The Score

God help whoever tries to write a history of experimental music in
Seattle. Anyone so foolhardy faces three challenges: tallying dozens of
individual artists in the scene; assessing the influence (if any) of
those who move here and stay for just a year or two; and, most
perplexingly, tabulating all the musicians and groups continually
emerging from various collectives, including the decade-old Monktail
Creative Music Concern (MCMC).

With almost two dozen side projects, one-off ensembles, and
regularly gigging groups, the Monktailers defy categorization. The band
names, which range from ominous (Special O.P.S., Rusty Nail) to
whimsical (Johnny and the Primordial Poo remains my favorite) to
enigmatic and witty (Reptet, Non Grata, Deal’s Number), aren’t much
help.

Several years ago while I was researching an aborted book on
experimental music in Seattle, Monktail cofounder John Seman
explained why the collective has spawned so many groups: “The folks
involved get together under different aliases contingent on their
predilection within any situation that permits them to exist. Groups
generally range from 2 to 10 players and have free
improvisation/spontaneous composition as their underlying principle.
These specialized ensembles present the group members with the unique
opportunity to improvise in many different contexts—a performance
of one particular unit organically mutates into another,
offering the listener the unparalleled, or at least amusing, experience
of live, acoustic, sonic gymnastic hallucinations. It’s a gas.”

This weekend, MCMC celebrates a decade in Seattle with “The
Dangerous Petting Zoo” (Fri Dec 11, the Mix, 6012 12th Ave S, 8 pm,
$6), a sly riff on the kid-friendly “instrument petting zoos” that have
become a staple of classical chamber groups. Here, the Monktailers
offer a lineup including Figeater, Shit Orange Horsey (a
fun “dada-inspired, free metal group” with four singers, guitars, and
accordion), the parlor-folk songs of Goatgirl, and Bird May
Bite (the solo moniker for Monktail accordionist Scott
Adams). Led by clarinetist Beth Fleenor, Figeater make
improvised music that ranges from insistently propulsive and
buoyant—Fleenor can channel the spirit of Raymond Scott with
aplomb—to aloof atmospheres, thugged-up backbeats, and loony,
melismatic rants.

Finally, don’t miss the Esoterics (Sat Dec 12, St. Joseph’s,
732 18th Ave E, 8 pm, and Sun Dec 13, Holy Rosary, 4139 42nd Ave SW, 3
pm, $15–$20). Instead of serving up the usual holiday
blather—I can spastically croon “Sleigh Ride” all by myself,
thank you very much—this a cappella ensemble sings Alfred
Schnittke’s “Concerto for Mixed Choir,” a masterly synthesis of
liturgical chant and elements of contemporary composition; keep your
ears open for hovering drones and fleeting moments of remote, eerie
dissonance. Also on the program: John Joubert‘s “Sleep Canticle”
and the famed “Deutsche Motette” of Richard Strauss.