More Music

• Cowboy Junkies revisit, re-record 'The Trinity Session'
• Review: 3D effects flesh out U2
• CD reviews: Jet Lag Gemini; RTX; Metro Station; We the Kings

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Priestbird, "In Your Time" (Kemado Records, out April 17)

This disc represents a new beginning and new direction for this hard-rock trio from New York City, whose members were the former instrumental prog group Tarantula AD. They have re-formed under the moniker of a character from one of their songs ("Life Not Lost"), the priestbird that looks after bird spirits in the afterlife. And on this debut, all three members sing for the first time.

The multi-instrumentalists create ornate, multilayered environmental textures, bathed in mellow, lush soundscapes amid heavy arrangements. The songs can be funereal ("Season of the Sun") or ethereal ("Mandog").

Things get sludgy and plodding on the heavy "Smoke & Pain," yet downright funky on the hooky "Hand That Draws" with its Middle Eastern rhythms. Those same rhythms infuse the raga-like "Last to Know." The string-laden title track is lush and pastoral, while the bucolic string instrumental "Kliminz" could pass as chamber music.

Priestbird offer more than spiritual support to labelmates The Sword tonight at the Launchpad, 618 Central S.W. Year Long Disaster opens at 9 p.m. $7. 21 and over only. 764-8887.

Listen to "Season of the Sun"

Pistolera, "Siempre Hay Salida" (Self-released)

This four-piece from New York City delivers traditional Mexican music and accordion-driven "folklorico," but spices the same with pop sensibilities. This is Latin roots music with irresistible, almost punky, rock rhythms.

Sandra Lilia Velásquez fronts the band and wrote all of the songs, save "La Espera," which she co-wrote with bassist Inca B. Satz, about life on the home front.

When she sings, in Spanish, she advocates female empowerment ("No Suspires"; the rumba/samba with horns of "Acércate") or rails against the Minutemen Project "protecting" the U.S.-Mexico border (the punchy polka "Cazador").

Themes include using music as an escape (the lament "Algo Pa' Que Te Olivdes"), secret lives ("Mentirosos"), accusing the mailman of being a thief (the merengue "Ladrón") and drinking (the tuba-driven ranchera polka "Me Gusta Tomar"). They can also speed up a cumbia ("Tatuaje") or dish a pop song (the silky and sultry "No Te Olvidaré").

These three women - including Velásquez's cousin Ani Cordero of the band Cordero on percussion - and a man could give Los Lobos a run for their money.

While on the way to Austin for the South by Southwest music conference, Pistolera has scheduled three shows in the Land of Enchantment. All are 21 and over only.

Monday at Puccini's Golden West Saloon, 620 Central Ave. S.W. 7 p.m. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. 242-2353. Albuquerque Music

Tuesday at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 1615 Paseo De Peralta, B, in Santa Fe. Opening for Ozomatli at 7 p.m. $28. (505) 988-1234.

Wednesday at WilLee's Blues Club, 401 S. Guadalupe, in Santa Fe. 9 p.m. $5. (505) 982-0117.

Listen to the music of Pistolera

Panther, "Secret Lawns" (Fryk Beat Records)

Panther is the nom de musique of Charlie Salas-Humara, a one-man electro funkster with a penchant to go falsetto (the disco/soul "How Does It Feel?" with a throbbing bass line; "Telephone Wire"; and the quivering miasma of "Tennis Lesson").

These are zippy, little ditties ("Here We Stand"), glitching and twitching to respirator-assisted life. The minimalist, tortured soul (the synth funk and repetitive "How Well Can You Swim?") is as evident as the maximizer (the loopy and multilayered "Take Us Out" and the spacey, funk soul of "Tigers Touch," with its multitracked vocals).

Salas-Humara is also the frontman of the Portland, Ore., group The Planet The. On his solo effort, he's a brother from another planet, kind of like a low-rent Beck from outer space. This music is beguiling, and would be intriguing to see live, where some of theses snippets might possibly be stretched out.

Panther says his live performance is as much dance as it is music, and as much art as it is performance. Come judge for yourself Tuesday at Burt's Tiki Lounge, 313 Gold Ave. S.W. Rap, Dead Electric and The Booty Green share the bill. 10 p.m. Free. 21 and over only. 247-2878.

Listen to "How Well Can You Swim?"

Che Arthur, "Iron" (Sick Room Records, out March 27)

The Alabama native, former Chicagoan and now-Austin resident played all the instruments, except drums, on his second solo CD. This is more fleshed-out than his previous effort. And though technically a singer/songwriter, Arthur goes way beyond that constricting genre/label.

His baritone vocals command a presence and demand attention. These songs are starkly emotional, as his feelings are laid bare, especially on "The Dark War." There's a tinge of self-doubt, in the sense of making this record over a three-year period, on this autobiographical tune; the naked presentation is just voice and acoustic guitar. That apprehension and anxiety also rear up on "Bistrica," about a life unfulfilled, and "To The Core," which is almost a capitulation.

Arthur is also a disciple of post-punk rock ("Revisionism"; the bombastic "Compass," about the loss of moral bearings; and "Dead Trajectories," which reminded of Dinosaur Jr), but can't help himself when he delves into full-throttle punk (the thrashy, man-on-fire "Veil"; "Hallow Crown"; and "Kerosene," where a relationship appears to be falling apart).

Arthur, who used to be in Atombombpocketknife, is a captivating live performer. On his way to SXSW, he's touring as The Che Arthur Three, and on the liner notes of "Iron," he even gives props to the Launchpad, where he will be playing Monday. The all-ages show, featuring Rocky Votolato and Slender Means, starts at 7 p.m. $10. 764-8887; Virtuous

Listen to "Dead Trajectories"

Giant Squid, "Metridium Fields" (The End Records)

This Sacramento-by-way-of-Austin quartet dispenses formidable prog-drone rock - heavy on the synths, piano and keys - with an equally somber sense of doom. Aaron Gregory's down-tuned guitar adds to that overall feeling.

The mood is somewhat leavened by the male-female vocal interplay. And when he isn't growling or screaming, Gregory (in his higher register) sounds just like Serj Tankian of System of a Down.

This disc could be considered a concept album or at least a song cycle: Mythological themes of loneliness, despair and loss, mixed in with immense dread and gloom, are proffered with a heavy-handed delicateness. The results are epic and majestic.

"Neonate" concerns the birth cycle and infanticide; the languid "Versus the Siren" is dreamy, like the siren's call, and ends with a chill-out trumpet outro; the orchestral "Ampullae of Lorenzini" features psychic harpies; and on "Revolution in the Water" religion is lost while the world goes green.

"Summit" is imbued with sadness as it chronicles the decline of civilization: "The place we call home, built on our blood and our blood alone." The title track is an exceptional journey to the abyss, where the trumpet beckons and the theremin cries and moans.

This is killer headphone music.

Giant Squid play a late show at 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Launchpad. Ludicra and Black Elk share the stage. $8. 21 and over only.

Listen to "Neonate"