Live Videos: Evangelista (Carla Bozulich), Xiu Xiu (8/23/2008) @ The Drunken Unicorn

A few weekends ago I checked out this show because I’ve really enjoyed the last two Carla Bozulich albums and was very excited to see her. It was pretty good, but she was suffering equipment issues and her set got cut way short as the show was running behind because of it. Although she nailed the vocal parts pretty dead on live, so that was cool. You’ll notice in the last video she goes into the crowd and starts falling on people in the audience as she was belting it out, and totally knocks the glasses off someone I was with.

Xiu Xiu was very impressive live, but I just don’t enjoy their music that much. I mean it’s good and all, I just can’t seem to get into it. Their setup looked like a drum set had been dipped into that ooze that mutated the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They had the biggest cymbals I have ever seen and maybe the largest quantity of percussive equipment I’ve ever seen on a stage, half of which I didn’t recognize.

Evangelista (Carla Bozulich):

Xiu Xiu:

What The Hell Am I Listening to?!?

The theme for today is artists that should be more hyped on the interwebs:

Evangelista (Los Angeles, CA/Montreal, Canada)

I discovered Carla Bozulich‘s Evangelista right when I started Ohmpark, and it was one of my favourite albums from 2006. She has now taken the name of that album as the name of her band and just released Hello, Voyager, which has gathered everything I loved about Evangelista and upped the ante. What Carla Bozulich brings to the table is dark and and in your face vocals and lyrics that hit you hard in the depths of your soul. She is experimental, but not in a way that is hard to appreciate, and she jumps from style to style without ever seeming ambling or lost. I’m totally in love with this release right now, so don’t miss out:

Truth Is Dark Like Outer Space

Paper Kitten Claw

Evangelista Myspace

Buy Hello, Voyager here

Genghis Tron (Philadelphia, PA)

I just caught this arty-metal trio this week and they were badass. With bands like Mastodon and Mastodon Jr (Baroness) getting attention in the indie rock blog world, it is only a matter of time before these guys get their own hype bandwagon. Armed with digital drums instead of a drummer and lots of keys, their synthetic brand of metal create a very interesting aesthetic that stands above a genre that doesn’t always reward outside-of-the-box thinking. No matter where your tastes lie, there is something worthy of your ears on Board Up The House.

Board Up The House

City On A Hill

Genghis Tron Myspace

Buy Board Up The House here

Brass Bed (Lafayette, LA)

We had Brass Bed in Atlanta for a house party earlier this year and they absolutely killed it. They do a ’60′s psychedelic style blended with many other influences that feels fresh and original. Their first professionally recorded release, Midnight Matinee, is one of those rare albums where every single song on it is a hit, while the sum its parts make up a fun and engaging sonic experience. Get hip to them before the inevitable blow up:

So I Shrugged My Shoulders


Postcard: Paris

Brass Bed Myspace

Buy Midnight Matinee here

Sugarkane’s Top 50 Albums of 2006

2006 was a great year for me, and the main reasons are mostly related to music. I decided to do this list in December because i wanted to learn about as much music as possible, and what I thought would take a few days ended up taking almost 2 months, but it was extremely educational for me and i feel very good about this list. There were so many albums that I would like to give props to and cutting it down to 50 was hard. On a technical note, I went by U.S. release date with the exception of Laura’s Radio Swan Is Down (It was released in Australia over a year ago and has no U.S. release date). Feel free to blast it:

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