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MP3 and videos: Cloud Nothings - They play tonight at Monster Island Basement
By John Ruscher
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
Tonight Cleveland's Cloud Nothings will play at Monster Island Basement with Dream Diary, Fluffy Lumbers, McDonalds and Free Kisses.
Cloud Nothings, the project of Dylan Baldi, is part of the large helping of groups currently making lo-fi, fuzz-, reverb- and echo-drenched pop tunes. But Baldi also leans toward the garage punk and psych areas of that spectrum, kicking things into a gear that takes cues from the Wipers and finds itself slipping into some nice guitar freakouts.
Turning On, Cloud Nothings' debut LP is out now. You can get it on CD from Bridgetown Records and on vinyl from Speakertree Records (which is also an awesome independent record shop in Lynchburg, Virginia, if you ever happen to be down that way).
Listen to Cloud Nothings' "Can't Stay Awake," from Turning On, and a couple of live videos below.
Cloud Nothings - "Can't Stay Awake" [Download]
Check out some live videos of Cloud Nothings after the break
Audio and video: Harvey Milk plays tonight at Le Poisson Rouge with Coalesce and The Atlas Moth
By John Ruscher
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Tonight the Blackened Music Series presents a night of thundering, ear-piercing tunes at Le Poisson Rouge. Georgia's Harvey Milk headlines, and Kansas' Coalesce and Illinois' The Atlas Moth open.
Harvey Milk, named after San Francisco's first openly gay city supervisor, formed in 1992, split in 1998 and reformed in 2006. They've released six LPs and, on occasion, mixed things up by playing all Hank Williams songs and the entirety of R.E.M.'s Reckoning during live shows. More often, though, they offer up their own brand of heavy chugging riffage, drawing together bombastic bolts of metal, subtle experimental textures and superb songwriting. Their latest releases are the excellent Life...The Best Game In Town and a self-titled reissue of their extremely hard-to-find 1994 album recorded with acclaimed producer and Shellac/Volcano Suns bassist Bob Weston. The band next release, A Small Turn of Human Kindness, which will be out on Hydra Head Records on May 18.
Coalesce followed a path not that different from Harvey Milk's, forming in 1994, disbanding in 1999, and started playing again in 2005. The band released their fourth studio album and first since reuniting, Ox, this past summer.
Listen to Harvey Milk's "Death Goes to the Winner," from Life...The Best Game In Town, below, and check out a Breakfast At Sulimays review of the song after the break.
Harvey Milk - "Death Goes to the Winner"
Live review: Xeno & Oaklander, Led Er Est and Frank Alpine at Cameo Gallery
By John Ruscher
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
Cameo Gallery was packed Friday night for Xeno & Oaklander's headlining show, and the night did not disappoint. We arrived in time to catch part of Frank Alpine's set, and the Los Angeles group's mastermind, Rich T. Moreno, served up solid synthscapes and compelling vocals with the help of an additional sidekick. Brooklyn's Led Er Est was next and, after a lengthy set-up time, they plunged into a collection of energetic tunes, balancing dark synths, hooks, and acoustic and electric guitar.
The night ultimately belonged to Xeno & Oaklander, though. After carefully removing their all-analog equipment from bubble wrap-padded carrying cases, they set up, plugged in, checked their mix and played a spot-on set of beautiful, shadowy synth tunes. It may fall under the moniker of "cold wave," but X&O's music is full of a warmth stemming from carefully molded textures and songwriting that seeps with a restrained but earnest passion. Sean McBride mans the sequencers and primary synth lines, singing in a commanding and even tone. Liz Wendlbo produces knob-turning electronic ripples, while offering aching vocals that sound like an ancient siren beckoning mariners towards the rocks. The duo looked happy to be playing and they maintained a terrific momentum until the encore, when their tight orchestration teetered a little bit. That final song was nonetheless a satisfying end to the evening, offering one last taste of X&O's distinct sonic atmosphere.
Check out a couple of photos from the show after the break...
Videos: Xeno & Oaklander, Led Er Est, Frank Alpine - They play tonight at Cameo Gallery
By John Ruscher
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Tonight there's a great show at Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg. On the bill are Xeno & Oaklander, Led Er Est, Frank Alpine, Fan-Tan and Kordan.
We posted a performance/interview video that BOMB Magazine did with Xeno & Oaklander the other week. If you haven't checked it out, we've included it below, along with the video from X&O's "Sentinelle," the title track from their terrific new album on Wierd Records.
Brooklyn's Led Er Est and LA's Frank Alpine are also on the Wierd Records roster, and they both make shadowy, synth-pop soundscapes not too far from X&O's territory. Fan-Tan offers up a little more guitar-based, rock-oriented sound, drawing from the glory days of post-punk and new wave. Kordan falls somewhere in between, bringing together electronic and rock atmospheres.
Check out videos of Xeno & Oaklander, Led Er Est and Frank Alpine below.
Show preview and MP3: Japanther celebrates the release of 'Rock 'n' Roll Ice Cream' with a show at Mercury Lounge tonight
By Jake Holbrook
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
At the forefront of lo-fi punk for the last decade, Japanther persists as one of Brooklyn's most prolific acts. Drummer Ian Vanek and bassist Matt Reilly formed the band while attending Pratt in 2001. Since then they have released six LPs and at least four EPs. Live, the duo hammers out fast-paced rhythms to dubbed and manipulated cassettes while singing into telephone receivers. The result is an innovative brand of punk that is highly energetic, catchy and true to (or maybe a determining factor in) current musical trends.
Tonight, Mercury Lounge hosts a release party for Japanther's new album, Rock 'n' Roll Ice Cream, which came out Tuesday. Included on the bill is Cerebral Ballzy, a band that remind us of a time when Ian MacKaye (Teen Idles, Minor Threat and, later, Fugazi) was still underage and Henry Rollins (Black Flag) was still Henry Garfield. Their tunes are unmistakably hardcore punk, a tribute to the DIY era that spawned indie rock. Filthy Savage is also on the bill.
Below, listen to "Spread So Thin" from Japanther's Rock 'n' Roll Ice Cream. Then check out more mp3s of Japanther and Cerebral Ballzy over at The Brooklyn Night.
Japanther - "Spread So Thin" (from Rock 'n' Roll Ice Cream) [Download]
