The Horrors send sonic shockwaves across Lee's Palace

With Halloween just a fortnight away Lee’s Palace dished up a three course feast of tricks and treats on Wednesday night, culminating in an especially spooky main helping from English art-rockers The Horrors.

First off, as way of aperitif, came The Black Diamond Heavies from Nashville Tennessee, blasting out a deliciously raw brand of punk blues with only a dual-layered keyboard and set of drums. Their show was curiously compelling, if for no other reason than how mesmerising it was to witness John Wesley Myers somehow pound out such a full range of sounds with one set of keyboards.

But the shock additions to tonight’s appetizers were Toronto’s own hardcore punk sensation, and 2009 Polaris Music Prize winners, Fucked Up. After a lengthy wait, Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham and his cronies suddenly emerged onstage and true to form, dignified as ever, he dispensed with his shirt and began unleashing maniacal tirades down the microphone. He was impossible to contain from the start, as he came bellowing into the bewildered looking crowd, showily stamping about the place and dangling his hefty frame precariously off aptly placed amps. The motionless Horrors fans appeared particularly indifferent to any of this and, after a twenty minute set of boisterousness and bluster from very game but misjudged special guests, Fucked Up, erm, fucked off.

It was now time for the main course. As all light gradually bled from the stage there came, out of the black, Faris Rotter’s gangly silhouette, to the thunderous applause of his devoted minions below. Their hero, finally, had arrived. From then on every extravagant flail of his long limbs sent shockwaves of rapture through a crowd spellbound beneath his shadowy presence.

     Of course, this is by no means unwarranted adulation. The Horrors are no longer just some Halloween novelty act to be scoffed at with your friends. Oh no. Following on from their comically gothic (and rather too… how shall I put it? Shouty?) debut album ‘Strange House’, second album ‘Primary Colours’ has been greeted this year, somewhat surprisingly, with almost universal acclaim. By uncoiling their dark tendrils and stretching outwards to explore more colourful and hypnotic realms they have morphed, these young Londoners, into a major musical force. ‘Mirror’s Image’ and ‘Do You Remember’ are the notable highlights in a show that flies from one captivating number to the next.

     Also, these newly scaled psychedelic heights are well suited to the closed in atmospherics of Lee’s Palace. As Tomethy Furse sends his synthesised sonics booming off the walls, drenching the audience in a wave of sound that whips them into a fervour of frenzied dancing, there is Faris, standing tall, conducting it all with every convulsive crank of his lanky body. In his rather ungainly manner he sweeps his eager followers on a colourful carpet of electronics towards an encore swathed in purest black, where they are treated to first album favourites ‘Sheena is a Parasite’ and the raucous ‘Count in Fives’.

     And the audience, in the end, are indeed left counting, counting their blessings, for getting the pre-Halloween horrorshow they’d been waiting for.

Eu falei desta banda pra vocês ano passado. E direi agora, como disse antes, estes caras são foda.

Posto isto, All to Hell (tradução livre: Tudo às Favas), é o melô do fim do semestre.

Não, eu não sei o que eu fiz para merecer Schelling e Royce no mesmo semestre, mas deve ter sido horrível.

The 8th Annual Lebowski Fest will be held in Louisville, Kentucky on July 10th and 11th, 2009.

Tickets go on sale this Friday April 17th at noon EST through TicketWeb.com or in Louisville at ear X-tacy (cash only + $1 per ticket fee) and WHY Louisville (cash only / no ticket fees.)

Friday, July 10th – Movie Party featuring Rob Riggle (Daily Show, The Office, SNL) & music by Black Diamond Heavies, followed by a massive screening of the movie! @ Executive Lawn – 911 Phillips Ln – All Ages – 8pm – $15 Advance / $20 Day Of

Saturday, July 11th – Bowling Party with bowling*, costume, trivia & other contests.
@ Executive Strike and Spare – 911 Phillips Ln – All Ages – Doors 8pm – $25 Advance / $30 Day Of

Black Diamond Heavies – Bidin’ My Time
Black Diamond Heavies – Everything Is Everything
Black Diamond Heavies – Smoothe It Out

There’s some great bio info on the back sleeve of this debut outing.  It turns out that the drummer in this duo comes from a bourbon-distilling family.  Meanwhile, the singer/organist is the literal “son of a preacher man”.  That sounds like the perfect pairing for grimey, soul-tinged rock. 

