today
7 a.m. Annual Twice Nice Rummage Sale Oddfellows Hall
read >8 a.m. Tire Amnesty Day Humboldt Coastal Nature Center
read >9 a.m. North Group Sierra Club Hike See Event Description
read >9:30 a.m. Manila Dunes Restoration Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Spiff Up The Zoo Sequoia Park Zoo
read >10 a.m. Humboldt Botanical Gardens Humboldt Botanical Garden
read >10 a.m. Manila Dunes Guided Walk Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Annual Juggling Festival Humboldt State University
read >10 a.m. Exploring the I-Ching Humboldt Wellness Center
read >11 a.m. Soups and Salads for Shoes Fortuna Monday Club
read >noon Landscape Design from the Top Down Living Earth Landscapes
read >1 p.m. March and Rally for Peace Humboldt County Courthouse
read >1 p.m. 35th Annual Daffodil Show Fortuna River Lodge
read >1:30 p.m. Afternoon Tea Humboldt Area Foundation
read >1:30 p.m. Eureka Photoshop Users Group Adorni Recreation Center
read >1:30 p.m. For the Next 7 Generations Morris Graves Museum of Art
read >1:30 p.m. Spring Equinox Celebration Manila Community Center
read >2 p.m. Friends of the Marsh Tour Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary Interpretive Center
read >2 p.m. Betty Peugh Sweaney Collection Presentation Trinidad Museum
read >5 p.m. Humboldt Roller Derby Redwood Acres Fairground
read >5 p.m. Elephants and Tigers: A Bollywood Extravaganza Wharfinger Building
read >5 p.m. Downey for Sheriff Spaghetti Dinner Fortuna Veterans Hall/Memorial Building
read >5:30 p.m. Arcata Rotary Spring Wine Festival Kate Buchanan Room at HSU
read >5:30 p.m. Arcata Rotary Spring Wine Festival Kate Buchanan Room at HSU
read >6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds (cowboy songs) Chapala Cafe
read >6 p.m. Blue Lotus Jazz Libation
read >6 p.m. McKinleyville Land Trust Dinner Azalea Hall
read >7 p.m. Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long-Legged Beasties Mantova's Two Street Music
read >7 p.m. Juggling Festival Show Van Duzer Theatre
read >7:30 p.m. Joe & Me (Greek/Turkish) Cafe Mokka
read >7:30 p.m. A Midsummer Night's Dream Arcata High School
read >7:30 p.m. Tenor Recital Christ Episcopal Church
read >7:30 p.m. We Are All Related Accident Gallery
read >7:30 p.m. For the Love of the Dance Redwood Raks World Dance Studio
read >8 p.m. Karaoke w/ Chris Clay Boiler Room
read >8 p.m. On the Wings of a Dove Carlo Theater (Dell'Arte)
read >8 p.m. Antigone College of the Redwoods
read >8 p.m. So Hum Tales Mateel Community Center
read >8 p.m. The Phoebes Mosgo's
read >9 p.m. Vintage Soul (R&B) Cher-Ae-Heights Casino
read >9 p.m. Cadillac Ranch Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. The Roadmasters (country) Bear River Casino
read >9 p.m. Trevor 101, Children of the Sun (rock/blues) Lil' Red Lion
read >9 p.m. Band Behind Your Hedge (classic rock) Central Station Cocktail Lounge
read >9:30 p.m. For the Love of Dance After Party Arcata Theater Lounge
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge
read >10 p.m. Polyhood Productions Pearl Lounge
read >10:30 p.m. Splinter Cell, Watch it Sparkle (rock) Alibi Lounge and Restaurant
read >previous columns
June 11, 2009
The Eternal
By Sonic Youth. Matador.
read >June 4, 2009
Hansel and Gretel
New World Ballet. Van Duzer Theater.
read >May 28, 2009
Actor
By St. Vincent. Beggars Banquet/4AD.
read >
Balf Quarry
By Magik Markers. Drag City.
By Steven De Rosa
"What if you play guitar the way a girl jerks off?" asks left-handed six string slinger and singer Elisa Ambrogio, one half of the noisy free rock duo Magik Markers. The duo's most recent release, Balf Quarry displays an alarming, compelling and sultry sound.
Relentlessly improvising in all the right ways, M/M have exchanged their lengthy feedback jams for short but sweet blasts of sonic thunder complemented with brilliant moments of Elisa's steady streams of poetic charm. Pete Nolan has perfected the art of skin smashing, tom torture and cymbal destruction. The album rarely repeats itself; each tune embodies a unique identity and keeps begging for the next dynamic twist and bend, rambling around in a directionless pathway like an unsolvable puzzle.
Having toured with Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., M/M offer a crown jewel of special intelligence that brings the listener to an introversion of infinite depth. I recollect a Starving Weirdos house show out by the Samoa dunes a few years back: Magik Markers captivating the crowd through primordially confrontational antics fueled by Ambrogio's fuzzy finger-plucking distortion. Pete slashed through a borrowed drum set as though it was his own. At that time a three-piece with gypsy-looking bassist Leah Quimby, her thick bass strings tuned to the lowest dissonant tone possible, playing with an indifference and nonchalance rivaling no-wave martyrs DNA. Even as a duo, M/M has the same depth and power.
Somewhere between arriving and departing, Balf Quarry exudes the feel of driving cross-country, where dusty roads wind endlessly and the scenery is always temporary. Themes of loneliness, risk, debt and guns occur over Elisa's lyrics. "Don't talk in your sleep, don't you leave a trace / because another woman can have the Devil's face / I don't want to be mean, but I'm not afraid / anything you steal baby you'll pay for in spades," she sings in a schizophrenic tone, continuing with "You had a revolution in your head, too bad you couldn't make it out of bed / Cokeheads sayin' teach your children well and wondering now how it all went to hell" on the track "The Lighter Side of ... Hippies."
The nature of the gamble is explained as she says "I'm not playing numbers anymore; the odds are against me for sure. / Tell me God's playing dice; I could use ’em being nice. / Luck never gives, it only lends. / You've been starting as a means to an end."
Studio magic changes the Markers' primitive ways -- the 10-minutes-long closing drone "Shells" features piano, organ and violin all played in an unorthodox fashion, evoking a dark atmospheric meditation. Overall, Balf Quarry serves as a testament of a band who over the past eight years and 33 releases have carved their niche and solidified a style that is remarkably their own.

















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