the critique of pure reason presents:

old time relijun
(playing a special improvised music set)
becky stark
9:30
all ages
$5-$9 suggested donation

From the back wood jungles of Olympia, Washington, Old Time Relijun is the barest of the ‘bare bones’ you will ever meet. With a nearly incomprehensible blend of primitive swamp stomp-n-swagger, gutsy free jazz, throat-singing-punk-gospel, they are the true and original American Primitive Deconstructionist Visionaries. That this mélange is blatantly, infectiously danceable in a “this world is an illusion burning up so let’s get sweaty” kind of a way gives further evidence of Old Time Relijun’s claims to prophecy in a new era of fiery, sexy, soul-punk rebellion.

Old Time Relijun is conducted by the bug-eyed brilliance of preacher’s kid-gone-bad front-man Arrington de Dionyso’s symbiotic churning of one-note guitar scrapings within the hallucinatory world of yelps, yawps, howls and other proto-musical utterances that make the bulk of his lyrics. (Arrington is an acknowledged master of Tuvan throat singing, with a degree in ethnomusicology!)

Opening the night is Becky Stark. Becky’s music has been described as “timeless and American.” By timeless, it’s not tied down to a particular time-frame that might make it seem anachronistic. By American, it’s like Woodie Guthrie or Stephen Foster. If you close your eyes at a Becky Stark gig, you could imagine yourself at a folk sit-in in the sixties, a saloon in Wyoming in the 19th century, or even an eighteenth-century Philadelphia inn. There’s nothing in the music or lyrics to reveal that the music is from 21st century Los Angeles. It’s heartfelt, simple and beautiful.

Production: Stacie Slotnick / the critique of pure reason
(stacie at thecritique dot org)
the critique of pure reason