Rare is the band that can extend its reach over multiple genres with as much dexterity, originality and charm as Melt-Banana. Any attempt to describe this Tokyo quartet with familiar descriptors inevitably falls short of doing justice to its body of work, to say nothing of the sheer, almost rapturous power of its live shows. If youve already seen Melt-Banana in person, words can only scratch the surface of what you already know. If you havent, Melt-Banana plays an art-damaged, cartoonish variation of grindcore (thats, um, Napalm Death-ish speed metal to you) that the band always manages to load up with more texture, color, personality and joy than should ever have been possible with music that goes by at such a blur. This feat seems all the more extraordinary when you consider that Melt-Banana has pushed well past the fifteen-year mark and continues to put fresher, more startling twists on its sound with each subsequent release. For its latest, Melt-Banana Lite Live: ver. 0.0, a three-piece, sample-based mutation of the band ventures further into the abstract than the band has ever gone yet, and as usual, emerges from the noise with highly compelling, delightfully listenable results. Both versions of the band will appear at this show. With Tera Melos. SABY REYES-KULKARNI
Fri., Dec. 11, 9 p.m., 2009
