Ohmpark's Guide To Nophest 4&20

The weekend is almost here and I am very excited. Nophest announced a third stage of bands for Sunday April 20th at The Doogallery. For details on that and the full schedule, go to the Nophest website. I'm going to break down the acts that stand out to me and help you discover some new bands from the massive line-up. Click on the band name to listen to some tracks on their myspace or website:

Friday:

7:45pm Lovesick Scientist: A project of Justin Sias (Elevado) that is produced by Brian Slusher (Slushco). With those two top tier ATL musicians involved, it has to be good.



8:30pm R_Garcia: I've just sort of been introduced to Randy Garcia through Nophest, but everything I sees points to him being a pretty badass musician and dude, so I'm ready to catch this one.



9:15pm Missile Command: A band featuring members of Elevado. We got a sneak preview performance of these guys at our one year anniversary party and they rocked out hard so I've been excited to catch the Missile Command again. Here's some tracks to jam:

Level Up


Dark Matter


10:00pm Push Button Action Man: This is an electronic music side project of Zachary Hollback, who has been a part of great Atlanta bands such as I Almost Saw God In The Metro, The Brodie Stove, and Tenth To The Moon. Here's a sweet electro-jam:

Gray Tile


10:45pm Blue Screen Love Scene: Electronic dance pop that sounds really nice.


BSLS

11:30pm Tenth To The Moon: Experimental music that incorporates dance and industrial sounds with lots of insanity. I caught them last year at ISP Space and thought they were extremely entertaining. They are on Stickfigure and it appears that Sean Moore of Lid Emba (who's new release I just listened to and is awesome, more on that soon) is now involved with the project:

Deadbeat Bath




11:30pm A Fight To The Death: If you're looking for some low-key Americana that is really good, checkout this ATLien band.


Saturday:

1:30pm Wonder Root Non-Profit Workshop: Wonder Root is a really cool organization supporting artists in the Atlanta area. I will be going more in depth about them next week, but just realize they kick ass and Ohmpark will be working with them to accomplish some neato things.

3:15pm Capibara: Never heard of this band before, but they have cool influences, and the two songs on their myspace feel like they may have some potential to rock out hard.

5:30pm Mooseknuckle Sandwich: Song names like "I Hate You We Should Fuck" and "Skull Fuck Of Death" are enough to spark my interest in this OTP band from Pensacola, FL. They seem brash and experimental, and I'm always looking for acts like that.



6:15pm Ship To Shore: Atlanta post-rocking trio I was unfamiliar with until now, but they sound really good.

6:15pm Citizen Green: Interesting sounding IDM.

7:00pm Devoradora: Nu-'60s Psych-rock power trio that sound damn good. This is high on my list of bands to catch at Nophest that I've never heard of before.



7:00pm The Subliminator: Atlanta's avant-garde demi-god armed with spoken word and theremins is a required show for anyone who reads this blog and hasn't seen him before. He's a badass and someone who has a special place in this city.



8:30pm Envie: I recently caught Envie for the first time this year at a Stickfigure Distribution show and they were awesome. You can check out a video and pics here. This is one of the best acts at the fest, so don't miss it.



Glass


9:15pm Swank Sinatra: These guys just seem to do unabashed rock 'n' roll that rocks hard.

9:15pm Harmaline: Cool sounding experimental electronic stuff.

10:00pm Nerd Parade: I've been hearing noise about these guys lately and am excited to finally catch them and see what it's all about. Cool sounding indie-pop.

10:45pm Cassavettes: I caught these guys late last year for the first time and became a fan. This one is definitely a can't miss show.




Sunday:

1:45pm Mice In Cars: This is another band high on my list to check out that i haven't before. They do a tasty blend of post-rock and post-punk. This is completely worth getting an early start for.

Our Focus Was So Strange


The Sky Is Drowning


4:00pm The Ohmpark Official Party featuring DJ Douschebag: Sunday night Ohmpark will be partying hard at the 166 Stovall Stage featuring acts such as Flexor81, S.K.I.P.(Orlando, FL), Gift Horse (Athens, GA), Chicken And Pigs, and DJ June Eleven. The show gets started with me spinning a 420 set as DJ Douschebag at 4pm sharp so be there by then for the a-party-calypse.

