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Straight to Video
Rock Art Rock
The Decemberists
September 19, 2009
Terminal 5, New York, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "The Decemberists played a special one night 'lottery show,' where the songs played were picked at random by a master of ceremonies, played by John Wesley Harding..."
Ra Ra Riot
April 4, 2009
Webster Hall, New York City, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "This show was, at the time, the biggest one Ra Ra Riot had sold out as headliners, and it was clear to me after watching it that the band is destined for even bigger and better things..."
Florence and the Machine
October 28, 2009
Bowery Ballroom, New York City, NY
By Amanda Hatfield "Florence Welsh and her backing band delighted and mesmerized a sold-out crowd at Bowery in her first official NY headlining show..."
Dirty Projectors
July 19, 2009
Williamsburg Waterfront (Brooklyn, NY)
By Amanda Hatfield "I was skeptical about how well Dirty Projectors' gorgeous, complex vocal harmonies would carry over outdoors, standing under hot sunshine..."
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Search results for: atlas sound
Your Handy Guide to the Month in Music
Wow, you guys, it’s already the time of year when people start saying things like, “Omigod, can you believe it’s already November?!?! This year has just flown by!” I never say things like that because I simply cannot fucking believe how time just crawls and crawls and crawls, but whatever. At least we have a new Vampire Weekend single, right? Happy Thanksgiving.
This Month’s Most Notable News Stories
Kanye West and Lady Gaga Cancel “Fame Kills” Tour
Just a couple weeks after pulling his most idiotic stunt yet, interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards to point out that, actually, Beyoncé probably should have won the award, and losing a pretty substantial number of the fans he still had left, word came that Kanye West and Lady Gaga had cancelled the “Fame Kills” tour that was planned to run from November through January. No official reason was ever given, but it seems unlikely that it wasn’t a direct result of the VMAs incident. I even like to think Lady Gaga pulled the plug on it herself, out of fear that public association with Kanye would be detrimental to her career (it would), which has been exploding of late. This has nothing to do with anything, but you guys should really watch her performance from Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago. Shit was bananas, and it’s becoming impossible not to like her.
Atlas Sound
Atlas Sound
Logos
(Kranky, 2009)
The promo version of Logos, the second full-length release in two years from Atlas Sound, comes with an explanation written by the album’s creator, Deerhunter frontman, Bradford Cox. Considering his prolific nature and the turmoil surrounding Logos (Cox accidentally leaked an unfinished and unmastered version of the album through his blog and lashed out at fans who downloaded it), it is understandable that Cox would want to define the album in his own words for the listener, to elucidate what sets it apart both from Deerhunter albums and from the rest of the Atlas Sound catalog, which, on top of the debut LP, includes several EP and split EP projects all recorded since 2006.
In his account, Cox revisits the controversy over the album’s leak, and explains that it nearly caused him to scrap the entire thing. But releasing an album so different in spirit from his previous work—the lyrics are decidedly non-autobiographical and the songs on Logos are inherently external reflections of the world rather than communications of Cox’s inner visions—was obviously cathartic for the musician.
Forward Music Festival in Madison, WI
Madison is a very confused place. Home to Wisconsin’s biggest party school and capital, Madison is a rural mecca that brags of its culture per capita, relies on its history of political activism for continued credit within the liberal community, and fosters an academic environment for some of the Midwest’s most intelligent pupils and some of the nation’s most severe fuckups. Madison is one of those locales that cannot be easily classified as a city, and its population is one of those demographics that cannot be easily deconstructed and categorized.
Forward Music Festival’s attendees, venues, and acts are even less conducive to generalizations. As the manifestation of five music aficionados’ aim to “[highlight] Madison, Wisconsin as the hub of the Midwestern music scene,” Forward Music Festival succeeded in drawing nascent and established acts from near and far this year. Headliners Atlas Sound, YACHT, Ra Ra Riot, Andrew Bird, and Wavves packed crowds into intimate venues over the weekend. While all headliners bonded over their large followings in the indie community, the opening bands spanned from Christian rock to electro karaoke. And, as expected, with a roster that encompassed over 100 bands, some performances were more noteworthy than others.
