Albums/Potential candidates for the Vampire Weekend Award for Rousing Acceptance Rapidly Followed by Indifference and, Eventually, Hostility

Zu – Carboniferous

Listening to this makes me want to punch things. I’m a pacifist, so I’m immobilised with the conflicting impulses of peace and violence.

Nadja – When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV

Dirgy wall-of-sound type sound, like a herd of elephants pissing on some stalagmites. These are some gooooood stalagmites though: covers of MBV, A-Ha, The Cure etc.

Yacht – See Mystery Lights 

I really liked this when I first heard it, then they had it on in TopMan the other week. What the asymmetrics were listening to for about 5 seconds, I imagine. Sounds a bit like LCD Soundsystem, but with CSS jaunty fun-ness. Good for frolicking.

Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue

WARP-y folk electronica. There’s probably a proper genre name for this kind of thing, but I don’t want to know what it is.

The Raincoats – The Raincoats (reissue)

1) Hate all musicianship 2) Love all shouty feminist post-punk.

 Tartufi – Nests of Waves and Wire

 Ok, it’s a bit like Animal Collective. But it’s better, so there.

 Sunn 0))) – Monoliths and Dimensions

Hmmmmmmmfffffffffpppppppphhhhh yyyyyrrrrrrrggggggrrrrrrrr brrrrrttttttt

Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

To be honest, I think this will win the Vampire Weekend award thing. Has its moments.

Michael Hurley – Armchair Boogie, Have Moicy etc

I know these albums are old, but I only started listening to them this year and they’re better than anything else. Hilarious and sad and lovely.

Loop – Reissues (Heaven’s End, Fade Out, The World in Your Eyes)

Shoegaze like it’s on sale for £19.99.

The Patio Set – EP thing (don’t remember what it’s called)

This is great. You should listen to it and then wonder why you hadn’t heard of them a year ago.

http://www.myspace.com/patioset

i have finished the instrumental mixes for five of the songs for the album today. so far the album will be a long one clocking in at over 40 min. tomorrow i think i will do vocals for at least two of them and push ahead with some more of the music for the remaining few tracks. tomorrow though i will be posting a link to the myspace page i have set up for the album. i hope i can steal a few little plays here and there.

the album has a very darkwave sound to it. the only way i can describe it would be to say that it is a rusty, dark version of what would happen if Berlin-era Bowie/Iggy and Tom Waits covered some Cure songs with late 1990s junkie Al Jourgensen (Ministry) and the guys from Sunn 0))). with an old static distortion fiend like Tom G Warrior (Celtic Frost) producing.

i know when someone hears it NONE of those names will come to mind, but either way, its how i feel right now.

before i go though, i want to thank the people who have contacted me about this upcoming album. a few of the people who have so far are actually people i am writing music about right now.

Primeira reação

“mas que merda é essa?”

Depois

“pelo amor de deus, isso é o aphex twin depois que ele caiu num balde cheio de Morbid Angel?”

Mais tarde

“isso tá começando a me deixar com coceira”

Finalmente

“ok, eu não gosto destes caras”

Complementando:

“mas por algum motivo não consigo parar de ouvir isso”

Acho que é este o som que um instrmento faz quando ele tá morrendo beeeem devagarinho.

Achei digno, mas não consigo gostar.

Lit.

Could Dickens be a role model for the parents of today, or was it that he just had O.C.D.?

• Ivy Pochoda is the featured reader at our upcoming Vol. 1 Brooklyn Storytelling series.  With her new book The Art of Disappearing (St. Martins Press) out tomorrow, which coincidentally is the same day that Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol hits stands, Ivy says that together, the two of them combined will make publishing history.    This points to a good sign for our Thursday reading.

• If you simply can’t wait for The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (believe me, I’m sure you can), Slate has “The Interactive Dan Brown Plot Generator“.

