Why Bonnaroo is going to ruin my life, Part 2

I knew there was another one! Pontiak, Virginia's talented (and prolific!) stoner-guitar rockers, are passing through Atlanta on their way to Athens June 13. The three brothers will be playing an in-store at Criminal Records at 5:30. Wish I could go!! They're extremely impressive live, cascading wall-after-wall of sound, feedback, distortion...Stay tuned to FOA for a review of their new album Maker, which released in April via Thrill Jockey. And go catch the show for me!

Paste Band of the Week: The Daredevil Christopher Wright

I wrote this week's BOTW on PasteMagazine.com! It's a band I really stand behind-- everyone should take a listen. Enjoy!

Band of the Week: The Daredevil Christopher Wright

Hometown: Eau Claire, Wisc.
Members: Jason Sunde (bass, vocals), Jesse Edgington (drums, miscellaneous percussion, vocals), Jon Sunde (guitar, vocals)
Album: In Deference to a Broken Back
For Fans Of: Shearwater,Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens

There's a track on The Daredevil Christopher Wright's debut LP that shares a name with the band and tells the story of a man who literally dedicates his life to performing death-defying stunts. The Wisconsin trio has taken similar leaps—not of he motorcycle-jumping variety, but nearly as risky and contingent on vulnerability. Their debut, In Deference to a Broken Back (out now on Amble Down Records), owes as much to the band's musical open-mindedness as two of its members classical training; its reference points are far-flung, from Chopin-does-acoustic-folk etudes, circus waltzes, string quartets, whistling, post-punk rock-out—even one of those plastic recorders you might recognize from elementary school music class...[Read more]

[MP3] The Daredevil Christopher Wright - "The East Coast"

Why Bonnaroo is going to ruin my life.

Ok, not really. But I am distressed about a couple of things surrounding leaving the ATL for Tennessee June 11-14, not the least of which is the PHENOMENAL batch of shows traipsing through our fair city in my absence.


The top of my list is St. Vincent with Pattern Is Movement Sunday, June 4 at The Earl. Woe is me! I've been a big Pattern Is Movement fan since I got wind of their record All Together last year. They're on Crushworthy Record Label (see new sidebar posting to your right) Hometapes out of Portland, Ore., along with Megafaun (!!) and Slaraffenland (!!!!). Many will read this as blasphemy, but I like them waaaay better than I like St. Vincent, and was basically just excited at the chance to hear them be weird and creative in person. Reportedly, they cover D'Angelo in concert. Oh, and St. Vincent is really good too. Oh well. In lieu of this experience, I'll have to satisfy myself with reading Pattern Is Movement's tour blog and looking at the pretty pictures they've taken of the American west coast on their Tumblr. Excerpt: "Today was beautiful. Nothing happened." Very Vonnegut, yes?

The Earl also has Here We Go Magic, The Selmanaires and Carnivores (ex-Chainestereo, whose song, "A Crime," I have been chasing around for WEEKS) Friday, June 12. Sigh.

For those skipping the festival, there are a bunch of artists passing through Atlanta on their way to or from their sets in Tennessee, like Bon Iver and Grizzly Bear.

And Sunset Rubdown hits the Drunken Unicorn June 16, which is rad.

...

Ok, maybe that's it. I just combed all the club show listings and I guess that's all I'm stressed about. That, and scheduling interviews and deadlines around the trip. For a bit of a pick-me up, I can always go here.

FOAVOD: White Rabbits - "Percussion Gun"

Want! Hopefully I'll be reviewing this record soon. "Percussion Gun" is the first single from White Rabbits' sophomore LP, It's Frightening, which released Tuesday on TBD Records. It's no secret that Spoon's Britt Daniel produced the record, and even if it had been a secret, it wouldn't stay that way for long. Daniel's mark is scrawled all over the songs-- his restraint, the way tension and momentum don't necessarily go hand-in-hand with volume, the bright production. Thumbs up!

Spinner's got a full album stream this week in honor of the release. Go ahead, have a listen!

Q&A with Kyle Gordon of Young Orchids

To be honest, it sometimes makes me uncomfortable that the line between journalism and promotion sometimes gets sorta blurry when you're a music writer. It depends entirely on the publication's standards, I suppose, but sometimes there are real conflicts of interest-- especially since you tend to make friends with musicians in the process of covering their bands and their friends' bands. (I am NOT referencing Almost Famous, shut up!) Or since if you're interested in being a rock critic, it's probably because you already hung out with those types anyway...or even that you make music yourself.

All that being said, I did an interview with my co-worker Kyle for Atlanta Music Guide last week. He's started a band called Young Orchids, and they'll be playing Pop Death Squad's monthly Big Trouble in Little Five Points show this Thursday, May 21 at the Star Bar with The Bridges and All These Kings.

I'd like to think pieces like these don't pass judgment and therefore don't cross any lines. Either way it was fun to write, and anyone who can should try to catch the show.

