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Stickfigure 2009 Showcase

My favourite local record label just recently announced the line-up of their 2009 showcase going down in January at The Drunken Unicorn. Stickfigure’s roster is stuffed full of talented artists who never compromise their original vision, even if their avant-garde, experimental approaches don’t necessarily lead them to mass popularity, and you know that is what we love around here at Ohmpark. This year’s installment is looking great, and I’m especially excited about the Thursday “Ladies Night” show. You can check out our coverage of last year’s Stickfigure showcase here. Also, don’t forget to check out the Stickfigure show December 20th at WonderRoot with Sorry No Ferrari, Graboids, Sound On Film, and Champagne Summer.

Wednesday, January 21:

Sorry No Ferrari
Sick Figures
The Subliminator
Harken The Hands Askew

Thursday, January 22:

Strezo (CD Release Show)
Tealights
Envie
Nerdkween

Friday, January 23:

Antic Clay
Retconned Cover Band
Backseat Dreamer
Warning Lights

Saturday. January 24:

The Feeding Fingers (CD Release Show)
Entertainment
Tenth To The Moon
Lid Emba

Stickfigure website

Live Videos: Sian Alice Group, All The Saints (10/18/08) Drunken Unicorn


Sian Alice Group

Ever since catching this show last month, I have been re-obsessed with both of these bands’ latest albums. I’ve talked about Atlanta’s All The Saints several times, but for those who haven’t jumped on the bandwagon with me yet, check this video out:



I realized I hadn’t posted much about Sian Alice Groups‘ album, 59′59, so here are a few tracks from it followed up with a couple live videos from this show:

Sian Alice Group : As The Morning Light

Sian Alice Group : Contours

See all of Clint Miller’s photos from the show here.


All The Saints

An Atlanta Mp3 Trilogy: Parade, Gold Standard, Backseat Dreamer


Parade @ Criminal Records (6/17/07)

Parade was one of the first discoveries I made when I seriously started looking into the Atlanta music scene. From the beginning, they had this amazing command of pop sensibilities combined with a deep avant-garde streak, a duality I cherish in all of my favourite artists. I’ve always associated them with the most positive connotations of the word “potential”, and getting to watch them mature between albums and the many house shows they had done for me was almost like watching a child grow into adulthood. They may have not achieved the level of popularity they deserved before breaking up earlier this year, but their final album is a testament to the brilliance of what I consider to be one of Atlanta’s best bands to emerge this decade. Ghosts is available for free on their myspace, so go get it:

Parade : Rocking Chair

Parade myspace


Another ATL group that met their demise too soon was Blame Game. Luckily former members who still live here have been active with about a bajillion other projects. The newest I have learned about is called Gold Standard featuring ex-Blame Gamers George Asimakos and Chris Ware teamed up with Lee Corum (Lay Down Mains, Some Soviet Station). They will be releasing a full-length album and doing shows next year, but for now they just posted two songs on their myspace page recorded off one mic. They sound really good, and here is one of them:

Gold Standard : Motor Skills Are Hard To Control

Gold Standard myspace


Finally, no matter how many great bands call it quits, there will always be new blood eager to take up the mantle. Backseat Dreamer, aka Sean Neuse, entered the game last month with his debut EP, Love Not Found. The almost seventeen minute release from Stickfigure feels like a sketch book full of works that aim somewhere between Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine. This first glimpse of what Backseat Dreamer can achieve is so successful and compelling, and I’m excited about the prospects of a full-length heading our way early next year. Pick it up:

Backseat Dreamer : I Don’t Feel It

Buy Love Not Found

What Up In The ATL?

This is one of the last big weeks for shows this year, and the biggest show is Broken Social Scene Wednesday night at Variety Plahouse. Tickets were still available at the time of this post, but I would suspect this will sell out at any moment. Friday has a ton of great concerts, but I highly recommend catching Castanets at The Drunken Unicorn. And while I rarely mention Athens shows in my listings, the Danielson show at the 40 Watt eclipses anything else going on in this state Saturday night.