As I said in my earlier review of their follow-up, these guys have taken a time-honoured genre and made it all seem new and exciting and dangerous again.  

This album is about as lo-fi as I can tolerate.  The tracks were pretty much recorded directly into a two-track, with only a little bit of horns added in later.  They’ve done a great job of it.  It feels like you standing in the room dodging the sweat as it flies.

The vocals sound just as Waits-ey as on album #2, and the drums and organ work perfectly in unison.  The tales are real and raw, especially the powerful White Bitch.

They are quickly becoming the band that excites me most.  See them live. Buy their stuff. Love them like me. Here are a couple more tracks from them: 

File under: Kick-Arse and Life-Affirming

We interrupt our Black Crowes run with a short stroll over to the record rack for our weekend vinyl spinning session.

Here’s an album which just wouldn’t sound right delivered via CD, or heaven forbid, as a download.

This duo from somewhere in the south of the US have been hailed as doing for soul what The Black Keys (coming soon) did for blues, i.e. dragging it kicking and screaming into the 21st century with a determined dirtiness. That recommendation was enough for me to buy their two releases, and to seek them out when they supported the Datsuns in Melbourne last December.

The sound here is damn filthy. The lead singer has one of those ‘lived extremely hard’ voices. At times this could be a younger, skinnier Tom Waits belting out the tunes while bashing the hell out of an organ. Alongside this, the drummer rides his cymbals in a similar fashion to Patrick from the aforementioned Keys.

This is wonderul, visceral, shake you-to-your-bones music. It can only be played loud. The cover of Nutbush City Limits on here would make Ike very very happy (and kill most wedding reception crowds). Further reworkings of Nina Simone and T-Model Ford numbers give further guidance to their lineage.

This is brilliant. Please buy it. Here’s a further taster:

File under: Not polished but so precious

Gig Posters: The Art of Contemporary Music Promotion, a Concert Poster art show at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, opens with this Friday’s Gallery Hop and goes on until May 16th.  The exhibit is free if you go during the first Gallery Hop.

Many of the artists’ works are local or are somehow connected to the Louisville music scene ad have done posters for the community.  One of my personal favorites, Ron Jansin (of MadPixel – above), will be presenting his work and will be available to meet and chat, and will also be screen printing one-of-a-kind posters for the opening night.  Other artists include Alana Twelmeyer, Anna Martine Nilsen, Bangout, Bill Green, Christian Peters, Cricket Press, Brian Turner, Sarah Turner, Dan McCarthy, David Brooks, Gary Houston, Ian Gordon, Jake Early, Jason Munn, Julie Hill, Kraken, Kristen Thiele, Lars Privat, Michael Fluckigeiger, Miles Tsang, Patrick Jones, Remi, Rhys Cooper, Rokitmul Design Studios, Ron Lilberti, Sean Higgins, Stephano Manzi, Steve Mockensturm, The Farm Barn, Tiny Little Horses and some of the gig posters include Calexico, Moonstompers, Caven, Cojones, Skywise, Zippo, Stonebride, Earlimart, Fleet Foxes, Manjongg, Mates of State, Mission of Burma, Rosebuds, Dagobah, Built To Spill, Cat Power, Bonnie Prince Billy, Death Cab for Cutie, Doves, My Morning Jacket, Gillian Welch, Neko Case, Old, Crow Medicine Show, Patty Smith, Ringo Starr, Dashboard Confessional, The Aquabats, The Elected, Cake, Neil Young, The Mother Hips, Beck, Deerhunter, Modest Mouse, Forget Cassettes, Nire, Jimmy Eat World, Esquizitos, Thursday, Arcade Fire, Super chunk, Feist, GirlTalk, GWAR, Kings of Leon, Murder By Death, Radiohead, The Black Keys, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Breeders, British Sea Power, Sterolab, Black Diamond Heavies, Mars Volta, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Tom Waits, Yonder Mountain String Band, Flaming Lips and Butthole Surfers.

