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Sound Tribe Sector 9 :: 09.22.04 :: Cat's Cradle :: Carrboro, NC
Bursting out of Georgia in the late '90s, Sound Tribe Sector 9 represented a new breed of musicians making a new kind of music. Forgoing traditional song structures for the limitless possibilities of open-ended jamming has bred an ambitious audience eager to indulge in their freewheeling live shows. They could be described as "jambient," aggressively atmospheric, like someone yelling at you to relax.
Hunter Brown :: 09.22 :: N.C. |
A DJ spun tracks as the audience entered, immediately setting the mood with complete aural immersion. When Sound Tribe took the stage the light show added the visual touch and the sensory bath began. An assortment of laptop computers joined the onstage gear allowing the musicians to play pre-recorded loops of their music, adding endless ingredients to their homemade stew. The songs started out slow before spinning and twisting through a dozen different moods. Waves of sound joined together and built to anthemic peaks as they leaned into long excursions to excavate the buried depths of each composition.
Hunter Brown's guitar and David Phipps' keyboards are the lead voices, infusing the music with a boundless energy. David Murphy's bass is the backbone, keeping the tunes forever funky despite the space-age antics enveloping the air around him. Drummer Zach Velmer is the antimatter cog in this combustible engine, cranking out crazy beats, prodigious polyrhythms, and impossible stick tricks. Percussionist Jeffree Lerner dives headfirst into the mix, adding a resonant rumble to the swirling undercurrent.
STS9 :: 09.22.04 :: N.C. |
"Reilli Wut?" opened the show with electronic voices and synthetic sounds, opening up into a lush harmonic density with orchestral overtones and graspings of grandeur. Hip-hop and breakbeats square danced with vocal samples as they made their way to the percussive intro to the pensive "Monkey Music." Brown's guitar solos also avoid common convention, aiming not for rock star excess but preferring instead to layer repetitive lines across a sonic blanket. While the songs strive for a hypnotic glow, they also feature intricate, unpredictable arrangements, combining to form cerebral trance beats. You can lose yourself in the spectacle or figure out the square root of the tempo for extra credit.
Zach Velmer :: 09.22 :: N.C. |
Halfway through "Breathe" the band broke down into a psychedelic country lament before morphing into a poignant piano and percussion piece. The slow, chunky thump of "From Now On" led to the set-closing "Squares & Cubes." Velmer's animated drumming propelled and incited the crowd, bringing his inhuman beats into sharp focus during the manic intro. He's featured alongside, rather than behind, the band, making it easier for audiences to witness his rhythmic acrobatics.
What is it that sets Sound Tribe apart from other electronic-sounding jam bands? It's hard to pinpoint but there's an unmistakably joyous undertone to their music. It's not that they don't explore some scary spaces--there are plenty of times you'll feel lost on the dark side--but there's always a lifeline to bring you back home. What really makes STS9 unique is their delicate side. While renowned for their monstrous sound and abyssal depth of groove, there's also an ear for melody, a leaning towards the subtle, a keen eye for details. On a whim they'll burst into a sunny island drum and percussion piece, or let the piano sink into a soft duet with the bass.
Murphy and Velmer :: 09.22 :: N.C. |
The second set opened with the funky chugging upbeat swing of "Nautilus." They swam back into the ether for "Movements" and "4 My Peeps" before Phipps' gritty keyboard intro blazed the path to "Gobnugget." The set rolled on with "Grow," a perfect representation of what STS9 excels at. Starting with a small guitar figure, they build ideas and add elements until something fresh begins to rise. At a certain juncture there's a coalescence, a magic moment when it clicks, and the audience feels it rush over them like a shooting star cascading through the atmosphere.
What is this music? Sound Tribe Sector 9 are offering a different idea of what music can be. Their show is like an abstract painting, more for your mood than to convey specific topics. The question is not "What's this about?" but rather "How does it make you feel?" While writing that last sentence I'm almost elbowed in the gut 14 times by frantically dancing revelers (in my day, we didn't... well, yeah we did, never mind), so my guess is it's making most people feel pretty damn good.
Brown and Murphy :: 09.22 :: N.C. |
Imagine the challenge of crafting a moving, emotional piece of work out of thin air. No topics, no verses, no nouns, just music. But their songs aren't about nothing. What they're about is right now. This moment. Their songs are meant to be lived and celebrated as they breathe. It's not up to the band to tell you what they're about. Looks like the responsibility is on you, listener. How dare they? Why I just came here to be entertained and here they are making me responsible for my own thoughts! Outrageous!
Lerner's percussion palette got an extended workout on "F Word" before the frenzied cosmic sound-effects onslaught of "Tokyo." The set wrapped up with the blissful organic kaleidoscope of "Surreality" and "EB" before they came back out for a funky meltdown encore of "We'll Meet in Our Dreams." As the giant crystals in front of the stage reflected the remaining energy back into the crowd, the band's parting words were the only thing left to say. "Thank you for keeping the energy high. It felt good."
Words by: Paul Kerr
Images by: Todd E. Gaul
JamBase | North Carolina
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