• Literary fantasy baseball?  What about football?  What about Lynn Swann’s Way?  It’s practically fall, but I do gotta admit that Huck Finn at shortstop was a good move.

• Sure Moby Lives, you go an take the summer off and now you think you can come back and say that Shoplifting From American Apparel is going to “save the book industry“.  Okay, so we missed you, and we will let you say whatever you want, just don’t go away again.
  

• “The Oxford American Celebrates the Southern Novel” (Thanks The Faster Times)

Music

• Sasha Frere-Jones on the upcoming Sunn O))) show in Brooklyn (Thanks New Yorker)

• A.V. Club review the new Pete York/Scarlett Johansson collaboration album, Break Up.

Sports

• UPSET!  (Thanks New York Times)

• Gawker blames it on Anna Wintour

Fiction

• Sam Shepard “Land of the Living” (Thanks New Yorker)

-

• Wrest known for his solo works as: Leviathan & Lurker of Chalice
• Malefic known for his solo works as:Xasthur
• Hildolf known for his solo works as: Draguar
• Imperial known for his solo works as:Krieg
• Azentrius known for his solo works as:Nachtmystium

Yesterday, I went up with some friends (including the featured artist) to see the opening of Mike Bragg’s Pulled from the Ground at OGLE in Portland.  Fun times, too much food, great art, and voodoo donuts were had by all.  If you’re up in Portland within the next two months, go check it out.  It is set up with a great view from the street, too…

MIKE BRAGG
Pulled from the Ground @ Ogle
August 6th to September 26th, 2009
http://www.mikebragg.com/
http://ogleinc.com/
310 NW Broadway
Portland, OR

The images & video below are the intellectual property of Mike Bragg
and are used with promotional intent only.

(click for larger)

The performance piece / video is located at:
Mike Bragg’s Video Archive

Pulled from the Ground is a series comprised of a multi-channel video installation, a single channel video, photographs, drawings and a sound collage. Its foundation imagery centers on a collection of roots and a man’s obsession with them. The symbolization of the roots is seen throughout: they are an anchor of stability, yet at the same time, a literal reminder of the tangling snare of obsessiveness. Pulled from the Ground documents a struggle for stability against the constant flux of existence. The perception of safety and comfort derived from man’s organization and compulsory system of stability are precarious when viewed from within an exaggerated environment.

The elements of this series are designed to operate both autonomously and in conjunction with one another. The main element of the installation is the substantial, obsessive collection of roots. Displayed within the existing space or within a constructed set, the jars of roots are combined with drawings, photographs, videos and sounds to create an overwhelming, claustrophobic effect. In addition to the installation videos, there is a single channel video providing an experimental narrative echoing the themes explored in the installation.

Pulled from the Ground is adaptable to a variety of spaces. The project can be assembled as a full installation, a site specific modified version or as a single channel projection. The full installation includes three monitors situated in a room cluttered with root filled jars. The monitors loop images of pulsating and turning roots synchronized to a cacophony of sounds ranging from deep breathing to frantic mumblings. Almost every space is covered with worn photographs, tattered drawings and jars filled with roots. Other items contribute to the obsessive collection, such as microphones positioned to “capture the sounds of the roots” and a reel-to-reel recorder. A fourth monitor is tethered to the space via an extension cord, distanced somewhat from the cluttered collection and displaying an experimental narrative that documents the themes’ progression.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And unrelated, but also dark & arty (ok, maybe Anti-Sweden could use Mike Bragg’s accompanying music to sell jeans, too)… drone metal titans Sunn O))) are now being used to sell Anti-Sweden jeans in Norway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxjGPRPODyc

Odd.  I doubt we’ll ever see Sunn O))) used for commercial purposes in the U.S.A.

