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A Random Mp3 Trilogy (Castanets, Zach Hill, A Armada)
Castanets
I’ve begun compiling all the albums from this year I have yet to hear, but before I dive into that, I need to address the last few good albums I’ve already heard. The Castanets‘ newest, City Of Refuge, is a weird hodgepodge of electronic bleeps and sounds combined with emotional folk jams. The juxtaposition of seemingly contradictory musical ideas could result in a gimmicky feel in less capable hands, but the original avant-folk record written and recorded by Castanets’ Ray Raposa was tweaked with these digital overdubs by such big names as Sufjan Stevens, Jana Hunter, Scott Tuma, and Dawn Smithson (Sunn O)))). This album shouldn’t be missed and this song is killer:
Zach Hill
It took me a few listens to get into Zach Hill’s latest album because it doesn’t have much cohesiveness besides his unbelievable stick action. But this sonic kaleidoscope from the Hella drummer, Marnie Stern collaborator is one of epic proportions. The album features guest spots ranging from No Age to Les Claypool, so pretty much anyone who is a fan of music can find something to love here. The track I have for you is basically an eight minute drum solo from Hill, and it is ridiculous:
A Armada
Finally, when A Armada amazed me at Athfest earlier this summer, i picked up a copy of their debut EP, Anam Cara, and totally went bonkers for it. But, since the album wasn’t yet available to purchase anywhere but from the Athens band themselves, I decided to hold off talking about it until later. Well, you can now pick it up online, so you should really go do that. This Cinemechanica offshoot tackles instrumental post-rock and kicks it in the ass:
A Armada : If Only You Knew What The Lost Soldiers Did To Me
- Posted by Davy Minor on December 2, 2008 at 6:16 am
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Monday Night In The A: The Rosebuds
Last year I had bought The Rosebuds 2007 album called Night Of The Furies, but after casually listening to it once, I put the CD in a pile with lots of other CDs and I never stumbled across it again for about a year. Before I drove up to New York back in September of this year for ATP, I started going through my library looking for CDs to listen to in my vehicle due to the lack of digital media player options. I found Night Of The Furies and ended up jamming it again on my journey and really fell in love with it. It is interesting how listening to different media can determine what you choose to hear. I recently picked up their newest, Life Like, and while it has taken me a little while to warm up to it, I’m starting to fall for it too, so I’m excited about the show tonight. The bill is also stacked with two top notch openers, fellow Raleigh, NC’s The Love Language and Atlanta’s The Preakness. Pine Magazine posted an interview with The Rosebuds and here’s some audio and video to get you hyped up for tonight:
The Rosebuds : Night Of The Furies : Silja Line
The Rosebuds : Life Like : Nice Fox
The Rosebuds : Life Like : Another Way In
“Box Car”:
“Get Up Get Out” live:
- Posted by Davy Minor on December 1, 2008 at 6:54 am
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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
See all of Clint Miller’s photos from the show here.
All The Saints
- Posted by Davy Minor on November 26, 2008 at 4:49 pm
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On The Road: 2008 Is Ending Soon
It’s been a little quiet around here because I’m OTP at the beach for the week, but I’ve got some holiday posts coming soon. As 2008 draws to a close, it is time to put together my end of year lists. From the beginning, Ohmpark was primarily a music research project for myself, and these lists are the final culmination of that research. I strongly urge all of my readers to tell me the albums from this year that you love that I might not have covered because I want my lists to be as comprehensive as possible. Feel free to hit the comments of this post with your suggestions.
Much like I did last year when I headed to the beach for Turkey Day, I listened to a bunch of new albums on my way down here, so I’m going to go through them and talk about my first impressions of each. Before I started listening to new albums, though, I jammed some Deerhunter to get rolling. While Microcastle is certainly getting plenty of good hype around the web, I think the bonus disk, Weird Era, is getting a bit overlooked, because I like it as much, if not more, than Microcastle. It is great that on top of making such a perfect pop album they still gave a little something weirder for us Cryptograms fans. Here is a couple tracks from it I heart:
Next up I popped in the new Anathallo album called Canopy Glow, and it was so good I listened to twice in a row. I’m not sure how I overlooked this band up into now, but luckily the guys from Sorry No Ferrari turned me on to them when I went to Fest earlier this month. I’ll gush about Canopy Glow more later, but right this second I’d rather respond to Pitchfork’s lame review of it they posted yesterday. First, it is quite amusing to me that The Mars Volta has become the Anti-Christ to Pitchfork, and anytime they talk about a band they don’t like that can play more than 3 chords they invoke a TMV comparison. I really don’t hear much of a parallel except that both of these bands are clearly great. Also, they whine over and over how the singer from Anathallo sounds too much like Sufjan Stevens. Yes, their voices are a bit similar, but the vocalists from Fleet Foxes and Band Of Horses sound way more like Jim James than the guy from Anathallo sounds like Sufjan, and they sure love those cheap ripoff bands to death, so either get consistent or shut up and stop being a hater. Enjoy the new hottness:
Next up I listened to Final Fantasy’s Plays To Please EP, which is a tribute to some Canadian musician I’ve never heard. It was a nice listen, but nothing that wowed me like Owen Pallett normally does.
