Recent Articles

Recent Articles by John La Briola

  • The English Beat

    Thursday, July 20, Gothic Theatre, Englewood, 1-866-468-7621.

  • Trainwreck

    Wednesday, July 26, Bender's Tavern, 303-861-7070.

  • Alexi Murdoch

    Monday, July 17, Walnut Room, 303-292-1700; Tuesday, July 18, Trilogy Wine Bar, Boulder, 303-473-9463.

  • Moist Boys

    The Sound of Urchin shoots its musical wad.

  • Shaw Business

    Dieselhed's Virgil Shaw's on his own these days, and happier than ever.

National Features >

  • Riverfront Times

    Prized Fighter

    Boxing in St. Louis will never die--not as long as Kenny Loehr has a kid in the ring.

    By Kristen Hinman

  • Houston Press

    Crime Doesn't Pay Back

    In Texas, restitution for victims is nothing but a state-sanctioned sham.

    By Chris Vogel

  • Seattle Weekly

    Hot and Frothy

    If you thought Seattle couldn't fetishize coffee any more, you haven't been to a "cupping" yet.

    By Jonathan Kauffman

Knife & Fork

Miserycord (Cutting Board Records)

By John La Briola

Published on November 04, 2004

Moving at the speed of a glacier, Knife & Fork deploys an electro-torch sound that skirts genres as varied as experimental ambient and the Gregorian blues. Melancholic Laurie Hall, who helms the Bay Area's Ovarian Trolley, possesses a cystalline yet downbeat voice that transports her emotional baggage through customs without a hitch -- but leaves her stranded in a world where strangers roam the streets lost, shivering and desperately alone. Beneath Hill's soulful soprano, session vet Eric Drew Feldman (whose keyboard textures have graced works by Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, PJ Harvey and the Residents) blends together sparse melodies, tribal beats and dark symphonic dissonance -- all of which give this quiet debut a certain film-noir elegance. Preoccupied with angels, misery and uncertainty, the outfit endures a winter of Siberian proportions. Standout track "Dream Sweet" recalls Portishead with its muted trumpet and staggering tempo, while the album's weepy title track remains essential listening for anyone who's had a dark day or two.


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