Show Worthy 7/27 - 8/2

Benjamin Nelson on Rare Frequency via
Monday, July 27
Benjamin Nelson & Brandon Terzakis at Weirdo Records (donate, 8:00, all ages)
Nelson + Terzakis = prepared guitar + chord organ = sign me the fuck up


Quits
Friday, July 31
Magic People, Life Partners, Quits at Jacques Cabaret ($10, 8:30, 21+)
Magic People are fucking weird. But in a totally awesome way. Industrial minimal punk doom with a dose of hilariously absurd lyrics. Not too sure about Life Partners... But Quits are Wayne Rogers and Kate Village from Major Stars plus some crazy man on drums and they just fucking shred. No songs. Just insane psych meltdowns. Also, Kim Phuc might be playing?



Andrew Eckel via
Saturday, August 1
Andrew Eckel, Steve Walther at Lilypad ($10, 7:00, all ages)
Remember Eckel? The guy that did the crazy ass Make A Laser Sound? Now you can see that wacky shit live and I can pretty much guarantee that his live show will be just as awesome as the record. He'll be playing piano and joined by Jonah Sacks on cello and Louisson playing bass.



Max Lord by Jane Wang via
Saturday, August 1
Graveyards, Greg Kelley & Jason Lescalleet, Ghost Grass at Wire Sounds (donate?, 8:00, all ages)
I think Graveyards is normally John Olson, Chris Riggs, and Ben Hall but this incarnation includes Vic Rawlings on cello/electronics. Kelley & Lescalleet do amazing trumpet/tape stuff. And Ghost Grass is Max Lord, who's hosting the show at his loft in Downtown Crossing. He does awesome electronics shit with all sorts of crazy synthesizers and whatnot. This show is going to be killer. I know there's a lot of other things going on Saturday night but I think this one is where all the cool kids will be.




Saturday, August 1
Friends Forever Fest at Chatham Village Hall ($5, 4:00, all ages)
If you're going to be anywhere near South Chatham on Saturday, there's an awesome little fest going down with a bunch of cool bands. Totally worth it just for Animal Hopistal and Peace, Loving but there's also Total Bolsheviks (ambient coolness), Dead Rambler (folk/haunting/acoustic/etc), Brava Spectre (screechy psych nasty tribal stuff), Western Syndrome (high speed brutal punk metal), and The Zookeepers (totally awesome catchy indie pop with a free album). Lots of fun should be had. 3 rules though. "No drinks. No dope. No bad vibes." Easy enough, right?



Sore Eros via
Sunday, August 2
Sore Eros, Eat Cloud, Youngest at Great Scott ($8, 9:00, 18+)
Ducktails and Oneohtrix Point Never were originally scheduled for this show which would have made it 100% epic. They hand to cancel for whatever reason but this show is still mostly epic. All the info for the new lineup is somewhere on Lemmingtrail which at the moment is switching servers so I can't give you all the details. I know a Prince Rama side project is supposed to play, and that may or may not be Youngest. But Sore Eros is super great chill stuff from CT and Eat Cloud does hypnotic poppy electronics from Providence. So this show is still gonna rule. And there's also a little daytime thing happening around the corner at O'Brien's with Station Wagon and Kilojoule around 2:00 for $5. I think they're trying to incorporate both shows into one "event." Kinda weird but whatever. That just means more good tunes.
Update: Prince Rama side project is Prince Llama, features members of Prince Rama, Concord Ballet Orchestra Players, more. Also, Coralcola has been added. Fuck yeah dude. This shit just got real.

Haiku Review: Memory Cassette - Calls & Responses EP (Acephale, 2009)

Memory Cassette - Last One Awake (Friend Version)


Memory Cassette
Calls & Responses EP (download)
/super blog buzz band/
/puts out free remix ep/
/lights up, crowd goes wild/

MP3: Coralcola - Egggirl

Coralcola - Egggirl


Remember Coralcola? The dude from Worcester that gave us that awesomely free 747 EP? Well, in addition to making sweet summer mixtapes and remixing The Pandas and Universal Studios Florida, he's got an all new dreamy dance jam for you to devour. "Egggirl" is a 10 minute blissful beat filled techno epic that has pretty much been on repeat ever since it arrive in my inbox. It sounds a bit like The Field except maybe not quite as lush. Or Swedish. This will probably end up on a new EP come fall so if you're craving more (which you should be 'cause it's fucking great), thankfully you don't have that long to wait.