~Dan – np: Bill Frisell – Disfarmer

C’est sans doute la foule bondée de la ligne 1, direction la Défense, à une heure où tout le monde part au bureau, qui me fit changer ainsi d’attitude. Serré, entre deux wagons, je décidais, non sans une certaine crainte, de rompre avec cette ambiance de cadres disciplinés en cherchant quelque chose d’assez radical sur mon IPod. Scrollant parmi les titres des albums, mon choix s’arrêta sur “Black One” de Sunn O))). Après une courte hésitation, me demandant alors dans quelles contrées j’allais me retrouver, je cliquais sur le bouton « play », zappant violemment le morceau légèrement funkoïde sensé me motiver pour la journée.

C’est alors que dans le métro, seul au milieu de la foule, coincé dans cet espace déshumanisé, où les gens se marrent de leur dernière transaction financière, s’éclatent à lire des fichiers powerpoint pleins de courbes de tendances, se distraient en lisant l’équipe ; perdu dans cet espace aliénant, cette foire aux atrocités, je me mis enfin à éprouver quelque chose. Car dès les premières nappes saturées de Sin Nanna c’est la peur qui m’empare. La vrai peur, celle qui vient des temps anciens, celle qui nous poussait à nous cacher au fond de la grotte il y a des milliers d’années, celle que touche du doigt David Lynch lorsqu’il filme une forêt la nuit dans “Twin Peaks”. Enfin il se passait quelque chose, car je commençais à flipper ! Le métro s’approchait rapidement vers la Défense, une atmosphère vaguement verdâtre commençait à remplir la rame dans laquelle je me trouvais, les gens avaient alors l’air plus blafard que d’habitude, le crissement des pneus sur la voie se mêlait avec les distorsions bruitistes de It Took The Night To Believe.

Le métro s’arrêta, je sorti rapidement, une rumeur grondait, le gens couraient alors encore plus vite que d’habitude, dans tous les sens. Je décidais alors d’en faire autant. Dehors, aucune lumière du jour, c’est la nuit noire, je suis face à la Grande Arche de la Défense, j’entends une sorte de tonnerre, non c’est une horde de moines, situés sous l’Arche, ils ont des guitares qu’ils font gronder à toute berzingue par le biais d’un mur d’amplis géants. Je me tiens les oreilles dans les mains, je me sens tellement écrasé par tout ce bruit qui me prend aux tripes, que je finis par tomber à genou face à la Grande Arche, où un moine attrape un micro et psalmodie je ne sais quelle incantation, tout juste ai-je le temps d’entendre un « Ph’nglui mglw’nafh C’thulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn ». Le sol s’effrite alors autour de moi, tout commence à s’écrouler de partout, je hurle que bon dieu c’est la fin du monde …

Et puis quelqu’un me bouscule sur le parvis. 9h30, il fait jour, les gens vont dans leur bureau, il faut aller travailler, merde, non quand même pas après ce qu’il vient de se passer. Je retourne alors fissa chez moi, j’allume ma chaine, y enfourne “Black One”, j’attrape un instrument qui résonne bien, ma vieille basse, et j’y branche une grosse fuzz. Je mets le volume à fond, autant pour ma chaine que mon ampli, et je commence à plaquer de gros accords sur ma basse, puis laisse trembler le bruit saturé que j’arrive à jouer en même temps que le disque que j’écoute. Les murs de mon appartement se mettent à trembler, ma voisine du dessous, qui essayait de faire ses gammes au piano, pour jouer des morceaux de soul débile, genre Ophélie Winter, dans le but de passer à la Nouvelle Star, se met à râler, à taper contre ma porte, en hurlant qu’il faut que j’arrête tout de suite. Qu’elle aille se faire voir, je suis tellement bien au milieu de tout ce bruit qui m’enveloppe, que je sens à peine la douleur qui se propage dans mes mains, fatiguées de tenir les grosses cordes métalliques de mon instrument.

Au bout d’un moment, je reprends mes esprits, seul au milieu de mon appartement, ma basse continuant de cracher seule de la distorsion par effet de résonnance. La porte s’ouvre, ma femme et ma fille reviennent de l’école.

