South Carolinian experimental-pop band Toro Y Moi is the creative effort of one Chazwick Bundick, formerly of the band The Heist and the Accomplice. The band, whose new album, Underneath the Pine, was released in February, has garnered buzz on the strength of its funky, dreamy blend of chillwave and dance pop. In a recent stop in Chicago, there was enough demand to schedule two shows: an early show with electro-pop act Adventure and a late show with indie-rock band Braids. ALARM copy editor Kyle Gilkeson was there to capture the action.
According to Chicago-based drone-rock band Implodes, its new album, Black Earth, is inspired by a “haunted and magical place,” where “there’s an old barn there with many rooms and a silo that’s filled with dead insects.” With a wealth of slow-moving melodies and dark guitar murmuring tangled in a web of reverb, it’s an aptly creepy description. The Psycho-esque cover art does an equally effective job of communicating the record’s paradoxical beauty and gloom.
All four members of the band answered this question for ALARM: what natural sonic phenomenon best describes your role in Implodes?
Implodes’ Sonic-Phenomena Counterparts by Implodes
Emily Elhaj:
Naturally, I would hope my sound could be likened to an avalanche. The indistinct rumble of packed snow sliding down a mountain’s façade seems to complement the booming nature and tone of my playing. The sounds are heavy yet mobile.
Justin Rathell:
The world around me has a remarkable way of translating very easily into percussive rhythms, tapping on my ears, begging me to follow along. Playing in Implodes often reminds me of just a couple of choice moments, much darker moments in my times experimenting with hallucinogens. Times where I was stricken with such overwhelming paranoia that I found myself focusing on the quietest, most isolated sounds. Sounds that began to grow louder and louder, drowning out other foreground noise that, in reality, was much more prominent. Sometimes, I was hearing the pulse in my neck or the beat of my own heart. It sounded like drums to me. It was somehow comforting. Everything else, even my other senses would dull. Except I think I could see my pulse; it would move the air.
If you’ve ever been to a show by The World/Inferno Friendship Society, you know that the NY-based cabaret-punk band tends to pack the stage — in addition to packing the house. With a rotating roster of roughly 30 players, 10 of which generally perform live, The WIFS could feasibly hold its own intra-band softball game. Led by dapper vocalist Jack Terricloth, the collective stormed through a set of horn- and string-heavy punk-rock tunes in a recent stop at Reggies in Chicago. Photographer Mandy Dempsey captured these images of the show.
Last week, guitar-heavy, instrumental-rock band Explosions in the Sky took its slow-moving, hard-rocking show to the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York. Attendees got a glimpse of new material from the Austin-based band; its new album, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care (Temporary Residence, 4/26/11), comes out in a mere two weeks. Photographer Gavin Thomas was on hand to capture the action.
With an army-green facade out front and wood-paneled walls and retro furniture inside, Zulu Records is an established musical stronghold in the Canadian metropolis of Vancouver, British Columbia. More than a place to buy music (though it covers that angle pretty thoroughly), Zulu has become a family-friendly, cultural centerpiece of the community with a number of notable in-store performances, art openings, and a continued independent, DIY approach to business.
What was your motivation for starting a music store? / What is your background in music?
Zulu Records grew out of the ashes of an old store called Quintessence that specialized in prog and rock. It was 1981, music was changing, and there was a community of young punkers who were starved for all of the amazing imports coming out overseas. Zulu Records’ owner, Grant McDonagh, was one such fan with big ideas who saw his part-time job at Quintessence fizzle out and an opening present itself. Grant had ties to all of the great Vancouver punk bands and, in the early days, worked closely with this community, including later starting his own record label to press bands that he felt deserved to be heard. Today, Zulu Records concentrates completely on being one of Canada’s finest indie music shops, and it still prides itself on the model of building and maintaining community ties.
Melanie holds Destroyer's City of Daughters
What is the musical community like in Vancouver?
Vancouver’s music community is tight-knit. Vancouver has always had a bit of an annexed feel to it; we are in the corner of Canada, and the city is geographically bounded and can’t really sprawl endlessly like other major Canadian and American cities. As a result, the spots where bands play, practice, and congregate haven’t really changed over the last 25 years. There is still a very punk/DIY feel to how bands go about doing things, as really we are pretty far away from the spotlight of the business in Toronto. In fact, we have more of a West Coast / Pacific Northwest vibe going on, and certainly, Seattle feels like kindred musical spirits.
