War On Pop

Two Years

2011-06-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

Two years ago today, I wrote my first post for my regrettably-titled music blog The War On Pop. The entry consisted of two somewhat nondescript sentences introducing Booker T. & The DBT’s cover of “Hey Ya.” The post had grammatical errors left and right and was neither meaningless nor meaningful in and of itself. But it was the simple act of expressing my musical opinion that made all the difference. The shortest of articles sparked a frenetic two-year whirlwind that changed my existence and purpose on this earth.

Fast forward 24 months, countless articles, photo galleries, interviews and videos later, I've since achieved my goal in becoming a full-time music journalist. Saying that my life has been a whirlwind during this time period would be a vast understatement to say the least. Anyone who's watched me during this time period knows how hard and at (many) times chaotic my pace has been to reach this point. While it first started with this blog, it slowly morphed to unpaid contributions, before turning into paid freelancing, before finally becoming a career doing something I absolutely love.

Getting hired at Paste still hasn't fully hit me yet, but it will soon enough. I'm beyond blessed to not only have been offered this incredible opportunity, but have also been humbled by all the support I've received along the way--it completely astounds me how much encouragement, love and kindness has been shown to me leading up to now. It's the kind of thing that both affirms the fact that I'm absolutely on the right path in my life, as well as restored my faith in people and the world around me. More than anything, I can't thank you all enough for the latter.

Not that I've been posting on here for a while, but this will be my last War on Pop post for some time as I continue to bring my talents to the pages of Paste's website. For more regular updates, please visit my portfolio.

Songs I fell in love with in 2010 (that weren’t released in 2010).

2010-12-23T01:48:00.003-06:00

As long as I can remember, music in December has been synonymous with year-end lists that recap the best (and worst) of the past calendar year. For many, it provides a chance to catch up with all that potentially awesome music we missed the first time around in past the calendar year. It can serve as an enjoyable exercise that makes us stop and think about our musical tastes and preferences as opposed to the continuous search for our next dose of musical cocaine.

But what I find gets overlooked year after year is all the music that each of us discover that’s not from 2010. Sure, much of this has been digested time and time again in years past. But I find that a new found discovery of a new artist, album or song from previous years, no matter how popular or obscure it may be, remains much more gratifying in the short and long run.

Over the course of 2010, people undoubtedly fell in love with previously released music--whether it was quietly taking in Nebraska for the first time, finally understanding the dissonant complexities of Sonic Youth, having their hearts shattered by Bon Iver or being taught the duality of the Southern thing through Southern Rock Opera. These moments are the discoveries that define personal obsessions with music.

Best-of 2010 lists may act as a useful guide to us, but music-we-fell-in-love-with-in-2010 lists seem much more interesting to look at. So here’s my attempt to retrace the songs I fell in love with in 2010 (that weren’t released in 2010).

The Antlers – “Wake”
Beirut – “Postcards From Italy”
Big Star – “Feel”
The Books –"Be Good To Them Always"
Bruce Springsteen – “No Surrender”
Califone – “Polish Girls”
Centro-matic – “Glacial Slurs”
The Cure – “Just Like Heaven”
Dinosaur Jr. – “Start Choppin’”
Doveman – “Breathing Out”
Elvis Costello – “Miracle Man”
Fela Kuti – “Gentleman”
Fleetwood Mac – “Gold Dust Woman”
Fresh & Onlys – “Peacock and Wing”
Heartless Bastards – “Into The Open”
J. Tillman – “James Blues”
King Khan & The Shrines – “Welfare Bread”
The Low Anthem – “Don’t Tremble”
Magnetic Fields – “Papa Was A Rodeo”
Mayer Hawthorne – “The Ills”
Molina & Johnson – “Almost Let You In”
My Morning Jacket – “Death Is The Easy Way”
Okkervil River – “So Come Back, I am Waiting”
Patterson Hood – “Screwtopia”
Pavement – “Gold Soundz”
Real Estate – “Beach Comber”
Spritualized – “All of My Thoughts”
Stars – “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead”
Television – “Guiding Light”
Venice Is Sinking – “Ryan’s Song”
Wye Oak – “For Prayer”

I came up with 31 songs that left me speechless. What were some songs that rocked your world?

Photo Book: Oryx and Crake, Venice Is Sinking (December 10, 2010)

2010-12-16T00:04:00.000-06:00

Pictures of the Oryx and Crake's show at Atlanta's 529 on December 10, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Usher at the Philips Arena (December 5, 2010)

2010-12-09T23:58:00.005-06:00

Pictures of the Usher's show at Atlanta's Philips Arena on December 5, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Low Anthem at the Variety Playhouse (December 4, 2010)

2010-12-07T23:54:00.010-06:00

Pictures of Carolina Chocolate Drops' show at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse on December 4, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Best Albums and Songs of 2010

2010-12-02T01:19:00.000-06:00

Best Albums of 2010:
1. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
2. Sharon Van Etten - Epic
3. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
4. The National - High Violet
5. The Walkmen - Lisbon
6. Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
7. Grandchildren - Everlasting
8. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
9. Beach House - Teen Dream
10. Grinderman - Grinderman 2
11. Oryx and Crake - Oryx and Crake
12. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
13. The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
14. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
15. Free Energy - Stuck on Nothing
16. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
17. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way
18. Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt
19. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
20. Black Keys - Brothers

Best Songs of 2010:
1. Titus Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union"
2. Janelle Monae - "Tightrope"
3. The National - "England"
4. The Walkmen - "Angela Surf City"
5. Besnard Lakes - "Albatross"
6. Sufjan Stevens - "Too Much"
7. Oryx and Crake - "Fun Funeral"
8. LCD Soundsystem - "I Can Change"
9. Spoon - "Trouble Comes Running"
10. Girls - "Heartbreaker"
11. Broken Social Scene - "Texico Bitches"
12. Grandchildren - "Toss and Turn"
13. Beach House - "Ten Mile Stereo"
14. Mumford & Sons - "White Blank Page"
15. Yeasayer - "Grizelda"
16. Grinderman - "When My Baby Comes"
17. Big Boi - "Shutterbugg"
18. Sharon Van Etten - "One Day"
19. The Love Language - "Brittany's Back"
20. Jonsi - "Go Do"

Check out all 20 songs here:

Photo Book: Punch Brothers, The Dappled Grays at the Variety Playhouse (November 19, 2010)

2010-12-02T00:16:00.000-06:00

Pictures of the Punch Brothers' show at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse on November 19, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Wolf Parade, Oya at the Variety Playhouse (11/12/10)

2010-11-18T00:00:00.000-06:00

Pictures of Wolf Parade's show at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse on November 12, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Maps and Atlases at the Masquerade (11/10/10)

2010-11-16T00:00:00.001-06:00

Pictures of Map & Atlases' show at Atlanta's Masquerade on November 10, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: MGMT at the Tabernacle (11/2/10)

2010-11-10T07:38:00.000-06:00

Pictures of MGMT's show at Atlanta's Tabernacle on November 2, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Jonsi: 10/31/10 at the Tabernacle (Atlanta, GA)

2010-11-08T07:30:00.001-06:00

After beginning the year with the disappointing announcement of Sigur Ros’ hiatus, frontman Jon Thor Birgisson (better known as Jonsi) has made the most of 2010. While others in the group spent the year attending to personal matters, Jonsi pursued his solo endeavors. After releasing Go in April, the Icelandic performer has been touring for the better part of the last six months, displaying his beautiful theatrics at shows across the world.

Although he canceled his previously scheduled in-store at Criminal Records on Sunday, Jonsi and his four-piece band treated those who made it out to the Tabernacle for the main act. He explained between songs that his Icelandic origins have limited his Halloween past experiences, but his ornately decorated set and inspired performance played the part perfectly. Jonsi is by no means spooky, given his lighthearted and sometimes whimsical delivery, but remained every bit the right act for a Halloween show.

Much of his allure comes through his penchant for dynamic perfection, or as some dazed attendee remarked after the show, he stands as the “master of dynamics, bro.” The five-piece ebbed and flowed throughout their set, running the emotional gamut from the momentous swells of “Tornado” to the euphoric ecstasy of “Animal Arithmetic.” “Go Do” filled the Tabernacle with pulsating declarations of bliss and grandeur, while “Around Us” featured a riveting build up, culminating with Jonsi alone onstage in a brilliant minute of spontaneous electronic manipulation of his voice.

While the performance was a moment to behold, his understated visual production created a complete sensory experience. Not only were Jonsi and company dressed in ornate costumes and makeup, but the majority of the crowd matched them by showing up in costume as well. With all these elements combined, Jonsi transformed the Tabernacle from a concert hall to the home of a transcendent, ethereal experience—if only for a brief couple of hours.

Photo Book: Metric at the Tabernacle (10/28/10)

2010-10-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures of Metric's show at Atlanta's Tabernacle on October 28, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Mayer Hawthorne and The Heavy at the Masquerade (10/22/10)

2010-10-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures of Mayer Hawthorne and The Heavy's show at Atlanta's Masquerade on October 22, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Mix Mondays: Volume 56

2010-10-25T00:00:00.006-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-56-october-25-2010.

1. Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union
2. Frightened Rabbit - Nothing Like You
3. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
4. The Walkmen - Angela Surf City
5. Broken Social Scene - Texico Bithces
6. Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
7. The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
8. Arcade Fire - No Cars Go

Photo Book: Los Campesinos! at the Variety Playhouse (10/20/10)

2010-10-22T12:00:00.002-05:00

Pictures from Los Campesinos! performing at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse on October 20, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: The Thermals, Cymbals Eat Guitars at the 40 Watt (10/19/10)

2010-10-22T00:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from The Thermals and Cymbals Eat Guitars performing at Athens' 40 Watt on October 19, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Matt & Kim: 10/16/10 at the Masquerade (Atlanta, GA)

2010-10-21T00:00:00.002-05:00

With their new album Sidewalks scheduled to be released in a couple of weeks, the dynamic duo known as Matt & Kim returned to Atlanta’s Masquerade this past Saturday night. To celebrate the new record, all those who arrived to the show early were treated to a sneak preview of the album. But even for those who didn’t arrive in time for a first listen of their third album, Matt & Kim provided all they could want and more throughout their highly energetic and upbeat set.

From the moment Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino took the stage, their synth-laden pop-punk infectiously filled the Heaven room of the Masquerade. The Brooklynite duo kicked off their set with songs including older singles “Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare” and “Lessons Learned,” while interluding between songs with a series of popular riffs and samples—including “Jump On It,” “Jump Around” and “The Final Countdown.” Matt & Kim carried on in relentless fashion song after song with what has become their trademark unbridled enthusiasm and banter. And the crowd embraced the two, partaking in everything from blowing up balloons passed out by the band to holding up Schifino’s feet as she stood up and danced atop the crowd. Johnson was equally into the show, continuously bantering throughout their set, adding his hilarious remarks like “Anytime I touch my bangs like fuckin’ Bieber here, just take a drink.”

The group closed with their biggest hit to date “Daylight”—“a song for anyone who’s had a bad day or week” Johnson explained. “A lot of people have told that this song has really helped them out a lot.” Matt & Kim went out with a bang, concluding their set on a high note before leaving to the sounds of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind.” As they approached the crowd, shook hands and embraced with audience members, Matt & Kim proved that there was no need for an encore, especially given the way they came out and not only matched, but surpassed their audience’s energy.

Photo Book: Local Natives, The Ruby Suns at the Masquerade (10/15/10)

2010-10-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from the Local Natives performing at Atlanta's Masquerade on October 15, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Interview: The Black Lips

2010-10-19T00:00:00.003-05:00

Over past the past nine years, few bands have managed to come close to garnering the live reputation earned by The Black Lips. It’s really almost more of a myth than anything else—urinating onstage, public exposure, vomiting, band members kissing and everything else in between. But anyone who has seen the Lips during their career can attest to the craziness of their shows, along with the energy brought by the band to each and every show. While the Atlanta quartet has grown in popularity over the past several years, they still approach every shows that same attitude.

During his time at Austin City Limits, I managed to catch the band’s Saturday performance as well as briefly talk with The Black Lips drummer Joe Bradley after their set. During our conversation, Bradley discussed the band’s upcoming album, bringing their rambunctious act to larger venues and performing with a human skull (yes, you read that right).

Max Blau: How do you approach a large festival like this as opposed to the more intimate venues that you usually play in? Do you approach a show like this much differently?

Joe Bradley: Intimacy comes with the closeness. Being in a small venue, you definitely are closer to the crowd. Unfortunately, what nullifies that is when you move up to a bigger venue and start getting these barricades and security guards. Even [at our ACL aftershow], there was a lot of security and kids were crowdsurfing, and they were ripping them down and throwing them out. But you know, I’m not here to judge whatever was driving them to do such, but you lose that that sometimes when you get to festivals and bigger venues.

These are fun for different reasons. One, you’re outside, and its fun to play outside as long as the sound’s good. And there’s usually tons of people there just having a great time—and really what matters most is that they’re enjoying themselves. It goes back and forth—if they enjoy themselves, we’ll probably enjoy ourselves. If they project good energy, we’ll project even better energy. It’s a tradeoff, you know. What do they call that…symbiosis

I’ve heard that you have a new album in the works.

Yeah right now we’ve done three different recording sessions over the past year. We have got one more recording session left.

How do you think this album will be similar or different from past albums?

Oh man, we’re working hard—we’re hoping this album will blow you away. That’s why we’re trying to record as much as possible—to get as many songs written as we can…you’re going to hear some of the same stuff like rock n’ roll, a little bit of psychedelic, some country of course and some straightforward pop songs. Should be fun to dance to, and good to listen to.

You guys have traveled all over the place over the past few years—from Europe to India and beyond. While you grew up and made your name as part of the East Atlanta Village music scene, do you still feel a sense of attachment to that area?

