Chant: That Which Divides (cd review)

There's talent and then there's talent. Know what I mean? Couple that with a strong work ethic, a natural tendency towards perfection and undeniable passion and you've got Bradley Bills aka Chant.

That Which Divides is a narrative on the various facets of human nature that drive us apart--violence, greed, depression and denial. There's also a over aching theme of love and relationships throughout the album. For instance, the song "The Line" illustrates the cruel reality of how a singular action can break people up despite a solid history:

We met as one - in truth and in love
We twist and we turn we grow - and we learn to be as one
and answer to no one
But then fate - in hate - turns you on me
Drew a line in the sand and things just go as planned for you, but as for me...
You crossed the line with me this time-you crossed the line.

All his songs have an undeniable tribal and industrial feel due to the orchestration, but there are elements of jazz such as in "Sate" and beautiful world elements are found in the track "Wake up." The brassy and gritty quality of his voice complements the brutality of the percussion and digital elements while usage of piano and guitar adds an extra mature dimension to his songs. I've said this before, but I have a hard time finding another musician to compare him to.

I will emphasize that Chant is something that needs to be seen and experienced live, but the album does capture his sonic energy to an extent. You have to remember that Bradley is, at the core, a fucking good percussionist. What makes his music so unique is the performance aspect: seeing him running around beating on his myriad of drums (just seeing the crew set up all the kits and stations is impressive), splashing the audience with water, not holding back and yelling at the sound booth guy if the levels aren't right, switching out drum sticks without dropping a beat whenever one breaks, etc... "Point and Click" is a great song on the album causing one to want to dance or the very least drive really fast when you're listening to it in the car, but hearing it live it makes you want to jump up and down, hit stuff and throw things at people. My only complaint about the album is that the levels for his live drumming isn't loud enough in spots, but that's just my opinion.

The CD packaging is pretty sweet. I picked up one of limited edition formats (1 of only 100.) with a hand forged metal cover containing printed artwork and lyrics on high quality card stock. It's designed beautifully. I love the diagram of the gun parts and how the lyrics to the song "The Secret" are printed backwards. The font is also easy to read which is a plus. The regular version of the CD offers liner notes in PDF format on the disc itself.



Liner notes are always important to me and from them you get the sense that Mr. Bills is a deep and kindhearted soul who ponders the state of humanity and doesn't take life and its many gift for granted. He gushes words of appreciation to those who helped him along the way. He divulges his concept behind the album. Amongst the pages, there are pictures of Bradley and I found the one of him sitting in regular clothes on the floor, clipboard on his lap scratching out lyrics especially poignant. As RitchN from SubNatural announced during the CD release party last week at Elysium (which also happened to be Bradley's birthday): "This is the hardest working man I have ever met."

So true. The man matches the packaging as well when you meet him in person. You realize that not only is he a good artist, he's a good husband, a good son, a good friend and a good person. For someone as diligent and talented as Bradley Bills (check out his my space profile to see the impressive list of musicians he has worked with) you just KNOW that good things will come. He's already touring that path right now.

Listen to:

"Point And Click"
Wake Up
"Sate"

Upcoming Shows:
Aug 31 - City Lights Bar (McAllen, Texas)
Sep 1 - Chapa’s (Brownsville, Texas)
Sep 20 - The Elysium (Austin, Texas)
Sep 21 - Rock Bottom Lounge (San Antonio, Texas)
Sep 22 - Lucky Devil's Bar (El Paso, Texas)
Sep 23 - Atomic Cantina (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Sep 25 - Mad Studio 111 (Flagstaff, Arizona)
Sep 26 - Soul Invictus (Phoenix, Arizona)
Sep 27 - meets, greets, radio, and more!
(Los Angeles, California)
Sep 28 - Hot Monkey Love Cafe (San Diego, California)
Sep 29 - Bar Sinister (Hollywood, California)
Oct 26 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Oct 27 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Oct 28 - VooDoo Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Visit:
Chant's Myspace
"Chant's Official Website"
Purchase That Which Divides from CD Baby

Live at Elysium with Chant

It was an apocalyptic night anyhow - weather not withstanding, my husband was actually going out with us to see Chant! All that storming and lightning though, it was hard to not feel charged up already, so it was kind of a bummer that when we got there, the club was pretty dead. It was early though, so there was still hope.

The opening act had come all the way from Brownsville, which, if you're not a Texan you've quite possibly never heard of ... for me, having grown up in Corpus and visited Brownsville a few times, it was kinda surreal getting to see Sin D.N.A. up there with their Macbook and keyboard, rockin' out hardcore. Didn't go with my memories of Brownsville to be sure, and props to them for that! Fortunately, more people seemed to arrive during the set - I'd been worried for them that they'd be playing to a rain-dead crowd after traveling so far.

But really, Chant was what I'd been waiting ... god at that point what, three weeks to see? And just watching everyone setting things up for his show was a sight to behold - I pointed out to my husband that some nights, that's as entertaining as the performances themselves when someone has enough gear and enough people running around with it. You get to recognizing faces, as so many people in the local scene are friends and help each other out, you spot folks from other bands helping haul gear about, and it's really very heartwarming - I like that there's cross pollination going on, not just tiny little insular circles of divadom! Makes me happy. I didn't stop to count the drums as they loaded up the stage, but I couldn't figure out where there was still going to be room for Bradley when they were done. Yeah, there were that many.

