Angry Grumblings.

So, I know I promised more pictures from Echo, and they are still pending, I swear it.
Right now I have spleen to vent. For Of Montreal. For Polyvinyl. And for the 40 Watt.

I've been hoping to go to see Of Montreal play tonight there for ages. I mean, come on. Halloween. Athens. Of Montreal (who is almost never caught normally-clad...and whose front man occasionally decides to dispense with the clothing altogether). They're one of my favorite bands and it promised to be quite the spectacle. Well apparently after their whirlwind success over the last year or two, they're a band that's in quite high demand, and they're going to act like it, by god. We've been asking them to put me on the list as a reviewer for weeks and weeks, didn't get a definitive answer until today, and even then were denied +1 and photo pass. Translated, that means if I go, I go by myself. On Halloween. In costume.

And to think, the next installment of my epic mix-CD series, which I completed this morning, features a track of theirs. Now I'm starting to regret my selection.

Sigh. Oh, I'm sure it's not as deliberate as all that. I'm just disappointed. The problem with being addicted to live music is that when it's denied I become a whiny child.

Oh, Echo! (As promised)

The best of my shots from the Echo Project. Photo credentials are a beautiful thing. And here we go:

Atlanta boys, Elevado:


He lept off the stage, wielding a trombone. It ended up in pieces on the ground. Any middle school band kid's poor mother would be having a heart attack right about now.


The incoming Polyphonic Spree. Oh, the Spree is upon us...


Glory.


You can see the chorus of similarly dressed and haircutted women with synchronized movements. Creepy? Yes. Awesome? Yes.


Aaand, I'm out of time. More to come. Believe me, the best are still head.

I was minus five in 1981...

Oh, sweet sweet Fishboy. They're fabulous. And they reference the futility of proper name spelling bees and what it's like to be a racecar. How can you not fall in love? Another excellent find from Athens' Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records, who I also seem to have a crush on (if you can actually have a crush on a record label...)

In other news, I went to The Echo Project this weekend, and though it was exhausting and I actually did have to work part of the time, I got to see several bands that make me very very happy...irrationally so. They included, but were not limited to:

Elevado
The Polyphonic Spree
The Avett Brothers(squee!)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah ("YEAH!!!!!!")
Man Man (who I hadn't known was so utterly, completely, and unequivocally incredible)
The Modern Skirts
a little Cat Power
some Spoon
and several local bands...

The best part was I had photo credentials, so that means I got some PHENOMENAL shots, which I promise faithfully to post here very very soon.

...I mean...I was practically under Alec Ounsworth....so.....that was cool.

Oh! Also, I got to meet much of the Paste Magazine staff, who are very nice. Sigh. Good times.

I stole this from the Ephemeral Radio newsletter because it made me laugh so hard.

It's an interview with Aaron Wood of the Atlanta band the Howlies, formerly known as Moresight. I just think it's pretty great. And I don't even know if I've ever heard their music. Pity. I guess I'll just go take care of that.


ER- Aaron, why did Moresight have to die and why did Howlies kill it?
AW- We realized we outgrew Moresight and like HOWLIES which better describes a path we've chosen. Howlies is at once a group of howly people, a Hawaiian term for tourists, and a nickname for Howitzer guns (a field cannon used since 18th century). Also Moresight is bad in loud bars, where people respond to "Moresight" with "Morrisey?","Foresight?", and the real deal breaker: "Foreskin?" One too many gorgeous women got back to me with any of the above misunderstood band names. it was time to go.

ER- What is your favorite memory of Moresight?

AW- My favorite memory of Moresight is a night Justin and I got primally crunk on whiskey and other things and howled with neighborhood dogs in east atlanta for a solid 2 hours starting at 3 am. It was a primitive, dirty, beautiful/ugly, raging, ego-driven state of altered perception and inebriation. There must have been 1000 dogs within a half mile that were shouting back. We really communicated. I didn't know it then, but looking back, I think that night in some way foreshadowed our name change. I also liked the first time we played in Atlanta. We were improv-psych-weird-noise back then, and we managed to alienate everyone in the room in about 30 seconds. what more can you ask for?

ER- How are Howlies different and the "best rock and roll band that's ever existed"?

AW- Howlies are what happened when more than a few screws got knocked loose in the collective head of Moresight...in a really good way. this journalist from Nashville said it best: "HOWLIES play ragged, garage psych that keeps getting baked and wandering off in the woods to freak out. But make no mistake, these guys are muscular enough to snap Devendra Banhart like a twig". -Chris Parker (Nashville Scene) check myspace.com/thehowlies. Why are we the best rock band ever? thats like asking a tiger why it kills cute little deers. I don't freakin know. but I will say this: talkin shit is one of my favorite activities. so yeah, our band is a tiger that eats all the cute little deers. we'll stop eating when we're full.

Ongoing List of Incredible Band Names, Part...2?

Chronicles of the Landsquid!
The Alarm Clocks
Social Espionage (sort of a runner-up, I guess...possibly too obvious...)

I've been musing, and I think if I started a band (which I won't, but still), I might have to call it "The Undertaken" or "The Passing Motorists," the latter of which makes me (and no one else) giggle. I guess I should check and see if those names are already taken.

Ok, The Undertaken is already a metal band. Scratch that. But my "band" will be called The Passing Motorists, by process of elimination. Our act will be face-melting, in a slightly bemused, calmy observing and turning one's head as we go by sort of way...

Oh, and today's winner for funniest band bio goes to...(drumroll)...
Slow Runner
Please read the "About Slow Runner" section. It's funny because it's true.

Snickering under my breath

So tomorrow night the The Star Baris featuring UK punk legends The Vibrators. Who else is on the bill? The Heart Attacks and...wait for it...The Vaginas.
Funny? Yes, I thought so.

New discoveries in my wading knee-deep into southeastern indie music:

I love Elevado. Most people are probably saying something to the effect of, "Duh, Elevado's been super-cool for like, years now." Well I'm sorry. I'm new. And most of the time I either live in a cave or am so overwhelmed by the onslaught of music I aggressively seek out and then run away from when it's thrown at me, that I miss the really good acts. I also decided I like the Pendletons, who I never saw in four years living in Athens, but who I might try to catch at aforementioned Star Bar tonight.

This Friday, perhaps my musical travels will take me to Lenny's, the night before their famed Zombie Walk, an event during which I'll proably have to work. Ugh. I really wanna see zombies. I suppose the old mannequin head (whose eyeballs and painted red and whose mouth is dripping blood) my adoring roommate has placed in the hanging planter outside our apartment will have to supply sufficient creepiness to hold me until Halloween actually approaches. It's October. It's not too soon. So what if I bought my pumpkin on September 30....?