January 30, 2009

Friday Flashcard - Name That Metal Band


This is a first for me. I have finally found a metal logo that makes me hungry. As a meat eater this looks like a string of sausages to me and well... in turn that makes me think yum. I am pretty sure this Italian death metal band isn't trying to go for culinary but my stomach says otherwise. Maybe I need to eat breakfast and just post this already.
The name of the band is in the comments section.

January 29, 2009

January 29th's Cause and Effect : Animal Collective


Tonight we will be exploring the wonderful world of Animal Collective, playing many a song from their massive discography as well as playing the bands that have influenced their sound. The latter part of the set will include bands that sound influenced by AC or belong to their animal kingdom.


You can expect to hear Eno, The Beach Boys, The Fugs, The Residents, The Flaming Lips, Os Mutantes, and ohhhh so much more.

We are on tonight from 7PM to 9PM at 97.3 FM for you Richmond locals and for you not so local you can listen on your computer http://www.wrir.org/ .
















January 28, 2009

Handsome Devil


So it costs somewhere between $9K and 10K.... check out this McIntosh MT10 Turntable. This baby weights 62 pounds but he sure is good looking.






January 27, 2009

Los Peyotes



I saw this record in a store a picked it up for the cover alone. It was in the 60's garage section and it looked cool - what can I say...I am an easy target. Anyhow, at the time I didn't realize Los Peyotes were not an old band and it wasn't until I cracked open the record and looked at the liner notes that I learned their real story. They are not just a new band, but a damn fine new(ish) garage band all the way from Argentina. Trashy, fuzzy and raw - truly an accidental score!

This single alone should inspire you to want to go ahead and check out the whole record.








More awesomeness:





And check out this sorta garage rock version of L7 meets the Donnas from Mexico I just stumbled across...







January 26, 2009

Woah!

This is a real deal item and if you don't know who Raymond Scott is - read this. So cool!

January 23, 2009

Friday Flashcard - Name that Metal Band



Hailing from Phili this isn't your average Black Metal band - even if there is a one man band thing going on. The more traditional blast beat style with shrieking vocals are there but image a shoegaze indie guitar layer played at 45 speed rather than 33 and for once there is a depth to the lyrics which is often completely tossed aside in this genre. I think of this "band" as a bridge over troubled over water - troubled water being just another Darkthrone clone where grim meets something a little more indie rock melodic. (maybe even 80's Midwest punk??)

The logo looks a little like it could double for a collegiate secret society that could give Yale's Skull and Bones a run for its money.

The name of the band can be found in the comments section.

January 22, 2009

Swervedriver - Raise and Mezcal Head Remasters












Both albums remastered with bonus tracks available at:

http://www.hispeedsoul.com/

Go get them now !

January 21, 2009

Jan 22nd's Cause and Effect : Broadcast (Thursday on WRIR)


This week on our radio show Cause and Effect (WRIR 97.3 fm - Thursday - from 7PM to 9PM) we will trace the roots of the band UK band Broadcast.

We will begin by playing some of their 60's influences and sound alikes (United States of America, Al Stewart, Elephant's Memory, Morricone) as well as bands in their peer group (Stereolab, Pram), and new bands that sound influenced by Broadcast (The Projects, Mahogany, Au Revoir Simone, Jes Suis Animal) while all the while playing tracks from Broadcast's discography.

If you don't live in Richmond, VA to listen to us the old fashioned way you can also listen to us on-line via http://www.wrir.org/. We reside in Eastern Standard Time.

















New School French Pop

Inspired by the FANTASTIC new cd collection in the Le Pop Series called Les Filles - Les Channsons de la Nouvelle Scene Francaise.

Barbara Carlotti



Coralie Clement



Poney Express



Francoiz Breut



Loane

January 20, 2009

Stricken City

UK band Stricken City is my obsession of the week.


January 18, 2009

Animal Collective / Merriweather Post Pavilion

Artist : Animal Collective
Title : Merriweather Post Pavilion
Hometown : Originally Balt, MD - now Spain / NYC / DC I think.
Label : Domino
Street Date : 1/20/2009

RIYL : M83 sipping umbrella drinks, OMD as channeled through Brian Wilson, Animal Collective / Panda Bear doing what you have loved or hated them for already but taken just a notch further, Afropop trapped in the body of young Dads looking for a way to express life in a band, a masculine romantic dance record

The Hits : The only song that doesn't move me is"No More Runnin". The rest is near perfection.

Richter Magnitude Rating Scale: Great.1


This record will probably end up being one of the most over-reviewed records of the year so I will spare you the usual music journalist review of the record and cut and paste a few answers to questions I had about the record as answered by the band in various interviews I found on line about this new release.


And in case the Richter rating doesn't apply reflect my opinion of the record, I love it. It is a blissful listen.