If you’re uncertain just how incredible show posters can be, I strongly advise you to check out GigPosters.com (many of the links above are directly into those artist’s GigPosters portfolio)

It’s a mellow, varied mix as the title suggests. Something to relax to. There are 2 discs for this one.

It’s an AAC file that when played within iTunes is capable of fast forwarding to the next chapter. AAC files will play in all iPods. You may also convert it to a single mp3 file within iTunes by going to the ‘Advanced’ tab at the top of the player and selecting ‘Create mp3 Version.’

Download disc 1 here. (1h17min)

Download disc 2 here. (1h18min44sec)

Wax Fang, Black Diamond Heavies and Adventure will be at Headliner’s TONIGHT, November 26, 2008.  It is 18+ and starts off at 8pm. Tickets are $10 bucks.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Wax Fang – World War II (Part 2)

Black Diamond Heavies- Smoothe It Out

Take 5 with the Black Diamond Heavies

Take 5 with Wax Fang

There is a ton of stuff to do this weekend, here are a few options…

FRIDAY

Dave Matthews Band & Willie Nelson, Slugger Field:

Then hit the afterparty at DCE with Lotus Blake and The Dealbreakers (free with DMB stub)…

or

If you need an electronic fix with some 8-bit/chipbreak fun, don’t miss Ultra Pulverize, William Sides Atari Party, Kentucky Prophet and more at The Rud.

or

If you want something more laid back, go to Lisa’s and see Edgehill Ave., Grooveshire and Hambone…

or

Check out the view from the top of Glassworks and enjoy music from Black Diamond Heavies and Broken Spurs…

or

For a different scene, check out Grinstead, Consume Comsumer & more at PHT (but you have to go to PHT).

or

If you need an all ages show, hit up Skull Alley to see Fellow Project, Racebannon and Millions…

or

For some DJ’s, Hip-Hop and art, go to the Clay Buffet on Clay Street, where you’ll find Azns n Bnzs and Skyscraper Stereo…

or

Head on down to the Belvedere (where Forecastle was) for some Bluegrass.  This is a two day fest.

SATURDAY

If you are looking for a similar ‘Funtown’ environmen, We Drink Old Gold is hosting the Fleur de lis Field Day out on a farm.  It looks to be a great way to spend the day outdoors and enjoy the music of Scott Carney (Wax Fang), Whistle Peak and more…

and/or

There really is only one place to be on Saturday night and that is at The 930 listening to Grizzly Bear!  The next day they will be playing at the Verizon Music Center with Radiohead, so it will be nice to see them at such a small venue.  Also, they just played Letterman on the 23rd, so they must be good, right?

or

If the 930 isn’t your vibe, or if you can’t get over that Friend isn’t as good as Yellow House, then go to the Pour Haus, where you are rarely disappointed, to see The Genius File, Suspected Terrorists and The Kickback from South Dakota.

SUNDAY

If you can make the drive to Indy’s Verizon Music Center and can find tickets, this is your chance to catch Radiohead on their US tour (playing with Grizzly Bear)…

or

If you are staying put in Louisville, you can catch Sugar Spell it Out and Ellison at The Brickhouse…

This week Louisville’s Black Diamond Heavies Take 5 for Kentucky.  Their live show has been described as both ‘Pentecostal’ and ‘Demon-Possessed.’  Their music is a blend of blues and punk, creating a style all of their own.  The Heavies tour internationally and constantly and have shared the stage with many notable acts including Son Volt, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Immortal Lee County Killers, Thee Shams, Jimbo Mathus, Kenny Brown, and Scott H Biram.  They released A Touch of Someone Else’s Class in 2007 and you can check out some of their tracks from the album below.

They will be playing WFPK’s Live Lunch this Friday, Aug. 1st at noon. That night they will be performing on the rooftop of Glassworks with The Broken Spurs. Doors at 8pm. Show at 9pm. Admission is just $5 bills.

