Jesu "Conqueror"

So I've been really digging the new Jesu album, "Conqueror". Despite all the heavy drone and low-end sonics, it's actually quite pretty. Yes, pretty. Not that there's anything wrong with drone, I just wouldn't normally describe drone as "pretty". It invokes the same kind of visual/emotional imagery that bands like Sigur Ros and The Album Leaf do with me. Open water, expansive tundras, macrocosms and microcosms...like you could go forever in any direction, just exploring.
This is the second full-length (fourth release) by experimental metal guru, Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Napalm Death), and I have to say this is definitely his best so far. I'm a designer, and when I'm working on something I like to listen to music that's not too distracting, instrumental stuff usually. This album is definitely too distracting. I find myself day-dreaming, thinking about obscure shit...oh wait, I have a deadline..crap! So if you can dedicate a hour to daydreaming, spirit-walking, or whatever the kids are calling it these days, then grab the earphones and a comfortable pillow and pop in "Conqueror". It's like seeing a really good movie. One that gets you all introspective afterwards. Very overwhelming, in a good way.

Download the song "Conqueror" here. (Via P'fork)

More upcoming Atlanta/Athens shows

Here they are like I promised:

Sat. 1/13/07 - Mission of Burma @ The Earl
Tue. 2/06/07 - Vetiver, Vashti Bunyan @ The 40 Watt Club
Thu. 2/08/07 - The Woggles @ The 40 Watt Club
Fri. 2/09/07 - The Woggles @ The Earl
Sat. 2/10/07 - Oxford Collapse, Thunderbirds Are Now! @ The Drunken Unicorn
Thu. 2/22/07 - Against Me! @ The 40 Watt Club
Thu. 2/22/07 - Ocha La Rocha (Record release show) @ The Earl
Fri. 2/23/07 - Sleep Therapy, Marnie Stern, Barr ***DO NOT MISS***@ The Drunken Unicorn
Thu. 3/01/07 - Red Sparrowes, Planes Mistaken For Stars @ The Drunken Unicorn
Sat. 3/03/07 - The Selmanaires @ The Drunken Unicorn
Fri. 3/09/07 - The Thermals @ The Drunken Unicorn
Sat. 3/10/07 - Rob Crow @ The Earl
Wed. 3/14/07 - Band of Horses @ The Earl
Mon. 3/19/07 - Asobi Seksu, Saturday Looks Good To Me @ The Drunken Unicorn
Tue. 3/20/07 - The Walkmen @ The Earl
Thu. 3/22/07 - Appleseed Cast @ The Drunken Unicorn
Thu. 3/22/07 - Aqueduct, Priestbird (formerly Tarantula A.D.) @ The Earl
Sat. 3/24/07 - Bishop Allen, +/-, Say Hi To Your Mom @ The Earl
Sun. 4/08/07 - Sebadoh @ The Variety Playhouse
Sun. 4/15/07 - Junior Boys @ The Earl

As always if there are more I'll post 'em and if you got any, let me know!

Peter, Bjorn and John "Writers Block"...how'd I miss this??

Well I should should start off by saying that if I had known about this album before this month, then it would have had a place (a high one at that) on my Top 25 Albums of 2006 list. Maybe I'll ammend that...hmmmm. I am really dumbfounded as to how this album escaped my attention. I'm not sure what the hell I was doing when everyone was talking about this, but I hope it was worth it.
This album is utterly amazing. From the obviously awesome "Young Folks" (it was Pitchfork's #5 in their Top 100 Songs of 2006...but I bet you already knew that too) to tracks like "Poor Cow"(which reminds me of "Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy"-era Who) and "The Chills" (the driving drums and bass lines...my god). Man, Sweden must have something in the water because they are just crankin' out one amazing band after another. The only drawback to this album is that I wish there was more Victoria Bergsman on this album. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to settle for a close-to-perfect album. Sigh.

Peter Bjorn and John - Website
Peter Bjorn and John - MySpace

No posts, no worry.

Sorry about the lack of posts for the last couple of days. I've been really busy at home, and I had a performance of "Stomp" going on behind my temples last night (i.e. a bad migraine). But rest assured, I have quite a few things to put up. So that might mean multiple posts on the same day.

Right now, I can imagine that your squeals of excitement are probably annoying anyone within 20 ft. of you. So calm down, it will be alright. Those people next to you deserve to use the free Wi-Fi there at Starbucks in peace.