My first question : why name the record after a Maryland outdoor venue?




"Instead of drawing on direct influences, Animal Collective makes albums with a connection to places in mind. "We usually try to connect to outdoor environments, and there was something about this that was harking back to the time where we would be outside, in backyards, listening to music on a boombox," Portner says. "Because that's how we really grew up and got attached to listening to music together."Hence the new album's title, which shares its name with an amphitheater in Columbia, Md. "I had seen the most concerts there, growing up," Portner says. "But we didn't really name it after the venue. We really liked the way it sounds and that it has the word 'weather' in it. We cast a lot of the songs to different weather patterns.""


There appears to be more lyrics than ever and the themes seem to be very rooted in the life of a family man. What gives?


Take from Cyclic Defrost:


Bob - So how’s life been lately and how has this fed into your latest album?


Brian - Noah has been living in Lisbon and had a wife and a daughter, I’ve been with the same girl for a long time and getting married, and Dave’s married and this record is just the 3 of us, Josh (Deakin) wanted to take a break from the touring aspect. As we’ve got more successful we’ve also been away from home more often than not which puts a strain on everyone’s personal life in a different way and he needed to stop touring for a while and we decided to keep working on new material. Life is really good for all of us, the one thing real negative that is expressed on the record a lot is about being away from home because all of us really enjoy our home and personal lives and touring and press and what not. Not that we’re really complaining about it, we feel lucky to be in the position we’re in, but there’s no denying that when you spend between 4-6 months away from your wife or girlfriend or kid it can put a strain on things. That’s probably the most difficult thing in our lives these days that we agree at least its expressed on the record.


Bob - So how is it expressed?


Brian - It’s mostly expressed in the lyrics. Since we all live in different places these days a lot of our musical ideas happen individually when we’re at home. We all work on things at home when we’re surrounded by the home life that we find very comfortable, and then we send each other stuff in the mail or over the internet and then we come together for very short periods of practice. I think Dave and Noah and I each worked individually for a month on various ideas for this new record and then came together and put 90 percent of it together in 12 days. Then we toured with it for a year and made little changes here there but not many. The majority of the record was made really quickly. The inspiration all came from when we were home. The lyrics are the main things that expressed the negative side of our lives these days which is constant travel.


What happened to the guitars?


Bob - Have you felt there’s been much of a departure with the new album from your previous work?


Brian - To us it’s much more of an electronic record. It’s really sample based but it’s misleading when i say that. It’s not sample based in that we sampled other peoples music, we sampled ourselves in the practice space and used snippets of ourselves playing and making sounds turned them into loops and samples. The songs are performed mainly with samples but its us playing acoustic instruments. So I’m not sure if it’ll sound more electronic to people but to us it is due to the process. And a lot of the songs were constructed without the guitar or piano being the main song-writing instrument or featured as the main featured instrument in the song. For us for the last few records, Sung Tongs, Feels, and even Strawberry Jam, the guitar was like the leader of the pack. And Strawberry Jam may have sounded more electronic to people but that’s because we treated the guitar pretty heavily with effects, but it was still guitar as the origin of the song and we wanted to get away from the guitar dominating the song-writing process. So for us that’s a big departure. I’m not sure how it will sound to listeners, since we still sampled ourselves playing guitar sometimes.


The production is different on this record and the vocals have never been more up front. Was there something happening on the back end of the recording / producing / mastering process that was different this time?


Bob - Is it true you used a producer for this album?


Brian - The media always calls everyone we work with a producer. We produce our own records we just hire engineers. The people we work with have been producers for other people. Scott Coburn’s produced people, Rusty Santos has produced people. Ben Allen is the most well known producer, he’s produced a lot of mainstream stuff like Christina Aguilera, he was Puff Daddy’s engineer for a while and he’s worked with Danger Mouse on the Gnarls Barkley record. We were very explicit when we hired him that we just wanted him as an engineer and he was pretty cool with that. We ended up crediting him as a co producer because after the songs were already recorded and we had done all the pre production when it came time to mix the record there were certain things that we weren’t happy with. He was really good. He had about 5 or 6 really crucial moments on the record where we were not happy with a certain part of a song and he said that he thought he could do something mixing wise to really help it out. Normally when someone does that we would say absolutely not, we produce our own records just as a principal every idea on the record has to be ours. But this time just because he came from such a different background from us, this hip hop thing we were really curious as to what his ideas were. so we would say ‘why don’t you do what you have in your head,’ and he would do it and it would be fucking awesome. So it felt like we were co producing with him.


And from the National Post :


The latter's breezy melodies and hypnotic harmonies are at the forefront of Merriweather Post Pavilion, which also features the most personal lyrics in Animal Collective's catalogue. For the first time, the band included a printed copy of the lyrics in the CD sleeve.


