Concert Wed Mar 28 2007

Apocalyptic sonic destruction, this Saturday

By Chris Sienko

Then, suddenly, there they are. Three of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride down from the harsh Canadian tundra, one armed with a violin, another brandishing leather gloves and a microphone, the third bringing up the rear, his arsenal of synths scorching the earth behind them. They've already laid a week-long trail of destruction before they make their rendezvous in the Windy City. Here, they pick up their fourth ally, a man armed with a cluster of microphones and a leather-clad posse behind him. The four meet, nod a greeting to one another, and look in your direction. One of them gestures for you to come near.

The question is, are you going to come out to Pilsen on Saturday (The Flowershop, 2159 W. 21st Place [on Leavitt], 9 p.m., $6 - sponsored by Busker) and take what's coming to you? Or are you going to hide from this righteous demise, claiming you've 'got a lot of TiVo to catch up on'?

My advice: say your last goodbyes to your family, stand tall, and say hello to your demise, courtesy Burning Star Core, Prurient, Carlos Giffoni, and Bloodyminded.

Burning Star Core, aka C. Spencer Yeh, has honed his craft for over a decade, making him the leading practitioner in the field of rough n' ready violin improvisation mixed with non-verbal vocal gymnastics. Whether playing with a larger ensemble (which has included members of Hair Police, among others), or going it alone, BxC always has a firm grasp of the incantory power of music. His performances build like arcane rituals; his musical gestures and, frankly, his entire approach to music seems to come from a pre-Enlightenment time, when madness was cultivated and revered. Something for the inner druid in us all. His latest release is on the No Fun Productions label, and is titled Blood Lightning 2007.

Dominick Fernow operates Hospital Records in New York City, a micro-sized hole-in-the-ground specialty store beneath a reggae record shop (literally...you climb down a vertical ladder to get in!) that is a dream come true for the melodically challenged - all the store sells are primal black metal and noise. Prurient (the project) is also small and intimate - a microphone, a mixing deck, liberal doses of frustration and rage - and not for all tastes. Dom lays his heart on the line for the crowd every time, which is probably why he's become one of the most-followed acts in a genre that often thrives on detachment. Your ears may not like you in the morning, but after a Prurient show, part of you will be burned away, leaving something more pure beneath. Prurient has recently released a limited edition triple-7" boxset titled Cave Depression, also on No Fun Productions.

From guitar (and laptop) mangling with Monotract to his own wide-ranging solo concerns (lately including copious quantities of synth damage), Carlos Giffoni has done it all, and with everyone. His list of collaborators reads like the last two years of The Wire magazine back-issues: Jim O'Rourke, Thurston Moore, Chris Corsano, Pita, Nels Cline, Smegma, Merzbow, Lasse Marhaug, etc. Add to this his role as the mastermind in the yearly No Fun Festival in Brooklyn's Red Hook, and you have an avant-garde MVP who has brought the din to the people...all of them! His latest CD is titled Arrogance, and is also released on his No Fun Productions label, making this a themed tour, of sorts.

Bloodyminded, Chicago's premier power electronics ensemble, open the festivities with their usual mix of violent sex, serial crime, eating disorders, cross-eyed crack addicts, and long-winded, rock & roll-style song intros. In short, the best rock and roll act in Chicago. Go ahead, prove me wrong!

As Rumi (and Prurient) once said, don't run from this killing. It'll be okay. Your countrymen will give you a hero's burial.