I’ve spent the last 20 minutes trying to think of a polite way to describe how much I hated Ruby Suns’ set.  After all that time, the nicest thing I can say about them is:

Listening to Ruby Suns live makes me want to gnaw my arm off.

Their sound is a combination of Afro-pop, Brazilian Tropicalia, and late 80’s Manchester beats.  Sounds interesting, right?  Not the way Ruby Suns play it.

Instead, every single second of the two songs I managed to sit through sounded like the boring opening seconds of a really uninspired Animal Collective ripoff.  You know, those seconds that are “purposefully” boring as a way of building a song’s atmosphere.  When those 20 to 30 seconds are up, there’s this big burst of noise that (in a good song) tie into and expand upon the simple melodies of the song’s introduction.  Instead, Ruby Suns just kept playing the same damn boring music, transitioning lifelessly between discreet sections of songs, bobbing around next to their instruments like the most boring pair of parakeets in the world.

Checking out Ruby Suns on their myspace page, they sound almost listenable.  That’s the insidious trap these sons of bitches have built - an interesting fusion of influences, and music that’s just competent enough to make you want to see a live show.

Do not be fooled.

(Oh, and The Coathangers were great, as usual.)

• Starfucker - Ronald Gregory Erickson the Second (free via FLUXBLOG)
• Anna Maria Espinosa - Everyday (free via It’s A Trap)
• Detektivbyran - Om Du Moter Varg (free via Swedesplease)
• Hold Steady - Stay Positive (Buy Stay Positive Here )
• Barberries - Americana Junkie (Free session released later this week)
• Barberries - Wicked Farmer’s Tan (Free session released later this week)
• Dr. Dog - The Arc (Buy Fate Here)
• This Piano Plays itself - Day of Symmetry (visit their myspace here)

Their performance at Lenny’s Friday night was wrought with difficulties. Yet, as I had grown very familiar with several of their songs, the sound still translated to me, the live mix just made too ambiguous an otherwise very colorful sound. I asked lead guitar/vocalist Keith afterwards “what was the cover you did?” only for him to reply “we didn’t do a cover.” Apparently the mic levels were so off that I misheard vocalist/synth player Holly in between songs, what I understood was “this next song is a cover [muffled noises],” but God knows what she really said.

Throughout a number of line-up changes, health problems, member migration, etc., Sonen is still going strong, and picking up speed. Of course the odds weren’t in their favor Friday night as there were some more screwy sound problems other than the mic levels, and some tuning issues between songs, but this band definitely shows some promise. Once their latest line-up solidifies things should run much more smoothly, and I can get a good glimpse of their A-game which is displayed prominently throughout the demo EP.

Technical issues aside, their exciting bass-driven electro-punk sound was just what I needed to hear that night. It’s now clear to me that, in or out of the studio, Sonen has some of the tightest and most powerful drumming for bands of this kind. Holly’s vocals are outstanding. There is a compassionate and warm quality to her voice which at times is seemingly juxtaposed with biting irony. This and the menacing bass-lines sometimes make me feel like I’m listening to a futuristic version of the Breeders (don’t you dare misconstrue that as an insult).

It was all kind of a refreshing morale boost, which was perfect considering I was feeling very under the weather. This performance deserved a larger and more ebulient crowd of spectators. There was a lone enthusiastic man dancing with himself, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the audience, bouncing around the floor and weaving through the spaces between showgoers who chose to scatter themselves throughout the room. If only more of these guys showed up, the room would have been a living electro-popcorn machine.

By the way, this is what a fashion show at Lenny’s looks like.

(visit Sonen’s MySpace here)

photos: Vernon Langley

We’re up really late. We haven’t finished this week’s episode, but the good news is that we just finished these amazing tracks by Athens cuties Hope For Agoldensummer. We hope these songs are as mesmerizing to your ears as ours.

Katelina

Don’t Turn Away

Are You That Somebody?

Candy Dots

Man of Faith

Download the entire session in a zip file.

And if you’d like to see the girls play Don’t Turn Away… check it out below

Buy Hope For Agoldensummer’s newest record Araidne Thread

I saw two great shows this weekend, both of which relied pretty heavily on lap steels for their sounds.  Maybe it was a coincidence… or maybe the lap steel’s making a comeback.  Are lap steels the new violins/recorders of indy music?

