New York – We switched it up this showcase, widening our musical lens to feature artists of the electronic variety. This was also a lineup of solo artists, each with their own highly individual styles on beat wielding and performance art. First up was Quitzow, who was like a human octopus, with a hand on each synth on either side of her, playing simultaneously while turning knobs, pushing buttons, and switching between two mics to make incredibly catchy and clever electro-pop. The heavy affect on her voice through one of the microphones made her sound like she wasn’t singing out that much, but her vocals weren’t the result of minimal effort – she was belting those words like she meant them. Quitzow’s compositions were varied mood-wise, but all maintained a youthfulness about them, like the kind of music you can put on at a throwback slumber party with your friends.
The Wendigo came back for another showcase to summon more followers, after releasing a mesmerizing new video for “The World,” off the Alter Destiny EP. He was a quick mover on stage like a swamp witch ought to be, timing his movements to the beat and stomping on his light trigger to heighten the most beast downbeats in his songs. He chanted, growled, whispered, and belted over some catchy hooks, once again putting the crowd under a spell.
Carrie-Anne Murphy is Clapperclaw, an expressive, slow-burning electronic R&B solo project aside from her band Bad Credit No Credit. She sat at a round pedestal in the middle of the floor, with her synth and knob-twisting machines laid out before her, and everyone gathered around like Clapperclaw was a campfire. With songs like “Catsaway” (which is still stuck in my head to this day), the smooth as butter vibes gradually permeated the room and into the night, and her strongly resonating vocals rang out, grabbing the crowd gaze and holding all eyes and ears on her. She mentioned that she was sick and her voice might give out, but it sure didn’t sound like it. Her voice is pretty amazing.
Dreamboat Crusaderz closed us out, the electronic noise project of another amazing vocalist, Jesse Gold. Jesse uses her voice as the main instrument, looping operatic vocals into layered soundscapes, with minimal found sound samples. She probably could have been a legit opera singer, as she has great control over her voice, with balanced vibrato and pure sound that swelled and dwindled with suspense. She also worked the stage well, even though she could have just posted up at her electronics table and hugged the mic stand and still would have had our attention. With the lights dimmed red, we were transported to the world of Dreamboat Crusaderz on a polyphonic sonic wave.
