My Brightest Diamond at Cedar Cultural Center (17 Nov 2014)

Tour Dates

Local electronic beatmakers Dosh and Ghostband opened with a pulsing, throbbing 45 min. DJ set that set the mood for some, and perplexed others.  The duo, Martin Dosh and Jon Davis, were previewing new material from the upcoming Def Kith EP (out Dec 2 on AntiCon Records) ,twirled knobs and jumped about in near darkness in front of the seated crowd, as the deep bass rumbled the walls of the old converted theater.

Tracks like ‘False Starts’ embodied the duo’s self-described “techno-addled, IDM-damaged brand of bass-blessed dance music” that had some of the seated audience restlessly dancing in their chairs.  The duo returns to the same venue, in just a few weeks, as part of Dosh’s 7^th annual Cedar show on December 13^th.

Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin has released a handful of scientific-rooted books, including 2008’s The World in Six Songs, which is a music cognition book theorizing that there are only six fundamental types of songs (friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love) and speaks to their effects to socially bond human culture to socially evolve.  Somewhat heavy stuff, but it was the basis of My Brightest Diamond’s set and was referred to a few times during the evening, which gave additional enlightenment for Worden’s song selections.

The singer/multi-instrumentalist was dressed in all-white suit and moved deftly from keyboard to guitar and back, as the evening progressed, with more than able support from rhythmic sidemen, Nathan Lithgow (bass) and Tim Mulvenna (drums).

Tech issues, Worden calling them “a ghost in here, an apparition”, plagued the first few numbers, but the three-piece easily ascended those, quickly forgotten by the range of Worden’s voice, which ranged from a husky smokiness, to near-operatic highs.

There is quirkiness to the music, similar to a St. Vincent, that can jump time signatures, surprise with a burst of percussion, or be injected with a dose of chamber music, but it’s always interesting. Worden’s voice morphed with the songs as well, sounding mysterious like Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard one moment, to a bouncier male version of Adrian Belew-era King Crimson the next, to the want and yearning of a Jeff Buckley.

This is My Hand (on Asthmatic Kitty Records) is her fourth studio effort, and comes out of her reading about music and how it has been used throughout history.  Her “owl song”, ‘Before the Words’ served as her informative type of song.  “I wanna see you shake your shoulders!” Worden announced before going into the peppy ‘High Low Middle’, which had people twisting in their chairs, with arms raised during the chorus.

A touching and sparse ‘I Have Never Loved Someone’, written for her son Constantine, had the crowd hushed in rapt attention for the delicate ballad. In celebration of what would have been Jeff Buckley’s 48^th birthday, Worden beautifully covered his obscure ‘Gunshot Glitter’, obviously taken by its heartfelt lyrics.

Passing on doing any religious type of song, ‘Apparition’ was her “ghost song”, with Worden’s voice stretched out and sounding like a theremin. After closing the main set with ‘Inside A Boy’ the trio quickly returned, asking the audience to put all their “frustrations under your feet…and freak out!” as the song started with a near whisper, to then elevate into a punk-fast chorus.

A sultry cover of Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’ would end the night, with Worden making her way into the crowd and across the theater’s floor, before jumping back on stage to take a final bow.

A little science, a lot of different sounding songs, and an unexpected Buckley cover made the evening a little special to everyone attending – shine on.