No Expectations 066: Bite Down
A Taste Profile interview with Rosali. Plus, gig recaps of Liam Kazar, Paul Cherry, Tommy Prine, and more.
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Headline Song: Rosali, “Bite Down”
Thanks for being here. This week’s newsletter is a Taste Profile interview with Rosali, an artist with one of the best albums of 2024 in Bite Down. If you dig what you read, consider signing up for a paid subscription.
Taste Profile: Rosali
The first time I heard Rosali's new album Bite Down stunned me. From the very first notes, everything clicked. She writes lived-in songs that are anchored by her towering yet calming voice. Backed by Mowed Sound, the Omaha rock band fronted by David Nance, the 10 tracks here are dynamic and weighty. They’re so in my wheelhouse it's almost absurd. Imagine if Crazy Horse or Yo La Tengo backed Sandy Denny. It's groove-minded folk-rock that can unpredictably explode with emotional intensity and snarled guitar riffs. No song is alike but somehow they all fit into a cohesive and collaborative full-length.
Bite Down marks the second time Rosali has enlisted Mowed Sound since 2021’s No Medium. Both LPs are standouts of this decade: the culmination of a lifetime of work touring, recording, and playing with different bands. Born Rosali Middleman in Western Michigan, she’s spent time in Minnesota, Philadelphia, and is now based in Asheville, North Carolina. She’s in the longrunning garage-noise trio Long Hots, has a solo improvisational guitar project in Edsel Axle, and has a duo project with Cloud Nothings Jayson Gerycz called Monocot. She’s a lifer and everything I’ve heard from her adventurous career has been excellent.
Rosali and Mowed Sound are currently on a long and winding tour. Because they hit Chicago’s Empty Bottle on April 18, I called up Rosali for a Taste Profile interview. On the morning after her band played a show with No Expectations favorites Arbor Labor Union, we talked about experimental short films, Yo La Tengo, Sparks, 14th-century poetry, and more. We also found out we grew up in the same parts of West Michigan, which only makes me like her more. Read on below for three formative things from Rosali’s life and three things she’s into now.
Formative short film: Mothlight (directed by Stan Brakhage)
Tell me about your first experience with this short film.
I first saw Mothlight when I was in college. I went to a small liberal arts school in Minnesota where I studied art. One of the classes I took had a lot of film in it. This short was part of the curriculum and it broke boundaries in my mind of what film could be. There's no human subject matter or imagery, it's just the light and scratched-out film. It's almost like a poem.
At that time, I was starting to get into experimental music and experimental art. It just really knocked down a wall in my brain about how you can even approach something that has had a history and has a legacy. It's all extremely beautiful. It's just a short moment. If watch it digitally, it doesn't have the same effect as when you watch it in film. I've been lucky to see it in a theater where it can be totally dark and you get the contrast. It's a full experience and it's kind of spiritual too.
He has so many films and what I’ve seen is all really beautiful. It’s wild to think that in 1963, when this came out, he thought to make a film without using a camera.
Absolutely. I watched a documentary about him years ago so I can't fully remember but I think he was just kind of a recluse. He lived out in the woods, off the grid. He was this true, maybe slightly tortured artist who made all these tender, poetic films.
Formative book: The Gift (by Hafez)
One of the nice things about this interview series is that I get to check out new-to-me things. I’ve never read The Gift before.
This was also a college experience. I took this class on Persian literature, and we read a lot of like Rumi and other modern Persian novels. But Hafez's work is just incredibly profound and beautiful. I really was taken with how he uses the notion of the Beloved. His poems seem like love poems, but it's about divine love, and talking about these greater human universal qualities: feelings, emotions, and spiritual connection. He uses these terms of this intense love, and those are all very raw, human feelings, but, it's about transcendence and about connecting to a higher love: divine love and love of life.
