Posted: July 24th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: noise, post-punk | No Comments »
This isn’t music for the faint of heart, this is music for, as Nghia so eloquently puts it, “scaring the rodents away from your apartment” (if you’re so lucky enough to have any scurrying about). The City of Lafayette, Indiana, home to Purdue University and birthplace of Axl Rose (no shit!?) has a paranoia echoing through its streets – sending even the robust forms of life dwelling beneath them running for the hills fields. In the vein of The Cramps, The Fall, Suicide, and The Birthday Party, Lafayette’s Television Ghost tests the boundaries of rhythmic noise. Tense, manic vocals, aggressive drums, and the menacing attack of two guitars sends a distressing, eerie chill running down my spine. “The Nihilist” and “Babel” are corrosive numbers sparked with anxiety and saturated with Wire-like riffs that twist, turn, and swirl into the dark and ominous underworld of post-punk. Watch those critters scurry from the second you drop the needle on the band’s self-titled LP, as the lingering sine-wave of “XXXX-XXX” pulls them into a vortex only to be spit out and steamrolled by the violent shifting tempos of “No Doz.” If any brave souls are left, the fiery reverb and spooky vibrations of “Circus” should send them packing. By that point however, your neighbor might have shit his or her pants, opening up a whole other can of worms.
The Television Ghost LP is out now on Ohio imprint die Stasi.
[MP3]: Television Ghost ”Babel”
Televison Ghost LP, die Stasi; 2008
Posted: June 30th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, noise, nyc, psych, synth | No Comments »
GET HYPE! Long Beach California’s Crystal Antlers bring their pummeling live show to the East Coast for this installment of FRICTION at The Mercury Lounge on July 8th. With an explosive build-up of noise and melody blended with raw vocals and twisting riffs, this quintet has mastered the art of thrash. Brooklyn synthfolk darlings Chairlift (who’s debut LP, Does You Inspire You is about to drop) and borough-mates Religious Knives (Resin recently reviewed here), best known to dish out delicious plates of noise, round out this bill.
This will be the last of what seemed like a crazy string of shows every other week since the beginning of May, as FRICTION returns to its once a month schedule for the remainder of the summer. Advance tickets are on sale now, doors at 7:30pm.
Long Beach’s
CRYSTAL ANTLERS have mastered the art of thrash, that combustible build-up of noise and melody that so many others have tried to harness, only to fail in a miserable pool of fuzzy annoyance. Blending messy, raspy vocals with pummeling drums, writhing riffs and strident organs, the band produce a kaleidoscopic tornado of inflection that’s so right-this-very-moment. [Orange County Weekly]
[MP3]: “A Thousand Eyes”
CHAIRLIFT digs deep for its inspiration. The groups
Daylight Savings EP, while tethered to a solid core of hook-laden, keyboard driven indie-rock, opens its arms wide to encompass stabs of psychedelia and winsomely quirky, oh-so-slight vocals which evoke Kate Bush as much as Regina Spektor. The trio knows how to skirt the edge of pretension with out falling over, and makes a chirpy, joyously brainy noise in the process. [The Onion]
[MP3]: “Evident Utensil”
The animal musk of The Velvet Underground spiral drones intermingles with the decadent perfume of a David Lynch noir to devastating effect, this is death disco in the best tradition of Public Image Ltd, and when
RELIGIOUS KNIVES decide it is the moment to finish us off the only thing we’ll regret is having to abandon this spectral chamber which they call home. [20jazzfunkgreats]
[MP3]: “The Sun”
In part with:
Posted: May 15th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: noise, pop, shoegaze | No Comments »
A month or so ago, I mentioned that Autolux was set to release their first recording since 2004 in the form of the single, “Audience No. 2.” Well, after making the track available iTunes last week, the Los Angeles trio has decided to make the it available to download for FREE, since folks overseas were having issues getting the song. Follow the link below to download the high-quality .wav version of “Audience No. 2.” In the spirit of Radiohead’s In Rainbows you can pay what you want too. It has been well worth the wait.
No further details on Autolux’s second full-length, Transit Transit…yet.
[.WAV DOWNLOAD LINK]: Autolux ”Audience No. 2″
Single, Self-Released; 2008
Posted: May 6th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, noise, nyc, pop, shoegaze | No Comments »
Thanks to everyone who made it out to FRICTION last night for Pattern Is Movement, Sightings, and Fuck Buttons. Philly’s Pattern Is Movement kicked off the show with a stellar set of polyrhymic pop, warming up a soundsystem that was likely exhausted by the end of the night (much like my ears). What followed was something between a searing drone/distortion fest and club-like rave. Sightings and Fuck Buttons both fashion experimental noise in different ways, Sightings – via drums, guitar, bass, processors, and plenty of pedals, while Fuck Buttons employ mainly electronics, Fisher Price-like toys, and gadget’s I’ve never seen before. However different, both erupted from the stage last night with bigger than life sounds. Sightings tends to be more sonically violent, but still rhymically drving, crafting a primal sound that most bands wish they could do with a mouse and laptop. Fuck Buttons make you wonder how noise can be so beautiful, inducing a euphoric-like haze only to be snapped out of it by electro house beats and cutting distored vocals.
