Record Review: Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

So far, Veckatimest is one of my favorite records of the year. Seeing Grizzly Bear for the first time at Bonnaroo was a complete thrill; I was so happy! Ed Droste is a hypnotic vocalist, and Christopher Bear's live drumming is formidable and overzealous and fantastic!

When I came back, I got to agonize over a review of the album for Stomp and Stammer. What came out was unintentionally kind of a thesis. Hope you like!

Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest
[Warp]

It takes a long time to get submerged in a Grizzly Bear record. The band name itself deceives. No reckless, territorial aggression to be found here – no claws – only beauty and calculation, careful diction and studiedly released energy. The first few listens always reveal, to me at least, only the textures used and not the content. The reedy, blended treble they favor sounds like some ensemble of minstrels dancing atop an intermittently used giant bass drum. (Idea for a video, maybe?) When I’ve only gotten my feet wet, the immediacy of Grizzly Bear records doesn’t feel as apparent to me as it must to those who always gush about them.

But then something happens. On the 15th-ish listen, suddenly I’ve plunged under and all the waves of brilliance start rushing past. Veckatimest, of their work so far, is all but a tsunami. (To be fair, listening on cranked-up headphones helps, too.) Packing the punch possibly lacking in the gorgeous Yellow House and the eclectic Friend EP while still just as pretty, Veckatimest exhibits loudly the Brooklyn quartet’s abilities with theme exploration and the manipulation of audience tension. Lead-off track “Southern Point” seems a microcosm of this with its backing strings and barreling chorus, alternately gentle and jarring. Each track develops a melody or two and repeats, changing a bit each time, and often sprouts into a large, thrilling B-section or coda at the end. (Come to think of it, Grizzly Bear is exactly why you should never judge a song on its first few seconds.) They’re no less exciting for their predictability, mostly because the band ornaments absolutely everything. It sounds like they’d hang Christmas baubles on the pointy parts of their songs if they could.

Take, for example, the ostensible stand-out “Two Weeks.” As catchy as the group gets, the song just repeats the bouncy keyboard melody and soaring vocal backing (featuring Beach House’s Victoria Legrand) over and over. Here’s the thing, though: the arrangement is different absolutely every time the theme reprises. It’s the final touch that makes the song not just something hipsters can dance to, but a powerhouse composition in its own right. Same goes for “All We Ask” and “While You Wait For The Others.” Sure, they’re transcendent pop songs, but they’re effing fascinating, too!...[Read more]


If for any reason you haven't heard it yet:

[MP3] Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"

Record Review: Lord Cut-Glass - Lord Cut-Glass

For Atlanta Music Guide:

Lord Cut-Glass
Lord Cut-Glass
Chemikal Underground

Ex-Delgado Alun Woodward’s lilting Scottish accent wraps itself around the haunting, intricate instrumental arrangements in his songs. His debut LP under the moniker Lord Cut-Glass — named for a character in the radio play Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas — turns seamlessly from folk to waltz to military march to a ditty about being the “product of the modern man.” Each song is a fleshed-out stand-alone composition, a full story and an entire piece of music in its own right. Listening to Lord Cut-Glass as an album feels like being at the theater; one can almost feel the velvet of the curtains and the see the glow of the stage lights.

Maybe it’s because most of the phrasing seems directly derivative of theatrical song composition in the best way. Woodward plays with tempo and volume in a manner that creates interest and tension, helped in his efforts by drummer Paul Savage (also formerly of The Delgados), as well as a large collection of Glasgow classical musicians. Together, they man a toy piano, a full horn section, an accordion and slews of sweeping strings; they supply choral backup singing to supplement Woodward’s fast-picked acoustic guitar and produce his bizarre mental collages.

Lyrically, Woodward brings intimidating smarts and a charming sense of humor to his songwriting. Take, for example, the fact that the quietest song on the album — a sweetly sung minimalist acoustic duet — is called “Holy Fuck!” and asserts that “glimpsing reflections of the past… feels like licking rats.” Through lines like these, Woodward displays his ability with striking descriptiveness. “I believe that you and me will never be/A Fred-and-Ginger matinee romance,” he croons. “Holy Fuck!” and every song on the album, really, beautifully meshes undeniable truth with darkly comic wit and weird analogy...[Read more]

FOAVOD: Harlem Shakes - "Strictly Game"

This video is incredible. It parodies those terrible slideshow videos people are always making for YouTube. But it does it in a way that makes your realization of what's going on grow gradually throughout the length of the video. I was laughing out loud-- it's brilliant!