Q&A with Kyle Gordon of Young Orchids

By Julia Reidy

Young Orchids is the latest musical brainchild of Kyle Gordon, previously of Atlanta rockers The Booze, KillGordon and Ski Club. Though the group is new, these pros aren’t as delicate as the name suggests. Along with Ski Club bandmate Michael Kai, Gordon has put together a lineup of veterans to grow this project into a powerhouse. Having already opened for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah outside the CW Midtown Music Complex and graced the stage at 529, this Thursday, May 21, the band plays its third Atlanta show since its inception under a year ago. We grilled Gordon on songwriting for a new act, reputations and what it takes to make music blossom.

Q: So you guys have done this before. You’ve been the primary songwriter for lots of projects. Have you approached writing for the Young Orchids differently than you’ve approached writing for any of your other bands?

A: No. When I write, I write for whatever project I’m with at the time. My stuff isn’t so varied that it sounds like different artists. I’m not writing a polka song and then a country song and then a rap song and then a rock song. They’ve all got the same feel; they’re all pretty monotonous, I don’t know [laughs]. Actually, Michael and I write the music together. I definitely write a ton of music — I’m always writing, and I’ve got a lot of ideas I want to see to fruition. Every song I write, I want to see come to life, and that means whatever band I’m in at the time is going to be the unfortunate assholes that have to learn it. [laughs]...[Read more]

Live Review: Cursive, Man Man @ Variety Playhouse, 5/1/09

For Atlanta Music Guide:

Live Review: Cursive, Man Man @ Variety Playhouse 5/1/09

Three white animatronic cats perched atop a speaker preceded the five men of Man Man onto the Variety Playhouse stage after they finished their plain-clothes sound check and ventured off to get into costume. The cats would stay still barely long enough so that you’d think they were lifeless, then move just slightly and blink, reflecting the black light and making you jump out of your skin in a mixture of surprise and almost unbearable anticipation. When Man Man re-emerged in their all-white to match, the creepy kitties nodded in approval and the full, albeit young, Variety echoed enthusiastically...[Read more]



Also for Atlanta Music Guide:


Q&A with José Reyes, co-founder of Fringe

Four times a season, several seemingly disparate creative ideas come together harmoniously in one venue: classical chamber music, electronica DJ-ing, visual art, short film, performance art and essay. It’s an idea new to Atlanta, and it’s one of the most interesting evenings $15 can buy. Co-founded and run by Fia and Dana Durrett and José and Nikolle Reyes, Fringe has enjoyed almost two complete seasons of events and a heap of critical acclaim to go along with them. We talked to José Reyes about the inception of the arts series and what enthralled attendees can expect when they experience the fourth and final performance of Fringe’s second season this Saturday, May 9. For more information, visit FringeAtlanta.org, and to buy tickets click here.

Q: How did you guys come up with this idea? What made you want to do it in the first place?
A: Well, we met some friends — Fia and Dana Durrett — and they were telling us about their love of chamber music. We didn’t really know anything about chamber music, so we got to start learning more about it. As we learned more about it and traveled and listened to it in other places, we just realized that there’s something really awesome about hearing it in a small venue, but we were missing a whole younger group of people — essentially the iPod generation, which is basically anyone who is interested in technology and new stuff, or even older stuff, but in a way that would be more meaningful to them. We thought, “They [Fia and Dana] love chamber music. We don’t know anything about chamber music, but we do know about art and what we might do for a show and what that might look like.” It took about a year for all that to germinate into actually having a concert...[Read more]

Record Review: Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen

For Atlanta Music Guide:

Cursive
Mama, I’m Swollen
Saddle Creek

By Julia Reidy

The seminal Omaha band’s seventh full-length record seems almost made to be listened to in terms of pacing. It’s like an amusement park ride, quick and thrilling at times, but slowing suddenly, menacingly, right before a breathtaking plunge. When it relaxes, it does so via slowing tempo and dropping volume, but also through dramatic stylistic shifts. Compare the breathy, plodding delivery of “We’re Going To Hell” with the jaded wail of “Mama, I’m Satan,” or with the synthy groove/soaring anthem of “Let Me Up.” Opener “In The Now” rockets right out of the gates with warped guitars and the refrain, “Don’t want to live in the now, don’t want to know what I know.” Throughout the record, angst-filled vocals meet bendy guitar melodies — they alternate between pitch perfect and precise, and warped and atonal. Tracks are sometimes broken by noise-maker effects and creepy instrumentals, never letting the listener get too comfortable...[Read more]

[MP3] Cursive - "From The Hips"

Live Review: Starfucker @ Drunken Unicorn, 4/25/09

For Atlanta Music Guide:

Live Review: Starfucker @ Drunken Unicorn, April 24


After two-piece Guidance Counselor, who shared drummer Keil Corcoran with the headliners, played to a moderate Saturday night crowd, the aforementioned headliners took the stage without all the attention-grubbing, social climbing behavior their band’s name might suggest. Leaving affectation at the door, Portland quartet Starfucker humbly launched into a mixture of tracks from their self-titled debut and from their forthcoming eight-song record Jupiter, out next month via Badman Recording Co.

