Brazos:

CONTINUE READING Photos: White Denim, Brazos, Howlies @ The Earl (11/18/09) (2 words)

© Kevin Griggs for Ohmpark, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Brazos, Howlies, The Earl, White Denim

It looks like Broken Social Scene family member Do Make Say Think have created yet another fantastic post-rock record. Other Truths is comprised of four long, primarily instrumental tracks named “Do”, “Make”, “Say”, and “Think”. With the coming of this album, I think it is hard to deny that DMST are one of the best ever in this genre, right up there with acts like Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, and Godspeed You Black Emperor. This band is pretty much amazing and you would be a fool to overlook this newest release:

Do Make Say Think : Do

Buy Other Truths

Do Make Say Think myspace

Fits, the new record from Austin’s White Denim, has been circulating the internets for months, but it finally became available to purchase last week. This dynamic trio has the chops to take on any jammer or shredder, the psychedelic aptitude of a sheet of acid, and the songwriting precision that rarely accompanies those previously described traits. Fits is the sort of record that will appeal both to hipsters as well as old timers that think good music stopped getting made in the ’70s, and that is quite a feat. Here’s a taste:

White Denim : Syncn

Buy Fits

White Denim myspace

Ever since blowing up with Illinoise, Sufjan Stevens has been content to hang back and do guest spots and Christmas covers for this latter half of the decade. And while it appears that may not change anytime soon, he has at least finally released an epic enough piece of music to satisfy us fans for a moment. I’m not versed in knowledge of classical music, but I think this ode to The Brooklyn Queens Expressway, an instrumental album called The BQE, is pretty damn good. This track isn’t exactly representative of the album, but it’s one of my favourites from it:

Sufjan Stevens : Movement IV: Traffic Shock

Buy The BQE

Sufjan Stevens myspace

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Do Make Say Think, Sufjan Stevens, White Denim

The phenomenal anti-folk lyricist Jeffrey Lewis was one of the best discoveries I made during the 2008 blogging season. This newest release with a backing band going by the name of The Junkyard sees him continuing to move away from the increasingly overcrowded lo-fi world and learning to get more multi-dimensional. There are a few oldies repackaged, but there are plenty of new gems as well that I am loving. I think this is a perfect entry point for someone new to Lewis, so if you haven’t hipped to him yet, now is the time:

Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard : Roll Bus Roll

Buy ‘Em Are I

Jeffrey Lewis myspace

Tortoise @ ATP NY 2008

Tortoise‘s new album called Beacons Of Ancestorship comes out June 23rd. Stereogum premiered the first track from it today and if it is representative of the entire album, this thing is going to be fabulous.. The song starts out as a nice, laid back chiller and then picks up the momentum about halfway through. You never know what to expect when a band takes five years to produce another album, but I’ve got a feeling we’re going to hear one of the greatest bands of the last two decades revitalized and reinvigorated. Check it out:

Tortoise : High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In

Tortoise myspace

White Denim @ SXSW 2009

I noticed when I caught White Denim live at SXSW earlier this year that they were farther towards the psychedelic jambandish side of things than their previous studio work would suggest. I had assumed they let the songs loose more in the live setting, but maybe the band has just moved in that direction as the first single from their next album feels similarly sprawling. Bands like White Denim, Akron/Family, and Crystal Antlers are doing a really great job of finding some weird nexus point between hippie and hipster, and I really dig it. White Denim are looking for a US label right but the new record, Fits, comes out overseas next month:

White Denim : Mirrored And Reversed

Buy Exposion (2008)

White Denim myspace

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jeffrey Lewis, Tortoise, White Denim

All photos by Clint Miller

The three of us that embarked on this road trip a week ago have been hitting it hard everyday and after staying up until nearly dawn Thursday night, we had to catch up a little it on sleep. So unfortunately we almost completely missed Friday’s day parties. We did, though, make it to the Asthmatic Kitty showcase just in enough time to catch DM Stith. This day party was very much in the peripheral of the where the main SXSW action was, and there was only a small, comfortable crowd for this one. They played in a garage of some art center, and the vibe reminded me of WonderRoot. I have been listening to DM Stith‘s full-length, Heavy Ghost, like crazy for the last week so this was a show I was very excited about. The album seems to possess a lot of instrumentation and production tricks, so I was skeptical as to how good he could reproduce the songs live, but with a fairly minimalistic 3-piece setup, he played his stuff beautifully.

After that I walked around the area near that day party and checked out a few others nearby. I caught a little bit of The Mae Shi at some interesting venue that had an outdoor roller skating rink and while they were playing, the crowd surrounded them with a big parachute looking thing that the band played under. It was a cool scene, and I think I’m coming back to this venue for something again later today.

After that we headed to the Radio Room where our choice of showcase for the night. First up we caught Micah P. Hinson. I listened to one of his albums one the way to Texas and it was pretty cool. He seemed to have a ton of technical difficulties for this show, and while it didn’t really match up to what i heard of his studio work, I did enjoy the set. His clothing was a hodgepodge of clashing styles, and it paralleled his music. He would go from a Texas sort of country to loud noise jams at the drop of a hat.

CONTINUE READING SXSW Day 3 (Friday): School Of Seven Bands (548 words)

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Deastro, DM Stith, Mae Shi, Micah P Hinson, Rolo Tomassi, School Of Seven Bells, SXSW, SXSW 2009, White Denim

Wolf Parade : California Dreamer

Wolf Parade : Call It A Ritual

Wolf Parade myspace

Buy At Mount Zoomer

White Denim : Don’t Look That Way At It

White Denim : WDA

White Denim myspace

Buy Exposion

Flying Lotus : Beginners Falafel

Flying Lotus : GNG BNG

Flying Lotus myspace

Buy Los Angeles

© Davy Minor for Ohmpark, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Flying Lotus, What The Hell, White Denim, Wolf Parade