FOA OMG!!1!: Ball of Flame Shoot Fire

There was a time (it may still be going on, in fact), when the sheer act of contacting me directly through my Fear of Arthropods email address about your band basically obliged me to listen to whatever music you sent along. See, just as what you wanted was to be in a band and to have that band be successful and heard by lots of people, what I wanted was to be a music journalist and to write about bands and hear music before it releases and have what I write be read by lots of people. When individual artists and labels and publicity companies started sending me promos or inviting me personally to listen to records...well, I still flush with excitement whenever a bubble envelope arrives in the mail or when a full album download shows up in my inbox. It's the best.

Back in the day (a whole year, year-and-a-half ago!) someone named Tim from a band called Ball of Flame Shoot Fire out of Pittsburgh sent me just such an email. Tim made a good case. He had searched for some of the bands they had shared bills with, and this led him to FOA, where I was (as usual) gushing about Man Man. He told me BOFSF had opened for Man Man before, and that if I liked them, I might like his band, too. Then he sent me an EP. It was called Grumpy Little Bird (the name made me giggle right off the bat), and while it was a bit rough around the edges, the compositional prowess it betrayed was well beyond what I had come to expect from unsolicited promos. I liked that it was virtuosic and unhinged, full of howling and crazy piano etudes and big words.

Now, Ball of Flame Shoot Fire has released their debut full-length record. It's called Jokeland (pronounced like "Oakland" but with a "J," Tim tells me), and it marks a palpable leap forward for the band. Though still slathered with all the idiosyncrasies that made Grumpy Little Bird charming, it's a much cleaner, more realized effort. The production value is miles better, for one thing, but the songs themselves feel more fleshed out and mature as well. Sure, the vocal style is still weird. There are still frantic instrumental arrangements behind the too-many-syllables-for-one-line lyrics. There are still group sing-alongs. It still sounds like the musical representation of what might happen if a circus collided with a Southern rock festival--especially if there was an awful lot of pinstripes and face paint and feathers involved. But Jokeland is more experimental, sound collage-wise, and explores a greater range of compositional ideas. Certain numbers are down-tempo-- mellow, even-- and provide welcome relief from the feverish pace kept up by most of the album. I'm a big fan of "Wishthroat" and "Butcha Poppa," and "Bertie Hey" keeps getting stuck in my head for hours.

Jokeland is crazy and fun and smart and interesting, and I really hope enough people can stomach its beautiful weirdness long enough to dig in and really appreciate it. Stuff like this doesn't come around everyday.

[MP3] Ball of Flame Shoot Fire - "Bertie Hey"

FOAVOD: Noot d'Noot - "Fingers Like Steeples"

Heads up y'all! Atlanta funk collective Noot d'Noot are free agents and are self-releasing a 12" (vinyl w/ CD-R inside) called "Cash For Gold" this Saturday, June 20. They're celebrating with a show at The Earl that night.

The band is awesome to dance to, not to mention super nice. I had the pleasure of interviewing them for Paste:Local last year, and loved every minute of it.

Here's the (nifty-lookin') video for their song "Fingers Like Steeples" from the record. Enjoy!

Live Review: Bon Iver @ Variety Playhouse 6/7/09

I saw Bon Iver play twice, six days apart. The first was at the Variety Playhouse; the second was a hot, packed, mid-afternoon tent show at Bonnaroo. It was almost the exact same set. Both times, I almost cried. They're that good. If you ever have a chance to attend a concert of theirs, don't think about it. Just go!

For Stomp and Stammer's Tales From The Moshpit:

Bon Iver @ Variety Playhouse, 6/7/09

I don’t know how it happens. I can’t say, because I’ve never done it. I’ve never written songs that were so beautiful on first recording, first conception, that they garnered ecstatic blog attention, that they then made it into the near-mainstream, that they got co-opted by questionable pop culture venues (we’re lookin’ at you, Grey’s Anatomy), that they have somehow become worthy of live alteration, augmentation, jam-outs. I don’t know how a collection of nine songs grows like this. Without too much reference to all the Wisconsin cabin mythology that’s been absolutely beaten to death by the blogosphere, it’s pretty amazing to think of Justin Vernon’s journey, from a down-and-out musician alone with his recording equipment in the winter of 2007 to an indie darling, signed by Jagjaguwar, accompanied by three new bandmates, asked to mix others’ records (like The Daredevil Christopher Wright’s In Defernece To A Broken Back) and getting to contribute to The Red Hot Organization’s much-lauded Dark Was The Night comp.

