Bonnaroo 2008 Friday (Day 2): The Sun, The Fiery Furnaces, The Free Beer Tent; This Is Why I’m Hott

Friday morning started about 4 hours after Thursday night ended for me with the sun making things too uncomfortable for me to sleep late. I grabbed some breakfast and got an early start on the day. I got to the media area to do some blogging and listen to the media orientation speech. They laid out everything we could and couldn’t do, and none of it really seemed to effect what I’m doing. I don’t have all access, but it seems like there are lots of artists in the media area doing interviews and such, so that has been really cool. I gave the guitarist from Minus The Bear some daps before catching some shows.

First up was The Fiery Furnaces. They did a set that was very similar to the set they did at The Variety Playhouse earlier this year, except this time they had a thimble player to make it a 5 piece. It was extremely tight and heavily weighted by Widow City songs, which I love. At some point a cardboard cutout of Eleanor made its way into the crowd, followed by other cardboard cutouts that I thought at first were the rest of the band, but then I saw one of them was Bradford Cox and realized they were from the Converse ad.


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The Humpday Catch-Up

Ok, time for the best of about 3 weeks of music news I have been slacking on. Let’s begin with festivals, since that’s all we’ve covered lately.

Lollapalooza has yet to release the official line-up, but the rumours have it looking like potentially the best fest of the summer. Here is what the good folks at the Lolla message board have complete with a source for each rumour:

MAJOR MEDIA AND BAND CONFIRMATIONS
Dierks Bentley (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080214/NEWS/802130312/1006/NEWS)
Bloc Party (http://www.pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?Content=V-BILCHGP&By=Venue&PSKey=Y&StartSearch.x=10&StartSearch.y=10)
Does it Offend You, Yeah? (http://www.virtualfestivals.com/latest/interviews/4408)
John Butler Trio (http://www.smh.com.au/news/stay-in-touch/unlikely-recruit-for-delta-force/2008/03/06/1204779965382.html)
Radioheadhttp://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2008/03/radiohead-nine.html)
Nine Inch Nailshttp://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2008/03/radiohead-nine.html)
Yeasayer (http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2008/03/sxsw_dispatch_2_on_parties_pan.html)
Rage Against the Machine (http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2008/03/rage_and_wilco_to_play_at_loll.html)
Wilco ( ( (http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2008/03/rage_and_wilco_to_play_at_loll.html)

THE REST
Flogging Molly (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=199838)
Black Lips (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=206530)
Nicole Atkins & the Sea (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=205239)
Gogol Bordello (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=207845)
Bang Camaro (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=210111)
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/fb.aspx?m=220797)
Miley Cyrus (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=230481)
CSS (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=230377)
Gnarls Barkley (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=230256)
Rhymefest f/ Mucca Pazza (http://lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=179933)
MGMT (http://lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=194476)
Jimmy Eat World (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=230158)
CRS (http://www.lollapalooza.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=229774)

Pitchfork Fest released their initial line-up:

Friday, July 18:

Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow’s Parties present “Don’t Look Back” Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
+ more, to be announced

Saturday, July 19:

Animal Collective
!!!
Vampire Weekend
Dizzee Rascal
No Age
Atlas Sound
Fleet Foxes
+ many more!

Sunday, July 20:

Spiritualized
M. Ward
Boris
Extra Golden
El Guincho
+ many more!

Not a bad start, but I don’t think it comes close to how great their line-up was last year yet, so hopefully they will have some hot additions soon.

Atlanta’s Luigi is going into some sort of long hiatus/maybe break-up after their March 28th show at The Earl.

The Tabernacle got thrashed by the tornadoes, but they won’t have a full damage assessment until Friday.

Click here to read the entire post…

Langerado 2008 Day 4 And Wrap-Up

I got a late start on Sunday between being up late Saturday night and the time change. The first show I was able to catch after blogging was Keller Williams. He put a cool show like always. Keller is definitely on the side of the jamband spectrum I enjoy.