Video: Bark Bark Bark - I'm Needy (Milk:Blood RMX)

Here's another one of those videos with appropriated film and cheapo digital effects but this one's much better than the rest. For one, part of the song has the castle music from Mario. For two, the footage is mostly stuff from those "Best Car Chases" shows mixed with stuff like booty shakin and the Hindenburg. For five, the FX aren't lame. For eleven, the song is totally bitchin.

Chill

My little sister is up visiting me for a few days so you're just gonna have to wait until she leaves before I get back to regular posting. We'll be busy playing Guitar Hero and eating pizza because I'm such a cool brother.

Homegrown Fest at Church

I was only able to go to the second night of the Homegrown Fest at Church but I'm OK with that. You know why? Because that night had one of the best lineups I've ever seen. Fucking ridiculously awesome. Because so many bands played and I could easily write a whole review for each set, I'm just going to post the pictures I took coupled with what I wrote on Twitter immediately after each performance. There are more photos on my Flickr page if you're into that sorta thing.

Gary War
"Gary war just played good clues. I am happy."


Magic People
"Magic people just played a very short but killer set to a surprisingly unappreciative audience."


Reports
"Who knew reports were so awesome. I sure didnt."


Quits
"Quits just fucking lit my face on fire and melted my brain."


Infinity Window
"Once infinity window finished i realized that i think i forgot to breathe the whole time."


Bobb Trimble & The Flying Spiders
"Holy shit gary war just played with bobb trimble. Coolest thing ever. Except bobbs guitar. Wooden with oak leaves carved in it."

Then once I got home...

"So Gary War played with Bobb Trimble because he's an official member of The Flying Spiders. Nice. Thanks internet!!"


Sightings
"Sightings were painfully amazing to watch."

Show Worthy 7/20 - 7/26

Monday, July 20
Black Beauty at Weirdo Records (donate, 8:00, all ages)
OK, so here's what I got. Black Beauty is Josh Friedman. He is from Vermont. He plays guitar. Heavy psych guitar a la Blue Cheer. He may have worked at Weirdo Records before. And somehow, with all of that information, I can't find a single site maintained by him or his project Black Beauty. But whatever. Sounds cool.
Update: Check the comments for a bit more accurate info on Black Beauty. Thanks, Angela!



Karlheinz at The Piano Factory
Tuesday, July 21
Neckhold, Sharpwaist, Karlheinz at O'Brien's ($6, 9:00, 21+)
This show is going to be fucking brutal. Power electronics destruction all around. Neckhold's from Australia so this is a very special show. Also, The Vomit Arsonist may or may not be playing. But fuck, everyone else could cancel and you should still go because Neckhold is fucking awesome.



Pineapple Explode via
Tuesday, July 21 / Wednesday, July 22
Pineapple Explode at PA's Lounge with Young Mammals, Battle House, Thief Thief (Tuesday) / at Outpost 186 (Wednesday) / at All Asia headlining Open Mic Night (Wednesday)
In case you're not picking up what I'm putting down, you should get your ass out and see Pineapple Explode. They're wonderful folk acoustic stuff with banjos, accordions, and ukuleles. I would recommend seeing them with Thief Thief etc at PA's 'cause that lineup is intense but that's the same night as Neckhold so... tough decision. But you have THREE chances to see them. I don't want any excuses.



Oneida via asphaltstadt
Saturday, July 25
Oneida, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Big Bear at Outside The Lines Studio ($10?, 7:00, all ages)
Sweet Jesus this is one killer lineup. The epically impressive Oneida is fresh off their recent 3xCD release Rated O that's only one part of a goddamn trilogy. Sunburned is just Sunburned. Ya love 'em or ya hate 'em. I'm still not sure where I stand. I think a live performance would push me one way or another. And thee mighty Big Bear is opening, back from their short tour with Child Bite supporting their new 7" split. By the way, please check out Oneida's website. It's beautiful and that cellular animation thing on the left is just so fucking cool.