"Maybe we were a bit uncomfortable with words, or lyrics, being the main focus of the songs," Weitz says. "Because sometimes when you just follow the words, there's a possibility it'll take away from the energy of the song or the other sounds. And we never saw the vocals as the most important thing. We wanted them to be equally weighted as the other sounds in the music. We used to mix them more as just another musical or melodic element. I think we're more comfortable with the idea that they can be louder and you can hear the lyrics and it doesn't take away from the other things in the song."


I've heard that another AC record is already in the works, is that true?


From the Skinny :


"We've been working on a project where we're composing music for an abstract film. That will be the next proper Animal Collective release we hope. All the visuals are done and all the music's been composed. We recorded about half of it in December, we were supposed to record the whole thing but there was an ice storm in upstate New York where we were, it knocked the power out of the studio for a few days. But we're gonna go back to it next month after this tour is over and hopefully finish it then."


But Geo warned that the forthcoming soundtrack had very different musical aims from the hugely acclaimed new record: "I dont know if everyone who's coming on board with Post Pavilion will really be open to it. It's a pretty experimental process for us, sometimes if the music is going with visuals then there isn't a song structure in it at all, it's more like abstract sound design. Sometimes there are - it's half-and-half between that, and new songs in the traditional sense. The film's being made by a friend of ours who's a director, we've been doing it simultaneously. That was a process we wanted, an experiment, a challenge, to see if we could each create something together, create it simultaneously as if they're inextricably linked the whole way through."


January 15, 2009

Metal Fridays : Aquarius Records in SF



I have them to thank for this ridiculously good and limited 10" called Turk Street by Kowloon Walled City. Here is what Aquarius says about the record and now that I have it on my turntable I can say that they are dead on.


"Think Unsane, old Helmet, the Melvins, Buzzov-en, Neurosis of course, this is some seriously heavy shit. The guitars massive and downtuned, a relentless sea of roiling chug and churn, the drums dense and pounding, the vocals a throat shredding howl. The AmRep vibe is all over these songs, the sound incredibly thick and corrosive, the rhythms alternatingly pounding and lurching, most often settling into a lumbering almost-groove, the melodies buried amidst the crunch and rumble, sometimes surfacing as the band slips into something more dynamic, letting the guitars moan and keen, the drums getting all spacious, sheets of Eyehategod style feedback, a weirdly doomy sort of abstract sludge, before slipping back into a furious grinding metallic crush. Pretty fucking excellent, and definitely has us looking forward to finally seeing what we missed that fateful night.

The vinyl is limited to 300 copies, and is pressed on cool swirled red and black vinyl. The cd-r is limited to 100 copies, packaged in super nice, silkscreened cardstock style sleeves with a printed insert, each one hand numbered. "

For you non vinyl loving types you can download the 10" for free at www.inthewalledcity.com/mp3


My secret to keeping up with new and old metal is joining the Aquarius email list. I highly recommend adding your name too so you won't miss out on these kinds of records. The really good shit that is scary limited.




Cause and Effect Pictures - Alex is the pretty one.





Thanks for listening tonight!

Cause and Effect : TONIGHT !!!


Hello All,


Good news. I will have a weekly two hour radio show on Thursday evenings from 7PM to 9PM with my friend Alex on a local Richmond community station called WRIR. If you don't live in town to hear it on an old fashioned radio you can listen online at www.wrir.org.

The show will be called Cause and Effect and each week we will focus on one band and trace their influences, side projects, their previous bands, and lastly play bands that are both within their peer group or influenced by them. (Think allmusic.com and their lists of similar artists, followers, performed songs by...)

We are kicking off our very first show with TV on the Radio and you can expect to hear a wide variety of genres and bands. Our set list will include The Fall, Pixies, King Sunny Ade, Bowie, Pere Ubu, Prince, Peter Gabriel, and a smattering of tracks spanning the TVOTR discography.

I couldn't be more excited to be back on the air again no less with a fantastic partner so I hope you will join us tonight.

January 14, 2009

Modernettes





http://www.myspace.com/modernettes

A little write up on the Killed By Death site.

I recently picked up this reissue record in DC and the only truly disappointing thing about this record is that the label was too pussy to use the word "fucked". In its place is a tamer version - f*cked. . . so not punk.

MODERNETTES "Get modern or get f*cked" (LP) 1100 copies: 1000 on black + 100 colored (10 euro/ 12 euro) Coming ashore with the second wave of Vancouver new wave punk, (1980-83) the Modernettes delivered some great songs. Led by Buck Cherry (John Armstrong) and backed by Mary Jo Kopechne and Jughead on bass and drums, the Modernettes had a distinct personality and style that wasn't just copying the latest band of yobs from the U.K. Listen to the rawness and the pure ecstatic melody of; "Teen City", "Suicide Club" and "Rebel Kind" and of course what should have been a smash hit "Barbra". Then check out the melancholy of "Confidential". Also included are tracks from the rare Gone but not Forgiven LP, the View From the Bottom EP, as well as super-rare unreleased live tracks & rehearsal recordings.


