Oshwa

If 2015 hasn't exactly been kind to Chicago so far (nothing like subzero frigidity to ring in the new year), it at least comes with the promise of a whole batch of new music to anticipate. Chicago winters are the perfect time to take a break from playing shows and hole up in the studio; lucky for us, some of the city's most exciting artists have been doing just that. Here's a quick roundup of some of the records I'm most eagerly anticipating this year.

Oshwa - TBA

Oshwa spent a good part of 2014's final quarter teasing the as-yet-untitled follow-up to their 2013 debut, Chamomile Crush. The quartet, led by singer and songwriter Alicia Walter, posted a photo of themselves in the studio with the caption "it's coming . . ." on their Tumblr a few weeks ago. On New Year's Eve, the band announced via Facebook that one of the new songs from the album is called "Genie." A new single and its video should emerge this month; until then, here's Walter covering Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line." - Chicago Reader

Chicago was a turning point for Oshwa founder Alicia Walter, both academically and professionally. Her growth as a musician followed a long, arduous period of creative and professional challenges.

After years of classical piano study, Walter left that rigid world, moved to the city and found her true musical calling. The city provided opportunities to meet fellow musicians as well as reject the formal structure that shaped her connection to creation. The progression to Oshwa's current sound — complex, heady, but still relatable — was a long process full of self-scrutiny for the vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter.

Ronnie Spector's Christmas starts in September
Ronnie Spector's Christmas starts in September
Walter grew up playing piano and began college as a classical piano major at Illinois Wesleyan University. The experience, like many she would soon face, left her disappointed and unfulfilled, as formal educational guidelines limited Walter's connection to the music and why she wanted to perform in the first place.

"I freaked out because it was so crazy," she said. "The classical world in general is a really grueling thing. Why am I playing this? There are a million people that can play this better than me, and I'm slaving over this piece written 300 years ago."

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Walter left Illinois Wesleyan and transferred to Loyola University Chicago. There, she made a 180-degree turn and took up environmental studies. That, too, was an unsatisfying substitute for her still-undefinable career goals. Columbia College was her third — and final — stop.

However, the educational experience at Columbia, like the ones before it, was not a perfect fit. Whereas at Illinois Wesleyan she felt limited studying works written hundreds of years ago, Columbia's progressive emphasis on 20th-century avant-garde composition didn't match her ultimate desire to perform more contemporary pieces. But in the uber-creative institution's halls, she met Jordan Tate, a future collaborator and fellow band member of Oshwa.



Community came easy and in the form of a Rogers Park co-op with 16 roommates. "It was a really creative household," she said. "Everyone was very supportive of each other. It was a really good opportunity for me to test the waters."

It was here, during winter 2010, where Walter finally felt comfortable forming the Oshwa project. It also offered her the first opportunity to perform her music at the home's house parties.

It was her first professional gig at Double Door in Wicker Park during summer 2011 that changed Oshwa from a solo project to a collaborative venture. "I was like, 'Oh, my God. I'm real,'" Walter said.

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She asked Tate to join her band. Michael Macdonald, the other vocalist and guitarist in the band, joined in fall 2011, and Matt Noonan joined in winter 2012 on bass. Their first EP, "transmissions from the midwest: a real-america tribute," came out in August 2012, and their debut LP, "Chamomile Crush," came out the following year.

Oshwa, more than anything, now feels like a musical outlet of defiance and independence. In the group, Walter and her fellow band members feel free to explore and challenge the conventions of what they should be playing and how it should sound.

In the beginning, that meant long, genre-clashing experimental works. In those songs, Walter used her voice as the ultimate instrument. She wrote loud, bombastic vocal riffs that challenged her skills.

Yelawolf has just a couple of things to say
Yelawolf has just a couple of things to say
"I really liked the idea of huge singing. Just not choirgirl type of singing," Walter said. "I would write melodies that were really nuts and maybe not suiting my voice very well." But by using her voice, she was able to insert herself into her compositions in the most brazen and literally outspoken method possible.

However, that method of performance was not sustainable. Walter developed temporomandibular joint disorder, which led to six months of severe pain in her jaw. Now, she said, she knows her voice well and can control it. "I had to figure out how to change something," Walter said. "I had to stop being so over-the-top."

These days, as the band finishes its second full-length album, the members are facing their most difficult challenge yet: how to create the perfect pop song.


"Just because (something) sounds rhythmically crazy or really tappy doesn't mean it's any smarter than a really good pop song," Walter said. Oshwa's newer material reflects this mellowed-out approach.

"Tigers," one such song, is two minutes of quietly layered samples, hand claps and quirky percussion. But Walter's vocals, here singing a sweet, memorable melody, complement the instrumental flourishes. It's a quirky pop song, but it works.

"There's something to be said for writing a really good pop song," Walter said. "It's definitely not easy."

onthetown@tribpub.com

Twitter @chitribent

When: 9 p.m. Friday

Where: Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave.

