Listener Project and Holy Eyes

Saturday night we had a couple of really interesting bands playing at sozo. It's really cool to see what my good friend and coworker Cameron King has done with regard to the concert scene at sozo. I spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights in the space taking in a variety of events, from a night of social activism with the people fromBead For Life to our weekly open mic on Friday. I am simply blown away by the events and opportunities we have been a part of over the last few months. I may do a future blog post on some of the amazing local artists who have been featured at the space, but for this entry I want to let you know about a couple of great bands I was able to hear Saturday night. Listener Project and Holy Eyes.

The first band, featured in the video above is Listener Project. This group comes out of Arkansas, and they call their genre of music "talk music." They are definitely a unique sensory experience. While at sozo, the group used a trumpet, a bass, the human voice, some loops, and even a washing machine for creating their distinct sound. I had never heard anything like them before, and I really enjoyed their show. While they performed, they had images from an old cartoon playing in the background that added to the eerie and idiosyncratic style they brought to the stage. If they come to your town I recommend checking them out. They are humble, colorful, and provocative. The song above explores the way products are marketed to us with a claim to meet our every need and our every whim, but in the end they never satisfy, and so we should want our money back. I like the idea, because it ties in nicely to our recent h2o message (I tried to get the band to come to h2o, but they were rolling out of town before it started). Anyhoo, give em a listen if you like music and a message that's a little off the beaten path. They are definitely innovators.




The other band, Holy Eyes, is on a two week tour here in the states. They come out of Holland, around Utrecht. Actually, as I talked to these guys I recommended that they check out the church my friends are part of in amsterdam, Zolder50. When I pray for churches and for communities, I find myself praying with fervency for my friends in Amsterdam. So Holy Eyes has more of a hip hop sound, and they rap about faith and life, and try to share lessons in their songs. They bring a lot of energy to their shows, and they rap in both dutch and english. (If you've never heard a bi-lingual rapper, it is a beautiful, but largely unappreciated art form). For all of my friends at the zolder, you should definitely check em out. And if they come to your town before the return to the Netherlands, go to a show and support 'em.

Music is a powerful medium for carrying a message. And these folks bring such a rich and eclectic performance to their music that it can almost feel like an Andy Kaufmann-esque experiment with music with all of the tension, humor, and thought provocation.

Check em out and give em a listen, and let me know what you think!