Review: MONGAR - Spectra Visions EP [2015]

Last month, Tel Aviv based duo, Mongar, finally released their first EP, Spectra Visions. I first experienced Mongar at a show at Koro back in November 2014 (see review). I say "experienced" because it's not just seeing them and hearing them but being amazed by how much creative musicianship can come from only two people. 

  As witnessed in the live show, Mongar, made up of Roman (guitar/effects) and Hagai (drums), play experimental, instrumental post/math rock. This record, although only 4 tracks, shows off their style pretty well, as well as showing their versatility. 
  The EP starts with the quite bluesy sounding Sheriff Goodman. With its twangy guitars, steady drumming and a few "spacey" effects, it has the potential to be a theme tune to some sort of sci-fi Western. Whereas Sheriff Goodman has very much a set style and even theme to it, the other three tracks on here lean towards the 65daysofstatic/Alright The Captain style of experimental instrumental music. They all still stay quite futuristic and calming despite a few shots of heaviness.
  Doklyn is a trippy track that experiments with time signatures and rhythm patterns. It's relaxing but gets more punchy as it goes on. Zoltar and Chocky are more metallic, with the former fusing doom-like blasts with smooth electro and samples and the latter taking more from the Meshuggah school of playing.

   For those who don't really like instrumental and/or experimental music, the tracks are still short and comprehensible enough that they should be considered enjoyable by lovers of music in general. Mongar manage to show an ability to even make soundtracks and soundscapes, which is a very admirable and respectable quality. I am glad that, on top of being impressive live, they also pull off great recordings with slick production and a lot of professionalism. I'm looking forward to an album and more shows!

5/5

Live Review: Lailah and Document @ Ozenbar, Tel Aviv [2nd January 2015]

Tonight, I bring myself to one of Tel Aviv's more well known music venues, the Ozenbar. I used to come here quite a fair bit in the first year or so of moving to Tel Aviv, but there hasn't really been many shows of interest here in quite some time. This evening sees a show put on by club night/line/whatever it is.. Reflektor featuring previously reviewed moody duo Laila and post-punk band Document.

Laila

  As regular readers may know, I already like Laila. I like that there's a singing drummer, the dreaminess of the guitars and, at times, the catchiness of their choruses. Especially tonight, with a shorter set than the headlined show at the Zimmer that I previously reviewed, everything seems more structured. Drummer Maya and guitarist Avishag play physically closer together which helps them to stay even more in time and also helps us as viewers see them more as a team. Laila's style of what I would consider "heavy shoegaze", due to its mixture of dreamy distorted guitars (Avishag), slow pounding drumming and heartfelt belted-out vocals (Maya), does not seem to have gotten that many people at tonight's show all that "pumped up". However, a crowd did form and some Laila virgins may have just found themselves a new band to get into. If they are anything like me, they have probably also gone away with the chorus "We've gone far and landed on Mars" swimming around in their heads.
Girls...when are we going to get some form of record from you two?! I'm sure I'm not the only one eagerly awaiting that.
4/5

Document

  Last band of the night before the Reflektor party is Document. I actually heard the band name in passing recently and was then contacted by frontman Nir directly after he discovered the blog. Despite classing themselves as post-punk, the vibe I got from the tracks and videos I checked out prior to the show was more new wave/electro indie. I guess there's a fine line...
  As the band open their set, we get dark and brooding guitars being played on top of electro beats. It seems pleasant enough, but I can already say that both Nir's vocals and the overall energy of the band could be stronger. Nir seems a little out of tune at times. There can be several reasons for this; the monitors may not be loud enough for him, he might already have a bit of a bad throat today or it could have been purposely out of tune. Either way, was a little off putting, personally. According to the setlist, the song is either called New or is a brand new song they've been working on and not named yet. If it's the case of the latter, that could be another reason why the vocals were not spot on. The band in general also seem quite static, but that can be considered normal for this sort of style.

