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Mourning [A] BLKstar with U.S. Girls
Jun
4
8:00 PM20:00

Mourning [A] BLKstar with U.S. Girls

This year marks a significant anniversary for U.S. Girls, the protean musical enterprise of multi-disciplinary artist, Meg Remy. 10 years ago Remy first used a 4-track recorder and a microphone to self-produce a series of spontaneous, starkly musical, ‘instant expressions’. These collisions of static, clang and sung melody seem in retrospect like a uniquely American display of minimalism, an unmistakably feminine counterbalance to Nebraska or Rev & Vega’s early sonic confrontations. In contrast, her latest work for 4AD, In A Poem Unlimited, Remy’s 6th album and 2nd LP for the label, was painstakingly crafted in multiple studios by a creative cast of 20+ collaborators. Remy traverses an immediate and increasingly politicized vision over the course of this decade of work. And while U.S. Girls, denoting the plural, is no longer a misnomer, In A Poem Unlimited may be Remy’s most individually distilled protest to date.

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Mourning [A] BLKstar w/ Ben LaMar Gay, DJ King Hippo
Apr
10
9:00 PM21:00

Mourning [A] BLKstar w/ Ben LaMar Gay, DJ King Hippo

9PM DOORS | 9:30PM SHOW

Mourning [a] BLKstar (Cleveland, OH)
https://mourningablkstar.com/
Ben LaMar Gay Quartet
https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/downtown-castles-can-never-block-the-sun
DJ King Hippo
https://www.mixcloud.com/KingHippo/stream/

Creating songs of both eulogy and revolution, the expansion of 21st century black consciousness is felt in waves through Ohio’s Mourning [A] BLKstar. A force that has deep conviction, purpose, and weight, songs are voiced through the a lens of chopped up drum grooves, stark melodies, washed-out synth tones, and historic sample pulls. On “The Garner Poems” the group traffics their signature gritty strain of DIY Afrofuturist soul music, balancing hip-hop production techniques with lo-fi experimentation to create a sonic suite that eulogizes victims of police brutality, including Tamir Rice and Eric Garner, as well as bringing forth a conversation that aligns with the political and emotional state of this world. “The Garner Poems” are modern day spirituals of reverence and despair that serve as both a force of light and a schematic for hope, survival, and independence.

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