Drummer Brann Dailor is describing their fourth full-length as "real creepy and spaced out and different." They are currently recording it in Atlanta with Brendan O'Brien, and the final track is supposed to be 15 minutes long. Mastodon are getting huge right now and this could be the record that solidifies them as Atlanta's biggest of this decade, so I can't wait to hear it. They debuted three new songs at Bonnaroo, and here is audio and pics of "Divinations":
You can find the other two on the interwebs if you are resourceful (here's one). Check out a funny video of them in the studio this year working on their "covers album":
Let's get your weekend started with some local flavour. Atlas Soundwill be remixing a Sian Alice Group song for a forthcoming EP. Here's a video for one of my favourite Atlas Sound songs, "Recent Bedroom":
Mastodon have a massive tour schedule between their Bonnaroo appearance and their Rockstar Mayhem Tour:
Jun 14 - Manchester, Tennessee @ Bonnaroo (2:00P) Jul 9 - Seattle, Washington @ White River Amphitheatre Jul 11 - Sacramento, California @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre Jul 12 - San Francisco, California @ Shoreline Amphitheatre Jul 13 - San Bernardino, California @ Glen Helen Pavilion Jul 15 - Fresno, California @ Save Mart Center Jul 16 - San Diego, California @ Coors Amphitheatre Jul 18 - Phoenix, Arizona @ Cricket Pavilion Jul 19 - Albuquerque, New Mexico @ Journal Pavilion Jul 20 - Denver, Colorado @ Coors Amphitheatre Jul 22 - Kansas City, Kansas @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Jul 23 - St. Louis, Missouri @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Jul 25 - Dallas, Texas @ Smirnoff Music Centre Jul 26 - San Antonio, Texas @ Verizon Amphitheatre Jul 27 - Houston, Texas @ Sam Houston Race Track Jul 29 - Tampa, Florida @ Ford Amphitheatre Jul 30 - Miami, Florida @ Sound Advice Amphitheatre Aug 1 - Virginia Beach, Virginia @ Verizon Amphitheatre Aug 2 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania @ Post Gazette Pavilion Aug 3 - Scranton, Pennsylvania @ Toyota Pavilion Aug 5 - Boston, Massachusetts @ Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts Aug 6 - Uniondale, New York @ Nassau Coliseum Aug 8 - Toronto, Ontario @ Downsview Park Aug 9 - Detroit, Michigan @ DTE Energy Music Theatre Aug 10 - Chicago, Illinois @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Aug 12 - Atlanta, Georgia @ Lakewood Amphitheatre Aug 13 - Indianapolis, Indiana @ Verizon Wireless Music Center Aug 15 - Camden, New Jersey @ Tweeter Center at The Waterfront Aug 16 - Hartford, Connecticut @ New England Dodge Music Center Aug 17 - Washington DC @ Nissan Pavilion Aug 19 - Buffalo, New York @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
"Sleeping Giant":
Long time friends of Ohmpark, Parade, have announced their show tonight at Lenny's is going to be their last. They still have a new forthcoming album in June, but are not planning to do any shows in support of it apparently. This is very sad news for us, so here's some Parade tracks to jam and if you never caught them, go see them tonight while you still have a chance.
The AthFest line-up is out, and notables include Dark Meat, Cinemehanica, We Vs. The Shark, Elf Power, Twin Tigers, Venice Is Sinking, and Dubconscious. The fest is going down June 18-22 in Athens, Ga.
Rock The Bells tour is back and looking good, but the closest it is coming to us is Miami, FL:
Tegan And Saraare coming back to Atlanta for two dates at Chastain June 16 & 17.
Sunday I went to The Earl for Dunch and caught The Jupiter Watts doing a really nice, chill performance:
Check out this video of Mastodon in the studio working on their follow up album to 2006's Blood Mountain:
Deerhunterare doing a show in New York this weekend where they will play the new album they are currently recording, Microcastle, in its entirety. I really hope they do the same thing here in the A soon.
Thursday night you can catch Colin Meloy (The Decemberists) at The Variety Playhouse or go local and check out The Howlies, The Orphins, and The Hotpipes at The Earl.
