Thursday, November 3, 2016

Qui "How to Get Ideas" via Brooklyn Vegan


How To Get Ideas is not too far off from what Melvins and The Jesus Lizard were doing about two decades ago. Most of it at least — it’s also got “Treason,” which kind of sounds like something Lennon would’ve written during The Beatles’ most psychedelic era.
-- Brooklyn Vegan

“In their decade-and-a-half of existence, the duo has morphed from a clamorous noise rock duo to a daring and melodic band making some of the most compelling and enjoyable experimental rock being made today. So it’s both a happy and unfortunate happenstance that many people know them mostly as “that band David Yow was in for awhile.” Unfortunate because they’re so much more than that, but happy because hell, at least more people know who they are.
-- Dangerous Minds

Stream the EP in its entirety via Brooklyn Vegan here.
Stream their most recent single, “Dad,” via GhettoBlaster here.
Stream the single, “Rising Lunch,” via New Noise here.
Stream the first single, “My Knees,” via Dangerous Minds here.

Made up of vocalist/guitarist Matt Cronk and drummer/vocalist/keyboardist Paul Christensen (also of Hepa.Titus), LA-based Qui is a two-man band whose music manages to span a vast and eclectic range of styles from jazz to noise to classic rock to punk, with an air of absurdity ever-present. Known for their live antics and beloved for their iconoclasm and refusal to settle into any one scene, the pair are friends of/have played with Melvins, Marnie Stern, Sebadoh, Head Wound City, Red Fang, Retox, Gay Witch Abortion, and Zu, to name a handful. Their peculiar musical approach was enough to enlist David Yow (of The Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid) as a past member of the band, who still collaborates with and supports them today.

Qui’s newest EP, How To Get Ideas, is being released by Warners’/ADA in the US on October 13th.

How To Get Ideas was recorded and mixed at Sound Of Sirens in Sun Valley, produced by Toshi Kasai (Deaf Nephews) and Dale Crover (Deaf Nephews, Melvins), mixed by Toshi, and mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic.  Dale Crover guested on vocals and percussion.

What is enticing and enigmatic about Qui’s sound is that there isn’t one, exactly-- as eclectic as it is thoughtful, the band seems to teeter on the edge of beautifully composed melodies and manic cacophony with a kind of awkward grace, drawing from cabaret-inspired elements, or  classically-trained choral arrangements, or Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa. Crooning is just as welcome on Qui’s stage as is untethered screaming, but regardless of the route taken, it all leads to the same outcome: commanding one’s attention.

How To Get Ideas EP:
  1. Rushing Lunch
  2. Dad
  3. My Knees
  4. Treason
  5. Tiny Little Man

Discography:
How To Get Ideas, Warners’/ADA, 2016
Dale Crover, Qui - Big Uns / Shame On You, Joyful Noise Recordings, 2015
Hepa.Titus, Qui - I Love You Less Than Anything / Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Cobraside Distribution, 2015
Secret Fun Club, Qui- Split, Three One G, 2014
I Definitely Love You, Joyful Noise Recordings, 2014
Life, Water, Living…, Cobraside Distribution, 2013
Qui/Mike Watt + The Secondmen- Awkward Human Interest / No One, ORG, 2012
The Little Golden Blanket, Infrasonic, 2009
Today, Gestation / Freeze, Infrasonic Sound, 2007
Love’s Miracle, Ipecac, 2007

Baby Kisses, Heart of a Champion, 2003


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