- “T’es là” ;

- “Ouais j’ai pris ma journée” ;

- “C’est quoi ce bruit” ;

- “C’est Black One de Sunn O)))” ;

- “Papa, arrêtes la musique” ;

- “D’accord voilà ton Tchoupi, après tu manges et tu iras te laver”.

Demain, il y aura peut être autre chose dans mon IPod, mais je continuerai à vivre à jamais dans ce sentiment d’émerveillement et de gloire bruitiste. Et si demain je m’écoutais At Action Park de Shellac …

Par Mathieu

Despite the air at Primavera Sound ‘09 smelling a little like shit owing to a nearby power station (Cakeface gagged as we approached Park Del Forum on a daily basis) there was little that was turd-like about the music.

Set in a concrete park with odd post-modernist structures rising from the ground and a marina wrapping itself around the stages Primavera showcases the best in talent that has risen, is rising and talent that decided to head back underground when it saw what fame offered. 

Thursday

Though there are events taking place throughout the city before the first official day on Thursday we opted to be tourists  instead. Arriving on Thursday afternoon we picked up our tickets and earplugs – ‘for My Bloody Valentine’ we were informed – and proceeded to queue for drinks.

Alcohol is purchased via a token system that works in theory but failed a little on the first night as thousands of thirsty festivalees queued to buy tokens from a tiny number of machines. That people then had to choose their drinks at the machine there and then (will I have four beers and one combinado or three beers and seven shots of Jaegermeister? Hmm) caused all kinds of confusion. But we got over it and while the menfolk went to witness Magik Markers – we’d been there and done that and knew better – we grabbed food and surveyed the evening ahead.

First stop at the Pitchfork stage was The Tallest Man on Earth, a growling voice singing about lost love. If you are unfamilar with this chap I advise checking him out as his voice is rather wondeful, sort of a mellower and happier Mark Lanegan.

After that we found a grassy knoll and watched Yo La Tengo on the Estrella Damm stage. Though they’ve been around some time I’m entirely unfamilair with most of their music. Saying that I really loved their set and could’ve stayed on that knoll nodding my head along for some time.

Except that the Jesus Lizard were on stage! Though not the biggest Jesus Lizard fan in the village this set was crazy. There was a shirtless middle aged man occasionally shouting in a microphone, his less energetic bandmates methodically playing along as he stage dived and looked more and more like a hardened, embittered Iggy Pop with each passing moment. Enthralling. 

From the ATP stage we caught the final moments of Andrew Bird’s set. I really like him but arriving as late into proceedings as we did I didn’t get into it fully and was left appreciating his efforts from afar rather than engaging. One of my slight regrets of the weekend was not being there for all of his set but I did get to witness a man of similar age and physical appearance to my Dad stagedive..silver linings and all that.

Then back to Pitchfork and Ponytail. Ponytail! One of the highlights of a weekend high in lights. Ponytail blew us away with their explosive energy. If one could bottle the awesomeness of Molly Siegel’s punk it could bring peace to troubled lands. Or, conversely, fuel an army. They played a blinder, the smallish crowd crawled into the palm of their hands and danced their little hearts out. Buy Ice Cream Spiritual now.

After Ponytail we strolled to see My Bloody Valentine who were, true to the earplug warnings, loud. And the fans seemed happy but seeing as neither of us were fans in the ‘oh my GAWD, MY BLOOD VALENTINE!’ sense of the word we admired from afar, found a spot looking over the now dark marina and made some friends.

From here on in things got a little messy. Unable to decide on anyone we caught a snippet or five of Aphex Twin and then danced to Squarepusher who began his set at 3.50am. Squarepusher was a lot of bass – cue lots of air bass – but I liked him. He can come play bass ’round these parts anytime. We then found djs playing the Velvet Underground at the ATP stage, danced to ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ and called it a night. A pretty perfect way to do so.