Tickets: $8 (21+); 773-281-4444 or beatkitchen.com

Copyright © 2014, Chicago Tribune - Chicago Tribune

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Alicia Walter of Oshwa is a classically trained pianist who studied composition with Marcos Balter at Columbia College, alongside her bandmate Jordan Tate; in interviews the group has cited the influence of avant-garde composers such as Scriabin and Bartók. As a vocalist, though, the 24-year-old Walter is entirely self-taught. Her playful, idiosyncratic singing on the band's 2013 studio debut, Chamomile Crush, sounds a little like Gertrude Stein, but she's happy to admit that her actual inspiration is Merrill Garbus, aka Tune-Yards—Walter's been listening to her since finding the Tune-Yards MySpace page as a sophomore in college. Like Garbus, she forgoes sultry front-woman crooning in favor of something headier and more interesting, and her left-of-center delivery gives the songs an added layer of texture. But unlike Stein, she's a highly emotional performer—so much so that she spent her first couple years in Oshwa overdoing it, which led to a nasty case of TMJ. After applying plenty of Tiger Balm and learning to rein in her wildness for a more Zen-like approach, Walter healed; she's now working on new material with the band, whose live shows continue to impress her unique point of view on the local avant-pop scene. - Chicago Reader

On its debut full-length Chamomile Crush, Oshwa took Tune-yards’ genre-hopping influence and distilled it into short bursts of art-pop all its own. Recently, the band entered NPR’s Tiny Desk video contest, and during the filming of its submission it took the time to make a video for a new song, “Why Are We Tonight” The track builds upon the band’s previous output, but features a streamlined new approach that showcases vocalist Alicia Walter’s sickly sweet melodies. The A.V. Club is premiering the video for “Why Are We Tonight” below, and though it will find its way onto the band’s next record, it’s a great way to remain sated until the band hits the studio. - The A.V. Club

OSHWA is the musical brain child of Alicia Walter, starting as a solo piece, growing into the wondrously chaotic four-piece it is today. OSHWA’s sound is a sonic landscape, bursting at the seams with Walter’s exuberant and romantic vocals and dynamic instrumentals, all set to an array of erratic and complex time tempos. I talked with Walter about learning to appreciate the more rigid parts of music and OSHWA’s journey to a truer, more stripped down sound.


ASHLEIGH DYE: Do you want to start by telling me how OSHWA got started?

ALICIA WALTER: It started in 2010 as a solo project of mine. I was living in a co-op in Rogers Park and going to Loyola at the time, I had just transferred from Illinois Wesleyan. I was studying piano and decided that I wasn’t really into that. So, I transferred to Loyola and moved into this co-op with 16 other people. It was really fun, we all encouraged each others creative process. I started throwing shows there around the same time I started the project. Jordan was the first person to join the band, it was sort of a duo for a while. We were a full band with four members about ten months after that.

AD: You grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, how did that affect your view on the music scene once you got here?

AW: There was actually a really awesome music scene just in the suburbs, too. In high school I was going to a lot of shows in the suburbs. I remember coming to the city for one show at a DIY space, that I can’t even remember the name of, at the time it was really crazy to me. That wasn’t something I did all the time. Its funny, because where I grew up had a really good band scene and I thought that was just how it was for everyone. Some of those people are still active in Chicago now. I think the DIY nature of things really shaped what I thought was possible when coming to Chicago.

AD: Outside of what you are physically able to play, where do you see your classically trained background in OSHWA?

AW: Three of the four of us have a decent background in classical music, I think that informs lot of our decisions in ways we can’t even really see in the moment. I think our ears tend to lean toward certain sounds that they otherwise wouldn’t without our classical backgrounds. I definitely, now, really value that education. At the time when I was in college and turning away piano I was all “fuck the system, I’m sick of the rules.” But, now I feel like the rules are there for a reason and I’m so glad I know how to do some of the stuff that I was originally very against.

AD: You had this great thing you said in another interview you did that went something along the lines of “Why am I playing this piece of music for hours that so many other people have played and will play better than I will.” Which was pretty thought provoking for me.

AW: That was one of my major frustrations with studying piano. When you’re studying performance you aren’t studying the way people write music, or how to write music, you’re studying how to be a performer. And in terms of piano, classical piano performance has a very limited market for jobs and actual success. Anyone is better than you, if you can do it someone can do it better than you.

AD: Would you say that’s what you appreciate about having that background and having OSHWA as an outlet? You get to create your own music and standards.

AW: I think studying music so professionally for so long gave me a strong sense of discipline that makes your standards really high, because you’re used to having to prove yourself daily to your professors. I think we all come from that standpoint, we really have high personal standards and high standards as a group for what we put out. And it definitely feels good to be creating and writing what you’re spending so much time playing.

AD: What’s the songwriting process like for you guys? There is so much layering happening is there a certain line that comes first?

AW: Chamomile Crush is coming from a billion different places and I think we’ll look back on it as the album where we figured out how to do anything. We were recording and writing at the same time and recording ourselves, then we were recording with other people, then we re-recorded everything and recorded again, it was a crazy messed up totally un-guided process. The instrumental parts on Chamomile Crush were written totally by me, which felt nice because I was able to use my degree and the things I’ve learned. Now the process is a little bit different. We used to write chunks then piece them together, now I’ve been presenting a whole song to the band and we either strip it down, or add to it with other people. I think it’s becoming more streamlined, now that we are getting the rhythm of it.

AD: You’re working on a lot of new stuff right now, right?

AW: Yeah, we haven’t recorded any of it yet, right now most of our live set is new music. It’s exciting to see the new direction we are going in. With this sophomore album I think all the math-rock connotations will be dropped. It’s still rhythmically interesting, but we aren’t doing like crazy time signature changes. Now its way more like, “Here’s a pop song.” I don’t think we’re simplifying in a bad way, we’re just figuring out how to do it our way. A lot of our old stuff was very chaotic and I think it was just us trying to figure out how to do something that sounds different. Now we’ve come back around and just want to jam out and take it easy. Everything is so much easier that way, too. Practice is a lot harder when your time tempos are so crazy. Having been exposed to a lot of music I think you get this mentality that “We can do this so differently and crazier”, but then you realize “Oh, I actually can enjoy just cruising around and listening to something like Beach House.”

