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Andy Caldwell spins at Bar Lurcat on July 27th - photo by Kristen Hasler
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If it's one thing that's become an absolute staple in my life over the past year or so, it's Naked Music. They purvey an intensely smooth brand of house music made to invade your soul. So when I spied that Andy Caldwell gig flyer while on the Fourth of July boat cruise, I probably squealed, or nearly fell over, even though we were docked at the time. Caldwell's career of deejaying, songwriting and producing began at the age of 18. He's progressed to an international presence with releases on Om, Naked, Inspirit, Panhandle and Coloforms; he also produces and plays keyboard with his band Soulstice. Locally, he has lent his remix skills to the sensuous Nymphonix track "Arms Around You" on Celebrity Records.
His set on Saturday night at Mell's Beauty Bar was a fresh breath of West Coast air, via his home turf of San Francisco. It was an absolute treat to have his soulful presence in Minneapolis. I did expect, and was rewarded with, many deep house gems from Caldwell himself, and artists in the Naked and Om families: "The Night" by Miguel Migs, "Brighter Day" from Kaskade; perhaps to keep with the Vintage theme of last Saturday's at Mell's, a particular joy of his set was hearing Lady Miss Kier Kirby's voice floating in on "Call Me". A hallmark of any finger-lickin' good session is the careful piloting of the crowd to a feverish pitch, and when you thought your sweat-soaked ass couldn't move another inch, the DJ busts your ass with one more amazing cut, this time being "Keep On Rising" by Jay-J featuring Latrice Barnett.
Interwoven into Caldwell's set were fat electro beats and synth riffs, progressive house sounds amping up the soul factor by incorporating 80's influences, a natural and enticing direction of a constantly evolving house music genre. (And hell, it made me even that more excited to pick up a pair of my childhood favorite, zipper-pocketed Kangaroos, baby.)
Of course, I am a staunch supporter of the two a.m. bar closing time. And when artists like Andy Caldwell are in town, I'm even more grateful to be treated to an extended pressure-cooker set of deep house. Mind the inanimate casualties, however: as his set was in full take-off mode, I noticed him holding, bewildered, a booze-splattered record. Respect the wax, people! Thankfully, spirits and relations were not damaged, as Caldwell's infectious groove bubbled over onto the patio of Bar Lurcat the next afternoon. Those of us gathered on the patio flopped, hangover-laden, while shamelessly filling up on various versions of hair of the dog. The afternoon was lazy, warm, fused with Caldwell's mix in a blissful blend of house music and the freedom of a do-nothing-but-enjoy-life Sunday afternoon.
And on the third day, some sort of higher being created Tortured Soul…
Why not continue an already-amazing weekend of house music? The appearance of Tortured Soul at the Dinkytowner yanked me from a semi-working woman early bedtime. Any apprehensions I had disappeared when they handed me ladies night drink tickets-ooooh, the ultimate in vagina royalty!
To say I was there strictly for the liquor is patently false. Tortured Soul (Central Park Recordings, NYC) combine funk and house into live performance: Christian Ulrich on drums, keyboardist Ethan White and bassist Jason Kriveloff. Their groove is deep house coated in funk, soul to the utter core. Their range of training and influences spans jazz, 70's R&B, Brazilian pop, samba, Stevie Wonder, etc.
Never underestimate the power of three. While I'm groomed on large, brassy funk ensembles like Tower of Power, Maceo Parker and James Brown, these three guys kicked out funk to the max from the first beat. One of those automatic smiles of bliss appeared on my face, the kind only live music ignites. Their first set features songs such as "How's Your Life" and "Fall in Love", to be included on an upcoming full-length CD in the fall. After a blistering hour, I got a little tired just watching them. Drummer Ulrich sings lead while maintaining a watertight groove, his smooth falsetto the kind of strange funk bedfellow I love, such a great contrast to the masculine grooves and more raw tenor vocals.
Their second set undulated more than the first, mixing up beats and tempos. I couldn't help but get on the dance floor, staying clear of a hazardous, glued-together couple of drunks defying some Newtonian laws with their "dancing". I'll admit being new to their sound, and not recognizing much of their material, except for their mischievous and harmonic "I Might Do Something Wrong", which I'm certain most frequenters of the disco have heard at one point.
I left that night coated in a tight layer of funk (aka sweat) and pretty surprised the stage hadn't been reduced to sheer rubble from the intensity of their performance. We were darn lucky to catch a piece of their tour. Keep an ear to the ground for their full-length release this fall, although it won't be packaged with the satisfying stink of funk-induced sweat and the potent energy of their live style.
Location Info:
Mell's Beauty Bar
Artist Info: Andy Caldwell, Tortured Soul
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