Friday 

Friday was always going to be about Bat For Lashes. Natasha Khan and her band of merry gentlefolk took the stage at 7am. (Incidentally, her touring guitarist this summer is Charlotte Hatherly, she of Ash and solo fame) Bat did not disappoint. Rolling through tracks from her new album Two Suns and Fur and Gold she was at all times mesmerising, bewitching, charming, beauitiful and downright amazing. My favourite was ‘Pearl’s Dream’. Ending with ‘Daniel’ Bat for Lashes left us somewhat dazed, walking towards the knoll singing ’she really loves him Prescilla’ over and over again. Epic.

After this we hung around the back of the RockDelux stage listening to Spiritualized. As the sun was leaning towards leaving the sky at this point the music was perfectly attuned to its setting. Things slowed down for a while and I let the music wash over me.

I then tried to catch one of new favourite bands The Pains of Being Pure at Heart but was not feeling it at all. Perhaps it was the combination of Bat for Lashes followed by Spiritalized but they left me cold. The crowd were loving it though; the hipsters love these guys.

Ever since Cakeface and I saw Art Brut play a deserted Vicar Street like they were in Madison Square Gardens they’ve always had a place in our hearts. They took to the Estrella Damm stage on Friday night like rock gods thrown out of heaven. Quintessentially British and quirky this is a band that seems almost resigned to sniping at bigger acts from the sidelines, but they’re going to have a great time doing so. Their set was brilliant if lacking in our favourite ‘Formed a Band’. But you can’t have everything and they more than made up for it. Beginning each song with a ‘Ready Art Brut?’ call to arms the band disregarded set lists, played requests and made a jaded crowd twist and shout like their weary feet (ok, talking about me here) didn’t exist anymore.

From here we caught the awe-inspiring sight of the two guys from Sunn O))) emerging from the clouds of dry ice and drone surrounding them as they left the ATP stage. We wandered onto the Ray Ban Vice stage for The Extraordinaires. Which was a little like entering a new universe as the band played feel good beach pop; the leader singer sported a guitar shaped like a shark. It was all a little surreal.

Before heading to Dan Deacon we saw about fifteen minutes of Jarvis Cocker’s set. Fifteen minutes was not enough.

At 1am we rocked back to Pitchfork for the eagerly anticipated Dan Deacon Ensemble set. The set was brilliant, it was perfect dance-like-a-lunatic music. The only problem was the lunatic in charge of the asylum. Deacon is not my cup of tea. Maybe it goes back to a childhood of summer days spent wasted in summer camps dealing in organised fun but there was something of his audience interaction that felt tired. It was entirely unsuited to the crowd: mixed nationalities all versed in the language of drunk. Deacon came across as a nasal spoilsport. His threats to end the gig if people didn’t cooperate with his vision of how the gig should go was churlish. Perhaps when I see him tomorrow in Andrew’s Lane I will better appreciate what he is trying to do but from my vantage point of behind some taller dude’s head on Saturday morning I was less than impressed.

After Deacon there was a lot of hanging around and then an earlier night than usual was called.

Saturday

Following a day horizontal on Barceloneta beach energy was once again present for Saturday’s set and NEIL YOUNG!! Like a sunburnt Nazi general I stomped my way to the Estrella Damm stage leaving my companions lost in my wake. No-one was holding me back.

And the man did not disappoint. Every moment was inspiring. Young looked like an older version of himself, his hair is growing scraggier, his skin looser. But his voice has not aged and if he is lacking in energy in his later years it does not show on stage. I was fixed on the spot as he played ‘Heart of Gold’, ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’, ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)’, ‘Are you Ready for the Country’, ‘Old Man’ and – be still my beating heart – the crowning glory of the guitar grinding ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’. I have some decent photos I will post later, my favourite being Young waving a Barca flag. All in all I was awed. I’ve been a fan of Young’s since I can remember, his music is woven into the fabric of my life and I know I’m not alone in this. Young finished his set with an encore of The Beatles ‘A Day in the Life’, tearing the strings from his guitar as he strolled off stage in a wave of reverb. I was loathe to walk away from the arena and have the experience end. Neil Young, I salute you.