And Sunday night is the Explosions In The Sky show at The Variety Playhouse. The originally scheduled show is sold out, but they added an afternoon show that same day, so go get your tickets before it sells out too.
There are some cool DIY shows going this week too if you like house parties:
141 Moreland Ave is hosting Pool Party, P. S. Elliot, Bandolier!, it's Elephant's, Wrister Tuesday night.
I Can Fly House is hosting Capsule, Furnace, Fag Static, The Sunglasses Wednesday night.
This is an incredible week for live shows in the A. Get it started with the trailer to the upcoming documentary on the Atlanta music scene We Fun (this looks awesome!):
The Gaye Blades (featuring Jared Swiley from the Black Lips) will be at The Drunken Unicorn tonight with Coffin Bound and Mammals.
Wednesday night RJD2 is at the Variety Playhouse. I caught him last year at about this time and I didn't really dig it. So if you're smart, you'll go local and check out The Good Moods, The Hotels and Goodnight Mush. at The Drunken Unicorn:
Friday night I'm going to the 11:11 Teahouse to catch 13 Day Mission, Beatrix Kiddo, and Miles From Pangea. I'm working on a piece about these great bands that will be out in the next couple days and I highly recommend checking this one out:
The Mourdella (Jessica Juggz's band) CD Release show with Chopper (featuring Colin Mee of Deerhunter), The Coathangers and West End Motel (featuring Brett Hinds of Mastodon and Tom Cheshire of All Night Drug Prowling Wolves) is at The Earl. Looks like Tom Cheshire is gonna have a busy night.
Good morning from Florida! I've been on the road trip one day and already have almost been arrested so this should get interesting. Hopefully I'll post something from Langerado later today assuming my internet access works out. Either way, I'll be photo-logging the entire journey as it happens here. You can also see what's going on at iClips as they are streaming Langerado performances all four days. Some interesting things going on back in the ATL you should check out:
Also, The Gringo Star 7"release show tonight is at The Earl. If you don't know by now, Vampire Weekend canceled their Langerado performance to do SNL, but it looks like their sold out show at The Earl Sunday night is still on. If you're going, let me know how it is.
REM, The National, and Modest Mousewill all be at Lakewood Amphitheater on June 21st.
Tom Pettywill be playing at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Encore Park. You're probably thinking, what the hell venue is that? Me too. So I googled it, and it is a new venue in Atlanta (actually Alpharetta, Ga) that will open in May. Check it out.
Phosphorescentis doing a huge tour and totally skipping the south. Lame. Although if you go to SXSW with us you can catch him there. Lucky me. Here's a vid:
Listen to Thom Yorke doing cool stuff on BBC Radio 2.
After 43 years, Israel has un-banned The Beatles from their country. Maybe the middle-east can give peace a chance now.
Jimmy Pagesays no moreLed Zeppelin concerts until at least September because Alison Krauss is way more important. I guess that means no Bonnaroo LZ.
The mysterious Vineland Festival that was supposed to go down in New Jersey in August is being scrapped this year and will hopefully debut in 2009. All Points West Fest (Coachella East) announced they were going head-to-head with Vineland the same weekend in about the same spot last week.
Jazz Fest in New Orleans has announced a line-up. It goes down April 25th-May 4th.
This will be an event to remember; including video filming for upcoming release. FIRE eaters in the parking lot. A large ICE sculpture of the MF DOOM mask for fan photo ops. The upgraded sound system for this event is going to ensure the maximum METAL FACE EXPERIENCE! It is also rumored that there will be models painted to resemble METAL to facilitate fan appreciation giveaways.
Also performing will be MOBONIX and MR. K members of MF DOOM s METAL FACE AKADEMY crew. MOBONIX is gearing up for the release of his long -awaited full length record, THIRD WORLD AMERICA featuring production by Bean One, Danspeak, and MF DOOM.
Also performing will be Budah Tye ( Universal Vibe Squad) Local support acts to be announced. Deejays will be Atlanta's own Apple Jac and underground-wizard Steve Deniro. This event will be hosted by Dres the Beatnik.
