STS9 Sets Sail to Tulsa’s Arkansas Shoreline
By Daniel Cameron
Assistant Publisher
Photos by Daniel Cameron, STS9 Shot at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa March 5, 2010
Fresh off an acoustic live album release, STS9 is blowing up venues with their groundbreaking music and state of the art light show. This band’s sound is is unique and energetic and highly danceable.
STS9 is a must see.
STS9 played the Tulsa Riverparks Floating Amphitheater (2100 South Jackson Avenue) Friday Sep. 3 with Ghostland Observatory.
STS9 and Ghostland Observatory are swapping sets throughout their brief tour together.
California-based STS9 is an instrumental band whose music fits into many genres, making it hard to describe their unique approach in one or two words. Their style spans rock, space music, electronic, house, funk and more creating a rich and broad range of sound that the band describes as “post-rock dance music.”
What was once a very cool, trippy kind of music has evolved into a force that has the capability of taking listener’s on entire journeys while controlling the listener’s thoughts and emotions. Cool and trippy are still elements of the sound, but today’s STS9 music has a breadth that is expansive and can take you to the farthest reaches of the imagination.
Hunter Brown
STS9’s latest release, “Axe the Cables” is one of the most revealing albums on the market. Axe the Cables is a recording of an acoustic show STS9 did last winter (December 29, 2009). Acoustic in the sense that the band was not plugged into their laptops or any other synthesizing equipment.
Listening to STS9 all “plugged in” is awe inspiring. Sometimes it is difficult to know which instrument or which band member is doing what. In a live setting, that is part of what makes the experience so surreal. You just have to give up on figuring the band out and let the music take you.
David Phipps
Listening to STS9 acoustic is jaw dropping. This is where listeners find out just who they are dealing with in the band. This is where fans discover the sincere virtuosity STS9 players have with their respective instruments.
Axe the Cables provides fans with an incredible recording of this special night where STS9 exposed themselves.
Hunter brown is a master with his guitar. With no delays or loops, he still manages to create an explorative fluidity that is truly special and unique. To listen to Brown’s guitar on Axe the Cables is to discover STS9 anew.
Similarly, listening to the album we are shown how expansive and creative the band is. Their music is raw and emotional in a whole new light.
Between tracks David Murphy chats a bit, describing that this is how the band writes their music, “We thought we would just invite you into our studio,” says Murphy after an inspiring performance of ‘The Following,’ “we thought we would be candid tonight, that will be hard for us, but we’ll try and do that up here for y’all. This is our home you know, this is how we write music. We sit around and play like this, contrary to popular belief.”
Jeffree Lerner
STS9 is Hunter Brown on guitar,laptop and midi keyboard; Jeffree Lerner on percussions, laptop and handsonic; David Murphy on bass, laptop and midi keyboard; David Phipps on keyboards and laptop; and Zach Velmer on drums.
David Murphy
Ghostland Observatory is a duo of Aaron Behrens and Thomas Turner. Behrens is the frontman of the group, handling vocals and guitar. Turner is the band’s producer, plays keyboards, sings backup vocals, jams his synthesizer and is the drummer.
Behrens is known for his stage presence and unique vocal style while Turner has influences in electronic music and rock. They share these influences and are compared on their own website to Daft Punk, Green Velvet, The Clash and David Bowie.
Ghostland Observatory is as exciting and wild as anyone on tour today. It is highly recommended to get to the show early and check these guys out.
*Poster courtesy STS9.com
TICKETS !
Updated 12-03-2010
READER COMMENTS
- — Mark Somner Sep 1, 03:38 PM #
