Edward Ricart (Monotrope)
SPB: Who is your favorite band to see live (currently active)?
Edward: Portland, Oregon's U Sco are an awesome band. These guys deliver all the muscle, power, and propulsion anyone could ever want, and essentially always have since we first saw them six years ago. Ryan Miller is an amazing, blistering guitarist, and Phil Cleary + Jon Scheid are a killer rhythm section. The music is deceptively complex, built on really intricate guitar lines, and brimming with shifting, contrasting time signatures. The music is expressive, so nothing seems forced- no vapid musical non sequiturs here. The overall vibe is really genuine and organic, the sound is expansive and unique. The overall tones they dial in are killer too - their record is packed with so many killer guitar tones, massive drums and a monster, throaty distorted bass tone. There are so many awesome bands I would love to see, but I just haven't had the chance to check them out - Upsilon Acrux, Stern, Big Brave... and so many awesome bands like Yowie, the Conformists, Man Forever, Poison Arrows, Microwaves, Hex Machine... Old favorites like Uzeda, Shellac, Soulside, Savak, Bellini... killer improvisers like Marc Ribot, Desertion Trio, Marshall Allen, Peter Brotzmann, or the total party rock experience of mighty Hot Snakes. It's not an easy choice, but U Sco come to mind immediately, and they've been a favorite for years now.