Advance tickets are $25. Tickets will be $30.00 day of show. The price of tickets at the door will be discounted by $5 with the donation of a canned good.
A bit pricey, but when I caught him a few years back at Coachella, he was really great live. Here's a vid:
Creative Loafing did a look back piece on the old Echo Lounge that used to have shows in East Atlanta. I got to catch a handful there and it was a really cool venue.
This looks interesting:
My favourite radio station, Album 88, is doing WRASfest on December 14th at Eyedrum. Here is the initial "teaser" line-up:
Cadillac Jones Chopper Clandestined kids with codenames
And Finally, I saw over at It Covers The Hillsides these sweet fan-made music videos for an Arcade Fire song and a new Radiohead song using footage from some old films and I had to post them here because they are super sweet. Watch them:
Last Tuesday night I caught Midlake at The Earl and they were really awesome. Here's a couple bad pics ( I swear I'm getting my own real camera soon):
If you are unfamiliar with these guys, think Thom Yorke meets Fleetwood Mac. They just released a digital EP called Oak And Julian. Here's a cut and a bonus:
So, the Echo Project's 3rd round of artist auditions didn't all come out at once and I missed a few additions when I reported it last week. Here is the full Echo Project Line-Up:
The Killers Phil Lesh & Friends The Flaming Lips
Thievery Corporation moe. The Roots Spoon Cypress Hill Les Claypool Michael Franti & Spearhead Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Rodrigo Y Gabriela Umphrey's McGee The Disco Biscuits
Stephen Marley Rabbit in the Moon Gza (Genius) and Slick Rick featuring the Fyre Department The Bravery Medeski Martin & Wood MSTRKRFT Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues Polyphonic Spree Butch Walker
JJ Grey & Mofro Secret Machines Son Volt Avett Brothers Perpetual Groove Brazilian Girls Man Man RJD2 Lyrics Born The Album Leaf The Benevento Russo Duo Tea Leaf Green ALO God Is An Astronaut Bassnectar Ryan Shaw Dirty Dozen Brass Band The Egg Toubab Krewe Wood Brothers Snowden Futureman and His Black Mozart Ensemble RAQ Dubconcious Spam Allstars Afromotive Greenskeepers Lazaro Casanova Marc Ford Col. Bruce Hampton & The Quark Alliance Telepath
Little Birdy Collective Efforts Boom Box Marchforth Marching Band Scissors For Lefty Dead Confederate Benzos Barrel House Mamas Strut Something Japanese Grimace Federation Spencer Durham Band Jamie McLean 3S Hostage Sam Thacker Lord Is My Shotgun Entropy Ployd Mike Zarin Sorted Munir Random Rabbit Sonar Soundwave Mayhem Habersham/Numinous Secret Live Brandon B Treasure Fingers Truform Chris Grass Eric ZBD
and more...
The two big additions i missed were Spoon and Rabbit In The Moon. Back in my short-lived raver days, Rabbit In The Moon was my favourite electronic artist. They are like taking Flaming Lips and GWAR to a rave; their live show is an incredible spectacle. DJ Monk is no longer part of the team, but with Confucius still producing the music and weird-ass frontman Bunny doing really trip stuff on stage, I can guarantee the spun out wooks are gonna love this show. If you are going to this fest, don't miss this show(and don't be sober for it):
Bunny was riding in a ball across the audience way before Wayne:
Mastodon's Brent Hinds is in the hopsital from a head injury that occurred at the MTV Video Music Awards. Some Mastodon related vids:
Featuring Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme:
News report on Mastodon:
And here's an Eddie Vedder track featuring Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker:
Eddie Vedder : Into The Wild (movie soundtrack) : Hard Sun
We arrived just in time for Califone, who was running a little late. They played 4 or 5 songs and they were pretty good. They had a horn section with them which was cool, but it seemed a little underwhelming. We went in close for Grizzly Bear and listened to Voxtrot from afar. I have to say that I don't really like Voxtrot that much, I think they are over-hyped by the internets. Grizzly Bear, on the other hand, lives up to all the hype. Despite Chris Taylor having some issues with his ridiculously complex equipment setup, they put on the day's best show. If you have not listened to Yellow House yet, do it now fool! I tried to catch the end of Beach House but only caught the last 30 seconds of "Master Of None". By far this was the worst schedule conflict of the fest, especially for the bands themselves as Grizzly Bear and Beach House are both fans of each other. Next up we went to see Battles. They were very impressive. The former Helmet drummer John Stanier was rock solid and had a cymbal up really high so he had to reach up to hit it. It was gimmicky but really cool. The rest of the band used lots of looping computer programs to put together their songs piece by piece.