Hopefully I won't lag this far behind for awhile. Life can really screw up...well, life.

There's an all-night dance club in my car.

Ever since I downloaded the song "Phantom Part I" from Justice's Myspace, I haven't stopped playing it. I have an hour drive into work, I played it 9 times. 9 fucking times. This thing is infectious, seriously. I haven't been sucked in like this since Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". The song consists of a driving bass line, catchy-as-fuck keyboard melody and some of the best use of electronic glitches since Radiohead. There's this metal-like breakdown in the middle comprised of what sounds like a CD skipping, but scratched and controlled. Fan-tastic!! Justice is a French duo, Xavier de Rosnay & Gaspard Auge, and the song is apparently just a track they released on their Myspace page with no plans to put it on their new album. If this is just a throw away track, then I can't imagine how bad-ass the actual album will be. After a quick search, I found that I had already heard some of their stuff in the form of a remix they did of Death From Above 1979's "Blood On Our Hands", which I loved as well. Until I'm able to host MP3s, I'll just have to point you to places who can. Download it here. (Via Pitchfork)

I'm like a butterfly...

So you may notice that I changed my header. I'll be slowly updating the site's look as I figure out this html/template magic. So it'll probably be in flux for a bit, 'til I lock down a look and feel. Right now I'm in the larval stage, but I'm totally psyched for pupa stage (Cuz my voice will stop changing, and I get to shave...at least that's the word on the street). Plans for the site include, but are not limited to: MP3 links, band interviews, show reviews, album reviews, song reviews, ad space, random news and the daily terror threat-level color, ;-). Try to keep up people.

Playboy names "The Earl" one of America's Top Ten venues.

Well it's official. East Atlanta is sexy. Very, very sexy.

PLAYBOY'S TOP TEN U.S. VENUES
12 Galaxies (San Francisco, CA)
Black Cat (Washington, D.C.)
Cake Shop (New York, NY)
Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR)
The Earl (East Atlanta, GA)
The Echo (Los Angeles, CA)
Emo's (Austin, TX)
Empty Bottle (Chicago, IL)
First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN)
Mercury Lounge (New York, NY)

Congrats to The Earl, but I'm still waiting for them to make Hustler's Top Ten because that's when you know you've made it.

Upcoming Atlanta/Athens shows.

Just thought I'd share some upcoming Atlanta/Athens shows with everyone:

Sat. 1/06/07 - Harry & the Potters, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin @ The Masquerade
Wed. 1/17/07 - Camera Obscura @ The Earl
Fri. 1/19/07 - Deerhunter @ The Earl
Sat. 1/20/07 - Gringo Star @ The Earl
Fri. 1/26/07 - The Dears, Annuals @ The Variety Playhouse
Sat. 1/27/07 - The Rapture @ The Masquerade
Sat. 1/27/07 - The Features ***FREE SHOW!!!!**** @ The Earl
Wed. 1/31/07 - Mastodon, Converge @ The 40 Watt Club
Sat. 2/03/07 - Yo La Tengo @ The Variety Playhouse
Sat. 2/03/07 - The Letters Organize **FINAL SHOW** @ The Drunken Unicorn
Sun. 2/04/07 - Midlake @ The Earl
Wed. 2/21/07 - Deerhoof @ The 40 Watt
Sat. 2/24/07 - Dr. Dog @ The Earl
Sat. 2/24/07 - Of Montreal @ The Variety Playhouse
Tue. 2/27/07 - Mixel Pixel @ The Earl
Fri. 3/02/07 - P.O.S., K-OS, RX Bandits @ The Masquerade
Fri. 3/02/07 - Grizzly Bear, Deerhunter @ The Drunken Unicorn
Sun. 3/04/07 - Sparklehorse, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter @ The Variety Playhouse
Wed. 3/07/07 - Elvis Perkins @ The Earl
Thu. 3/08/07 - Isis, Jesu @ The 40 Watt Club
Tue. 3/13/07 - Explosions in the Sky, The Paper Chase, Eluvium @ Lenny's Bar
Wed. 3/14/07 - Badly Drawn Boy @ The Loft
Fri. 3/16/07 - Maserati, A. Armada @ The Earl
Fri. 3/23/07 - Cold War Kids @ Vinyl
Thu. 4/12/07 - TV on the Radio @ The 40 Watt Club
Fri. 4/13/07 - TV on the Radio @ The Variety Playhouse
Fri. 4/13/07 - Trans Am, Zombi @ The Earl
Fri. 4/20/07 - Acid Mother's Temple @ The Earl
Thu. 5/10/07 - Mono, World's End Girlfriend, Grails @ The Earl

I'll keep an eye out for more, and post 'em when I do.
Links for these venues can be found in the sidebar.
(Thanks to Ryan for some show updates)

Maserati sign to Temporary Residence Ltd.

