Eclectic Vibes - February 2010

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CD/DVD Micro Reviews by Andrew Frey

THE NEW DEAL WITH DJ REKHA
We got to the Majestic Theatre in Madison on 1/30 soon after the posted time of start and true to their media, DJ Rekha was already mid set as we got settled. I was excited to see her because she is one of the initiators of the bhangra sound into the Western culture and we don’t get to see such things around here often. What a delight to experience live and bask in the ethnic vibrations at club volume. Nothing much for a stage show; just a well versed DJ doing her thing.

Since she was just one performer on stage, the show was set up to seamlessly and quickly transfer over into The New Deal’s set. When this inevitably occurred, the seasoned Canadian trio pounced on the stage and tore into their song list, ushering forth wave after wave of cosmic grooves that titillated our senses and caused our bodies to gyrate in continuous effortless fashion. Spacey ambience flowed into funky rock only to end up the butt of a magnanimous jam. The crowd was generally young and sparkly but the moon was full and managed to electrify the evening for all involved.

As the energy swelled, so did the crowds, reaching what appeared to be peak capacity by the time The New Deal took a set break. In short order, DJ Rekha seized the down time opportunity to spin another set during the band break. This allowed for the extra motivated to continue dancing and soak up the pleasurable Punjabi driven ambience.

When the second set for The New Deal arrived, they really spun up the beats to once again enmesh the attention of those in attendance. Their sonic Monet’s played sensationally to the assembled friendly masses of writhing bipeds.

Spotting bar time on the horizon, the music came to a crowd pleasing climax and we expressed ourselves in directions various through the temperatures severely frigid. Until we meet again then… www.djrekha.com www.thenewdeal.com

LOTUS ANTICIPATION
Gravitating to the bigger letters on more and more festivals, these tough yet versatile instrumentalists are set on bringing forth many facets of the greater musical whole together. This 5 piece meldings dance, jam, rock, techno and a plethora of ambient juxtapositions in-between. They can be found touring through our area showing off their simultaneously released EPs“Feather On Wood” and “Oil On Glass” which are revisioned extensions of the acclaimed Hammerstrike studio sessions.

As there are two releases, so will we be treated to two blissful nights with Lotus at the beautiful Majestic Theatre in Madison, WI. Also, two of our local faves open the shows; Steez on 2/19 and Bhagdad Scuba Review on 2/20. Also appearing Basic Physics. www.lotusvibes.com