Midwest's best bring modern Rock to Calhoun

By Kate Blofson

Live rock doesn't hit Yale very often. Bands usually skip over Connecticut on East Coast tours, and music-starved Yalies must go to Boston or New York to catch their favorite groups. But on Wed., Feb. 12, Chicago's Dianogah (Actionboy 300 Records) and A Minor Forest (Thrill Jockey Records , joined by Yale's Piñata, will swing by the Calhoun Cabaret and treat Yale to a few hours of kicking indie-rock, compliments of Six Feet Under, sack am productions, and WYBC.

According to AP, Dianogah is an up-and-coming bass-centric three-piece, advertising itself as "cheap droning new age altertnative rock," and featuring members of The For Carnation and Hubcap. Some listeners hitch Dianogah to the "post-rock" band Tortoise, due to geography and the lack of a guitarist, but Dianogah is more an indie-rock set, with simple yet very pretty, appealing standard verse-chorus-verse song structures.

Not to say that they aren't interesting or energetic; with just two basses and drums, Dianogah pulls off some catchy melodies and hooks, without succumbing to the temptation of writing pure pop songs. Most of their songs emphasize concise bass/drums grooves, laid over muted vocals, making
for a great live show. Dianogah's most recent release, a CD/EP old material, new format on Actionboy Records, compiles
two 7" singles; upcoming is an LP curtailing the vocals prevalent on old material, new format.

According to rock sage Alec Bemis, BK '97, A Minor Force is a "Slint-y, angry, prog-rock" ensemble, featuring a cellist and lots of nice noise. Now recorded by indie-rock big-wigs Steve Albini and Bob Weston, Force formed in San Francisco in 1993, and their recent LP Flemish Altruism: Constituent Parts 1993-1996 compiles four years' worth of noteworthy singles. While primarily a three-piece based on guitar, bass, and drums, A Minor Force intermittently features organ, omnichord, and cello, and their songs include elements of classical compositional structure. A Minor Force is a Chicago darling, soon to be as big as the Sears Tower, so don't miss out on the chance to watch them in action.

Accompanying these Chicago bands will be Yale's own Piñata, making their campus debut, after playing their first show Fri., Feb. 7 at the Outer Space in Hamden. Piñata has been practicing their arses off since fall semester, so they ought to be pretty darn good by now. No one's heard them yet, but with Jesse Dillon TD, '98 (of floorpilers fame) on drums, Jeff Sprague, CC '98 on bass, and Josh Westlund, TD '98 on guitar and vocals (both formerly of the Big Dummyheads), you can't go wrong. They apparently play Polvo-like indie-rock, but we'll have to wait 'til Wednesday to find out.

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