Scenes change. Younger kids give up and it’s up to the older people to give the reins to the younger musicians and artists, and let them make their mark. But the scene in which we grew up in, with Die Slaughterhaus and everything, most of them are still in Atlanta and are still in bands, but they’re not necessarily the focal point to what the scene in Atlanta could be. I’m not trying to come down on them or anything; but new bands, different projects and collaborations—there’s still all the same great people who were there in the beginning when we started all in the family. But now there’s some new kids and some different ideas. I’m happy to see people are still trying to be creative and haven’t gotten stuck in a rut.

The Black Lips have had a penchant for collaborations with others like King Khan (in the Almighty Defenders) and GZA, who’s one artist you’ve never collaborated with before that you would like to work with in the future?

We did some stuff with GZA, I would love to do something with RZA. But who else…I don’t really know. You see, music is not like an active part of my thinking process—it’s like breathing, it just comes natural. But sometimes you make a connection with someone that you won’t even think you could do a collaboration with and it works out really well. So really, I’ve got to rely on time and just fate. Plus we don’t have that much clout so...we’re still working on that.

I’ve heard about this human skull that The Black Lips have been playing with. Tell me more about that.

It’s more like an echo chamber, kind of like how the 13th Floor Elevators had their jug player. He wasn’t really making those noises out of the jug—they were coming out of his body. But he was using the jug to reverberate and make a cool sound—he had an SM57 mic right up next to it too. Kind of like the same concept. But Cole [Alexander] manage to score a human skull in New York from some oddities shop, got it back to Atlanta, put a microphone in one side into the bottom by the spinal cord…and then sing into the eye socket or the ear. Hopefully it makes a cool sound.

Mix Mondays: Volume 55

2010-10-18T00:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-55-october-18-2010.

1. Band of Horses - The First Songs
2. Mumford & Sons - White Blank Page
3. Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
4. Monsters of Folk - Temazcal
5. The Avett Brothers - The Weight of Lies
6. Blitzen Trapper - Not Your Love
7. The Black Keys - The Lengths
8. Yim Yames - All Things Must Pass

Photo Book: The Eagles at Austin City Limits (10/10/10)

2010-10-15T19:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from The Eagles performing at Austin City Limits on 10/10/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: The National at Austin City Limits (10/10/10)

2010-10-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from The National performing at Austin City Limits on 10/10/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: The Flaming Lips at Austin City Limits (10/10/10)

2010-10-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from The Flaming Lips performing at Austin City Limits on 10/10/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at Austin City Limits (10/10/10)

2010-10-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros performing at Austin City Limits on 10/10/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Midlake at Austin City Limits (10/10/10)

2010-10-14T19:00:00.002-05:00

Pictures from Midlake performing at Austin City Limits on 10/10/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Yeasayer at Austin City Limits (10/10/10)

2010-10-14T15:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Yeasayer's show at Austin City Limits on 10/10/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: The Constellations at Austin City Limits (10/10/10)

2010-10-14T11:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from The Constellations performing at Austin City Limits on 10/10/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: MIA at Austin City Limits (10/9/10)

2010-10-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from MIA's show at Austin City Limits on 10/9/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Deadmau5 at Austin City Limits (10/9/10)

2010-10-13T19:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Deadmau5's show at Austin City Limits on 10/9/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: LCD Soundsystem at Austin City Limits (10/9/10)

2010-10-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

Pictures from LCD Soundsystem's show at Austin City Limits on 10/9/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Monsters of Folk at Austin City Limits (10/9/10)

2010-10-13T11:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Monsters of Folk's show at Austin City Limits on 10/9/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: The xx at Austin City Limits (10/9/10)

2010-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from The xx's show at Austin City Limits on 10/9/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Local Natives at Austin City Limits (10/9/10)

2010-10-12T19:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Local Natives performing at Austin City Limits on 10/9/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Broken Bells at Austin City Limits (10/9/10)

2010-10-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Broken Bells' show at Austin City Limits on 10/9/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Black Lips at Austin City Limits (10/9/10)

2010-10-12T11:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from the Black Lips' show at Austin City Limits on 10/9/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Phish at Austin City Limits (10/8/10)

2010-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Phish's show at Austin City Limits on 10/8/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses at Austin City Limits (10/8/10)

2010-10-11T19:00:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses' show at Austin City Limits on 10/8/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Vampire Weekend at Austin City Limits (10/8/10)

2010-10-11T15:30:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Vampire Weekends's show at Austin City Limits on 10/8/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Spoon at Austin City Limits (10/8/10)

2010-10-11T11:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Spoon's show at Austin City Limits on 10/8/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Beach House at Austin City Limits (10/8/10)

2010-10-11T08:20:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Beach House's show at Austin City Limits on 10/8/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

The National: 10/5/10 at the Fox Theatre

2010-10-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

Every time I see The National, I have doubts about their ability to outdo themselves onstage. By no means do I mean that as a criticism of their live show, nor as an admission of disappointment with their performances. Instead, I find myself increasingly blown away with each and every concert of theirs that I witness. Admittedly, I was guardedly optimistic about their Atlanta stop at the Fox Theatre en route to Austin City Limits this weekend. And once again, I was taken aback by the New York rockers’ rousing and despondent sound.

The Fox Theatre was remarkably empty—probably the smallest crowd of any show that I have seen there. Despite the noticeable lack of folks in attendance, this show undoubtedly had the most rapturous crowd response out of all the times that I’ve been there. That includes artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Death Cab for Cutie, Kings of Leon, Wilco and Ben Harper. But all those who were there Tuesday night most likely left a little awestricken by The National’s show.

The National eased into their set as lead singer Matt Berninger crooned his way through a gorgeous rendition of “Runaway.” From there, the band cruised through a dynamic set including the driving force of “Blood Buzz Ohio” and the stunning orchestration of the oft-forgotten track “The Geese of Beverly Road.” Both Dessner brothers were particularly chipper throughout their set, playfully bantering with a usually quiet Matt Berninger between songs. The band even decided to make a rare “awkward” set list change for a fan screaming through much of the show for “All The Wine” to be played.

The band was clearly in good spirits throughout the night, and their energy was reflected right back from the crowd. Berninger asked the crowd to leave their seats and pack up closely to the stage for “England” and “Fake Empire,” while venturing far out into the crowd as he shrieked the lyrics to “Mr. November.” Their last song, however, caught everyone’s attention, as the band played a stripped down version of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.” Berninger belted without the assistance of his microphone, allowing his voice to resonate throughout the entire Fox Theatre. And just like that, The National managed to send the astounded crowd on their way.

Setlist:
Runaway
Anyone’s Ghost
Mistaken For Strangers
Blood Buzz Ohio
Secret Meeting
Slow Show
Squalor Victoria
Afraid of Everyone
Conversation 16
Apartment Story
Sorrow
Abel
The Geese of Beverly Road
England
Fake Empire

All The Wine
Mr. November
Terrible Love
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks

Photo Books: The Books at the Variety Playhouse (10/3/10)

2010-10-06T00:43:00.002-05:00

Pictures from The Books at The Variety Playhouse on 10/3/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Stars at the Variety Playhouse (10/2/10)

2010-10-05T00:35:00.002-05:00

Pictures from Stars and Wild Nothing's show at The Variety Playhouse on 10/2/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Mix Mondays: Volume 54

2010-10-04T00:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-54-october-4-2010.

1. Black Mountain - The Hair Song
2. Titus Andronicus - My Time Outside The Womb
3. The Hold Steady - Rock Problems
4. Dinosaur Jr. - This Is All I Came To Do
5. Pavement - Date With Ikea
6. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Even Heroes Have To Die
7. Free Energy - Hope Child
8. Bruce Springsteen - I'm Goin' Down

Big Boi: 9/30/10 at The Tabernacle (Atlanta, GA)

2010-10-01T14:00:00.000-05:00

For an artist whose hometown reputation has been in question in the wake of his Outkast career, Big Boi has recently been making his presence well-known, particularly since the release of his debut solo album Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. During the past month, the Atlanta staple has opened for fellow Atlantan jam band STS9 as well as performed at The Opera. Last night concluded Big’s hometown spurt with another show at The Tabernacle.

Although the Georgia State-sponsored event only filled the Tabernacle about halfway, those who showed up saw the legendary rapper in his element. Big and company kicked off their show with a run through Outkast classics such as “Rosa Parks,” “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson,” before making his way through much of Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. Vonnegut’s Kyle Lucas and Neil Garrard made an obligatory hometown guest appearance to sing their portion of “Follow Us,” while “Shutterbugg” cast a alluring spell over the one time church with its amazingly repetitive beat. But it was Big’s rendition of “Kryptonite” that seemed to resonate the loudest, as his declarative Atlanta-laced chorus and proudly worn Braves hat worn in the middle of this landmark venue seemed to put to rest any doubts about his place in this city.

Interview: The Books

2010-09-30T00:00:00.002-05:00

For as straightforward of a name as The Books, the New York-based duo’s work remains all too misunderstood. Many people have labeled the musical impetus of Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto as unprecedented, even forming their own ‘genre of one. ’ However, The Books are quite the opposite—creating sonic collages through a combination of intricate computer music compositions and spoken word samplings, forming a sound that manages to resonate as completely familiar despite the seemingly endless amount of deep cuts comprising each piece. It’s more like mash-ups made for the serious and contemplative, rather than a rehash of the Top 40 Charts. In a way, The Books read like the subconscious soundtrack to our own lives.

As The Books make their way down the East coast on their current tour, including a stop at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse on October 3rd, I spoke with Paul de Jong about their most recent album The Way Out, sampling, thrift shops and his recent preference for cassettes over vinyl.

Max Blau: Two months after The Way Out has been released, how do you feel about it?

Paul de Jong: The album is completed six months before it comes out, so there is this period in which we already do different stuff and are starting to have a different perspective toward the record. But it kind of has become stronger for us. It’s really holding up so far. We’re so involved now in translating a lot of the music on the album to the live show, that I think in the past month we’ve mostly been involved with the album as performers. It’s a completely new perspective to work from.

Inevitably, the music is changing somewhat because we’re making live versions of it. And we’re always reluctant because it’s so much a studio process making our albums, and we don’t particularly think so hard about how this is going to work live. We’ve kind of learned by trial and error….The first two records were made without ever performing in mind. With the third record, we started thinking about it somewhat. This record was made with the knowledge that a lot of the material would be incorporated in the show.

I’m really curious about how your sampling process works with your live show. You mentioned that much of your music was never created for live performance—so how does your music morph and adapt within a live setting?

We incorporate so much video into our show—every song basically by now has video...and they’re all synchronized to the music. So we started out in a very straightforward way, we just played the live parts live on our instruments and everything prerecorded was just a stereo track on the DVD sync with the video and would be streamed right out of the PA…That has changed—we were really reluctant …and now we’re over that, mostly because the software is so much better. We’re using Ableton and we have a third band member onstage for our live show…[that] normally plays violin and guitar but also triggers samples with a MIDI keyboard. That’s really changed the entire way we started thinking about using samples live. Now we use Ableton, we can have plug-in effects over tracks, over live instruments that our synced to the music. It all becomes as a live show more dynamic. Not all the samples are canned anymore, just streaming from the tape; they’re actually being played and becoming much more like an instrumental element.

How had the five-year period between Lost and Safe and The Way Out affected the way you two make music? What do you think the biggest change has been over that period of time?

Our personal lives have changed so much over the past five years that I think it had a very profound impact on how we worked together and how we individually work and what our expectations are of ourselves. Up through Lost and Safe, we were basically bachelors who moved around a lot from apartment to apartment. We often lived very far apart from each other and had makeshift studios. We would work very hard at things, but still it would have a little haphazard feel to it. It wasn’t really centered in a certain place.

In those five years, we both married and had children and found ourselves a place to live that is not too far from each other (like an hour and a half apart). We built our private, ideal studios for ourselves—mine is right behind my house and Nick’s [studio] is a converted tractor garage on the land that he has. That created a certain stability in our work lives that I think The Way Out is a reflection of. Also, we started touring so much—it changed our life there as well, because on tour, there’s an enormous amount of impressions.

It’s also very hard work that’s also frustrating because you’re not with your family and you’re not really able to compose or to do the work that you do in your studio. You just kind of do the bare bones on the laptop. To have that studio and connect there for a day’s work—to truly focus on producing a well-balanced work—is something that I don’t think we’ve really experienced before on quite that level.

In terms of your sample library, how many samples did you amass leading up to the composition and recording of The Way Out? And to take it one step further, can you walk me through the process of how you pick out samples?

[Laughs]. I think I’m kind of a thrift store pro. When I go in there, I identify the corner where the videos and cassettes are and the books. I just go through the video cassettes and I pick out anything that is just not mainstream and looks like something that is so obscure that it might yield some interesting sampling material—I’ll throw it in the shopping cart and in the end I see what I have…It’s whatever looks like real ‘near the fringe’ of recorded media that has my interests. I just always have an antenna for that—I’ve always been a collector of antiques, of books, of records, of musical instruments. I started collecting recorded sounds at a very early age—so I have an antenna when I go into a record store. I flip through the spoken word sections real quick and pick out what is really beyond obscure.

If you had to pick one, what would you consider to be one of your favorite thrift stores or record shops that you have encountered during your travels?

We played a concert a few weeks ago in Pittsburgh. And what I do usually before we go on tour is go to Google and look for thrift and record stores in the towns that we’re going to hit, and I map out a trajectory of stores that I absolutely want to be able to go to. So in Pittsburgh, I went to this little record store called Jerry’s and I think it figures into the top 3 best used vinyl record stores that I’ve ever seen. It was a complete surprise that, I just hadn’t expected something like that in Pittsburgh. I ended up booking another night in a hotel and going back there the next day, because there must be at least a million records there and the spoken word section alone took an hour and a half, two hours to get through. I had just a fantastic yield of unusual records. And on top of that, his colleague next door in the same building has a similar shop just for 78 rpm records and he sold me all his obscure private home recordings on 78’s. That’s something I never had gotten into, but now I have.