It blew my mind. That's also what I think about when I write my own songs because I will use a love song structure, even if it's not really about that, to talk about bigger things. Sometimes people don't see past that, but I hope that with further examination they can see that maybe it's talking about something a little deeper as well. His words are beautiful. Some people have them devoted to memory, they're almost like proverbs. Hafiz has thousands of thousands of writings that I would highly recommend digging deeper.
Reading about his work before this interview, I saw that Hafez translates to “memorizer.” Here’s this 14th-century poet who memorized the Quran at a young age. There’s something so romantic about being able to recite passages from a poem or a religious text. You don’t see that practice much these days.
I guess people have song lyrics, or Simpsons quotes to recite now.
It’s so interesting how reading this in college eventually influenced your creative process. I can hear it too: Bite Down is such a joyful and collaborative record.
Well, thank you. That really is my intention: transferring that love of life and healing and all of that.
Formative album: Yo La Tengo, I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
I can’t think of a band more beloved among musicians I talk to than Yo La Tengo.
I know. This was a real gateway record for me. I heard it when I was a teenager. I love pop songs and there are melodies aplenty there. And then there's Ira Kaplan's amazing guitar playing and tone. It really absorbed me into a world where I was like, "Wait, I have to follow this. I have to learn more about this band." By digging into this record, that opened me up to a lot of other music from there. Becoming an adult and meeting other people, Yo La Tengo was also such a connector. Liking that band welcomed me into a new world.
Take me back to when you first heard this record. What were you listening to then and how were you introduced to this band?
I listened to a lot of different things. Growing up, my parents were musicians, so they were heavily involved in traditional music and folk music. There was a group of family friends and community that played a lot of bluegrass and so that was how I learned how to play. I also had siblings who introduced me to punk rock. When I was a young teenager, I had top 40 radio. Growing up in a small town in Michigan in the early internet times, it wasn't very easy to just get online and search for obscure music or go to a record store.
Being from a small town in Michigan too, I know exactly what you’re talking about.
I got a job when I was 16 in Grand Rapids, baking at this hippie restaurant.
Was this Gaia? I went there every week in high school.
It was Gaia. Wow, small world! It was a great place. My first job there was as a dishwasher but I was too slow.
Too slow as a dishwasher for the hippie restaurant?
Yeah, I was just making sure everything was really clean but they were like “You got to move faster.” But when the baker quit, they asked if I knew how to bake and I did. So I got promoted to a baker. There was another girl who worked there and we started trading mixtapes. She had some Yo La Tengo and Portishead tracks on hers. She was a little older than me. She was so cool. That's how I first found out about them so then I went to the record store that was near there and bought the CD.
Recent film: The Sparks Brothers (directed by Edgar Wright)
I wrote about this documentary when it came out. I never had a Sparks phase before watching it but it was such a good gateway into their career and catalog.
It's so good. They're incredibly inspiring. They never stopped. They're lifers. They are true artists: being fluid throughout time and always slightly ahead of trends, but also completely being themselves and going all in with something. They're just incredible performers, and songwriters. They aren't afraid to do something kind of ridiculous and they aren’t afraid of writing some of the most brilliant crushing songs. I love that documentary so much.
The more I write about music the more I’m interested in longevity: why do some bands fizzle out early on and why do others keep going throughout decades? With Sparks, there’s just this unwavering dedication to both their craft and doubling down on their artistic whims.
For sure. I think that they were smart about their money too. They weren't like, "We had number one and we're living it up." They saved their money so they could just survive.
Are you into Egdar Wright’s other films? They’re way different than the Sparks documentary.
I think that's the only one I've seen. I want to watch more because this was so well done.
To be honest, this one was my favorite. He did Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Baby Driver along with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Oh, I have seen the first one but not the others.
All I’ll say is that he should do more music documentaries.
It’s goofy movies versus this beautiful love story to these artists.
Recent album: King Blood, Hocus Focus
I hadn’t even heard of this record before.
My friend Richie Charles in Philadelphia puts out his records. His label is called Petty Bunco. He's put out David Nance's records and a bunch of friends like Emily Robb, who I toured with a little bit. That's how I found out about it. Richie gave me this record. I think this guy lives in Ohio somewhere.