AD: I think people can get into a mind space where they feel like if their stuff is outwardly different or unique that there isn’t as much value to it. You did a block 2 block segment on living in Pilsen and talked about how much art and graffiti is around, which is all so incredible and vibrant. When you talked about that all I could think about was how your music seems to be the sonic interpretation of Pilsen’s vibrant art scene. Do you think that informs or inspires your sound at all?

AW: It does on various levels. You don’t see the street art you do here anywhere else in the city, it’s something you can’t ignore, it just seeps into you. Pilsen is still somewhat off the beaten path, we aren’t Wicker Park or Lakeview, it’s still a lot of families. I really value being surrouned by people who aren’t all like me. Also, Pilsen is not centrally located at all. You’re a little bit more closed off and when you’re trying to work on something that can be a really good thing. When we were really heavily writing for Chamomile Crush that was something that really helped.

AD: You guys went on your first big tour last summer, did you have any major first tour band lessons that you learned?

AW: Oh my god, Jesus Christ yes. We were really ambitious, I booked the tour, and we didn’t stay in a single city for more than a day. We played 20 shows in 18 days. We were constantly moving, there was never any chill time. The nature of doing it DIY and sleeping on people’s couches, getting back at three in the morning then having to leave again at eight caused us all to hit a wall. Like, I can’t physically do this again! - Empty Bottle

Oshwa make off kilter, arty, folk and pop that crackles with a communal energy and experimental spirit. Their songs command attention with their intricacies and unpredictability. Check out the breakdowns on standout “Old Man Skies” from their Chamomile Crush LP. Time signatures change without warning and melodies come in fits as vocalist Alicia Walter twists her unorthodox voice all around the chaos. Fans of Dirty Projectors and tUnE-yArDs should find plenty to love. (Dan Henshaw)
Must hear: “Old Man Skies” - Loud Loop Press

4. Oshwa - Chamomile Crush

I can’t get enough of Oshwa mastermind Alicia Walter’s quirky vocals and oddball-pop compositions, which utilize a host of instruments from sax to dulcimer and jangly guitars. The obvious comparison is Tune-Yards, but the dissonance and depth here is all her own. - Chicago Magazine

The avant-garde pop quartet Oshwa released one of the best local albums of 2013, and continue to push boundaries with material that references everything from 19th century impressionistic composers to the textural vocals of Merrill Garbus (aka Tune-Yards)—at once heady and infectiously accessible. It’s quite a feat considering its players are recent college grads who don’t surpass the 25-year-old mark.

Chicago chatted with vivacious singer and multi-instrumentalist frontwoman Alicia Walter ahead of the band’s show at The Hideout this Saturday, where they will perform songs from that 2013 triumph, Chamomile Crush, as well as new compositions that feature Walter on keyboards and piano, the instrument she grew up with and subsequently rebelled against.

On studying classical piano:
I started at Illinois Wesleyan as a piano performance major and I was pretty intent on doing that, but you get pretty burnt out being in a practice room alone, wondering why you’re playing the same piece of music that a million other people have probably played better than you.

On sneaking into the city from the ‘burbs for punk shows:
There was a big house show scene where I grew up, but I also came in to Chicago all the time when I was seventeen or something like that. The first time it was crazy! I remember thinking “I’m glad my mom has no ideas where I am.” The DIY scene here was huge.

On the point where classical and pop music meet:
It’s a natural progression, what you’re exposed to as a kid, and a matter of what you grow up with. It gets to the point where it’s in your DNA. We never have said out loud that we need to fuse these two things. We just happen to have ears that are looking for the same sounds.

On the piano composer Alexander Scriabin:
He started off kind of like Chopin and was very diligent in the late 18th century. But by the 19th century he was totally bat. He had synesthesia so he would see colors with the sounds he was playing. He created a color wheel for one of his pieces that was supposed to be built into this color organ where each color would convey a different emotion and each chord would be a different color and stuff like that. We were totally nuts for that in college.

On battling her vocal style:
I definitely over-exerted myself in our early years. So much so that I developed TMJ and had major jaw issues. I’ve watched videos of us playing a long time ago and the physicality of my emotions were huge and I couldn’t believe how much sound was coming out of me. It was horrible because nobody around me had it, and it’s hard to understand, so I just put on Tiger Balm all the time and luckily it did get better.

On how the Polar Vortex influenced the band’s new songs:
When you don’t see sunshine, it can be a really heavy thing and the music that came out of that and out of me during that time is different. I wasn’t feeling like myself and I sang quieter and more calmly.

Oshwa plays The Hideout Saturday at 9pm. Tickets are available at the venue’s website. - Chicago Magazine

Alicia Walter, guitarist and vocalist in Oshwa
Son Lux at Schubas on March 25 I've known Son Lux's music—something like minimal, orchestral electro-pop—for a few years. This was my first live experience, though, and jeez, did they deliver. Onstage they're only a three-piece, but they made the sounds of living giants. Ryan Lott's voice, dipping from angelic choirboy to whiskey rasp, led an insane barrage of orchestral samples and sub-bass thuds; weird-jazzy guitarist Rafiq Bhatia wailed the gnarliest, and unstoppable drummer Ian Chang played punchy and lush, like some brilliant caveman.

