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.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup

Episode 30 rounds out nicely as our most music packed episode of all time.  Beginning with a surprising review of Sigur Ros’ newest offering then playing highlights from this years HYH sponsored local music festival then ending with an “out of nowhere” record featuring some of the best disco outside a John Travolta movie.

• 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)

There’s an interesting article about the invention of the record cover over at the undependent.

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.

Loud and fast are the only words needed to describe X-Nuns. Comprised of the three essential punk instruments, these guys were relentless. Along with the occasional humorous song names or mid-performance joke, the screaming vocals, fast-paced guitar riffs, high-speed drum beats and grooving bass lines were all X-Nuns had to offer. They didn’t draw much of a crowd, nor did they put out too much energy, but these guys were definitely a solid band. Aside from some flimsy guitar solos and a song restart, it was a decent show.