It’s so funny because when you go to the Bandcamp page, there’s no info on the guy and it says it came from Antarctica. After I did some digging, I found out the dude is a graphic design professor in Columbus.
Yeah, I did a little sleuthing too. I could have asked Richie but it's more fun to figure it out yourself. This guy has another great record called Vengeance Man, which I also really love. His guitar tone is incredible. His heavy riffs are incredible. I love when an album is a little world you enter. I don't like the word vignette all the time but it's these little moments that make up one long piece. Like Brakhage, it feels like the whole thing is a poem. I hope he makes another record because I will buy it and I will listen to it and I will obsess over it.
Recent album: Weak Signal, War&War
I love this record and I’m so happy you picked it. Weak Signal is such a cool band.
They’re so cool. My other band Long Hots, played a show with Weak Signal in 2018. They're a New York band and I was living in Philly at the time. We did a weekend tour. We played at Jerry's which is like a little storefront kind of DIY space run by Chris Forsyth. They were just great and it was a mutual admiration kind of moment. We've kept in touch since then, they've come to shows we have done in New York. They're all just really cool people. Mike, Sasha, and Tran are the kind of people where you always want to hang out with them, hear what they're listening to, and know what they're reading. But they're also so nice and chill too. This record is as cool as they are. It might remind you of something but it's its own thing. They're just heads making fun and interesting music.
What I listened to:
The No Expectations 066 Playlist: Spotify // Apple Music
1. Rosali, “Hopeless”
2. Jon McKiel, “Everlee”
3. Porches, “Rag”
4. Sam Evian, “Another Way”
5. Rose Hotel, “Drown”
6. Babehoven, “Ella’s From Somewhere Else”
7. Rich Ruth, “No Muscle, No Memory”
8. Paul Cherry, “Moving Through Circles”
9. Liam Kazar, “Nothing To You”
10. Adrianne Lenker, “No Machine”
11. Jonah Yano, Le Ren, “it takes 2”
12. lake j, “Don’t You Lie”
13. Vampire Weekend, “The Surfer”
14. Joseph Shabason, Nicholas Krgovich, M. Sage, “Bridget”
15. Hannah Frances, “Vacant Intimacies”
Gig report: Paul Cherry, JW Francis at Hideout (4/4)
I’ve known Paul Cherry for several years. When he lived in Chicago and was making left-field psychedelic pop music, I premiered his debut album Flavour in 2018 at VICE. He’s been living in LA for the last few years and he’s thriving: he’s an expert producer and collaborator who’s worked with countless artists and is still making great solo music. Though we got to hang out last time I was in Los Angeles, I’ve been out of town every time he’s ripped a gig in Chicago since the pandemic. Fortunately, I fixed that Thursday when I saw him solo for the first time with JW Francis as the opener.
Even alone, Cherry’s a great performer. He had a game show wheel onstage featuring all the songs on the setlist. Between each song, an audience member would spin the wheel and Paul would play whatever was picked. When “Between Me and Chicago” was selected twice in a row, he stuck to his guns and played it again. According to Cherry, the wheel hit the same song three times at a later gig over the weekend. I’m happy to report Paul did play that track in full three times. While I respect the commitment to the bit, I’m relieved the wheel landed on both “I See You” and “Moving Through Circles” that night in Chicago.
Gig report: Liam Kazar, Sarah Weddle at Hideout (4/7)
Liam Kazar has been one of my favorite musicians in Chicago for basically the past 15 years. From his time with the influential high school band Kids These Days, playing in the defunct but still great rock group Marrow, to his solo music and sideman work in Sam Evian and Kevin Morby’s bands, his career has been so fun to watch.
The follow-up to his fantastic 2021 debut album Due North is “in the works” and he played quite a few new songs for the sold-out Hideout crowd. Backed by bassist Lane Beckstrom and drummer Spencer Tweedy, the trio format made for both the tightest and most rocking Liam set I’ve ever seen. After he opened with Due North standout “Frank Bacon,” he didn’t really slow down except to play a few songs solo on the piano. Perfect night.