Photo by: Nastya Levin
  Like the first song, second song "Made A Mess" is also dark with some beautiful jangly guitars (Jude and Yaniv), a solid bassline (Barack) and some ridiculously well played electro beats (Amir). To be honest, Amir's drumming is so good that it became a bit of a focus for me. The following songs Weeks and Can't Decide expose Document's more post-punk side. Weeks, the band's first song of the set to come off of their Reset Your Mind EP, reminds me of bands like Wire and Magazine. It's quite an upbeat and intense song yet I'm still not really getting that in the performance. Nir sings well but there is no real expression. The rest of the band, apart from the drummer, still remain pretty static. Can't Decide has some very nice harmonies, both vocally and instrumentally. It is on this track that the Flaming Lips quality of Nir's vocals shine through. It works with their style of music and does not come off as too much of a copycat. Songs Idiot and On The Wall are both nice, the latter especially having some interestingly menacing sounding verses and a bouncy chorus. Last two songs of the set, Where You Are and Settle Down are both off the EP. Where You Are has a strong Cure-meets-Flaming Lips sounds. Nice and upbeat with just the right amount of post-punk. The song gets a few people dancing but I still can't help but feel that if the band itself, especially Nir as frontman, was more physically active then that would have encouraged the crowd to dance more. Drummer Amir still remains the most enthusiastic and even moving the most...and he's sitting down! Final song Settle Down is also upbeat and quite a rocking number. The vocal melody at times is quite reminiscent of Nirvana's In Bloom but the song itself still sticks to the band's post-punk and electro indie ethic.   
  The band itself is tight and I can't really fault their musicianship. The songs themselves are also well written and the band has potential to really make a name for themselves in the post-punk/indie world. Based on their performance, they are not the most fun or interesting bands I've ever watched. I don't know if this was a one-off and they were all feeling a bit lethargic but even Nir's interaction with the crowd, talking about the EP and about the work they are doing on the album, all seems a bit lacklustre. If the band themselves just had a little bit more vitality in their performance, then they could be competing with the big names.
3/4

Live Review: Jeronimo and Bones Garage @ Radio EPGB, Tel Aviv [21st December 2014]

Tonight, I have come to one of Tel Aviv's more trendy "nightclub" type music venues, Radio EPGB. I have been here before for a couple of shows and there tends to be a mix of locals who come in for the bar's ambience and showgoers coming especially for the bands. Tonight is the same sort of thing. As soon as I pass the bar, I can tell that the American Taglit crew is in. A whole group of American girls telling the Israeli barmen how much they love Tel Aviv, despite having only been here for 5 hours.

Jeronimo

After a bit of a wait, young rock band Jeronimo take the stage. For those of you who follow my blog, you may have read a previous review of this band when they headlined at Koro. Despite impressing me and the handful of other onlookers that stayed to watch them that night, it was a disappointing night for them. The other acts they watched and enjoyed left without even apologising. I think we can all agree that's not on! Even if I have to leave early for whatever reason when performing or watching a show, I would explain why to the acts I was missing and try and see them at another show. I am here seeing them again because they are a good band and deserve the support.
There are luckily a few more people here tonight, not just the Americans surrounding the bar. Starting off their set with the slightly new wave sounding Doubt, there are a few people actually gathered paying attention and some of them were even dancing a little bit. As time goes on, more people are actively watching them and the venue itself fills up a bit more. We are treated to an array of fairly heavy tracks tonight including old skool rock number Scratch, groovy 'new' track Fast Walker and the full throttle rock track Aircraft Boneyard. The latter 2 both have dynamics within the song which help show the band's song structure abilities and that they're not just your average boring rock band. Frenzied track Geronimo doesn't quite get the reaction it should; a lot of people just standing around when they should at least be jumping or nodding their heads.
The band were playing well. Bassist Eilon didn't always sound precisely on point but he was moving about a fair bit. When a musician is physically involved in the performance, you have to allow the odd bum note or being out of time. Guitarists/vocalists Yonatan's and Auriya's shared vocals help set them apart from most other rock bands due to the difference in tones. Auriya has quite a British new wave sounding, raw vocal where Yonatam has a nice clean rock tone. Drummer Itamar sounded pretty flawless and kept the band together; played a few epic big finishes. Hopefully everyone here tonight enjoyed their set but I have been getting the feeling that a majority of people here tonight are here for the next band.
4/5

Bones Garage

Having not done any prior research on Bones Garage, I was surprised by the beginning of their set for 2 reasons. Opener A.D.D. starts with dreamy guitars and a pounding rhythm that eventually picks up the pace; has that 65daysofstatic vibe. Had a really nice guitar melody. Then out of nowhere, this girl arrives on stage and starts singing. I didn't see anyone else on stage so I assumed one one of the guitarists was going to sing. Ariel is the band's front woman and as soon as she starts we are treated by quite a low, mature voice coming from someone looking quite a lot younger than the voice suggests. It has an almost Nico (Velvet Underground) quality about it. At first, I was a little bit put off by her accent....but it grew on me. As the song went on, it grew into something more than just dreamy indie. Drummer Dor was banging out some trippy dnb type beats. Those familiar with my blog or who know me personally will know that I'm a bit of a sucker for these sort of beats. Anything danceable gets my vote. It was a great opening track, as my and most probably everyone else's attention was grabbed.

