Betta Promotions presents:
Thursday, December 22 2011 8:00 PM
18+ $8.00 ($12.00 Door)
Lincoln Hall
Santah formed while students at the University of Illinois, with their feet planted firmly in the dirty ground and their heads in the clouds. Luckily, before they grew up for good, Stanton McConnell (guitar/vocals), Ste- ven Plock (drums), Otto Stuparitz (bass), and Tommy Trafton (keyboards) took their blend of summery pop and atmospheric folk-rock to the late Jay Bennett’s Pieholden Studios, where the band found a home amidst the studio’s legacy of psychedelic Americana. The resulting White Noise Bed is a rambunctious re-imagining of ‘70s pop rock -- often sunny and sometimes shady. After finishing the record last May, Vivian McConnell (guitar/vocals/Stan’s sister) joined the group, and the quintet set out to tour the country. They have performed at festivals such as CMJ, SXSW, 35 Conferette, and the Pygmalion Music Festival; and have shared the stage with the likes of Surfer Blood, Cults, Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s, Company of Thieves, Young the Giant, Pomegranates, David Vandervelde, and Wave Machines. Santah is currently recording new material and anticipating the release of White Noise Bed, out this summer on No Sleep Records.
In Tall Buildings is the title of this record, the name of the band, and the title of a John Hartford song. This "band" is really Erik Hall and his songs. Erik is a natural multi-instrumentalist, equally at home playing electric guitar and percussion in NOMO, fuzzed-out bass in His Name Is Alive, or Motown-inspired drums in Saturday Looks Good To Me. But here we find him, for the first time, in his own element, alone in his home studio, layering track upon track of vocal harmonies, guitars, pianos, and heavy rhythms, to create his solo debut as a veritable one man band.
This is rock music, informed by Erik's array of influences. Imagine a Thom Yorke remix of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, or if Gillian Welch were to sit in with Steve Reich & Musicians. Bubbling synth sequences, driving distorted drum beats, interwoven finger-picked guitars, and pulsing woodwind chorales all find their way into the mix. Erik's lyrics unveil a personal world through stark imagery: a monster's lair, a bed of soft linens, a spilled glass of wine, a shared whiskey bottle, a plummeting star, and a walking man.
Tags
| 18+
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