SEMF: Part Deuce

Beautiful things happened at the Townhouse Lounge Saturday night for the final installment of The Sacramento Electronic Music Festival. Music was made and had, hearts were warm, a DJ got engaged, and Canada invaded Sacramento.

New music obsessions happened as well. Paper Pistols and Dusty Brown are now in my youtube and Myspace rotation. Paper Pistols was one of the most beautiful and moving sets I have seen. Paper Pistols is a man, his drum set, and his music. Drums always amaze me.

You could see the passion in the way he played, the trance he was in, and how he exhausted himself physically, musically and emotionally. At one point it was almost as if he had expelled too much intensity as he made one last lick of his drum during a song nearly passing out, or going to some other musical realm.

Dusty Brown returned for another set at SEMF, surely topping Thursday's performance. Lead singer Jessica Ashleigh Brown, is mesmerizing to say the least, as is her voice. She soothes, she haunts, she pulls you in without even trying.

At one point in their set, she sang from her leather bound notebook. It was like hearing pages from her diary, only not in the really girly sense like Taylor Swift. With a mix of folk, and electronica Dusty Brown is half optimism, half sorrow, but wholly good for the ears.

The New Humans are a Sacramento sensation. Even though you've heard all the songs before, you might have partied at the same bar before, or never even heard of them, they ALWAYS put on a stellar performance. The New Humans are fun, they get you on your feet, and bring the sweat out of your pores because you're dancing so hard to their disco tech.

With their synths, piano, and drum combination, The New Humans are as musically well rounded, as they are dressed. Lead singer, Cole Cuchna, has a voice like that of Matthew Bellamy from Muse as he bellows out "off with your head" for their song "Fever". If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing them perform, or danced to their music, you must not be from Sacramento.

Thank you SEMF for providing us Sac Rats with three extremely fun days of music. I can't wait for next year, it can only get better.

(photo credits: Harlee Ria DeMeerLeer)