Music and art have always been combined, and most people do it right. (read: local Beats and Brushes event hosted by RiPs Entertainment.) Psychedelic performance art rockers The Red Paintings do it with a flair that will keep your ears peeled and your eyes glued to the stage. Trust me when I say, you have never seen or heard anything like this.
That’s why our Guilty Pleasure of the Week segment is coming back with a bang in the form of this Australian, genre-bending, orchestral rock group. Fascination pretty much surrounds this music project, from the moment you listen to the music, to the story behind how lead singer and musical mastermind Trash McSweeney began his musical journey. One near-fatal seizure and many inspiring moments later, and The Red Paintings was born.
Gimmicky bands are sometimes a hit or a miss, but with this group the gimmick is simply artful, colorful, mesmerizing and sometimes downright acid-trip inducing entertainment. Woven around all of that creativity is a voice that isn’t quite perfect but manages to fit into the theme of the music completely. Add in the sweet yet ominous sounds of string instruments, which are usually included in their live ensemble as well, and The Red Paintings succeed in creating its own little Tim Burton-esque world.
The performance is theatrical, and sometimes over-obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, but the music is more than just a soundtrack to a play. McSweeney croons one moment and sears through his lyrics the next, as the dynamics of each song rise and fall like a tumultuous ocean. Still, beautiful pseudo-ballads such as “We Belong in the Sea” are just as alluring and can stand alone without the stage antics.
In essence, the entire package of The Red Paintings is perfect, complete with a big red bow on top.
This is the kind of music experience that is extremely fun to watch live, especially since the group adds in a real-time art collaboration featuring local artists at each of their tour destinations, and even occasionally including human canvasses.
Alright, now are you convinced? If you are, head over to the Griffin on Valentine’s Day (February 14th, in case you forgot), for The Red Paintings, Stone Horse, The Falling Doves and others.
This is the kind of band that can jump between creating inspiring, dreamy and sometimes folky songs and composing modern instrumental pieces for a ballet. Yes, a ballet! I’m talking about indie rockers, Mercies, and when this trio of multi-instrumentalists came into town, they brought along with them their unique, vintage-inspired sounds, high energy rhythms, and a few surprise guests sprinkled along their crowd at the Ruby Room.
Perhaps I am biased because I have a true appreciation for rock. I mean actual rock. I mean a couple of guys or gals, their trusty instruments, and the raw energy that can only come from a string vibrating against electricity. That is the kind of rock that comes with San Diego natives, Machines Learning.
mmovable Objects created their most recent recording, I’ll Know to Believe in Sparrows, where the band explores the nuance of the album as a complete piece and the ideas of instrumental music as an emotive and visual experience. For his first return to the U.S. this October, Gagin plans to perform the latest Immovable Objects’ record in its entirety with a video accompaniment. “I feel like the music expresses itself with or without a projected narrative but I think without lyrics or a true front man to engage the audience, and believe me I ‘m no front man, their can be a lack of connection for some people. Others, however, enjoy it more because there is no voice.”
The Indie 