Liz Draper Steps Into the Spotlight With Excellent Solo Debut LP Meno / Release Show Sunday 12/14!
Liz Draper is well known to local music fans as an integral part of some of the best bands (Low) and collective musical collaborations/outfits operating in the Minnesota (and beyond) experimental music scenes. Her bass playing has been part of jazz, ambient, rock and classical music groups and shows, and her debut solo LP Meno captures that melting pot across four intricate, subversive, beautiful songs. The instrumental songs are exploratory and haunting in a way that conjures up the best work of Arthur Russell, creating worlds that seem to expand beyond what is possible from an instrument that often is forced into the background.
From the album’s promo materials, it states “At the onset of perimenopause Draper is finally ready to take center stage. The album’s four movements provide a window into Draper’s soul, giving voice to a changing body in a changing world.” In a world being rocked at it’s foundations, this album reflecting personal change for Draper seems is a mirror placed up to all of us to think deeper and delve further into what change means a way that isn’t overtly proscribed or heavy handed. It it heavy at times, but it leaves just the right amount of space for listeners to create their own story.
Meno is a record that, to me, doesn’t try to offer solutions. It doesn’t try to make sense of the chaos, but offer space to reflect. As we enter into the literal (and depressingly, possibly the figurative) wintertime, I can already tell that this record is going to be in constant rotation on late nights and early mornings, when things feel less certain and life feels more unmoored. I’ll be glad to have this music as a partner in walking through the darkness.
Stream and purchase the record below. Like any good pillar of the music scene, Draper will be having a release *party* this weekend in south Minneapolis. Full details are below:
Who: Liz Draper solo bass set + Anna Johnson (Chicago) + Crystal Myslajek, Chris Hepola & Liz Draper tio + surprise pop-in set and after party djing by Ephraim of Modus Locus
What: Liz Draper Album Release Celebration. (Emphasis on CELEBRATION/PARTY vibes (food available from Paul Perez of Unidos
When: Sunday, Dec 14th / Doors 6, Music 6:45
Where: Ivy Building (warehouse space) in Seward Neighborhood 27th Street and 27th Ave South.
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