Rhys Chatham show review on eMusic Blog

I’m still reeling knowing that this happened while I was in Austin for SXSW, but WQXR’s stream certainly takes some of the sting off.

My love for both Rhys Chatham and Oneida can’t be overstated. I’ll admit that I’m on board any time a “guitarchestra” or “guitarmy” or any other portmanteau word indicating a dozen-plus (or 400!) guitarists laying down coruscating waves of deepening minimalist shimmer is involved – and Rhys is, for me, the master of the form. And what is there to be said about Oneida that hasn’t been said already (by me, in any number of gushing conversations, including the ones in which I explained what I was doing at 5 a.m. on June 19 of last year)? I challenge you to name a more consistent and forward-thinking experimental rock ensemble of our time.

I mean, if I woke up tomorrow morning to discover I had undergone an overnight body-swap with the spoiled teenage daughter of some sort of fossil-fuel mogul or media kingpin, I would demand an Oneida and Rhys Chatham collaboration set for my yacht-based Sweet Sixteen party, where my absurdly privileged young peers and I would eat $1000 ice-cream sundaes as two generations of experimentalism’s great minds soundtracked our lavishness with increasingly dense waves of insistent drone and heavy free-rock. (I might not end up being the most popular of all the mogul kids.) Also, probably Kid Millions would have to slow-dance with me.

Here’s hoping this will not be an isolated experiment, but as I wait with bated breath for the announcement of the debut from supergroup The Rhyscropolis, and for Mr. Chatham to receive baptism with his own Oneida name, the audio from this magnificent performance will be in heavy rotation.

Related posts:

More related posts:

1. Rhys Chatham and Oneida Show Review | New York Times
2. Rhys Chatham show with Oneida reviewed in Feast of Music
3. Show Listing: Rhys Chatham & Oneida at Merkin Concert Hall | New York Times
4. Oneida played Ecstatic Music Fest w/ Rhys Chatham (pics), playing NYC Taper anniversary show
5. Rhys Chatham Show with Oneida covered in the WSJ
6. Rhys Chatham show preview in The New Yorker
7. Rhys Chatham show preview in Time Out New York
8. Rhys Chatham Curates 40th Anniversary Show at the Kitchen, September 9 and 10
9. Rhys Chatham ‘Outdoor Spell’ Review | Something Else! Blog