Drummer Van Campbell’s responses are below…

I grew up in the East end of Louisville. We had a big basement (much like many houses around there). It became a practice space for many kids.

The band started as a four piece, more traditional blues band under the same name. Over the years people came and went and it got stripped down to just a piano/drums experiment. We’ve been like that for about two and a half years now.

The first show I ever played in Louisville was at this girl’s house in Crescent Hill. Those were the best shows ever. We weren’t even in high school. It was true punk rock madness.

First show outside of Kentucky was in Chicago in 1999 at a place called Q Studios. I was playing with this band Southbound and we went up there with this band from Louisville called Engine that was fucking incredible and way ahead of their time. We all got pretty drunk and had a great time and then drove home the next day.

Probably Jethro Tull. Nobody knows they are from here.

[Buy]

Black Diamond Heavies – Bidin’ My Time
Black Diamond Heavies – Everything Is Everything
Black Diamond Heavies – Smoothe It Out

DC showed it’s true blue and brown boring colors once again last night at the god-forsaken Red and Black, when literally no one showed up for the Black Diamond Heavies. It was a downright travesty of a show, which is never a surprise if you unfortunately have to find yourself at DC9, Red and Black or Rock N Roll Hotel.

I guess most people were either choosing irony at 930 Club or at Black Cat seeing Extra Golden which is the only excuse I’ll except here.

Fortunately I was one of the chosen three people not with bands who witnessed the Black Diamond Heavies bring it harder than I’ve seen live in ages. Despite getting some local love last time they were in town, I was forced to buy some drinks from the bar and try to yell for twenty people in between songs. Repent for missing the gospel and go check them out immediately.

Die mehrtägige Pause in diesem Blog beenden wir am besten mit Musik, am allerbesten mit Ausgabe 12 der siebenSONGS. Beschwingt geht’s los mit Beau Jennings, Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene-Connection) steuert ‘nen mittelschweren Hit bei, schrägen Barblues mit super Bläsern liefern die Black Diamond Heavies, Dawn Landes – die einzige Frau im Bunde – sucht nach ihrem Bodyguard, außerdem gibts verstörend-schöne Musik von Nick Jaina und einen netten Popsong von Sleepercar. Und am Schluß gröhlen wir alle gemeinsam mit den Bitter Tears: I was murdered in the bar, that’s why I didn’t come home last night… Alles bestens, also.

Beau Jennings – Tulsa Sound

Black Diamond Heavies – Bidin’ My Time

Sleepercar – A Broken Promise

Brendan Canning – Hit The Wall

Nick Jaina – Power

Dawn Landes – Bodyguard

The Bitter Tears – Murdered At The Bar

Louisville’s The Black Diamond Heavies and The Invaders are playing at the Pink Door this Wednesday Night, April 2.  The show costs $5 and starts at 10pm.  I have yet to see a full on rock set at the Pink Door, so I may head over and check it out.  This show will be a send off for The Black Diamond Heavies as they are setting out on a tour of the US and a few European dates.

In other Pink Door news, it is rumored that Chelsea Clinton is going to speak there tomorrow night, 4/1 (April Fools Day, but I think this is serious because it was in the Courier-Journal, so it must be true right?).  The event is set to start at 7pm and is called “Our Voice, Our Future,” an intimate Q&A event.   Seating will be first come first serve.

Lately I have been noticing that there has been a new trend in band names: BLACK! Where did this come from. Everybody these days seem to have Black in their name. It’s like a few years ago when everybody was “The ___”: The Vines, The Hives, the White Stripes etc. But now it is all about black. I am heading to South by Southwest in a few weeks and there are 20 bands going to be there with the word Black in their names.

So here is my top 5 bands with BLACK in their name:

1. Blackalicious
2. The Black
3. The Black Lips
4. Black Moth Super Rainbow
5. The Black and White Years

Other notable names: Black Sabbath, The Black Crowes, The Black Angels, Black Mountain, Black Francis, Black Diamond Heavies, Black Earth, Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears, Blacklist, Blackout….the list goes on and on.

What are your favorite band names with BLACK in them. Let me know.