Thank you to to all three acts for playing the show along with Mercury Lounge for being such great hosts. Check out pics from the night below, on our Flickr page, and also at Self Titled who has some amazing black and white shots of Fuck Buttons.
FRICTION moves across the East River to Brooklyn for back to back shows in late May and early June at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Jump below the pics for details and stay tuned for updates!
////////UPCOMING FRICTION SHOWS////////
5/28 – DARK MEAT @ MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG
[MP3]: Dark Meat ”Dead Man”
DARK MEAT are an Athens ensemble mixing elements of blues, punk rock, psychedelic jams, jazz and Zappa/Beefheart styled explosions. Imagine The Stooges meets Crazy Horse with killer Stax / Funeral / Marching band horns, wailing gospel-style female backing vocals, ripping guitar leads and free jazz freakouts. -Orange Twin
6/8 – THESE NEW PURITANS @ MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG
[MP3]: “Numbers”
THESE NEW PURITANS have done a lot in their brief time. This is symptomatic of a band whose identity is rooted in mystery, and which first began to emerge in the form of oddly filmed webcasts and a website splattered with cryptic writings and links to pictures of boiling water and trees speeding past car windows. -Domino
Posted: May 5th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, noise, nyc, pop | No Comments »
While Philadelphia still reels in its hard-on and wipes the shit off its ass from Kate Moss dropping into town over the weekend, myself and the dudes from Pattern Is Movement will be dusting our way out of town for tonight’s FRICTION show in New York. After a month off in April, we’re bringing FRICTION back in full force at the Mercury Lounge to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with a night of euphoric noise, blasted-out sound, and off-kilter art pop. Philly’s Pattern Is Movement opens things up for Sightings and Fuck Buttons, who, combined, may very well be sending us to the doctor’s office for hearing tests tomorrow. Still Hype DJs keep things interesting between sets. Bring your earplugs, I’ll bring the “I saw Kate Moss at JB’s and wrote about it online later” t-shirts.
Doors open at 7pm, tickets still available.
GET HYPE!
[MP3]: Fuck Buttons ”Live at Supersonic”
Supersonic Festival, Birmingham, UK; 2007
Posted: April 22nd, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, music, noise, nyc, philly, pop, rock | No Comments »
GET HYPE! FRICTION celebrates Cinco de Mayo with a lineup featuring Bristol, UK’s euphoria-inducing Fuck Buttons, along with Brooklyn noise machine Sightings, and Philadelphia’s unorthodox, polyrhythmic pop outfit Pattern Is Movement. Come out for this solid bill to celebrate Mexico’s initial victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. I can’t think of a better excuse to drink on a Monday. NYCs Still Hype DJs will be spinning in between sets.
Tix available now/ Doors @ 7pm / flyer, mp3s + more below
FUCK BUTTONS recipe for sound is one that seems to test the limits of throwing the most twisted ideas and sounds along with the most melodic and beautiful into one big brewing pot—euphoric chimes and pounding tribal rhythms with violent screams and spooky distortions, that sort of thing. [Pop Matters].
[MP3]: “Sweet Love for Planet Earth”
The sound of
SIGHTINGS is the sound of civilization in reverse. Its 11-year, six-album career is one long sayonara to the 20th century, a fulfillment of rock and punk’s broken promise to unravel everything—language, shape, unity. Sightings’ songs give impressions not of sweaty stages and cheesy lights but of battlefields erupting and factories collapsing. Inside the wreckage, swirling within the sonic violence, the human presence of drummer Jon Lockie, bassist Richard Hoffman and guitarist Mark Morgan barely registers. [Indy Weekly].
[MP3]: “Debt Depths”
The combination of Thiboldeauxʼs swooning, near-operatic singing style and Wardʼs fierce yet deconstructive drumming,
surrounded by flurries of shimmering keys and sometimes strings, makes
PATTERN IS MOVEMENT more unusual than ever. The only band one could rightly compare them to is Radiohead, what with the jaunty song structures and
opaque, repetitive lyrics. [Philly Weekly].
[MP3]: “Right Away”
In part with:
Posted: April 17th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: music, noise, pop, shoegaze | 1 Comment »
Good things come to those who wait. That’s what it seems like Los Angeles noise pop trio, Autolux, have been teaching their loyal fans (myself included) for the last two years. A posting on the band’s MySpace page in January 2007 announced a follow-up to 2004′s excellent Future Perfect, which was slated for a late 2007 summer release. The summer came and went without any new material or news from the band. One fan wrote recently on the trio’s MySpace page:
Dear Autolux,
Can I please hear a new album?
I may have have heard your last album as much as I’ve heard Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, which means I must love you guys.
Love,
Troy
Troy will be happy to know that a new single, “Audience No. 2,” is currently on its way to radio stations for arrival next week and will be available on iTunes shortly thereafter. The band sparked further anticipation with and email last night to their mailing list announcing the single and the new album titled Transit Transit. Still no word on the release date, tracklisting, or artwork, but the band assures us that they are coming soon enough. However vague the news, it’s something, and I’m stoked for this release as Future Perfect was one of my favorites of 2004.
Autolux plays Coachella on April 27th followed by European dates. For nostalgia’s sake, listen to “Turnstile Blues” below.
[MP3]: Autolux ”Future Perfect”
Future Perfect, Red Int/Red Ink; 2004