After that I checked out the non-music festival activities like merch tents, food, and of course the Ferris Wheel:


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Langerado 2008 Preview

Langerado just released the schedule today and it looks pretty good. Here is my personalized schedule so far. If you are still on the fence whether to go to this one, I’m gonna go through some of the smaller acts that I’m really excited about. The first band on the “Swamp Stage” is right here from Altanta, Dead Confederate. I believe they are going to be one of the ATL bands that get big nationally by the end of this year (they were handpicked to open for R.E.M. at SXSW), because their new EP is really awesome. Jam this track and pick up this EP:

Dead Confederate : The Rat

Vampire Weekend is another band that is on the super-hype lately in blogland. While I enjoy their new album, I think it is one of those “good but not great”. They are just a little too gimmicky and lacking a tad bit in substance. Regardless of that, though, I’m very excited to see them live because I think they will be pretty cool to see. Check them out:

Vampire Weekend : Walcott
An album I really enjoyed from last year is !!!‘s Myth Takes. They are organic dance rock that sort of sound like a an indie-rock version of STS9 or those sorts of bands with lyrics/vocals. I’ve been wanting to catch them live for so long because I’ve heard how much fun their shows are. If 311 isn’t quite your bag, or you’ve seen them like 10 times like me, this band is really worth checking out:

!!! (chk chk chk) : Break In Case Of Anything
So, one of the biggest draws to Langerado for me is Built To Spill. They are one of my all time favourite bands. Since I have like a million BTS live shows, this seems like a good time to share one. Behold 1999-05-09 (Early Show):

1. Made Up Dreams
2. Center of The Universe
3. Kicked it In The Sun

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Ohmpark’s Top 50 Best Albums Of 2007

2007 was an incredible year of music and there were so many albums I really liked that didn’t make this list. I noticed that most of the lists I pay attention to were very similar to one another this year as opposed to last year. Also, I’ve found myself in more of a disagreeance with those lists than last year. If there is any theme to be taken out of this list, I think it’s that I feel like too many great albums were underrated by the blogosphere elites, and that they were way in love with some albums I think are overrated. This list represents my personal assertions more so than the rest of the Ohmpark crew, but I worked hard to get every one’s opinions and influences in this thing. Feel free to comment on how much you hate or love it. I feel like every album on this is an essential one from last year, so go listen to some new music:

Click here to read the entire post…

It’s Echo Project Week!

For me, this is gonna be a killer week. Wednesday I’m heading up to Asheville to catch Porcupine Tree. Thursday I come back and head a little OTP for Echo Project. Then on Monday I’m heading to Birmingham to catch Earlimart. A few Echo Project details I forgot to cover is that Common got added and that Dubconscious will be playing at the campgrounds Thursday night. As excited as I am about the festival, there happens to be a ridiculous amount of great shows in the Atlanta area this weekend, so if you can’t go to Echo, there’s still plenty of great tunes to be absorbed:

Tuesday night The Brunettes and The Preakness will be at The Earl.

Wednesday night Ghostface Killah will be at Georgia Tech.

Thursday night Octopus Project and Morning State will be at the Drunken Unicorn.

Friday night offers many great options: Caribou at the Earl, Minus The Bear at the Variety Playhouse, and Portugal. The Man at The Loft.

Subtle and Sunset Rubdown at the Drunken Unicorn Saturday night is pretty sweet.

Sunday is packed out too with Ryan Adams at the Fox, Band of Horses at Park Tavern, and my pick for best show of the week, Earlimart at the Earl.

Minus The Bear : Menos El Oso : Drilling

Portugal. The Man : Church Mouth : Shade

Earlimart : Mentor Tormentor : Happy Alone

The Octopus Project : Hello, Avalanche : I Saw The Bright Shinies

Caribou : Andorra : Eli

Sunset Rubdown : Random Spirit Lover : For The Pier (And Dead Shimmering)

What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?