Torche by Jana Miller via
Saturday, July 25
Harvey Milk, Torche, Cable at The Middle East Downstairs ($12, 8:00, 18+)
Harvey Milk rules. Torche rules even more. Why the FUCK did this show have to be the same night as Oneida?

Haiku Review: Sonolmoss - Imaginetically (Decimal.One, 2009)

Sonolmoss - Sourda
Link removed

Sonolmoss
Imaginetically (download)
/electro hip hop/
/lush, chill, like postal service/
/bob your head, don't dance/

Katchmare - Hand In The Water (Scissor Death, 2009)

Katchmare - Icy Masters


Katchmare (aka Nick Hoffman) is a mostly new-to-me name. A while back I picked up a split tape he did with Ophibre on Tape Drift that was pretty awesome. For some reason, I never reviewed it. Go figure. Anyway, I liked his side quite a bit but never did a whole lot of research on the guy. Then I found out he's got a new double tape release on Scissor Death called Hand In The Water.

The first tape has two "rejected studio compositions" that got un-rejected and made it onto this new offering. Have no fear, though. These songs are absolutely deserving of an official release and worthy for your listening pleasure. Both pieces, "Icy Masters" & "Holy Dread," are like an enormous seemingly blank canvas painted with disappearing ink. Plenty of tape hiss and background noise that has no physical substance. But when you hold it in the right light, haunting tones make their way into your ear canals. There is the occasional aural barrage, with sounds like a broken robot typewriter stuck on a single key, repeating for an entire minute or waves of backwards tape coming in and out of focus.

The second tape was recorded live at Elastic Arts in Chicago and both sides have the same title: "April 13, 2009." The A side starts with what I can only assume was the house music, some jazzy old school lounge tune. I love how that wasn't edited out because what Katchmare plays afterwards is so far from the house music that it's not even funny. If Hoffman was performing in a venue that plays that kind of lounge music regularly, I can only imagine the type of audience he had. Luckily, the crowd (if there is one) is mostly silent, though perhaps only due to sheer terror and/or confusion.

This live piece has much more of an actual foundation than the studio recorded ones. It starts out with dark, thick, rumbling drones that give way for shrill tones that are highly abrasive. Like steel wool lasers cleaning out your ears. They dance the line of "how long will these people take this" but fortunately they're never sustained for a long enough time to permanently damage you or anything. And right before the 9 minute mark, it explodes. Briefly. It's a contained explosion that immediately collapses in on itself before it destroys it's creator. Then there's some mild-in-comparison industrial construction for a couple of minutes before the tape ends. Flip it over.

Those shrill notes at the beginning of the live performance are made out to be soothing lullabies compared to how the B side starts. Higher, longer, more scratchy, wobbly, diamond cutting shrieks that I can only assume cross most people's threshold of enjoyment and tolerance level. But just because you made it this far doesn't mean you can handle the rest. It's all thunder and lightning for the rest of the show. Stretched out dentist drill drones, bursts of jackhammers and nail guns, tons of stuff not for the faint of heart. But if you can make it through, you're all the better for it. As Calvin's Dad would say, "It builds character."

Gregg Kowalsky - Tape Chants (Kranky, 2009)

Gregg Kowalsky - IX


This album is called Tape Chants and you thought it wouldn't end up on this blog? Not a chance.

I almost feel like saying just that this is an album stuffed with lazy minimal textured tape drones and be done with it. There's really no point in beleaguering or persuading. If that phrase doesn't instantly make your nips hard, then there's no fucking way you're going to enjoy this album. The 20 minute centerpiece of organic inebriated soporific mind expansion is just gonna drive you fucking nuts with boredom. And the little minute long interludes are gonna pass right by you while you're thinking someone's breathing down your neck.

My concern numero uno however is where the fuck is the vinyl? CD only for a record like this? Come on Kranky, you're slacking.

The Idealist - I Am The Fire (Nosordo, 2006)

The Idealist - The Cranium


It sounds like capital punishment via an electric room, which would be similar to the electric chair except this room would be more like a Tesla laboratory and you'd die from lethal amounts static electricity.

