Afro Monk

Ana Sia Birmingham Review!

On the corner of Birmingham’s 15th and 20th South streets lies one of the city’s best-kept secrets; entrance to Zydeco leaves the customer with two options – a lower level, where pool tables and sports television abound, and a second floor – which has, over the past several months, seen some of today’s most talked-about electro, dubstep and glitch-hop artists. Ana Sia’s August 25th show alongside Eliott Lipp was no exception and those in attendance came out early due to anticipation, some fully decked out as whomping fairies. I myself fell into the majority’s category of attire; a haphazard collection of brightly colored clothing along with whatever I could attach to myself that contained any degree of sparkle. While I was already familiar with both White Noise and Eliot Lipp (and was excited to see their performances), I really came for one reason; Ana.

The amount of attention this artist has been receiving over the past six months seems to have grown exponentially by the day, largely due to support from well-respected performers such as The Glitch Mob and Big Gigantic. Going into her show, I really didn’t know what to expect – and how could I? A review of Ana Sia’s releases to date revealed an interest in a wide variety of genres; couple this with her live experimentation with mixing, and I had simply accepted that this performance would be entirely dependent upon her vision during that moment in time.

What ensued were moments where I physically couldn’t stand still; Ana Sia has the ability to create sounds that consume the listener and build palpable tension leading to brilliant climax. That being said, there were also moments of awkward transition and confusion; to go from a moment where you, as an audience member, are in total harmony with the music both in mind and body, to a moment of overlapping rhythms definitely creates a bit of a stutter effect in the avid dancer. In addition, Zydeco’s walls are concrete and its ceiling incredibly low in comparison to its floor space, so some of the high-pitch rhythms Ana had going resulted in a foghorn-like ringing in my right ear for four days. However, that minor annoyance probably would have been avoided if I could have torn myself from my stance six inches from the bass bins up front; I have to admit Ana Sia has a stage presence that is purely magnetic. Even during those moments when I was awkwardly shuffling, trying to recenter myself to the rhythm, there she was, never missing a beat and always dancing to some degree, even when an extra-large man (roughly the size of a baby rhino) with an extra-large glowstick (roughly the size of a lightsaber) insisted on obnoxiously thrashing the pink thing in her face while headbanging.

This is an artist I would certainly pay money to see again. Ana Sia’s music has grown by leaps and bounds over the past two years, and the constant encouragement from other artists continues to pour in daily. My prediction is that, as time goes on, whatever arguable kinks or rough edges there are in her sound will smooth out as she continues to settle into her place as one of the most talked-about artists on the scene.
–Kate Zaliznock, The Gypsy Diaries

(Note: Huge thanks to Darren Goldberg & Ana Sia for permission to share photos & video clips from this performance.)

Kraddy is BACK with full force! Today we get a small tease of his upcoming release Labyrinth. This EP is going to smash some crowds. I’ve heard bits and pieces of it and wow serious bass is coming your way. No Comply will be filling the dancefloors everywhere you go so get ready and be sure to download this tune. Kraddy will most likely be heading to a city near you while he tags along some dates with Ana Sia. The last time I saw him was at Lightning in a Bottle and this guy is no stranger to a party. He’ll have probably at least 5 girls dancing up on stage with him as he slays the masses. Kraddy thank you sir for all you have done to help bring the glitch and bass. Jesus why hasn’t anyone used that… Glitch & Bass. (runs and registers the domain).

Be sure to be on the look out for the Labyrinth EP due out November 9th on Alpha Pup and the epic album release party at the greatest weekly on Earth, Low End Theory!

Download: Kraddy – No Comply

This week we are graced to have a new Fire Friday Mix! Ana Sia was in one of the Glitch.fm djs studio for a show! This past Sunday the Salvage Future show hosted by Thirsty and Bertzerker brought in the lovely Ana Sia and she totally rocked it!

Ana Sia has recently put out a new EP, International Profile,  on the infamous Muti Label. She has been working closely with the one and only phat conductor, ill gates! The first track caught my ear. Be sure to pick up the release!

Got to give tons of respect to Ana Sia for all she does. It can be tough in an industry where it’s mainly all male driven. I’ve personally met her but have only heard good things. She apparently had encouraged Epcot to come hang out during WMC when he recorded a show with us. Big thanks to her on that one considering Epcot had a lot of knowledge to drop on me about promoting and doing events.

Grab the free mix! Ana Sia Live Mix on Glitch.fm!