I saw Baton Rouge based Cohen and the Ghost this Friday at Wonderroot.  They have a pretty good setup - guitar, bass, violin, drums, and a second guitar.  But the second guitarist switches between instruments almost every song, going from guitar to mandolin to another guitar to lap steel.  I hadn’t thought about this before seeing Cohen and the Ghost, but the lap steel produces a sound pretty similar to a short violin note.  As Cohen and the Ghost’s violinist and lap steel players worked, their sounds tended to overlap, producing this musical hybrid instrument that really blew me away.

I wandered into A Fight to the Death’s Saturday album release party by mistake.  They were playing The Highland Inn’s cavernous Ballroom Lounge, a place I tend to associate more with DJ sets and weekend jazz than A Fight to the Death’s wierd rock mix of Americana and Western-strained melodies.  (I didn’t realize this until checking out their myspace page just now, but A Fight to the Death actually use the pedal steel guitar, an instrument I’d never seen in person before, though I’ve probably heard it on Calexico’s albums.)  Anyway, they played a really great set, and totally transformed my opinion of the Ballroom Lounge.

Perception Whore

Cosmonaut
From the sun baked streets of Los Angeles come one of the most seemingly bitter bands I’ve seen in a while. I guess it’s not that uncommon for a place notorious for at least twice as much failure as success to breed such a tortured and pensive musical force. The visions invoked through the Geiger-esque biomechanical artwork of Designer Codes come to life throughout the album. It plays partly like a gothy Depeche Mode album that must have been destroyed in a fire before it was released, but after a few listens it can remind one of a more sympathetic, less bitter Nine Inch Nails, and yet there’s a dynamic arena rock aspect similar to Hail to the Thief-era Radiohead or their recent tourmates Liars. The pounding of war-like drums coupled with the harsh clanging of digital scrap metal make me wonder: is Woven creating an atmosphere or destroying an already existing one?

Throughout the album I wavered a bit as this music at times seems very masochistic, cold, and industrial, yet underneath there is a very compassionate layer of emotion. The tracks sometimes play as if they are inflicting harm upon themselves. “Perception Whore” (like many of the tracks) pits contradictory elements against one another. A swooning choir of angels carries you throughout until you’re forced to consider whether or not they are actually crying out in agony. There’s a fierce momentum evident in the song structure which eventually leads to a rather ambivalent sound.

Designer Codes actually reminded me of an artist which seemed to be erased from my mind for quite some time. Remember VAST (Visual Audio Sensory Theatre)? Their self-titled album gave me a similar feeling to this one. On both albums my impression seemed to be that these are artists who are not preoccupied with creating beautiful music. These are artists who are creating, in an almost smug way, music that will give you chills, make you feel uncomfortable, make you long for the surreal, make you want to step into the shadow of your unconscious mind and experience the world in which they operate. Woven has made their way into the “guilty pleasure” section of my musical tastes, and the fucked-up thing is, I really have no idea why I feel guilty. Maybe it’s the same guilt one gains due to extracting pleasure from pain. In the masochist’s eye, pain and pleasure are nearly the same thing, and the brain tends to release the same chemical for both.

That being said, Designer Codes did make me feel a little uncomfortable and confused until I reached “Cosmonaut” and fell in love. While there are few tracks on the album as strong as this one, I would dare not take any of these songs out of their context and place them in, say, a very depressing and angsty playlist. Each song necessitates the other, ultimately creating a very impressive and cohesive album. Designer Codes requires the right kind of mindset, as it probably won’t grab you immediately. Instead you’d probably need it playing as background noise to allow it to work its way into the id. For those who consider music with this degree of moody self-examination to be pretentious and tiring, I’d still say give it a try. A guilty pleasure is still pleasurable after all.