Well it looks like one of my favorite local acts, Maserati, just signed to Temporary Residence. Home to other mind-blowing acts such as Explosions in the Sky, Mono & Eluvium. Their new album "Inventions For The New Season" will be out in late spring according to the Temporary Residence website here. An amazing instrumental band for fans of Explosions in the Sky and The Mercury Program. They're playing here in Atlanta on 3/16/07 @ The Earl with another great local band A. Armada. Do not not miss this show: 2 great bands, $2.50 PBR tallboys, $10.00 show...come on!!

Maserati - Myspace
Maserati - Website

2006: Rear-view Mirror

Well it's 2007. No so much different than yesterday, when it was 2006.
Ah, 2006. The year that kept giving us some of the most memorable moments right up until the end, like someone's favorite grandpa. James Brown died on Christmas, which makes me want lobby for changing the name of the holiday to James Brown Day...because there really is no "Christ" in Christmas anymore...an appropriate name change is in order, I think. Saddam Hussein was executed on on December 30th, one day before the official start of the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca...wow, good going Bush, great timing. Man seriously, I think his goal is to start a civil war not prevent it. Dumbass.

On a seriously sad note, one of my personal heroes (I don't throw that word around lightly), Steve Irwin, was killed this year. What a huge loss, we need MORE people like him, not less. Speaking of losing some great people, Coretta Scott King passed away in 2006 as well...she will be missed. And although we haven't heard a peep out of him since he formed one of the most amazing bands on the planet, Syd Barrett's death was a sad closing of a door we all thought he might just pop out of one day.

Democrats regained control of the Senate and the House. Hoo-fuckin'-ray! Hopefully they get off their asses and make some important changes with their new-found power. In 2006, I had to eat salads with no spinach for four months. The little steam ships in my biceps don't pop up without that stuff. Oh yeah, movies. Superman sucked. A huge budget and it sucked. Someone please stop giving big budgets to people who suck at making movies. Seems simple, but apparently it's not considering that most movies lately suck and everyone still goes and sees them. Ah, but some were amazing. Little Miss Sunshine, yay. Science of Sleep, yay. Borat, yay. And obviously there were some downright amazing albums that came out as well (see list below). But it's 2007. I'm pretty excited, it means we're just that much closer to having floating cars and robot butlers. Right?

My Top 25 Albums of 2006

1) TV on the Radio - "Return to Cookie Mountain"


2) Grizzly Bear - "Yellow House"


3) Maritime - "We, The Vehicles"


4) Neko Case - "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood"


5) Joanna Newsom - "Ys"


6) Beirut - "Gulag Orkestar"


7) The Decemberists - "The Crane Wife"


8) Midlake - "The Trials of Van Occupanther"


9) Califone - "Roots & Crowns"


10) Mew - "And the Glass-Handed Kites"


11) Sunset Rubdown - "Shut Up I am Dreaming"


12) Sparklehorse - "Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain"


13) Yo La Tengo - "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass"


14) The Knife - "Silent Shout"


15) Beach House - "Beach House"


16) Belle & Sebastian - "The Life Pursuit"


17) Annuals - "Be He Me"


18) Band of Horses - "Everything All The Time"


19) Malajube - "Trompe L'oeil"


20) Mastodon - "Blood Mountain"


21) Man Man - "Six Demon Bag"


22) Isis - "In the Absence of Truth"


23) Boris - "Pink"


24) The Lovely Feathers - "Hind Hind Legs"


25) Brightblack Morning Light - "Brightblack Morning Light"


The beginning of 2007 is going to be fuckin' rad with new releases from The Shins, Modest Mouse, Menomena, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Of Montreal, Bloc Party, Explosions in the Sky, Air and !!!(Chk chk chk)...and that's all before May! (sidenote: I've listened to a number of these albums already....and you should be ready to invest in bigger iPod kids, believe the hype!!!)