Best Shows in Atlanta November 17 - 23:

Tuesday:

Fag Static, The Sunglasses, Drunkdriver, Skin Problems, High Marks @ WonderRoot

Wednesday:

Broken Social Scene, Land Of Talk @ Variety Playhouse

Thursday:

Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3), Long Knives @ The Earl

Friday:

Miles Benjamin Anthony Johnson, Castanets, The Meeks Family @ Drunken Unicorn

Noot D’ Noot, All The Saints, Coathangers @ The Earl

Dropsonic, Lay Down Mains, Whores @ Star Bar

Dragonforce @ The Tabernacle

King Khan & BBQ Show, The N.E.C., Barberries @ Lenny’s

Saturday:

Quintron And Miss Pussycat, Carbonas, Hawks @ Eyedrum

Danielson @ 40 Watt (Athens, GA)

Sunday:

Subtle, Zach Hill (Hella, Marnie Stern), Lyonnais @ The Earl


Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene) : Cocaine Skin
Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene) : Love Is New
Danielson : Animal In Every Corner
Castanets : Glory B
Zach Hill : Toll Road
Neil Halstead : Oh Mighty Engine

Snowden & Twin Tigers Holiday Season Tour


Snowden @ Corndogorama

Two local bands I heart are teaming up for some touring action to bring you holiday cheer: Atlanta’s Snowden and Athens’ Twin Tigers. Snowden are playing this Soap Box Derby thing going on Saturday at Starlite Drive-in, so for more details on that, click on the flyer below.

Snowden & Twin Tigers Tour Dates:

Dec 2 - Washington, DC @ DC9
Dec 3 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
Dec 4 - Brooklyn, NY @ Southpaw
Dec 6 - Wilmington, NC @ Soapbox Laundro Lounge
Dec 8 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits
Dec 9 - Tampa, FL @ Crowbar
Dec 10 - Orlando, FL @ Back Booth
Dec 11 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Respectable Street
Dec 13 - Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree

Snowden Tour Dates:

Nov 15 - Atlanta Downhill Challenge- Soapbox Derby @ Starlight Cinema
Nov 29 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Dec 1 - Raleigh, NC @ Duke University

Twin Tigers Tour Dates:

Nov 21 - Columbia, SC @ Hunter-Gatherer Brewery
Dec 5 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Night Light
Dec 12 - Atlanta, GA @ The Star Bar

Snowden : Between The Rent And Me
Twin Tigers : If

Snowden myspace
Twin Tigers myspace

The Fest 7: On The Road With Sorry No Ferrari

Gainesville, FL. November 1st-2nd, 2008

The weekend before last, I rode along with Atlanta instrumental rockers Sorry No Ferrari for their performance at The Fest, a punk music festival in Gainesville, Florida. I woke up very early Saturday morning after a long Halloween night to ride along with the three fourths of the band I didn’t really know, but between naps I had plenty of conversation with them about things including music, the history of the band, and barbecue. This was actually the first show with their new drummer, Jonathan Balsamo, so there was lots of getting to know each other between the band as well. We were trying to get to The Fest in time to catch fellow ATLiens Benard, but we got there a few moments too late. So we went to the biggest venue of the fest, which was a bit smaller than Variety Playhouse, to catch Atom & His Package. It was a one-man-punk-band who seems to be a pretty big deal in the punk universe, but very much not my thing.