Bat For Lashes (Brighton, England)

Half Pakistani, half English Natasha Khan has been blowing my mind since picking up a copy of her solo project Bat For Lashes’ debut album. She takes Tori Amos at her best and infuses an entire world of sounds. I highly recommend checking out this top tier singer/songwriter:

Bat For Lashes : Fur And Gold : Trophy

Bat For Lashes : Fur And Gold : Tahiti

Buy Fur And Gold

Bat For Lashes Myspace

Minus The Bear (Seattle, Washington)

Minus The Bear are what i like to call a “Bridge Band”, which means a band that plays a very poppy style of music, but is also a really good band, and can be a band that people who listen to bad music can get into and be a bridge to better music. I’m very impressed with the maturity this band has shown on Planet Of Ice with respect to the previous Menos El Oso and they are sort of a window into what a band like Incubus could have been had they gone in a different direction from the start.

Minus the Bear : Planet Of Ice : Burying Luck

Minus The Bear : Planet Of Ice : Lotus

Buy Planet Of Ice

Minus The Bear Myspace

Monday Mash-Up

!!! (chk chk chk) and The Field will be at the 40 Watt in Athens, Ga on October 6th. Here’s a !!! video:

Here’s a track from The Field‘s From Here We Go Sublime: Good Things End

Minus The Bear will be at The Variety Playhouse on October 12th. Vid:

Liars will be opening for Interpol at The Tabernacle on September 21st.

Check out some hot torrents to download:

Broken Social Scene has presented a great video. Check it:


This song was recorded with Joules Scott Key of Metric and Bang Lime on drums and J Mascis and Kevin Drew on guitar and vocals. The video happened last minute after a Dinosaur Jr show in Toronto where J, Lou, and Murph all came to the shoot to hang out. John Caffery from ‘Kids on TV’ was hired to come and dance his ASS off and a spontaneous party was put into effect.
There were seven mirrors, one disco ball, four lights, one bottle of rum, three bottles of tequila, 62 beers, four crew, and 17 people. It got put together on the day of the shoot and became the party of the year. It cost three thousand dollars to make… It was priceless.


Bradford Cox of Deerhunter got robbed after their show Friday night. If you’re at Lenny’s late night, beware:


We got a friendly homecoming suprise last night in Atlanta when Lockett and I got robbed at gunpoint after our show at Lenny’s last night. We literally had just walked off the stage and I was pretty wasted. Lockett was trying to take care of me and get me home. He grabbed my guitar and my stuff and we walked to his car which was parked about a block away from Lenny’s because it was so crowded. I heard a commotion behind us but like I said I was pretty out of it. I just opened the door to the car and collapsed in the passenger seat. Then I heard all this yelling and I hear this loud metallic banging on the window and look up and there is a gun in my face and a guy yelling “get the fuck out the car man” I stumbled out and see the other guy has Lockett with his arms spread on the roof of his car and is patting him down. Lockett was begging them to leave me alone. The guy put his gun up to my temple and said “give me EVERYTHING motherfucker I aint fucking with you” I just mumbled something and he put his hands in my pants and took everything I had. My cellphone, my wallet (empty except for credit / bank cards which kristin immidietly cancelled, and about 450 dollars in cash I had for my rent.) They also got all of Lockett’s money. They even took my fucking Camel Ultralights and Orange Bic. All I can say is that I’m glad we are not dead. Or more specifically, I am REALLY glad they didn’t hurt Lockett. He was just trying to help me get home and would not have even been there at that time otherwise.

Bradford

Atlanta’s own, Auditioning Alice, have posted a great new song on their myspace.

Creative Loafing talks about the Rock The Bells festival this thursday at Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre.

New Architecture In Helsinki video:

Listen to a Blitzen Trapper show at Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Interviews:

Learn about the “Nu-Gaze” genre.

NPR has some Andrew Bird for you to listen to.

The National on Letterman:

White Rabbits on Letterman:

Tokyo Police Club on Letterman: