Untolerable Bohemian returned last night to Cat's Art MusikCircus and he had a bit of a surprise.
His outfit was a bit surprising but that wasn't The Surprise. Untolerable has had an electric guitar sitting in a corner for about six months or so. He's been talking about playing it but things didn't quite work in the way needed so that couldn't happen ... until last night.
Untolerable went straight into an electric set and it was from the start quite different from what he usually does. For electric he wants back tracks or another type of loop to give him bass, drums, or whatever. For some he was using simple grooves but doing that means you can do anything you like in your lead line and that's what he did.
There's an exploratory nature to Untolerable's guitar playing at any time whether it's acoustic or electric. It's not a lack of confidence but rather it's the vibe from playing something that's not coming from a chart. He plays it as it comes to him and you can feel that. So it was with his electric work last night as he was traveling freely with it and he makes good journeys.
The Moody Blues said thinking is the best way to travel. That's not true as going there is the best way to travel but thinking does pretty well and thinking with music does even better. Traveling in this way with Untolerable is a good excursion into a free place and maybe that's the only way to get there. It's all original as he's not going to take you somewhere you have been before.
Untolerable's electric music will only get better as he didn't have time for new strings for the guitar and that alone will give him a substantial improvement in sound. He was getting quite good tone anyway but there's an easy way to make it even better. This is no criticism as he simply didn't have time. There's also the need to be playing with the wires, the endless cabling, etc. Once he has that completely sorted, it will get much easier to play an electric set.
Something NOT to read into this is that Untolerable should stop the act he was doing already. I've said already he's a very good singer and he has a beautiful style with the acoustic. His act is unusual but the most interesting acts always are. Somewhere there is balance between acoustic, electric, and vocal that will be the Ultimate Untolerable and it's cool to see him looking again at electric to find it.
lefty Unplugged came back last night and he has a Secret Weapon.
lefty's Secret Weapon is not in the picture. If I were to show a picture of it then it wouldn't be secret anymore. He also didn't play it last night so the secret is still safe.
(Ed: so why tell us about it?)
Because someday in a set when we least expect it the Secret Weapon will come. The only way to be part of that is to come to his shows. I have no idea when he will do it but I have no doubt that one day he will.
Part of lefty's art is making a song complex without it sounding contrived. His songs always go through a number of changes with all sorts of interesting dynamics but they never feel rigged, the songs flow naturally and you flow along with them. One thing that is contrived but I like it anyway is the vocal effect he uses to pump a reverb-type effect way up and then bring it back down again. It's very very cool as his voice goes deep into a tunnel and comes back out again.
lefty Unplugged is kind of an AOR show (Album-Oriented Rock - old term for when rock bands were trying to get away from three-minute songs). lefty's songs are beautiful in their own right but they flow together for a state of transcendental leftytation (yah!) that carries you away on a vibe of leftyness.
(Ed: what does that mean?)
Don't ask him to cover Megadeth.
(Ed: why would I do that?)
I can't think of a reason to ask anyone to cover Megadeth.
(Ed: thanks. It all makes sense now.)
And Cat and I danced!
She fills the whole screen with gorgeousity!
His outfit was a bit surprising but that wasn't The Surprise. Untolerable has had an electric guitar sitting in a corner for about six months or so. He's been talking about playing it but things didn't quite work in the way needed so that couldn't happen ... until last night.
Untolerable went straight into an electric set and it was from the start quite different from what he usually does. For electric he wants back tracks or another type of loop to give him bass, drums, or whatever. For some he was using simple grooves but doing that means you can do anything you like in your lead line and that's what he did.
There's an exploratory nature to Untolerable's guitar playing at any time whether it's acoustic or electric. It's not a lack of confidence but rather it's the vibe from playing something that's not coming from a chart. He plays it as it comes to him and you can feel that. So it was with his electric work last night as he was traveling freely with it and he makes good journeys.
The Moody Blues said thinking is the best way to travel. That's not true as going there is the best way to travel but thinking does pretty well and thinking with music does even better. Traveling in this way with Untolerable is a good excursion into a free place and maybe that's the only way to get there. It's all original as he's not going to take you somewhere you have been before.
Untolerable's electric music will only get better as he didn't have time for new strings for the guitar and that alone will give him a substantial improvement in sound. He was getting quite good tone anyway but there's an easy way to make it even better. This is no criticism as he simply didn't have time. There's also the need to be playing with the wires, the endless cabling, etc. Once he has that completely sorted, it will get much easier to play an electric set.
Something NOT to read into this is that Untolerable should stop the act he was doing already. I've said already he's a very good singer and he has a beautiful style with the acoustic. His act is unusual but the most interesting acts always are. Somewhere there is balance between acoustic, electric, and vocal that will be the Ultimate Untolerable and it's cool to see him looking again at electric to find it.
lefty Unplugged came back last night and he has a Secret Weapon.
lefty's Secret Weapon is not in the picture. If I were to show a picture of it then it wouldn't be secret anymore. He also didn't play it last night so the secret is still safe.
(Ed: so why tell us about it?)
Because someday in a set when we least expect it the Secret Weapon will come. The only way to be part of that is to come to his shows. I have no idea when he will do it but I have no doubt that one day he will.
Part of lefty's art is making a song complex without it sounding contrived. His songs always go through a number of changes with all sorts of interesting dynamics but they never feel rigged, the songs flow naturally and you flow along with them. One thing that is contrived but I like it anyway is the vocal effect he uses to pump a reverb-type effect way up and then bring it back down again. It's very very cool as his voice goes deep into a tunnel and comes back out again.
lefty Unplugged is kind of an AOR show (Album-Oriented Rock - old term for when rock bands were trying to get away from three-minute songs). lefty's songs are beautiful in their own right but they flow together for a state of transcendental leftytation (yah!) that carries you away on a vibe of leftyness.
(Ed: what does that mean?)
Don't ask him to cover Megadeth.
(Ed: why would I do that?)
I can't think of a reason to ask anyone to cover Megadeth.
(Ed: thanks. It all makes sense now.)
And Cat and I danced!
She fills the whole screen with gorgeousity!
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