SCOTT LUCAS (LOCAL H) @ Echo

8:30pm / $8adv; $10dos / 18+

A Lull are hitting the western part of the US from mid-January through early February with the band Deleted Scenes. If you have not already seen A Lull live, this is a must see tour. Their wall-of-sound sets have garnered universal praise and steadily built their fan base in every city they have played.

As an added THANK YOU for the support A Lull’s fans have shown in 2011, their new single “Some Love” – which includes remixes by Brothertiger, City Light, and Sun Glitters – will be available FREE from from December 27th through the end of the tour.

Visit the Mush Records Facebook page to grab your free download

Chicago’s A Lull is nearly impossible to describe without qualifiers. Equal parts mystical and primal, the music crafted by these five multi-instrumentalists gathers the recognizable traits of a half dozen indie micro-genres, tosses out all but the stem cells, then adds the calculated, percussive verve of a half dozen rhythm sections on top of beautifully crafted songwriting to result in a sound that is as unique as it is memorable. A Lull blurs the lines between the synthesized and organic. The evocative lyrics and vocals of Nigel Evan Dennis are engulfed with music elements that live on the barriers between guitars, electronics, and effects, then (with each member of the band having at one point banged on a drum) covered with endless layers of percussion. Recording the music themselves, the band is not confined to traditional studio techniques or time constraints, and the obsessive attention to detail shows. Employing anything available to create beats, melodies, textures and layers of sound, A Lull’s sonic landscape is experimental in the ways that it takes form, yet at the same time inherently musical.Mush Records

Deleted Scenes || Listen || Watch
Deleted Scenes, a four-piece band from DC, released its first self-entitled EP in 2007, twelve years after meeting in grade school. In 2009, the band released a full-length, Birdseed Shirt, which was recorded mostly in group houses across the east coast over the course of a year with producer L. Skell (the Rude Staircase). It was met with critical acclaim from Pitchfork, which praised its “thoughtful existentialism and strange, drowsy downers” (8.0 score), and NPR, which called it “playfully unpredictable and totally infectious.”

Deleted Scenes is based in Washington, DC. They are Daniel Scheuerman (guitar, vocals), Matt Dowling (bass, keyboards), Dominic Campanaro (guitar, keyboards, samples), and Brian Hospital (drums), with guitar playing by Chris Scheffey on tracks 1, 6, and 11. They have shared the stage with Cursive, Wild Nothing, Abe Vigoda, Black Kids, The Antlers, Medications, Matt and Kim, and others. They have played SXSW, CMJ, and Pop Montreal. Sockets Records

Ravenna Woods || Listen || Watch
Sounds like: The Dodos, the Cave Singers, Jose Gonzales.

Why they matter: Ravenna Woods provides a crucial reminder to Seattle’s current scene: Just because it’s folky and acoustic doesn’t mean it must be pastoral and warm. The three-man band plays haunting urban folk, full of eerie vocal harmonies, spiraling fingerpicked guitar, minimalist percussion, and the occasional toy piano.

You should know: Named after a Seattle city park, Ravenna Woods recently toured for their self-released second album, Valley of the Headless Men, playing cramped living room shows as often as conventional concert venues. Spin

Scott Lucas || Watch
“In addition to his ability to craft indelible melodies, even when they’re delivered amid a wall of fuzz and thundering drums, one of Lucas’ strengths as a songwriter always has been a razor-sharp wit as a lyricist, coupled with a novelist’s eye for telling details. The Married Men showcase the latter in a different setting, amid sawing violins, sweeping piano lines, wheezing accordion and organ, and seductive acoustic guitar that welcome comparisons to the likes of American Music Club and Tindersticks.” — Jim DeRogatis, Pop N Stuff