After spending the past week engaging with fans and giving away a bevy of killer prize packs on Facebook , local doom merchants Order of the Owl will kick off their May tour tonight with a performance at the Downtown in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ten day, ten show trek will take the band as far west as Chicago and then back up the East Coast to Boston before finishing things off in Wilmington, North Carolina. Check out the full list of dates below. Order of the Owl May Tour Dates: [...]
THIS WEEK'S BEST BET: Soundgarden An Evening with Soundgarden Tuesday, May 7 and Wednesday, May 8 The Tabernacle - 152 Luckie Street NW in Atlanta 30303 SOLD OUT! Pessimistic Moe is here. He hangs around a lot, whispering shit in my ear. He's kind of a dick, but he tends to be right a lot of the time. Maybe the two things go hand in hand, I don't know. Right now he's trying to temper my expectations on Soundgarden tomorrow. And, Christ, I have [...]
I'm not sure that Cloudeater could have chosen a better day in Atlanta to unveil their moody new single, "Smog." The cheerless chill of the air and the stark overcast skies seem to have colluded to provide the perfect backdrop for the suffocating gloom that permeates the track. Sonically, it's well trod territory for the group—the post-industrial clatter of the drums, the minimalist piano accents, Sam Dew's smoky tenor and the ominous low bass rumble have all become Cloudeater staples—but rather than aligning these elements in service of a booming alt-rock thriller as they have in the past, [...]
In advance of their forthcoming debut album, Inoculation , here is "Caniballistic," the lead single from local hip-hop duo, the ContraVerse . The track features production work from Public Enemy's DJ Lord who provides a searing hard funk framework for group members Obeah and Kontent to let loose and do their thing. It's takes a few moments for the sounds to settle in but when everything clicks together, "Caniballistic" thumps with some serious grit. From a purely musical standpoint, there's nothing here you haven't heard before—after all, the duo make a point of pledging their allegiance to such [...]
April arrived with all the signs of being one of the better local music months of the year, and for the most part it delivered. Although in fairness, much of the credit needs to be placed in the hands of records that arrived unexpectedly. Yes, there was excellent new music from such eagerly-awaited sources as Hawks , Slowriter , Halmos and Christ, Lord , but the month just wouldn't have been the same if Cult Relic , Bambara , Turf War and Tanner Merritt hadn't also dropped [...]
Another week, another new song from the Wild . This time it's the driving and cathartic "Riverside," which just seems to spill joyously from your speakers, a rollicking heap of galloping drums, roiling cowpunk guitars and shout-along vocals. It's yet another full-blooded rager, one which will only help fuel anticipation for the group's upcoming LP, the Laura Jane Grace-produced Dreams Are Maps , due out May 21 via Asian Man Records . Stream the song now on Alternative Press . More Info: Web: www.thewildatl.com [...]
Photo by Bobby Russell Prior to joining O'Brother in 2008, frontman Tanner Merritt had compiled a collection of songs that didn't quite fit in with his new group's aggressive atmospheric sludge attack. Not wanting to see the music languish and vanish, Merritt took the time to track a solo record at Glow in the Dark Studios with producer and engineer Matt McClellan. But then life happened. Both Merritt and McClellan got busy with their respective artistic endeavors and the record languished. Then it vanished. For a couple of years anyway. [...]
When local songstress Adron announced her and her bandmates' intentions to build a 102 high pyramid along the Atlanta BeltLine to be used in service of a new music video for "Pyramids," a track from her latest LP, Organismo , one could only be curious as to how the quirky art project would turn out. In addition to the intriguing nature of the structure itself, fans were asked to donate "reclaimed treasures"—old toys, furniture, recyclables, used vinyl, etc—to be used in decorating the pyramid, which was buoyed by a grant from the Atlanta BeltLine's Volunteer [...]
The last time we checked in with former A Fight to the Death frontman CJ Bargamian, he was churning out glossy dance pop with his solo project Tele Noir . However, despite its promising foundation, the music never materialized in any significant way. And now, perhaps, we know why. Astronaut Dreams and Flying Machines is Bargamian's latest project, one which he's apparently been working on for considerable time. While most new bands and artists, especially local ones, are content to release music in small trickles—a debut single here or a short EP [...]
On the heels of the band's latest single, "Songs By Heart," here's another infectious fist-pumper from the the Wild to get your blood stirring. Pulled from the group's forthcoming full-length effort Dreams Are Maps , the song gallops along at a jaunty pace courtesy of some propulsive drumming and fiery punk-gone-country guitars, but as per usual, it's the anthemic vocals that cut through your speakers and demand your attention. Give it a listen below. Dreams Are Maps is due out May 21st via Asian Man [...]