Is there a particular media format that you prefer when you are looking for these ‘obscure’ sounds?

I started with LP’s, and I love LP’s—I love the sound of it, I love the quality of them. I love the era in which they were produced, but for The Way Out, I really started focusing on audio cassettes, which is yet another era of recorded sound. It’s roughly 25 years from 1965 to 1985, 1990—until it starts to get completely taken out by CD’s. I can immediately identify a sample that comes from an audio cassette or a LP—it’s the clicking and popping from an LP or particular white noises that you get from a cassette. But both media give a reflection of this entire era of recorded sounds that they represent. Audio cassettes have become closer and more endearing to me because they are more from the era in which I grew up myself, so it’s more sounds that I grew up with. But I still really love the classic sound of an LP and of the way they were recorded back then—the kind of microphones they used, the way language was treated—it has a real particular time stamp to it.

One last question for you Paul. Name one artist, or sound/sample in your case, that has really stuck in your mind lately?

That can really be in visual arts or music or in literature too. That’s really hard, and I always feel terrible if I have to pick out one example—it makes me feel like I’m leaving out everybody else. So there is for instance a Russian absurdist writer named Daniil Kharms, and he’s just starting to become translated in America. They’re kind of these short, completely absurd, but very profound vignettes that we both feel a real kinship with. He ended up dying in a concentration camp—which many original minds ended up with that fate, but he’s really amazing—you should check him out.

CocoRosie: 9/21/10 at the Variety Playhouse

2010-09-29T12:00:00.003-05:00

Part Anthropologie catalogue, part Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a dash of Puccini and a splash of Charlie Chaplin. Throw in some CrazySexyCool-era TLC for good measure and you might have some idea of what a CocoRosie concert feels like.

Yeah, they’re a little gimmicky, and easy to hate upon for their whole prodigal émigré shtick, but on Tuesday at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, CocoRosie was totally captivating, providing a full-sensory experience of shifting sounds and enchanting visuals that truly blew me away.

In the center of the stage sat an old wooden crib with a slightly sinister-looking baby painted on the side, innovatively converted into a drum kit and flanked by a grand piano, a bright blue harp, a lopsided keyboard and a table covered in a clutter of battery-operated children’s toys that would later be used as instruments. The place looked more like a pimped-out nursery than a music stage, and Bianca "Coco" and Sierra "Rosie" Casady matched their surroundings well, dressed up like little girls who just raided a fashionable mother’s decade-spanning closet.

Live, the freak-folk sister act succeed where their recordings fall short, managing to draw listeners fully into the strange, carefully crafted little world they so clearly live in. Heady, uncanny, and slightly cloying, this place is a cosseted fantasy land of lovingly crayoned rainbows and expensive vials of Parisian patchouli. There are plenty of vintage costumes to try on. Come on in.

There’s something a little Flowers in the Attic about the whole affair, but from the floor of the Variety—where throngs of decked out, boozed up cult fans screeched their praises and even, in rare moments of composure, tossed flowers—CocoRosie seemed nothing short of fabulous. As did the truly fantastic beatboxing of lovable Vanilla Ice doppelganger Tez, who wore sweet flip-up sunglasses and possessed some serious skillz on the mic. His 10-minute solo during an intermission was one of the coolest parts of the whole show. Also worth mentioning, the stupid fake mustaches that Coco and Rosie have been shoving down our throats lately (gender-bending sensibility: thoroughly noted) were, happily, nowhere to be seen.

The Casady sisters have certainly retained the bond they nurtured back in Paris while recording their first album together, the appropriately titled La Maison de Mon Rêve (The House of My Dreams). Their most recent album, 2010’s Grey Oceans, has a similarly enchanting feel to it. Sierra’s classically-trained soprano bubbles up against Bianca’s grating warble, which kind of sounds like the voice of Danny Torrance’s finger in The Shining (“Red rum, red rum, red ruuummm…” You remember).

In Grey Oceans, the sisters toy with a widened range of influences, all spliced up and pasted together, with results ranging from the intricate beauty of medieval mosaics to the tawdry, gluey messes of overwrought decoupage.

The concert showcased this bold blending at its best. The lovely Judy Garland-esque chorus sandwiched between the mournful vocals, slow-jam percussion, and delicious brass accents of “Lemonade.” The lindy hop patty-cake cameo of “Hopscotch.” The gorgeously danceable “Fairy Paradise,” where Sierra’s haunting coloratura sidles alongside a particularly delightful stretch of Bianca-style lyricism in which “trance music makes the fairies dance.”

CocoRosie is what Tegan & Sara might become if they went to Devendra Banhart’s house, took a whole bunch of acid, and started believing in fairies. “Welcome to New Weird America,” the fairies would say. “You’ll like it here.”

--Written and Photos by Hilary Cadigan

Word Association. Home.

2010-09-29T00:00:00.001-05:00

Word Association is a playlist series based off a particular word or phrase. Each week will feature an assortment of songs related to that week's word.

Word Association #16 (9/29/10): Home

1. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home
2. The Low Anthem - Home I'll Never Be
3. Led Zeppelin - Bring It On Home
4. Drive-By Truckers - Home Field Advantage
5. Matt & Kim - I'll Take Us Home
6. Magnetic Fields - You're My Only Home
7. The Kinks - A Long Way From Home
8. Dan Auerbach - Goin' Home

Photo Book: Pavement at the Tabernacle (9/26/10)

2010-09-28T00:00:00.001-05:00

Pictures from Pavement and Times New Viking's show at The Tabernacle on 9/26/10.

Click the bottom right of the photo gallery embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Mix Mondays: Volume 53

2010-09-27T00:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-53-september-27-2010.

1. Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - Gunpowder
2. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - Got A Thing On My Mind
3. Janelle Monae - Cold War
4. Gnarls Barkley - Going On
5. Eli 'Paperboy' Reed & the True Loves - Stake Your Claim
6. Mayer Hawthorne - The Ills
7. Jamie Lidell - Your Sweet Boom
8. Raphael Saadiq - Staying In Love

Photo Book: Jamie Lidell, Twin Shadow at The Earl (9/22/10)

2010-09-24T02:06:00.004-05:00

Check out pictures from Jamie Lidell and Twin Shadows's show at The Earl on 9/22. Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Titus Andronicus and Free Energy at The Earl (9/20/10)

2010-09-23T12:13:00.001-05:00

Check out pictures from Titus Andronicus and Free Energy's show at The Earl on 9/20. Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures. Additionally, check out a great review of the show by our friend Gary over Hellbomb.

Word Association. Days

2010-09-22T01:23:00.000-05:00

Word Association is a playlist series based off a particular word or phrase. Each week will feature an assortment of songs related to that week's word.

Word Association #15 (9/22/10): Days

1. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
2. Led Zeppelin - Dancing Days
3. Morning Benders - All Day Daylight
4. Beach Boys - I'm Waiting For The Day
5. The Black Keys - These Days
6. Beck - End Of The Day
7. Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day
8. TV on the Radio - Lover's Day

Crystal Castles: 9/8/10 at The Masquerade (Atlanta, GA)

2010-09-21T13:00:00.002-05:00

In May, indie-electro duo Alice Glass and Ethan Kath, aka Crystal Castles, released their second LP. It was named, in a typical show of apathy, Crystal Castles (II), just like the first LP that came out in 2008, proving like most successful sophomore efforts, unafraid to grow away from the greatness of its predecessor. While the happy mix of distortions and syncopations remain, the jagged Atari sounds of Crystal Castles give way to a new kind of intricate yet hypnotic layering, distilled into a strange and haunting lullaby of electronic cooing noises as heard in the album’s closer “I Am Made of Chalk,” which gives me feelings usually reserved for baby animals communing with their moms on Planet Earth.

But at a Crystal Castles concert those moments are not present—not once, from opener “Fainting Spells” to second encore “Yes No,” a B-side followed by Glass stalking off stage, as she always does. And while there was a notable sameness between this and pre-2010 shows—they actually played more old stuff than new—there remained that satisfying something in the way CC forces us to work through their electric blankets of curdled noise to get inside the delicious beats underneath. Then there are those moments, as is the case with “Baptism,” when the noise is suddenly stripped away to reveal a rare moment of deliciously clean and catchy techno beat that feels at once classic, fresh and totally rewarding.

The flailing limbs flailed on through “Courtship Dating” and the spastic shrieks of “Insectica” (featuring a rare moment in which Ethan stepped out from behind his turntable to rock out on the guitar), before accelerating into the double-time, double-spastic wilderness of “Doe Deer”—an ironically-titled sonic translation of a rabid monkey gang-bang. And while I remain decidedly un-thrilled by the synthy, syrupy futurepop of inexplicable single “Celestica,” the song resonated better, providing a slight reprieve from the pounding without breaking anyone’s momentum.

The middle of the show was one big delicious soup of popular favorites from 2008, including “Crimewave,” “Untrust Us” and of course “Alice Practice, ” proving perhaps that ultimately, for all their attitude and grandeur, Crystal Castles is there to give us exactly what we want—the expectedly unexpected. Ethan stoically pumps out the jams in his hoodie while Alice, with kohl-rimmed cat eyes and an entirely black ensemble, shrieks and thrashes amidst an epileptic wash of strobe lights, repeatedly stage-diving into the sweaty sea of limbs below. As the tired-looking security guards snatched up would-be crowd-surfers washing up from the aforementioned sea, we watched transfixed as Alice danced atop the drum set and slugged down what I’m pretty sure was a bottle of whiskey onstage. It’s not like we didn’t know she’d do these things, but we really do love the way she does them. And yeah, she can be a bit of a turd sometimes—from snubbing Texans to pirating blog art to punching Spanish security guards in the face—but for some reason the lady remains, in my eyes, utterly forgivable and totally bad-ass. Maybe it’s because she’s Canadian.

Setlist:

1. Fainting Spells
2. Baptism
3. Courtship Dating
4. Insectica
5. Doe Deer
6. Crimewave
7. Air War
8. Alice Practice
9. Black Panther
10. Celestica
11. Empathy
12. Reckless
13. Untrust Us

Encore:
14. Intimate
15. Yes No

-Written and Photos by Hilary Cadigan

Photo Book: The Dirty Souls at Smith's Olde Bar (9/16/10)

2010-09-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

Check out pictures from Thursday night's The Dirty Souls show at Atlanta's Smith's Olde Bar. Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Mix Mondays: Volume 52

2010-09-20T00:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-52-september-20-2010.

1. The Smith Westerns - Gimme Some Time
2. Magic Kids - Superball
3. The Drums - Best Friend
4. Surfer Blood - Twin Peaks
5. Girls - Laura
6. Happy Birthday - Pink Strawberry Shake
7. Best Coast - I Want To
8. Smog - I Could Drive Forever

Photo Book: Surfer Blood and The Drums at the Loft (9/15/10)

2010-09-17T12:00:00.001-05:00

Check out pictures from Wednesday night's Surfer Blood and The Drums show at Atlanta's The Loft. Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Sharon Van Etten: 9/14/10 at 529 (Atlanta, GA)

2010-09-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

Epic, but with a small e. That’s how Sharon Van Etten jokingly described her recently released album Epic between songs during her performance at Atlanta’s 529. While her sophomore record isn’t exactly the most varied or ambitious, that’s never described Etten’s style. In fact, she’s quite the opposite, using her beautiful, heartrending serene voice to cry out to her audience.

For a long time, including the last time she stopped in Atlanta when she opened for Kyp Malone’s Rain Machine, Van Etten kept her shows limited as a solo act. While her quiet conviction stirs with every passing swoon of her voice, the melancholic minimalist songwriter has since opened up her sound, recently adding a back band to accompany her. This decision brought her music to life, from a longing whisper to a quite roar. With songs like “One Day” and “Save Yourself, she may never be Epic, but a small e will certainly suffice for this talented singer-songwriter.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Avett Brothers: 9/10/10 at Chastain Park Amphitheatre (Atlanta, GA)

2010-09-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

Scott and Seth Avett’s penchant for live performance has never been in question. For the Avett Brothers, playing music in front of others has always come naturally—whether in front of a handful of onlookers or thousands of adoring fans. This past weekend presented the latter for the group as they returned to Atlanta for a sold out show at the Classic Chastain Park Amphitheater. This time around, however, it wasn’t about winning over news fans, but persuading Avett Brother purists to buy into their progression toward a more refined and layered sound.

The North Carolinian natives wasted no time exhibiting their live prowess as they eased their way into a pensive rendition of “Salina,” before captivating the crowd with the jangly “Kick Drum Heart.” As shown with these first two songs, the Avett Brothers demonstrated their mastery of piecing together dynamic set lists. The nearly two-hour show ebbed and flowed from old song to new, from mellow to stomping.

This sense of precisely controlled energy was most apparent when the band rollicked its way through the frenetic sing-speak of “Slight Figure of Speech,” before entirely slowing things down with only the two Avett Brothers on “When I Drink.” Their reputation for their energetic showmanship remained intact, but was now coupled with a bit of well-timed refinement that took their show to another level. It’s a subtle difference from where they were in past years, but one that only comes about after years on the road. Scott and Seth Avett have found a middle ground between their earlier and more recent works, blending the two eras together for the better.

The night’s highlight came with their most popular song “I and Love and You”—not because it stands as the benchmark of their commercial success, but due to what the song represents for the band. For a track often noted as the departure of the band into a different direction, one that came at the risk of polarizing their loyal fan base; the song proved that the Avett Brothers made the right choice in progressing forward. As anyone at the Chastain show could attest, “I and Love and You” prevailed as a unifying call bringing together both old and new fans alike.

