by Robert Leeper
From
symphonies to string quartets and slightly off-kilter arrangements of Jimi Hendrix tunes, there is a lot of music for strings out there. On Wednesday
night at Subculture, Rasputina member Zoë
Keating displayed her own contribution to that rich tradition, using a cello, pedals, and a
foot-controlled laptop to record layer upon layer of intricate, haunting, hypnotizing music.
Leonard Bernstein once famously said of Beethoven’s
music: "One note follows another with complete inevitability," which could also be said of
Keating's performance. The shimmering sonic landscape of "Frozen Angels" seemed to flow perfectly into wistful songs about her home in the redwoods north of San
Francisco. Consistent
throughout her free-flowing sound was a kind of restless nostalgia, with widely spaced modal progressions in the vein of Michael Rother and others who walk the line between "classical" minimalism and
popular music. Songs like "Fern" and "Seven League Boots" drew you in with their warm, reflective qualities, and kept you listening with simple melodies and flowing shapes of sound.
Because each song is reworked each time it is performed, it is not enough to just have Keating's recordings—a live setting is essential to truly appreciate Keating's ability as artist. During quieter moments of her set, you could hear a pin drop as the audience hung on every note. Ultimately, Keating's warm personality and abundant talent made clear why she has such a devoted following. And SubCulture, which sold out all three of her performances, proved to be a perfect venue for Keating: a classical performer gone pop in a performance space gone bar (or is it the other way around?).
Thank you for posting this – it’s such a nice discovery. I clicked over to her page and I’m listening right now. I have heard solo guitarists use this looping and layering technique, but not cellists. I love the way musicians can embrace technology and use it in creative ways without sacrificing traditional elements.
Thank you for posting this – it’s such a nice discovery. I clicked over to her page and I’m listening right now. I have heard solo guitarists use this looping and layering technique, but not cellists. I love the way musicians can embrace technology and use it in creative ways without sacrificing traditional elements.
Thank you for posting this – it’s such a nice discovery. I clicked over to her page and I’m listening right now. I have heard solo guitarists use this looping and layering technique, but not cellists. I love the way musicians can embrace technology and use it in creative ways without sacrificing traditional elements.
Thank you for posting this – it’s such a nice discovery. I clicked over to her page and I’m listening right now. I have heard solo guitarists use this looping and layering technique, but not cellists. I love the way musicians can embrace technology and use it in creative ways without sacrificing traditional elements.
Thank you for posting this – it’s such a nice discovery. I clicked over to her page and I’m listening right now. I have heard solo guitarists use this looping and layering technique, but not cellists. I love the way musicians can embrace technology and use it in creative ways without sacrificing traditional elements.
Thank you for posting this – it’s such a nice discovery. I clicked over to her page and I’m listening right now. I have heard solo guitarists use this looping and layering technique, but not cellists. I love the way musicians can embrace technology and use it in creative ways without sacrificing traditional elements.
Thanks for writing, Mark! I agree, Zoe really does a great job enhancing the natural beauty of the cello versus just using technology for technologies sake. Especially out in San Francisco, where Zoe lives, the entrepreneurial aesthetic has really blended tech, art and design. There are some fantastic collaborations and approaches where all of these things converge. Actually, Nathan Heller wrote a great piece in The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago in which he really picks apart the larger San Francisco culture Zoe is a part of. It’s a good read!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_heller
Thanks for writing, Mark! I agree, Zoe really does a great job enhancing the natural beauty of the cello versus just using technology for technologies sake. Especially out in San Francisco, where Zoe lives, the entrepreneurial aesthetic has really blended tech, art and design. There are some fantastic collaborations and approaches where all of these things converge. Actually, Nathan Heller wrote a great piece in The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago in which he really picks apart the larger San Francisco culture Zoe is a part of. It’s a good read!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_heller
Thanks for writing, Mark! I agree, Zoe really does a great job enhancing the natural beauty of the cello versus just using technology for technologies sake. Especially out in San Francisco, where Zoe lives, the entrepreneurial aesthetic has really blended tech, art and design. There are some fantastic collaborations and approaches where all of these things converge. Actually, Nathan Heller wrote a great piece in The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago in which he really picks apart the larger San Francisco culture Zoe is a part of. It’s a good read!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_heller
Thanks for writing, Mark! I agree, Zoe really does a great job enhancing the natural beauty of the cello versus just using technology for technologies sake. Especially out in San Francisco, where Zoe lives, the entrepreneurial aesthetic has really blended tech, art and design. There are some fantastic collaborations and approaches where all of these things converge. Actually, Nathan Heller wrote a great piece in The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago in which he really picks apart the larger San Francisco culture Zoe is a part of. It’s a good read!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_heller
Thanks for writing, Mark! I agree, Zoe really does a great job enhancing the natural beauty of the cello versus just using technology for technologies sake. Especially out in San Francisco, where Zoe lives, the entrepreneurial aesthetic has really blended tech, art and design. There are some fantastic collaborations and approaches where all of these things converge. Actually, Nathan Heller wrote a great piece in The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago in which he really picks apart the larger San Francisco culture Zoe is a part of. It’s a good read!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_heller
Thanks for writing, Mark! I agree, Zoe really does a great job enhancing the natural beauty of the cello versus just using technology for technologies sake. Especially out in San Francisco, where Zoe lives, the entrepreneurial aesthetic has really blended tech, art and design. There are some fantastic collaborations and approaches where all of these things converge. Actually, Nathan Heller wrote a great piece in The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago in which he really picks apart the larger San Francisco culture Zoe is a part of. It’s a good read!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/14/131014fa_fact_heller
Leonard Bernstein once famously said of Beethoven’s music: “One note follows another with complete inevitability,” which could also be said of Keating’s performance.
Leonard Bernstein once famously said of Beethoven’s music: “One note follows another with complete inevitability,” which could also be said of Keating’s performance.
Leonard Bernstein once famously said of Beethoven’s music: “One note follows another with complete inevitability,” which could also be said of Keating’s performance.
Leonard Bernstein once famously said of Beethoven’s music: “One note follows another with complete inevitability,” which could also be said of Keating’s performance.
Leonard Bernstein once famously said of Beethoven’s music: “One note follows another with complete inevitability,” which could also be said of Keating’s performance.
Leonard Bernstein once famously said of Beethoven’s music: “One note follows another with complete inevitability,” which could also be said of Keating’s performance.