THIS WEEK'S BEST BET: Metz w/ Odonis Odonis, The Liverhearts, Hawks Monday, April 22 529 - 529 Flat Shoals Avenue in Atlanta 3031616 Admission $10 / Purchase Tickets Canadian noise-punk trio Metz attack with bulldozing ferocity. Their self-titled sledgehammer of a debut, released last year via Sub Pop , is loud, punishing, depraved, and also remarkably efficient. Songs come and go in two to three minutes—a chaotic whirlwind of abrasive guitars, lurching rhythms and righteous anger. But buried beneath the [...]
Atlanta rockers Lowbanks are gearing up to release their debut EP Lowbanks Forever tomorrow. The record's raucous lead cut "I Feel Fine" is a beer-soaked, garage-fueled number that survives on sloppy, heart-on-sleeve hooks and combustible energy. Raw and unpolished aren't exactly new commodities around these parts, but the song exudes an indelibly scruffy charm that makes it hard not to root for these guys. Give it a listen below. I Feel Fine by Lowbanks Lowbanks Forever is out tomorrow, but you can download the EP [...]
It's been a hot minute since we've heard any new noise from Methuzulah , but here he is back to pay tribute to his hip-hop roots with a new single and video, "Pay Homage." The ill new cut is pulled from his upcoming LP, The Ventriloquist , and also features reigning queen of the ATL underground, Boog Brown . I'll admit when I first heard this joint, I was bracing myself for one of Boog's no holds barred verbal barrages, but was surprised to find her relegated to handling the hook. No matter though, as [...]
Courtesy of New Noise Magazine, here's a new single from local punk outfit the Wild taken from their upcoming full-length, Dreams Are Maps , due out May 21st via Asian Man Records . I've only given "Songs By Heart" a couple of spins, but I can already feel its considerable hooks digging deep into me. Fans both old and new should certainly find plenty to like as the band delivers a ferociously catchy, heart-on-sleeve missive about fighting past the darkness that often enshrouds our lives in order to embrace the light on the other [...]
I'm not ashamed to admit that sometimes I ignore the advance notices and arrive late to the game. Atlanta producer Brett Leggitt, aka Deku , first appeared on the scene in April of last year when he released his debut EP, Beginner's Luck , a seven-song collection of handcrafted loops, samples, live instrumentation and field recordings that Leggitt stitched together into some remarkably fluid experimental soundscapes. He followed that release up earlier this year with Talks With Myself , a similarly-minded EP that saw Leggitt tightening up his beats and generally expanding his musical vision. And still, [...]
So let me see what we've got here. The most obvious and immediate thing is that we've got Latest Disgrace faves PLS PLS performing live at the Goat Farm as part of the 2013 Atlanta Film Festival Sound & Visual Experience. Pretty cool, right? Well, then you throw in the fact that the band is completely ripping their way through a killer version of a punked-up unreleased track called "Exes" and you might say the pot has been sweetened substantially. Add in layer upon layer of audio-visual production magic from the consummate pros at [...]
On his last EP, Invisible Sap , Atlanta songwriter and producer Evan Andree turned aside some of the billowing electronic beats and buzzing synths that defined his first two Flags EPs in favor of a more traditional indie rock approach full of driving guitars and effective (if expected) loud-soft dynamics. On "Actors + Disasters," the lead track from Andree's latest EP, Flags Pt. III , he attempts to balance the scales, intermingling a jaunty guitar riff with some soaring synths and pulsing electro-pop beats. As usual, Andree's hooky vocals—a mix of boyish earnestness and [...]
Photo by Christy Parry Easily one of Atlanta's hardest working bands, sludgy alt-rockers and committed road dogs O'Brother have announced a string of May shows that includes a half-dozen dates opening for '90s grunge kings Alice in Chains. For a band that usually associates themselves with more contemporary and like-minded acts such as Manchester Orchestra, Circa Survive, Thrice and the Dear Hunter, the pairing might seem a little odd, but O'Brother is clearly embracing the opportunity to connect with some of their musical forebears. The two-week stint includes performances at Rock On the Range, [...]
When Slowriter's latest LP, TrailBlazer , surfaced online last year, my first takeaway was that it was exceedingly ambitious. Everything sounded bigger and bolder than before; the songs were caked in more elaborate textures and the grooves were more exploratory and difficult to decipher. You could still find ample snippets of the breezy, billowing pop and bouncy beats that had marked band mastermind Bryan Taylor's earlier efforts, but it was if they had been unmoored from their traditional structural tethers. Still, what the record lacked in immediacy and pop propulsion, it made up in almost sheer density [...]
Let me just say it's great to see former Lucy Dreams guitarist/vocalist Lloyd Wingard back at it with another project, especially one that seems to be given to distended drone and cosmic bursts of textural guitar noise. Founded in early February, Cult Relic finds Wingard partnering with producer and engineer Nathaniel Kiser to unleash a billowing torrent of shoegaze bliss on the glorious "Decay," the second of two tracks the duo recently unveiled on Bandcamp . It's a song that just seems to push relentlessly forward, each note and chord building into an impressionistic tidal [...]
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Today I Feel I’ve Sprung A Leak
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Watch Sigur Rós perform “Kveikur” on Leno
