Collective action can yield the best results. This maxim
is holding true in the turn-of-the-century music world. Witness Elephant
6, the Wu-Tang Clan and local examples like Movement or Teenage U.S.A. --
all posses of friends helping each other communicate their creative impulses,
usually through a record label.
Chicago indie label Perishable was founded in '92 by Ben Massarella and Tim Rutili of slovenly rockers Red Red Meat. "We had this album recorded by Friends of Betty, the pre-Red Red Meat band," relates Massarella, possibly the mellowest man ever, by phone. "When the name changed, we formed Perishable to release the record. Then Red Red Meat got signed to Sub Pop and the label got put on hold. We resurrected it two years ago to release the Loftus album and had so much fun doing it that we decided to make it a real label."
The excellent down-home dub of Loftus was created by an octet comprising Massarella, Rutili, Brian Deck and Tim Hurley of RRM, Phil Spirito and Curtis Harvey of Rex, Bundy K. Brown of Directions (and formerly Tortoise) and Doug Scharin of June of 44, Directions, Rex and HIM. It was followed by the debut of Califone, whose beatbox blues was the brainchild of Rutili, with the help of Massarella, Deck and Hurley. The Perishable "bands" are defined by material as opposed to membership; exclusively playing Rutili's songs distinguishes Califone from Red Red Meat. Keeping track of this gang requires Rolodex-terity.
"We have all this material lying around from people playing in various combinations," Ben explains. "So we figure, 'Why not put it out?' It's a collective vibe; people working together to make records and tour. And everyone's involved in the label process."
Three new discs have recently been disseminated by Perishable: Out in Worship's Sterilized and the self-titled debuts by Orso and Drumhead.
Orso is Phil Spirito along with Ben, Brian, the Tims,
violinist Julie Liu and "the ghost of Bundy K. Brown," and the
disc is a true gem. Spirito is a teddy bear of a guy, and "orso"
is a play on ours, French for "bear." Orso has a
joyous, childlike feel, putting you in the mind frame of a kid playing with
bugs. One amazing track, "Spider's House," features Deck and Rutili
on duelling toy pianos. Other instrumentation includes "55 gallon drum,"
"shake and jiggle" and "woosh woosh schplonk de wank de reedledee"
(I'm not making this up), yet it's all driven by Phil's banjo and acoustic
guitar playing, which is both stripped-down and lush, reminiscent of Nick
Drake or Richard Thompson. Phenomenal.
Out in Worship is a bicoastal collaboration between New Yorker Doug Scharin and San Francisco's Joe Goldring, ex-bassist for Wade and the Swans. Goldring plays guitar, bass, Rhodes piano and Optigon organ, while Scharin provides the big-assed beat. Sterilized's title track is a sprawling 20-minute monstrosity that uses tablas and turntables to create a post-rock dream/nightmare on the scale of Tortoise's "Djed." "Shift" slides into a Portishead mood, while the awesome 15-minute closer "Navajos" glides mystically through some undiscovered drone-funk conduit.
Scharin's friendship with Tony Maimone, former bassist for Pere Ubu and Bob Mould, led to his involvement in Out in Worship, and Perishable's involvement with Drumhead. The trio of Maimone and percussionists Sheila McCarthy and Josh Matthews perform on all types of rhythm instruments, plus grand piano courtesy of McCarthy's employer, the Guggenheim Museum. The disc is pretty abstract and melody-challenged, but I guess that's the point. Drumhead may be too N.Y.C.-muso for funky beat frenzy, but it's a fine work of ambience, especially when glimmering marimba appears.
As for Red Red Meat, Ben says they survived their rough ride on post-grunge Sub Pop, and have recently played a few shows around Chicago. "It's funny," he muses, "that the people who didn't take the whole rock band thing seriously are still around making the best music." Pause. "I'm not necessarily referring to us!"
View the Perishable catalogue at <www.perishablerecords.com>.
This marks my last story as Jonathan Patrick. When I become eye's listings editor next week, I will end the confusion by returning to my proper surname, Bunce. Keep revolution T.O. rock-style alive in '99!