UNKLE @ the El Ray - On the Scene

        Despite being on the scene since 1994, I had never heard Unkle's name until about two weeks ago.  Walking up to Amoeba records, I saw an in store appearance of the band being advertised on a billboard.  I remarked to my friend that they had a seriously deplorable band name and we left it at that.  No more thoughts were given to Unkle until just a few days ago, when by chance I stumbled across their track "Follow Me Down."  Although my ears usually prefer an appetite of loud guitars and raw vocals, something about Unkle pulled me in.  There are a million adjectives I could throw out in attempt to label their sound but i'll stick with 4.  Dark, visual, trippy and visceral - All encased in a pseudoelectro, shoegaze type of ethos.  Here's the "Follow Me Down" video to give you a better idea of what we're dealing with here.  (If you don't mind a little nudity, this song and video are both amazing).

                                 

        Needless to say, after seeing this I wanted more and it just so happened they were playing in LA at the beginning of the week.  I wasn't sure what scene to expect upon arrival.  One thing I knew...it probably wouldn't be mine.  However, the first guy I spoke to just so happened to be a photographer/writer who worked with other bloggers, mostly by giving them photos from different concerts.  What a coincidence considering I couldn't take my Flipcam inside!  Stay tuned to see some of his stuff from Monday night.  I also talked to some slightly jaded scenesters who eagerly took jabs at answering my questions.  What resulted is a great juxtaposition.  If you watch this video I think you can truly get a sense of the indie music paradox.  There's Matt, the slightly older, dedicated music lover who speaks rather profoundly about the event...then there's Austin and Constantine.  I mean, how could you not be a hipster with a name like Constantine.  They were both first time El Ray attendees who seemed only slightly familiar with Unkle's music and the event itself.  See the contrast for yourself:



        The show was predictably intense, full of very cerebral layers of music.  It was thick and at the same time ambient.  At times the sounds and visuals evoked some type of jungle scenario with green lights, amazonian vocals and off kilter rhythms.  Other times things got dark and weird with lush red lights, sexy singing and heavy, almost industrial sounds.  Ironically enough, the crowd was the perfect mix of Constantine and Matt's predictions.  There were the posh looking, "yuppie" crowd, all gently nodding their heads in unison, in between sips of their "$13 drinks." Some older fans were present.  Perhaps those who caught on to Unkle back in 1994, before this years breakout album landed them on the radio.  There was a small handful of raver-types who would not have seemed out of place twirling glowsticks around their dyed purple heads.  And of course a smattering of typecast hipsters, who perhaps came for a love of Unkle, or quite possibly came for a love of all things hipster.  To quote Austin "They're one of my favorite bands...I just started listening to them."

        Despite this collection of people, there was something very nondescript about the crowd.  I had a hard time pigeonholing people mostly because I think the scene is representative of the event.  Unkle are a very diverse and eclectic act and I think that reflects in their turnout.  I showed up with my typical interests on the back burner and felt almost anonymous because of it.  When people show up to hear weird, almost undefinable music, I think scenes also become ambivalent.  It wasn't like a group of "wangsters" showing up to see Eminem, or a bunch of "emo" kids hanging out for a My Chemical Romance concert.  It was way more of a niche-defying mix.  A collection of seemingly nondescript people from all walks of life, flocking together for something truly bizarre.