[Video] Spirits and the Melchizedek Children @ The Secret Spot

Spirits and the Melchizedek Children performing to the film “The In Between” on the roof of The Secret Spot in East Atlanta Village.

[VIdeo] Spirits and the Melchizedek Children: Live @ Fallen Arrows

[Stream] Order Of The Owl: “Cocaine Super Demon” & Spirits and the Melchizedek Children: “LOOK!”

Two of Atlanta’s rising stars in the independent music scene have teamed up to release a split 7″ on newish local label The Great Big. Order Of the Owl and Spirits and the Melchizedek Children each contribute one track, both of which are monster psychedelic sprawlers. Their release show together plus Nigredo this Saturday (Aug 4) at 529 has the potential to be one of the best local shows of the year.


Order of the Owl bandcamp


Spirits and the Melchizedek Children bandcamp

[Photos] Royal Thunder, StoneRider, Spirits and the Melchizedek Children @ The Earl (5/26/12)

Spirits and the Melchizedek Children:

StoneRider:


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[Photos] The Mad Flight, Spirits and the Melchizedek Children, New Animal @ The Earl (5/2/12)

New Animal:


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[Photos] Royal Baths, Abby Gogo, Spirits and the Melchizidek Children @ 529 (2/14/12)

Spirits and the Melchizidek Children:


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[Mp3] Spirits and the Melchizedek Children: “Land Tied” (Live @ The Earl 12/21/11)

Before playing one of the best records to come out of Atlanta in 2011 in its entirety at the Atlanta Music Roundtable show last month, Spirits and the Melchizedek Children opened their set with a stripped-down song I didn’t recognize performed by SATMC frontman Jason Elliott alone. It turns out, the opening song was from their next full length, and they’ve decided to share the recording of it from the show for all of us to enjoy:

Spirits and the Melchizedek Children : “Land Tied” (Live @ The Earl 12/21/11)

Spirits and the Melchizedek Children bandcamp

[Photos] Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun, New Animal, Spirits And Melchizedek Children @ The Earl (12/21/11)

Spirits And Melchizedek Children:






New Animal:






Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun:

Ohmpark’s Top 25 Albums of 2011

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.

Ohmpark’s Top 40 Songs of 2011

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






[Mp3] Spirits and the Melchizedek Children: “Q ‘n’ A”

Shoegaze is a weapon best used sparingly, as a dynamic contrast rather than as a distraction from otherwise boring music. At least, that’s what I was thinking the first time I listened to the new Spirits and the Melchizedek Children record, We Are Here To Save YOU!, released earlier this month. The gorgeous, engaging epic was recorded by the seemingly magical Ed Rawls, who can make even the most terrible band sound good. But the album, far more than simply a triumph of production, also features powerful song writing which journeys across a wide sonic palette. This will most certainly be in the conversation as one of the best records to come out of Atlanta this year.

Spirits and the Melchizedek Children : “Q ‘n’ A”

Stream/Buy We Are Here To Save YOU!