The rest of their set is full of dreamy guitars with sweet and catchy melodies, the odd noisy guitar effects, pretty dual vocals and moody vibes. They have a bit of an 80s sound with a hint of that of...well...more modern bands who are heavily influenced by the 80s. There are some catchy songs such as Equals, Losing Myself and Seasons Breaks which have you humming (if not singing) along. Stand out track has to be the song which sounds almost "horror punk" but softer....which is funny because it turns out to actually be called Horror Show. There are some beautiful vocal harmonies between singer Ariel, guitarist Edan and, although I couldn't see him, the magical extra voice coming from drummer Dor. A singing drummer...that's another plus!
The band did have a full house but it is not entirely clear if everybody there REALLY understood the band. I was pleasantly surprised by the band's mixture of styles. As interesting as the vocals were, it did seem a little off key at times. I did see Ariel cough a few times, so she may have not been on top form tonight. I hope to see them again on a bigger stage where they can have a bit more movement and where I can see the whole band.
3.5/5

Live Review: Laila and Haziz Veraam @ The Zimmer, Tel Aviv [27th November 2014]

Tonight, I come to The Zimmer, the place considered Tel Aviv's hub of the weird and wonderful, to see a band I have not seen in quite some time.

Haziz Veraam

As I enter the Zimmer, albeit a tad early, there's not that many people here but the first act is already setting up. The whole performance area was filled with TV monitors of different shapes and sizes. In front of the monitors was a set up of a sound desk, modules and sound generators. I'm not going to pretend to really know all that gets used in experimental, noise and found sound performances. I still haven't much personal experience with those sorts of things. I studied sound recording, using computer software and a bit of akai sampling and tape looping but not the gizmos that I witness here tonight. Haziz Veraam is an ambient music project from Zimmer owner and half of Hetzi Moakh Al Ketamine. To be honest, I think I missed a good part of this performance. When I came in, I just thought it was a bit of a soundcheck or simply some background ambience as an introduction to the evening. I left the place for a while and came back to a slightly fuller Zimmer. As the ambient music of rapid bass lines played, there was static, spirals and all sorts of weird visuals on the monitors. If I had more of an understanding of how this sort of thing is done (and I will start looking into it), I probably would be more engaged in it. It is however a nice calming start to the night and the installations and the visuals were a nice change to see at a show.
2.5/5

Laila

Tonight's headliners Laila are made up of Maya on drums and lead vocals and Avishag on guitar and backing vocals. I have seen these girls a few times before and I always enjoy them. They play moody, almost sludgey "shoegaze" music. They start off the set with a slow, heavy hitting intro which builds along with Maya's vocals. From the get go, Maya has a lot of emotion in her voice. From what I can make out from the lyrical subject matter, she tends to sing about love and/or unrequited love. Her feelings show through as she spits her lyrics with every breath. Changing her vocals from dreamy and seducing one moment to sharp and aggressive the next, her vocals match their musical stylings. Avishag's guitar playing has similar dynamics, using her pedals to good effect. Avishag also helps with backup vocals, which are nowhere near on par with those of Maya's; it's better than just standing there doing nothing. It is a little disconcerting that the two girls are a fair distance apart on the..er...stage, which is really just the floorspace. It's normally nicer to see a band a little bit closer knit, but musically the girls still manage to keep it together.
Having been a singing drummer myself, I can say first hand that it's not all that easy. If you're doing too much complicated drumming, it can make you run out of breath and disrupt your singing. If you're concentrating too much on the singing, you can get distracted from your drumming. Maya manages to play simple enough yet still effective drum patterns that not only help accentuate Maya's meaningful lyrics, it also frees her up to sing melodically. Some of the songs nearer the end have an almost indie feel with "ooohs" and "wooohs", which in this case I found quite endearing.
Throughout the set, the monitors which were set up help add a bit of atmosphere and theatrics with varying visuals such as cowboys, trains, fish and space. Whether these visuals actually had any real purpose...probably not, but this is expected at a Zimmer show. The barmy lot! During a more frantic part of the set, the monitors flash rapidly, adding to the intensity of their playing. That I found impressive. At the very end of the show, the girls swap roles and end the show with a more heavy, dirge-like piece. It's always good to see band members' expanded talents.
Moving from dreamy, low-fi rock to more harsh and heavy styles, Laila are captivating enough to keep your head a-boppin' and you toes a-tappin'.
4/5