The Wars of 1812 was one of the noteworthy performances. With only a drummer, bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist, the group emitted mega energy. Hailing from Minneapolis, like many of the other newer bands at the festival, the Wars of 1812 crafted upbeat melodies with lulling vocals, frenetic percussion, and Dark Side of the Moon-minded chords for an audience that ranged from age six to 60. In homage to the Beatles, whom the group pinpoints as their main influence, their set ranged from psych-folk to pop-rock to somber ballads and, like the Beatles, the Wars of 1812 had their quirks. I experienced their eccentricity up close when I caught up with frontman Peter Pisano after their set. “It’s actually possible to sit down and write music that’s so full of shit, people will actually listen to it,” he said, “and that has been my philosophy for the past three years.” And while the Wars of 1812 recognize the fickle nature of the music biz, headliners Wavves were unable to transcend their own fickle nature during their set on Saturday night.
All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival 2009
All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival 2009
September 11-13 at Kutsher’s Country Resort in Monticello, NY
Friday—For many in attendance, the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival at the decrepit Kutsher’s Resort in Monticello, New York began Friday afternoon with the Feelies. Trekking up from New York City and beyond, the mobs were aiming for the band’s 4:45pm start time, to hear them play their seminal 1980 album Crazy Rhythms in its entirety. Reuniting erstwhile bands to perform their greatest records in their entirety is an ATP specialty, so the Feelies’ energetic redux, complete with jump kicks and flagrant cowbell use, was the perfect kickoff for the subversive, culture-packed three days to come. After sitting in with the Dirty Three on a showy white baby grand piano, Nick Cave mingled with fans in the resort’s shabby, drab lobby, his email-checking and cell phone use smashing our core beliefs that he lives in the 19th century. But while it’s a surprise to see Cave using technology, it was certainly no surprise to see it on full display during sets from Suicide and Panda Bear. The former played their ear-bashing eponymous first full-length, shattering the crowd with yelps and synth shellacking, and the latter hypnotically reinventing his older tracks and Animal Collective tracks alike while behind him videos ranging from topless roller coaster rides to inky psychedelic trips dashed by.
Meanwhile, on the subterranean second stage, comedy and poetry sardonically raged on; the sexy and delightfully perceptive poetry of Derrick Brown and his backing band the Navy Gravy setting the scene for Eugene Mirman’s insultingly loving Father’s Day Cards and David Cross’s affably clueless recounting of bread-making.
Deerhunter
Deerhunter
Rainwater Cassette Exchange
(Kranky, 2009)
Deerhunter is an oddity in the current landscape of What Is Now Indie. They play relatively static, Spacemen 3-inspired drone rock with less the weight and grandeur of du jour space metal like Isis or Sunn O))), but rather the dollar-bin post-Velvet-isms of the Stratford 4 and Unwound. A great thing really, as I’m not much for metal, but their problem is an affliction shared by many bands saddled with the expectations of Rockcrit 2.0—delivering on the cult of personality that’s the real reason you’ve heard of them. Despite some beautiful album art (Cryptograms), shocking titles (their self-titled debut album was alternately titled Turn It Up Faggot), solo indulgences (Atlas Sound, Lotus Plaza), and enough backstory to fill Jack Kerouac’s Benzedrine-operated quill, none of Deerhunter’s pre-2008 records are any good. Bradford Cox made love/hate waves with his incomprehensible Pitchfork reception, posting pictures of band members’ feces on the Deerhunter blog, picking fights with rock journalists, and generally making more memorable news than any tunes.
A provocateur in search of the full package, basically, he calmed down, apologized for his antics, reinstated an aghast guitar player, and turned out last year’s Microcastle—not only his first good record, but his first great one. Barring some dead air in the middle, the album’s numerous excellent moments rank with the best Yo La Tengo drones floating in syrup and lemon for a melted summer day, and finally delivering on the disturbing lyrics apropos of his psyche to match: Try “Agoraphobia”, which takes its title so literally that its protagonist wants to be buried and kept alive rather than face the world. Not everyone gets a second chance to prove they’re not a fraud—just ask Devendra Banhart. But Cox finally put up or shut up—established himself with humor and reason for being.
Your Handy Guide to the Month in Music
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April is, for me, never really about music. It’s about baseball season starting, it’s about the NHL playoffs, and it’s about the first few times I’m able to drink comfortably while sitting outside. But this year, it was also about swine flu, constant rain, and my favorite American Idol contestant being sent home long before she should have been. Also, my baseball team is 11 and 13, and my hockey team lost in the first round of the playoffs. So, goodbye, April. Glad to see you go.
