Melancholy Americana would be a better denomination than freak folk, the tag that has clung to Viking Moses since the band’s appearance on Devendra Banhardt’s 2004 Golden Apples of the Sun (Bastet) compilation. The band’s newest offering, The Parts That Showed, should rectify that reduction.
Music
Grails Guitarist Discusses Creating Album Art for Doomsdayer’s Holiday
Doomsdayer’s Holiday is the new release by Portland’s instrumental rock band Grails. Fusing Indian music, 1970s film noir, and psychedelic sounds into heavy acoustic and electric rock, Grails is a wonderful anomaly. I recently spoke with guitarist Alex Hall, who created the artwork for the album.
Weekly Music News Roundup
ATP announces another festival; ’90s doom-metal group Sleep reunites; Calexico posts a free streaming video of a 23-song performance. This and more…
DIY Venue Spotlight: The Whitehaus Family Record
The Whitehaus Family Record is a three-story house located in the lush town of Jamaica Plain, Massachusettes. Inside this house, a variety of performances such as fire breathing, live radio drama, music playing, and weekly hootenannies occur in the living room. The Whitehaus Family plans to continue these shows until they die.
BPM Counter: Five to Consider This Week
ALARM Columnist Sean-Michael Yoder wants you to consider listening to these new tracks. Freq Nasty compiles the new disc for the Fabriclive series, fellow Britons Bombay Dub Orchestra have some Indian-influenced dance beats, and Polish duo 3 Channels are back with a new name.
What We’re Doing This Weekend
Our plans this weekend include local shows with the massive stoner metal of The Sword, the experimental jazz of the Umbrella Music Festival, and the raw alt-country of O’death.
And our friends in Austin have another great festival of their own, as the Fun Fun Fun Fest run on Saturday and Sunday.
Q&A: East Coast Avengers Discuss War Obsessions, 9/11, and Fox News
Brought together by the East Coast independent hip-hop scene and shared political views, emcees Trademarc and Esoteric and producer DC the Midi Alien comprise the East Coast Avengers.
The outspoken trio gained national notoriety a few months back upon the release of its first single, “Kill Bill O’Reilly,” which landed it a spot on the “Worst Person in the World” segment of Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Japanese Motors Bring Retro Rock to Chicago
Sometimes hype can be destructive. Despite the fact that the indie-rock band Japanese Motors’ self-titled debut album is a mediocre-at-best attempt to hipsterize yet another mid-century retro sound, despite that this band has been pushed so hard by the golden ticket of coolness VICE Records that the influence toward irritation even before hearing the band is inevitable, despite lead singer Al Knost’s attempt to create a West Coast Julian Casablancas (the original retro hipsterizer), despite a half-empty room of uninterested stares at the Empty Bottle — despite all this, this band actually kills it live.
Weekly Burlesque: Scrapbook Post, Halloween
I had started this scrapbook blog, but it doesn’t make sense to run two at the moment when I haven’t had time to do one, so here’s a scrapbook post for the holiday. Happy Halloween!!
Voodoo Music Experience Mixes NOLA and National Flavor
The Voodoo Music Experience celebrated its 10th anniversary in New Orleans with its most ambitious lineup ever and crowds from all over the country. Mixing a tableaux of both international touring bands with local acts that embody the New Orleans indie/alternative/traditional culture, the 3-day weekend continued proudly once again in its City Park homestead which had been underwater during Hurricane Katrina.
The Top 10 Lines from the Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty
Named after the telephone greeting at PR company Nasty Little Man, Hello Nasty was the Beastie Boys’ stellar follow-up to Ill Communication.
It houses a mix of live instruments, handpicked samples, and serious DJ skills, and it also holds some of the trio’s best lines. We decided to pick out our favorites.