September 3–10, 1998

cover story|fringe festival

Tones On Tail

When in doubt, improvise.

by Neil Gladstone

		Pilgrimage To Mecca: New York's Mecca Bodega

Trying to explain what an improvised band sounds like is harder than dancing about architecture. It's like boogying around a building that hasn't been built yet. Several of the groups performing at the Fringe are improvisational outfits, so what they will sound like is impossible to say. However, most have a basic framework they adhere to. Here are just a few impressionistic moves.

Unlimited Motion This new local trip-hop supergroup features members of Stinking Lizaveta and EDO. Though the band is providing a live soundtrack for Eric Schoefer's dance piece Strung, their music is bound to be fairly riveting in and of itself. Brimming with accomplished instrumentalists, Unlimited Motion combines guitar synth, bass and didjeridoo with tapes of Serbian Orthodox liturgy and early '70s new age music to create a very distinctive brew. Sept. 9-19 at The Smoke Building

Mecca Bodega A meditative, ruminating groove band that forges funk from hammer dulcimer, African drums, handmade percussion, guitars and gas tanks. Schoolly D and Soul Coughing's M. Doughty appeared on their recent CD Subway Stories (Sire). Whether either will show up for this gig is anyone's guess. Sept. 10 at the Tin Angel

Finger Paint Imagine a rambling cruise across the Martian countryside and you might get an inkling of the soundscape created by two guys (Steev Geest and Patrick Smith) fiddling with guitars and loops. Sept. 11 at Third Street Gallery

Spin 17 Ed Chang and Motoko Shimizu create a simmering stew of electronic whispers and whistles that sounds like a chorus of sirens in the distance. Ghostly howls play off gurgling analog synths. It's a spine-tingling funhouse. Sept. 13 at Highwire Gallery

Plankton Imagine a carnival band warming up. The frenetic blurts of Todd Margasak's trumpet ricochet off Dave Forlano's hyper guitar riffs and David Sherick's splattering percussion. It's a manic, slapdash affair, propelled by waves of nervous energy. Sept. 17 at Upstairs at Nick's

Name One of the more thought-provoking hip-hop groups on the Philadelphia scene, Name is made up of three emcees, backed by guitar, acoustic bass, electric bass and drum machines. Sept. 16 at the Tin Angel

Music in the Key of Zero John Berndt's rancorous saxophone races through notes, accented by squealing crescendos that sound like distorted tones propelled through a whale's blowhole. Catherine Pancake's ramshackle percussion cuts through the squirreling wails with rattles and taps. Sept. 17 at Upstairs at Nick's

Straylight This trio broadcasts an epic soundscape of scrapes, rattles and buzzes served up by Jason Finkelman on percussion, Charles Cohen on electronics and Geoff Gersh on guitar. Sept. 19 at Third Street Gallery

Unsound Given that this trio is a combination of electronics, Chapman Stick and violin, it's hard to say which instrument is responsible for what sound. High-pitched electronic blurts buzz while bowed notes creep and screech, occasionally deviating into melancholy moments. Sept. 9 at Highwire Gallery