Benni Hemm Hemm, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone played Mercury Lounge
Download “Skvavars” (from Kajak)
Benni Hemm Hemm’s music might be a wistful exploration of the understated, but it requires quite a bit of horn players. At Mercury Lounge there were five of them (switching between at least two trumpets, two trombones, a French horn and a sousaphone). As they waited by the steps leading to the tiny stage, they felt no less than men readying for war. Except, there was no war: as Benni explained some of his Icelandic songs to an English-speaking audience, they were mostly about snow, hills and things they intend to never do, such as (1) make a promise and (2) betray. This the American audience found funny, and Benni smiled along.
Download “Graceland” (from Graceland EP)
Playing before them were Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. When I got there, singer Owen Ashworth was huddled over his electronics, singing heartbreaking tunes by himself. His four-piece band (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards) joined for the rest, though they were barely able to pollute the melancholy in Owen’s raspy voice. His personality (translated superbly into a band name) leads to the kind of songwriting that feels quintessentially American. To top it off, there was an excellent cover of Paul Simon’s Graceland.
More after the jump.