Birthmark's video for "Big Man" Birthmark is the solo project of Nate Kinsella (yep, he's one of those Kinsellas). The music video for "Big Man" is really a video within a video—a stoic, serene Kinsella, dressed in black and singing his personal credo, is surrounded by a rowdy rock band in white, filming their own clip for a raucous song we can't hear. The juxtaposition is just right, and Kinsella sounds like the most natural man alive when he finishes the lines "Your thoughts aren't real things, and neither are your feelings / There is no God, and the only thing real to me" with a contented, eyes-shut hum.

Son Step, Here Comes Dreamboat This genre-blurring Philadelphia four-piece pairs jazzy, angular guitars with surprising melodies, throws in some off-kilter harmonies, and somehow makes it all sound effortless. Think Lenny Breau meets Deerhoof meets Chris Bear. And, like, maybe Chris Martin. This might be a weird reaction to have, but I always come away from Son Step with the thought, "These guys must make their mommas proud." - The Chicago Reader

Oshwa is an ordinary experimental rock band who traveled back in time from a not-too-distant, possibly utopian future to play music for those of us stuck here in the present. I think. At least, that’s the best explanation I can come up with for how they can make music that deftly walks the line between comfortingly familiar and wildly, bizarrely inventive.

Their music is heavily melody-driven - singers/guitarists Alicia Walter and Michael Mac alternate singing lead while the other occasionally provides harmony or contrapuntal accompaniment. Each member is an enormously talented instrumentalist; Alicia and Michael’s guitar riffs are intricately intertwined with each other and Matthew Noonan’s lyrical bass lines, while Jordan Tate’s drumming ranges from precise, nuanced grooves to heavy-hitting, fill-oriented wildness.

Structurally, the songs seem classical in the sense that they will start with the statement of a strong melody and then bring it back throughout the song in a variety of different contexts. You might hear a vocal phrase accompanied by simple guitar chords, brought back later bolstered by a raucous drum beat and dueling guitar riffs, then repeated once again over a languid bass line played with a slide.

Check it out now before they decide to return to the future!

- Chicago Singles Club

Oshwa, Chamomile Crush

I first heard Oshwa when one of the band's songwriters, Alicia Walter, got in touch with CSC last year about a possible feature. Before I'd even finished listening to the title track of this LP, they were one of my favorite Chicago bands. They're weird and cerebral but still accessible, and their arrangements are intricate, multidimensional, and dynamic. I don't know anyone who's doing experimental pop today as well as they are. - Chicago Reader

Today, Chicago experimental math-pop outfit Oshwa have shared a new tune called "Fashions To Make," which arrives in the form of live footage from their recent Observatory Studios show with Krill. Much like the material on their solid debut LP, Chamomile Crush, it's a skittering, groovy number but with added depth. You can check out the live video clip of "Fashions To Make" at the bottom of this post. Oshwa also have a couple of upcoming local shows--they'll do The Burlington on March 22 with Vaya and Geronimo! and a FREE Chicago Singles Club show at The Empty Bottle on April 7 with KSRA and Jamie Rojo.
Their new video for "Fashions To Make" lies after the jump... - Brooklyn Vegan

Once again, I’ve got way, way too much music to play for you this week. That’s not a bad thing, of course. It’s simply a reflection of how strong the current crop of records I’ve been getting has been. The struggle is finding room for it all on Local Anesthetic, this Sunday night at 7:30. I really, really, really like a new track from Ezra Furman called “My Zero” from his new disc with his band The Boy-Friends entitled Day of the Dog. As top-notch as this cut is I look forward to hearing the whole side soon. Ezra’s release show is at Subterranean next Saturday night. Also, check out the eclectic, soulful pop of Chris Tiritilli on his his new release All of Us. Plenty to like on The Noise FM‘s new set of modern power pop, Attraction. They are at Township this Friday. I previewed the new Old Shoe release, Family, back in August. Family officially comes out this week and the band will be at Martyr’s on Friday night. A couple of female fronted combos will complete the show. Chamomile Crush from Oshwa is adventurous ensemble playing with the otherworldly intense vocals of Alicia Walker something I haven’t heard out of Chicago in seemingly eons. Finally, long-time Chicago siren, http://www.songsbytemple.com/, issues her new side, Miracle, with a show at Fitzgerald’s on Oct. 18, sharing the bill with the incomparable Cathy Richardson. Gonna be a strong show of new Chicago music on this week’s Local Anesthetic, this Sunday night at 7:30, on XRT. I hope you can tune in. - WXRT 93.1 FM

Despite the technical issues during sound check that delayed the start of the performances, the second annual LU Weird festival was a fun weekend full of radical and unconventional sights and sounds. Unlike last year’s LU Weird, this year’s festival featured campus bands but only two off-campus bands, Oshwa and Buke and Gase, hailing from Chicago and New York respectively.

LU Weird was begun last year by senior Addy Goldberg. About the event, Goldberg says, “There are many artists out there who are making some pretty crazy music, who can’t charge all that much for their performances, because of how off-putting their music, act or image is. So, LU Weird is designed to capitalize on the opportunity that these sorts of musicians create by hosting a large, festival-like event, comprised of a number of artists creating pretty weird music.”

While last year’s event was two days of music with a guest appearance by “presidential hopeful” Vermin Supreme, this year Goldberg aimed a bit lower. “Our budget was much tighter this year, so we aimed a bit lower, consolidating LU Weird into a house party at Art House on Friday.” The party on Friday featured four campus bands, followed by the two bands brought in for the event on Saturday.

