Organos Lives! First show in years, some videos...

One of my favorite, and one of the most unique, Triangle bands is Organos, the brainchild of Durham's Maria Albani.  Lately, she's been keeping herself busy with the Potluck Foundation, See Gulls, and Schooner, not to mention rescuing dogs from Mexico (oh and I'm sure a job or something).  But Organos is her baby, her musical voice.

I rarely take so many videos of a band.  But the desire for such was expressed, and Organos' sound lends itself well to the questionable sound recording of my Nikon (i.e., not so much loud guitar, feedback and distortion).  Plus, who knows when they'll play again?!  (a little bird tells me Nightlight in July)

So here's 5 songs from Organos, recorded at the Anti-HB2 Fundraiser at Kings.  It was put on by the band Make, who were also great... and don't get me started about In the Year of the Pig, whom I had stupidly never seen!  I took a vid of them as well, but I'm not sure yet how it came out (I'll post if it's decent).











Besides just raising awareness to fight HB2 and discrimination in general, the show was a fundraiser for Southerners on New Ground.  Check out the link to learn more about the cause.

Organos - Concha

Durham's Organos is the brainchild of Maria Albani, member of Schooner and co-creator Minus Sound Research, an outlet for local musical artists to express their visual side. In keeping with that idea, Maria did the cover art for the new album, Concha, which appears to be some sort of goose/squid/phoenix rising out of the side of a woman. Whatever it is, it's very organic (no pun intended), like Concha.

Organos shows that you can do a lot with a little. Theirs is a pretty minimal sound, heavy on bass and many percussive instruments and noises. On the opener, First Night, Albani's mid-register voice is accompanied by high harmonies and breathy vocalizations. Guitar is more-or-less an accent.

That's the pattern for many of the songs. Nevertheless, the sound is still full, even on the basically a capella second cut, the very sweet Side Girl, in which only finger-snaps and wood-claps accompany vocals. Maybe the minimalism fills up the space because it's simply not what's expected. Off-kilter notes and harmonies, chaotic feedback, and minor keys abound on songs like the dark but emboldening Same Eyes.

The theme of inspiration and encouragement, often in the face of doubt, runs through that song and others. It'll Never Come begins with admonishments like "Hanging out in bars, aren't you too old / keep on messing up, haven't you been told", but quickly dismisses such nonsense with a forward-looking message, urging the listener to take chances. Sometimes you just need to light a fire. Fits and Fears returns (briefly) to doubt and insecurity, the atypical vocals sounding like a record speeding up and slowing down, perfectly capturing the theme of the song.

The closer, At the End of the Ride, stakes out more conventional folk territory on what is generally a pretty unconventional collection. With its quietly picked guitar, tinklings from a xylophone, and spare harmonies, it is both sad and beautiful. Despite the palpable sense of loss, however, it's yet another tale of moving on -- despite it all.