Kyle Gilkeson

Ponytail

Guest Playlist: Ponytail’s breezy springtime tunes

Ponytail: Do Whatever You Want All the TimePonytail: Do Whatever You Want All the Time (We Are Free, 4/12/11)

Ponytail: “Easy Peasy”

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After a brief hiatus in 2010, Baltimore art-rock band Ponytail released its third album, Do Whatever You Want All the Time, on longtime record label We Are Free. Its psychedelic artwork, created by Yamantaka Eye of Japanese rock band Boredoms, is matched by the band’s manic vocals and guitar-driven melodies.

In honor of the changing seasons, Ponytail guitarist Ken Seeno shows the band’s more chilled-out side with this ultra laid-back playlist.

A Warm Spring Breeze Blowing Through My Window
by Ken Seeno of Ponytail

1. The Revolutionaries: “Leftist”

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A deep, smooth, bouncy groove made by the masters of Channel One. All sway and smiles. Today is a good day.

Battles

Concert Photos: Battles @ Lincoln Hall (Chicago, IL)

With its first release since former loop maestro / singer Tyondai Braxton left the band last year, experimental-rock band Battles is pounding the pavement, touring its new material from Gloss Drop, out June 7 via Warp. Guest vocalists on the record include Yamantaka Eye (Boredoms), Matias Aguayo, Gary Numan, and Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead), and for this tour, the group found an interesting way to bring them along (see below). These shots, from photographer Wallo Villacorta, are from the band’s recent stop in Chicago at Lincoln Hall. 

Battles

Mogwai

Concert Photos: Mogwai @ Metro (Chicago, IL)

It has been more than 15 years since Glaswegian post-rock quintet Mogwai formed, and since that time, its lineup and its sound have remained largely unaltered. Gradual, measured sonic evolution has been the key to longevity — not abrupt reinvention.  On its most recent album, Hardcore Will Never Die, the band reprises its signature, crushing reverb, glimmering keyboard lines, and steady beats. Joining Mogwai in a recent performance in Chicago was Errors, a Scottish instrumental-rock band that’s signed to Mogwai’s own Rock Action Records. ALARM contributing photographer Drew Reynolds snapped these shots.

Mogwai