Ohmpark » Nomen Novum

[Mp3] Nomen Novum: “I Tore Your Wall Down”

Davy Minor — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:09:49 +0000

I picked a bad time to take a long vacation from this blog because the beginning of 2012 has been one of the best periods in local record releases since I’ve been paying attention. In a few weeks, I’ll be back to blogging regularly again and I plan to post on everything worthwhile that’s come out this year, but for now, I want to talk a little bit about the one album that sits high above the rest: Nomen Novum‘s If You Look For It, It’s There.

What stands out most about this record is how successful it is on so many different levels. There’s genius to every single element. For example, if you only take the lyrics by themselves and ignore the music, you’ll find no one in this city more apt at lyricism. The record is littered with succinct and profound lines. At some moments the words are funny and playful, at other times, they’re serious and somber.

On top of the words themselves, the vocal delivery is just as impressive. The range of styles he can nail with his voice seems boundless. Every single syllable is delivered with perfection. And then beyond the words and vocals, the musical arrangements themselves are complex and endlessly detailed, yet the song writing is so accessible and engaging that you don’t even notice how deeply everything is layered until you listen to it over and over again. Simply in terms of beats, Nomen Novum is one of the best producers in the city. The droney moments are as beautiful and haunting as anything I’ve heard. There’s just so much to take in.

It’s hard for me to think of another musical artist that is more versatile than David Norbery, inside or outside the perimeter, and other than maybe a handful of Outkast and Deerhunter records, this is probably the best record to ever come out of the city of Atlanta. So if you haven’t spent a lot of quality time with this album yet, hopefully this endorsement, the most hype I’ve ever showered upon a record, will convince you to give it a few good spins. It really is that good, and it’s entirely free to download.

Nomen Novum opens for Chairlift and Nite Jewel tomorrow (April 19) night at The Earl.

Nomen Novum : “I Tore Your Wall Down”

Download If You Look For It, It’s There

[Video] Nomen Novum: “Anita, Korea”

Davy Minor — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:11:42 +0000

Nomen Novum – Anita, Korea from david bonawits on Vimeo.

Ohmpark’s Top 25 Albums of 2011

Davy Minor — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:24:27 +0000

Back in 2009, I listened to approximately 75 records that came out of Atlanta that year. This year, I blogged about roughly 75 records, and for every album I discussed, there were at least five I listened to and didn’t blog about. The quantity of music being made in this city is growing exponentially, and the Atlanta music scene runs extraordinarily deep. So needless to say, this was the most difficult year-end list to put together yet.

On a technical note, my 2011 year-end list eligibility extends through the 2010 holiday season because I like to be able to spend enough time with a record to properly evaluate it. So, any record that was not widely available before Thanksgiving this year will go into consideration for 2012.

Here are my twenty-five favourite albums from Atlanta this year:

25. Cassandras : Hari Pari Mandala Gosthi

24. Dark Room : Gothic Picnic

23. We The Lion : Boy Oh Boy

22. Easily Suede / Carey : Good Health Guide

21. Cassandras : Cassandras: 3 Songs

20. Book Club : Ghost

19. Warning Light : Wild Silver

18. Djarum : Don’t Let Me Down

17. Places : The Future

16. Nomen Novum / Magicicada / Tree Creature : Three Way Split

15. The Back Pockets : Fast Cloud Slow Cloud

14. Lid Emba : Terminal Muse: Blue

13. Vocabulary : Faded Days

12. Time Wharp : later.

11. Atlas Sound : Parallax

10. Mastodon : The Hunter

9. Places : Half-Dones

8. New Animal : Eleven Songs

7. Places : March

6. Spirits and the Melchizedek Children : We Are Here To Save YOU!

5. Lyonnais : Want For Wish For Nowhere

4. The Electric Nature : Mount Analogue

3. Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun : Wildfire

2. Little Tybee : Humorous To Bees

1. New Animal : New Animal

The story of Atlanta’s independent music scene in 2011 was the rise of a new wave of artists that came out of nowhere and upped the ante on everyone else. Only four acts on this list (veteran mainstays Mastodon, Atlas Sound, The Back Pockets, and Nomen Novum) have appeared on my best Atlanta album lists in either 2010 or 2009. That’s a symptom of the fact that there’s a new generation of local musicians dominating the scene. And at the head of this new class is New Animal.

New Animal‘s meteoric rise over the course of 2011 is unparalleled. Without a label backing them, with very little major publication support, and without even playing a single show ever, New Animal became one of the Internet’s buzziest bands early on in the year solely based on the strength of their 75-minute self-titled masterpiece. It’s hard for me to think of another record with fifteen songs where I love each and every single one. And what’s even more impressive is that they continued to output new material seemingly on a monthly basis, creating a catalog in one year vaster and more compelling than most artists do over a lifetime. There is simply no musical artist in the world that’s had a more impressive year.

My #2 and #3 spots went to outfits that have been on their own upward swing lately, each respectively creating an epic record that delivered on all the brilliance and potential they had displayed in recent years. My #4 is probably the most inaccessible record to come out of the city this year, but if you can find your way inside, it’s a monster. And my #5 goes to a band that I had previously written off, but there’s no denying what an amazing album they’ve put forth.

Of course, everything on this list is spectacular, and if you missed one, be sure to pick it up.