(Visit their MySpace here)

“If I could only step outside my head…”

Lamprey Eels

Chopper

I’ve heard that Loxsly play a great live show. If they do, that infectious energy is missing in Flashlights, their EP follow up to 2005’s Maps and Organs. Instead, live-show unpredictability is replaced by a sense of overwhelming craftsmanship, an impression that every note of their four song EP has been tested, retested, replaced, and painstakingly honed by months of studio practice. This sense is most apparent on their second track, “Chopper,” a subdued six minute FREAKOUT. The track has vocals, but I don’t remember their exact words… instead, I remember the vibration of lead singer Cody Ground’s murmur, remember simple guitar riffs dropped into the song’s musical landscape like depth charges into a bowl of pea soup…

Track four, “Virgin Isles,” is another standout. It’s one of those rare indie songs which don’t use piano and organ as cheap tricks. Instead, the keyboards mimick and enhance Ground’s voice.

I mention Flashlights‘ second and fourth tracks as standouts, but Loxsly’s entire four song EP is worth at least a few listens. This is one of those album’s that will turn even the most crowded car ride quiet and introspective. It may be a departure from their more energetic Maps and Organs, but it’s at least as powerful.

Loxsly are touring the Southeast through mid-August, playing Athens’ Caledonia Lounge August 8th.

This is the sort of music you’d hear as the credits roll for a movie based on the plot concept, “guys kicking each other in their faces” (assuming Kasabian’s “Clubfoot” wasn’t already being used). It has those “nnnsque” noises people use when they’re making fun of techno. There are men and women screaming indistinguishable words in high pitched voices.

I would call the 4 song EP derivative, but 65daysofstatic has been playing this sort of music since 2001.  If The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties is derivative of any sound, it’s the sound 65daysofstatic has spent the last few years popularizing through extensive touring and remixing.  Unfortunately, in popularizing their style, 65days has also made themselves something of a cliche, as revealed in this latest album.

Dance Parties [Distant]

Antique Hyper Mall

• The Deer Tracks - Slow Collision (Free Via It’s A Trap!)
• Flying Lotus - Robotussin (Free Via Gorilla Vs. Bear)
• Shock of Pleasure - Superstar (Free Via Alankomaat)
• Beck - Gamma Ray (Buy from Amazon)
• Hope For Agoldensummer - Candy Dots (Released later this week free)
• Hope For Agoldensummer - Are You That Somebody? (Released later this week free)
• Ratatat - Mirando (Buy from Amazon)
• Rova Zetella - XXX (Download that song free Via their Myspace)

In a flash of understanding I got it. We are not only the sum of our experiences, but more specifically, the sum of our music. For a true musician, especially one encroaching upon a specific genre, they must not only embrace music, but expand it. Think Antibalas and what they have done for Afrobeat. Not only have they stayed true to the genre, but they have become the new definition of what it means for our day and age. Sun Toucher is this type of band. They are dub in its new phase, bringing in experimental sounds, drum and bass influences, and vibes that are “Fuggin Awesome!”

I got my first taste of their music at The Five Spot about a week ago at the third Sunday dub and reggae night. As excited as I was to hear a band whose name had been buzzing around my ears at a venue where the sound is notably spectacular, I had to wait several hours between my early arrival, and the place being filled enough for the band to start. Even with the meager crowd present during sound check, there were claps at the end of songs, and even my wandering interest was held tight. The trumpeter asking for more delay in the mic, sipping Hebrew Genesis Ale (the chosen beer), and watching Rastas silently lament their trials with “Babylon”, all made me transcend Little Five Points and start feeling pretty darn irie. Djs Antares and Osmose played a thorough set of dub and dub-step, which helped to keep my mind a bit occupied. Hours later, when Sun Toucher ascended the stage, donned in “Fuggin Awesome” t-shirts (from a show they were part of at The Drunken Unicorn), my perception of being in Atlanta had slipped even further. (And it wasn’t just the genesis ale.) The band chimed in over a very strange, somehow acceptable dancehall mix of Mary J. Bliges “Danceree”.

The bass pierced deep into my chest as the drums began. It was hard to distinguish that they were live drums, they had an almost programmed tinge to them. Into the dub sound fused a chant of “Hey!” which lent a punk feel over the chink chink reggae rhythms of the keyboard (which incorporated the holy trinity of Korg, Yamaha, and Roland). The trumpet wailed in with an indo-african riff while the Korg lent a hypnotic high end riff. Children hopped around in floral print and sandals (around midnight granted) while Rastas nodded their heads and clapped to infused samples. Nag champa incense burned above the Jamaican flag into a red tinted room where everyone was just, happy. What more can you ask for these days. The first song ended with “Fuggin Awesome!” shouted in call and response between the crowd and the band.

