Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Recording: Cares

Artist: Cares

Songs: Knowing + Resolution Body

Recorded at MOCA (Not Dead Yet Presents), June 29, 2019.

Cares - Knowing

Cares - Resolution Body

There was a bit of physical/emotional dislocation and relocation at this show, sorting through the realities and ironies of our gentrifying city. Recently a sort of semi-abandoned zone where off-the-grid culture flourished (and just over from where some cool DIY loft spaces used to be) and in a formerly-abandoned building (where audiences and musicians like the ones at hand used to sneak in and explore and smoke a joint, looking out over the city) this show took place in the new Museum of Contemporary Art, now refinished with a sort of austere/pricey minimalism and filled with Expensive Things. From the back of the long, rectangular space, held up by large circular concrete pillars, it looked not unlike a show taking place underneath a highway overpass — and by virtue of the space, it sounded more than a little like one too. Is this a simulacrum of independent culture, selling us back our nostalgia for a recently-departed past at a bespoke markup? Or is it just a matter of trying to find any sort of space in a city where space for the DIY spirit is getting crowded out?

Like a black and tan or other cocktail where ingredients with different specific gravities co-exist separately until forcefully mixed together, James Beardmore's mix of pretty ambience and unpretty weltzerstörungsgeräusch creates an uneasy listening experience. Still exploring his Regular Unconscious, there were an equal number of weird pop moments and abrasive noisebursts in this set.

[Cares will be playing a collaborative set alongside WHQB at See-Scape next week, as well as solo opening for Xiu Xiu and Jessica Moss on Wednesday, September 25th.]

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