What Exactly Is Axis: Sova? Find Out At Hideout Tonight

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 7, 2015 5:00PM

Photo by Brownshoesonly

Last December, we shared Axis: Sova's track "Fractal Ancestry" with you , ahead of the release of his Drag City album Early Surf. That album is now out and celebrated tonight with a show at The Hideout. As Axis: Sova, artist Brett Sova faces the world armed with little more than his guitar and a Roland TR-66 Rhythm Arranger drum machine. And we admit, we're not always sure what to make of it.

Sova's songs have a loose structure, but they often seem tailored to encourage his wilder explorations in feedback and guitar tones. He uses the Roland more as a central pole around which to wrap wild waves of fuzzed-out guitar than as the central backbone to provide any cohesive structure. On Early Surf ,when this works, it can suck you right in, but there are definitely portions of the album that feel as if they're designed more for a live situation where the sound could beat against your chest and vibrate in your sternum.

Tonight you'll have a chance to experience the songs in such a setting at The Hideout where the room should prove to be the perfect setting to serve as a conduit for Sova's explorations.

Axis: Sova plays tonight, March 7, at The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 9 p.m., $8, 21+