This was no “every song sounds the same” type dub. Punk, funk, soul, bossa, hip-hop, and drum and bass were all effortlessly blended, reflecting the experiences of the former hip hop and jungle producers, MC, and jazz performer on stage. The influence of classics translated into their music—the melodica summoned the feel of Augustus Pablo over Roni Size style percussion. The musicians floated into their own world during each song, but still engaged the crowd by their sheer joy at making great music. There was not a still foot or head in the building. Great live music, nice dj sets, the feel of being expanded, happy people, and good beer. “Fuggin Awesome!”

The lineup:

Des Ark
Yardwork
Black Congo
Thy Mighty Contract

We were all pretty impressed by Thy Mighty Contract’s show at Corndogorama this year.  Even with less than a dozen performances under their belt, Thy Mighty Contract play a confident show, helped by tight musicianship and immaculate punk/metal/badass/art lyrics.  Their lineup includes members of Blame Game, Fagstatic, I Would Set Myself on Fire For You, The Orphins, and Narcolepsy.  If you like those guys, you’ll like Thy Mighty Contract even more.

The show’s only $5 at Wonderroot (a fantastic non-profit set up to connect artists with resources they need, like a recording studio, graphic design computers, and a darkroom), and doors open at 8:30.

• Black Kids - I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (The Twelves Remix) (Free via Planet Shhh)
• Greencoats - Honey (Free Via Swedesplease)
• Longwave - Sirens In The Deep Sea (Free Via Alankomaat)
• Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook (Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust)
• Summerbirds In The Cellar - Now We Are Ugly On The Inside (Free downloads at their Myspace page)
• Abandon The Earth Mission - Sonrisa (Make friends on Myspace)
• Noot D’Noot - Livin The Life Feat Sleepy (Make friends on Myspace)
• Gringo Star - All Y’all (Make friends on Myspace)
• Herculeus & Love Affair - You Belong (Hercules & Love Affair)
• Slushco - I Can Only Try (Make friends on Myspace)

The greatest feat for any guitar player to achieve is to learn how to make the instrument sing the words that your lips cannot express.  A native from Atlanta, Kaki King has pushed the envelope with her 2006 release, … until we felt red by challenging all of her listeners to do some soul searching and allow her music to satisfy the void. The unique finger picking on this album is enchanting. You might hear traces of flamenco and jazz guitar, alongside Kaki’s own stylistic virtuoso creations. I watched a few of her live performances online, and her complex picking style reminded me a bit of Andy McKee’s instrumental acoustic work. What separates Kaki from other guitarists in this realm, is that her songs are constantly moving in and out of different keys and changing rhythm. She also throws in surprising accent notes where you wouldn’t normally expect them. Her unpredictability is what makes …until we felt red special. Her guitar produces melodies that make me wish I had grown up with her.

Occasionally, Kaki softly sings in a 9-year old choir girl voice about lost lovers and the fear of romance. Under normal circumstances, I would be turned off by her weak voice, but the rest of her music is so androgynous and inventive that I can’t help but celebrate Kaki King as an artist. She floats in and out of yearning. And where her voice is weak and childishly feminine, her fingers are deliberate and caress the emotion of the song fluently. …until we felt red will compel you to commit to loving whomever you please, to bursting into tears when your world crumbles, and most of all, the necessity to rejoice in your individuality. Kaki will tug at your heartstrings as she gently plucks and twangs her lap steel with long fingernails. And as you listen to her arms and fingers float down and around the neck of her guitar, try to soak up her authenticity as an artist. Girls like Kaki deserve a second listen, or maybe eight or nine. So go sit on your rooftop, plug in …until we felt red, snuggle up with your girlfriend and soak up as much of the good life as you possibly can.

