Lichens and Matteah Baim at the BCA Mills Gallery

Wednesday, September 26.
End of an Empire Presents:
Lichens (Kranky, Holy Mountain)
Matteah Baim (Dicristina)

Mills Gallery
Boston Center for the Arts

539 Tremont Street
Boston (South End)

617.426.8835
http://www.bcaonline.org
8pm/ $8/ All ages

BIOS

LICHENS Is the personal vehicle of Robert A.A. Lowe (90 Day Men), created for solo and collaborative performances and recordings. Lichens has performed steadily in Chicago, beginning at the Arthur magazine-sponsored Million Tongues Festival during the summer of 2004, as well as at various venues in New York. Lichens live is a transfixing experience, looping wordless vocals into curtains of drone. Lowe adds acoustic and electric guitars, percussion and other effects to create alternately rough-hewn and delicate works. In addition to his mesmeric current release, The Psychic Nature of Being (on Kranky), Chocolate Industries is releasing a limited edition 7 inch single by Lichens packaged inside a book of art Lowe curated with contributions by Jon Beasley, Justin Schaeffer, Devendra Banhart and others. Lowe's new outfit, Singer, opened for Battles on their most recent US tour and was recently signed to Drag City; the band also features members of U.S. Maple and Bird Show.

"Lichens... debuted at the Million Tongues festival last summer. Lowe's finger picked acoustic guitar sounded like he¹s spent time pondering Fahey's legacy, but his looped, wordless vocals were reminiscent of Meredith Monk." - Bill Meyer, Chicago Reader, March 18, 2005

http://www.kranky.net/artists/lichens.html

http://www.holymountain.com/lichens.html

MATTEAH BAIM is best known as one half of Metallic Falcons, the lo-fi prog metal outfit she assembled with CocoRosie's Sierra Casady. As you'd expect from someone in that position she's been known to fraternise with a wealth of notable freak folk scenesters including Devendra Banhart and Jana Hunter, both of whom make contributions to this excellent album. The accompanying blurb bills this album as a 'type of New Age Grunge', and while that's not an entirely inaccurate by account, it hardly begins to do this album justice. Far from the ramshackle, makeshift sounds that characterised the Metallic Falcons album, "Death Of The Sun" shows a great deal of poise. Baim's solo debut makes for a wonderful retake on the psych-folk explosion and shows that she's ambitious enough to strive for something beyond that, finding her own very distinctive voice along the way. Her band, Death's Groove, features Robert A.A. Lowe of Lichens and Butchy Fuego of Pit Er Pat.

http://www.myspace.com/matteahbaim

http://dicristinarecords.blogspot.com

Upcoming:
October 10: James Blackshaw at the BCA Mills Gallery
November 2: Alasdair Roberts, Charalambides, and Heather Leigh Murray at the Nave Gallery