We skipped Iron And Wine to check out the festival grounds, which were expanded from Friday's setup. They had a huge poster shopping area with almost 50 tents each selling handbills. After that we checked out Atlanta's Mastodon. Their typical badass performance had a mixed reception from the pitchfork kids. Most of the people farther away were complaining and those that stayed up close were rocking out. There was even a mosh pit. Because it was so crazy up front for Mastodon, I was able to get front row and center for Cat Power afterwards on the stage as most of the other Chan Marshall fans weren't so much into the Mastodon scene. It pays to like all kinds of music. I listened to Clipse from the front of the other stage and they were what I expected, decent for a live hip-hop show but nothing to get excited about. Cat Power came on with the Dirty Delta Blues Band. In this performance, Cat Power would not touch a guitar or piano. Instead, she would be leaning over the crowd singing songs from The Greatest, covers, and songs I didn't recognize. I am not a big fan of the nu-Cat Power that is sober, doesn't freakout, and does country/blues music and this was farther in that direction than the three times I saw her last year. It was still great to see her, especially as close as we were, but i don't think I'm going to see her again live until she either starts playing old stuff again or does some new stuff that is not so conservative and, well, ordinary. We wanted to check out Girl Talk but the tiny staging area was packed out beyond belief and the sound system over there was not powerful enough to hear farther back. If I had one complaint about Pitchfork Fest so far it was the sound system problems, of which there were many, and the sound checks drowning out quiet parts of bands performing on the adjacent stages. We skipped Yoko Ono and went into the city to drink into oblivion. Here's some pics from the day:
This is probably Atlanta's best music festival and I really wish they would not have scheduled it the same weekend as Pitchfork Fest, but oh well, I'll at least go tonight. I'm interested to see what it will be like for the first time at the new Lenny's. For those of you going to this, here's what i suggest you don't miss:
The 2nd Beirut album is due out October 9th and most notably will include string arrangements and guest vocals from Ohnpark favourite Owen Pallett aka Final Fantasy. Here is Beirut's Zach Condon covering Grizzly Bear's "Knife" in an almost satirical scene:
Ok, here's some dates to put down in your calendar:
06/27/2007: Voxtrot (The Drunken Unicorn) 06/30/2007: Disco Biscuits, Umphrey's McGee (Masquerade Music Park) 07/05/2007: People Noise (ISP) 07/07/2007: Fiery Furnaces, Deerhunter (The Earl) 07/07/2007: Bob Weir and Ratdog, Keller Williams (Chastain Park) 07/11/2007: St. Vincent (The Earl) 07/11/2007: Ruby Isle, Spectralux (The Drunken Unicorn) 07/13/2007: The Decemberists with The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Chastain Park) 07/14/2007: Graboids (Lenny's) 07/19/2007: 311, Matisyahu (Hi Fi Buys) 07/20/2007: Morrisey (Chastain Park) 07/23/2007: Silverchair (The Roxy) 07/25/2007: Untied States 7" inch release show (The Earl) 07/26/2007: Marnie Stern, Lid Emba (The Drunken Unicorn) 07/28/2007: Marilyn Manson, Slayer (Hi Fi Buys) 07/31/2007: Pelican (The Drunken Unicorn) 08/02/2007: "Rock The Bells" Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Talib Kwali, many more... (Hi Fi Buys) 08/07/2007: Portugal. The Man (The Drunken Unicorn) 08/07/2007: Ben Kweller (Variety Playhouse) 08/08/2007: Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Birds Of Avalon (Whirly Ball) 08/09/2007: One Hand Loves The Other (The Earl) 08/13/2007: Neko Case (Tabernacle) 08/20/2007: Willie Nelson (Chastain Park) 09/04/2007: Midlake (The Earl) 09/07/2007: Dark Star Orchestra (Variety Playhouse) 09/12/2007: Peter Bjorn And John (The Variety Playhouse) 09/12/2007: The Meat Puppets (The Earl) 09/13/2007: Andrew Bird (Variety Playhouse) 09/22/2007: Girl Talk (MJQ) 09/26/2007: Animal Collective (Variety Playhouse) 09/27/2007: Deerhunter (The Drunken Unicorn) 10/13/2007: Sunset Rubdown (The Drunken Unicorn) 10/22/2007: Boris (The Earl) 10/26/2007: Low (The Earl)
Deerhunteris opening for two of the Smashing Pumpkins shows in Asheville, NC.
