Thursday, August 27, 2009
Monolith Festival, 380 hours
The 3rd Annual Monolith Festival is only 16 days away! That’s two weeks and 2 days, approximately 380 hours; but who’s counting? Us! We are so excited about this year’s lineup. As mentioned before, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are headlining as are the Mars Volta. Among our must see list are MSTRKRFT, Of Montreal, Girl Talk, Chromeo, M.Ward, Phoneix, Passion Pit and HEALTH.
A religious experience in itself, Red Rocks Amphitheatre is one of the most beautiful and best venues in the nation. It seats up to 9450 people, with a clear unobstructed view of the stage. Although, not all shows will take place on the main stage as there are numerous set spaces set up around the amphitheatre and museum portion of the park. The weather conditions are expected to be in the lower 70's which is cool enough for all the indie kids to wear the ultra-skinny jeans while they trek up to the elevated festival entrance.
Ticket holders can currently upgrade to VIP by calling Frontgate Tickets (888-512-7469) and telling them they want to upgrade their Monolith tickets. While the exact price for the upgrade is unlisted, the perks are far more lucrative than a half a bill. T-shirt, parking pass, poster, access exclusive kickoff parties? Hell Yeah! Regular 2-day passes and single day tickets are still available and can purchased HERE!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009
The 4th annual Fun Fun Fun Fest artist line up was released today, and it looks awesome. This year's fest is taking place on November 7th and 8th once again at Waterloo Park. Here's a quick list of the bands that I'm most excited to see on the bill:
Ratatat
HEALTH
Fuck Buttons
Crystal Antlers
Dead Confederate
Danzig
The Cool Kids
The Pharcyde
Broadcast
King Khan & BBQ Show
No Age
Crystal Castles
Neon Indian
The Strange Boys
HEALTH
Fuck Buttons
Crystal Antlers
Dead Confederate
Danzig
The Cool Kids
The Pharcyde
Broadcast
King Khan & BBQ Show
No Age
Crystal Castles
Neon Indian
The Strange Boys
You can get tickets, see the full lineup, listen to MP3s, and see a bunch of other stuff at the new Fun Fun Fun Fest website. Here's a few tunes to take with you:
A Place To Explode Heads
I was sitting next to some dude in a coffee shop yesterday. This dude had his headphones on, turned all the way up, and I couldn't help but be subjected to the low (yet terribly annoying) blasts of disco music coming out of the speakers. After about twenty minutes of this nonsense I strapped on my own headphones and cranked the new A Place To Bury Strangers album as loud as it would go. It was goodbye disco, hello ear-shattering delight.
"Exploding Head" is the band's sophomore album, and is by far the best collection of sounds this NYC trio has unleashed. I like the term "sonic shoegaze" to describe their music. It sounds reminiscent of the shoegaze that came out of the '80s, but guitarist Oliver Ackermann's custom guitar pedals make it a lot more kick ass.
"In Your Heart" is the album's first single, but any of these tracks would have been sufficient. Produced by engineer Andy Smith (Paul Simon, David Bowie), "Exploding Head" drops via Mute on October 6. A Place To Bury Strangers are in Austin on 10/11 at the Mohawk.
Lotus Plaza
The Floodlight Collective is the debut solo release from Lockett Pundt, who also writes and plays guitar in the band Deerhunter. This album sounds exactly like what you’d expect a Deerhunter side-project to sound like, except with multi-layered, lo-fi production and barely intelligible lyrics that surround reverb-heavy guitars and keys.
Pundt plays all of the instruments on The Floodlight Collective, which the label calls "an expansive meditation on the modern history of the pop song with an obvious appreciation for the atmospheric vocal harmonies of the 50's, the Brill Building writers of the 60's, and the sounds of the early 80's postpunk UK scene." You can pick it up at eMusic and Insound.
Monday, August 24, 2009
New Daniel Johnston
It seems like the cult favorite Daniel Johnston has a lot of things going on. A table-top book of his art was released earlier this year by Rizzoli Publication, independent filmmakers Regenerate are working on a feature length movie about his life, he's touring the world (and performing at the Austin City Limits Music Festival,) and has a new album dropping in October on his own Eternal Yip Eye Music label.
Listening to the new album Is and Always Was, produced by Jason Falkner (Beck, Air, and Paul McCartney), you also get the feeling that Johnston is feeling a lot better and that everything is going to be alright. The production has been ratcheted up from the lo-fi homemade recordings for which he is famous, and Daniel's guitar/piano and vocal melodies are backed by Falkner on guitar, bass, and keyboards with help from Joey Waronker (REM, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins) on drums.
Check out the first single below, and go here to read the full press release.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Candy Claws
Candy Claws is a guy/girl duo from the hip little Colorado town of Fort Collins. They spent their first two years as a band writing and recording a "musical companion" to Rachel Carson’s book ‘The Sea Around Us’, even using sounds they recorded at actual ocean shores across the globe. The resulting concept album is called In The Dream Of The Sea Life, and is available for public consumption via Indiecater Records.
The album sounds as if it were completely submersed during the recording process, with dreamy hooks and melodies that flow between swirling waves of electronic effects. If Panda Bear had hooked up with a mermaid and recorded Person Pitch out in the middle of the sea, I imagine it would have sounded something like this.
'In The Dream Of The Sea Life' is streaming on the indiecater website.
Monolith Festival
“Thrice is Nice,” and so is the 3rd annual Monolith Festival lineup. Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Mars Volta are set to headline the indie-explosion featuring Girl Talk, DOOM, Of Montreal, MSTRKRFT, Health, Phoneix, M. Ward, Red Man & Method to name a few. Also on the bill are Passion Pit, who’ve been creating a lot buzz in the indie music scene alongside up-in-comers Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, a folk rock group consisting of 10 members. The festival will be held September 14 & 15 at Red Rock Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.
