Audio Blood Tea Party featuring Serb Superb, Great Lenin's Ghost, The Paint Movement, Our History of Cowboys and Holler, Wild Rose!

Wow, it's taking me a long time to blog about all of the going's on surrounding CMF but here I am, finally reporting on my final event of last week, the Audio Blood Tea Party. Though technically not a part of CMF festivities, I couldn't think of any better way to wind down at the end of the week than by sipping on a styrofoam cup of free Organic Mango while in the intimate setting of Kensington's The Boat.

The MC of the evening was a gentleman who I saw milling around the city quite a bit during the festival: Mr. Serb Superb. For those of you that don't know, Serb Superb is the altar ego of Branko Scekic, the bass player for Dinosaur Bones (who I finally saw for the first time on Friday.) Strutting around the stage like hip hop's answer to Frank Zappa, Superb came equipped with no pre-planned material. He asked the audience to simply shout out random suggestions which he then proceeded to work into a freestyle rap that had to be seen to be believed. Or should I say heard. It was a highly entertaining way to segue between acts, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it immensely.

Photos: Serb Superb @ The Boat on flickr
Myspace: Serb Superb

The first band of the night was Great Lenin's Ghost. If the cast of Big Bang Theory were to create dance music, I assume that it would sound something like these guys. The band specializes in some very catchy electronic pop that floats somewhere inbetween Hot Chip and Daft Punk, although as far as bizarre left turns and surprises go, these guys definitely stand on their own. Even though the band was equipped with only a drum, a theremin and a few other implements of technical paraphernalia that are way over my rock 'n roll head, they still managed to be incredibly energetic onstage. I don't know if a Sunday night tea party was exactly the right atmosphere for them, but they certainly made the best of the situation, and encouraged a few people to get down, as it were.

Photos: Great Lenin's Ghost @ The Boat on flickr
Myspace: Great Lenin's Ghost

Next up was The Paint Movement, a band that I have recently fallen head over heels for. While their set may not have been quite as uplifting as the last time that I saw them, a big part of that could have been due to the poor sound quality, as well as the particularly docile crowd. I had a lot of trouble hearing the sax, and the vocals also seemed to be mixed quite low. Even under these circumstances, the band's charismatic and vivid arrangements still shone through, and I will stand by my original thought that The Paint Movement are currently one of the most exciting bands in the city today. As they continue to hone their craft, there is no doubt that they are a band that will continue to impress me as the exploratory nature of their sound continues to venture into different areas.

Photos: The Paint Movement @ The Boat on flickr
Myspace: The Paint Movement

Our History Of Cowboys is another band that falls into the whole massive member collective thing, as they presented a set of (mostly) instrumental post rock that got a solid number of their peers dancing maniacally on the floor. Their set opened with an artsy number containing a thunderous apocalyptic intone that was accompanied by a spoken word section that the guest vocalist was reading off of his iPhone. Although I couldn't make out what he was saying, it sounded cool enough, and it really helped to set the tone for the rest of their set. Their brand of experimental art rock was quite challenging to say the least, and I'll have to admit that I'm not 100% sold on their sound just yet. But anyone who is familiar with the eclectic nature of my musical palate knows that I appreciate a sonic challenge, and I'm certainly up to checking them out again another time.

Photos: Our History of Cowboys @ The Boat on flickr
Myspace: Our History Of Cowboys

Which brings us to the greatest surprise of the week. Out of the 23 bands that I saw over the past week, New Jersey's Holler, Wild Rose! were easily the most impressive. I love that feeling when you're watching a band and suddenly you realize that you are actually in the midst of greatness. That moment for me came when they performed Captive Train. The harmonies were absolutely cherubic on that song, and the steady build of those ringing guitars continued to climb to euphoric heights before Jon Mosloskie's high pitched Buckley-inspired throat tore a strip out of the atmosphere and made me completely forget where I was. The reaction of those around me when the song was over pretty much summed up the consensus that we weren't just watching an amazing performance, but this was something downright legendary. Their soaring melodies and epic falsetto's suck you in and hold you captive, and a mere mortal is powerless against their ambient charms. Whew! OK, I'll admit that overexpressive gushing does not a viable music critic make, but dang it, I'm a fan too and it's a shame that there weren't more people out to witness this show. Hopefully these Jersey boys will be back again soon.

Photos: Holler, Wild Rose! @ The Boat on flickr
Myspace: Holler, Wild Rose!