Never believe those who say nothing good is happening musically in Albuquerque. They have given up. Small venues and performance spaces abound, vibrating with strange sounds for a few hours nearly every day. For months, touring and local musicians have performed in a small room in the back of a house Downtown. The unassuming Moldspores has been consistently curating lineups with a loose thematic connection. With no pressure to churn out shows like a sonic grist mill, Moldspores events deliver experimental, exciting and irregular performances. This Saturday, Denver represents at Moldspores. Sara Century, to my ears, is the main event. Her songs are short bursts on the border of anxiety and humor. The weirdness of the world can be lost to us when desensitized to it. With Sara Century, the world is interpreted through her fresh, freaked-out eyes, unaccustomed to the harshness that most of us have adjusted to. Her sets are short and feel like they’re about to break down at any moment. There’s a sense of relief when she finishes a song—partly that it made it to the end, partly because of the winding path it took. Denver’s Sense From Nonsense creates trance-inducing sounds. The slow and enveloping music could be ancient, hushed invocations made in a dripping underground cavern. David Mead, the Denver experimental musician (and not the Nashville singer/songwriter), completes the Colorado trifecta. Mead has John Zorn tendencies and a large musical palette. His eclecticism ranges from the tranquil to free-jazz squall. Albuquerque’s Anna Mall, of The Glass Menageries, keeps the night from being a Colorado shutout. Anna Mall crafts catchy songs and delivers them with downward-gaze detachment. Her set can go from singing songs while playing guitar to sound texture exploration over expansive looping.Moldspores also has a lending library, a large catalog of music and zines for sale, and a little table with flyers. We have a special city in this place and time in the multiverse. A Moldspores event is a fitting spot for those afflicted with negativity to start remembering.
Sara Centurywith Sense From Nonsense, David Mead and Anna Mall Saturday, July 14, 7 p.m.Moldspores 923 11 th Street NW Admission: $5, all-agesmoldsporesabq.blogspot.com