The Slow Break and Black Diamond Heavies are playing at The Pink Door this Friday. Cost of admission is $5 & show starts at 10. I saw the Slow Break at the Beejeezus release party, and I was pretty impressed. Go check them out before you head to RIP.

Black Diamond Heavies
9 p.m. Saturday, July 7. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.
By Jaime Lees
Published: July 4, 2007

Following the departure of former lead singer and guitarist Mark “Porkchop” Holder, the Black Diamond Heavies have toured as a blues duo. Though it seems like a guitar would be the defining instrument in this type of band, drummer Van Campbell and pianist/vocalist John Wesley Myers manage to carry on just as well (if not better) as a two-piece. Myers has stepped up to sing lead vocals, and his growl is reminiscent of Tom Waits’. As Myers’ passionate voice hits deep lows and his hands vibrate across the piano, Campbell picks up the pace with booming blues beats. Hailing from Tennessee, the band uses its lyrics to address classic Southern topics such as religion, evil, drinkin’ — and the evils of drinkin’. Raise a glass to the Heavies, whose show brings both starlight and moonshine.

• article link
• Black Diamond Heavies

It’s never wise to underestimate the effects of the blooooze on impressionable white teenage males. By now, I’m tempted to believe that it’s somehow encoded into our DNA; the catalyst these days might be a snatch of Led Zep on classic rock radio or our parents’ dusty old copy of Are You Experienced or the White Stripes on the Grammys, but the effects are always the same. Within months we’re discussing Howlin’ Wolf and Robert Johnson sides like grizzled old experts: studyin’ evil, dustin’ our brooms and fixin’ to die with the best of them. Some of us even start bluesy bands of our own – though the sad truth is that for every scraggly crew of Caucasian blues-rockers who actually walk it like they talk it, there’s a baker’s dozen of pretenders who think jamming on eight bars for twenty minutes and affecting Southern drawls is what the blues is all about. And that’s why coming across a band like Black Diamond Heavies is such a treat: like fellow-travelers the Black Lips and the Immortal Lee County Killers (and unlike those aforementioned Blueshammer types), these white boys have soul.

Listen to the choogling opener of the Heavies’ Alive Records debut, “Fever in My Blood,” and that soul, that (now here’s a charged word for you) authenticity becomes immediately obvious. With nothing but a Fender Rhodes piano, a voice like nicotine incarnate and some seriously busted-ass drums and amps, John Wesley Myers (keys/vox) and Van Campbell (drums) tear out of the gates like there really is a hellhound on their trail…and you believe ‘em, too. Sure, the religiously rock-oriented might bemoan the lack of guitars, but when keyboards are played this loud and this viscerally, trust me, you won’t miss ‘em. Instead, Every Damn Time might just be the best advertisement for rock’n'roll piano lessons since the days of Little Richard: the manic anti-cocaine rant “White Bitch” comes peppered with blasts of organ feedback that would put most six-string squealers to shame, and when Myers cranks up the Rhodes in “Poor Brown Sugar,” he digs a groove so deep you can sink to your waist in it.

Of course, the main way in which Black Diamond Heavies set themselves apart from the pack – other than the whole no-guitars thing, anyway – is with their slow numbers, which somehow manage to be even better than the boogie stuff while still remaining every bit as raw. “All to Hell,” a slow-burning soul ballad just over eight minutes in length, is one of the best heartbreak songs I’ve heard in some time, right down to the cathartic gospel organ build-up. And their cover of the aforementioned Lee County Killers’ Delta blues dead-ringer “Stitched in Sin” may even surpass the original, so suited is it to Myers’ Waitsian croak and churchy electric piano groove. In the end, while the prospect of more Heavies in general is enough to set my mouth a-waterin’, I for one wouldn’t mind hearing more of the pretty songs next time around; after all, in a world where any skinny kid from the suburbs can learn a few slide licks and think he’s Muddy Waters, we can never have enough bands who’ll put a shake in our hips and a tear in our beers, all in one glorious half hour.

- Zach Hoskins

Black Diamond Heavies’ Official Site
Buy It from Amazon