In support of their self-titled debut album out this week on New Atlantis Records, New York-via-Oakland trio Unnatural Ways (led by celebrated, virtuosic guitarist Ava Mendoza) have premiered a stream of their entire new release exclusively at BrooklynVegan.com.
Stream Unnatural Ways’ debut album exclusively @ Brooklyn Vegan!
The band’s debut delivers unabashed, raucous sonics, marrying the menacing tones of the creative rock underground to haunting, arcing compositions, potentiated by the fiery spontaneity of classic free jazz. Recently heralded as one of Guitar World’s “10 Female Guitarists You Should Know,” Ava’s playing is unapologetically searing, and she magically coagulates the influence of warped blues players, noise-rockers, and technically prodigious brutal-proggers alike. The sum output of the group is rapturous and kinetic, due in no small part to the abundant creative energies of the ensemble.
Since the group formed in 2012, Ava has relocated from her longtime home in Oakland to Brooklyn, and accordingly, the live incarnation of Unnatural Ways’ rhythm section now features the bassist Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Lydia Lunch) alongside drummer Max Jaffe (killer BOB, Normal Love). Mendoza has two previous albums under her own name; a solo album (Shadow Stories, Resipiscent, 2010) and a guitar/drums duo record with Unnatural Ways drummer Nick Tamburro (Quit Your Unnatural Ways, Weird Forest, 2011).
It is worth noting that Ava is a veteran of innumerable sonically diverse collaborations, with an impressive roster of creative musicians, including Carla Bozulich, Fred Frith,Nels Cline, Tune-Yards, Mike Watt, Henry Kaiser, Weasel Walter, Luc Ex, Thollem McDonas, Damon Smith, and Jamaaladeen Tacuma, among many others, with recordings on vanguard independent labels like ugEXPLODE, Not Two, Tompkins Square, and Edgetone.
Please consume fresh for a new perspective! April 14, 2015.
Catch her live:
4/14 Cologne, DE @ Stadtgarten
4/15 Wurzburg, DE @ Freakshow w/ CA (France)
4/16 Amsterdam, NE @ Bimhuis
4/17 Utrecht, NE @ Rumor Festival
4/18 Lille, FR @ CCL w/ YOLK, THE WITCHES
5/18 Brooklyn, NY @ Silent Barn (Singles solo music series)