Archive for the ‘Concert Reviews’ Category
Raspberry Bulbs, Alberich, Salvation, Pharmakon at Castlebar
More photos on Flickr.
Cleared, Koen Holtkamp, Mind Over Mirrors At O’Brien’s
Mind Over Mirrors: set up in front of the stage facing the stage, old wooden harmonium draped with electronics, processed to the high heavens, gritty & beautiful, impossibly lush, a giant space drill boring through a star, shards of gold radiating everywhere, I wanted to bow before him and worship every moment of sound
Koen Holtkamp: somber rapid eye movement, supreme squiggle dreams, guitar and analog synth breaking through the atmosphere of transcendence, soaring among clouds of blissful regret
Cleared (Michael Vallera & Steven Hess): guitar/drums/electronics duo, walking the line of peace & disgust, would be nice at home on Enemies List, sludgy gloom pop back to back with black ambient industrial drones, creaks and crackles, pounding new wave stutters, grand upon grand
Update: Mind Over Mirrors & Koen Holtkamp sets already streaming over at Spectral Rehab’s Soundcloud.
Boris, Asobi Seksu, Liturgy at Royale
Liturgy: huge transcendental black metal which nobody seemed to give a shit about, Royale only at about quarter capacity when Liturgy went on, only played a half hour set which would have been pretty lame, but it was ok because they didn’t actually sound all that great, the lead guitar & drums were all you could hear, drowning out the second guitar, bass, and vocals, literally couldn’t hear any vocals unless it was one of those solo vocal loop songs, and the second guitar was almost non-existent, theories: a) I was standing in front of the lead guitar amp so it was my own damn fault, b) the sound guy did a super shitty job, c) the lead Liturgy guy came down with a case of the big egos… at least the drummer was a fuckin BEAST
Asobi Seksu: never sounded better, they were loud as hell, more metal than pop, falling right in line with Liturgy & Boris, covered JAMC’s “Never Understand” and Yuki jumped into a mostly bland audience but it was still super fucking awesome, lots of Citrus love which was great for a Citrus lover such as myself, finished with one of the more epic songs on Citrus (can’t remember which one) and then Boris’ drummer Atsuo came out to fuck shit up on his set while Yuki took on Tony’s drums and Tony messed around with James’ pedals while James destroyed his guitar, so so cool
Boris: LOUD doomgaze psych metal awesomeness, lots of newer material but the good stuff, crowd was way into ‘em, obviously, sadly only did a couple of the slow doomed shit, still great, ended with “Pink” and an epically long “Aileron,” expectedly bangedover this morning
Mark Fell, Ricardo Donoso at Middlesex Lounge
Twin Stars: husband/wife visuals team (Linda Aubry & Michael T. Bullock)
Ricardo Donoso: playing new material from Progress Chance (which if you don’t remember I’M IN LOVE WITH), potentially one of the best sets of the year, first song in he fucking melted the speakers, literally. He only got to play about a song and a half before one of the speakers couldn’t handle the Donoso Dream and sounded like it wanted to die. Since the speaker couldn’t get its shit together, Ricardo cut the set short by about, oh, 95%. MEGA-EST BUMMER :(
Mark Fell: techno glitch destruction, absolutely insane, owning the whole fucking room, breakdancing crew formed a circle and went to town, showing off their hottest while Fell teased them with second long rhythms, a suited up Justin Timberlake lookin motherfucker tweaked out and danced sexy seizure style, people walking into the club dressed to the nines ready to get their mid-week freak on giving each other the most ghastly looks when hearing what kind of non-danceable awesomeness Fell was spewing, definitely the coolest show Non-Event & Basstown have graced Boston with this year
ATPIBYM: Portishead
All of my tweets between the Friday morning drive down to All Tomorrow’s Parties: I’ll Be Your Mirror in New Jersey and the train ride back home Monday night. It may not be exceptionally detailed or descriptive but it concisely collects my weekend into something manageable.
