Cabeza de Vaca Orchestra presents 'Sunrise' - Downtown Independent - 9/20/12

By Sean J. O'Connell Fri., Sep. 21 2012 at 9:35 AM

Categories: Indie Rock and Stuff, Last Night

SJ O'Connell

Cabeza de Vaca Orchestra presents Sunrise
Downtown Independent
9-20-12

Jimi Cabeza de Vaca (yes, that is his real name) got his start playing keyboards over ten years ago with South Bay indie rockers dios. His ethereal keyboard contributions pushed the band to the brink of stardom, opening for acts like Grandaddy and Morrisey. Since then, Cabeza de Vaca has immersed himself in the desert-swept weird of Cal Arts, emerging as a preeminent instrumental voice in the world of panic-attack inducing sound collages. Last night, Cabeza de Vaca introduced a sound closer to his rocker days, offering a live score to the 1927 F.W. Muranua classic Sunrise that was both intense and melodic.

Why Sunrise? Cabeza de Vaca's response is unexpectedly romantic. "After watching and researching silent films, I've found that Murnau makes a beautiful film. Faust is really great and we had done that a bunch of times but Sunrise is just a beautiful movie. It's got a lot of magic moments. I wanted to do a love story. Something that isn't so in-your-face."

The film opened with a stirring, single guitar line that hovered between Neil Young's swampy noodling for the Dead Man soundtrack and a strange almost Mediterranean-indebted acoustic vibe. The nine-piece band, which featured three guitarists (Cabeza de Vaca, Josh Gerowitz and Dani Tull), provided an ambient swell that matched Murnau's moody and fog-ridden landscape. All the while, upright bassist Brendan Carn held down a free-jazz wandering that buzzed like a hive of bees while electric bassist Scott Bassman drew a more Serge Gainsbourg vibe, jumping through high register riffs as the rest of the orchestra huddled in drone.

Peppered throughout the more soaring moments of the film in a sort of repeating chorus were the vocals of Nora Keyes. Keyes, who has been one of the most consistent performers with the Orchestra (she and Cabeza de Vaca will be opening for Lavender Diamond on Monday under the name Ssevenss.) added a ghostly quality to prepared tunes that she had written. Her high, quavering voice echoed Nico in the midst of Cabeza de Vaca's Velvet Underground-churn. Keyes' opportunities burst with a harmony and clear melodic purpose that was less prominent in Cabeza de Vaca's previous outings.