The Smashing Pumpkinsare releasing 4 different versions of their new album.
The Go! Teamare dropping their new album on September 11th. Here's a new video:
Austin City Limits Festival has posted its schedule. After looking at it, I decided not to go to this as i was planning, not so much that they did a bad job on the schedule, but the line-up just didn't seem as good as it initally seemed to me.
The Mars Voltaare currently recording their fourth full length that should get released in the fall. Hells Yeah.
We start today with a video of The Smashing Pumpkins comeback show:
I never covered the Pitchfork Fest additions of Mastodon, Junior Boys, Voxtrot, Cadence Weapon, Brightblack Morning Light, The Field, Cool Kids, and William Parker Quartet. Now with the combination of a night with legendary artists performing some of the best albums ever written and two days of the people making the very best albums of the last 2 years, I think musically this is by far the best festival of the year. On top of that, it is only 50 bucks for three days so it is also the greatest bargain of the year. I often have my quips with Pitchfork's opinions but they sure nailed this line-up. Here it is in case you forgot:
Yoko Ono Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues (w/ members of Dirty Three, the Delta 72, and Blues Explosion) Clipse Mastodon Iron and Wine Battles Grizzly Bear Voxtrot Califone The Twilight Sad Girl Talk Dan Deacon Oxford Collapse Professor Murder Fujiya & Miyagi Beach House William Parker Quartet Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound
Sunday, July 15:
De La Soul The New Pornographers Of Montreal Stephen Malkmus Jamie Lidell The Sea and Cake Junior Boys Menomena The Ponys Deerhunter Klaxons The Field Cadence Weapon The Cool Kids Craig Taborn's Junk Magic Nomo Brightblack Morning Light Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra
Anybody you don't recognize on that list, you should look into immediately. More info on Pitchfork Fest here. We will be there and you should too.
A quarter of 2007 is over and it was a lot of fun. So far, 2007 is turning out to be a great year in music delivering stellar albums, great shows, and an unprecedented amount of good American music festivals shaping up. I've noticed some interesting trends. For instance, In 2005 it was looking like Arcade Fire and Bloc Party we're going to ascend to greatness and that Modest Mouse had lost everything good about it. One respective album from each band later, Arcade Fire and Bloc Party don't feel so much better than the rest of the pack(although that could easily change) and I can't think of a bigger, better, more important American band in the last 13 years than Modest Mouse.
Sleodid a review of one of the moe. shows in Atlanta. I did a write-up on the Producer Battles at Apache Cafe's World Famous Mic Club. Biggie C got some shots at the Beach House and Birds Of Avalon show:
We hope you're enjoying Ohmpark and remember if you have any suggestions or comments or want to hip us to a band or some news or a show, hit us up at: info@ohmpark.com
So I was originally asked to do a review about the fantastic Mastodon show we attended last Saturday night at Center Stage Atlanta. This, in combination with the sentiment of a few other nameless colleagues, came to illicit a nasty and ugly reaction from me that I'm sure most music people can relate to; I'll tell my story here.
