8/20 Magnus/Airiel

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:18 pm

Fri. Aug. 20 - 10PM - 21+

Bottom Lounge
3206 N. Wilton St.
1 blk W of Clark/Belmont
Chicago, IL
773-975-0505

MAGNUS
Magnus is a band from Chicago that layers swirling, intricate guitar hooks and richly textured melodies with Eno-esque keyboard arrangements to create intelligent pop songs. The band weaves jangling guitar rhythms with haunting keyboard melodies and an array of experimental sound samples. One listen and it is apparent that this quartet isn't recycling yesterday's pop icons, but rather paving their own musical path. Magnus' self-titled debut E.P. was released in May of 2002. The band released their follow-up effort, a full length L.P. titled Sleepwalker, on Nefarious Records on April 30 2004. The new material builds on the debut with an almost architectural complexity but remains accessible to music fans of many genres. This is an ambitious, hard working band that is committed to creating innovative music both as entertainment and art.

AIRIEL
Shoegazer rock has always been a bit of a contradiction. So named because of the tendency of its enthusiasts to peer downward as they played, the sounds these bands created were far from immobile. The kinetic, kaleidoscopic songs of bands like Swervedriver, Ride and My Bloody Valentine floored those who saw them. Most people simply weren't prepared for the vibrant, strident walls of sound that greeted them at these performances. Although the shoegazer craze was pushed from the limelight by the emergence of grunge rock, its following has never completely diminished. Today, popular artists like Sigur Ros, Mogwai and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club keep the shoegazer aesthetic alive while bringing in new fans. Another band at the forefront of this revival is Airiel, whom, like shoegazer music, are full of contradiction. At times soft and ethereal, at other times loud and clamorous, Airiel covers the spectrums of sound and human feeling- taking the listener to another place.

ZELIENOPLE
Zelienople is drenched in post-rock's droning melodic ambiguity but is more lush and somewhat distant in tone than what you'd expect from that description. Exploring the textural dynamics of quiet, organically tripping jazz structures, Zelienople nods in the direction of Neu as much as Slint and Gastr del Sol, and takes in the slo-core of Low and Flare in the process.