Deep in the heart of
Harvard Square lies the best record shop in the Boston area, a quiet
place known as Twisted Village, where owners Wayne and Kate welcomed
the four-piece collective from Montreal to entertain an intimate
gathering of current fans of the group. I say "current fans" bearing in
mind that after hearing their stunning debut and witnessing the
talented display, it won't be long before many others catch on. Of
course the loose connections to godspeed will no doubt be somewhat
helpful. The 20+ crowd that gathered sat quietly in a dimly-lit store
while the group played improvisational variants on tunes and melodies
heard on their debut. Those present were Anthony on guitar, Alexandre
St. Onge on electrics, Will Eizlini playing tablas, bowl, and other
percussives and Sam Shalabi on electronics and an oud (an Egyptian
precursor to the lute). The combination of Middle Eastern sounds
combined with electronic noises and delayed guitars was hypnotic to say
the least. Pleasant and peaceful, this is surely a moment I will never
forget. The band was quite excited as this crowd was most likely bigger
than the one present at the Knitting Factory in NYC only a couple
nights earlier. The band is criss-crossing the northeast US over the
next couple weeks, their dates are available at the
alien8 website. I'm already planning my journey to Providence to see this show again.