However it happens, it culminated, for me, with my first Bon Iver show. The Variety Playhouse was sold out, and as always happens on listening to their records, a certain kind of nostalgic calm had settled over the place. It’s like viewing the world through a thin veil that makes everything shinier and warmer at the same time. The set, made up mostly of the majority of debut For Emma, Forever Ago but peppered with numbers from the band’s follow-up EP Blood Bank and “Brackett, WI” from Dark Was The Night, began with “Creature Fear.” Vernon’s voice permeated the crowd like a soul singer’s; the persistent percussion swelled and pushed forward. The songs all took on new life, relying less—necessarily—on the extensive vocal overdubbing that characterizes every Bon Iver recording, and more on sheer instrumental prowess. This was helped along more than a little by the rest of the band (Mike Noyce, Sean Carey and Matthew McCaughan), who sometimes played guitar, bass, drums and keys, but sometimes all played drums at the same time. They sang the stacked parts that would’ve been so conspicuously missing without them....[Read more]


(During the Bonnaroo show, the band invited the members of Elvis Perkins in Dearland onstage to perform the horn parts in "For Emma," which was incredible. Also, before performing "Re: Stacks" solo, Vernon said to the audience, "I think I'm gonna hold this beer can between my knees during this whole song. Is that weird?")

Record Review: It's Elephant's - Gets Along

It's Elephant's were among the first publicity clients of my friend Liz at Deus Ex Machina PR, and they've really been blowing up lately. They're tons of fun live, and bring a real work ethic and sense of humor to everything they do, it seems. I got to write a spotlight on them for Southeast Performer after their first album Little Trouble In Chinatown last year, as well as edit my friend Nikki's Catching Up With... piece on them back in the Paste:Local Atlanta days. Now, I reviewed their sophomore full-length, Gets Along, for Atlanta Music Guide. I feel like the band has really grown up. Have a look:

It's Elephant's
Gets Along

The danger latent in having a frontman with such a recognizable voice — in this case one with a crackling, blues-rock bent that bends and scoops from pitch to pitch — is that everything else will go unnoticed. But Brent Jay’s vocal performances, for Atlanta band It’s Elephant’s, are only a small part of the story. Behind, under and all around them are other things: confident guitar riffage, adorable and well-placed backup singing, moving bass lines, bright horns, bouncing piano and insistent drumming.

All these abilities have congealed into the quartet’s sophomore full-length, Gets Along, a mashup of related but individual song styles, down to a final track utilizing the type of electronic voice made famous by Radiohead’s Ok Computer. The band has evolved light years in the time since last year’s Little Trouble in Chinatown, even if you’re only considering production value. The hardcore twinge to their compositions has largely evaporated (save for a few bouts of screaming; see “Black Cock Down”), replaced instead with smart pacing and clean, crisp arrangements that allow all parts to be appreciated equally (see “Sam Loomis Hardware”). It’s a smart move for It’s Elephant’s, because what they have over others in their genre — we’ll call it “blues pop” — is the effort they put into layering their complementary parts atop one another...[Read more]

The band plays a record release party at The Earl June 26 with The Long Shadows and Whores.

Live Review: The National @ The Tabernacle 5/27/09

Photo taken by either myself or Sara Miller at Langerado 2008.

All I could think the whole time was, "This is my natural habitat." There's a certain kind of joy to be found in going to see The National play. It was the second time for me; the first was at Langerado last year when I was an intern at Paste. I (painstakingly) blogged this review of it for PasteMagazine.com at the time, and I remember the evening as being one of the happiest I've had-- not just because of the great shows (Of Montreal immediately preceded The National), but also thanks to good company and unexpectedly free hamburgers.

Though much closer to home, the venue for this show was no less romantic, and the band seemed equally comfortable in the Tabernacle's beautiful, welcoming environment. The crowd was appreciative, the chandelier glowed pleasantly from the ceiling and absolutely everything just seemed to glitter. If only all concert-going could be like this.

Here's the review, for Atlanta Music Guide:

Live Review: The National @ The Tabernacle, May 27

It began with "Runaway." The nine-member incarnation of The National, complete with three horn players and a keyboardist, began the set with a new, mesmerizing, post-Boxer song. Poignant and compelling even on the first go-around, everyone listened with rapt attention. Then, like one communal exhale, guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner launched into the opening riffs of "Start A War" and the place erupted. It wasn't the during-intro cheers that marked the change, it was that the baritone notes that spilled out of Matt Berninger as he clutched his microphone like a lifeline were now veiled in a delicate tenor and soprano cloak as thousands sang along with him. Our song shimmered in the background like the tinsel curtain behind the band itself...[Read more]

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"