Highlights include: Colin Stetson & Factory Floor both opening new doors of awesome in my brain and front row Shellac at a bowling alley
Not included: meeting Chris Weingarten after Factory Floor and telling him I was a fan. He was insanely humble and elicited the best response I could’ve hoped for. He was totally jazzed that I approached him, gave me a hug, and even wrote down the name of AGB.
“I ain’t afraid of the light, yeah you know what I mean.” #cults #atpibym
No traffic, empty bladder, new Field album pumpin, 3 hours till NJ #atpibym
$6 grilled cheese at Asbury Park #atpibym
Cults kickin things off #atpibym
I don’t think I’ve seen a higher hot girl to ugly dude ratio in a band than with Cults. #atpibym
Lots of pretty lights for @thealbumleaf #atpibym
Wow I have never heard @thealbumleaf sound this good before. The sound system in here is amazing. #atpibym
#atpibym Chavez yfrog.com/ntjbhjj
A Hawk And A Hacksaw proving there’s more than one way to play a tambourine. #atpibym
OMG dual accordion drones!! #ahawkandahacksaw #atpibym
MY BLACK ASS #SHELLAC #atpibym
Also I just realized Albini isn’t wearing his jumpsuit. Laundry day? #shellac #atpibym
Jeff Mangum twice in a month? Seriously? What kind of life is this? #atpibym
Lots of @enemieslist fans at #atpibym. Getting plenty of comments on my No Fun shirt.
Bowling while Awesome Tapes From Africa DJs for me. #atpibym
Ugh, shoes are still wet from yesterday. #gross #atpibym
Colin Stetson blowing my motherfucking mind right now. #atpibym yfrog.com/ny15jhtj
Colin Stetson wins #atpibym. My goal is to be his boyfriend by the end of the weekend.
Beak droppin sick groovz #atpibym
Oneida sounding absolutely massive. Time stamp 4pm #atpibym
Seriously. There are people bowling 5 feet away and they’re not making a sound against Oneida. So fucking loud. #atpibym
Something tells me Kid Zillions could go the whole 8 hours nonstop. #atpibym
ATTN #ATPIBYM GOERS: I ordered a veggie burrito from the burrito vendor and got a fish burrito. ALWAYS CHECK UR BURRITOZ
I can’t remember the last time I saw a band with a lead singer who didn’t play an instrument. Pretty weird. #thehorrors #atpibym
6:00 Oneida still loud as fuck psych heaviness #atpibym yfrog.com/nuh7ggj
Almost too hypnotized by The Ocropolis to leave the Lanes for Battles. Almost. I still have never seen Battles. #atpibym
Seeing Battles is pretty fuckin grand but goddamn I miss Braxton. #atpibym
I got the last slice of apple pie bread suckers. Y’all gotta wait till tomorrow. #atpibym
Hey @argylewhale can you hear Swans way up in Mass? Because they are fucking devastating NJ right now. Asbury Park is rubble. #atpibym
Wish I cared more about Shepard Fairey. Dude’s standing right next to me for Portishead. Couldn’t have been someone else? #atpibym
I think there are people here smoking marijuana. #security! #atpibym
I’m pretty sure I’m the only one here who doesn’t care about Portishead. #atpibym
Portishead have some of the most straightforward beats but the guy bobbing his head next to me just can’t seem to find em. #atpibym
Just shook Todd Trainer’s hand. #truerockstar #atpibym
HUGE projection of a dancing astronaut on the side of a building by the Lanes. #atpibym
To everyone not dancing to Factoy Floor, GTFO. Everyone else, get your asses over to Asbury Lanes. #atpibym
Factory Floor wins the weekend surprise prize. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Absolutely awesome. #atpibym
OMG I just saw a wild bunny while walking through a field on the way back. Best ATP ever. #atpibym
I’m at the Lanes an hour before doors for surprise Shellac set and there’s already people here. #AlbiniNerdsUnited #atpibym
Steve Albini guitar humped my face. Twice. On a Sunday morning. #ChurchOfShellac #atpibym
Gettin my Gorgar on at Silverball. Any & all #atpibym downtime should be spent playing pinball.
