Pete Swanson at yesterday’s WBAR-B-Q, Barnard College’s very own music festival!
Having only been acquainted with Yellow Swans, I was impressed to hear Swanson’s solo material working with a distinct palette. I knew that Man With Potential, in particular, had a pronounced techno influence but I definitely wasn’t expecting how Swanson would use the beat in such a familiar way.
In a weird inverted sense the rhythms made the audience reception more polarized than it would have been for a total noise set. In the absence of any familiar referents you might have been able to ignore or dismiss Swanson’s music, but the mere presence of the 4/4 kick associated Swanson with a well-defined set of expectations — which his dense, trebly sonics entirely obliterated. Definitely a good set; I’m excited to hear more solo material in the future.