Interview: Grandchildren

2010-09-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

(Originally written for One Thirty BPM)

Grandchildren is the story of six talented multi-instrumentalists playing the parts of an ensemble double their size—often happening on stages with enough room to comfortably fit three, maybe four people at most. Despite having formed just a couple of years old, Grandchildren perform with the dexterity of lifelong instrumentalists and the confidence of seasoned veterans. Now with their debut album Everlasting on the horizon, the sky is truly the limit with Grandchildren’s potential. Not only are Grandchildren an ‘artist to watch,’ but quite frankly they currently reside among the best kept secrets throughout music today.

MP3: Grandchildren - "Cold Warrior"
MP3: Grandchildren - "Saturn Returns"

As Grandchildren approach the release date of their debut album Everlasting (out September 28th via Green Owl), they also are preparing for a fall tour in support of the record. Before the band takes their impeccable live act to the road, One Thirty BPM writer Max Blau interviewed Grandchildren member Tristan Palazzolo, who spoke with us about Everlasting, timeless interconnectivity, MGMT and the Danger! Danger! Gallery.

So your debut album is finally scheduled for release on September 28th! Tell me all about Everlasting.

Tristan Palazzolo: Green Owl [Records] is putting this sucker out just in time for a nice back roads drive through the fall foliage while listening to this album. So there you go, New England, enjoy! Though of course I do like to think it will provide for many an enchanting drive whether or not you are "deciduously" well endowed. In any case, these 10 songs are very emblematic of how we've come to be over the last two years. In that sense, both our songs and our band have gone through reformation after reformation. We've tinkered with and tweaked these songs repeatedly, mostly because it's fun and virtually habitual at this point.

We all live in the same neighborhood, and when there's not much to do on a given day, it's just easy to walk over to someone's place and lay down a track or two just to see how it sounds in that room, or just to see what changing a couple notes does, or just to see what playing the keyboard part on the bass does. Ultimately, we will often go back to how we already had it but just the process
itself is fun. I find us translating that mentality to our live set, which is what has led us to do things like infuse videography, and switch and add instruments. It's also why we loved the ideas with the remixes that Green Owl facilitated for a couple of the tracks, the first of which is going to drop before the LP does. It's the Runaway Remix for "Saturn Returns."

All that said, I think we're obviously done tinkering with the album, and we're completely set on going out and bringing these songs to life night in and night out for the next several months. Though I already can't wait to come back next year and do it all over again with a new "baby."

The first final version of this album was originally named Cold Warrior and had nine tracks. Since then, you have added the now title track “Everlasting” as the final piece of the puzzle. What was behind the decision to include “Everlasting” in the final version of the album?

Just another example of not wanting to put the paintbrush down. The timing worked out and the inspiration was there in full bloom. We had just signed our contract last December, and in February [Green Owl Owner]Ben Bronfman heard this very rough cut of this tune that [frontman] Aleks Martray had been just starting to develop, though the structure and instrumentation were largely decided on by that point. We knew we were going to record it at some point, maybe the next album, maybe an EP. But Bronfman really put the idea in our head that it was a great addition to the album we were just about finished with. So of course, the idea of having a whole new reason to go play in the studio and add to our album was too fun to pass up.

After it was done, it may have set everything back a couple months but it was well worth it because now this album had almost felt completely new and fresh to us even though it had been nearly finished for a year. Such is the case when you're an unsigned band with an album you recorded yourselves, looking to have a label press it.

Why the name Everlasting?

Everlasting as an album title [that] fits who we are as a group. What we're intrigued by, almost awestruck by is this idea of timeless interconnectivity. A major theme with naming the band Grandchildren was this concept of being so completely molded by so many things that came before us, most of which we are so far removed from [us] consciously, yet so dependent upon while being taken for granted—[something] best personified by our grandparents and great-grandparents.

Looking back through your family albums, you see these faces, some of which kind of look like you, and you get kind of overwhelmed by the vastness of it all but then again you may realize that each one of these peoples' lives were just as simple and confusing all at the same time as your own today. In that sense, it's the same story being told over and over again with infinite changes made to the details -- what kind of music was often heard, what clothes were worn, what problems were self-created, what breakfast was eaten. Anything and everything can be altered to represent the era, and the moment within the era, but the overarching story is always the same and it always ends by giving way to and influencing the next one. In that sense, the familial blood line is only one of a countless number of components that constitute this timeless interconnectivity.

So our name plays with that idea as does our sound, which borrows from a lot of styles and genres of years past while still wearing our own personal here-and-now stamp. And since the stories, styles, sounds, and sentiments of today will resurface in and affect the future, just as we have been shaped by those of the past, it shows that surely "we are all everlasting things that fall apart."

How have the other songs changed (if at all) over the past year? Were there any other edits beyond the inclusion of “Everlasting.”

Changes haven't been extreme, but there have been several. We re-recorded some percussion and vocals, and made some cuts and extensions to some of the parts of songs. We also added some instrumentation here and there, very sparsely and particularly. For the most part though, the past year has been all about meeting some great people who believe in the music and enjoying their help in getting our songs out there.

What was the inspiration behind the album cover and why you chose that design?

The artwork uses stills from the videos we made for our live set, and the cover is a still from the performance version of "Winterlude." We dig the polar bear image in particular for the cover mostly just because of the look of it and the subtle, northern lights kind of colors in it. But it's also a bit of a play on the title. Green Owl is printing our debut album entirely on recycled material, which has us feeling pretty good in that regard. And in keeping with that sense of environmental appreciation and protection, putting a polar bear on the cover of an album called "Everlasting" is kind of a tongue-in-cheek reminder of how the polar bear is anything but that, and of just how dangerously close we are to having things get really out of control if we don't change our habits. I'm not trying to sound preachy. The reminder is just as much for ourselves for damn sure.

It’s been a while since Grandchildren originally formed as a project of now frontman Aleks Matray. Has the songwriting process become more collaborative over the past year or so?

Definitely. Before this album, the songwriting process was also more collaborative. It's just that the bulk of the band as it is now used be formed as another project that took the lion's share of our time. So we were so inconsistent in terms how often we got together as this project, and who was available to contribute, that ultimately the older songs were more or less abandoned. However, Aleks did take a fair amount of some of the themes and parts that we had worked on as a group, and revamped them to work within the framework of this album. We have since refocused our efforts on this project, and the next album will have a much more collaborative writing process involved, which is something that is not foreign to us in the slightest. We've already begun moving towards that, though of course that's still many many months away from coming to pass.

Looking back at where you were one year ago, how has Grandchildren as whole changed the most?

Well as I just said I think we've mostly changed in how we channel our artistic focus. For a long while, we were essentially two bands, and Grandchildren was more or less the "side project." It has since definitely become the main project. In fact the other project, Rad Racket, has been placed on extended indefinite hiatus. In freeing ourselves of being spread out like that, it has allowed us to truly gel as a group. And even though Aleks was the only member of the band who wasn't in Rad Racket, he's now enjoying having everybody on one focal point, which I've definitely found to be absolutely essential in a band of six people. So yeah I'd say collectively over this last year, we've honed our focus better than we ever have before, which is a great feeling.

Last time I saw you guys perform; you were playing in a half-filled basement of Atlanta’s artist-collective Wonderroot en route to SXSW. Lately, you’ve been playing in support of some larger acts like Explosions in the Sky and No Age. What has it been like playing with these artists and other notable ones?

It is certainly a lot of fun, and an honor to open for bands that you know for a fact that you are just one of a ton of people who connect with their music. It gives you a great feeling that perhaps your own music will connect with that many people somewhere down the road. Above all it's inspiring, and a real treat to be able to see them do their thing -- the before, during, and after -- from the perspective of a contributor to that particular evening. From that night on, you know you etched your mark on the event, and no one can ever take that away from you.

What artist would you like to tour with the most in the future? Why?

Personally, I'd love to tour with MGMT. I have a lot of respect for their sound and their depth. I think a lot of people who have never really listened to them have some preconceived notions that ultimately fall flat. Their pop sensibilities are nearly unparalleled in many ways and they are pushing the bar a lot more than some might give them credit for (though they get plenty credit, of course). Also, my wife went to elementary school with one of them and she has many vivid memories since they were in a very small-sized class together. And of course me being in love with the timeless interconnectivity of things, I'd like to cross paths like that someday just because it'd be kind of funny to me for whatever wacky reasoning. But ultimately, I admire their songcraft and I'd be intrigued to see how our stuff is absorbed by their audience.

Whose music really excites you right now, and what’s your favorite track of 2010 so far?

Right now, for me it's Tune Yards, and I'm sure anyone who's listened to her is right there with me on that. She's the bee’s knees man. Not enough great things can be said about Merrill, so I won't jabber on. But if you don't know, get in the know. Go out and listen to "Sunlight" as an aperitif, and then eat the whole meal and save room for dessert.

Obviously Everlasting is your main focus for the upcoming month. Looking beyond that, however, what’s in store for Grandchildren for the rest of the year and into 2011?

Touring as much as we can. We love that ever-expansive, sometimes ever-expensive open road. We definitely have plans to get over to Europe early next year, too. Can't wait.

Any last words, shout outs or public service announcements?

I want to give props and many thanks to the people who have been helping us hold the fort down at Danger Danger Gallery, and helping continue to bring the goods to our hood for 5 years strong now. They know who they are. We need all the help we can get keeping it going, because it's a beautiful thing. And apologies to all the very talented bands who have tried to get a show at D!D!G but couldn't get an answer. Sorry guys, the requests stack up.

Mix Mondays: Volume 51

2010-09-13T00:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-51-september-13-2010.

1. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - A Minor Place
2. Sun Kil Moon - Carry Me Ohio
3. Cat Power - I Don't Blame You
4. Iron & Wine - Weary Memory
5. Magnolia Electric Co. - Hard To Love A Man
6. My Morning Jacket - Death Is The Easy Way
7. Sharon Van Etten - For You
8. Smog - I Could Drive Forever

Best Coast: 9/10/10 at the Drunken Unicorn (Atlanta, GA)

2010-09-11T09:52:00.004-05:00

Best Coast made their first ever stop as a headlining act to Atlanta on Friday night, playing for a sold out crowd at the Drunken Unicorn. Splitting a handle of Jim Beam throughout the course of their show, the lo-fi summer-laced rock trio cruised through majority of their catalog to date, including the bulk of their debut album Crazy For You.

Although the tightly-squeezed audience inside the Drunken Unicorn mostly seemed enamored with their infectious sound (myself included), Best Coast's performance showed the band as a work in progress. Yes, there were definitely glimmers of promise, including lead guitarist Bobb Bruno drop to his knees as the surrounding crowd waved their hands and bowed in praise. Frontwoman Bethany Cosentino's rendition of the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" stood as a pleasant surprise, while "When I'm With You" shined without fail.

For the most part, however, all eyes were focused on Cosentino, who seemed a bit uncomfortable throughout her performance. Cosentino attached herself to the microphone stand, primarily starring down at her guitar to make sure she nailed each relatively straightforward chord and riff. Between songs, the audience received more of the engaging persona they probably expected, as Cosentino jokingly started chants about freeing T.I. as well as talking about her cat (who has gained quite the following since appearing on the band's album cover). For an act who just recently began touring heavily as a headliner, Cosentino's adjustment to the limelight most likely will continue to have its growing pains. In the end, however, Best Coast's music in and of itself makes those minor imperfections more than endurable.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Interview: The Avett Brothers

2010-09-10T00:00:00.001-05:00

(Originally Written for Creative Loafing)

While Scott and Seth Avett’s musical style has been labeled as everything from bluegrass to punk, the one thing that has held constant is their live show. No matter the venue or audience, The Avett Brothers approach each performance like their lives depend on it, exuding equal parts heartfelt intensity and sincere enthusiasm. It’s an endearing combination that has truly made the band a force to be reckoned with as they have grown as performers over the past ten years.

After playing a New Year’s show at the Fox Theatre, The Avett Brothers return to Atlanta, performing at Chastain Park Amphitheater during the venue’s final weekend of the 2010 season. A few days before their Atlanta stop, Creative Loafing writer Max Blau chatted with founding brother Seth Avett about their major label debut I and Love and You, progress on their upcoming album, working with producer Rick Rubin and the Deftones.

It’s been 10 ten years since The Avett Brothers released their first self-titled EP. Looking back, did you ever think that you would be where you are now?

[Laughs] I could not have expected to go this far because I wasn’t expecting it to have done what [we’ve] done popularity-wise. When we started this project it was the exact opposite of what we were doing. We started this project as a way to turn around and go the other direction away from attempting to being known and to have a successful musical career. We were just trying to strip it down…Everything since then has been a very natural progression and a gradual progression. Which is a blessing because we would not have been prepared to do what we are doing now 10 years ago…I definitely could not have predicted it being as it is now. The last 10 years have gone by quickly, but I feel that we built things in a slower way—which has been good.

You mention the natural progression of your music, which has culminated thus far with your latest album, 2009’s I and Love and You. From a critical standpoint, the album stood as one of the more contentious albums over the past year, being called everything from brilliant to selling out to dividing a fan base. How do you feel album it almost a year later?

I feel about it generally as I do after a year-long. I’m still very proud of it, but I’m certainly ready to move on. I do believe that it is our best work to date, but my mind is so heavily onto the next one and has been for a little while. To me, it seems like more of a step backward looking at it than it really is, just because I have been thinking about the future and the new songs on our new demos.

Basically I’m still proud of the record. It was a great learning experience for us, and I still view it as a bridge—not so much from one album to the next, but more of like the end of one era into the beginning of another. Not like a small step, but a large step as far as our process and getting what we’re looking to get in the studio. Before that, we never spend more than a couple weeks tops on a record, and that’s just because of our natural pace—we move fast. Beyond that, economically, there hasn’t been much time. We recorded Emotionalism in 11 days. And that’s everything—overdubs, mixing, mastering—the whole thing in 11 days. It wasn’t because we wanted to do it in 11 days, it was because we only had 11 days.