What was so frustrating about the world (read: the people around me that I discuss music with) getting so excited over Mastodon isn't merely the fact that I have been listening to them (and, it follows, sharing my praise with 'the crew') for the better part of five years.... I can handle the redundancy of an old superstar for me being newly discovered by a friend... It happens to me all the time; there are countless bands whose shocking effect on me were the result of my own negligent listening practices; I didn't even get into Pink Floyd until college, for example. But what frustrates is when people forget that you have been going to Mastodon shows for five years only to have a show like the one at Center Stage finally wake your idiot friends up. The Center Stage performance was great, but not in comparison to Mastodon/Darkest Hour at the Echo Lounge in 2004, or Mastodon/Dillinger Escape Plan at the Masquerade six months later. Yes, I am being a pretentious prick, but yes, I told all you motherfuckers so years ago.... Mastodon is an awesome band and I was sure the Center Stage performance was going to be great before I bought the ticket. My only complaint being that there was no encore for the hometown crowd, but then again, the show was probably full of nubile second and third timers anyway.
My point is, instead of wasting my breath on deaf ears, praising an amazing band like Mastodon like I have been doing to no avail for the last 5 years, I want to review another show I attended this week; Red Sparowes/Kylesa/Irreversible. I missed Irreversible's set, but I wanted to mention them here because I've seen them before; they are a promising local band that fit the bill well; experimental stoner jam metal in the vein of Isis, Sleep, etc. I arrived halfway through Kylesa's set, who were a pleasant surprise to see. The last time I saw Kylesa was at the old Velvet Elvis in Savannah (before it became the Jinx), probably about 7 years ago. They have since added a second drummer, which, while somewhat asinine, was used enough to satisfy my skepticism (read: dueling drum solo, and yes, thats all it takes). The highlight of the set was a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun', which droned through 10 minutes of the classic riff. I couldn't help but remind myself that the last time I saw that song played was by Roger Waters itself in September.
Red Sparowes totally took me by surprise. The entire post-rock, post-metal, whatever thing has been pretty faddy lately, it seems everyone is getting their fingers into it. Bands like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky are successfully maintaining movie soundtrack gigs, and the sound's influence can be seen across a staggering array of genres. Red Sparowes really dig into some of the more cliche characteristics of this sound, but without the trite-ness that can come with the repetitively mountainous song dynamics that post-rock bands are usually guilty of. The band consists of members of Isis, which definately is perceptible in the Red Sparowes' set. I would liken it to Isis with less distortion, better drumming, and more delay pedals. The video show also was interesting by virtue of its existence, although not particularly impressive. I would go as far to say that this show was better than Mogwai at the 40 Watt last year, if it must be compared. I know all of Mogwai's music, so they probably had more working against them; but .... if intensity could be the measure of a post-rock band, the Red Sparowes show wins out; I was more overwhelmed. I still don't know any of their songs, but they made a new fan out of me Thursday night, which is the best thing that can happen for both performer and audience member; the beginning of something beautiful.
While sugarkane and I were at the Mastodon show head-banging to the sounds of what seemed to be Atlanta's own tribal war chieftans, Leah got a little more colorful and checked out Of Montreal at the Variety Playhouse. Here are some pics she took:
I didn't bring my good camera (20D) to Mastodon but I would have liked to so if you or someone you know would like to hook us up with a press pass to most any mid to large sized venues in Atlanta, let us know.
The 2007 concert season has begun and we're gonna help you rock it out right. Atlanta averages at least one great show every night, and here's the proof:
Saturday, February 17th From Exile, Ground Xero, Draped In Sorrow - The Masquerade ($6)
In the shadow of Mastodon, the Atlanta metal scene is bubbling up and From Exile is in the thick of it. After dropping their stellar debut album, Crushing Reality, and playing some killer shows in 2006, a new era is about to begin. This Saturday will be the first show with a new bassist and a new vocalist. Sources also say that this show will feature a new interactive, visual experience. It's an exciting time for a band on the brink and you should check it out.
Sunday, February 18th Moorish Idols, Remote Islands - ISP Space (Donations)