I had the chance to attend last year’s Monolith and I have to say it’s been the best festival I’ve attended so far. The most affordable ticket prices, cleanest restrooms, shortest drink/food wait lines and convenient stage setups; I didn’t have to trek 1 or 2 miles to catch acts. In addition to the headliners, I’m looking forward to seeing electronic duo Neon Indian whose track “Deadbeat Summer,” has become my summer anthem.
The electro beat amidst warped synthesizers is simply irresistible! Another act I’m looking forward to is Girl Talk. I missed him last time he played in Austin and rest assure, I won’t miss him again as I know that it’ll be a total dance party. Also on my “to see list” are Israeli rockers Monotonix, who are notorious for their boisterous, raucous fiery shows; literally, their drummer plays with his cymbals on fire!
The two day festival kicks off Friday evening, September 13 with events held at adjacent venues, The Gothic Theater (Southern Comfort Party) and Moes BBQ (Toyota Antics Party.) Headliners of those events include The Cool Kids and Chromeo (Dj set). These parties are exclusive to winners of the Southern Comfort promos, media and VIP ticket holders, which can be purchased HERE! Regular two-day passes are still on sale as well.
(Wilco)
Some thoughtful person out there sent me the new Wilco album last week, and it has been in heavy rotation since I first popped it in the stereo. This is Wilco's seventh studio effort, and arguably their best since the landmark Yankee Hotel Foxtrot arrived in 2002. The biggest highlight for me is the driving beat and noisy atmosphere of "Bull Black Nova", which was written from the point of view of a man who just killed his girlfriend.
The title track is fun, slower songs like "Deeper Down" will stick with you, and the whole thing is just easily enjoyable. Wilco has already toured around the states in support of the new album, and will perform 12 more shows on its new fall outing. One of those 12 shows will happen just outside of Austin, at the Cedar Park Center on Thursday, October 8. Go to wilcoworld.net for more of everything.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Pollination
Pollination is the moniker of Nick Noeding, Jr., an electronic musician from Albuquerque. Exponential Records just released his debut EP Inca Orange, which has been called "an experiment in psych, noise, field recordings, and good old fashioned hard electronic beats." Inca Orange track "Sinister Skies" got the remix treatment from Zoomzip, and is currently the highest ranked download on XLR8R.
From Antipop:
"Over the years, the Pollination sound has evolved from simple tape looping experiments into a noisy, lush combination of distorted analog synths, frantic drum machine programming, field recordings, blown out guitar walls, and buried found sounds. Often shimmering, sometimes gloomy, delayed guitars give way to giant, wobbly drums in a combination that seems to sometimes walk a fine line between genres."
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Volcano Choir
Volcano Choir is a collaboration between Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and the Milwaukee band Collections of Colonies of Bees. They began recording songs before Bon Iver's breakout For Emma, Forever Ago was mixed and mastered, and now, more than three years in the making, their album Unmap will see release via Jagjaguwar.
Vernon has credited the Volcano Choir collaboration with inspiring in him the creative courage to produce his much-beloved Bon Iver recordings. The first single, "Island, IS" is constructed around multi-layered loops and Justin Vernon's spotless vocal harmonies. The result is a "genre-blurring" sound that feels both familiar and new. I swear I hear some TV on the Radio in there somewhere...
The Almighty Defenders
When the Black Lips had to flee India after almost getting arrested and getting their passports confiscated, they fled to Berlin to hole up with their old pal and label-mate King Khan. Mark Sultan (aka BBQ, one half of King Khan & BBQ Show) also happened to be there, and the collection of garage-rock all-stars gave birth to an album and band of the same name, The Almighty Defenders. They just unleashed the album track "Cone of Light", which "shimmies with some Sam Cooke-y gospel swagger." The self-titled VICE release is set to drop on September 22nd.Thursday, August 06, 2009
Video: Jay Reatard
Prolific garage punk Jay Reatard unleashes a new video for "It Ain't Gonna Save Me," from his new album Watch Me Fall. Love the video, but this new album can't touch Blood Visions.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Balmorhea Remixed
Austin-based instrumental band Balmorhea released their third LP earlier this year, and shortly thereafter a few of their musically-minded friends took a song of their choice and applied the remix treatment. The compiled remix album features the likes of Eluvium, Tiny Vipers, Library Tapes, and Helios adding their own unique, subtle touches to Balmorhea's cinematic sound. Head over to the Austin-based record label Western Vinyl to find out more about the release, and visit Austin Sound for a nice review of the source material.
Monday, August 03, 2009
New Fuck Buttons
"Surf Solar" is the first single to be taken from the new Fuck Buttons album, Tarot Sport. The single arrives physically on September 14, while the Andrew Weatherall-produced album is set to release on October 20 via ATP Recordings.
The "Surf Solar" single sounds like dance noise, almost as if My Bloody Valentine dropped ecstasy at a rave. I like to put on Fuck Buttons when I'm doing some tedious task, like editing some big spreadsheet, because it melts away the time. They will tour the US this fall.
from Prefix
"It sounds oddly similar to micro-sample artists like the Field -- it's based on a repeating vocal sample, around which synthesizer lines slowly build and coalesce. Fuck Buttons have always had electronic leanings, but here they throw everything else out the window and focus exclusively on electronic elements. We'll have to wait until the LP drops to see if this holds true for all their new material, but it's an interesting left turn from Street Horrrsing."
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