Ithaca Underground and illFox present:

Trevor Dunn's MadLove (Brooklyn/Seoul/Reykjavik : IPECAC RECORDINGS)
Ayurveda (Ithaca, NY)

Thursday, February 11th

The Haunt
702 Willow Ave
Ithaca, NY 14850
8PM Doors
$8 Presale/$10 DOS
*ALL AGES*

Presale tickets are available NOW at www.ithacaunderground.com via Paypal and will soon be available at The Haunt and Angry Mom Records.

Trevor Dunn's MadLove
http://www.myspace.com/whitewithfoam

Interview: http://ithacaunderground.blogspot.com/2010/02/interview-with-trevor-dunn-of-madlove.html#more

Trevor Dunn has been a profession musician, as a bassist and composer, for about 25 years. Still you may ask yourself, "Mad what?". "Trevor who?" There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Back in the mid-'80s he co-founded an avant-rock band called Mr. Bungle and later did time in Mike Patton's cut-and-paste metal outfit Fantômas. He also plays and records extensively with John Zorn among many others [for the full 70+ discography see www.trevordunn.net covering a wide range of genres.

In all of these groups Mr. Dunn does what any respectable bass player, who hasn't flipped pizzas since 1986, gets hired to do. Namely, keep his mouth shut and get the job done, which may be the reason his name is less familiar to you then some of his employers [i.e. Yuka Honda, Erik Friedlander, The Melvins, Sean Lennon, a guy from Korn, etc].

It wasn't until 1998 that Trevor stepped out as a leader with his spastic power-chord "jazz" group Trio-Convulsant. A sophomore CD was released on Ipecac Recordings in 2004.

But something was missing. It had been nearly 10 years since Trevor wrote any rock music (Mr. Bungle's last record on Warner Bros. came out in 1999) and he was itching to get back to his roots. Those roots being bands like Cheap Trick, X, The Pretenders and Blondie. Call it jumping on the bandwagon, call it a mid-life crisis, but Dunn decided to start his very own rock band. Enter MadLove.

The name "MadLove" is the English translation of a title by surrealist Andre Breton called "L'Amour Fou" and that's all you need to know about that. If nothing else, it describes the obscure object of desire that drives us all to our insane, inevitable, colorful end.

MadLove recorded in Brooklyn's Studio G in 2008 with a disparate yet psychically connected, hand-picked line-up: Sunny Kim, hailing from Seoul, Korea fronts the band as lead vocalist. Sunny has lead her own band Myth of Mitch and plays with the Prana Trio and a group led by trombonist Roswell Rudd. The all-important guitar chair is held by Icelandic master Hilmar Jensson (Tyft, Kitchen Motors). The drummer, known for his work with Xiu Xiu, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog and Theory of Ruin is Ches Smith. Keyboardist Erik Deutch who plays with Devotchka and Charlie Hunter is on hand for the live performances. Trevor, of course, holds down his comfortable position as bassist while stepping up as vocalist on occasion.

The music of MadLove fits snugly somewhere in the genre of "rock". There is no question that the songs are guitar-centric. Around power chords constructed with wrong notes, however, there are melodies that weave in and out of comfort zones; there are drum hooks and melodic bass lines that start on the "and-of-four" and there are Fender Rhodes counter-melodies. Some of the songs are fairly commercial; some will never see the light of radio; Some utilize the classic form of verse-chorus-verse, while others dare to hide form within theme and variation. And somehow, it all sounds cohesive.

In writing for this brand-spanking new band, Dunn wrote intuitively, never over-thinking the songs. Yet one gets the sense that he drew upon his many years experience, as a sideman and as a composer, in order to craft music that is at once engaging, thoughtful and fun to crank on the ol' stereo

AYURVEDA
Ithaca, NY
http://www.myspace.com/ayurveda

Let's define the word first, before we define the band. Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word meaning "the knowledge (or wisdom, or science) of life." It is an ancient system of philosophy and naturopathic health care rooted in the Hindu Vedas, applying in very individualized ways to the physical, mental, social and spiritual welfare of all who practice it.

Ayurveda, the band, is a five-member group based in Ithaca, New York. Their sound, as it exists on their debut album Being, is heavy rock music - the album was produced by Alex Perialas, known for his work with Anthrax, Testament and Bad Religion - with all the thunderous guitar riffs and freight-train rhythms one might expect given the 13-track set's pedigree. But Ayurveda's music has a delicacy, and an intelligent tonality; and singer Tom Burchinal's lyrics, while not afraid of the darkness, explore a more positive, spiritual reality consistent with their namesake.

The story goes like this: Diwas and Shikhar met at a dinner Shikhar's mother hosted for Nepalese exchange students at Ithaca College. Shikhar learned that Diwas was a fellow guitarist, and asked if he'd ever played a Les Paul. "No," Diwas replied, and Shikhar brandished his axe - and was floored by Diwas's playing. Diwas was asked to join the nascent Ayurveda, which already included Shikhar and Tom.

One night, after they finished rehearsal in the Bajracharyas' basement, Dr. Bajracharya asked Tom why his lyrics were so angry, and she introduced him to the meaning of his band's name. It was a revelation, and the genesis of Ayurveda's collective sense of purpose.

The trio soon found likeminded allies in drummer Mike Parker, a session player at the studio where Ayurveda recorded their first EP; and bass player Dan Halperin, an early fan who was enlisted after their then-bassist left town for an internship shortly before the EP release party. From there, it was as if everything clicked; five became one, and Ayurveda as you hear it today was complete.

Great music: check. Dedicated, diverse cult following: check. Next step: conquer the world. Ayurveda is coming to you, the science of life delivered via Les Paul. And if you let it in, if you believe, then it just might transform you.