Denton, 4.30.2024

This month's edition of Molten Plains was on a Tuesday for the first time (causing Sarah Ruth Alexander to have to sub out from her radio show), and surprisingly well attended. Ernesto Monteil had just gotten his picture in a New York Times article about Deep Vellum and The Wild Detectives, and it was announced at the end of the evening that Sarah, Ernesto, Louise Fristensky, Aaron Gonzalez, and Miguel Espinel will be performing (under the rubric Molten Plains Ensemble) at a festival in Marfa the last weekend in May. Word's getting around.

The first set was by a trio of Rachel Weaver, an environmentalist and zine-maker, on vocals and electronics, Chelsey Danielle (Pearl Earl, Helium Queens) on vibraphone and small instruments, and Will Frenkel on accordion, cello, and synth. Beginning unannounced, they conducted a nuanced dialogue on a foundation of Rachel's electronically altered utterances, with Will switching between instruments and Chelsey listening attentively and adding rhythmic and melodic counterpoint. My favorite moments came when she responded to Frenkel's tapping on the face of his bass with pentatonic theme and variations on vibes, and then later when he had moved to synth and I had to look around to see that the other sound I was hearing was Chelsey, tapping on a tambourine. 

Next set featured Mexico City-based bassist Juan Garcia (a past collaborator with Houston's Pauline Oliveros Foundation and Nameless Sound) and Houston guitarist Ryan Edwards. Juan demonstrated the variety of tones that can be obtained from an arco bass while plucking the strings and fretting false harmonics with his other hand. Ryan used a bow, eBow, and controlled feedback, regulating his volume from the amplifier, to add his input to the conversation. (I kind of wished his stage volume had been higher.) The interruption of a train in the middle of their set seemed to fit right in with what they were doing; later, they said it wasn't the loudest locomotive interruption they'd ever experienced. And it turned out the rattling sound we were hearing was from detuned strings. 

The last set brought together the powerful vocalist Lo Ramirez (Sunbuzzed) with Austin-based percussionist Lisa Cameron and the aforementioned electronic musician Louise Fristensky (who can be heard to good advantage on the Pueblo Glortha CD with Monte Espina and Liz Tonne). Lisa was coming from back-to-back sets in Austin Monday night and earlier Tuesday with saxophonist Danny Kamins and bassist Thomas Helton; she's planning some downtime this summer but until then, she'll maintain her furious gigging pace. This was the evening's most cathartic (and loudest!) performance. Lo showed the dynamic range of her voice -- from a whisper to a roar -- and exercised good mic control while Lisa used an amplified drum with strings and a wooden block suspended above it, a bowed cymbal and other devices to create welters of feedback. Louise used her synth to conjure a vast undertow of sound that rippled and rumbled and collided with the more organic sounds the others produced. A soul-cleansing experience, much needed and appreciated by all.