The Aluminum Group

The first time I caught The Aluminum Group
live was at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco sometime in 2002. 
The two brothers that make up this ensemble are John and Frank
Navin.  They took the stage like two art professors preparing for
a lecture.  One brother, John I believe, unfurled a calming ocean
scenery backdrop.  No drums, guitars or even keyboards were
needed, just an ipod.  I watched in awe as these two flamboyant
brothers wowed the crowed with their elegant pop but inside I couldn’t
help but criticize their ‘cojones’ for not even apologizing for doing
their thing ‘karaoke’ style.  For weeks I denied how much I really
enjoyed their sound because of their lack of a backup band (I mean
these guys have recorded with Chicago music legends Sean O’Hagen, Jim
O’Rourke, Bundy K. Brown, John McEntire, just to name a few).  I
was hoping for just one special guest or even just one damn
keyboard!  But no, these guys got away with it and absolutely
charmed the crowd (my wife became a huge fan).  So two years later
I attend a free show at Amoeba music (telling myself I won’t pay to see them unless
they have some kind of back up band) and lo and behold they pull out the
ipod again. But this time they had no background and simply sat at a
table as if they were preparing for a press conference.  Regardless, they were great.

Well, to
be honest, I’ve contemplated stealing their ‘karaoke’ ipod idea for my
own performance project (if it ever happens).  But at least I’d
bring along a guitar to accompany MY ipod.

Here are some tracks The Aluminum Group have generously offered us:

The Aluminum Group : Pop
The Aluminum Group : Tiny Decision
The Aluminum Group : Motorcycles
The Aluminum Group : Snowflake