Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Video Of The Week: AIDS Wolf

First things first: if the band's name scares you off, your best bet is to not listen to the music. At all. Ever.

But you will. And you won't like it. You'll find it childish, like that ''art'' that hangs at galleries that is just a rectangle, that your 1-year old son could draw but is worth millions.

Let it be known that the musicians of AIDS Wolf (currently a trio formed of Chloe Lum, Yannick Desranleau and Alexander Moskos) could, if they wanted to, play note-for-note renditions of any Rolling Stones record (although they might actually prefer covering a Black Flag album), but as a no-wave band that hints on hardcore punk and dub themselves ''wierd punk'' (sic), they purposely choose atonal sounds, screams, textures and layers over melody.

They pride themselves on going wild in their live shows, which usually involve their extended entourage being in the crowd but has grown to include a large international following (from a fierce touring schedule and regimen over the past 5 years). And, for that - to build that - the name helps. Certainly.

For a while, they lived their art even outside the sounds of the band; sure, I'm referring to the screenprinting venture Lum and Desranleau are responsible for - Seripop - one that has garnered an international reputation as well, with shows in museums all across North America; but I'm also referring to the nude band pics that can be found pretty much everywhere on the interwebs.

These days, they let the music speak for itself. Case in point: they don't actually appear in the video - not in a decipherable fashion, anyway. Which is the point - and is pretty much the exact same point that they're trying to make with the type of music they choose to play: they're tired of the old, tired rock, and they get off experimenting in something that is both more primal and more 'researched', more layered. To get into it, you need to open your ears' minds and look for what you want to hear. It's too much trouble for many, but it's quite rewarding for others.



Aids Wolf - Suck is Happiness from Emily P on Vimeo.

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