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Atlas Sound, Best of 2011, Book Club, Carey, Cassandras, Dark Room, Djarum, Easily Suede, Electric Nature, Lid Emba, Little Tybee, Lyonnais, Magicicada, Mastodon, New Animal, Nomen Novum, Places, Spirits and the Melchizedek Children, The Back Pockets, Time Wharp, Today The Moon Tomorrow The Sun, Tree Creature, Vocabulary, Warning Light, We The Lion

Ohmpark’s Top 40 Songs of 2011

Davy Minor — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:39:47 +0000

Now that this blog only covers local music, I decided that all of my year-end lists this year will be Atlanta music specific. There’s plenty of sites that do national/international lists anyway. So then, this is my 40 favourite songs of the year by artists affiliated with Atlanta. I spent a lot of time with each of these songs, and if you are unfamiliar with any of them, I strongly suggest you click on the song titles below to give them a listen.

40. “Black Leaves” by Slowriter

39. “A Letter To The FDA” by Where Are We?

38. “Nerve Pop” by Small Reactions

37. “Tomorrow’s Garden” by Imagination Head

36. “Barcelona” by Dark Room

35. “Islands” by Kinisi

34. “The Battle of East & West Virginia” by Mediocre Machine

33. “Santa Maria” by Beachtapes

32. “mandelbrotset” by Time Wharp

31. “Control” by Young Again

30. “Who’s In Bed” by Jungol

29. “Children” by Vocabulary

28. “Black Lion” by Places

27. “Movie Night” by Easily Suede

26. “Edita V” by Balkans

25. “Passion Seekers” by Little Tybee featuring Adron

24. “Q ‘n’ A” by Spirits and the Melchizedek Children

23. “Lights lights” by Beachtapes

22. “Breathe” by Exact Index featuring Casey Harper

21. “No Tomorrow” by Places

20. “Far From The Best” by Cassandras

19. “Things I Like” by Vocabulary

18. “I Think It’s Working” by New Animal

17. “Pacer” by BOSCO

16. “Rise Up” by Cassandras

15. “Creature Lives” by Mastodon

14. “They Don’t Know” by New Animal

13. “Sweet Melinda” by Places

12. “cuspcake” by Time Wharp

11. “Out There” by New Animal

10. “Ivan” by We the Lion

9. “History” by Little Tybee

8. “Old Monster” by Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun

7. “Wicca Chimes” by Nomen Novum

6. “Lift You Up” by New Animal

5. “Distinguished Critter” by Places

4. “Still In Mind” by New Animal

3. “Water Story” by Wowser Bowser

2. “Millennials” by Nomen Novum

1. “Two Faced” by Living Rooms

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Balkans, Beachtapes, Best of 2011, BOSCO, Cassandras, Dark Room, Easily Suede, Exact Index, Imagination Head, Jungol, Kinisi, Little Tybee, Living Rooms, Mastodon, Mediocre Machine, New Animal, Nomen Novum, Places, Slowriter, Small Reactions, Spirits and the Melchizedek Children, Time Wharp, Today The Moon Tomorrow The Sun, Vocabulary, We The Lion, Where Are We?, Wowser Bowser, Young Again

[Stream] Nomen Novum: “Wicca Chimes”

Davy Minor — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:41:08 +0000

Nomen Novum has unleashed another new song from his upcoming new record. Between this and “Millennials,” there’s no record I’m more excited to hear right now than this one. Enjoy the latest from Atlanta’s most underrated musical artist:

Wicca Chimes by Nomen Novum

[Guest Mixtape] Primitive Patterns

Davy Minor — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:12:55 +0000

Atlanta has quite a few record labels doing cool things right now, but one of the best new labels to crop up recently is Primitive Patterns. Their aesthetic seems to line up very close to my own taste. So give a listen to this great mix put together by Primitive Pattern’s Adam Babar of Easily Suede and Faun And A Pan Flute.

Download Mixtape

Primitive Patterns Bandcamp

primitivepatterns mixtape by primitivepatterns

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 9th Wonder, Bird Names, Blithe Field, Carey, Easily Suede, Faun and a Pan Flute, Great Getaways, Guest Mixtape, Laments, Mixtape, Mono Lisa, Mr. Leg, Nomen Novum, ORMO, Primitive Patterns, Red Sea, Ryan Hemsworth, Solitude, Swimming Pools In Heaven, Vocabulary

[Stream] Nomen Novum: “Millennials”

Davy Minor — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:59:13 +0000

Nomen Novum has released the first taste of his forthcoming new LP, If You Look For It, It’s There. This might be one of the best songs I’ve heard all year. Go listen to it for yourself:

Millennials by Nomen Novum

[Mp3] Nomen Novum: “Nickel Hydride Batteries”

Davy Minor — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:38:29 +0000

Nomen Novum dropped another bandcamp banger for us to freely download. It’s a really fun tune, so give it a go, and don’t forget to stop by the Goat Farm Friday (April 22) night to catch the Nomen Novum, Tree Creature, and Magicicada 3-way tape release show.

Nomen Novum : “Nickel Hydride Batteries”

Nomen Novum bandcamp

[Mp3] Nomen Novum: “Helmut”

Davy Minor — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 01:32:04 +0000

Over the weekend, Nomen Novum unveiled one of the tracks that will appear on the 3-way split cassette with Magicicada & Tree Creature, a sample and loop heavy atmospheric piece pushing farther into experimental territory. On top of this release, which you can pick up at the Goat Farm next week (April 22nd) when all three acts play together to support it, a 3rd Nomen Novum LP is close to completion, and other material will be heading towards our ears soon including a collaboration with Chris Devoe.

Nomen Novum : “Helmut”

Nomen Novum tumblr

[Stream] Nomen Novum: “Vinyl”

Davy Minor — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 19:47:58 +0000

Nomen Novum is the latest Atlanta artist to make their entire discography available on bandcamp. Every single record is incredible, so if you’ve missed any, go listen up. Below is a classic from the very first Nomen Novum release, the Mantis Man 7″. Nomen Novum will be opening for Paper Cuts at The Earl April 1.

Nomen Novum bandcamp