Made up of vocalist Alicia Walter, vocal/guitarist Michael Mac, percussionist Jordan Tate and bassist Matthew Noonan, the Chicago-bred band Oshwa was one of two bands featured during LU Weird. Held in the Esch-Hurvis room in Warch, Oshwa kicked LU Weird off with their solid set. Featuring epic guitar licks and almost whimsical riffs together with the powerful and soulful vocals of Mac and Walter, Oshwa performed much to the delight of the foot-tapping crowd. With vocals that sound like a cross between the late Amy Winehouse and Swedish singer Lykke Li, Walter’s vocals were a definite highlight of the night. While the music is most definitely avant-garde and intricately layered with the overlapping bass and two guitars, there are still some nice pop elements thrown in there. The band played some hits from their latest album, “Chamomile Crush,” including “Old Man Skies,” “Baraboo” and the title track of the album. While it was difficult to grasp a recurring beat or melody while listening to Oshwa, their songs, especially “Tigers,” definitely had my feet tapping against the floor and scouring the internet for their music.

Similar to Oshwa in their experimental and progressive sound, the Brooklyn-based duo Buke and Gase closed the night’s events and were a definite hit with the audience. Made up of Aron Sanchez and Arone Dyer, the duo used their handcrafted instruments to perform a weird-tastic blend of some creative tunes and fantastic guitar riffs for the audience. With a whole lot of effects and some synth thrown in there as well, there was a particular homemade quality to their music. This homemade quality was further fueled by the band’s use of a “toe-bourine” (tamborine strapped to the bottom of the feet) and the very cool ukulele-baritone hybrid that inspired the title “Buke” in their name. The band played some loud hits, including “Hiccup,” “Sleep Gets Your Ghost” and others. Arone’s awesome vocals, reminiscent of Karen O’s of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, were a lovely high accompaniment to the low sounds of the gase. While their music, like Oshwa’s, may be difficult to navigate—especially to those who listen to Top 40 hits— their music is explosive, innovative and just what your ears need: Something a little different. - The Lawrentian (Lawrence University)

On St Laurent, in between a Portuguese novelty store and flashy Depanneur, there is an alley that seems ensnared by a supernatural shadow. Even in the day time, the alley is dim and narrow. It’s truly an alley only a drunk with an overflowing bladder could love. But one sweaty summer night I crossed the void, took a right and ended up at the headquarters of Stack Your Roster, the home of the best underground music in Montreal. Created last February, Stack Your Roster is a Montreal-based label focused loosely on the genre of math rock. For those whose eyebrows just rose, math rock is a style of music that deserves its own name. Math rock is a rhythmically complex music that fuses the counterpoint and odd time signatures of experimental jazz and the loud dissonant chords of punk. But beyond that, math rock just plain rocks.

“All of our friends are underrepresented,” Will Osiecki, co-creator of Stack Your Roster told me, “It had to be done and no one was doing it for us. So we did it.” And in such a short time, Stack Your Roster has signed seven bands, released seven albums, numerous singles, and is showing no signs of slowing down. With their website just recently launched, Will and his partner are building their business strategy, booking more shows, and recording new material for their bands.

On this particular night, Stack Your Roster invited three bands from Toronto and Chicago to play in their basement. And it was there under the grey foundations of the Stack Your Roster house, surrounded by spiders and exposed brick and drywall, that I experienced one of the best shows of my life.

First up was Elos Arma, a Toronto band, who played some of the catchiest experimental rock I’ve ever heard. Seriously, give Hey hands pockets, nice mouth a listen, and you’ll probably loop it for the rest of the day. Basically, they sound like the Killers if they read Adorno and loved John Cage.

Last on the bill was Junior Bob, whose drummer doubled for Elos Arma. The math rock duo played incredibly long and varied songs that often lasted for fifteen minutes at a time, and never became tedious or repetitive. Instead, Junior Bob played variations on one riff and transitioned from there. It was like listening to a spirited intellectual debate, in which each counter point the opponent brought strengthened the other’s arguments. This dialogue between guitar and drum left me with a sensation of pleasant calm to guide me out of the dark and back into the rowdy night of St Laurent.

Third was Oshwa, a band who drove all the way from Chicago to grace us with their presence. Led by the lovely Alicia Walter, Oshwa’s sound was described to me by their bassist Matt Noonan as “pop-like, but experimental.” Not the best sell, I know. I was not expecting much from their performance, and boy was I wrong. By the end of their set, the entire crowd was speechless and stunned. At first, I was disarmed by Oshwa. I thought the melodic sounds of the lead singer and guitarist didn’t quite match the counterpoint of bassist and drummer, but after the first song settled, I was submerged into their sound. It felt like I was seeing Grizzly Bear’s early performances. I have no doubt that if Oshwa continues, they’ll end up in the Itunes library of every contemporary music lover.




It may be strange to you that I’m choosing to speak about the band that played second, last, but to me the whole night was anchored in Head Honcho. For the past year, I’ve attended every apartment, bar, or open mic these two McGillians have played, and I have never left disappointed. On the contrary, every show I've seen left me salivating for more. It is with a heavy heart that they’ll be taking a hiatus for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, they deserve more than a footnote for Stack Your Roster, because out of all of their incredible bands, Head Honcho is still my favourite.