That urgency can sometimes be really good and charming and create good results, but for a lot of reasons, I and Love and You felt like a beginning of a new era. And like you said, Max, for some people that’s good news, and for other people they won’t listen to another recording we make. And that’s okay—if we’re not doing what someone is enjoying now then they can find it elsewhere.

So tell me about some of these new songs. How far along are you in terms of creating them? Is there a new record on the horizon?

There’s certainly a new record on the horizon, but we’re not far along enough in the process to know when. But I can tell you the demo process is begun and is going strong. Scott [Avett] and I have already demoed probably 15 songs or more. Generally for us to be happy, we like to have about 30 to pick from and that’s not going to be any issue this time.

Are you planning on working with producer Rick Rubin again on your next album? Describe the experience of working with him on I and Love and You.

We would like to. We haven’t hashed it out that far to figure out whether it will happen or not, but it’s certainly an option. We should know in the next few months how that all will go.

As far as working with Rick, it was a great learning experience for us. Before we left to go work with Rick for the first time, my wife asked me if I was nervous, and I responded “No, I’m not nervous. I’ve recorded lots of records.” In retrospect, I maybe should’ve been a little more nervous, just because once I got in that environment I realized what I expected out of myself was more than I ever had before.

Rick is not a heavy-handed producer, he’s not someone who’s behind the glass as a domineering force or anything. Rick is very calm, he’s a positive force in the studio. He’s big on experiments, big on taking the time to find out what works and what doesn’t work. He’ll be the first to tell you that when one of his ideas is terrible. He doesn’t think that everything he touches is gold. I learned a lot from Rick about pacing and taking the time to refine things, to get them right—not just energy-wise, but technically, spiritually, to refine it on all levels.

There [was] a mutual respect from the beginning. It wasn’t so intimidating as you think it might be when you step into the studio with Rick—possibly the most revered producer on the planet.

What has been the biggest change that you have noticed in your fanbase since you released I and Love and You, your Rolling Stone coverage and even having your records sold in Starbucks?

Max, I got to tell you, the only real difference is numbers. We’ve been very fortunate and blessed from the beginning to have really good folks come to our shows and a very wide range of demographic come to our shows. Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be a real narrow demographic of people. Differences in color, backgrounds and ages all seem to find some relatable factor in our music as far as we could tell—that’s just been really exciting to see.

Back when there was 10 people in the room, as opposed to 1,000 people in the room—the only real difference is numbers—because there’s always been a lot of variety and positivity coming from the audience. We’re beyond fortunate for that.

Going off of that—playing from 10 to 1,000 people—how in particular has your live show evolved?

Again, numbers are bound to affect things. In the early years, we certainly had nights that were over the top in terms of enthusiasm, excitement. It’s formidable to notice how much energy is coming from a hundred people as opposed to a thousand people. When there’s a thousand people in a room with a similar or identical reason for being there, it’s palpable and alive. Onstage, you’re just bound to be more excited—there’s really no way not to be. I think the shows have become increasingly jubilant and celebratory—just over the top with excitement.

Before you go, give me one artist you’ve been in love with lately.

I always have trouble with this question…But I’ve been listening to the new Deftones a lot. I’m a big Deftones fan—always have been—they have a new record. I guess they’re one of the last bands that I consider a real heavy band that I’m very active about and very aware of what they’re doing.

Thanks a lot, Seth.

You bet, Max, thanks for your time.

Interview: Best Coast

2010-09-08T12:00:00.001-05:00

(Originally written for Creative Loafing)

It’s been quite a year for Bethany Cosentino. Upon leaving the recently-defunct experimental drone group Pocahaunted, Cosentino ventured out last summer and started Best Coast. After recruiting bandmate Bobb Bruno, the two sporadically released singles after single of their warm summer-laced musical vision. What emerged was not just a collection of laidback summer anthems, but a group standing near the top of the recent resurgence of lo-fi melodic pop acts.

The hype around Best Coast has stood as both a blessing and a curse for Cosentino. On one hand, Best Coast released their first album Crazy For You in July to resounding acclaim. However, Cosentino’s meteoric rise through the indie-rock world has forced a private person to adapt a public persona more quickly than she would have preferred. As Best Coast gears for a lengthy fall tour, including a stop in Atlanta at the Drunken Unicorn on September 10th, Bethany Cosentino spoke with us about her debut album, the recent breakup of her former band Pocahaunted, Twitter and her obsession with Beach House.

Your debut album Crazy For You came out during the last week of July. It’s been about a month now—how do you feel about the album one month after its release?

I’m very proud of the record; I’m very excited it’s doing well and that people are enjoying it. I’m very excited to get out on the road and play the record for people. It’s been very crazy and everything’s happened very fast for us as band in general. I recorded the record in January so for me it feels like this record should have been out a million years ago. I’m very very proud of the record and it’s really the first time I can honestly say that I have made a piece of music or a product as a musician or a songwriter that I’ve been 100% proud of. I’ve been playing music forever, but I’ve never really done anything that I’m extremely proud of and that I can I stand up and really say…“I did a good job with this,” and that’s the way I feel about this record. It’s very rewarding to feel that way about some piece of art that you’ve made.

So I take it that moving on from your former band Pocahaunted was the right move, especially after their recent break up.

I was never into experimental music or drone; I was friends with Amanda [Brown]. I wanted to be playing music again and I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted to be doing, and she was like “we should just start a band together.” We didn’t have any preconceived idea of what the band would be like—we just sat in a room together and started a band—and that’s what it sounded like. Obviously, after I left the band, their sound changed completely. I did hear that they recently broke up and I got millions of tweets and emails [saying], “F*** you Bethany, it’s your fault that they broke up.” That has nothing to do with me, I’m obviously doing something completely different now, and I think what I’m doing now is more true to who I am than Pocahaunted ever was. Pocahaunted was something I guess I did just as a hobby and Best Coast is something that I’m actually passionate about.

From weed to your cat to your lyrics, it often seems like your public image has grown just as much as your musical reputation since you started Best Coast last year. How different has your life changed in that regard—and do you find it weird for people to act as if they know you, without actually knowing you?

I think that it’s really weird for me that people talk about my private life or talk about me separate from my music. Obviously, I’m very open about my life. I talk about the fact that I smoke weed, I talk about my cat. I am a private person, but I do feel like I am who I am and I’m not afraid to voice that and say that. But it is very difficult for me to deal with the fact that my privacy has been exposed and that people talk about me in ways that I never imagined people would ever [do]…That’s one thing that I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. I am smart enough now that I don’t read things about myself on the internet. I don’t Google myself—I don’t search for myself on Twitter. I don’t do that kind of stuff, just because it’s not worth it to me…If anything, it’s just that my life has changed in the sense that I’ll get drunk and someone takes a picture of it and it ends up on a blog. I don’t know why anybody f*****’ cares that I’m drunk. Everybody gets drunk.

At first glance, you and Bobb Bruno appear to be an unlikely combination. How did you two meet and eventually end up play together?

I met Bobb when I was a teenager; I think I was maybe 17. I met him at a party, and he was just this guy that everybody talked about. He recorded a bunch of bands, played in a bunch of bands and toured in a bunch of bands. I saw him and I was intimidated by him because he’s got really long hair and wears Metal t-shirts and doesn’t really talk very much. When you actually get to know him and talk to him, he’s a really silly and weird, kind of sensitive guy in real life.

When I had the idea to start Best Coast, I knew that Bobb was a huge pop fan because when I was in Pocahaunted, Bobb recorded us and played with us live. Bobb and I would sit around and talk about The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The other people that we would work with in Pocahaunted would say ‘that music sucks, we only listen to weird experimental s***.’ Bobb listens to every sort of music, but the reason that I always appreciated Bobb was because we could speak out about Pet Sounds, or we could talk about how great of a song “I Want To Hold Your Hand” is without feeling like total dorks, because we both understood it.

He’s also just an extremely talented musician and he plays almost every instrument. So I thought “I want to write these songs, but I obviously don’t have the ability to record them myself or to play a bunch of different instruments on them.” I just wrote to Bobb and said that I was starting this band and [asked] if he wanted to be in it with me…I sent him “Sun Was High”—which was the first song I wrote—and he [loved it].

We talk about all the time how we’re the weirdest looking band in America—because we got me, your average whatever girl—and then there’s Ali [Koehler] who is real girly and likes to wear cute vintage dresses. Then there’s Bobb who’s got hair down to his belly button with a Misfits shirt on. We don’t really make sense aesthetically, but do all get along very well and we all have similar tastes so it works out very well.

After sporadically releasing your first wave of songs in late 2009 and early 2010, I was initially surprised by the fact that many of the songs that first introduced you to your audience—including “When I’m With You,” “Sun Was High” and “Something In The Way”—were not found on Crazy For You’s tracklist. Why did you choose to not include those on your debut album?

I didn’t want to have a record that was a compilation of a bunch of songs that I had already put out. I wanted to have something completely different. The songs were already released, they meant something to the people that heard them, they meant something to the people that bought them. They mean something to me as well, and I didn’t want to go in and re-record them and change the way that they sounded. Some people say that was a stupid decision, but it was a decision that I was 100% against doing…We’ve only been a band for a little over a year, and I think as a band we grew and our sound changed a little bit, [while] production-wise things changed a lot. I didn’t want to go in and change something that already existed to people and me.

The reason why we included “When I’m With You” as a bonus track is because that song is the biggest song we have. I didn’t want to include it on our record at all…The label really wanted that and while I was against it, I swallowed my pride and just did it. But I didn’t want to do a record of something I had already done—I wanted to do something different.

You have recently added former Vivian Girls drummer Ali Koehler. How have things been with the lineup change? Has there been any resentment by the Vivian Girls over their drummer joining Best Coast?

We met Ali through Vivian Girls [when] we toured with Vivian Girls in February of this year. We didn’t have a drummer—it was just Bobb and I and we would use preprogrammed drum samples, basically playing to a backing track. I was very uncomfortable doing that. Ali offered to learn the songs and play drums for us on that tour. We asked Ali to fill in on an East Coast tour that we did and she came to Europe with us. The Vivian Girls then decided they were going to take time off and Ali made the decision that playing with Best Coast was a better fit for her. There’s no resentment, there’s no beef between bands. We’re all still friends, there’s no sort of weird tension. We didn’t steal their drummer—it was a decision that she made on her own.

Name one artist or album that you can’t get enough of in 2010

I’m completely, 100% obsessed with Beach House—I love them so much. We got the chance to meet them and hang out with them at Pitchfork [Music Festival]. Victoria [Legrand] is a really awesome girl and Alex [Scally] is really awesome as well. Their record Teen Dream is amazing and I recently got their iTunes session EP with a new song called “White Moon” that I think is really amazing. I think that they’re making incredible music and think that they’re really awesome people. I hope one day we can play a show together.

Word Association. Song.

2010-09-08T00:00:00.001-05:00

Word Association is a playlist series based off a particular word or phrase. Each week will feature an assortment of songs related to that week's word.

Word Association #14 (9/8/10): Song

1. Black Mountain - The Hair Song
2. Flaming Lips - The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
3. Mumford & Sons - The Banjolin Song
4. Band of Horses - The First Song
5. Big Star - The India Song
6. Modest Mouse - The Whale Song
7. The National - The Perfect Song
8. Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song

Mix Mondays: Volume 50

2010-09-06T00:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-50-september-6-2010.

1. Venice Is Sinking - Ryan's Song
2. The XX - Crystalized
3. Oryx and Crake - Fun Funeral
4. Lost in the Trees - Walk Around The Lake
5. Clogs - Last Song
6. Andrew Bird - A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left
7. The Books - Smells Like Content
8. Portishead - The Rip

Athens Popfest: 8/12-14/10 at the 40 Watt, Caledonia Lounge (Athens, GA)

2010-09-02T00:00:00.009-05:00

In the wake of the recent economic downturn during the past couple of years, many notable music festivals have been forced to close their gates and shut down operations. The crisis has affected both large festivals like Langerado and Rothbury as well as smaller ones like Athens Popfest—one which reached dire straits in 2009 when they were forced to cancel their festival. Fortunately, however, Athens Popfest managed to overcome its financial struggles by triumphantly returning this past August 10th-14th with a solid lineup featuring headliners Mission of Burma, Apples in Stereo and The Wedding Present.

For a five day festival featuring over 60 bands, Athens Popfest arguably provided one of the best values of the 2010 festival season, with full festival wristbands costing only $45—less than a dollar per band! While the headliners themselves were worth the money alone, one of the best parts about Athens Popfest came through the multitude of talented pop artists gracing the stages of the 40 Watt and Caledonia Lounge.

Among these flat-out impressive support acts were Cleveland’s Afternoon Naps, San Francisco’s Eux Autres and U.K. troubadour John Keith Adams. The biggest surprise, however, came in the form of Japanese pop group Elekibass, who captivated the seemingly unfamiliar crowd with their endearing showmanship and 60’s-laced pop revival. Gracing the stage in elaborate costumes most comparable to that of Athens natives Of Montreal, frontman Sakamoto Youichi engaged and interacted Popfest attendees at a higher level than any other act despite speaking little to no English.

Although festivals often provide opportunity for artists to invite their friends and colleagues onstage for collaborative moments, Athens Popfest took this to an entirely new level. With nearly every band performing during the festival’s three main nights, artists were seen inviting fellow performers from other groups to join their own act onstage at seemingly every possible moment. This was done to the point that for many of the musicians, it was hard to tell which group certain individuals were permanently associated with. At times the festival seemed more like a rotating collective of musicians instead of isolated acts. St. Louis trio Bunnygrunt took the cake in this department as they quadrupled their size at one point by inviting the better portion of the musicians performing on Saturday night onstage for an extended portion of their set.