There was little anyone could do to top that though some tried. Deerhunter were epic and charming all at once. I caught the second half of their set and wished I had bothered to see more.

After Deerhunter we caught the first few songs of Sonic Youth’s set. This was high octane guitar rock with slices of punk and venom thrown in. Kim Gordon is one of the world’s most intimidating rockstars out there. Though Sonic Youth were excellent a decision to check out the lesser known Gang Gang Dance was made. This is what festivals are all about. On the ATP stage Gang Gang Dance were, like Ponytail in many ways, energetic and loud and engaging. Talking later about some of the music we saw at Primavera there seems to be a delineation between the music we listen to in our homes and the bands we see live. Gang Gang Dance were one of those bands who I can’t see myself dancing to in my bedroom but I would definitely go see them live again.

After that there was a lot of dancing. Dancing to Simian Mobile Disco, dancing to A-Trak, dancing to Dj Mehdi. And then, when we finally decided the gig was up we made our way out of the concrete wilderness, descended into the bowels of the metro and to our beds and sleep. With visions of rockstars swirling in our heads.

Ataxic Reversal James Roper 2008

Well, I was proven wrong for my naysaying only a week later, the Secret Chiefs 3 have followed up on their promise, and the live DVD is officially set and ready to go.   This was posted to the Web of Mimicry store on Friday:

Live at the Great American Music Hall captures Secret Chiefs 3 in concert with what many consider to be the best of their many line-ups in 14 years of playing.

Shot in 2007 at one of the band’s favorite haunts, in San Francisco, this DVD does justice to a group whose live energy usually exceeds the recorded medium. Renowned for their ultra-elaborate CD productions, Secret Chiefs 3 has also garnered a reputation for the power and immediacy of their live shows. Their fanbase has swelled in recent years and grown accustomed to this live incarnation (the Secret Chiefs 3 bootleg scene is thriving), and they demand an official release! Not just some audience-hand-cam and stereo-mic-job thing, this DVD boasts a pro six-camera shoot with live sound mixed by Billy Anderson, with the multi-channel outs mixed for DVD by Trey Spruance and Randall Dunn (producer of Earth, SUNN O))), Kinski, Wolves in the Throne Room, etc). And it comes with a really nice six-panel gatefold digi-pack with original artwork. At the show, Secret Chiefs 3 performs a set of both familiar and as-yet-unreleased music. The line-up includes Ches Smith (Xiu Xiu, Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog), Shahzad Ismaili (who also plays with Graham Haynes, Laurie Anderson, and Tom Waits), Timb Harris (Estradasphere), Rich Doucette, Peijman Kouretchian, and Jai Young Kim.

Live at the Great American Music Hall DVD also includes an award-winning and seriously dimensionally altered 80-minute stop-motion animation feature film directed by Tawd Dorenfeld that uses Secret Chiefs 3’s live show as a soundtrack.

It’s a pre-order for a March 3rd release.  Mine’s on order… yay…

Oh, and a side note… the Fol Chen CD out on Asthmatic Kitty (entitled Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made) is really really fun and rad.  It’s poppy-electronic-indie rock goodness.  Quirky, yet melodic.  Totally a gem in 2009, if you ask me.

~Dan – np: Jamie Saft – Black Shabbis

‘This is Your Brain on Music’ is a fascinating book about connections – exploring how emotional links are made through memories and interactions while listening to or performing music.

