Clogs
03.31.06
The Kitchen (New York)
words: Alena Kastin
photos: Edwina Hay

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One of the first times I can recall opting to listen to classical music was during high school. Sometimes before a big test, I’d pop in one of my parents’ old Mozart cassettes, because I had read somewhere that listening to classical music makes you smarter. I much preferred lying on my bed and listening to concertos to, you know, actually studying.

While I can’t say for sure whether the classical music had any impact on my test scores, perhaps I can credit my classical exposure as having contributed to my recent interest in the music of Clogs. Their special blend of avant-neo-post-rock-classical music (or something along those lines) has been making my ears happy lately. However, I really discovered Clogs because of the National. The two groups (and one-time labelmates) share joint custody of guitarist Bryce Dessner, who splits his time between laying it down beneath the National’s bar-brawl rock and quietly playing restrained, classical guitar for Clogs. In turn, the Clogs’ primary composer and violinist Padma Newsome has been featured on the National’s albums and performed with the group during live shows.

Clogs’ music does provide a nice bridge between the two camps of “classical” and “rock.” Both Godspeed You Black Emperor! fans and chamber music aficionados will find common ground in the Clogs blend of traditional instrumentation with contemporary pop sensibilities. The crowd in the audience at The Kitchen on this night did seem like a nice blend between the two types; piercings mingled with pearls as we leafed through our programs and found seats in the relatively small venue.

The Kitchen is of course, not really a kitchen, but one of New York’s oldest nonprofit performance and exhibition spaces that plays host to a variety of experimental dance, theater, art, and multimedia performances. The stage was a feast for the eyes before any music was played, thanks to artist Karl Jensen’s tantalizing black backdrop with intricate cutout patterns stretching from floor to ceiling. The stage itself was covered in instruments and, to entertain myself, I played a little game and tried to identify them all. Bassoon! Mandolin! And is that…yes, a steel drum!

Opening the show was Shara Worden, whom you may remember from her previous stints as a member of the Michigan Militia and the Illinoisemakers. Yes, she is down with Mr. Sufjan Stevens, who provided moral support from the crowd at this show. As a solo performer, Shara was extremely captivating. The music was spare at times, allowing her unique and powerful voice to come to the forefront. I would describe it as a hybrid of Fiona Apple and Bjork. Speaking to the crowd, she seemed humble and happy to be performing for us, often inviting some musician friends sprinkled throughout the crowd to come on stage and accompany her. Her cover of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” was simple and soulful, and she later introduced one of her quirkier songs, played on the thumb piano, as being “the first of two songs about laundry.”

After a brief intermission, Clogs (Dessner and Newsome, along with bassoon player Rachael Elliott and percussionist Thomas Kozumplik) opened the show with “2:3:5”, a piece from their latest album, Lanterns. The song begins a bit tentatively but becomes jauntier by the end, with lilting violins and undulating rhythms played on the steel drum. The song ended with an abrupt, clean finish, as did the next piece, the moodier “Canon.” After finishing the dramatic sounding “5/4,” Dessner joked with the audience about their creative methods of titling songs – “5/4” refers to the time signature of the piece.

Before playing the new song “Bed and Rest”, Dessner explained that the song was originally composed by Newsome as a duet for guitar and bassoon when Newsome was home in Australia and could not be there to perform at a show in the U.S. Now that the group was whole, they had re-worked the piece to include all four of them. The song was just as its name promised, sleepy and delicate. Later on, the excellent “The Song of the Cricket” was the loudest piece yet, further cementing the fact that Clogs have rightfully earned their comparison to today’s post-rockers. As the show went on, the members of Clogs continued to float between the various instruments on stage, performing with incredible skill and precision. Besides being extremely gifted musicians, Clogs seemed to enjoy playing together as much as the crowd at the Kitchen enjoyed listening to them. I found myself completely hooked by their melodies and lulled into a comfortable, dreamy state by the show’s end, which finished off with the title track from Lanterns, a lovely, lonely sounding song with lyrics sung by Newsome.

Walking out into the lobby, we were greeted with complimentary wine and an opportunity to mingle and discuss the show, a welcome change to the post-concert routine that I’ve grown accustomed to - being pushed out into a loud, crowded bar or through an exit to the street. For me, it was the perfect end to a relaxing and beautiful performance by Clogs, probably one of my favorite shows so far this year. Who knows, if I continue to listen to the music of Clogs, maybe it won’t take an impending math test to put me in the mood for some good old classical music.