Special shoutout to opener Sarah Weddle, who also plays in Hazel City and Bnny, for a fantastic opening set. I cannot wait for some of her tracks to finally be recorded and put out in the world.
Gig report: Tommy Prine, Kiely Connell at Beat Kitchen (4/9)
On Tuesday, I saw Tommy Prine play Beat Kitchen. Friend of the Substack and fellow Deadhead Josh Halper plays guitar in his band and invited me out to the gig. Prine, who’s the youngest son of the iconic singer-songwriter John Prine, started a music career following his father’s death in 2020. His earnest and heartfelt Americana songs deal bluntly with loss: friends who overdosed, his dad’s unexpected passing, and the fears that come with growing up. I had a great time at the gig. The songs were good and Prine was a charming frontman. Though you could tell his crowd had fans who likely saw his dad play places like Fifth Peg, the Saddle Club, and Old Town School of Folk Music here in Chicago, it’s clear Prine’s carving out his own path on his own terms.
What I watched:
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm ended its masterful 25-year run Sunday as the Greatest American Sitcom of all time. It’s the show I’ve been watching the longest in my life. (I think I first rented the early seasons on DVD from Blockbuster in 2003 or 2004). Ultimately, it’s a show about manners and what happens when someone gleefully challenges social mores. Larry David’s fictionalized version of himself spent the entirety of 12 seasons putting his foot in his mouth, offending polite society, and learning few lessons. I read some takes that were disappointed with the finale but I loved it. The episode was a pretty clever and triumphant take on David’s career, his Curb character, and the Seinfeld finale. I already miss Richard Lewis so much.
What I read:
Album of the Day: Bnny, One Million Love Songs (Mia Hughes, Bandcamp)
Jessica Viscius’s first album as Bnny, Everything, was written largely in the aftermath of the death of her partner Trey Gruber, a fellow Chicago singer-songwriter. That record oscillated between the fire of a messy relationship and the heart-stopping emptiness of grief via an inviting lo-fi sound that traversed slowcore, shoegaze, and ‘60s-style garage rock. One Million Love Songs, then, is a record about where life goes after devastating loss: The world keeps spinning, but a part of you is forever left behind.
The Weekly Chicago Show Calendar
Thursday, April 11: Destroyer (Solo), Lightning Bug at Lincoln Hall. Tickets.
Thursday, April 11: Real Estate, Marina Allen at Thalia Hall. Sold out.
Thursday, April 11: Sleepy Gaucho, Astrachan, Ari Lindo at Hideout. Tickets.
Thursday, April 11: Jeff Rosenstock, Sidney Gish, Gladie at Salt Shed. Tickets.
Friday, April 12: Vijay Iyer Trio at Constellation. Tickets.
Friday, April 12: The Pink Stones, Tobacco City, Cactus Lee at Judson & Moore. Tickets.
Sunday, April 14: Ducks Ltd., Rui Gabriel, Joey Nebulous, at Empty Bottle. Tickets.
Sunday, April 14: Todd Day Wait at Judson & Moore. Tickets.
Monday, April 15: The Staves, Lomelda at Lincoln Hall. Tickets.
Monday, April 15: daarling, Harvey Waters, Burly Gates at Empty Bottle. Free.
Tuesday, April 16: Slow Hollows, Computerwife at Lincoln Hall. Tickets.
Tuesday, April 16: Caroline Rose, La Force at Thalia Hall. Tickets.
Wednesday, April 17: Caroline Rose, Kairos Creature Club at Empty Bottle. Sold out.
I love the Taste Profile format, Josh! Also, having discovered No Expectations and Rosali in the last two weeks and really digging both, this was a real treat.
I like the Rosali album, too, maybe not as much as you but it's very good. She also seems like someone I could relate to having been a baker/dishwasher myself, LOL. Great taste, too - this King Blood record is WILD.