Alaska B/Brian Seeger + Wax Attic + Sunken Skulls + ttttttttttttttt

Nov 2, 2006

@ Casa Del Popolo

part of Nov 2006 update

After experiencing the first Montreal Knows No Wave show that the Havoc in Heaven crew put on a couple months ago, I was pretty stoked to see what they'd assembled for this fine autumn evening. Armed with ears and a distinct lack of earplugs I was out to conquer the world, but some good old fashioned noise seemed like a reasonable compromise. At the high high price of PAY WUT U CAN there were no complaints out of me, and the gnarly posters and perfect venue sealed the deal. The show started a tad late but the comfortable atmosphere (and nearby dépanneur) kept all my shit inside.

The scene starts with a couple of folks: Brian Seeger on banjo and tape loops and Alaska B on homemade noise instruments - what we got was abrasive but sometimes melodic experimental sounds... it was interesting stuff but the tape loop guy's homemade banjo pick-up kept malfunctioning.

Next up was Wax Attic, whose two guitars, drum machine, and screamed vocals lured me into expecting some sort of teenage high school rock band massacre before they plummeted into noise and massive irony ("SMOKE WEEEEED!!!"). Their opus is "Fuck No Skoolz" which can be heard on their piespace page.

Sunken Skulls dropped the beats next with their brand of dense, heavy noise. There was no relent at any point in their set, so they were by far the harshest of the evening's ceremonies. It was good clean fun for noiseheads like me, and very uniformly intense throughout.

Finally came the big guns. This was my second time seeing tttttttttttttt so I was pretty stoked to hear what they'd come up with this time. Well, it was basically the same set as last time, but I'd be damned if I cared. Their noisy yet melodic, chaotic yet rhythmic performance is one of the best this fine city has to offer, and their stage presence is minimal yet solid. I like the structure and tightness of their show; it was a good way to end the evening in contrast to the other more wild and improvised acts. Exquisite stuff, and even if you hear it recorded you need to go witness it live. Montreal's finest.

Matt Shimmer