Mmmm but the show started, and I was right out there up front row with Ms. Adzuki and a few other folks, dancing to the pounding beat. See, I have a major weakness for drumming ... I've been to more than a few drum circles and bonfires, so it's safe to say I had pretty high expectations going into this. It was awesome though - the pounding sound tripped that tribal earth momma switch and I proceeded to thrash myself into an asthma attack... not that I let a little thing like THAT stop me. *grin* A brief break and I was back up front, back in the thick of the rhythm, dancing in ways I usually reserve for the privacy of my living room (probably much to the chagrin of my downstairs neighbors). The only thing I found myself wanting for the whole night was maybe an ashiko or a djembe or one of those great big taiko drums, but I'll be damned if I have any idea where he could have put even one more skin with all the other drums on stage.

At one point, Bradley made a nod to the other bands playing that night, commenting that the last band of the evening would "make everyone want to have sex." I laughed, because the mad power of the drums, visually and audially overwhelming me, already had me *quite* hot and bothered, and I couldn't imagine anyone else really topping that. There was this one beautiful moment, in fact, where Bradley came over to where the buckets and satellite dish were rigged and started wailing on them, and I happened to be right in front of that set. Water, whether deliberatly there or leftover from the pouring rain outside, spattered out and all over me, and I about fell over right there. It was this wonderfully organic, visceral moment you can only get from live performance. I can still feel it, cold droplets of water hitting my burning skin and practically steaming off me, I'd been dancing so hard. Rawr!

I sent the hubby to get cash so I could buy the Chant: Beginnings CD and the DVD he had out for sale, and I love them, but oh man, it's nothing compared to the live show. Chant is actually about to go on a tour in Florida with a few stops on the way this month, and if he's near you, GO. Sincerely. And dress light and flexible, 'cause you're going to want to be able to *move* for this one. And when the show's over, see if you can catch up with Mr. Bradley B. He's an absolute sweetheart of a man, a real treat to talk with if you get the chance. I kept thinkin' how I was kinda sorry I didn't have a silver Sharpie with me, I'd have gotten him to sign my black Chuck Taylors, seeing as how he'd gotten them moving so much, I thought maybe he'd been playing them, too.

(Included photo by Olivia, from Chant's MySpace pics. Someday I'll get my Sidekick to take a decent picture I can use!)


Upcoming Shows:
(please visit the band's webspaces for more details and most up to date info)

Chant
June 15th	Elysium	Austin, TX
June 16th	The White Rabbit	San Antonio, TX
June 18th	The Hi-Ho Lounge	New Orleans, LA

And then many, many shows in Florida, see his MySpace for details!


Visit:
Chant on Myspace
ChantProject.com

Chant:That Which Divides

I've said numerous time that there are few who can rival Punjabi percussion super group Dhol Foundation, but I think I may need to eat my words.

Chant is a one man show, namely Mr. Bradley B. Machine-like in precision yet as passionate as any devoted artist, he's a spectacle and an inspiration... That is to say he's an indication of someone who pushes the outer limits of creativity and energy. Having played in numerous bands in the past, Mr. B soon realized that the only person you can trust is your own self when it comes to hard work, commitment and a unique vision.

In short, Chant is a percussionist, and a damn good one, but sadly that description falls short even though it's accurate.

Drummer, performance artist, a master of rhythm and sound. How could you even classify Chant? We won't even go into the composing, programming, web design and promoting he does on his own as well. You get the feeling that there's nothing he can't handle (sorry ladies, he's taken). He's like Stomp on crack, Blast with the boring brass bits taken out, and the entire drum line of the famed Cavaliers wrapped up into one sexy body. I tell you Tommy Lee would shit himself if he hasn't already.

The music definitely has an industrial element to it (one of the things he bangs on is a mounted satellite dish, apparently) with a tribal influence. You hear hints of jazz and world as well. In addition, he manages to sing with his strong brassy vox while playing, and no, the man is not sitting down at a kit either. He's up and about, a searing ball of fire while performing.

See for yourself.

Watch:
"Drag Me Down"

The clip above (courtesy of www.chantproject.com) is some amazing live video footage of Chant opening for Pigface back in April 28, 2005. It ought to give you a small idea of what the energy level is like when he performs and I'll be experiencing it myself tomorrow night. If you're in the area go see him live.

His debut full length album That Which Divides will be out this summer, August 2007. You can purchase his live DVD and EP off of his official website which also features ample amounts of media, interesting interviews and a mp3s.

The album described by the man himself:

It's all about "this thing between us". Between you and me, between us and them,
between everyone. What separates us in so many, many ways, when deep down, we are all the same? And what things hold us all together?

Listen to:
"Crash Me"

Upcoming Shows:
May 24 @ 11:00pm - Elysium (Austin, TX)

June tour:


Visit:
Chant's Myspace
Chant's Official Website