At a recent show in L.A. (disclosure: at my house), sneaky snakes George Jensen and Ian James wired up somewhere between five and eight keyboards across a couple tables and chairs with various speakers, mixers, and junk growing up out of the corners — everything that happens to a living room when there’s a house show; they were practically building a fort of keyboards. Then George changed into this frock, looking like a Sherpa about to lead us on a treacherous mountain path, and everybody in the room settles on the floor, staring up as if someone’s going to read us a story; the lights go red, and they let rip… not a screaming assault of noise, not a psychedelic freak out, but a slow-motion sonic river of soft-as-snow notes that lulls us all to trance. In his hat, George is climbing on some piece of furniture and holding up this kaossillator to the sky waiting for a lightning bolt, but it’s just this gentle wash unfolding like jasmine tea pearls. It was a great show.
Sneaky Snake have a new tape called The Sprawl, which they describe as “hot slow jams for the megalopolis,” out this week on Dance Craze Records.
Sneaky Snake: http://www.sneakysnake.net
• Dance Craze: http://www.dancecrazerecords.com