"not only builds exquisitely deep atmospheres, the song has a sort of filmic arc too"
Dip into the beautifully transporting "Celebrate with Port!" by Central District of Seattle, Washington based multi-dimensional nujazzer's / mutt rock fusionaires mega cat and you might feel like you are sucked into another time and place. For me, I saw bell bottoms and leather boots when I looked down and I swear I am not taking any drugs. The snaking bass line, shuffling splashy drums, deeply evocative keys and sparkling hallucinogenic guitar shapes screams 70's psychedelia. Now truth be told I have been steeping myself in 70's cop movies lately (like The Seven Ups and Serpico) and the current stunning Alexander Payne flick The Holdovers which feels like a 70's movie but I don't think that is why I am feeling that generational pull here.
BUT let's say this now, if you are a film maker you would be an idiot not to grab up mega cat for soundtrack work, a pure idiot.
Now "Celebrate with Port!" not only builds exquisitely deep atmospheres, the song has a sort of filmic arc too. It doesn't stay within one diorama of sounds, textures but shifts gears that add emotional dimension. The interludes to larger eruptions of sound and cavernous grooves is stunning. Listening I thought of 70's artists like Ash Ra Tempel, Pink Floyd, The Loading Zone, Alan Parson's Project or an amalgam of all of them.
LINER NOTES:
mega cat is a disembodied multidimensional being most discernibly experienced as sound waves. It was first discovered in a basement home studio in the Central District of Seattle, Washington by audio chemists Aaron Benson (drums, percussion, guitar) Kim West (synthesizer, piano) and Ryan Devlin (bass, guitar.) Upon first encountering mega cat, all three researchers experienced a loss of time, body dissociation, euphoria, and ego death. Reports of holographic thought, enhanced perception, and minor instances of levitation have been widely documented from just one encounter with mega cat. Though the being doesn’t seem to use traditional language to communicate, mega cat transmits instrumental narratives that feel familiar to fans of 20th century science fiction, afro-beat, hip hop, and psychedelic music.
ABOUT "Celebrate with Port!"
Quote about the single from the band’s Ryan Devlin
Back when Seattle dive The Comet Tavern still had rock shows, people would take shots of port like it was whiskey. One could saddle up to its slanted bar any night of the week and find a horde of punks sucking down the sweet, syrupy, and surprisingly strong fortified wine that was, in fact, the house drink. Celebrate with Port! - the second single from mega cat - is partially inspired by those high octane, low center of gravity nights on the Pike/Pine corridor. Like the sound of a time bending hip hop beat tussling with crust funk in the back of that shithole dive bar, Aaron Benson’s drums take the listener from sober to slanty to outright smashed. The song is also inspired by an early mega cat tradition involving “a port night every fortnight” with dear friends as a sentimental way to break up the monotony of time during lockdown. The group brought The Comet to Benson’s backyard and Celebrate with Port! was uncorked.
Back when Seattle dive The Comet Tavern still had rock shows, people would take shots of port like it was whiskey. One could saddle up to its slanted bar any night of the week and find a horde of punks sucking down the sweet, syrupy, and surprisingly strong fortified wine that was, in fact, the house drink. Celebrate with Port! - the second single from mega cat - is partially inspired by those high octane, low center of gravity nights on the Pike/Pine corridor. Like the sound of a time bending hip hop beat tussling with crust funk in the back of that shithole dive bar, Aaron Benson’s drums take the listener from sober to slanty to outright smashed. The song is also inspired by an early mega cat tradition involving “a port night every fortnight” with dear friends as a sentimental way to break up the monotony of time during lockdown. The group brought The Comet to Benson’s backyard and Celebrate with Port! was uncorked.
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6MqD2dmJGZNlkmlXE9xvkp
https://itsmegacat.bandcamp.com/album/mega-cat
https://itsmegacat.bandcamp.com/album/mega-cat
https://www.facebook.com/itsmegacat
mega cat is a new instrumental collaboration by Aaron Benson (drums, percussion, guitar,) Kim West (piano and synthesizer,) and Ryan Devlin (bass and guitar). For live performances, the band is joined by Dave Dederer (Presidents of the United States of America) on guitar. Ryan and Kim both play in the Seattle band Smokey Brights.
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6MqD2dmJGZNlkmlXE9xvkp
https://itsmegacat.bandcamp.com/album/mega-cat
https://itsmegacat.bandcamp.com/album/mega-cat
https://www.facebook.com/itsmegacat
mega cat is a new instrumental collaboration by Aaron Benson (drums, percussion, guitar,) Kim West (piano and synthesizer,) and Ryan Devlin (bass and guitar). For live performances, the band is joined by Dave Dederer (Presidents of the United States of America) on guitar. Ryan and Kim both play in the Seattle band Smokey Brights.
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