Live Review: Zimmer//Koro Play Swapsies #1, Tel Aviv [Friday 7th November 2014]

Reel Dinazeor

Brutal Gardener

Neta Polturak

Hetzi Moakh Al Ketamine

In Tel Aviv, there are quite a few music venues and bars that do live music. Within the very underground scene, there are two fairly leading venues; Koro and The Zimmer. Koro, even in its original form as both Rogatka and Petiphone, hosts shows week after week spanning several different genres, currently focusing on punk and hardcore, due to the clan of co-owners being from different bands of that ilk. The Zimmer also focuses on the underground scene and tends to go for a more eclectic and surreal taste of music than the Koro tends to. This evening is the first installment in this month's line-up swap between the 2 venues. Prior to the show, I had no details about the acts apart from their names so I went to this open minded.

Hetzi Moakh Al Ketamine (Eng. Half a Brain on Ketamine)

The first act is a 2-man outfit, consisting of a guitarist and a guy sitting down at a table of mixers and, I'm guessing, sound modules. I didn't get a close enough look. From first glance, I thought that his was either going to be digital hardcore, noise or electro. I was ever so slightly surprised. Hetzi Moakh.... have a very soundscape vibe. It's "shoegazing noise soundscape". It was all quite chill. While the guitarist plays dreamy yet also at times menacing melodies, it is accompanied by clicks, beeps, heavy pulses and whirling sounds. I'm still not really much of an expert on this kind of thing, but even though this was experimentation, it sounded seamless and well structured. These guys could easily score some sort of thriller movie or psychological drama. It was a shame I had no idea what the guitarist was singing when on the mic as there was just so much reverb, but apart from that, nothing seemed wrong or out of place. The only issue is that they did what seemed like only 2 separate "compositions" in the space of about 15 minutes and then walked off stage. That's where I and this sort of thing do not really meet. I like a bit of interaction. Other than that, it was an interesting intro to the night.

3/5

Brutal Gardener

Brutal Gardener is one guy with some FX pedals, a sound module and what I later saw to be an oscilloscope. He plays what very much constitutes as noise.....and I don't really get it. It was a good 5 or so minutes of helicopter noises followed by another 5 or so minutes of a washing machine tackling a heavy load and then, like the previous act, he just walks off. I'm sure to the noise connoisseur this guy is a genius, but after being impressed by the first act's ability to transport me into a movie, I just did not get this at all.

1/5

Neta Polturak

Walking back into the stage room, there's a young woman setting up a bunch of guitar pedals and a drum machine. Neta plays trip hop-y indie by looping both guitar parts and her vocals and combining them with cool break beats. Unlike the previous acts, Neta actually has songs. I got a vibe of Sneaker Pimps, Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine. Like the first act, it was a very chilled out set. She definitely knows how to structure songs. Her 3rd song was particularly impressive. It started very beautiful and atmospheric and then layer upon layer built into something simply quite electrifying. This might not be the kind of thing I would listen to on a daily basis or even deliberately go and see live, but I would definitely recommend this to fans of trip hop, electro and even alt rock to check out.
3.5/5   

   

Reel Dinozeor

Reel Dinozeor consists of Amos, the drummer from young punk band Busha!!, Yam, frontman and guitarist of post-hardcore outfit Lunamore, and Amos' brother Yoel, who as far as I'm aware is not in anything else. Keeping in tone with the rest of the evening, Yam was tonight armed with guitar pedals and made a lot of noise. Amos drummed along as his brother shouted and screamed. This is noise with a live drum kit which I, as a drummer, do admire a tad. Being young, I always give "kids" like these guys credit for even getting off their arses and doing something. I give them credit for being creative and doing something "out of the box". Saying that, I was put off by the drumming. I felt the drumming was too repetitive throughout and too simple. I was hoping at times to hear some cool break beats or heavy industrial beats. Hopefully the more time they have to grow as a unit, more creativity, experimentation and even musicianship will emerge.

3/5