Kaki King - Until We Felt Red

Kaki King - First Brain

Kaki King - Soft Shoulder

Kaki King - I Never Said I Love You

Buy Kaki’s newest record Dreaming of Revenge

the New Frontiers - Black Lungs

the New Frontiers - Strangers

For some reason you’re not ever supposed to “mess with” Texas. After hearing Dallas-based musicians the New Frontiers’ album Mending, I wonder why you’d ever want to in the first place.  Everything about the New Frontiers is so polished and clean-cut that you could invite them over to eat dinner with your parents tonight and your folks’ll just love ‘em. Mending features 11 songs, all of which could find their way onto episodes of Smallville or whatever the hell the kids are into these days. I’m not saying it’s not mature, I’m just saying it really lacks balls.

The songs on Mending are mostly tear-filled sing-alongs and bittersweet ballads, but definitely more sweet than bitter. I’d say this is what John Mayer would sound like with a slightly more mature sound (I’m trying not to grin right now), or an even more radio-friendly Goo Goo Dolls without any history of drug abuse. Mending is one of those albums that utterly demands you to sing along, right now! In fact, I bet your girlfriend is already singing along to it, go check…I’ll wait.

I wasn’t fascinated by this album. It seemed too familiar to me…too wishy-washy.  Every good rock artist must take certain risks with their music, and while Mending seems to be have crafted with a lot of care and sincerity, it is streamlined for commercial distribution and universal appeal. I really think people are gonna eat this shit up…teenage girls, mainly, and maybe certain teenage boys who pick up guitars just to get the teenage girls.  If more and more people were exposed to Mending (which they probably will be), I’d be in the minority of not praising this album. I’d be really surprised if the New Frontiers aren’t able to crack the music industry’s code with this one.

Buy Mending through Amazon

Jogging, Clubbing, Cleaning (including washing dishes, scrubbing floors, and getting house “refund” ready), Walking Dogs, Making Friends, Making them Laugh, Introducing the World to Thug Shit, Krogering, Reliving Decades in Mere Minutes, Burning Calories, Learning All the Songs You’ve Tried Avoiding by Listening to 88.5 instead of 107.9, Doing the Sexy Dance, Hearing Eminem String Lude Words over Yael Naim (on “No Pause”)…listen for yourself, and surely you’ll find additions!

(Editor’s Note: we typically provide free samples of the album, however this being a pay what you want model simply decide after the jump)

Girl Talk - Feed The Animals

How do you express enthusiasm for a band when you’re trying to focus on other things?  Even trying to post other articles and focusing on a minor equipment error?  Easy when it’s Maserati.  The drummer was so perfectly in time and the droning guitars enveloped the room like the batter on a Jalepeno corndog.  These fellas really brought their A game tonight and I couldn’t be more pleased to recommend a Maserati show whenever possible.

After a ho hum first number their synthesizers decided to accept the festival, and boy are we lucky they decided to cooperate.  The band has learned something quite important about music.  Your drummer doesn’t have to play fast to be heard.  As I write this, Summerbirds have moved onto their second song, and that combination of driving percussion and swirly guitars are sending goosebumps down my spine.

Their lyrics are a little lost on those powerful but muffled main speakers, which may be a good thing.  Songwriting is an interesting art form.  Everyone looks for something different, and yet, even though I only catch every third word, it sounds like SITC wrote these songs just for me.

I run sound at night so I didn’t get a chance to see a lot of the headliners but from what I’ve seen, Summerbirds in the Cellar have my pick for first place, which is actually an understatement of how much I enjoyed their set.  This band may be one of my new favorites PERIOD

(earplugs removed, bliss ensues) 

Sometimes dudes just want to get on tiny motorcycles and jump over stuff.

Today they did.

Adam says Led Zeppelin.  I says Jimi, Howlin Wolf, or any other bluesy rock legend.  All this comes from Handsome Jack.  Nasty down home music straight from Buffalo, N.Y.  The only band to play Corndogorama three days in a row.  And they claim “if you get a chance to do it, don’t.  [You'll be] throwin’ up all morning.” Well, that could be the case even if you weren’t one of the performers.  

Regardless, you know a band’s got it when the bar wench pulls up a chair to stand on so she can wind to the music.  That was yesterday, today she’s upgraded to sitting in front of the band, seductively chewing a straw.  This is the type of music that makes ladies want to wind and tatted up couples finally get comfy enough to tongue each other: guitars that chime out with their own voice and an animated drummer that boosts the already vibrant energy.

