Small Beast Finds Itself Lost In Sound

Lost in Sound Mike (right) and Carl.
One Year After in the dark
The highlights at last Mondays Small Beast at the Delancey were many, but foremost the long awaited return to stage of Mike Lawson and his Lost In Sound Project. His short set took the listeners on an all encompassing trip through the depths and heights of guitar rock and ambient beats. Can't wait to see him back soon with more, and next time, Carl, turn up that bass!

Anton Sword Solo in Red

The One Year After band opened up the evening with a very classy mix of jazzy, yet dark and mysterious sounds, getting the night into a good gear. Anton Sword paraded birthday child Dana solo and did it in style and with passion. The new songs rock. Dave and I enjoyed our duo set, the combination of sax and acoustic guitar mostly worked, even if my playing at times was a little, erm, fragile. Mike joined us on "Macabre Danse".

Roman Game, with Dave in the shadows

Tony G closed out the night with a tasty short set of interesting beats and sounds. Thank for coming out on this snowy cold night - especially to Gina and Caroline, all the way from Amsterdam!

This Small Beast Is For Dana!

Our last show this year is the 96th installment of The Small Beast at the Delancey, and it's a very special birthday show for Dana Austin who will be celebrating her big 4-0 this coming Monday, December 13th. I'm very excited with the line-up for this show, don't miss Karen Geyer and her One Year Band, she's only in town for a couple of weeks! Also, Mike, who is behind Lost in Sound, hasn't been playing live for ages - we've heard a rehearsal, and it sounds magnificent. As usual, 2 for 1 drinks, and the show is free... can't get much better for a Monday, no?

Small Beast #96 at the Delancey


8:30PM THE ONE YEAR BAND (ONE YEARS AFTER)

The One Year Band started when German-Swiss artist/musician Karen Geyer crossed the Atlantic with her double bass in summer 2008 for a yearlong artist residency, during which she planned to bring together a band for one year. „My intention was to getting to know musicians, getting to know each other through playing the instruments, America and Europe, pure improvisation.“ It worked, and every time Karen visits New York again, the One Year Band is one year older. Now in it’s third installment, the band consists of Karen on double bass, the unique, Indian-American guitar player Kunal Prakash (Maury and Moosh Moosh), the Japanese trumpet player Eiju Kawasaki (Walkfunk), also tap dancer extraordinaire, Cindy Lou Gooden (Very Fresh) on electric bass, and drummer Nick Ray (Viva l American Death Ray Music, Golden Triangles). According to Karen, the pieces are based on mental states. “Is That All I Can Do” and “Makes Me Nervous” are losely structured through rules. “We know the changing mood of each piece but the improvisational parts give us freedom, so that every concert is unique and every “song” is a new experience, also for the musicians. You never know what will happen.”
http://www.myspace.com/theoneyearband

9:15PM ANTON SWORD

“Interesting, musically subtle, tasteful, original, witty
music...infectiously rhythmic and impossibly memorable. “

One day when he was a child in New York City, Anton put his ear against a speaker in a dark apartment on the Upper West Side and went into a trance. He had a long dream. When he woke up twenty years later, his heart was permanently broken, but in a good way. Trying to make a movie out of the turbulence in his mind, he found himself writing songs at the piano instead, blending melancholy romance, psychedelic art-prog, soul, and sing-in-the-shower 70s pop.

10:00PM THE ROMAN GAMES

Roman Game is a songwriter and storyteller from Switzerland, who moved to New York 15 years ago. Worshipping at the church of Rock'n'Roll, he creates punk ballads about unusual and outrageous professions with a touch of jazz. Roman Games perform an intimate live show that will remind you of why you love live rock and roll. The prolific songwriter has been influenced by British bands such as the Jam and the Clash and, of course, John Lennon was his favorite Beatle. For this special Beast show, Roman teams up with Saxophone artist Dave Spinley, presenting the songs as a duo, giving the stories room to breathe.

Very, very good. Nice mix of styles, no testosterone metal crap. I hope they go far!" -Captain Sensible, The Damned
"Fantastic songs...I really enjoy listening to their music!" - Karl Wallinger, World Party


10:45PM LOST IN SOUND

Imagine driving through the desert with Nick Cave on acid and Massive Attack blasting from the stereo, the golden sunlight fading into the black abyss of night, twangy echo guitars rising like shiny stars and pulsating beats carrying you through the trip. Six years after his last show with the intriguing In Cat State, the uniquely talented, Mike Lawson presents his new music to a live audience for the first time, exclusively at the Small Beast.

11:30PM DJ TONY G OF ECHOSTREAM

Tony Grund is an American musician, a singer-songwriter, who plays keyboards in the successful electronic band Echostream. While Echostream is working on new music, Tony spins and plays with music that will get you dancing into Tuesday morning.
“Echostream is undoubtedly distinct, but the big name influences are definitely there: Just imagine Nine Inch Nails, Björk, Radiohead and Miho Hatori had a child, the product would be something like this post-goth phenomenon.” – perpetualtoxins.com

168 Delancey Street (between Clinton and Attorney), F train to Delancey Stop
Call 212-254-9920 for information.