Ohmpark Mixtape #10: I Heart New York

My time in New York over the last few days was extremely fun, but also rather brutal. This Piano Plays Itself and I bounced around back and forth between Brooklyn and Manhattan, ferociously partying between shows. Mixed in the blur of all that, I also got to spend some quality time with some dear old friends from Atlanta, and even met a few cool new folks. I truly do love New York City. Today I’m recouping from the exhaustion of two hard weeks on the road, so here’s a short mix of songs from my favourite New York artists:

Here We Go Magic : Collector (Daytrotter Session)
Cymbals Eat Guitars : Some Trees
St. Vincent : Your Lips Are Red
Dirty Projectors : Useful Chamber
Sonic Youth : Anagrama
Battles : HI LO
Akron/Family : Phenomena
Grizzly Bear : Colorado

On The Road: The Midwest

When this trip began, I was probably least excited about the show and following off day in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, but it ended up being the most fun we’ve had all tour. Saturday night This Piano Plays Itself played a raging house party that reminded me of classic Home Park house parties back in the day. Here’s a video of their triumphant performance:

The rest of our stay in Michigan, we were hanging out with the guys from local band Prussia. We ended up chilling out in what can only be described as a mansion, swimming in the pool, relaxing in the hot tub, shooting pool, and getting really drunk. The whole Michigan experience was a blur, but everyone had a phenomenal time. The guys from Prussia were the most hospitable hosts imaginable, and I had some great conversations about music with them, half of which I can’t remember. But I have been listening to their new EP since then, and it is really cool. Here is a sample, and then you can go download it for free from their myspace:

Prussia : The Witch Was A Preemie, God Bless Her Evil Soul
Prussia myspace

Monday and Tuesday we had shows in Cleveland and Columbus Ohio respectively, both of which were pretty weak in attendance to say the least. In Columbus we did play with some pretty decent bands in a really cool venue that had a tree growing through it though. Overall, our Ohio experience was under par for rest of the tour so far. The Pittsburgh show they had scheduled got canceled, so we decided to go camping in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. We ended up at a camp and discovered a little too late that it was a confederate themed campgrounds and overrun with a strange breed of northern rednecks. The experience was very strange and a little scary, but ended up being yet another hilarious misadventure on this roadtrip that can only be described as epic. I just drove the van and trailer across New York City in rush hour traffic, so now it is time to party again.

On The Road: Chicago

The midwest has been very kind to us so far. In St. Louis, TPPI played with a band called Target Market, who not only turned out to be the best band they’ve played with so far, but they were really cool, hospitable dudes that even coincidentally happened to be friends with So Many Dynamos (who I blogged about last time). We had a mini-rager at their house in southern Illinois.

Target Market : Highways
Target Market myspace

Chicago was also a very fun time. Birthday celebrations, family of the band coming out, and some old friends from the ATL made the night a serious party. We ended up camping on a rooftop overlooking the city and then having our tent destroyed at five in the morning by a hurricane strength thunderstorm. So far, I’m barely getting five hours of sleep a night and fatigue is starting to set in a little bit, but we’re all pushing hard and everyone is in great spirits still. We are about to take it to Michigan shortly, but for now, here is a mini-mix of Chicago artists:

Anathallo : Noni’s Field
Tortoise : Gigantes
Wilco : I’ll Fight
The Fiery Furnaces : The End Is Near
Andrew Bird : Anonanimal

On The Road: St. Louis

I just ditched the gang to drink some Fat Tires and do some blogging in a sports bar on the Mississippi River. Even though Memphis looked like a dump, the show last night went pretty well, and after talking to the locals, there seems to be a decent scene of good music going on there. The more I travel, the more I am surprised to find that the Internet music revolution is taking hold everywhere. The impression I’m getting is that regionalism in music is waning, and this global sonic renaissance is growing stronger every day.

I’m going to be brief, because my internet is spotty. One St. Louis, Missouri band I have been jamming hard lately is So Many Dynamos. I first became aware of them after catching them play a show with Athens’ We Versus The Shark and Cinemechanica, who they are sort of a sister band to. Their newest album, The Loud Wars, sees them taking everything that initially attracted me to this band, and turning it all up a notch. Check them out:

So Many Dynamos : Artifacts of Sound
So Many Dynamos : New Bones
Buy The Loud Wars
So Many Dynamos myspace

So Many Dynamos will be playing 529 July 24th with Cinemechanica.

On The Road: Tennessee

Right now I’m hanging out at a weird cafe in Memphis, Tennessee where This Piano Plays Itself will be playing later tonight. Getting on the road with a band and sharing the experience really helps put perspective on things for me, and if you ever have the chance to do the same, I can’t recommend it enough. Each day and night is a new mysterious adventure for a mostly unknown touring band, wrought with obstacles to be overcome. It is a long, arduous road to travel, booking shows in cities where no one has heard of you, financing the gas and food, finding places to crash each night, there is so much to take on. Of course, there are plenty of upsides to the experience as well.

The first show of this tour in an “anarchist bookstore” in Birmingham, Alabama Monday night ended up getting canceled due to almost nobody showing up. But the band set up their gear anyways and played a set comprised of instrumental jams I’ve never heard them perform before to a couple of friends who came up from Atlanta, myself and the bookstore staff. It was a fun kickoff party and a truly special set, and luckily I caught most of it on video that I’m saving to post up here one rainy day in the future. Last night they ended up playing their first real show in Chattanooga to a decent crowd and then most of us stayed up until dawn talking about silly stuff.

Since I’m in Tennessee, I figured I would talk about a few of my favourite Tennessee bands. Knoxville’s Royal Bangs are getting closer to finishing up a new album to follow up last year’s We Breed Champions (my #17 album of 2008). I was on the fence about the new material when I caught them playing in Atlanta a few months ago, but the recorded versions sound great. Here is one of them that has just hit the blogosphere:

Royal Bangs : My Car Is Haunted
Royal Bangs myspace
Royal Bangs will be at The Earl July 18th and October 16th.

At one of the final shows at the 1084 House last summer, we hosted Nashville’s Jeff The Brotherhood to a packed out crowd on a Monday night. I know the guitar/drummer duo thing is a bit overused at this point, but it is hard for me to recall anybody pull it off better live than these guys. Here’s a track to preview:

Jeff The Brotherhood : I Don’t Nee Your Tas-T
Jeff The Brotherhood myspace
Jeff The Brotherhood will be at The Earl November 12th

My biggest Tennessee crush band right now is Murfreesboro’s Blastoids. Since I’ve been talking about them plenty lately, I’m just going to drop a live video on you:

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