Representing the former MO is Marlon Magas. The Chicago singer/synthist has had a strange career path: Under his full name, he yowled for no-wave shit-stirrers Couch and Lake of Dracula in the mid-'90s, then transformed himself into simply Magas, an electro-punk entertainer who matches Andrew W. K. for sweaty-jeaned energy onstage.
To backtrack, after LOD disbanded in '97, Magas fell into a funk, but seeing drum-machine-powered wildmen like Quintron and Wolf Eyes rekindled his enthusiasm. Teaching himself how to use a Roland MC-505, Magas began creating aggressive Suicide-style electronic rock that stresses the "rude" in rudimentary.
Stranger Personals
After two EPs, Magas dropped his debut full-length on Ersatz Audio Records, Friends Forever, earlier this year. The disc follows the raunchy, synth-rockin' dark alleys populated by artists like Adult., Electronicat, and Zeigenbock Kopf. The difference is Magas' beefy, reverbed growl, which recalls Alan Vega after a heavy bratwurst and beer intake. Live, Magas gracelessly dances around the stage, flaunting a hairy paunch, heavy-metal locks, and a demeanor that toggles between parody and painful sincerity. Ultimately, though, Magas wins you over through his sheer lust for life and relentlessly driving electro-rock histrionics.
By contrast, the bill happening Monday at the Jewel Box will be bubblin' with kitten-cute sounds that bridge the ever-shrinking gap between electronica and indie rock. Take Chicago-based producer Greg Davis: His first album, Arbor (2002, Carpark), stands as an indietronica landmark, a swoonful marriage of wood and silicon. Over the disc's nine tracks, Davis weaves nostalgia-triggering snippets of splashing water, children's voices, and birdsong into a Sunday-morning bliss-scape of meditative acoustic guitar, delicate digital signal processing, and complex beats. Arbor sounds like a dream collaboration between folk-guitar legend John Fahey and Boards of Canada.
Germany's F. S. Blumm also shows a predilection for folky guitar motifs rambling over minimal electronic blips and clicks and organic percussion. Blumm's cheerfully sad music--all played in real time--inhabits intimate spaces of the heart, and will curl lo-fi indie rockers' toes as well as those of hardened IDMers. He makes intricately detailed music that's simply beautiful, with a side order of whimsy.
Portland multimedia magnate E*Rock (Eric Mast) works as an illustrator/visual artist, publishes Thumb fanzine, runs the Audio Dregs label, scores music for animator Mumbleboy, and creates organically grown IDM with guitarist/vocalist/flautist Colleen French. E*Rock's recent debut album, Conscious (Audio Dregs), crams myriad odd and pretty sounds into compact spaces with charm and ingenuity. Like all the artists on this bill, E*Rock's music is more likely to inspire cuddling than dancing. One, two, three--aaawwww! DAVE SEGAL
Magas appears with ROBO.trash DJs Samuel Kirkland, Kris Moon, and Recess Fri Oct 3 at Noiselab, 924 E Pike St, 323-2189, 21+, $5.
Greg Davis, F. S. Blumm, and E*Rock appear with Randy Jones Mon Oct 6 at the Jewel Box Theater, 2320 Second Ave, 441-5823, 21+.
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