Arbouretum, Pontiak @ Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT - Tues., 9/9/08

This past Tuesday night, Shaki Presents (http://www.myspace.com/shakipresents) featured two Thrill Jockey bands at Cafe Nine in New Haven. CT. Thrill Jockey is an independent rock label based out of Chicago probably best know for their 90s line-up of avant-garde Indie/jazz artisits including Tortoise, Trans Am and The Sea and Cake, and The Fiery Furnaces recently released their last LP on Thrill Jockey. The show was slated to commence at 9 P.M., and Bethany and I arrived at 10:15 to discover that there hadn't even been a proper soundcheck yet. This is truly my only complaint with Shaki Presents; Rick Omonte is brilliant for bringing up-and-coming Indie rock to New Haven, but shows start much later than posted, which can be more than a mere nuissance on a weeknight.

ARBOURETUM (http://www.myspace.com/arbouretum and http://arbouretum.blogspot.com), a four piece out of Baltimore, MD, had their groundings firmly in psychedelic rock yet mixed in a pleasing ensemble of folk-Americana and classic rock leanings into their sound. I was previously unfamiliar with their material but, upon speaking with the band after the set, realized that their set mostly comprised songs from 2007's "Rites of Uncovering" LP and new songs that they will be recording upon returning to the studio after this brief tour. The highlights of their ~45-minute set were the blistering psychedelia and classic rock alla CREAM in "Signposts and Instruments" and the catch pop sensibility of the closer. The set closed with a gem of a pop song that delighted the small but attentive audience.

PONTIAK (http://www.myspace.com/pontiak and http://pontiak.net), which consists of bearded brothers Lain, Van and Jennings Carney from Holtzclaw Road, VA, stormed immediately into the scorching set with an instrumental assault that took all in attendance aback. It was immediately apparent to all those unfamiliar with their music (including me) that this was going to be a heavy, pedal-dense ride through the belly of psychedelic rock. The second song featured a dual percussion assault, as lead guitarist Van sat down to a minimalist kit of bass, snare and ride with syncopated beats that grabbed everyone's attention who wasn't already smitten. After this aggressive introduction, the brothers decided to take it down a step with several blues-inspired tracks from 2007's "Sun on Sun" LP (recently re-released on Thrill Jockey). The title track, "Sun on Sun" featured a beautiful slide guitar introduction that morphed into a slow plod with organ and drum accents eventually resolving with phaser ablazin'. For me, the highlight of the set was closer "White Hands" with its chorale singing and staggered hi-hat chops.

I spoke with members of both bands after the set, who were very pleasant and understanding of the unfortunately small crowd on a weeknight in CT. Both bands continued their tour in Burlington, VT the following night to end the week on campus at Colby College in ME before going their separate ways. This year, both bands released a split recording of John Cale covers called "Kale" (Thrill Jockey, 2008) that I didn't see for sale as a CD at their merchandise table (it was available on vinyl) that it'd imagine is worth inspection. And, finally, I just wanted to again plug Shaki Presents/Rick Omonte for continually bringing excellent touring bands to the Elm City at minimal charge! Like his excellent Sunday night concert series SUNDAZED at BAR, there was no cover for this event. Suffice it to day, without Shaki, the local music scene would be sorely lacking!

Heaven People, Ducktails, Avarus @ ArLow, New Haven, CT - Tues., 9/2/08

Last Tuesday, there was an experimental noise show at a small art space off Whalley Ave. in the Westville section of New Haven. I have been an outside observer of this scene and am aware of the devoted following that this music inspires at several locations in the state (most notably "The Weird Diner" shows in Bloomfield, CT - http://www.weirddiner.com/index.php and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdmnrmdeCAM). Bethany and I arrived several minutes late for the scheduled start time of 7 P.M. and ran into the members of HEAVEN PEOPLE outside, who stated that the show would be unfortunately delayed awaiting the arrival of AVARUS (who, presumably, were coming from out of town but not directly from Finland). In the interim, we headed over the Delaney's Taproom for an hour, whose tap selection of quality craft beers is unparalleled in CT. I was not disappointed by my Brooklyn Keller Helles and Bethany took advantage of their $2 bartender pick of Stoudt's Pale Ale.

We returned at around 8 P.M. and, as the venue (more on this to follow) does not serve alcohol, we picked up a 6-pack of Smuttynose's excellent Pumpkin Ale to keep us occupied between sets. Locals HEAVEN PEOPLE (http://www.myspace.com/heavenpeople) took the stage first and proceeded to play two songs. The first was a mostly instrumental piece punctuated by Danny Moore's tribal-style percussion. However, the highlight was Krystina Battalene's modified acoustic guitar. She strings the acoustic like a cello and plays with a bow. She then loops these sounds into a dizzying array of pedals and distortion boxes that swirled in and out. The second song that they played was more ambient/less dissonant than the first yet was also effects-laden. On this one, Ms. Battalene looped distorted vocals into the mix that were the perfect accompaniment to the ambient drones that percolated throughout. Albeit their set was short, it was the most impressive of the evening and left all experimental noise fans in attendance eagerly anticipating the release of their first LP on Ectstatic Peace. Additionally, both band members were very cordial on approach before and after the show, which was most welcoming as an outsider off this close-knit CT scene. I would encourage you to check them at their next CT show for Manic Productions: Saturday, 20 September @ The People's Center, 37 Howe St., New Haven, CT @ 7 P.M. with John Wiesse and Sickness.

