Ride that harmonic ‘Edge’
In Concert
“Edgefest”
At Kerrytown Concert House
Prices and times vary: see www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com
It’s a gathering some of the most out-there music you’ve never heard and probably never heard of. But that’s a good thing, because now you can.
There’s an embarrassment of variety, as there is every year, at the ongoing “Edgefest” at the Kerrytown Concert House. You have until tomorrow to catch at least one of the many bands, a symposium or even the parade on Saturday (bring your own instrument and join in, kids).
The Concert House itself is a quaint venue – even quainter than the modestly charming Canterbury House up the street – and if you’re going to listen to free (in the experimental sense) jazz, this is the place to hear it.
It’s called “Edgefest” for a reason. Regardless of your preferred music genres, there is ample opportunity over the next few days to find something new or simply expand your musical contextual wisdom – plus, I’m sure you could pick up a few buzz words like “harmonic” and “contemplative studies” to drop nonchalantly at a party. And even if you don’t pick up a CD or join a mailing list, the performances are a major part of Ann Arbor’s diverse music scene.
Go to kerrytownconcerthouse.com for scheduling information.
Andrew Sargus Klein0
MUSIC
Unexceptional, folksy indie, all the way through
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Phosphorescent
Pride
Dead Oceans
Phosphorescent’s Pride is folksy indie and little more.
There are no exceptional tracks, only the same rhythm, vocal style, instruments and mellowed emotion. All eight songs melt together with Matthew Houck’s soft whine that tells of prairies and wilderness, inflected with gentle harmonica and maracas. “Wolves” is perhaps its strongest moment, a darkly picturesque ballad about fighting animals: “They’re tearing up holes in the house / Tearing their claws in the ground / Staring with blood in their mouths / Mama they won’t let me out.”
If this stuff would normally be your venue, get Iron & Wine’s recent The Shepard’s Dog. Both albums have an earthy, folk feeling to them, but the latter offers more than Pride’s mindlessly pretty, monotonous sound.
Karen Stastevich