Beats Antique, ill-esha and SORNE

(Published by Planet JH Weekly)Exotic electronic pop, world fusion and ambitious, nonconformist production is the underlying foundation for an inquisitive triple bill—Beats Antique, ill-esha, and SORNE.Beats AntiqueIt’s hard to put a finger on the pulse of San Francisco-based Beats Antique—and that’s exactly what keeps it interesting, mind-boggling and body shaking in each broad stroke. Heavily Eastern and tribal influenced, Beats Antique seemingly incorporates microscopic experimentation to each bar of each song. Sometimes that means synthesized violin or banjo. Occasionally, their music will have a whiplash effect, dramatically shifting styles, tempos and beats within a given arrangement. All through the quirkiness, there’s a hovering energy of excitement that arises from hearing something that your ears haven’t quite internalized before.Beats Antique is comprised of producers David Satori and Tommy “Sidecar” Cappel along with world-renowned belly dancer/producer Zoe Jakes. Since 2007, the collaboration has released an album a year. The latest is the four-track EP, Contraption Vol. II (2012), which was a follow up to the full-length Elektraphone (2011). The trio incorporates live instrument samples and a union of old and new inspirations, bridging the gap between Middle Eastern dance music, down tempo, hip-hop, old school jazz, clown, dubstep, and Afro-beat.“These animal heads we’ve been wearing [on stage]…that’s just us letting our audience know that we are all just a bunch of crazy animals,” Satori told Fuse News this past June. “So if you can relate to that and let go of your inhibitions and your ego and your self consciousness, then I feel like we’ve done something.”ill-esha“He says he wanna brush this dirt off, be my guest/I tried to take my shirt off and show my chest/Sippin' on my Merlot, so you know what’s next/Workin’ in the Mission Section position we so…” sings ill-esha on the sexy tune “Let Me See,” a collaboration with speedy Chicago rapper ProbCause.ill-esha—a Vancouver, BC native—comes to us following a move to Denver via San Francisco. Initially entering the electronic scene as a drum and bass vocalist for Breakbeat Science, Fokuz and BluSaphir, she gradually became known for her seamless incorporation of original vocals and emceeing into her DJ sets. ill-esha recently released an EP, Altitude Sickness, proving she’s no one-trick-pony and one of the top crossover females in the industry to relentlessly produce glitch instrumentations, record dreamy vocals and play live shows.S O R N E“It's as if Freddie Mercury, David Byrne, an early David Bowie, Afrika Bambaataa, and the Cure's Robert Smith had gotten together and had a baby. He (Morgan Sorne) is an enigma, chanting like an ancient tribesman, stomping like he's dancing for rain, and whirling like a helicopter, while his voice scales the ranges of the mesmerizing and hypnotic, to almost unnaturally Edith Piaf high notes,” observed Austin Chronicle writer Stephen Macmillan Moser. It couldn’t have been said more eloquently. SORNE is a nonconformist to the core. A conceptual, tribal artist of twisted, abstract musings, he reaches beyond electronica into a genre of his own. He has written over eighty songs in five years, and last year was invited to tour with TV on the Radio. Beats Antique, ill-esha, and SORNE 9 p.m., Sunday at the Pink Garter Theatre. $24/advance, $27/day-of-show at The Rose, Pinky G’s and PinkGarterTheatre.com. 733-1500.