November 15, 2013

Friday night live at Transistor: Plein Air, Axons and Collages. Sound by Jon Monteverde.

Plein Air is Kirsten and Francisco. They are two former bandmates from Germany and Miami, sharing a common goal of exploring the minimalist side of live music with influences from German/British synth of the early '80s, to college radio of the pre-grunge '90s, and with an approach like that of Miles Davis in his direction of "Kind of Blue."

Their Transistor included a curated selection of their unique brand of non-loud minimalist pop. The set begins with "Golden Mean," a rumination on Joseph Campbell's call to adventure and the Scylla and Charybdis parable. The way through is the golden mean, but "what I mean to say is that the gold is in the meaning." Next is "Moon Set," the title of which is a comment on the end of the 20th century, 2nd millennium, and Mayan calendar. The words are set to a lounge-y nod to the sounds of the night ... followed by a stream of other meaningful and aesthetic endeavors.

Visit Plein Air on YouTube.

Axons is the solo project of songwriter and producer Adele Nicholas (right), who is also one half of the Chicago duo Love and Radiation. Her music combines elements of power pop and electronica. Her live show features live looping of percussion, guitar, vocals and synths.

Visit Axons' website.

Collages is the music project of Chicago native Jesse Bustamante, "and through this moniker Jesse creates an array of dream pop and lush psych pop sound" (The Deli Chicago) mixing "drum loops, live drums, guitars, loop pedals and keys into their live shows, as well as projected visuals" (Ian Jones, The Examiner). For this Transistor set Collages will be playing solo with a sampler, keyboard and guitar. Ethan Herdrich will provide visuals.

Visit Collages' Bandcamp page.