Beatrix*Jar - Golden Fuzz

Tour 11/29/07 Walker Art Center -Minneapolis 11/30/07 Kitty Cat Club - Minneapolis 12/31/07 Club Underground - Minneapolis 01/11/08 Amer Visionary Art - Baltimore 03/12/08 St Anthony Libr - St Anthony, MN 03/18/08 St Anthony Libr - St Anthony, MN 04/03/08 Wenxer Art Ctr - Columbus, OH 04/04/08 Wenxer Art Ctr - Columbus, OH 04/05/08 Wenxer Art Ctr - Columbus, OH Discography [Apr 2006] I Love You Talk Bird [Nov 2007] Golden Fuzz Band Members ♥ Bianca Pettis ♥ Jacob Aaron Roske Links Beatrix*JAR on W♥M http://weheartmus... When I saw Beatrix*JAR walk past me, I was shock to find out that they were the opening band for... MPR: Beatrix*Jar short circuits the music http://minnesota.... In an age of sample-crazy, electronically altered music, one Minneapolis group is wiring new con...

Okay, first of all - I absolutely love the cover art to Golden Fuzz!

Beatrix*JAR (Bianca Pettis and Jacob Roske) are a performance / electronic / experimental / noise / sound-art / DIY duo, from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

They have a sophomore album coming out on November 30th, but I'm almost certain you can pick up the album from any of their shows.

It all started a few years ago when Jacob discovered circuit-bending, which is a technique of altering the circuits of electronic devices (such as children's keyboard toys) to create new and unintentional sound. What this really means is that as a band, they are not equipped with traditional instruments such as guitars or drums - but rely on their circuit samples equipments. Check out a photograph of some of their setup.

I do like experimental noise, but you get so much more by watching the actual performance of producing those sound vs just hearing it coming out of the stereo - so to get the full effect, I suggest you check them out live if possible.

The tracks I did like off of Golden Fuzz is "Arthur Golden" (you can download the track off myspace). I suspect the author of "Memoirs of a Geisha" inspired the naming of their track "Golden Fuzz" as well as the album title.

"Open Lava Entropy" opens up the album, and what I liked about this track is that you hear Beatrix and JAR's vocals on this song. The other track that really represented their sound is probably "123 Beatrix-Jar", which features some great samples. It is the song that I've chosen for this review.

By the way, one thing that I've noticed is that there is a semi-hidden DIY photo/art thing if you decide to take apart your CD jewel case. On the back of the piece of art is a link to bagaday.blogspot.com, which is Beatrix's JAR's bag blog. I'm actually impressed that he makes a bag a day.

Here's a video of them appearing on WSEE discussing their music and what they are about.

Anyway, be sure to catch the duo on November 29th at The Walker Art Center. Their new album is called Golden Fuzz and their official CD Release Party is at the Kitty Cat Club on November 30th.

EDIT: Thanks halestorm for noticing my error on the bag blog.

 11/21/2007 00:10:03  vu my♥posts vu@weheartmusic.com beatrixjar.com myspace.com/beatrixjars