Daniel Levitin starts from the basics, asking the question ‘What is music?’ –  examining what it is about music that makes us obsess about it.  He writes: “the emotions we experience in response to music involve structures deep in the primitive reptilian regions of the cerebelar vermis, and the amygdala – the heart of emotional processing in the cortex”. A phrase like this, taken out of context, sounds a bit dry but he manages to weave such information into a text rich in anecdotal asides and down to earth examples.

Daniel Levitin

As a rock producer, Daniel Levitin worked with Stevie Wonder, the Grateful Dead and Chris Isaak.  Disillusioned by the music business , he turned to academia, where he began a career in neuroscience.  Now, Levitin is an associate professor of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal and one of the world’s leading experts in cognitive music perception.

As the book is aimed at the broadest possible audience – essentially anyone who loves music -  he keeps the scientific jargon to an absolute minimum.  He makes it clear that he prefers to study the mind rather than the brain – he’s more interested in thoughts rather than neurons.

He disagrees with Steven Pinker’s view that our music perception system is a hedonistic periphery  what Pinker called an ‘auditory cheesecake’ – that could vanish from our species without adversely affecting our lifestyle.  For Levitin, music not only stimulates our pleasure zones, but also contributes to our evolutionary development. In other words, he sees music as fundamental to human survival.

The bulk of Levitin’s examples come from popular classics and familiar songs with The Beatles being one of the most frequently cited bands. There’s a neat website link to the book where you can listen to clips of the tracks he refers to.

My main criticism  of the book is that I think it would have been even richer had Levitin widened his frame of reference to include more marginal genres. While I wouldn’t argue with the fact that the foot tapping appeal of popular music is a major part of its appeal,  ambient, drone and noise music are not mentioned at all even though these sounds feed the head just as much as catchy commercial pop or riff based rock . You may not be able to dance or tap your feet to Stars of the Lid , Merzbow  or Sunn 0)))  but the way such music is perceived by the brain would have made for fascinating reading.

Levitizin keeps it straight, however,  and largely steers clear of anything which deconstructs harmony, melody and rhythm. He dismisses such music in an aside : “in its least accessible form it is a purely intellectual exercise“.  I know that experimental avant-garde music may have a limited audience but I would have preferred to read about this than to be told that Sting is some form of musical genius.

Nevertheless, Levitin is a witty and highly engaging guide with a happy knack of putting complex ideas into an accessible form, something for a non scientifically minded person like me is important.

Recommended reading for music addicts and armchair scientists alike.

]]> http://beautifulnoise.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/artist-profile-steven-stapleton/ Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:24:07 +0000 Ilya http://beautifulnoise.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/artist-profile-steven-stapleton/ http://beautifulnoise.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/sunn-o/ Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:08:58 +0000 Ilya http://beautifulnoise.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/sunn-o/ http://runningdownhill.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/a-peoples-review-of-my-bloody-valentine-aragon-ballroom-92708/ Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:39:38 +0000 Eric Marsh http://runningdownhill.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/a-peoples-review-of-my-bloody-valentine-aragon-ballroom-92708/ http://ulisailor.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/oya-festival/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:53:49 +0000 ulisailor http://ulisailor.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/oya-festival/

Yorck und ich fahren nach Norwegen. Besser gesagt, wir fahren nach Oslo zum Oya-Festival und wir glauben es wird der Wahnsinn: Sonic Youth, Sigur Ros, Sunn 0)))), Mayhem, The National, Jose Gonzalez, The Mae Shi, Turboneger perform Apocalypse Dudes, The Sonics, Isis und noch 1000 andere geile Bands. Klickt hier fürs ganze Programm. Wir werden zentral wohnen, viele Interviews machen und einen feinen Festivalreport drehen. Das alles wird bei hobnox.com zu sehen sein. Oh jaaa!

Prior to the show, I stopped by Cozmic Pizza for a chai muffin… two wonderful singer-songwriters were playing, Breanna Paletta and Justin Bennett. I caught a few of their songs (3-4). Great stuff. They’re from Portland. Maybe when I have more time, I’ll check out one of their full sets. OK, now on to the main event…

After some much stupid hesitance, I went to go see Earth at W.O.W. Hall last night. Much stupid hesitance in that… I won’t hesitate to go see Earth again. Holy rusted metal, Batman… they’re a great live band!