While Athens Popfest predictably provided its share of pop music, the lineup also included several notable acts from outside genres. The Wedding Present and Mission of Burma led the way in this regard as festival headliners. Both groups, largely known for their influential imprints on alternative rock and post-punk respectively, demonstrated their seasoned crafts as they each efficiently made their way through impressive sets. Add on to that local psych-rockers Circulatory System and St. Louis post-punk band Raymilland, and festival organizers successfully were able to infuse the festival with some particularly compelling variety.

The main highlight, however, came on Friday night, as hometown favorites and original Elephant 6 members Apples in Stereo showcased true Athens pop music at its finest. Approaching their now 20th anniversary, the band settled in right at home as frontman Rob Schneider led the band through an lively and energetic 18-song set including hits such as “Energy,” “Go!” and “Can You Feel It?” Donning shiny silver jumpsuits in lieu of their Travelers in Space and Time tour, Apples in Stereo looked every bit the futuristic part despite playing song after song of glorious retro-pop.

As three and four chord pop songs floated in and out of Athens throughout five-day festival, a resounding bliss seemed to hang over the onlooking crowd. There was never any artistic pretension or stylistic qualms—just simple chord changes and indulgent harmonies. Nothing could have been better than that weekend’s pure pop simplicity, because quite frankly genuine pop riddled with all its beautiful imperfection is truly difficult to beat.

Interview: The Love Language

2010-09-01T12:00:00.004-05:00

(Originally interviewed for Creative Loafing)

Bedroom projects and quarter-life crises (especially of the breakup and self-destructive variety) stand as two of the most overplayed themes in indie-rock. These type of musical acts often appear to be a dime a dozen, and The Love Language seem to fall into this trap at first glance. But give their 2010 release Libraries a spin, and most doubts about this Raleigh five-piece quickly succumb to their lush and catchy style of pop.

While songwriter Stu McLamb may have initially created The Love Language his own personal heartbreak, doubt and despair, it has since transformed into a full-fledged band that has become of one the more alluring indie-pop acts in recent memory. Before making the trip down from Raleigh to perform at The Earl this Friday night, McLamb spoke about their recent release Libraries, Of Montreal’s influence and playing with Atlanta rockers Howlies.

You’ve said in the past that The Love Language “was never intended to be a band”—why did you think that? How did you see that in light of the way that everything has evolved since then?

I guess it was more along the lines of how it started with the first couple of songs that happened. I didn’t look past it much more than a MySpace page. I know you heard the story about the breakup, I’ve told that a million times. Basically, there were a couple of songs that I wanted the girl to hear and maybe a couple of other people; it was just kind of a small scale project, just a couple of songs. I was so happy with them that I just got onto a roll creatively and just kept the project. It grew to a point that I obviously wanted to share it with more people.

When was the first time that you realized this project was becoming something bigger than just a cathartic exercise or a bedroom project?

Once I had gotten about three or four songs deep…I thought I was really onto something, I thought this was good pop music that connects really fast with people. You know when you hear a good pop song? It was the same way—I just finished and was like ‘damn, that’s a good pop song.’

Was there anything at the time that you were listening to that was particularly influential?

At the time [of the first album], I was listening to Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? by Of Montreal. It’s really one of those records that stuck with me. I got it at local CD store and it stuck with me. I listened to that a lot. This album [The Love Language] sounds nothing like that. I guess some of my influences are just more embedded in me. I listen to a lot of different stuff—it’s hard to pinpoint the exact stuff I was listening to. There’s that, Phil Spector and Motown stuff.

If The Love Language didn’t pan out the way it did, what do you think you would have been doing instead?

I think I’d be doing the same thing now, just doing something that not as many people would know about.

If someone had never heard The Love Language’s music before, how would you describe your sound to them?

I would say it is one person’s take on pop music. That particular brand of pop, influenced heavily by pop from the 60’s to the 80’s. And definitely some modern influences, but it relies heavily that.

What has been the biggest change as a songwriter for you between The Love Language and Libraries?

Not really so much in the songwriting, but I definitely grew a little confidence like any artist would naturally do. Subject-wise and in terms of musical influence, I didn’t venture too far out on Libraries than I did on the first. It’s a lot of the same things musically and emotionally. There was just a natural progression for me in both periods. With some of the songs, the time periods bleed together when they were written from the first and second record. A lot of the romantic themes were relevant in my life and I kept with that. I would say that the biggest difference was in how it was documented and recorded.

Discuss that some more.

The first [album] was just demos and recorded by me—pretty much for all of it just alone and isolated, setting up the mics myself, performing the tracks myself. You’ve got a lot of raw emotion of the first record and vibrancy in spirit, but I lacked some of the engineering expertise for better or worse. On the second one, I did it in a studio with an engineer who I was able to work with very well. He made it an equally enjoyable process.

After month or so after the release of Libraries—how do you feel about the album?

I feel great. I feel we went in and captured a period in time—which is what any recording should do. I think the most interesting thing about the record was that it was done all during about a month and a half—not even.

The writing of it as well? Or just the recording?

Just the recording. There’s so many sounds on that record, things going on—I just love the fact that it was all squeezed into a big session like that. I think you hear it, there’s a lot of unity of that record. You go into a little world like that. The thing I’m most excited about a month after its release is playing with the band.

Changing from one-man act to a full band, how has it changed The Love Language, especially when performing your songs live?

I played with a band after the first record too. I record multi-track and do it myself, so the songs are pretty much fully realized on a dynamic level. I can obviously show the parts, but they take on a lot of life with the band too, because they are actually played live and you are feeding off of each other, communicating with the musicians.

Do you see yourself doing the same thing moving forward, where you have a band adapt to your creation, or do you see yourself incorporating others into your creative process?

I definitely see myself incorporating other people into the process. I still would want to orchestrate it, but I would be very open to collaboration. I think that there are so many talented people right now in the band. There’s a lot of songwriters out there that are in a similar position to myself where they record on their own and then tour with a band. Sometimes those are just their buddies taking a tour here and there and the band is changing. I feel like with this version of the band we’re really start to gel in the way that a band does—we’re spending a lot of time together and everybody is living in the same place. It’s still very much like a band—there’s some great songwriters in the band so who knows. I wouldn’t rule anything out.

Tell me about your band.

It’s a five piece—we have two guitars, bass, drums and keys. [We’ve been touring] since March, so not that long. SXSW was really our first show. We only had about five rehearsals before that and then we got thrown to the wolves—it was great.

How did you meet your touring members?

Well Missy [Thangs] and Jordan [McLamb] had toured after the previous album. Some of the members from that band went their separate ways and worked on their own projects. Missy and Jordan, our keys and drums respectively, and then BJ Burton—who recorded Libraries—joined the band. He’s playing guitar. And a good friend of mine Justin Rodermond is on bass. I really knew BJ just since January when we started recording. Obviously I’ve known my brother [Jordan] forever. Missy about two years and Justin about four. They’re old friends.

What’s it like working with your producer BJ Burton both as a producer and then a band member?

Me and him just have a great dynamic. As a creative person or artist you’ll meet another artist that you converse with musically and get points across, and we have definitely got that. And it seems like even playing live we’re thinking about tones. He’s great in his role as a guitar player.

He might hate me for saying this, but when he joined [The Love Language] to play guitar he came from a punk and hardcore background. So I’m teaching him one of my songs, and [in response to] an A diminished, he was just like ‘what?’ I think I even showed him a D chord and he didn’t know where that was. He was like ‘dude, where do I put my fingers?’ He’s a great guitarist, but that was an awesome moment. I was a little freaked out that he didn’t know where the D chord was.

Are you all excited about stopping in Atlanta this time around?

Yeah, we were actually just down there….We played this hip-hop festival that Red Bull threw together.

The ONE Music Fest?

Yeah, that’s it. The One Music Fest.

What was it like playing as a part of a primarily hip-hop festival?

We started it out. We started the show and it was as hot as shit that day. The concrete was just burning out there—it was just a big open space with no one there when we started. I don’t think a lot of these people had heard of us. But midway through the set, people started to come out. I remember there were a lot of people sitting down under the tent…and we finished the first song and just heard a great big roar of applause from all these people sitting down. So it went really well—I always think that it’s good to be part of things outside of indie-rock. It was great to be part of a festival where we sort of a different type of act. I hope we can do more stuff like that.

I saw that you all were touring with The Howlies. How did that come about?

They come to North Carolina quite a bit, and we’ve done some shows together. We actually did a house party in Greenville, North Carolina—it’s where East Carolina University is—and that place can get pretty crazy. I remember that night was nuts—I actually played naked, which halfway through I realized that the wine was getting to me. I think that stuff works better in a hardcore setting. I think that stuff works better in a hardcore setting—I think there’s something crazy about playing music butt naked. That night got kind of nuts. But yeah, we’ve known them and they’re great dudes—they’re phenomenal. We were opening for them back now, but now I’m a little freaked out that they’re opening for us.

From the times you’ve been to Atlanta, what do you enjoy most about the city?

Great question. I guess I love that it’s a major city and that it’s Southern. I grew up in the South, and it’s a great combination of that modern, progressive mentality of a city paired with a more conservative, Southern attitude. I think it’s a great thing. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to spend in the city, but when we’ve played I just ventured out to a couple places here and there.

Any last words?

Yeah. Soft Company is also playing with us and that is Missy’s project. She writes all the material and arrangements. She doesn’t do a lot of shows because Love Language is keeping her way too busy, but her songs are fuckin’ brilliant. I would definitely like to promote that, people should get out there early to see them…it’s pop music, more in like a Roxy Music influence and 70’s quirky stuff.

Word Association. Hell.

2010-09-01T00:00:00.002-05:00

Word Association is a playlist series based off a particular word or phrase. Each week will feature an assortment of songs related to that week's word.

Word Association #13 (9/1/10): Hell

1. Menomena - Rotten Hell
2. The Eels - Your Lucky Day in Hell
3. Wilco - Hell Is Chrome
4. My Morning Jacket - I Think I'm Going To Hell
5. Drive-By Truckers - Hell No, I Ain't Happy
6. The White Stripes - Catch Hell Blues
7. Deer Tick - Hell on Earth
8. Girls - Hellhole Ratrace

Sufjan Stevens - "I Walked"

2010-08-31T00:00:00.002-05:00

New Sufjan. Enough Said.

"I Walked" is Sufjan's first single released off his upcoming album The Age of the Adz. The record will be released on CD October 12th and on Vinyl November 9th, but if you pre-order The Age of the Adz, you can download the album on September 28th.

Check out the track streaming below, and click here to download "I Walked."

<a href="http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/track/i-walked">I Walked by Sufjan Stevens</a>

Photo Book: Venice Is Sinking at The Earl (8/28/10)

2010-08-30T12:00:00.001-05:00

Venice Is Sinking opened for fellow Atlanta 9-piece group Oryx and Crake on August 28th at The Earl. Check out photos from their performance below.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Mix Mondays: Volume 49

2010-08-30T00:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-49-august-30-2010.

1. Wolf Parade - Soldier's Grin
2. Plants and Animals - Feedback In The Field
3. Death Cab for Cutie - Long Division
4. Land of Talk - Swift Coin
5. Broken Social Scene - Looks Just Like The Sun
6. Sonic Youth - The Empty Page
7. Yo La Tengo - Gentile Hour
8. The National - England

Photo Book: Oryx and Crake at The Earl (8/28/10)

2010-08-29T09:27:00.003-05:00

Atlanta 9-piece group Oryx and Crake hosted their debut CD release show on August 28th at The Earl. Their show celebrated their eponymous debut album, which came out that same night. Check out photos from their performance below.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Album Review: S. Carey - All We Grow

2010-08-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Artist: S. Carey
Album: All We Grow
Record Label: Jagjaguwar
Release Date: 8/24/2010
Rating: 6.5/10

Over the past couple of years, few artists have managed to create music as stunningly moving as Wisconsin natives Bon Iver. Their 2008 debut record For Emma, Forever Ago was the result of frontman Justin Vernon’s cathartic winter in solitude, out of which his heartfelt and masterful release arose. While Bon Iver have recently taken a well-deserved break from touring, and the time off has allowed Bon Iver drummer Sean Carey to start his own side project, S. Carey, as well as release his first album All We Grow.

While the comparisons to Justin Vernon are inevitable due to their obvious ties within Bon Iver, the differences are rather noticeable. Both artists undoubtedly share a cathartic element to their work. But where Vernon’s emotional outpour dissonantly cries out for help, Carey’s All We Grow endures as a quiet storm. Combined with a dynamic and driving orchestration, Carey carefully arranges each individual sonic layer atop one another, forming waves of sound that hypnotically drone at times while richly resonate at others. The album’s first single “In The Dirt” perfectly displays this combination as his serene vocals drift amidst a lush assortment of classical instrumentation.

However, All We Grow occasionally leans too far toward sounding like musical wallpaper as a result of Carey’s tranquil and collected style. While his compositions have a more definitive post-rock element than Bon Iver, the album lacks the heightened evocative moments defining For Emma, Forever Ago. Likewise, his floating and atmospheric drone is able to peacefully entrance throughout All We Grow, yet fails to add a much dramatic flair similar to the way Jonsi can stunningly build and breakdown his music.

Despite All We Grow’s shortcomings as a complete album, it showcases Carey’s immense promise as a songwriter. The album’s title track “All We Grow” is a minimalist work of beauty that remains subtle in its crawling buildup. “Action” calmly roars and repetitively pounds before fading back into nothing. Overall, All We Grow echoes a series of small swells and ripples, soaked in Carey’s contemplative nature. It’s not necessarily what Bon Iver fans will be hoping for, but it’s nevertheless a remarkably well-crafted album that glistens with beauty.

Word Association. Heaven.

