Mute Math at the 9:30 Club 2007.03.19
It was such a fun, fun show. I met icajoleu and N for dinner at Etete just off U Street on 9th for some very good Ethiopian, and after stuffing ourselves, icajoleu and I walked about a block or so to one of my favorite venues, 9:30 Club, for the super-early 8 pm Mute Math show. I loved it!
Mute Math are comprised of four people: Paul Meaney (keyboards/vocals, and other instruments), the amazing Darren King on the drums, Greg Hill on guitar and Roy Mitchell-Cardenas on the bass.
You can listen to four tracks from their first self-titled full-length album on their MySpace site and you can buy it here. It's also available from iTunes.
The concert was fantastic. I've been trying to think of how to describe the show, because it was definitely different from any other rock show I've seen. It was very musical, which I realize sounds stupid, because of course it was musical, duh, but what I mean is that it was clear these guys are all very good musicians and they put on a very talented performance from that perspective, and also they were nuts - they swapped instruments around regularly, it seemed (the singer/keyboardist would do percussion occasionally, the bassist also did percussion, etc.) and they used some strange instruments. At one point the guitarist picked up his pedal board and was "playing" his pedals!!! First time I've ever seen that. Another time, the drummer stalked away from his drum kit and looked around before he settled on a metal stool which he began to beat on with his drumsticks. Another really interesting thing was the bassist's very cool extended solo on an upright (string) bass and the way he would sometimes play both his bass guitar and a bass drum in a very well-choreographed sequence.
There was nothing static about this show. There was so much dynamism and energy and movement - not the least of which was the incredible deconstruction and reconstruction of Darren's drum kit - he kept taking one of the large drums off and moving it around. I was also impressed with the sturdiness and stability of Meaney's keyboard which was not only played beautifully by Paul throughout the show but also functioned as a pedestal to stand on and as a springboard for somersaults and other leapings about. Very entertaining! ;)
If all of this sounds chaotic, it wasn't. They created beautiful soundscapes during extended breakdowns of their alt-rock songs that at times sounded like rock-trance. It was wholly mesmerizing and at times I bounced and at times I swayed. Meaney's voice is pure and clear and passionate and every bit as enthusiastic as the band's playing. The set lasted about seventy minutes or so, and it was a lot of bang for seventy minutes. I was thoroughly impressed that they were able to create such beautiful, melodic atmospheric sound that really made me forget the world for that space of time. It didn't feel like seventy minutes - it felt a lot longer, and I mean that in the best possible way. Everything was so richly textured that you could lose yourself in the music.
ETA: One thing I forgot to mention is that their lighting design was also gorgeous! Really pretty colors - greens, blues and purples, but one thing I loved that I wish other lighting designers would do more of is that there were white spotlights aimed down on each band member at the front of the stage so despite the changing colors, we could see everyone very well. I know squintyt4e will understand when I say this makes a show so much more photographable.
Both icajoleu and I enjoyed this show a great deal. I would definitely see them again. And I hope they're writing new music and that they will have a new album soon (which is greedy, I know) because I'd love to see these guys do a full-length show.
"Chaos," one of my favorite tunes and the first one I ever heard on their MySpace site. The song that made me love their sound.
Many thanks to alizzy for the introduction to Mute Math eons ago. :D