wand, an artist on Gira’s Young God Records label. James Jackson Toth, who makes up Wooden Wand, was joined by two additional excellent guitarists. He’s got an immediately attractive voice and sound. I particularly liked the song “The Mountain”. I would see this band again in a heartbeat.


Swans


Wooden Wand
Review & all photos by Dagmar

Gallery of Swans @ Neumos
Gallery of Wooden Wand @ Neumos

Show Review: Eric Clapton & Los Lobos @ KeyArena

No individual is more ingrained into the fabric of rock and roll than Eric Clapton. His resume includes stints with The Yardbirds, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and an amazing solo career including collaborations with many of the finest rock and blues musicians of our time. His legendary guitar skills that, forty-five years ago, led English graffiti artists to declare “Clapton is God”, were on full uninhibited display Saturday night at KeyArena.

Los Lobos opened, revving the audience up with their powerful blend of Chicano blues rock. David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas expertly traded off guitar solos and lead vocal duties. The highlight, of course, was the hybrid cover of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” with The Rascals’ “Good Lovin’”.

Leading with his baby blue Stratocaster, Clapton took the stage to a standing ovation and thunderous applause. He and his band launched into the standard 12-bar blues of “Key to the Highway” from Riding With the King, his collaboration with B.B. King. A few songs in he pulled out his classic cover of Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man”. This is where the show really started to take off. During the electric portions of the set Clapton attempted to melt the faces off of audience members in the front row with guitar solos of such intensity and complexity no mere mortal could hope to pull them off. Video screens to the left and right of the stage aided Clapton in blowing minds by showcasing his intricate fret work up close and personal.


Cover art for Clapton’s 2010 release, Clapton – photo by Terry O’Neill

A musician such as Eric Clapton only surrounds himself with the best. His current touring band certainly fits that description, matching him note for note and solo for solo. His rhythm section ably laid down the foundation over which his guitar spoke. His two keyboardists showed off their amazing talents with multiple solos.

Clapton drew out “Old Love” into a fifteen minute guitar solo of epic proportions, a certified aural orgasm. He followed this up with the feel good reggae groove of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff”. The audience joined, singing along to the chorus and surprisingly the air stayed smoke-free.

After this Clapton took a seat with a four-stringed acoustic guitar to churn out some unplugged numbers. “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” is a favorite from his Unplugged album and was received warmly. A pair of tracks from his new album, “River Runs Deep” and “When Somebody Thinks You’re Wonderful” were both solid but a little too slow and quiet for an arena crowd wanting Clapton to shred through his classics with his amp up to eleven.

An acoustic, shortened version of “Layla” led to another spirited audience sing-along. After this, Clapton plugged back in to finish the show.

The only Cream cover of the night came in the form of a high energy rendition of “Badge” that sent the baby boomers wild. “Wonderful Tonight,” one of the greatest love songs of all time, followed. Clapton finished strong and left the near capacity audience wanting more. Closing out the set was the loud and rambunctious “Cocaine”. The audience gave a standing ovation – and with their hooting and hollering, they demanded an encore.

Clapton and the band returned for the one song encore, “Crossroads”. With Clapton’s guitar fast and furious, the show ended on an adrenaline-laced high note. Clapton and his band took a collective bow. Then they exited stage left.

After this concert I believe the only way one could possibly understand the guitar virtuosity Eric Clapton possesses is to see him play live. Even though the energy waned in the middle of the set, his musicianship was spot on all night. He closed out the set stronger than he opened it. I think those graffiti artists in the Sixties may have been correct.

I have seen God. I have heard his power. His name is Eric and he plays a Stratocaster.