A Few Propers and Dust From 1000 Years

Welcome! I spose it would be reasonable, as I embark upon this thing, to lay out a few of the broad goals I have in mind, though I'm sure I'll waste no time in veering happily off topic. I'd like this page to serve a few main purposes: to articulate, in some detail, my experiences of live music in Chicago as well as of various sounds of the recorded variety; to direct readers' attention and eventually affection towards groups who are producing terrific and flavorful music and making a totally vital contribution to the life of live music in the city without being much recognized for doing so; and, maybe most ambitiously, to provide a forum where I, at times, become just a contributing voice and moderator in a larger conversation among and about Chicago artisans of sound. Essentially, bring something to say about the sounds around you and about the sounds you make and that should do the trick. This would be a way of getting us, the music making community into a dialogue with us, the listening community. Make any sense? Yeah!!

Well then, maybe I should get right to it. Friday night I had the pleasure of hearing a stripped down, even thoroughly hushed set from frequent Chicago visitors Dust From 1000 Years of Bloomington, IN at a house-show in Logan Square. First of all, there is no venue quite like someone's living room. The hugely diminished sense of distance, both physical and metaphorical, between musicians and audience gives rise to this sort of personal, privileged, and immediate "living" of the music passing between performers and listeners that can just not be realized in a traditional concert setting. And the way "Dust" crafted their set and their sonorities to this distinctive dynamic was thoughtful and effective. Main vocalist/guitarist Ben (last name unknown--by me) made no pretenses of being too absorbed by the music to notice the several dozen people crowding in upon him on couches, stools stolen from the kitchen, or sitting tight packed on the living room floor. Explicit nods to this brand of audience included leaning his head back in feigned(?) ecstasy when an exuberant fan and friend of the band gave him a shoulder massage mid-song and taking (without asking) healthy swigs from paper-bagged 40s and PBR bottles borrowed from the scrum of generally silent, attentive, even enthralled listeners. The rest of the band acknowledged the at times irritating (and drunken) banter from a few of the listeners with smiles and genial, measured, comments that were neither dismissive nor over-indulgent.

One indicator of how good a band is is their ability to depart in all kinds of ways from their "bedrock" or recorded sound and still deliver coherent renditions of their tunes. One gets a sense of just how good Dust is by comparing the sound of amps, varied instrumentation, and complex layers on their three full-lengths to the utterly soft-spoken, bare-bones set they delivered Friday night while drawing largely on the same pool of songs. The drums were graced (and "graced" is definitely appropriate) by soft-rattling brushes alone; the two acoustic guitar parts at times sounded like a single, subtly contrapuntal instrument, so restrained and precise was the playing; and the keys were kept to such a low level, even when they carried the melodic line, that they sounded almost underwater, or wafted in from far-off. Even when Dust's folk-hearted, plaintive strains reached a rare climax in volume, everything was in proportion to both the small size and, perhaps, the easy, downright familial atmosphere of the room. I think it's well to remember that these sorts of musical experiences can be just as vital and just as transporting as their big-stage, big-venue counterparts. Dust From 1000 Years certainly seems to know it.

Dust From 1000 Years on Myspace