Morning Discovery - Chapelier Fou

There are times, sitting at the desk in the cold of a November morning, watching the coffee cup steam and the strangers stroll by down the sidewalk outside, when the best kind of music is the kind that helps a person to chill and think. Not infrequently, I search for new tunes which can fill this role, which can aid me in getting down into an a.m. groove. Today, I found just the thing.

Chapelier Fou (Mad Hatter in English) - terrific slowed down and subtle French electronica from the city of Metz - is the work of Louis Warynski. And Salty Von Brickel is now officially a fan.

Morning Discovery - Chapelier Fou

Agony & Ecstacy at Doug Fir

Well now, I've waited a fair stretch before saying anything about the sorta-recent Alela Diane show at Doug Fir. I suppose I've been letting my impressions percolate and settle into place. In reality, I needn't have waited so long to sermonize on what I experienced there at the round table with a small group of intimate, and largely like-minded, old friends.

The opening act was one Ms. Marissa Nadler, a singer-songwriter whose somewhat tripped-out space-cadet, vaguely Mazzy Star'esque music the album Little Hellshad caught my ear in late summer. I was quite excited to see her play and - to my later shame and embarrassment - shared this fact with my companions over dinner. Little did I realize the boredom which was to ensue once she took the stage and embarked upon a set of epic tedium. She has a lovely voice, is good at coaxing beautifully shimmery sounds from her instrument, but apparently lacks the gene responsible for variety. As I listened, not sure whether to sleep or hurl my bottle of PBR against the far wall, she went on and on, playing songs which sounded painfully, similarly dirge-like. In the end, I'll stick to the descriptive phrase I coined mid-set - "music to bore the stoned."

Luckily for the modest crowd, the entire tone and energy changed when Alela Diane (accompanied by the none-too-shabby-herself Alina Hardin) appeared beneath the lights. With vocals projecting perfect clarity, she sang her way through a list of some great material. Rolling through wonderful compositions from White As Diamonds to The Rifle to Tatted Lace, Diane showed that - in contrast to the aforementioned opening act she manages to convey a totally distinctive, unique, easily identifiable style, yet still mix up her rhythms, cadences, and emotional tones in a way which elevates the experience of the audience. I'll be running out to buy To Be Stillthe one album of her's which I'm missing and can't wait for another show.

Agony & Ecstacy at Doug Fir