Asher & Brendan Murray at Cafe Fixe

Brendan Murray & Asher
Brendan Murray
Asher

Photos by Susanna Bolle (my camera was acting up).
Check out more on Flickr.


Last night was the second "experimental coffee house" put on by Non-Event (who totally rule). The first was Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman (also at Fixe), which I sadly missed out on. But I was determined to check out this seemingly jive coffee shop who hosts cool music and HOLY SHIT YOU NEED TO GO. Let me break it down for you...

It's kinda like the Weirdo shows. It's a small space (though not nearly as small as Weirdo. Fixe has tables & chairs. Though to be fair, they don't have hundreds of records, either). You go early and hang out, instead of buying records you drink coffee, and see a single amazing performance. Cheap, intimate, go home early, what's not to love?

Asher Thal-Nir is a dude I had never heard of before this event but since he was performing with Brendan Murray, I knew the guy was at least awesome by association. Turns out he's pretty cool on his own, too, but whatever. The music is what matters.

It started out pretty simple, just a dried up ocean desert of white noise. Some alternating high & low long form sonar blips, perhaps of the piano origin. Very tranquil. Very desolate. Then someone passes out on their car horn, just laying on that thing, bleeding an electronic organ tone way out in the distance. Suddenly something that sounds like flowing water comes into ear shot, like a geyser is slowly bubbling up, refilling the ocean, although everything remains mostly peaceful for a period of time. But then shit turns dark and scary. Like the water coming back is threatening to summon the deep sea monsters as well. And that sonar returns, too, but this time at a more rapid pace. You realize it's steady, though, so whatever it is is staying put. Eventually, the bubbles fade, and one by one, the dozens of layers you didn't even know where there drop out. Total silence. Show's over. Applause. Curtains. Socializing. Home.