I first encountered Head Honcho at a Plateau apartment party, where in-between crushing tall cans and sharing Jays, a few bands would play in someone’s cleared living room. Usually the music is either experimental or just plain mental, but Head Honcho, from their very first performance, had a sound and something powerful to do with it. "The moment I heard Man O Man, I was completely lifted out of my body, out of the bland coloured apartment, and jettisoned into the atmosphere. Just as Steven Whitely tapped on his guitar and Brandon Waldon banged his drum – the moment they jumped and sent the music crashing – I fell back down to the earth, right into my skeleton standing in the apartment, and I danced. I danced my fucking heart out." Any motion I could make with my body I did, and so did everyone else. When the two sing, “Everything is not going to change / if I want it,” I felt powerless, ethereal, but also at peace, allowing the music to express my weakness for me.

Head Honcho is a band informed by the legacy of emo and fringe hardcore. They’re grounded in a M - Hot Soupe

Dearest reader, have you ever heard of Robert Christgau? I’d understand if you haven’t. Though easily one of the most celebrated (and reviled) critical curmudgeons ever to put pen to paper, the self-proclaimed “Dean of American Rock Critics” isn’t exactly a household name these days, what with old-media haunts like Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice having lost ground and readerships to the likes of Pitchfork, Bandcamp, and social media. So, no sweat if you’re not terribly familiar with him or his work. (But feel free to get acquainted.)

I mention Robert Christgau because he is, perhaps, best known for the brevity and pith of his “capsule” reviews, which, as seen in the Consumer Guide and Expert Witness series, range in length from trim (one paragraph) to truncated (a single sentence or phrase). Speaking/writing as a reliably (possibly infuriatingly) loquacious pedant, such minimalism is enviable. Christgau has a gift for distilling an entire album’s worth of recorded sound to its essence. At his best, his write-ups are bite-sized, easily-digested portions of playful, epigrammatic, icon-aided nuance. A+

At his worst, however, Christgau can read as petty or dismissive—a bored, condescending, and impossible-to-impress old crank who has seen and heard everything under the sun ten times already long before you were even born, thank-you-very-much, and who seemingly delights in crushing egos and upstarts like so many overripe grapes. {Tu}

Fair enough; everyone needs a hobby, and it’s well-nigh impossible to review scores of albums a year for years on end without getting a little blasé and ornery in the process. Hell, I’m getting there myself.

Still, I’d like to think that, after more than a decade of meandering rock-crit pronouncements, I’ve managed to avoid such nonplussed ho-hummery and switchblade piss-taking. Then again, even I must admit that the soul-warming glow of the New and the Novel has gotten get rarer and rarer as the years go by—which is why bands like Oshwa are such a welcome breath of fresh air.

It’s a rare thing indeed, but the above video for “Grar”, released in early April as a promo for Oshwa’s debut LP, Chamomile Crush, left me a little confused at first. The pink pumps and effects pedals? Can’t imagine those are terribly comfortable during a full set, let alone during a long tour, but, hey, it’s a fun look, so whatev’s. The nonsensical growls, yawps, and jazzy, self-harmonizing croons, all looped and layered with some damnably impressive vocal runs? Genuinely intriguing, those; please, do continue. The delayed introduction of the full band, who let loose some two minutes in with a tubby ear-worm of a bass line followed by the soft touch of light-and-brassy kitwork alongside bright-and-airy guitar interplay, all gyring and gamboling with, around, and about one another in arrangements that sound like indie-pop turned inside-out? Oh, goddammit, Internet—just who are these people, and why am I only hearing about them now!?

As first impressions go, “Grar” was a stone-cold killer, all Maps & Atlases by way of tUnE-yArDs, and the ensuing web-search for Oshwa’s extant recorded material (if any) left me both enamoured and perplexed. First off, there was the short-and-sweet Transmissions from the Midwest: A Real-America Tribute EP, a trio of songs that included the spacey, barking, staggeringly Allan Holdsworth-ish “Celestial Bodies”, an earlier and even odder (read: more charming) and sample-affected version of “Grar”, and the flirtatious, nigh-indecipherable yodeling of “Me O Mai”. Then, there was a half-hour set at Chicago’s Saki Records, proof positive that these kids know what they’re doing, and can do it in a live setting—as they damn well should, considering that lead vocalist and guitarist Alicia Walter, guitarist and vocalist Michael MacDonald, and percussionist Jordan Tate all graduated from Columbia College Chicago’s School of Performing and Fine Arts. Hell, even the lone BFA holdout, bassist J. Matthew Noonan, knows his way around the low-end like a pro. Rest assured, this lot’s got chops.

During this trip down Google Lane, I also stumbled upon the early, almost larval recordings of the GUTS and …thanksgiving EPs, rough cuts made rougher by the awkwardness and uncertainty of ideas not yet fully formed. Hearing the variance in quality and content (not to mention roster) from these early EPs to Transmissions to the above in-studio recording left me a bit unsure of what to expect from Chamomile Crush. Not that there’s anything wrong with unknown quantities—Lord knows they’re preferable to overly predictable pop-rock pabulum—but I couldn’t quite shake the notion that Oshwa was still in the process of self-discovery, complete with the oft-uneven anything-goes experimentalism that entails. Accordingly, I went into Chamomile Crush expecting to be at least somewhat shocked, or possibly even disappointed. I mean, it couldn’t all be as great and grand and wonde - 4tdot

Chicago indie-rock quartet Oshwa made instant converts of Gossip Wolf in February, when they posted two YouTube performance videos of their complicated, jazzy songs. Fans of dextrous, impeccably performed pop a la Dirty Projectors will enjoy the swelling, swirling voices and stop-start riffs of guitarists Alicia Walter and Michael Mac—it seems like we've been waiting for Oshwa's debut album, Chamomile Crush, since forever! Local label Naked Ally releases it on LP and CD on Thu 8/8, and that night the band plays a release show at Quenchers (with the Para-medics, Shiloh, and Options) before heading out on a tour of the eastern U.S. and Canada. - The Chicago Reader

Upon meeting Alicia Walter for the first time a few weeks ago, I could not imagine that such a soft spoken woman could produce the huge and lush vocals on Oshwa‘s 2012 EP transmissions from the midwest: a real american tribute. Tracks like “grar” seemed like a direct nod to tUnE-yArDs, but despite the easy comparison, Oshwa seemed less pretentious. It was a warmer, more inviting sound which begged the listener to participate. A year later finds Oshwa releasing their first de facto LP on Naked Ally Records and on the cusp of a supporting tour. And it’s about time.

