About this Event
For the series "CC No. 2 - Craving Coincidence", ausland invited six musicians to curate a 2-day mini festival each. The final edition was put together by Thalia Zedek (Boston/US), who became known as author, guitarist and singer in bands such as "Live Skull" or "Come" since the 1980s before she started her solo career with the iconic album "Been Here and Gone" in 2001.
At WABE, Zedek and her band will play both the aforementioned solo debut – on the Thursday, together with Zedek's long-term collaborator Chris Brokaw –, as well as their latest release "Perfect Vision" (on the Friday). Singer-songwriter Myriam Gendron from Montreal opens the Thursday night, while New York based guitar'n'percussion duo 75 Dollar Bill will close the Friday with a special trio set with longtime collaborator, bassist Andrew Lafkas.
Thalia Zedek has been one of the most enduring rock musicians of the past four decades. From her auspicious beginnings in bands Uzi, Live Skull, and Dangerous Birds to her wider recognition in Come, Zedek established herself as a singular voice accruing accolades from critics and contemporaries including J. Mascis, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Mould.
"Been Here and Gone", her debut solo release originally released on Matador in 2001 on CD, marked a turning point in Zedek’s music. As Come was coming to a close, Zedek began exploring writing and performing as a solo artist, eventually backed by violist David Michael Curry, pianist Mel Lederman (both of which went on to perform with Zedek for two decades), as well as former Come bandmates Chris Brokaw and Daniel Coughlin. The idiosyncrasies of her voice were laid bare for the first time, revealing an even greater depth to her unique songwriting. The more spacious and rich arrangements sprawl and whisper with powerful vulnerability.
(...) The eleven tracks that comprise Been Here and Gone embody that tension of uncertainty with a hopeful edge of renewal. Zedek's indelible resilience lifts even the somberest laments into triumphs. Even on the album's three cover tunes, including a haunting rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love," Zedek's voice and guitar color every note with raw emotion, making each passing gesture personal. "Been Here and Gone" channels the thunder and roar of Zedek's past into a fragile magnificence. - Thrill Jockey
75 Dollar Bill was formed in 2012 in New York City by percussionist Rick Brown and guitarist Che Chen. Played on a deeply resonant plywood crate, Brown’s earthy, elemental rhythms are both the foundation and foil for Chen’s ecstatic, modal guitar style. The group’s electric, richly patterned music can shape shift from joyful dance tunes to slowly changing trance minimalism, an uncategorizable hybrid which draws on the modal traditions of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, early electric blues, Sun Ra’s space chords and the minimalist and No Wave histories of their hometown. While Brown and Chen are always at the band’s core, the band frequently expands into different configurations live and on record, from trios like this one, featuring the driving double bass playing of long-time collaborator Andrew Lafkas, to their Little Big Band to 25-piece marching band.
75 Dollar Bill has released four LPs and a string of digital and cassette releases. Their last studio album, I Was Real, was named record of the year by WIRE magazine in 2019, while Live at Tubby’s captured their 9-piece Little Big Band in peak form on the eve of the pandemic that would put live music on hold for the next two years.
Percussionist Rick Brown has been in bands in NYC since the late 70s, including Blinding Headache, V-Effect and Run On. Guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Che Chen has been an energetic organizer and improviser in the American underground since the mid-2000s. Double bassist Andrew Lafkas is based in Berlin and Norway where he continues to develop solo music and music for large ensembles through his Model Infinity Orchestra project. He is also a member of Oceans Roar 1,000 Drums, a trio with Todd Capp and Bryan Eubanks.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Wabe, Danziger Straße 101, Berlin, Germany
EUR 12.00