Full review on diskant.

Goat Of Arms at Weirdo Records

I had no idea Goat Of Arms had such a following. When I went to Weirdo to see Steve Norton, there were only 6 people in the whole room. Last night when Goat Of Arms played it was the exact opposite. There must've been 20 to 30 bodies squished into this tiny closet sized record store along with a whole drum kit. It was very, um, intimate.

The band brought a large tray of chocolates that they handed out to the audience (which seemed to consist mostly of everyone who knew everyone else). There were also some Tofutti Cuties being passed around (peanut butter ftw!). Somebody brought their dog. It was more like a party or cookout with friends than a proper "concert." And that just made it all the more pleasant.

So Goat Of Arms are a girl/girl accordion/drum duo. Imagine an accordion accompanied to some percussion. That's pretty much what Goat Of Arms sounds like. It's nothing surprising or out of the ordinary. Not to dis their music or anything. They're fucking great. They play wonderfully charming minimal, slightly foreign sounding tunes that I haven't heard from the likes of anyone else (partially because they're the only accordion/drum duo I know of). It was entirely acoustic (anything else would've been madness) with most of the drums and cymbals having some sort of padding to soften the blow. The drummer would occasionally sing in Spanish, doing the whole aye-aye-aye yelping thing. It sounded like it had been a while since they last played live, with the sporadic slip-up in timing & synchronization and the periodical mis-starts but that all added to the semi-uncouth magic of the evening.

One of the highlights was halfway through their set, some kid walking by on the sidewalk shimmying his way through the front door to sneak one of the chocolates left right by the doorway. I don't know who he belonged to or how the hell he knew there was free chocolate inside. Everyone who noticed looked at each other completely baffled and incredulous. We silently laughed as the band continued playing, either not noticing or not caring. 'Twas a great night that you should've missed only if you went to Gay Gardens to see Animal Hospital et all.

Aaaand I picked up a copy of Dead Machines Plays Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. FUCK YEAH. Should have a review of that (plus all the backstock of vinyl I got piling up) once I get my stylus in the mail.

Big Bear, Child Bite, Ketman, The Gondoliers at PA's Lounge

Big Bear
Big Bear
Child Bite
Child Bite
The Gondoliers

More photos on Flickr.


Big Bear and Child Bite put out a split 7" (green vinyl with killer artwork and it's only 4 bucks, fucking buy it already) and this was the record release show. It was also the beginning of their tour together. Aaaand if you went to this show, you got a free copy of the 7". Fuck. YES. Nothing so sweet as the words "free Big Bear 7"."

Anyway, The Gondoliers kicked the show off. Normally I'm not a big fan of bands with gimmicks, unless those gimmicks are awesome (The Locust, Harry & The Potters). The Gondoliers have been added to that list of exceptions. They were two guys on drums and guitar (with a shit ton of pedals), wore all white clothes, pitch black shades with words written on them (one said "Never" the other said "Quit!"), and kingly crowns that lit up. Of course, all the lights were turned out in the place, forcing them to play by halo-light. They didn't utter a single word to the audience. Instead, in between every few songs they had a computer recite in a Speak-N-Spell type voice little speeches they wrote that said something about how the governing party of The Gondoliers were not up for re-election and how even though they were quitting, it wasn't actually like quitting because they were letting Big Bear and Child Bite get their thing done (aka Palin's dumbass shit). Well, their shtick really got to me and I thought they were great. Not to mention their ridiculously awesome music. It wasn't anything super original but they did the math rock/sludge/metal/pop thing really well. Kinda reminded me if Torche was a duo and really into Don Cab. So it was pretty fucking great.

I skipped out for a bit and didn't see Ketman. Not that I'm all that disappointed. They're not really my kinda thing anyway.

Child Bite was up next and although I'd heard plenty about them and their "next big thing" status, I hadn't actually heard anything of theirs before I went to this show. I really enjoyed them. They had tons of energy to match their mostly-danceable punk rock fun. The bassist looked like a metal mix of Cheech and Chong and had massive hair that could not be contained by his hat. For some reason, he kept putting his hat back on and no matter how many times he did, his repeated head banging knocked it right off again. Kind of hilarious to watch. Also hilarious? The guitar/joystick solo duel. The lead singer had an arcade style joystick hooked up so it made crazy electronic sounds whenever you moved it around and pressed buttons. Kinda cheesy, mostly awesome.