DUCKTAILS (http://www.myspace.com/ducktailss), on the other hand, were not what I had expected. I read about a "tropical psychedelic" experience, and, although the latter was firm in his sound, I didn't hear much of a tropical tinge. Again, DUCKTAILS played two instrumental pieces. The second featured some excellent electric guitar noodlings that led to an astral plane if you closed your eyes and allowed it to wash over you. In all, it was impressively cohesive set from one gentleman from NJ.

Finally, AVARUS (http://www.secreteye.org/se/avarus.html) took the stage at around 10:30 P.M. I had read that the band typically comprises 10-20 members and is a staple of the Finnish psych folk scene, so I was admittedly anticipating something closer to Swedish psych rockers DUNGEN than what was received. They played as a three-piece with guitar, bass and samples/noise, and, like the two preceding bands, also played two extended instrumental pieces. Both songs were very similar in structure, as they featured bass as the primary instrument driving the melody and keeping time. At times, unfortunately, the bass sounded sloppy and distracting. The guitar, in my estimation, was the highlight of this experimental set, which featured lots of distortion and screeching with the assistance of metal picks placed strategically throughout the fretboard. To be frank, I could hear very little coming from the noise/sample end with the exception of occasional percolations once the bass and guitar's dynamic decrescendo-ed.

In all, I really enjoyed this show, which is not the typical style of music that I gravitate towards in a live setting. I also appreciated the space, ArLow (838 Whalley Ave., on the corner of West Rock), which also the doubles as the home of a local art aficionado, Adam. Suffice it to say, I will be paying more attention to this scene in the future!

MRI

I agreed to participate in a functional MRI study of operational/working memory tasks in healthy controls and recovered depressed subjects (incidentally, it has yet to be determined if I will be placed in the former or latter group). Today was the second day of the study; I was debriefed on performing the memory task. It consisted of recalling letters (specifically, "a", "b", "c" and "d") that flashed for 2 seconds on a computer screen. I was compelled to recall "0-back" (a control task identifying "a" when it flashed upon the screen), "1 back" and "2 back" tasks. The "2-back" is suprisingly much more difficult than it seems, especially when the letters flash so briefly and in rapid succession.

Unfortunately, I received little debriefing about what the actual neuroimaging other than that it would require ~1-1.5 hours. I am aware of the frequency of MRI-induced claustrophobia, but, prototypically, believed that this peculiarity would not affect me in the present situation. Of course, this irrational event only affects affects the delirious or demeted elderly patient who is not nearly as knowledgeable about the specifics of the procedure. I emptied my pockets of all metallic items, including cell phone, wallet and keys. I was not allowed to wear my glasses into the room due to their metallic screws; I was provided with the front portion of this atrocious plastic frame that did not match my true prescription. Once I settled into the bed leading into the machine, a shield with a mirror was placed ~2 inches over my face such that I could read the computer screen placed behind me with its incessant flashing letters. I was also provided with a two-button clicker to select whether the presented item did or did not match the letter the prespecified number back. Earplugs and dampening headphones were also fit to limit the sound of the clanging magnet.

At this point, I was placed into the machine. Immediately upon elevation and insertion in the narrow tube, a pervasive feeling of discomfort seized me. I felt my shoulders internally rotate and trap against the sides of the cylinder. I became paralyzed with the thought that I must remain in this position for over an hour. The pervasive sensation was that I was too large for this specific machine, albeit all closed MRI machines are likely of an identifcal diameter. At the time, I felt no loss of control or symptoms of panic (lightheadedness, palpitations, a sense of impending doom, etc.), but I had dominant sensation that this protocol would never be completed when I politely asked the technician, "Can you please take me out for a minute?".

I felt immediately embarassed and even nonplussed when sitting up from the bed after the brief 10-second interval in the machine to discover an increase in my respiratory rate. I felt no other indication of sympathetic activation but this aberrant vital sign was clear. I quickly removed all of the conpounding apperati that restricted my sensorium and was told that I was "claustrophic" and had a "panic attack" (the former is likely true, yet I remain dubious of the latter contention). Nevertheless, in addition to my fear of heights, I discovered another specific phobia that my often-haughty rationality was unable to effectively combat while my emotions swirled and swelled out of control. Dostoevsky's Undergound Man is again proven correct that the intellect is no match for the emotions, the id; the Undergound Man argues for the irrational, or, better yet, the supra-rational man. This despicable man is proven correct time and again.

Time is presently short, but I will seek to turn to that most refined and haughty coping mechanism, the intellect, in an attempt to understand the neurobiological and psychological underpinnings of this specific phobia. Not surprisingly, a PubMed search of "MRI AND claustrophobia" reveals 187 hits dating back to 1984.