Chamomile Crush is not a terribly radical shift from the previous EP, but takes Oshwa’s previous adventures in spidery and delicate freak folk and expands them into a coherent full-length. This time, guitarist Micheal MacDonald has stepped up to fill a lead male vocal role, pushing them into a sort of Dirty Projectors territory. “Baraboo” and “Chamomile Crush” demonstrate the strong vocal chemistry between the two with their give-and-take, conversational vocals.

What is so promising about Oshwa is that although there are blips of moments which feel like a Bitte Orca B-Side, these sounds always transform into something completely unique. “Suburban Pining” begins with a lone, weaving guitar line, only to merge with a small orchestra section and an especially bluesy Walter, creating an off-beat, lounge music bridge. Walter’s lyrics are straight from the Animal Collective school of songwriting, encompassing a mood or moment in a poetic stream-of-consciousness style. Indeed, the claps and sweet yips of “Tigers” is reminiscent of a poppy and more lucious version of the Sung Tongs’ track of a similar moniker.

Oshwa is able to delve into complex avante-garde through a pop lens – it is more familiar than obscure. With their flawless meter and tempo alterations, Walter’s compositions are undoubtedly intricate, but maintain a primal sense of intimacy and warmth. Chamomile Crush manages to merge the fine line between complete obscurity and darling pop. - Local Loop Chicago

But you’ll forgive us for expecting nothing but brilliance, with their track record of memorable session videos and well-crafted EPs, showcasing Alicia Walter’s breath-taking vocals against a colourful background of intricacies and free-thinking ideas. Set for release on the 8th of August, we were lucky enough to be able to give you a first listen of the quartet’s unique and beautiful debut album, titled Chamomile Crush.

As well as being able to listen to the whole of Oshwa’s debut record before its release, the band have written an accompanying Track By Track guide to Chamomile Crush, giving an insight into the processes behind its production. So get involved… - Musical Mathematics

Chicago’s Oshwa has consistently defied expectations during its short existence. Over the course of several self-released digital EPs the group has carved a place for itself by taking jazz inspirations, attaching them to an indie-rock backbone, and tying it all together with melodic trappings. The band’s first full-length, Chamomile Crush, is due out Aug. 8 on Naked Ally Records, and The A.V. Club has an exclusive stream of the album track “Baraboo.”


Where Oshwa’s prior releases saw the band toying with conventions, “Baraboo” sees the band work out the kinks and find its identity. The interplay between vocalists Alicia Walter and Michael Mac locks in early, as they dance delicately atop the tightly-wound instrumentation, never losing sight of where they’re heading. The song careens between passages quickly, forgoing a traditional structure but finding ways to resound like a pop anthem all the same. - The A.V. Club

So maybe the most obvious aspect of Oshwa’s sound that sets them apart from other acts is the intense, throaty vocals of Alicia Walter. And on the group’s EP Transmissions from the Midwest: A Real-America Tribute, her soul piercing lyrical work really shines through. Walter’s voice is looped over itself on the beginning of the EP’s middle track ‘Grar’—a song that brings a smile to my face every time it comes on—creating this vessel of vibes that help you transcend into a life in the clouds.

However, on the song ‘Old Man Skies’, which is set to be on Oshwa’s upcoming LP release this summer, the group delves into a slightly mathy-er feel. Overall, I really like the sound of ‘Old Man Skies’, it doesn’t have the obviously ethereal nature that was ever present on Transmissions[...] (although this is likely due to the fact I’ve only heard the live version since the LP isn’t out yet). Songs on Transmssions sound quite different when comparing live versions to recordings.

Oshwa is set to perform with Their / They’re / There and Noumenon in Chicago next month—a show that I so badly wish I could attend. Regardless, their appearance on such a stacked bill means that they’re starting to gain traction. Keep an eye out for their LP release this summer and give their current catalogue a good few play-throughs. Oshwa is a band to be excited about.
Listen to more Oshwa HERE
Check out the band on facebook HERE

Words by Andy Holsteen - Musical Mathematics

One of my favorite things about music is how just when you think you’ve “heard it all”, something comes along and shatters that perception.

(I also really like how music sounds)

Oshwa brought about one of those perception-shattering things for me recently. The Chicago based band has been around for a couple years and has released a handful of EPs in that time, with a full length on the way. Oshwa takes the brain-fatiguing complexity of math rock- rapid key and meter changes, complex rhythms and melodies, amorphous song structures- and elevates it to a tightly-controlled, exuberant pop monstrosity. The result is messy, beautiful, and arresting, due partially to Alicia Walter, whose operatic voice travels melodies as complex and intricate as the instrumentation she wails, whoops, and barks over.