2010-08-25T00:00:00.002-05:00

Word Association is a playlist series based off a particular word or phrase. Each week will feature an assortment of songs related to that week's word.

Word Association #12 (8/25/10): Heaven

1. Billy Bragg & Wilco - Airline To Heaven
2. Dinosaur Jr. - Just Like Heaven
3. The New Pornographers - All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth
4. The Pixies - Monkey Gone To Heaven
5. Pavement - Heaven Is A Truck
6. Elliott Smith - St. Ides Heaven
7. Blitzen Trapper - Heaven and Earth
8. Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead - Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Photo Book : Nameless Goat Farm Festival (8/21/10)

2010-08-23T13:00:00.006-05:00

Nameless Goat Farm Festival took place this past Saturday at West Atlanta's Goat Farm. Check out photos of Atlas Sound, All The Saints, The N.E.C., Selmanaires, The Coathangers and others who played this daylong music marathon.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures. In addition, check out more of these pictures on Creative Loafing's Nameless Music Fest photo gallery.

Mix Mondays: Volume 48

2010-08-23T00:08:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-48-august-23-2010.

1. Animal Collective - In The Flowers
2. Small Black - Despicable Dogs
3. Deerhunter - Agoraphobia
4. Here We Go Magic - Casual
5. Atlas Sound - Shelia
6. Grizzly Bear - Cheerleader
7. Real Estate - Lets Rock The Beach
8. The War on Drugs - There Is No Urgency

Interview: Here We Go Magic

2010-08-20T00:00:00.019-05:00

I’m not going to lie. I almost bitched out.

I’d never interviewed a band before, and I’d planned on descending upon my first such experience with a great deal of impenetrable coolness and informed insight. Upon my arrival at The Earl on August 6th, however, I realized that I was neither cool nor informed. In fact, I was woefully unprepared and kind of sweaty. It seemed best to just watch Brooklyn-based indie rockers Here We Go Magic from the shadowy corners of lameness and then flee the scene. But then, all of a sudden, I realized that this was one of those do-or-die moments, and it was time to do. So I did. And it was splendid! Read on, friends.

Enter Luke Temple, Here We Go Magic’s founding and formerly only member, an amiably disheveled and disarmingly unassuming guy with a mustache. He smoked a cigarette on the sidewalk outside the venue while I fumbled around, trying to introduce myself as someone who was not retarded. I failed, but Temple was totally cool.

“So, uh, where did you get your name?” Proving myself an ultimate noob from the get-go seemed like a safe way to play it. “Well, I was on a train, going to New Jersey and staring out the window at Newark—the toilet of America,” Temple deadpanned. I liked him already. “It was very unromantic, in fact there’s nothing magical about it at all, and I was saying to myself, ‘Here we go, this is really depressing. But maybe I should think good thoughts,’ so I was like, ‘Magic! Here We Go Magic!’ I just flipped it, you know?”

Beginning his music career as a solo act, Temple recorded Here We Go Magic’s eponymous debut album in his apartment, entirely alone. As such, he explained, “the whole record has a real hushed quality, just out of necessity. After work, I’d start at like 8:00 at night and go ‘til 10:00 in the morning. I’d have to play real quiet because I had neighbors and thin walls. It was much more of a personal, internal kind of trip—I did the whole thing on headphones, pretty much sitting on one chair, very simple set-up, very limited. I worked very quickly as a result of that.”

Then, he had to throw a band together very quickly. Due to all the digitally-layered sounds of his first album, there was no way Temple could physically perform by himself in a live setting. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal, until he caught the attention of one Edward Droste, frontman for another Brooklyn-based indie rock band, Grizzly Bear.

“Ed heard ‘Tunnelvision’ on, like, satellite radio while he was on an airplane or something weird like that, and he really liked it so he wrote about it on his blog,” Temple told me, without a touch of conceit. “Meanwhile, I didn’t know that happened. I was visiting my mom over Christmas and I remember checking the computer one day, and normally we were getting like fifty MySpace hits a day, and all of a sudden on this day there were like, fifteen hundred MySpace hits, and I was like, what? Is this some kind of glitch? Was there some kind of back log that just suddenly got filtered through?”

Suddenly, Temple’s little lone musical project was catapulted into the public eye. From there, it was only a matter of time until Droste called upon Here We Go Magic to sign on as openers for his 2009 tour.

“It’s amazing, we became a band and then all of a sudden, like two weeks later, we’re off on this tour with Grizzly Bear. We didn’t even really have our shit together at that point. And it was right after [Grizzly Bear released their third album] Veckatimest, which went to #8 on the Billboard charts. That was when they kind of crossed over from indie to this mainstream success, so we were playing for, like, three thousand kids a night. It was an unbelievable introduction into being a live band,” Temple said. “Plus, I’ve been a huge fan of Grizzly Bear’s music for a long time so that was kind of like a little dream come true for me.”

Ultimately, Here We Go Magic’s evolutionary story is almost uncannily similar to Grizzly Bear’s. Not only did Edward Droste also begin his music career as a solo project, but Here We Go Magic’s dreamlike propulsion into the public eye mirrors Grizzly Bear’s own big break, when they toured with Radiohead in 2008 after receiving some serious accolades from guitarist Johnny Greenwood. In a way, Here We Go Magic has entered into an interesting legacy of musical networking, where the bands themselves select their successors.

Of course, what is music anyway if not a constant progression, a constant cycle of give and take? Luke Temple cites his own evolution from solo project to five-piece band: “Working with a band is sort of a democracy—you have to compromise and be introduced to everyone’s distinct contributions.” This past June, Here We Go Magic released their second album Pigeons—Temple’s first foray into recording with a full band.

Onstage, delicate, ethereal dream-drops like “Fangela” and “Tunnelvision” transform into jangly, freewheeling, almost raucous jam-outs. But it’s a controlled kind of chaos, and what’s lost in sheer sonic beauty is redeemed by Temple’s unflappable likability. He is the ideal anti-frontman—no irritating stage banter, no pretentious airs, no showboating, just passionate grit and humble aptitude. And despite his solo success, Temple remains utterly willing to embrace the fact that being part of a band means relinquishing a fair share of autonomy: “Now that we’ve toured for a year straight, by the time we record the next album it will have been almost two years probably, and I’m really excited about that because we have a dynamic together that we didn’t have when we made that first record, so it’s just going to keep changing.”

Goodbye, Newark. Here We Go Magic.

--Written by Hilary Cadigan (with special thanks to Christina Krudy)

The National - "You Were A Kindness"

2010-08-19T12:00:00.001-05:00

On the heels of their May release High Violet, dynamic indie-rockers The National show off their minimalistic side with their new track "You Were A Kindness." This brooding track is one of the band's few moments without percussion, leaving listeners to focus on frontman Matt Berninger's self-doubting and anxious lyrics. Accompanied by both a piano and brass arrangement, "You Were A Kindness" fully resonates with The National's signature melancholic warmth.

Check out this previously unreleased track below.

MP3: The National - "You Were A Kindness"

[Via Stereogum, Each Note Secure]

Small Black - "Photojournalist"

2010-08-19T00:00:00.004-05:00

(Originally written for One Thirty BPM)

After spending a good portion of 2010 in suburban Delaware honing their craft and fine-tuning their sound, lo-fi synth-pop act Small Black have recently announced the release of the debut album New Chain. Along with this announcement comes the single "Photojournalist," which can be heard below.

New Chain will be released via Jagjaguwar on October 26th.

MP3: "Small Black - Photojournalist"

Word Association. Months.

2010-08-18T00:00:00.001-05:00

Word Association is a playlist series based off a particular word or phrase. Each week will feature an assortment of songs related to that week's word.

Word Association #11 (8/18/10): Months

1. Arcade Fire - Month of May
2. The National - Mr. November
3. Big Star - September Gurls
4. Teenage Fanclub - December
5. The Decemberists - July, July!
6. Avett Brothers - January Wedding
7. Broken Bells - October
8. Neutral Milk Hotel - April 8th

Photo Book: 2010 Athens Popfest Highlights

2010-08-16T14:00:00.003-05:00

After covering Athens Popfest this past weekend, here are my photo highlights from the festival! Check out photos of Mission of Burma, Apples in Stereo, The Wedding Present and more.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

To see more photos, check out my full sets from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Mix Mondays: Volume 47

2010-08-16T00:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the War on Pop's Mix Mondays--a weekly 8 song playlist for your own enjoyment! Enjoy the mix below or at http://8tracks.com/waronpop/mix-mondays-47-august-16-2010.

Volume 47: 8/16/2010

1. New Pornographers - Moves
2. Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
3. Jenny & Johnny - Big Wave
4. Pains of Being Pure at Heart - This Love is Fucking Right
5. A.C. Newman - There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve
6. Destroyer - It's Gonna Take an Airplane
7. Mates of State - Get Better
8. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Photo Book: Athens PopFest (8/14/10)

2010-08-15T15:29:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Athens PopFest on August 14th, 2010, where Mission of Burma, Oh OK, Bunnygrunt, Eux Autres, Raymilland and others performed at the 40 Watt.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Athens PopFest (8/13/10)

2010-08-14T12:10:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Athens PopFest on August 13th, 2010, where Apples in Stereo, Circulatory System, Elekibass, Casper & the Cookies, Keith John Adams and others performed at the 40 Watt.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Photo Book: Athens PopFest (8/12/10)

2010-08-13T13:00:00.005-05:00

Pictures from Athens PopFest at the 40 Watt on August 12th, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

Live Observations: Thoughts on seeing the Arcade Fire perform twice over the past week

2010-08-12T18:20:00.000-05:00

During the past several years, I have been blessed with the privilege of watching many of my favorite musicians perform in concert, crossing artists such as Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, The Pixies, The National and Radiohead off my concert bucket list. For a couple of years now, however, the Arcade Fire has resided at the top of my must-see bands. This last week, however, that all changed as I finally managed to see the Montreal indie-rock act perform not once, but TWICE—both at Lollapalooza as well as in Atlanta.

Fresh off their newest album The Suburbs and a live webcast of their recent Madison Square Garden performance, the Arcade Fire set the stage for an epic performance to close out this year’s festivities. Drawing one of the larger Lollapalooza crowd this side of Lady Gaga, the band did not disappoint, performing a balanced blend of tracks from their three-album catalog.

Leading up to their Lollapalooza set, a certain feeling lingered in the air hinting that something great was about to go down, hinted at by fans already humming the chorus to “Wake Up” before The National were finished with their set. While the octet’s work has always embodied a certain anthemic element to their music, songs like “Rebellion,” and “No Cars Go” took on an entirely new power with tens of thousands of people chanting along with the utmost conviction. Out of their one-song encore of “Wake Up” ensued one of the most spine-tingling, awe-inspiring moments I have witnessed in live performance—one where the experience transcends chords, vocals, and song structure into a moment where everything just seemed perfect and in tune throughout Grant Park. And I do not mean in a hyperbolic sense by any stretch of the imagination—just ask any Arcade Fire devotee who was in attendance.

While I was at Lollapalooza as a photographer and admittedly did not have as much time to intently watch shows as I would have preferred, my full attention laid upon the Arcade Fire a few days later during their performance at Atlanta’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Although the Amphitheatre was nowhere near full capacity, it didn’t matter to those who were in attendance. Instead, I felt rather appreciative to be able to watch the show from a relatively close spot without having to fend for my life (as was the case at Lollapalooza).

After Spooned opened with a bombardment of their classics such as “Don’t You Evah,” “Don’t Make Me a Target” and “Jonathan Fisk,” the Arcade Fire graced the stage, opening with the same four songs as they did in Chicago. It was not a deterrent, however, especially since I could not see the entire show and stage at Lollapalooza. They brought their own large stage screen, filled with live video of the band performing from interesting and unusual angles—much like how Radiohead did throughout their In Rainbows tour. Visually, the show matched nicely complimented the music and added to the overall experiences, adding in montages and vintage-faded shots of suburban life.

But like usual, the Arcade Fire’s forte camein the form of their ability to make music that is majestic while entirely relatable to each fan’s own experience. One such moment came in the form of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” following evocatively by “Rebellion (Lies)," a compelling one-two punch inviting all to sing along with the uplifting call to arms. In addition, their new materials off of The Suburbs fit right in. “Month of May” fiercely drove like parts of TV on the Radio’s “Halfway Home,” while frontwoman Regine Chassagne shone beautifully on “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).”

While the band currently resides atop the Billboard charts at the moment, they never seem to play the part. Lead singer Win Butler seemed quite confident in the spotlight, but continually remained grateful and appreciative of their fans who have contributed to their steady rise since 2003. Ultimately, what the Arcade Fire represent at this given point in time is a perfect example of a band in full stride, hitting the pinnacle of their career as performers—with a dynamic show that finally is grand enough to match their larger-than-life sound.

Chicago Set List: 8/8/10, Lollapalooza, Chicago, IL

“Ready to Start”
“Neighborhood #2 (Laika)”
“No Cars Go”
“Haïti”
“Empty Room”
“Rococo”
“The Suburbs”
“Intervention”
“Crown of Love (Win dedicated it to The National)”
“Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”
“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
“We Used to Wait”
“Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”
“Rebellion”
“Month of May”
“Keep the Car Running”

Encore:
“Wake Up”

Atlanta Set List: 8/11/10, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA

“Ready To Start”
“Neigborhood #2 (Laika)”
“No Cars Go”
“Haiti”
“Half Light II (No Celebration)”
“Empty Room”
“The Suburbs”
“Ocean of Noise”
“Keep the Car Running”
“We Used To Wait”
“Neigborhood #3 (Power Out)”
“Rebellion (Lies)”
“Month of May”
“Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”

Encore:
“Intervention”
“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
“Wake Up”

Word Association. Cold.

2010-08-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Word Association is a playlist series based off a particular word or phrase. Each week will feature an assortment of songs related to that week's word.