Standard blues lines get a progressive overhaul as Handsome Jack accelerates into a frenzy.  Any band that can pull off three days of Corndogorama has got to be worth the wheels they rode in on.  

Did you think with all this Corndogorama madness that we forgot about the Royal Bangs? Not likely! We’re still excited about the video we did, and we think the session is even better. Check out the songs below, or download the entire thing through the zip.

Royal Bangs - Handcuff Killa

Royal Bangs - Japanese Car

Royal Bangs - New Scissors

Royal Bangs - Shit Christmas

Download the entire session
HYH Session: Royal Bangs

Have You Heard Session: Royal Bangs from HaveYouHeard on Vimeo.

Never has a name been more appropriate.  If I were fortunate enough to be drafted into this club, I’d spend the bulk of my time taking dancing lessons from the tambourine wielding vocalist, Chris.  Direct from the gap between classic rock and post punk, unabashed shout/sung vocals are set off by driving instrumentation.  The still building crowd can’t keep still to the thorough mix.  This is the kind of music to model your days around. Hmm, maybe their Dynamos album would be a good investment.

I don’t know how day 4 of the festival can possibly let me down as every single day I’ve found more and more local and not so local groups that have knocked my socks off!

Our buddies Club Awesome should be… well… awesome.  Also I’m really excited to finally see Lazer/Wolf live.  Should be some surprises too!

June 29

The surprise hit of Corndogorama is officially The Howlies. What other rockers could cover R. Kelly so convincingly? Perhaps it was a heartfelt tribute to his recent court victory.

I convinced the guys from Atlanta Rock Blog to stick around and see them play as they were one of my “shows to see” this weekend. A very enthusiastic high five followed. In the same vein I’ve seen nearly five kids walking around in Howlies shirts they bought after the show. 

Ever wanted to hear a sixties girl group reincarnated into four down south rockers that like playing loud and mean? Get your chance next time the Howlies jump on stage.

Snowden’s a bit drone-ier than the average Corndogorama band this weekend, so it takes a few minutes to really get into their music.  Fortunately, most of the songs they played tonight ran at least four minutes, often nudging up into the six and seven minute marks - by halfway through any given song, the  crowd around me was enveloped in this snake-like upper body and neck sway.  There were some tapping feet and even one or two pogo-ers, but, for the most part, the crowd seemed happy to be hypnotized by Snowden’s effects pedal heavy jams.

I’m pretty convinced that if the Hiss were half as talented as they are but retained the same level of energy, I’d still love them.  This band currently resides here in Atlanta, and although they aren’t natives, we’d love to claim them as our own.  They’ve shared the stage with a number of very well-known bands: the Raveonettes, BRMC, Jet, the White Stripes, Cheap Trick and even Oasis.

They’re apparently very well-received in the UK, with their first self-produced single reaching its top 20 list.  So maybe we can at least point out that they are American and have just a little pride and hope for rock and roll here in the states.  Some of us “yanks” know what we’re doing, despite how much we like ketchup and credit cards and really cheap watered-down beer (it’s all the rage here at Corndogorama).

The Hiss’ MySpace page mentions that they are available for Bat Mitzvahs, Debutante balls, corporate events, etc.  If only I was Jewish and/or a girl and/or had any money at all.  I’d let them kick out jams all over the place…hell, I’d probably even let them kick me in the face, why not?

For A. Armada, the decision to write songs without lyrics seems like a bold move. Especially for a band used to playing in a bar or club atmosphere, people seem to identify better with a frontman or frontwoman with undeniable stage presence.  People can be turned off by instrumental bands the same way American movie audiences are turned off by foreign movies with subtitles.

However A. Armada crafted a near seamless set in a very intimate environment.  Not only was their presence felt, but an atmosphere was created, a connection was made.  I felt as if they had invited me into their living room, or vice versa.  Each band member seemed to be turned in upon themselves, silently encouraging one another, and I also liked how the drummer wasn’t pushed away in a dark corner, but rather playing in front with the guitars.  The focus seemed to shift occasionally from one instrument to the next, while the anthemic music swelled.

While A. Armada didn’t seem to engage the audience in other ways than their music, it seems that would be impossible as they were just as immersed in the music as the rest of the room was.