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UZ
JSME DOMA
with special guests CAPILLARY ACTION
Canceled |
After a long hiatus from the US, avant-rockers Uz Jsme Doma
are embarking on a month long tour (with Philadelphia band Capillary
Action) in support of their most recent album,
Rybi Tuk (Cod Liver Oil), set
for release by Škoda Records on October 23. Lucky for us, they'll be in
Cedar Rapids that day: UJD’s explosive, engaging concerts feature frenetic
tempos and time changes, soaring operatic vocals and gutteral chanting,
rock anthems and folk dances, seeming anarchy that is orchestrated down to
the last skronk.
Since forming in the small Czechoslovakian border town of Teplice in 1985,
UJD has weathered the tyranny of Communism, numerous line-up changes, and
relentless touring, including performances in war-torn Bosnia. The band's
music, through a juxtaposition of the beautiful and ugly, familiar and
strange, aims to provoke the listener to feel something genuine and new;
in the famous words of one of the band's inspirations, Franz Kafka, to be
"an axe for the frozen sea inside us." Celebrating the absurd, the sad,
the beautiful and the unbearable, often all in one song, Uz Jsme Doma taps
into life's underground reserves and lets it shoot skywards.
Following their last North American tour in 2001 (when they also played
CSPS), sax player and founding member Jindra Dolansky and bassist Honza
Cejka retired from the group. The band regrouped as a quartet and recorded
its latest, most complex work, Rybi Tuk
(Cod Liver Oil), in September 2003 at Sono Studios in Prague.
Mixed by Dan Rathbun of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (and featuring
contributions from SGM members Nils Frykdahl and Carla Kihlstedt),
Cod Liver Oil includes elaborate
arrangements featuring violin, horns, and a full choir.
UJD's current tourng lineup is Mirek Wanek (vocals, guitar,
keyboards, lyrics), Pepa Cervinka (bass, vocal), Adam Tomasek
(trumpet, vocal) and Tomas Paleta (drums, clapping, tears).
Songwriter Miroslav Wanek’s lyrics have earned him a reputation as a
modern-day Czech poet, while the band’s dense melodic atmospheres are
inventive and unforgettable.
The authoritative All-Music Guide describes their songs as "an
improbable synthesis of prog rock and punk ... Complex, with ever changing
rhythms and styles, they also feature many guest musicians to expand the
group's instrumentation. Trumpet, French horn, violin, flute, and
keyboards, along with a quartet of singers, all contribute ... Each piece
is a delight."
Projects on the horizon for the band include
the music to the animated Czech Television series
Krysaci (Rats), to be broadcast
in December 2007.
Opener | Capillary Action’s amorphous sound mixes disparate
influences, unpredictable song structures, meticulous arrangements, and
unique instrumentation with catchy melodies, personal subject matter, and
an abrasive energy. With ties to both Oberlin College and the Philadelphia
experimental rock community, the group — led by composer/guitarist
Jonathan Pfeffer — currently has three records out on Pangaea. Their
music has generated positive reviews from The Wire, Pitchfork,
and Guitar World, which wrote "The music pulls you in, lulls
you into a false sense of security, then smashes you over the head. In a
good way."
CONCERT CANCELED DUE
TO TRAVEL COMPLICATIONS
Tue Oct 23 |
8 pm
CSPS | 1103 Third St SE | Cedar Rapids
$12
advance | $15 day of
show
Ticket info
Go to artist's Web
site
Click here for a downloadable flyer (PDF)
Back to calendar
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