6:15pm Miles From Pangea: We just did a piece on Miles From Pangea and the other Hijacking Music bands so I am pretty stoked to catch them at Nophest.



7:00pm 13 Day Mission: Another Hijacking Music band I'm excited to catch, you'll notice their EP from last year is currently in my heavy rotation, and you can download the album for free by clicking on it.



8:30pm Sorry No Ferrari: ATL post-rockers that I have really enjoyed both times i caught them live this year. I have some videos here.



10:15pm Batata Doce: Atlanta super group fronted by a Brazillian singer. Seems rather interesting

11:00pm This Piano Plays Itself: They just finished their self-titled debut release and it is simply amazing. This is one of Atlanta's hottest up-and-coming bands and if there is one Nophest act you can't afford to miss, it is these guys. Behold:

Day Of Symmetry

Nophest Four & Twenty

Nophest is fast becoming one of Atlanta's most interesting and enjoyable festivals. The bi-yearly event taking place April 18th-20th is going to be hitting two venues, ParkGrounds and The Lang Carson Center, for what promises to be the biggest and best Nophest so far. Pine Magazine did an interview with the Nophest crew last year you should check out. I hit last year's 4-20 event and had a great time. Here is the line-up and schedule so far:

Friday 4/18/2008 - Main Stage

7:00pm - 7:30pm Gemini Cricket
7:45pm - 8:15pm Elliot Rubin
8:30pm - 9:00 Vertigo Jones
9:15pm - 9:45pm Extraordinary Contraptions
10:00pm - 10:30pm Hitchcocks
10:45pm - 11:15pm Wighat
11:30pm - 12:00pm A Fight to the Death

Friday 4/18/2008 - 166 Stovall Stage

7:00pm - 7:30pm TBA
7:45pm - 8:15pm TBA
8:30pm - 9:00pm R_Garcia (solo electronic)
9:15pm - 9:45pm Missle Command
10:00pm - 10:30pm Push Button Action Man
10:45pm - 11:15pm Blue Screen Love Scene
11:30pm - 12:00pm 10th to the Moon
12:00pm - 1:00am Tobi Love feat Nisha Bordeaux

Friday 4/18/2008 - Movie Screen

Bruce Lee Double-Feature!

8:00pm Chinese Connection
10:00pm Enter The Dragon

Saturday 4/19/2008 - Main Stage

12:30pm - 1:30pm We Tap the Keg & Say Hello
1:45pm - 2:15pm Eudora June
2:30pm - 3:00pm Intrepid Souls
3:15pm - 3:45pm Capibara
4:00pm - 4:30pm Lovespark
4:45pm -5:15pm Single Channel System
5:30pm - 6:00pm Witt Wisebram
6:15pm - 6:45pm Ship to Shore
7:00pm - 7:30pm Devoradora
7:45pm - 8:15pm The Issues
8:30pm - 9:00pm Envie
9:15pm - 9:45pm Swank Sinatra
10:00pm - 10:30pm Nerd Parade
10:45pm - 11:15pm Cassavetes
11:30pm - 12:00pm Trial by Fire

Saturday 4/19/2008 - 166 Stovall Stage

12:30pm - 1:30pm We Tap the Keg & Say Hello
1:30pm - 2:45pm Wonder Root Non-Profit Workshop
3:00pm - 5:00pm DJ Press Play
5:30pm - 6:00pm Mooseknuckle Sandwich
6:15pm - 6:45pm Citizen Green
7:00pm - 7:30pm Subliminator
7:45pm - 8:15pm The Beatless
8:30pm - 9:00pm S.K.I.P
9:15pm - 9:45pm Logickal
10:00pm - 10:30pm Larvae
10:45pm - 11:15pm Dr. Electroboink
11:30pm - 12:00pm Can Can

Satuday 4/19/2008 - Movie Screen

8:00pm Guitar Hero Battle on the Big Screen!


