Live Music Review // Pink Sap / The Electric Nature / Trance Macabre
September 26th, 2023
at 33 Golden Street, New London CT
More photos can be found in a Facebook album here :::
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1328312074565677&type=3
This was my first time at 33 Golden Street but as someone who has traveled numerous times to New London back in the day for shows at the El N Gee Club, this just felt like old times going down Route 9. This place has a really nice aesthetic as you can find Dog Town skateboards up on the walls as well as posters of Joe Strummer and just a ton of other really cool art that makes it just so visually appealing as soon as you walk in.
Trance Macabre opened this show and it had been a bit since I had seen them. They were a trio of bass / sax / drums and it played out a lot like jazz but also maybe in a way which would upset jazz purists. The set was broken down into a few different songs and it was the bartender's birthday so at one point in between songs people started singing "Happy Birthday" and presented said bartender with a cake.
You can say that you've seen Trance Macabre before but have you ever seen a birthday party break out during their set? In other settings this might be rude or just out of place, but it somehow just fit in to where if this was going to happen it made perfect sense for it to be here and now. I think some bands might've just kept going and played over the celebration as well. Such is the life of improv music, right?
To hear Trance Macabre play between the blaring of the sax, the pounding of the drums and the bass line staying steady, there is also some singing in here though no one has a microphone. The way that it all comes together so tightly just makes it feel special because even though you think of it as this free form experiment at the same time it's technical and just some of my favorite music, experienced live or on cassette.
The Electric Nature was in the middle of this psychedelic sandwich. I've listened to and reviewed the music of Michael Potter and Null Zone for quite some time so finally getting out to see him perform live was something that I couldn't pass up on a Tuesday night. The Electric Nature has been on tour for what seems like almost the entire year promoting "Old World Die Must" and now there is a new cassette out on Elderdown Records as well.
At its heart the music of The Electric Nature feels very electronic and I think The Electric Nature is one of those artists where their name really can help you understand their sound. The electric part of it is that there are electronics and at some point during the set the whole thing had these beats which weren't drum beats but created with bass I believe otherwise and it just made it all feel like it was going to turn into a dance party.
While all of this is happening, there was also guitar looping but then also just some of the most incredible guitar playing you will ever see. I think that's the nature side of The Electric Nature because it just comes out so naturally, so organically. Maybe it feels like you're going to a rave or maybe it feels like you're going to see a jam band, but if you like either of those two things and have ever wanted to kind of combine them then this is the sound for you.
Pink Sap headlined this show and I know who a few of their members. Michael Slyne might be the one who put this altogether, but he's the one I'm most familiar with in this band. Dominic Mrakovcich was on keys and electronics during this set as well and he is an ambient composer who has this amazing album out right now called "Rataplan" that everyone should be listening to and talking about.
Along with Michael Slyne there was another guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. The set started with tape loops and somewhat quietly, but then picked up. Most of the time you can think of music as being in that verse/chorus/verse way or just going from points of loud to soft and then back to loud again. Pink Sap started at a point which we could call 0 and then by the end had made it to 10. The sound didn't really go up and down, it just seemed to start at a quieter place and then become gradually louder until the end.
This whole show was one of those psychedelic type of trips that I think everyone should take during music. It's so much fun too because it feels like you're out on the ocean riding a wave and you don't know where it's going to take you. This is probably the closest I will ever come to surfing. Everyone who played is also so talented, definitely the best at what they do and you can just hear it in the sounds.
33 Golden Street can be found on Instagram here :::
https://www.instagram.com/33goldenstreet/
Trance Macabre can be found on YouTube here :::
https://www.youtube.com/@nicholasserrambana217
The Electric Nature can be found on Bandcamp here :::
https://nullzone.bandcamp.com/music
Pink Sap can likely be best found through Michael Slyne, who is on Bandcamp here :::
https://thefamilystoned.bandcamp.com/music
However you should also be listening to Dominic Mrakovcich who is on Bandcamp here :::
what a nice review thank you so much!
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