Lots of energy for DD/MM/YYYY but I ain’t feeling it. I just want some Deerhoof. #atpibym
Hot espresso on a breezy beach with rowdy waves. Fuckin livin it yo. #atpibym
Weekend awesome factor just jumped up x1000 by unexpectedly seeing Jeff Mangum a second time. #atpibym
Now at Deerhoof. I think she just high kicked her amp. Fuckin badass. #atpibym
Deerhoof’s banter only upstaged by the late Big Bear. That’s high praise right there. #atpibym
Earth could stand to be a helluva lot louder but they still sound hot as fuck. #atpibym
At any given moment, one of the Earth’s drummer’s limbs is out of sync with the other three. Bummin me out. #atpibym
Manorexia laying out the dark creepiness that’s been missing this weekend. #atpibym
Would love to see the sheet music those guys are playing from. #manorexia #atpibym
Thirwell is the laziest conductor I’ve ever seen. #atpibym
People Of The North are absolutely insane live. Pure psych noise freakouts. Loud as fuck. The Lanes are killing it this weekend. #atpibym
Left the Lanes for Zion. Hoping I can get back in afterwards… #atpibym
“End Of World Blues” = end of #atpibym blues #silvermtzion
Impromptu bartender dance corner to “Push It” at the Lanes. #atpibym
I’ve seen some crazy outfits at #atpibym but I think the black lace bellbottoms takes the cake.
Thought Forms closing #atpibym with the heaviest psych gaze I’ve heard. Loudest set, second only to Swans. Everyone’s plugging their ears.
I take it back. Thought Forms were louder than Swans. I never thought earplugs were insufficient for a show. FUCK. #atpibym
Spotted an @enemieslist No Fun shirt at #atpibym. First time I’ve seen it in the wild on a stranger. We’re multiplying.
Spent the last of my cash on a cab home. Massive headache and cold as hell, money well spent. Thus concludes #atpibym tweets. I think.
Deep discussion on the ride home about who would be the best @atpfestival curator / who should do next year’s.
All Tomorrow’s Naps
Barn Owl, High Aura’d, Lussuria, Stillbirth at O’Brien’s
Stillbirth: knock down drag out techno, glitched & warped, evolving into maelstrom of chaotic noise, completely fucked
Lussuria: black sludge drone, muffled tanks roll by, crawling through a tunnel of shit, briefly poke your head out into the harmonics
High Aura’d: below deck creaking, deep sea density, sky blue soaring to the sun bliss
Barn Owl: sunbaked psych drone from the masters carving out their own spot in the canyons, ended with some heavy fuckin doom shit venturing in Skullflower territory
Neptune, The Skull Defekts & Daniel Higgs, Zomes at Great Scott
Zomes: two overturned buckets acting as chair & synth stand, drum machine beats from dingy basement, sweeping lo-fi organ loops, ultimate in gritty hypnosis
The Skull Defekts & Daniel Higgs: cosmic religion sweat, in your face rhythms for fucking & rocking, bust it out, dig in
Neptune: industrial electronic skree beats, dark & stormy brooding chaos, acid spew, grinding rust
More photos after the jump
Barn Owl, MV & EE, The Body, High Aura’d at PA’s Lounge
High Aura’d: blissful oceanic guitar drone, shimmering watertops, glowing majestic heart, layers & layers of washing euphoria
The Body: the most massively evil live band I’ve seen since Portal, body destroying doom metal noise, the dude sang without a mic and I was still able to hear him, absolute fucking brutality
MV & EE: delicate & lush drugged out psych folk, twisted colors, daisy dreams float in the breeze, hazy fogged fields, electrified banjo-turned-sitar shredding
Barn Owl: sounded like this, except a hundred thousand times better because it was live and fucking unbelievably epic
More/bigger photos on Flickr.
