Lisa Germano, Sunburned Hand of Man, Six Organs of Admittance

Live @ Seymours Family Club, Bristol Thurs 7th Dec



I just sat there mesmerised whilst Lisa Germano single-handingly recreated old favourites and freshly minted songs through her keyboards, guitar and of course, those breathy vocals that have only improved with age. Small Heads, Reptile, some tracks off Liquid Pig, In the Land of the Fairies (a dream come true for me), Golden Cities, Into Oblivion and a few others from her latest album – In the Maybe World. Oh this was just bliss, eyes shut, soaking up the atmosphere. Absolutely brilliant and worth the wait, even if the experience was a little short lived, also had a quick chat with her while she signed my poster – the sad fanboy I am!!!

Sunburned Hand were wow, or should I say WOW!!!, five guitarists (one of who was Hush Arbors’ Keith Wood and I suspect that Ben was in there too), 1 sax, a tree branch, an unholy thicket of electronic trinkets and assorted clatter, all on a mission to bend the contents of your skull. There was so much going on, it’s really hard to capture in words, so I’ll just give you a verbal snap shot and suffice to say it was a corker of a performance.

Sort of began with a swirling of electronics and rippling guitar fuzz, the branch was rhythmical drummed mid air, bells clanking like a herd of phantom cows, the groaning strain accumulating in momentum to form some crippled melody that mutated into a free for all noisefest, shooting images like synaptic staples into yer head, the sax becoming a dying bird, the player’s elbows like amputated wings. This slowly died away to rapturous applause, to reappear as a riffing electro –splutter, sewn to a stumbling ‘kraut rock’ stagger that you just had to let your body move to. They hit a hypnotic hook and staying with it, murky vocals crept around the edges like mouldy fingers. As I said, WOW!!!.

And the news is out that Mrs Cloudboy’s now a convert too, comparing their sound to the trippy element she loved from the likes of the orb (she’s such a mushroom child, and I love her for it!)

Scored this cdr from the boys ‘Live In Shit’ and it’s even better than Magnetic Drugs

Check this track out for size, shape or whatever…
Sunburned Hand of Man - Beaver Fangs.mp3

Six Organs of Admittance were more sedate on the whole, though there was some delightful guitar/bass explosions with the two guitars almost crashing into each other at one point. The line-up was Keith Wood on Bass, a member of Sunburned on drums (the curly haired one and sometime vocalist – must get his name one of these days) and Ben Chasny on vocals and lead guitar.

Didn’t know any of the songs, but that brew of heavy drums, cavernous bass, and darkly wrought cords worked for me, the main man’s vocals sweet nectar for the mind. Was a bit envious of Ben’s Sun 0 ))) guitar, the arcane scrawling of which caught the glint of stage lights in the semi darkness.