I hadn’t heard of Earth, the band, until last month when I went to see Stebmo (Earth’s keyboardist) open for Skerik’s Maelstrom Trio (review of that show here). Anyway, a possibly inaccurate Wikistory on Earth, the band… signed a million years ago to Sub Pop Records, and Dylan Carson (founder and linchpin to Earth) was a friend of Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain wrote Burger King jingles (or maybe he sold bicycles), I think. Anyway, Kurt hated Burger King (or bicycles), shot himself, and later Dylan bought the shotgun.

Side step to 2008… Earth are now spawn to several tribute bands (in style, not content) – - Sunn 0))) and Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine (per Wiki). Their style is ambient, doom, drone, post-rock, or something of a mix of all of that. I’ve heard of Sunn 0))), dig ‘em. Listened to some Earth, and didn’t like it with vocals, but loved it without vocals (clip below):

Then I decided to go to the show…

For a local club, I like W.O.W. Hall. I’ve seen a couple shows there this year. I hope to see more in the future. If anything, I like the fact that it’s a not-for-profit venture (they don’t seem to act like cacks like the clubs with bouncers and whatnot). The opener was Parade of Storms. I showed up a little late, but if they went on on-time, they played about 45 minutes. Fuzzy metal with keyboards. Pretty powerful wall-of-sound, and a very good group. The next to play was Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter. She also played around 45 minutes and was very good. Only a few songs were catchy/hooky, primarily she would fit into a dark americana rock meets singer-songwriter realm. The W.O.W. write-up called it country-noir. I suppose that fits.

Earth came on about 11:15. I stayed for the first hour (I don’t know how much beyond that they may have played. Here’s at least a partial set list:

• Omens and Portents II: Carrion Crow
• Hung from the Moon
• Engine of Ruin
• The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull (Stebmo played trombone at the beginning)
• Junkyard Priest
  
• …

After the first song, some wise-ass yelled out “slow it down.” I think most people got a good chuckle out of that. I did at least. Great hour of music… definitely drone rock / metal. Captivating, especially if you’re into ambient / drone instrumental music. As for the sound, I thought Earth had the best sound of the night. The drums (specifically) sounded pretty darn great. The band for last night’s show was Dylan Carlson on guitar, Steve Moore (Stebmo) on keyboards, Don McGreevy on bass, and Adrienne Davies on drums. Jazz guitarist Bill Frisell guests on three tracks of their 2008 release, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull.

(photo from the band’s webpage)

GREAT SHOW!! Go see Earth, the band, if they come by your woods’ neck:

Jun 26 2008 Eagles Hall – Olympia, Washington
Jun 27 2008 Doug Fir – Portland, Oregon
Jun 28 2008 Tractor Tavern – Seattle, Washington
Jul 13 2008 Supersonic – Birmingham
Jul 14 2008 Whelans – Dublin
Jul 15 2008 Black Box – Belfast
Jul 16 2008 Stereo – Glasgow
Jul 17 2008 Scala – London
Jul 18 2008 Patronaat – Haarlem
Jul 19 2008 Cafe Glocksee – Hanover
Jul 20 2008 Dour Fest – Dour

The appropriate linkage:

• http://www.myspace.com/earthofficial
• http://www.thronesanddominions.com/ (Earth’s non-Rupert Murdoch webpage)
• http://www.myspace.com/stebmo
• http://www.stebmo.com/
• http://www.myspace.com/jessesykes
• http://www.myspace.com/yersiniapestismusic (Parade of Storms MySpace)
• http://www.myspace.com/wowhalleugene
• http://www.wowhall.org/

~Dan – np: Earth – The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull