Amy X Neuburg is a one-woman band, a narrator and song writer using looping electronics and effects in an innovative and interesting format.  Many of her pieces are developed by intoning some small vocal piece - a noise, a word, a sound, a lyrical line - which she samples and then layers with other loops or vocal lines, or which she sings over.  She then manipulates the various loops, stopping and starting them to great effect, or using drum pads to trigger those samples or prerecorded bits that she's prepared for a particular piece.  Her voice is powerful and well trained, but she shys away from technique for technique's sake.  In narrative she tells witty and incisive stories that complement or serve as counterpoint to the pieces that she presents; her friendly patter between songs tells the story of a smart, playful and bemused person, curious about life and her own neuroses.  Highlights from her set included a piece started by sampling her brushing her teeth, then layering various voices over it, including the line "I will think of you when I taste my tongue"; an impressively complex piece with the recurring line of "Hiding in the Foxhole"; a "circus" piece with a twisted Julie Andrews sort of musical quality; and a foreboding piece recreating various answering machine messages in search of a password.  Her methodologies in creating song are courageous and inventive, and her talents are impressive.

Working in a similar vein with different results, Pamela Z also uses looping technology in song format, relying on foot pedals more than sampling gear, and tending towards more unlikely loop structures.  She also uses a gesture controller wrapped around her arms to trigger samples in time with her motion, and various voice processors to change the timbre of her voice.  Movement is an essential part of Pamela Z's performance, and she stands in front of the audience directing her songs in sweeping movement and gestures.  Her opening piece began by slapping an empty five gallon water jug and creating an arrhythmic loop over which she layered other sparse loops.  Collectively these allowed her to create intense swells of sound which she could quickly cut to return to her basic percussive loop.  The piece was dark theater, mysterious and edgy, a ritual from the depths of the earth.  Other pieces included "Pop Titles 'You'", a poem piece that amalgamates a page from a 1986 Phonolog Report listing song titles that began with the word "you"; a piece on alienation describing the "other" box on a form; and an older, edgy piece repeating "why do you talk to me that way?"  Her vocals are strong and her ideas interesting and thought provoking, leaving space for the listener's interpretation from their abstract yet pointed use of the language.

Rounding out the evening, Ikue Mori and Amy X joined Pamela Z for two short numbers.  These improvisations mixed the qualities in both vocalists, showing how similar technological tools can lead to varying results that well complement each other.  Mori, as always, slid into the mix with wonderfully raucous sounds and slippery electronic bits that enhanced and filled any space left between the two vocalists.