After that I listened to the latest album from The Notwist, The Devil, You + Me. It came out early this summer, but I never got around to it until now. This German band sounds really good and chill, and this album will be in my heavy rotation for a while:
The Notwist : Where In This World
The next two albums I tried were the newest from Ruby Isle and The Streets respectively. I didn’t like either one. I’ve never loved The Streets, but Mike Skinner’s lyrics have been pretty interesting most of the time. Unfortunately Eveything Is Borrowed seemed so boring and cliche. Ruby Isle seemed like music for 15 year old pre-ravers, and totally annoyed me. It sucks because I truly love all of the cover songs I’ve heard them do, but I just can’t get into their originals.
Finally, I finished my journey listening to the new Wilderness album, (k)no(w)here. At first I didn’t think I liked it, but by the time I finished the album I was fairly intrigued and then listened to it a few more times since. The vocalist is certainly an acquired taste, but once you can get beyond that, this album is pretty stellar. If you’re like me and you enjoy a challenging listen, this album will provide a just reward.
Ok, hit me up with your 2008 hottness!
- Posted by Davy Minor on November 25, 2008 at 7:57 pm
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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:
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
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
- Posted by Davy Minor on November 17, 2008 at 5:57 am
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A Random Mp3 Trilogy (Crystal Antlers, School Of Seven Bells, Cut Copy)
It seems “Crystal” has become the new “Wolf” as far as band names go, but the one band of that namesake that you can’t afford to miss is Crystal Antlers. I have been simply blown away by their recent release, EP. The album is produced by The Mars Volta keyboardist Ikey Owens, and he does a stellar job making this total psych-freakout rock record sound amazing. This is one of the best short-length albums to come out all year, so do not miss it:
Crystal Antlers : A Thousand Eyes
The M83 show tonight is bolstered by a great opener in School Of Seven Bells. Their debut album, Alpinisms, presents a soft, accessible, dance-groove brand of shoegaze that I think anyone can enjoy. You might remember that Ben Curtis left the Secret Machines last year to concentrate fully on this project, and considering that I listened to the new SM album last night and was not impressed, I think he made the right decision.
School Of Seven Bells : Half Asleep
Finally, Cut Copy have announced a spring tour and will be at The Maquerade here in Atlanta March 26 with Matt & Kim. I have sort of overlooked these guys this year, but they’re newest album In Ghost Colours is really good, so if you haven’t taken a look into these Australian dance-punkers, it is time:
Buy In Ghost Colours: [MP3] [CD]
- Posted by Davy Minor on November 11, 2008 at 5:50 pm
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What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?
I’ve never paid much attention to record labels or kept track of what bands were on what rosters. But lately I keep noticing parallels between bands and then discovering they are on the same label, so I’ve become much more interested in that stuff now. Two records in my heavy rotation took me a very long time to get my head around, because they are both quite a departure from each bands’ previous album in terms of structure. Both records have been mostly dissed by the majority of reviews they have received, and all of these negative reviews seem to concentrate on the writer’s personal taste preferences rather than an objective discussion of the album’s quality. I think if you come to both of these records with no preconceptions of how you want the band to sound, you’ll find two of the most ambitious and successful records to come out so far this year. Also, both were released on Polyvinyl:
Of Montreal (Athens ,GA)
I remember Kevin Barnes talking about Skeletal Lamping last year and describing it as an album with about a hundred one minute songs, and I wondered how that might turn out. The ridiculously schizophrenic result has been too much to handle for the critics who think every album has to be crafted in the same, cohesive, boring fashion as everything else. For me, the tumultuous sonic journey complete with hilariously clever lyrics make for one of the most interesting pieces of work to come out in a long time. There is nothing I enjoy more than a band that takes big chances with their creative decisions and then have the ability to pull them off flawlessly. Here are the first two tracks:
Of Montreal : Nonpareil Of Favor
31 Knots (Portland, OR)
I’m really tired of the consensus among music journalist elites that an album can’t be good if it is negative and serious. Irony is cool and all, but I didn’t get the memo that everything not soaking in it sucks. There are many reviews ripping on 31 Knots‘ newest LP, Worried Well, but none of them actual address faults with the music, but rather complain about the lyrical content. Nothing bothers me more than when critics want to dismiss an entire piece of art simply because they don’t agree with the message the artist is trying to communicate. If you are above such petty hang ups, and “prog” isn’t a dirty word to you, I think you’ll find this album incredible:
31 Knots : Something Up There This Way Comes
31 Knots : Worried But Not Well
- Posted by Davy Minor on November 10, 2008 at 7:09 pm
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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:
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:
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)
- Posted by Davy Minor on November 5, 2008 at 12:24 pm
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