Blog: the bathysphere

elcome to the photo retrospective of the busiest semester in Bathysphere history. In the last four months we released a statewide compilation album , we exchanged heated words with local press, we put on a statewide music festival , we publicly lambasted said local press, we made new friends, we made new enemies, we laughed, we made other people cry, and in between we reviewed more than twenty shows and twice as many albums ( "erratic" my consciously swear-aversive posterior). Here's one last look at [...]

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W elcome to the photo retrospective of the busiest semester in Bathysphere history. In the last four months we released a statewide compilation album , we exchanged heated words with local press, we put on a statewide music festival , we publicly lambasted said local press, we made new friends, we made new enemies, we laughed, we made other people cry, and in between we reviewed more than twenty shows and twice as many albums ( "erratic" my consciously swear-aversive posterior). Here's one last look [...]

W elcome to the photo retrospective of the busiest semester in Bathysphere history. In the last four months we released a statewide compilation album , we exchanged heated words with local press, we put on a statewide music festival , we publicly lambasted said local press, we made new friends, we made new enemies, we laughed, we made other people cry, and in between we reviewed more than twenty shows and twice as many albums ( "erratic" my consciously swear-aversive posterior). Here's one last look [...]

Eulogies (Via a slide projector positioned at the front of the stage) The Dears [...]

Vivian Girls Ponytail Stephen from Burger Kingdom begs [...]

Vivian Girls Ponytail Stephen from Burger Kingdom begs [...]

I 'm so cool I showed up at 9 o'clock pm for a show where the openers didn't go on until 12:30am. Oh, I waited, and so did everyone else But once Dan Deacon finally stepped up to his magic table around 2:45am, he did not disappoint. Like any good pagan ceremony, Dan Deacon's show featured dancing of the most uninhibited forms, skulls, the consumption of special liquids (it was like an obscure beer party) and outlandish attire (spotted: an ewok, a catcher's mask, 1980s prom dress and Technicolor kente cloth tights). Yes, the tragically hip of Kansas [...]

I 'm so cool I showed up at 9 o'clock pm for a show where the openers didn't go on until 12:30am. Oh, I waited, and so did everyone else But once Dan Deacon finally stepped up to his magic table around 2:45am, he did not disappoint. Like any good pagan ceremony, Dan Deacon's show featured dancing of the most uninhibited forms, skulls, the consumption of special liquids (it was like an obscure beer party) and outlandish attire (spotted: an ewok, a catcher's mask, 1980s prom dress and Technicolor kente cloth tights). Yes, the tragically hip of Kansas [...]

(click to enlarge) [...]

Crocodiles Summer of Hate Fat Possum, 2009 T he name of this band and that grainy headshot on the cover make you think dirty, underground New York-style punk/somebody getting punched in the face. These artsy crocs are far from ornery, however, and it's more No Age/Women noise-revival for the hipster set. Which isn't to say it's not listenable, but sometimes you want a band with this image to just go Full Retard. Crocodiles are delicate and [...]

Boo and Boo Too on MySpace >> Burger Kingdom on MySpace >> Jerusalem and the Starbaskets on MySpace >>

Ptarmigan Our Ancient Friends Self-released, 2009 P tarmigan concern themselves with epochs more than epics, but on this tightly-bound concept album there's plenty of both. We're talking geology here so let's give it a shot: Our Ancient Friends is sedimentary but never sedentary. Igneous but also ingenious. Post-rock songs about pre-rocks. Somebody stop me. Songs churn and shake abruptly, as if laid out on some volatile fault line, but Ptarmigan handle their many transitions [...]

Camera Obscura My Maudlin Career 4AD, 2009 I t may be some matter of coincidence that I just purchased Ghost World: Special Edition on a whim in order to reward myself for the completion of a rather cumbersome thesis paper. Before I settled down to enjoy my acquisition I needed the perfect music to accompany my indulgence. The first thing that came to mind: Camera Obscura. And how delighted I am that they released a new album, My Maudlin Career ! Place all [...]

Camera Obscura My Maudlin Career 4AD, 2009 It may be some matter of coincidence that I just purchased Ghost World: Special Edition on a whim in order to reward myself for the completion of a rather cumbersome thesis paper. Before I settled down to enjoy my acquisition I needed the perfect music to accompany my indulgence. The first thing that came to mind: Camera Obscura. And how delighted I am that they released a new album, My Maudlin Career ! Place All worries aside: one [...]

W hat's the matter – everyone too high to come see the New York Scenesters on the Emo label play some amiable post-punk? The tallest band I have ever seen played a "let's just do this" show for the twenty people left in the bar. They whipped out the Plan B set list, which, according to drummer Aaron Thurston, featured several songs being played for the first time on this tour. I have to think one of those was a cover of Linsdey Buckingham's "Trouble," since I doubt that goes over as a set closer during a more [...]

T he fellas in Ptarmigan are just like me - they fret over tests, they study abroad in the UK, they tweet. We are, in theory, collegiate peers. Brotherhood. Except, as Saturday's album release show reinforced, the fellas in Ptarmigan are really nothing like me. They are sincere in conversation, earnest and unironic in performance - they clearly love what they do and seem to love that Columbia is the place in which they're doing it. That is why a throng of transcendently attractive women follow them around everywhere. Like I said, they are unlike me, the bastards. [...]

B ecause we spent about twenty minutes waiting in line outside the venue as the door crew took urine samples or whatever, we didn't make it inside until halfway through opener Dead Confederate's set. We did make it in time to learn that they're from Athens, Georgia - which explains the completely riveting accents and the recurrent slide guitar - and to hear the pretty epic Sonic Youth cover with which they closed their set. Guess which one they played. You'll never guess: "Theresa's Sound World" from Dirty . It was note-for-note, but the moment was just right given [...]

B ecause we spent about twenty minutes waiting in line outside the venue as the door crew took urine samples or whatever, we didn't make it inside until halfway through opener Dead Confederate's set. We did make it in time to learn that they're from Athens, Georgia - which explains the completely riveting accents and the recurrent slide guitar - and to hear the pretty epic Sonic Youth cover with which they closed their set. Guess which one they played. You'll never guess: "Theresa's Sound World" from Dirty . It was note-for-note, but the moment was just right given [...]

Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle Drag City, 2009 A fter the relative misstep of 2006's Woke on a Whaleheart , Bill Callahan has certainly found his footing. "Lush" is the word you should be seeing in every review. Nearly every song throws at least one good curveball though, whether it's a sniper-eyed swear or a heart-stopping turn of phrase. But Smog fans might remember that Bill used to throw entire songs [...]