Grouper – Live at Arts at the Armory, 2018 (Footage + Audio)

[nextpage title=”Arts at the Armory Show – Footage + Audio” ] Having missed Grouper‘s (aka Liz Harris) performance at Hopscotch 2018, we were more than excited to learn that one of her next tour stops is Arts at the Armory in Somerville, Mass. Her music is the direct result of dealing with intense isolation/inadequacy, so how does one translates those feelings into a live show?

The isolation and crushing melancholy/sadness certainly came through in the form of piano pieces, but there was also something else – not quite a sense of victory over fears, but certain transcendence/bliss filling the air. Visually it wasn’t much to feast on, but simply closing your eyes while being in near darkness certainly transported you to a different place (or a plane, even).

The exceptional quietness defined much of Grouper’s set we witnessed, with every little squeak/creak made by the crowd  being woven into the performance. There were also a few noisier moments, such as this one captured by us 10 minutes before the end of the show:

 
Grid of Points, Grouper’s latest, is out now on Kranky. There’s also Landfall, a collaboration with New Zealand guitarist Roy Montgomery that appears on his new album Suffuse.

[/nextpage] [nextpage title=”Footage From 2018 North American/European Tour” ] Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA (via Nicky Smith)
Murmrr Theater – Brooklyn, NY (via Dylan Parlow)
Bohemian National Cemetery – Chicago, IL (via bunkbeds)
Bohemian National Cemetery, Pt. 2 – Chicago, IL (via coldlicorice) – Alien Observer
[/nextpage] [nextpage title=”Further Reading” ] Hopscotch 2018 Report: Fertanish
Selected Sounds: September Must-Sees (via Sound of Boston)
Quiet Eyes for Grouper (via Nicky Smith / Splice Today / tip via Russ Smith)
Hopscotch, Night Two: Thundercat and Miguel Nod to Mac Miller in Full-Throttle (via Indyweek)
Notes from day three of Hopscotch 2018 (via This is That Song)
The Ink of Liz Harris (via Beautiful / Decay)
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