Deradoorian & Laetitia Sadier at the Doug Fir Lounge
Deradoorian, aka Angel Deradoorian’s solo project, brought their tour behind the recently released The Expanding Flower Planet to the Doug Fir Lounge and played a lovely and haunting set that featured some very impressive looping, great interplay with her lone bandmate and most of all: those amazing, amazing pipes.
I was very intrigued to experience the minimalistic head trip songs that make up The Expanding Flower Planet in a live setting, and Deradoorian’s sparse, two person setup was the perfect fit. Angel Deradoorian and her lone band mate (who either wasn’t introduced or I missed when she was) wove their way through a set filled with hair-raising vocal harmonies while patiently constructing each of the songs by piling live samples on top of one another. On any night the proficiency with which the two ladies on stage slowly built the songs up from the ether would have been absorbing, but considering the band had much of their gear stolen in San Francisco after their previous tour stop made the set all the more impressive. “You guys in Portland sure are nice,” Angel said after thanking the three local music shops that donated gear for the show, one of several times Deradoorian’s charming and easy banter put smiles across the faces of many in attendance.
Creating such intimate music that relies so heavily on loops and pedals on borrowed gear had to be nerve racking, but throughout the set Angel remained gregarious and at ease–even the one or two times a pedal didn’t respond quite as she had hoped. Watching her handle the situation with such humor and grace, I couldn’t help but think that Angel Deradoorian is certainly taking to her solo, frontwoman role. The former Dirty Projectors and current Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks member has also recently collaborated with the likes of Vampire Weekend, Bjork, Flying Lotus and The Roots–and it seems clear she is ready for her moment(s) in the sun.
While watching Deradoorian formulate their unique music in a live setting was more than entertaining, listening to these two women sing was the easily the highlight of the evening. Angel often harmonized with herself via multiple looped vocal tracks, and each time was spellbinding. “Jesus!” I exclaimed to myself more than once, amazed at the variety of notes Deradoorian can traverse during a song. No matter how many times and in what context I see Angel Deradoorian in a live setting, I will never cease to be amazed at her voice. One of the best in music today.
With both The Expanding Flower Planet and this subsequent tour, Angel Deradoorian has more than proven herself an exciting solo talent. The most exciting part of all this is that as good as both the record and the live set are, one can’t help but get the feeling they are only scratching the surface of where this talent can go. The Deradoorian project’s future looks very, very bright.
As a final note: while we were there to cover Deradoorian, I feel I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how positively lovely Laetitia Sadier’s set was. I’d never caught her live show before and the enchanting and sophisticated French pop rock Sadier and her band produce is top notch. A wonderful night all around.
Photos: Caitlin Webb Photography
Deradoorian tour dates:
10/1/15 – Detroit, MI – Museum of Contemporary Art*
10/3/15 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s*
10/4/15 – Kingston, NY – BSP Lounge*
11/19/15 – Berlin, Germany – Monarch#
11/21/15 – Utrecht, Nertherlands – Le Guess Who Festival
* with Laetitia Sadier
# with Naytronix