Sunday 4/20/2008 - Main Stage

12:30pm - 1:30pm We Tap the Keg & Say Hello
1:45pm - 2:15pm Mice in Cars
2:30pm - 3:00pm Hot Grits A Flyin'
3:15pm - 3:45pm Trophy Wives
4:00pm - 4:30pm Redroja
4:45pm -5:15pm Asylum 66
5:30pm - 6:00pm Blanca Noche
6:15pm - 6:45pm Miles From Pangea
7:00pm - 7:30pm 13 Day Mission
7:45pm - 8:15pm Future Funk Collective
8:30pm - 9:00pm Sorry No Ferrari
9:15pm - 10:00pm Judi Chicago
10:15pm - 10:45pm Batada Doce
11:00pm - 11:30pm This Piano Plays Itself

Sunday 4/20/2008 - 166 Stovall Stage

12:30pm - 1:30pm We Tap the Keg and say hello!
1:30pm - 3:45pm Wonder Root Art Workshop
4:00pm - 4:30pm Flexor81
4:45pm -5:15pm TBA
5:30pm - 6:00pm TBA
6:15pm - 6:45pm TBA
7:00pm - 7:30pm TBA
7:45pm - 8:15pm TBA
8:30pm - 9:00pm TBA
9:15pm - 9:45pm TBA
10:00pm - 10:30pm TBA
10:45pm - 11:15pm TBA
11:30pm - 12:00am TBA

Sunday 4/20/2008 - Movie Screen

420 Double Feature!

8:00pm Up in Smoke
10:00pm Still Smokin'


For more info, check out the Nophest website. We'll be there all weekend, so come party with us!

Live Review: Stickfigure Distribution January 2008 Showcase

Last week I caught two of the four nights in a row of Stickfigure at The Drunken Unicorn. If you are somehow unfamiliar with Stickfigure, they have been an Atlanta underground music institution since 1992 and consistently put out Atlanta's most interesting independent releases. Wednesday night I got there just in time to catch most of Big Penguin. They were doing the power duo thrash punk thing and it was cool:



Next up was Zandosis. They were a serious noise-jam band beating on weird instruments and using lots of feedback. I thought it was decent, but as much as I like noise, I think it was a little over the top for me.



I had just recently discovered Sorry No Ferrari, so I was excited to catch them again. I'm a sucker for straight-up post-rock instrumental bands, and so far I think they are the best of this sort of thing I've heard in Atlanta. They really rocked out hard for this one:







As many of the folks got drawn into the usual MJQ Wednesday night hipster dance party, Music For People put on a great performance to close out the night.



I returned for the final night on Saturday. First up was Nerdkween, someone who has been on my radar for a long time, but I had never been able to really check out until now. I thought she was really awesome and wish I had looked into her sooner. She does "post modern pop tunes" and they are ever so dazzling. I highly recommend checking her out.



After that it was time for Killick. He was a dude playing some weird 18-string cello/guitar hybrid instrument designed specifically for him to play called the H'arpeggione. He was doing what he described as "Appalachian-Trance-Metal". Very interesting stuff:



After that it was time for The Subliminator. If you don't know him, he does avant-garde spoken word and plays Theremin machines. He is very cool and very unique and if you like music as art, it's mandatory you check him out. As always, he put on a great show:





Envie is a band (or I guess project) that I had been meaning to look into, but never did for some reason. Big mistake, because they were really good. Very interesting art-pop that I thoroughly enjoyed. Sean of Lid Emba was even playing drums. They were probably my favourite discovery of the showcase.











The final act of the night was One Hand Loves The Other. I thought their self-titled debut album was one of the better local releases of last year and had been wanting to see them live for a while. I hadn't realized until seeing them that Mikey from Music For People was in the band. They put on a great show and I'm excited to see what this band does in the future because they are certainly poised to be something special. They will be playing Stickfigure's February Showcase along with Strezo, Sick Figures, and Antic Clay, whom I'm very excited to see, on the 23rd at The Drunken Unicorn, so you should catch that show.









Overall, I thought the Stickfigure January Showcase was pretty awesome. It's great to see so many talented and creative artists in the ATL doing their thing. The event highlighted everything good about the state of music right now in this town and all over the world.