And to finish off the night, Big Bear slayed, as always. This was the first time I'd seen them live where I was standing in front of Joanna playing the keyboard so it was weird to actually hear her. For some reason I always end up in front of Joel and all I can ever hear is his crazy guitar. Not at this show. They played 3 new songs (new as in not on their brand new record, which is self released and now available at their shows and you should buy because it's fucking great and you've been waiting years for it to come out). Those 3 new ones kind of sound like Big Bear's take on pop music. Which is fucking weird as shit and makes me think that Big Bear isn't quite as big as they used to be. If they keep heading in this direction, they'll end up being Regular Sized Bear. Which is fine by me. I love bears of all sizes. And their new sound is still awesome stop-n-start loudness.

Like I said, they just started their tour together so if they're coming your way, you best get out and see them. I'm fortunate because I get to see Big Bear pretty much whenever I want. You might not be so lucky. So take the chance to see them. And buy their new album and 7". Great stuff all around, I assure you.

Show Worthy 7/13 - 7/19

Monday, July 13
Animal Hospital, Truman Peyote, Our Brother The Native, Religious Girls at Gay Gardens (donate, 8:00, all ages)
Whoa this is a crazy awesome show. Animal Hospital & Truman Peyote are representing some of Boston's best accessible experimental (in a good way). Our Brother The Native and Religious Girls are on tour together and Fat Cat Records who saw OBTN at Death By Audio the other night said they were "rib achingly loud." Both OBTN and Religious Girls have that new ambient noise tribal dance stuff that you know you love. Like I said, this show is going to be crazy awesome.



Goat Of Arms at The Milky Way via telephag
Monday, July 13
Goat Of Arms at Weirdo Records (donate, 8:00, all ages)
If you're not able to make it to Allston Monday night, then go to Weirdo in Cambridge for some fun accordion and drums times.



Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman at Great Scott
Tuesday, July 14
Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman at Cafe Fixe ($5, 8:00, all ages)
Thanks to Non-Event for making this ridiculously amazing live collaboration happen yet again. Once a very rare occurrence, Geoff and Keith have performed together live maybe 4 or 5 times since the beginning of the year. BUT! This could be the last time. You never know. Anyway, mind blowing drone noise from two of the drone noise masters. This time it's going down at Cafe Fixe in Brookline with the caution that "the space is small and the espresso is amazing, so don’t be too fashionably late!"




Thursday, July 16 - Sunday, July 19
Homegrown Fest at Church ($10 per day, @6:00, 21+)
Ok guys. I mentioned it before. This is the one you've been waiting for. Boston's own Homegrown Fest, a 4 day psych/noise/experimental/mindfuck festival put on by Dan Shea/BOWAAC. Yeah, it's 21+ but the lineup is insane. Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen (yup, again), Infinity Window, Sightings, Bobb Trimble, Major Stars, Truman Peyote, Gary War, Kurt Vile, Blues Control, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, and TONS more. This is going to be fucking epic. Even if you can't go to all 4 nights, one will still be enough to destroy every other show this month. Full lineup and more info here and on Church's site.



Daryl Shawn's setup via deadbeatgeoff
Saturday, July 18
Daryl Shawn & Jonathan Lamaster at Outpost 186 ($10, 8:00, all ages)
Tape loops + violin = duh



Alash Ensemble by Peter Hasselbach via
Sunday, July 19
Alash Ensemble at New England Conservatory ($20, 8:00, all ages)
The Alash Ensemble are a group of Tuvan throat singers. So, obviously, I'm fucking excited as shit. Tuvan throat singing in my own backyard? Never in a million years did I think that would ever happen.

Haiku Review: Josstin Timberlake - Eat Fuck (CalmDownKidder, 2009)

Josstin Timberlake - Sfear


Josstin Timberlake
Eat Fuck (download)
/nasty 8 bit blitz/
/busted game, hard beats, sweet noise/
/owwww phantom thumb pain/