Word Association #10 (8/11/10): Cold

1. Grandchildren - Cold Warrior
2. The Morning Benders - Cold War (Nice Clean Fight)
3. Black Lips - Cold Hands
4. Smog - Cold Blooded Old Times
5. Bob Dylan - Cold Irons Bound
6. The National - Cold Girl Fever
7. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Cold Son
8. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Cold Spring

Photo Book: Sunday at Lollapalooza (8/8/10)

2010-08-09T19:53:00.001-05:00

Pictures from the Lollapalooza at Chicago's Grant Park on August 8th, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size.

Photo Book: Saturday at Lollapalooza (8/7/10)

2010-08-09T19:45:00.005-05:00

Pictures from the Lollapalooza at Chicago's Grant Park on August 7th, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size.

Photo Book: Friday at Lollapalooza (8/6/10)

2010-08-07T09:08:00.002-05:00

Pictures from the Lollapalooza at Chicago's Grant Park on August 6th, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size.

Photo Book: New Pornographers at The Metro (8/5/10)

2010-08-06T09:08:00.003-05:00

Pictures from the New Pornographers's performance at Chicago's Metro on August 5th, 2010.

Click the bottom right of the embed to expand the pictures to their full size, and see the full set list below the pictures.

New Pornographers - 8/5/10 Set List
"Sing Me Spanish Techno"
"Up In The Dark"
"Myriad Harbour"
"Crash Years"
"The Laws Have Changed"
"Jackie, Dressed In Cobras,
"Adventures In Solitude"
"Twin Cinema"
"Jackie"
"Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk"
"All The Old Showstoppers"
"Go Places"
"It's Only Divine Right"
"Execution Day"
"Moves"
"Your Hands (Together)"
"Mass Romantic"
"Silver Jenny Dollar"
"Use It"
"Bleeding Heart Show"

Encore:
"Challengers"
"Slow Descent Into Alcoholism"
"Testament To Youth In Verse"

Interview: Dead Confederate

2010-08-05T00:00:00.005-05:00

(Originally written for One Thirty BPM)

Athens, Georgia has long been home to a hotbed of emerging musicians from a wide range of genres. Over the past couple years, few bands have shown as much promise as that of alt-country rock group Dead Confederate. Falling somewhere between fellow Athens veterans the Drive-By Truckers and longtime legends Dinosaur Jr, Dead Confederate showcase a heavy, hanging and dark sound, matched only by their sprawling guitars.

After playing together for about ten years in different variations of the band, they formed as Dead Confederate in 2006 and released their debut album Wrecking Ball two years later. With their sophomore album Sugar scheduled to be released later this month (August 24th via TAO/Old Flame), the Athens quintet have started to gear up for several months of extensive touring in support of the record.

I caught up with co-songwriter/bassist Brantley Senn for a phone interview during their two week tour with their good friends Deer Tick. During our conversation, we spent time discussing Sugar, misconceptions surrounding their name, working with J. Mascis and Senn’s musical influences.

Let’s start off with a quick update as to how the Dead Confederate’s summer has been going—between touring and a new album Sugar on the horizon?

Brantley Senn: The tour’s just starting off—so far, so well—it’s pretty awesome. We’re on the road with Deer Tick right now—those guys are good buddies and we really dig their band.

How did you end up touring with Deer Tick? Did you know them before?

BS: I guess we’re mutual friends, fans of each other’s bands. That’s kind of how this tour happened. John [McCauley, of Deer Tick] came down to Athens and we hung out once or twice. We hit it off pretty well—it just kind of made sense.

How long is the tour with Deer Tick going for?

BS: We just played our second show with them—this is a two-week tour with them. We get two weeks off before we go out for a month and a half with Alberta Cross and a local band from Athens—Futurebirds—will be on the road with us. Heavy touring starts in a little bit.

As the album comes out I’m sure.

BS: Yeah, exactly, we’ll be touring all for Sugar.

So tell me about Sugar—why the name first off, and also what the album is about as a whole.

BS: It’s a title track—and we like to do title tracks because we hate naming stuff. It’s weird because New Jersey [where we recorded] was covered in snow the whole time we were up there. We got up there, and it started snowing until we left. That led to the name Sugar I guess.

We wrote all the songs prior to going up there. We already had all the tunes done before we got up there. But we didn’t learn them really until the week before going up to the studio. We’re kind of scatterbrained when it comes to writing—we just write whatever comes to mind. So it’s pretty varied on that record, probably more so than Wrecking Ball.

What ways do you think Sugar remains most similar to Wrecking Ball? Where does it depart the most?

BS: There’s still some really heavy rockin’ stuff in there. There’s a friend of mine in front of me, I told him we were making a pop record just to mess around. It’s still pretty heavy and rockin’ like the old album, but there are upbeat songs on this record where there really wasn’t any on the last one. It’s a lot more upbeat, the songs are a lot thinner, we shortened a lot of the tunes.

So there’s definitely no more 12-minute tracks on Sugar?

BS: Exactly.

Since Wrecking Ball, has your songwriting process changed as a whole? Are you and Hardy [Morris] still the main songwriters or has it opened up to the whole band?

BS: No, It’s still me and Hardy—we make it a partnership. The songwriting process for Hardy is pretty much the same, but for me it’s a lot different. I started using my laptop to record stuff and really create more complete tracks before giving them to the band. I kind of record like I was recording my own album, and then let them do what they wanted with it. At first, it was usually like an acoustic guitar—this time around it’s more completed I guess.

In terms of your name Dead Confederate—how did you decide on that name?

BS: Hardy came up with it, we just wanted something that sounded like our band and didn’t carry too much meaning—that would grasp people’s attentions. We felt like the combination of those words was probably about the perfect combination.

I find it interesting that, since you didn’t want any connotation with your name, many critics still ended up associating you with a Confederate theme or with the Old South. Was that something you intended to do in the likes of the Drive-By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera or do you think that people just misinterpret the meaning of your name.

BS: It’s just attention grabbing. Sometimes…[people] kind of question it, but I think it says that you’re a band and all of their songs are just out of their head. They can see pretty quickly that we’re normal people, and not all about the South or anything like that. I think most of us are all pretty liberal dudes, quite opposite of anyone about the Confederacy.

I remember this one time we were in Statesboro, Georgia, and this lady with an organization called the ‘Sons of the Confederacy’—she had a rebel flag windbreaker on. She visited with us and was like, “I just wanted to come and meet you all, and make sure y’all weren’t going to be doing injustice to the Confederacy.” And we were all like “What are you talking about? You’ve already done yourself a disservice.”

One of your new tracks “Giving It All Away” features Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis. How did you come about working with him? What was it like to work with such a legendary musician like J. Mascis?

BS: We did a couple tours with him. We toured with Dinosaur Jr. in America, overseas in England and in Europe, and we went back over there with J. Mascis too. He’s been really good to us getting us out on the road and giving us good opportunities.

When we were going into record the album, it was actually our producer John Agnello —he’s recorded a bunch of Dinosaur Jr. albums. It was his idea. He was like, “Man, we have to get J. [Mascis] on this track, he’d be perfect.” He called [Mascis] and sent the reels up to Boston where he lives and he just did it in his studio up there, and sent us back what he did. And we were like “Hell yeah!” J. [Mascis] really can’t do no wrong.

The similarities between Dinosaur Jr. and Dead Confederate are definitely present. And I know many have pegged you guys as anything including Pink Floyd to My Morning Jacket to Nirvana and so on. But just out of curiosity, how do you all self-identity in terms of influences? Do you and the rest of the Dead Confederate agree with these comparisons, or see the band in a different light.

BS: I see us a lot differently. As a songwriter, I don’t sit down and start off thinking one of our songs sound like this person or this genre—everything kind of flows naturally. I think a lot of songwriting is subconscious, it just leaks out of you. Sometimes you don’t write the song, the song writes you.

For you then, what musicians would you say are embedded within your subconscious that has been that influential for you growing up and currently as a songwriter?

BS: I don’t know, I listen to everything. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of The Replacements. Sonic Youth is a band that has always inspired me. It’s really a game changing thing for me, it really extended my outlook on music—the way they can use noise and chords that don’t really sound right to good effect. I took a lot from them on that. My Morning Jacket—their first couple albums At Dawn and Tennessee Fire are incredible. I just love the way they can have the Southern folk song at the heart of this huge big rock. It may not be the case anymore though—they’ve changed their style a lot.

At Dawn is no Evil Urges, to say the least.

BS: No, no—totally different. That’s good though, I appreciate bands that aren’t afraid to change things up. If you keep making the same album over and over again, you’re going to get bored. People have to realize it’s not always about them; sometimes it’s about the artist.

Define your band’s sound in 1-2 phrases.

BS: Definitely loud. A lot of a slide guitar. Pretty Southern and pretty crazy and pretty heavy.

What’s your favorite venue that you have played at?

BS: Internationally, it would probably Paradiso in Amsterdam—it’s a really old church that they’ve redone and it’s absolutely beautiful. In America, I’d have to say the 40 Watt—it’s for all my homeboys, we know nearly everyone who works there.

How do you define the group as a live band? What’s your favorite song to play live?

BS: As a live band I’ve always thought of us as keeping things pretty loose and ruckus-ey. We used to destroy shit all the time—break the drum kit, all that kind of stuff. It’s settled down now, I guess we’re getting old or something, I don’t know. At the same time, we’re very focused and in tune with each onstage, probably more than a lot of other bands are. It’s probably because we have been together now for over 10 years in different variations of the band. We started off with improvisation and just making stuff up on the spot. And that really helped us grow as a band.

As far as favorite song to play live, right now it’s basically any new song we have since we played the songs on Wrecking Ball for four years—two years before the album and two years after. These are really fresh, and it’s fun playing these shorter rockers—I’ve really been enjoying it. I still love playing the old stuff too, but it’s nice to be able to mix it up, give the crowd more variety.

Dead Confederate: 7/31/10 at the Buckhead Theatre (Atlanta, GA)

2010-08-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

As one of the more promising bands to emerge from Athens, Georgia’s vibrant music scene, alt-country rockers Dead Confederate have slowly earned their stripes throughout the South. Falling somewhere between fellow Athens veterans the Drive-By Truckers and longtime legends Dinosaur Jr, Dead Confederate showcase a heavily hanging and dark sound, matched only by their sprawling guitars. The Athens five-piece continued to demonstrate their compelling blend of country-laced grunge during their performance with Deer Tick at Atlanta’s Buckhead Theatre.

With their sophomore effort Sugar soon to be released (August 24th via TAO/Old Flame), Dead Confederate brought their new work to the newly renovated and recently reopened Buckhead Theatre (which looks like a cheap recreation the Fabulous Fox Theatre). Frontman Hardy Morris strikingly reminded me of the DBT’s lead singer Patterson Hood, while playing guitar like the artist whose shirt he was wearing—Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis. Morris led Dead Confederate through a steady set of songs, providing an ample preview of what is to come on Sugar.

Dead Confederate’s highlights from the new album included Morris’s solo rendition of “Run from the Gun” and the freewheeling show closer “Giving It All Away.” While these new tracks definitely held their own, it was the familiar road-worn Wrecking Ball favorites that were tightly performed. Four years of playing the same songs will do that, as the brooding drive of “Start Me Laughing” and raucous “Heavy Petting” stood out in top-form. Overall, Dead Confederate still have some loose ends to tie up with their live act, but it’s something that should come rather quickly given the extensive touring that lies ahead in support of Sugar. They have shown in the past that their live act is a force to be reckoned with, and should continue to develop along that path.

Word Association. Heavy.

2010-08-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

Word Association is a playlist series based off a particular word or phrase. Each week will feature an assortment of songs related to that week's word.

Word Association #9 (8/4/10): Heavy

1. Dead Confederate - Heavy Petting
2. The Black Keys - Heavy Soul
3. The Beatles - I Want You (She's So Heavy)
4. Patterson Hood - Heavy and Hanging
5. Yo La Tengo - The Room Got Heavy
6. Ambulance LTD - Heavy Lifting
7. The Morning Benders - Heavy Hearts
8. Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer

The Coathangers: 8/1/10 at The Earl (Atlanta, GA)

2010-08-03T12:00:00.003-05:00

Four years ago, Atlanta punk-rockers The Coathangers were more of a weeknight jam session than a formidable band. Since the days of their late-night recorded practices, the all female four-piece have transformed from a group of amateur musicians into a staple of East Atlanta Village’s music scene. From guitarist Julia Kugel’s off-kilter singing/shrieking to drummer Stephanie Luke’s dominant stage presence, The Coathangers have carved out their own little niche of fresh feminist-laced punk.

The band took to the stage as part of online culture magazine PurgeATL’s launch party at the Earl, playing in between fellow Atlantans Sealions and The Selmanaires. From the playful mess-around attitude in their first moments warming up on stage, The Coathangers appeared ready to pump some much needed energy into this Sunday night event. Between the likes of romping chants of “Stop Stomp Stompin’” to the pure ridiculousness of “Nestle In My Boobies,” The Coathangers knocked off song after song of their refreshingly entertaining act. As they made their way through the set, The Coathangers found themselves constantly rotating instruments on seemingly every song—an surprising feat given their relatively short life as professional musicians together.

After receiving the shots of whiskey she requested through her microphone, drummer/vocalist Stephanie Luke came out to the front for the last couple of songs, most notably on the rambunctious “Don’t Touch My Shit.” On this number, Luke led the band in throwing every beer can or bottle in sight in an anger-filled bout that would most certainly make one think twice about touching any of their belongings. Between their lighthearted wit and chick-rock spontaneity, The Coathangers increasingly endeared to the crowd, somewhat recalling an American version of satirical, tongue-in-cheek rockers Art Brut. Considering they have only been together for such a short time, their show was all the more impressive.

(Written for Performer Magazine)