This Month’s Most Notable News Stories
Spoon Books Its Own Music Festival
This wouldn’t seem quite so newsworthy if it had ever really happened before. Sure, between All Tomorrow’s Parties and even that one particular night of the Pitchfork Music Festival, there’s been a smattering of artist-curated events, but none have been quite this clearly the work of one band. The festival, called SPOONX3, is set to take place July 9-11 at the famous Stubb’s in the band’s hometown of Austin, Texas. Spoon themselves will be playing each night, and they’ve promised new material. With that much onstage time at their disposal, one could assume they’ll be playing a fair amount of older material as well. They’ll be joined by friends in Low, Atlas Sound, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the Strange Boys, and a few others. Fingers crossed for special guests. God knows they’ve got enough friends.
One Day on Tour in Explicit Detail
11:07am. I turned 25 last week and am aware that an adult like myself should feel guilty for waking up so late, but I don’t. Yesterday, I had to function on three hours of sleep. Sure, I got to nap for about two hours in the backseat after my driving shift was over, but van sleep, like airplane sleep or bus sleep, doesn’t count. I slip into the bathroom immediately after Norm exits and the room is still foggy from his shower. We are in Lansing, Michigan at the apartment of Jamie, who we met at our early show at Mac’s Bar last evening. She is a very clean individual who lives by herself and, as a result, her bathtub is pristine. I activate the plug and start pouring. Two minutes later, my body is submerged in a pool of barely-too-hot water. I am relaxed, as long as I can ignore the pastel box of cat feces four feet from my nostrils.
11:23am. We won’t see Jamie today, but she gave us free reign of her refrigerator, pantry, and DVD collection. When I leave the bathroom, Griffin is slathering cream cheese on a charred-ass bagel. “Just so you know,” he says, hovering over the toaster oven, “the setting ‘medium’ means ‘burnt.’” I heed his warning and enjoy a lightly toasted bagel while watching an episode of 30 Rock.
12:48pm. Griffin is driving and I am in the front seat. I try to read a few pages of the textbook for my online class on early American history, but the soothing NPR voices and stuffy warmness of the van’s foot-heater is winning a battle against my attention span for the Stamp Act. My eyelids sag.
A Very Fantastical 2008 Year End Extravaganza
Well, it’s time to look back through the musical events of 2008 and try to remember what the hell even happened. While rock magazines folded, music sites collapsed, a bunch of people got sued and/or shut down by the RIAA, and major labels are still relatively fuzzy on the details of how letting people hear music on their own terms might actually benefit their business model, somewhere in the midst of all this silly chaos, some music happened. Remember that stuff? It’s pretty good, especially for getting over all the bullshit life hands out.
So, that’s what this double issue is all about. There’s a ton of stuff to get through, but all in all we really cover a major portion of 2008. To celebrate another year gone by in the fastidious world of online music publishing, let’s kick things off with our own little handy rundown of topics of conversation that happened behind the scenes here at Crawdaddy! HQ.
Dukes Up: Modest Mouse vs. Wolf Parade
Without Modest Mouse, there would be no Wolf Parade. At least not the dripping-with-critic-slobber indie-rock juggernaut they’ve become.
Most Crawdaddy! readers probably know the story by now. Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock took a shining to Atlas Strategic, the British Columbia band that singer/guitarist Dan Boeckner played in before he moved to Montreal and helped form Wolf Parade. Acting as A&R rep, Brock signed Wolf Parade to Sub Pop in 2004 and produced much of their first album, Apologies to the Queen Mary.
The album was devoured by people like Pitchfork’s Brandon Stosuy, who gave it a ridiculous 9.2 and gushed, “In a few years, other folks will still remember where they were when they first heard Apologies to the Queen Mary.”
Free Music: Bradford Cox Offers Atlas Sound Virtual 7″
by: Jocelyn Hoppa
Seems like every other week this guy is releasing something or other. And it’s quite impressive considering how consistently good Cox’s musical output has been to date. This time comes the Virtual 7″ No. 7: Atlas Sound – Doctor b/w ‘The Screens.’
“The Screens” is a fuzzy, hip-shakin’ cover from the Brooklyn doo-wop band Five Discs. And “The Screens” is a meditative floater of a song featuring some harmonica during the intro and interludes, and what sounds like lazily tapped bongo drums that keep the song traipsing forward. Head over to his blog for the free download. read more
by: Jocelyn Hoppa
published: November 11, 2009 in column: What Goes On
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