Their most recent release is entitled “transmissions from the midwest: a real-america tribute”. It consists of three wildly inventive songs detailing isolation, winter, and unrequited love (“having a crush!/ man, it’s bliss/ I just feel like ripping my face off”). Check the video of them flawlessly playing a complex arrangement off their upcoming LP below; stream their latest EP from bandcamp below that. And keep an eye out, Oshwa will be on tour later this summer! - Mostly Midwest

Chicago-based Oshwa just released a live video preview of their upcoming LP. Check it out because it seriously rules! There’s so much math rock talent in the Chicago area. - The Math Rock Blog

Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Video: Oshwa - 'Old Man Skies'
By Gene Wagendorf III

In between making batches of flapjacks and chopping firewood, experimental pop quartet Oshwa found the time to record a music video for "Old Man Skies." The song is the first track released from the band's forthcoming Naked Ally Records release. Heavy on syncopated rippling and singer Alicia Walter's incandescent chirrup, the tune's almost overwhelming brightness is nicely tempered by deep bass grooves and some timely percussive fits. Smartly resisting the urge to craft an ultra-quirky video to match their distinctive sound, Oshwa let their music make the first impressions in this straight-forward performance video.

The group's new record is slated to drop this summer, but in the meantime you can acquainted with them via their 2012 EP transmissions from the midwest: a real-america tribute, and of course by checking out the video below. - Windy City Rock

I recently spoke to Chicago-based band Oshwa to discuss its sound and the new EP and what's next. The members are all current Columbia College Chicago students: Alicia Walter(vocalist), Jordan Tate(drummer), Michael Macdonald (guitarist) and most recent member Michael Byrnes (bassist). Oshwa released a three song playlist on Bandcamp.com on Aug. 18 titled "transmissions from the midwest: a real-america tribute."

Walter and Macdonald took time to answer a few questions for WCB.

WCB: How did everyone in the band meet?

Alicia: Well, despite being less than two years old we’ve had quite a few people involved in oshwa already - the core being myself, Michael Macdonald, Jordan Tate, Matt Noonan, and Michael Byrnes. I met Michael Mac at a co-op we both lived in on the north side of Chicago, in summer 2010; I met Jordan in Keyboard Ensemble when I transferred into Columbia College in September 2010; Matt Noonan and I have been best friends of some sort since we were sophomores in high school; and the four of us all met Michael Byrnes when we recorded our most recent EP at Space Jam Studios. And our current bassist, Seth Engel - I’ve known him since I asked him to play at the co-op Mike and I lived at, late 2010.

Michael Mac: Uh huh, yeah, so once we moved out of Ubuntu (aforementioned ‘co-op’) I moved to Pilsen in the 25th Ward, she moved to Logan Square. By the summer of 2011 she had moved to Pilsen as well, and we became neighbors. I started playing guitar on her songs, and we started playing shows together. We came to realize that we are both creatively compatible, and have certain musical intuitions that the other can put faith in.

WCB: How did you come up with your band name?

Alicia: This is quoted from Matt Noonan, via Facebook chat: “The name oshwa comes from a nickname given to Alicia by her high school sweetheart on a bus ride after a marching band competition in Indianapolis. He called her (with childish glee) "oshwa thee indian!" He still calls her osh, despite how incredibly twee that all is.”

WCB: What bands influence your sound and how would you describe Oshwa’s sound?

Alicia: Our influences are actually pretty vast - Jordan and I are both finishing our degrees in Music Composition, and we’ve both studied a wide range of piano repertoire through the 20th century. We’ve both found composers that really strike us, between the two of us, namely Bartok and Scriabin.

Michael Mac: Oshwa is ever-so-evolving! It is undergoing constant change, and to say what that is yet would be to speak to soon. However, we can say that the method of creating this record is different than recording the last EP, and that will have an impact on the material because of the level of control we have over it. The last EP was this sort of, “Hey guys, we’re a band,” …thing, and the purpose of it was primarily to document what we were doing as a live band at that time. We are recording the new record ourselves. It has given us a certain freedom to do things that take time, like writing in wind and brass instruments and adding different sonic elements… things that we will translate into a live setting to take with us on tour this summer.
WCB: Talk about your EP- what were the challenges?

Alicia: Personally, the challenge was actually having other people record us - even though the guys at Space Jam are our friends. Michael Mac and I recorded our previous EP entirely ourselves, and, generally speaking, I have a hard time not having control. But I really learned a helluva lot from Adam Salsberg and Seth Engel, from recording to mixing, and the whole experience was super positive.

WCB: How has the band changed since Michael entered?

Alicia: Michael Byrnes took over on bass after Matt Noonan moved to Peru - and Michael himself has trans-atlanticized to Germany for the time being. But when Michael Byrnes started playing with us, it was a big deal for me, because he was the first member who wasn’t a close friend of mine already. It made me more confident that he liked playing in oshwa, since he wasn’t personally connected to us as friends, initially - he just genuinely liked the music.

WCB: What is something that would be interesting to know about Oshwa?

Alicia: We all sleep under the same rock!!!

Michael Mac: [chuckles] Well, we are hoping to get this Artist-in-Residency outside of Traverse City, Mi, in January. It would basically entail Alicia and I holing up in a fully stocked cabin for the month, recording the meat of our album. If that doesn’t work out, we’re going to drive to this really old cabin my extended family owns in Gaylord, Mi to finish it. Bon Iver style, sort of.

WCB: How often do you play live shows, where is your favorite place to perform?

Alicia: On average, we play about 2-3 shows a month. Personally, I really dig a solid house show. People really care about your music at those shows. But playing in a venue with really nice sound is li - The Windy City Banner