After that we headed to a tiny venue called 1982 to catch the local Gainesville band whose house we were staying at, Giuseppe. The venue had lots of very old gaming systems hooked up to the TVs on the bar, so I played some Dr. Mario and drink PBRs with the SNF folks for a bit. Giuseppe took the small stage and rocked the house:

After that I jumped around to different venues to see some shows, but didn’t see anything too special. So I joined SNF for some food and drinks and drunken music discussions/debates. The band I was most excited about catching down here was Pegasuses XL, an Athens outfit with ties to We Versus The Shark, and they did not disappoint. I’ve really been enjoying their album, The Antiphon, and I will have more on that in a future post, but here is some eye candy from their epic live set:

Click here to read the entire post…

Dead Confederate Keep On Touring

Dead Confederate have had a busy, successful year but they just don’t stop rocking. They will be hitting up Austin this weekend for some Fun Fun Fun Fest afterparty action, and then will be hopping on tours with Apollo Sunshine and Manchester Orchestra. I just noticed they have a great blog. Go see these guys live:

Dead Confederate Tour Dates:

Nov 8 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk’s %
Nov 11 - Tuscon, AZ @ Plush $
Nov 12 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah $
Nov 13 - Las Vegas, NV @ Beauty Bar $
Nov 14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland $
Nov 15 - Visalia, CA @ The Cellar Door $
Nov 16 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent $
Nov 18 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge $
Nov 19 - Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey $
Nov 20 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux $
Nov 21 - Park City, UT @ Sidecar $
Nov 22 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge $
Nov 28 - Carborro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle #
Nov 29 - Nashville, TN @ Rockettown #
Nov 30 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House #
Dec 2 - Des Moines, IA @ The House Of Bricks #
Dec 3 - Chicago, IL @ Suberranean Lounge #
Dec 4 - Lansing, MI @ Mac’s #
Dec 5 - Akron, OH @ Musica #
Dec 6 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel #
Dec 7 - Philadelphia, PA @ North Star #
Dec 9 - Allston, MA @ Harper’s Ferry #
Dec 10 - Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s #
Dec 11 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar #
Dec 12 - Richmond, VA @ Canal Club #
Dec 13 - Wilmington, NC @ The Soapbox #
Dec 14 - Columbia, SC @ Headliners #
Dec 16 - Athens, GA @ 40 Watt #
Dec 17 - Orlando, FL @ The Social #
Dec 18 - Ybor City, FL @ Orpheum #
Dec 19 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits #
Dec 20 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse #
Dec 23 - Augusta, GA @ Sky City

% w/ White Denim
$ w/ Apollo Sunshine
# w/ Manchester Orchestra

Dead Confederate “The Wrecking Ball”:

Buy Wrecking Ball: [MP3] [CD]

An Atlanta Mp3 Trilogy (Gringo Star, All The Saints, Tealights)


Gringo Star @ Corndogorama 2008

Gringo Star released their debut full-length All Y’all yesterday, but I can’t seem to find a single place online to purchase it. Luckily I went to their record release show and snagged a copy there. I was curious about what direction their sound would go in post-A Fir-Ju Well, their former namesake. All Y’all sees them give up a bit of their psychedelia for a more in-fashion garage rock sound. I certainly don’t prefer that trend, but they pull it off so well that I can’t complain. Check it:

Gringo Star : Transmission

Gringo Star myspace


All The Saints @ The Earl (6/7/08)

All The Saints‘ debut album, Fire On Corrridor X has been released on their new label, Touch and Go. I already discussed this album earlier, but it is one of my favourite albums to come out of Atlanta all year so I figure it is worth revisiting. Some local publications around here have complained about Ben H. Allen’s production on this thing, but I think the production is one of the primary reasons this record stands out to me. I know that many other Atlanta bands have never heard of dynamics, but that’s a bad thing. I’m about to grab this one on vinyl and recommend you do the same:

All The Saints : Hornett

Buy Fire On Corridor X: [MP3] [CD] [LP]


Tealights @ Drunken Unicorn (10/9/08)

Tealights is the new project for three of the four members of the now defunct One Hand Loves The Other. I caught them live opening for Evangelicals and I thought they sounded great. They recently added Sorry No Ferrari guitarist Brett Kelly on drums, so I can’t wait to see how that sounds. They’ve posted some demos on their myspace, and while they are probably more sketches than finished products, they reveal a ton of potential from a new band figuring out their sound. Here’s my favourite so far:

Tealights : Passport (demo version)

Tealights myspace

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