Long time Ohmpark faves Untied States just posted a vocals and piano demo version of a new song called “Interdependence Day” on their blog. This eerie, stripped down number displays their unmistakable aesthetic in a very different context than the glossy art-rock of Instant Everything, Constant Nothing, but it works just as well here. They should have a new record coming sometime soon, and I can’t wait to hear it.

Untied States blog

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© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Untied States

Nomen Novum:

Untied States:

This Piano Plays Itself:

© Ohmpark Staff for Ohmpark, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Drunken Unicorn, Nomen Novum, This Piano Plays itself, Untied States

Most of the time in this city, bands rise and fall based on who they know and how exciting they are live. But for this list, I’ve considered only what is contained on their recordings. Over the course of the year I’ve given roughly 75 records from inside the perimeter a spin, and these are the essential twenty that I recommend listening to most. There are actually many records that I really liked that just missed the cut, so this was very tough to piece together, especially the final spots.

Looking at this list and comparing it back to my favourite local stuff over the two years before, it’s apparent that music in this city just keeps getting better. Atlanta’s independent music scene is running deeper than ever both in terms of quality and quantity of music being produced. Outside of Brooklyn, you’d need quite a compelling argument to convince me anywhere else in America has a better scene right now. Promising young bands keep popping up out of nowhere, and the veterans keep delivering the goods. It sure makes my job here a lot easier to have so much great music to blog about.

On a technical note, anything that has been released over the holidays I’m grouping in with my 2010 lists, and so a couple of albums on this list were released over the holidays last year. Take a gander:

20. Noot d’ Noot: Cash For Gold

19. Harken The Hands Askew: Thou

18. Slushco: Sometime Tonight

17. Sound On Film: The Eloquent Reginald

16. Thy Mighty Contract: Thy Mighty Contract

15. Club Awesome: Dynamos

14. Jungol: Places

13. Lee Harvey Oswald: Lee Harvey Oswald

12. The Selmanaires: Tempo Temporal

11. Tealights: Take Us By Sea

10. Deerhunter: Rainwater Cassette Exchange

9. Slushco: The Silver Surface Demos

8. The Orphins: Wish You Well

7. Mastodon: Crack The Skye

6. Lotus Plaza: Floodlight Collective

5. From Exile: Monolith

4. Nomen Novum: Paradises

3. Untied States: Instant Everything, Constant Nothing

2. Atlas Sound: Logos

1. Nomen Novum: November

In the Atlanta music scene, 2009 was the year of Nomen Novum. While most musicians take a whole year to scrap together enough decent songs to fill a good EP, the prolific Nomen Novum were able to drop two virtually perfect full-lengths, plus a great live EP, and they’re already posting new stuff to their myspace.

Although, all five records at the top of my list were legitimate contenders for Atlanta album of the year, and I would have probably been content with any ordering between them. The other 3 records to round out my top 5 each happened to be crafted over about 2 years, and the extra time and care in putting them together just right payed off. A big mistake I notice younger bands make is trying to push out a record too quickly on some arbitrary time scale and in the end get stuck with something that is less than what they are capable of producing. Atlas Sound, Untied States, and From Exile all spent more time than they probably wanted to on their respective albums, but the extra effort was well worth it in the end.

Looking back over this list after I finished it, I noticed that it is almost entirely dominated by veterans of the scene, and mostly by artists I was already familiar with before starting this blog. There is only one true first recording from its respective musicians to make the list. If I were to make a “Best Atlanta Artists of the Decade” shortlist, most of those artists would have an album included on this list, so I feel like it is a good snapshot of not just where the scene is at today, but where it has been heading for the latter part of the ’00s. There is so much diversity in sound and so much talent in this city, and if you have any interest at all in Atlanta’s music scene, don’t let anything on this list slip by you, because all twenty are well worth giving a listen.

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Atlas Sound, Best of 2009, Club Awesome, Deerhunter, From Exile, Harken The Hands Askew, Jungol, Lee Harvey Oswald, Lotus Plaza, Mastodon, Nomen Novum, Noot D' Noot, Slushco, Sound On Film, Tealights, The Orphins, The Selmanaires, Thy Mighty Contract, Untied States

Before I begin awarding the sounds of 2009, I wanted to give a little props to the best eye-candy I’ve seen. These ten videos clearly stood out to me above the rest of this year’s offerings. They are definitely all a million times better than that garbage from Beyonce and Taylor Swift. So, enjoy:

10. Of Montreal: “An Eluardian Instance”

This video has just got a really nice, fun vibe to it. The special effects are utilized just right and the whole thing matches up with the music beautifully.

9. Untied States: “Unsilvered Mirrors”

There are so many neat little video tricks in this one and the whole thing captures the mood of the song expertly. I love when it snaps into the end section with the band playing.

8. St. Vincent: “The Strangers” Lake Fever Session

This video wins solely on the rarity of capturing St. Vincent playing an acoustic, stripped down version of one of the year’s best songs. Totally gorgeous.

7. The Flaming Lips: “Watching the Planets”

Yeasayer tried their best to up the ante on nudity with their recent experimental video, but having a clothing-less mob feeding a naked Wayne Coyne to a vagina monster pretty much trumps anything. Warning, it’s very NSFW.

6. Mastodon: “Divinations”

I loved Mastodon‘s science fiction video for “Oblivion” too, but this one got the edge due to how brutal Brent Hinds is as a caveman.

5. Clues: “You Have My Eyes Now”

This one is just simply hilarious.

4. Grizzly Bear: “Ready, Able”

Grizzly Bear have a ton of amazing videos this year, both official and fan made. But this weird claymation vid is easily my favourite.

3. Here We Go Magic: “Fangela” Black Cab Session

Taking bands and having them perform stripped down versions of their songs in various settings is all the rage these days, and one of the best in the business right now are the Black Cab Sessions. This version of “Fangela” is just pure magic.

Here we go magic from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

2. Bibio: “Top Soil”

Bibio has such a distinct sound, and this video matches his audio style with the perfect visual enhancements.

1. Thy Mighty Contract: “Conjugal Freelance”

I laugh my ass off every time I watch this. I absolutely love everything about this video and it was an easy choice for my best of the year.