Monika H. Band - Live @ Rockwood Music Hall, November 19, 2008brellas We Slept CD Review

While I enjoyed Monika H.'s latest CD, Disguised as Umbrellas, We Slept (see previous review), the band's live show is extraordinary. I caught the band's live set at Rockwood Music Hall a few weeks ago and was blown away.

The musical structure of the live set was a cross between the downtown jazz of artists like John Zorn and the free-form experimental sounds of artists like Robert Fripp and Throbbing Gristle. As seemingly spontaneous and unpredictable as the music was, there was a clear sense of structure beneath the complex intertwining of the instruments and Monika's voice.

At Rockwood, Monika was playing with a full brass section and the song arrangements were fairly different from that on the new CD. Check out some of the videos that I filmed at the show:

Monika H. Band - Rockwood Music Hall 11/19/08


Monika H. Band - Rockwood Music Hall 11/19/08


Monika H. Band is playing Southpaw on December 16th along with Viva and Nation Beat. Tickets are $10.

Links:
Monika H. Band's MySpace Page
Monika H. Band's Website

Monika H. Band - Disguised As Umbrellas We Slept CD Review

Avant-rock/jazz vocalist Monika H. is releasing her second CD, Disguised As Umbrellas, We Slept, on October 28th and she is having a record release party that night at Nublu in Alphabet City.

Disguised As Umbrellas, We Slept is an eclectic disc that combines elements from dream-pop, psychedelia, avant-rock and jazz into into a unique amalgamation of sound. The sensation of listening to Monika's music has been described as "being perched on a high cliff at a perfect angle of repose, where the fall is visible but not inevitable, sitting just outisde of dissonance, barely safe from chaos."

"Your Doom" is the first video to be released from this forthcoming album. This tune is a dark-tinged trippy and psychedelic adventure that is fairly reflective of the musical vibe on this disc. Monika (Heidemann) says that "a lot of the music and lyrics start with dreams that [she has] that are interesting to interpret and then develop."

Monika H. - Your Doom


Lyrically, Monika describes her songs as "highly emotional pieces that deal with relationships and the pain that comes out of searching for yourself. But they're not completely gloomy - there's a lot of humor and playful sexuality in the mix as well." Lyrical themes include the panic caused by significant loss ("Foodstamping"), the over-use of perfume and hairspray by people on the subway ("Night Spray") and love and relationships ("Moonshine" sets the poem written by Richard Murphy to music).

Monika is an established live player and she is playing with an all-star band which includes Simon Lott (from Charlie Hunter's band), Rob Jost (who has played with Imogen Heap and Bjork), Erik Deutsch (who also plays with Charlie Hunter) and Jason Lidner (from Me'Shell Ndegeocello's band). Last year, Monika won a grant from the Meet The Composer organization to play the Vilnius Jazz Festival in Lithuania's capital city and here is a live video from one of her shows in Latvia.



Monika is having a CD release show on October 28th at Nublu. Nublu is located at 62 Avenue C (between 4th and 5th Street) in Alphabet City. Prior to this, Monika will be performing live on Columbia University Radio (WXCR/89.9 FM) Live Constructions show on October 26th. Live Constructions airs from 10PM - 11PM.

Links:
Monika H.'s MySpace Profile