Starfucker plays pop, the kind that relies heavily on synthesizer melodies, dance hall beats, bouncing guitar hooks and Josh Hodges’ breathy vocals, and the Unicorn was absolutely full of all of it. Though certainly not the only song with a transcendent, shiny dance vibe to it, the standout of the night had to be “Laadeedaa,” from Starfucker. It features a repetitive guitar riff that’s got a frantic, too-quick quality about it, to the point that when I heard the first notes of the song, my curiosity turned toward whether they’d be able to pull it off faithfully live. But pull it off they did (I made sure to watch the guitarist’s fingers to suss out whether the riffs were pre-recorded or not), along with feats from all of their other compositions, all performed enthusiastically to a boogeying audience...[Read more]

[MP3] Starfucker - "Myke Ptsyson"

Phosphorescent + Willie Nelson = BFF

I wonder if, when Phosphorescent released their To Willie album earlier this year, Matthew Houck imagined that it would reach the ears of Willie Nelson himself. Or, moreover, that Nelson would enjoy it and approach him.

Well, whether he foresaw it or not, that's exactly what has happened. Not only did Houck and his band attend a Willie Nelson show recently and get invited onto the tour bus to meet the family, etc. (Houck gushes about it here), but they've also been summoned to perform on "Willie's Place," Nelson's Sirius radio show in honor of his birthday. It'll air today at 9 p.m. EST on Sirius Radio channel 64 and XM 13.

Most awesomely for Phos, here's the promo for the appearance Willie recorded.

Record Review: Wavves - Wavvves

Appearing in this month's Stomp and Stammer:

Wavves - Wavvves
[Fat Possum]

Nathan Williams is certainly not the first artist to center his work around damaged guitar riffs, malaise or the woes of beach life, but he just may be the very best one this year. Wielding his anguish about “going nowhere” (“Beach Demon”) and being “so bored” (“So Bored”) like weapons, and with his penchant for pop punk hooks, Williams as the entirety of buzz band Wavves is making….you know…with his second LP, released in March via Fat Possum Records. It’s the follow-up to his self-titled debut (the one with one less V in the name than the current record), which has been on the shelves less than a year; it even features a couple of the same songs. To say, therefore, that the record (and the Wavves catalogue as a whole, really) can be a listened to as one solid thought is a bit of an understatement. It is one thought...[Read more]

Stuff that will rock. Part 2.

Above: Cursive

Upcoming show awesomeness:

On May 1, Omaha's Cursive and Philly's Man Man will play the Variety Playhouse right here in the ATL.

Now. We all know the FOA opinion on Man Man. There's a lot of screaming and dancing, etc. Case in point. But let's not forget our headliner, who released Mama, I'm Swollen on Saddle Creek Records in March. It's the latest full-length in their rather prolific career. Here's the single:

[MP3] Cursive - "From The Hips"

It's a show that will rock.


Also, The National hits Atlanta's Tabernacle May 27th. Bonnie "Prince" Billy hits the Variety May 29th. Bon Iver hits the Variety June 7th.

And tonight, Lazer/Wulf plays with McClane at East Atlanta's 529. It will rock, too.

It'll all rock.

FOAVOD: Man Man - "Rabbit Habbits"

Want to see some romance/werewolf drama set to a great song? Then watch this!

Bon Iver + Bowerbirds + Avett Brothers + Shearwater = The Daredevil Christopher Wright

I have a new band to recommend: They're called The Daredevil Christohper Wright, and no one in the band is named Christopher or Wright. Like a gorgeous, reckless chamber ensemble, these guys make pretty, messy folk. It's the way to my heart.

You can stream their forthcoming release, In Deference To A Broken Back at Eau Claire's VolumeOne.org. And please do.

Live Review: Phosphorescent, Deer Tick, Magic Apron @ Drunken Unicorn 3/25/09

For Stomp and Stammer's Tales From The Moshpit section:

Live Review: Phosphorescent, Deer Tick, Magic Apron @ Drunken Unicorn 3/25/09

Written by Julia Reidy
It was fitting music to accompany having to drive around my dad’s pickup truck while my car was in the shop. After awkwardly parking it across the street, I walked in on an abnormally full Drunken Unicorn out of the unseasonably cold drizzle outside. Atlanta boy-girl duo Magic Apron was already on stage, producing their ethereal dual-guitar folk, resonant the way only miked acoustics can be, when you can hear each steel string ringing individually as if it were inside you. The crowd seemed to shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, eagerly awaiting buzz band Deer Tick’s arrival...[Read more]

Aaron Desner talks to P4K

There's a really excellent interview with Aaron Dessner of The National on Pitchfork right now. It's probably better than mine was last year. Humph.

Excerpt, on the new National record, which will apparently not be a Civil War theme album:
We're kind of in the early stages, but we're getting into it. In a way, we're further along than we were at this stage of Boxer because we actually have songs. With Boxer, we were sort of spinning our wheels without songs for the early part of it. The way we work, it just takes a really long time to turn these amorphous turds of rock songs into something that lasts and is interesting and has elbows and is special.

He also talks about the Red Hot compilation Dark Was The Night he and his brother Bryce curated. Recommended reading.

The National will be at the Tabernacle in Atlanta on May 27.