Title: GYPSY LOUNGE XMAS ACOUSTIC CHARITY SHOW

Location: The Gypsy Lounge

THE GYPSY LOUNGE
23600 Rockfield
Lake Forest, CA
Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2009-12-18

Description: I will be playing at a small set (literally like 3 songs) at \”The Fourth Annual GYPSY LOUNGE XMAS ACOUSTIC BENEFIT CONCERT!\”   I am currently set to go on at 1:45 in the morning. So come on out and have a few drinks. This year will be the biggest xmas show to-date.  With TWENTY-FOUR singer/songwriters from the OC & LA area, all proceeds going to the children\’s charity HOLLYWOOD HEART, and a big toy drive!  Drink specials, great music, festive decor, friends, food… etc etc.

This annual show has always been a Xmas highlight for everyone involved, and this year\’s will be amazing.

The Lineup includes:

Pawnshop Kings
AJ Degrasse
Cory Joseph
Adam Watts
Mike Vitale
Chris Paul Overall
Chris Karn
Danny Maika
Kurt Hunter
Joe Denges
Skee
Living Machine
Gayle Skidmore
Sarah Nicole
Mike Peralta
Robin Orr
Shaw
Alice Wallace
Paulie Pesh
Brenna Whitaker
James Below
Natalie Watts & Scott Harrah
Julie Bell
Josh Mohr

Living Machine music is now available on the premiere music download site, Masterbeat.  There you have the option to download hi-quality WAVE versions of the tracks or MP3 format, as well as preview the tracks in their entirety.  Currently, they are also featuring me in the SPOTLIGHT on the Home Page as well.

It’s official, there is now a dedicated artist page on Facebook for Living Machine.  Fan it up and spread the w3rd.

So I found this old review of my “Echoes of Repression” CD. I thought I would archive it here. Mike Ventarola, if you are out there anywhere, I would love to hear your articulate review of “Arm Chair Delusions”. Thanks again for this great review.

——————————–
Catharsist
“Echoes of Repression”
~reviewed by Mike Ventarola, Starvox (August, 2000)

It is a rare occurrence to be in the company of musical genius, especially in light of today’s studio gadgetry which can make something from nothing at the touch of a button. I contend that Catharsist, a.k.a. Elijah Shepard, falls within the parameters of said genius and will rank among the greats in the halls of music before long. Shepard does not conform to any genre boundaries and by doing so, he releases the wild muse who constantly haunts his psyche to lay down the next refrain of a melody. Despite the harmonious touches his songs convey, there is always a pensive, deeper level beneath the tune. True to the name he has chosen as an artist, he takes the listener on a purge like journey to remove the cobwebs of one’s mind. Catharsist doesn’t just play and sing a song, he becomes the song, pouring his entire being into each note in an effortless fashion. His vocal range and intensity is somewhat akin to Chris Isaak and like Isaak, can utilize understatement to hit the listener over the head with intense poetry and poignancy.

“Echoes of Repression” starts off the disc with mesmerizing notes suffused with gentle percussion. The vocals and guitar work seem to cascade across our nerve fibers to pull us into a reverie. Shepard croons “only another sees what covers your eyes/if we knew what we were looking for- we could move on.” This is a bittersweet song that depicts that thought process of a new born cynicism and disappointment which leads many to the doorway of mid-life disenchantment.

“We Never Say” is a tumbling mellow rock groove about the difficulty of expressing love and hiding in a facade of emotional avoidance and distancing. The vocals are tweaked to at first sound as if they are coming from a transistor radio and then come fully to the forefront with Shepard harmonizing with himself flawlessly.

“Sometimes Vain” remains the one song that I am fully addicted to and must have heard at least 300 times by now. The guitar work and the percussive groove on this track are hypnotic that one would swear Lindsey Buckingham had his hand in the creation of this work. The lyrics depict someone who is a vain and opportunistic person with a bit or irony in the fortune/misfortune scenario. ” Self acclaimed you are- the glory ill gotten/ you could have built the things that mattered when you died/ greeting us with a smile, you stepped off the stage…/only to meet a truck coming the other way.”

“Oblivious” pensively takes us into the realm of one who seems invisible to the rest of the world. Despite the observations and feelings of life around the character, there is a mournful questioning of how such a curse came to be. We are led into this exploration and self analysis through the multifaceted layers of music and lyrics.

“To Be Making Us Happy” blends trip hop, darkwave and electronic sounds in a song that questions if getting what you want really makes one happy. The simplicity of this song’s focus should not be underestimated. Catharsist seems to play notes and utilize vocal tones and refrains that jar the mind to pull out our memories and thoughts. It is as if there is an invisible cord connecting the artist to the listener’s mind. His dynamic vocal range is fully evident with this song as well.

“Take My Memories” comes to life with a suffused gentle cry of the guitar reminiscent of some of the greatest blues artists. At one point in everyone’s life, we deal with losing a loved one who just walks out of our lives. Shepard seems to channel the muse of Muddy Waters, Chris Isaak and Alison Moyet and serves up a frothing, painful tune that seeps into your bones to the point of breaking our own hearts as well.

“Somehow” demonstrates the reflection and puzzlement that one has when they are unconditionally loved. “Somehow I always seem to make you proud/somehow though I always let you down/ somehow I always seem to make you smile.” If the sound of the mind could be recorded when it is contemplating such ironies, one would need not go further for a sample than the work of this artist.

“Shallow” opens up the chasm of the mind to make for a lonely bedfellow of total introspection. “now I know that which is in me is shallow/ only a reflection of my insecurities…no easy words to say/ I am used to paying the toll at the end of the road and living in hindsight.”

Catharsist does not create background music that is the fodder of many artists in the independent circuit. His work delves into the emotional levels that are akin to the inner workings of everyone’s mind but few choose to reconcile. Shepard unleashes the ponderances and emotional demon’s that sometimes veer people down the chasm of isolation and offers up musical anecdotes to show us the way around it. His music is reflective of the multi-faceted aspects of his personality and he serves it out flawlessly. Catharsist is not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve however, he does not succumb to self pity. Instead, his music seems to offer a means to segregate a particular complexity and render it harmless. Many artists are able to make music that can float one along on a nebulous cloud. Catharsist, like his contemporaries, does this as well, only on his cloud, your mind will be forced to think, work and react in subtle ways that other artists seem to fall short of. This is brilliantly done through the many echoes and layers of sound that seems to peel the emotional baggage like layers of an onion until we are left feeling purged and cleansed for the experience.

Track Listing:
1. Echoes of Repression
2. We Never Say
3. Sometimes Vain
4. Oblivious<br />
5. To Be Making Us Happy
6. Take My Memories
7. Somehow
8. Shallow

There they are folks. Use them liberally. Put them on your blog. Print em out. Make stickers and put them on your dog (err – scratch that). Make paper airplanes and throw them at your friends. Just do something.