LPR Presents at Nublu (151 Ave C)
Sep
21
Fri September 21st, 2018
8:30PM
Nublu
Minimum Age: 21+
Doors Open: 8:00PM
Show Time: 8:30PM
Event Ticket: $15
Day of Show: $18
This is a general admission event at Nublu 151, 151 Avenue C, New York NY 10009
Pink Air is the new album from the distinctive and idio- syncratic New York cult band Elysian Fields. Their 11th record is a post-apocalyptic rock & roll joyride, touching on themes as far-reaching as natural disasters and global warming (the menacing, carnal “Storm Cellar”), life un- der a narcissist would-be dictator (“Philistine Jackknife”), white supremacy (“Knights Of The White Carnation”), censorship and the erasure of history (the dystopian sci- fi of “Karen 25”), vulnerable families falling through the social safety net (“Household Gods”), and meditations on time, friendship, loss, and mortality (“Time Capsule,” “Star Sheen”). Despite its mordant tone, the record never feels heavy handed, its mood lightened with infectious musical hooks and doses of humor and satire.
Pink Air was tracked in the mountains outside Woodstock NY and finished in the Manhattan lair of studio wunder- kind Thomas Bartlett (The National, Sufjan Stevens). Its eleven songs are united by rock strut and cavern reverb, swathed in the darkness of a beat club, pinned under the shadow of a modern nightmare.
Jennifer Charles’s singing has never been more iconic, infusing each track with her legendary onstage charis- ma, her beguiling song craft remaining undimmed, ev- ery chorus resonating like your car stereo was invented just to play it. The lean, stinging leads and hard-driven rhythm guitar playing comes from Bloedow, resting on the meaty groove and head-cracking backbeat of all-time major leaguer Matt Johnson (Jeff Buckley, St. Vincent), a key player in Elysian Fields since the band was forged in the music crucible of fin de siècle downtown New York City. Other giants of the NYC scene who appear are six- string ace Vernon Reid (Living Colour), returning EF col- laborator Mark Plati (David Bowie), Simon Hanes (Tredi- ci Bacci), and CJ Camieri (Paul Simon, Bon Iver), with Bartlett riding the virtual mixing desk.
Painting the present landscape in her precise and often caustic lyrics, Jennifer trains her gaze on the personal, in- timate and spiritual, depicting friends and lovers in a nov- elistic way, against a backdrop of change and fear, politi- cal and social riptides. Sex (“Tidal Wave”), and romance (“Beyond The Horizon”) are thrown in for good measure.
This Girl Angel and her feathered familiars in Elysian Fields have always soared among lofty air currents. For Pink Air, they clip those wings, touching down to roam the badlands with a rock & roll spirit animal.
Elysian Fields
Elysian Fields official site | Elysian Fields on Facebook | Elysian Fields on Bandcamp | Elysian Fields on Instagram
Jennifer Charles and Oren Bloedow are the writers who make up the critically-acclaimed band that formed in New York in 1995 and went on to develop a cult following of faithful fans around the world. After a dalliance with a ma- jor label for their first album in 1996, EF recorded their second full-length with Steve Albini, generating a response from the label that had the band asking to be released from their contract. They went on to forge a path outside of the mainstream, recording with a number of independent la- bels over the years, most recently releasing the evocative Ghosts of No in 2016. Jennifer and Oren are also known for their work outside of Elysian Fields, recording two albums of Sephardic diaspora music on John Zorn’s Tzadik label under the name La Mar Enfortuna. Jennifer was part of the supergroup Lovage along with Dan the Automator and Mike Patton, and has appeared as a guest on countless re- cordings, including those of French stars Jean-Louis Murat and Wax Tailor, and experimental composer JG Thirlwell. She has also maintained a career in theater alongside mu- sic, with leading roles in numerous Off-Broadway produc- tions over the years. In 2016, she originated the part of the Girl Angel in Du-Yun’s opera Angel’s Bone, which went on to win the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Oren has served as a secret musical weapon for a host of artists, from Meshell Ndegeocello to Marina Abramov- ić to Anohni. He was the bassist for the legendary New York band Lounge Lizards, and guitarist for the Original Broadway production of Fela! in 2010. Jennifer and Oren have also composed together for theater and dance pieces, and their music has appeared in television, film, and com- mercials around the world. Elysian Fields regularly tour in Europe, where their most loyal following can be found in France. They are “musicians’ musicians,” attracting es- teemed players from around the world to sit in with their live sets. In 2015, they opened a music venue in Brooklyn called The Owl Music Parlor.
Photo Credit: Michael Lavine