The record is on Lady Kinky Karrot : http://www.myspace.com/ladykinkykarrot


January 13, 2009

Songs in My Head

New Buffalo / Cheer Me Up Thank You



Miracle Fortress / Have You Seen in Your Dreams



Thom Yorke / Atoms For Peace



Broadcast / Come on Let's Go

January 12, 2009

The Monks Documentary

Who are the Monks? They were 5 American GIs stationed in Germany during the 60s who upon finishing their duty in the military went on to form The Monks, a noisy almost punk in ethos garage band positioning themselves as the anti-Beatles. They shaved their heads like monks do, wore black clothing, and occasionally donned noose around their necks in place of neck ties - not exactly the clean cut bring them home to meet Mom and Dad kind of stuff. Their lyrics are called everything from dadaist to surreal to callas but more importantly their music was a thunderstorm of perfected electric pop- years ahead of its time.

The band played some reunion shows earlier this decade but sadly 3 of the 5 members have passed away since.

I have still yet to see this Monks documentary but I intend to one of these days. Oh the woes of living in a city that doesn't get underground films on any sort regular basis.

Newer trailer


Older trailer


Old live footage






January 11, 2009

New Links Added to the Blog Tonight

Check it out the left side of the page- so many great local bloggers!

Thank You Bevan!

A friend just turned me on to the NZ late 80's girl band Look Blue Go Purple. Looks like I have some new/old records I need to track down.


January 10, 2009

Gu Gu Goes Gonzo on Stupid Human


This has zero to do with music but it was the first news story I read today and the press quotes rule.

A dumb dumb of an adult couldn't just leave a stuffed Panda he and his son had accidentally tossed into Gu Gu the panda's pen at the Beijing Zoo so he climbed over the protective barrier to retrieve it - only to realize he couldn't climb back out again. Oops.


And then the carnage began:


"The 240-pound giant panda sunk his teeth into Zhang's left leg before moving on to the right leg.

"The panda is a national treasure, and I love and respect [him], so I didn't fight back," Zhang said. "The panda didn't let go until it chewed up my leg and its mouth was dripping with my blood."

Zookeepers needed to use tools to pry open Gu Gu's jaws.

Zhang said he never imagined a panda could be so vicious.

"I always thought they were cute and just ate bamboo," Zhang said.

"Normally, we think the panda is very tender animal, but actually it's a bear, not a cat. If the animal thinks it will be hurt by human beings, it is very dangerous.""

PS: A year earlier, state media reported that a drunken tourist tried to hug the panda, who bit him. In an odd twist, the tourist reportedly bit back.

I could play a Panda Bear live clip (the Animal Collective dude) or something but this is so much cooler.


January 9, 2009

Fiddy -v- Suge


Taken from: Death Row Records Back on Auction Block
8-Jan-2009
Written by: Sari N. Kent

Death Row Records, home of rapper Snoop Dogg as well as many others, has filed for Chapter 11 and its assets are set to go on the auction block for the second time.

The music label that brought such innovative rap artists as the late Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg is returning to the auction block as part of a Chapter 11 proceeding.

According to HollywoodReporter.com, “Death Row initially filed for Chapter 11 protection in April 2006 and that July, the California Judge overseeing the filing ordered a bankruptcy trustee to take over the label. In February 2007, the Warner Music Group was named the stalking horse bidder, but pulled out.”

Warner Music Group’s replacement, Koch Records, pulled out as well. Both companies contended that inadequate record keeping made it impossible to surmise if the label was indeed worth the $25 million both companies had bid.

The HollywoodReporter.com article continued, “Subsequently, an investment group called Global Music agreed to buy Death Row in June 2007, but that deal collapsed amid fighting between investors, who ultimately were unable to raise the necessary financing. Global Music Group ‘destroyed’ the Death Row legacy and has turned it into ‘a joke,’ label co-founder Lydia Harris said.”

In addition, ex-Death Row boss Marion “Suge” Knight caused other potential bidders to back off for fear of crossing him.

Knight, Harris and her ex-husband, “Harry O” Harris, founded Death Row in 1991.

“Everybody wants to hide behind the fear of Suge Knight -- the fear is something they are latching on to -- but all them still do business with him,” Harris said. “At the end of the day, he's still living, he made people a lot of money and opened doors for a lot of them. It isn't about them being scared. That's what people need to realize. These people still deal with Suge everyday. It's the money. It's the greed.”

On top of it all, the $107 million judgment Harris won after years of battling Knight for shares of Death Row aided in the label going Chapter 11.

Meanwhile, Lydia Harris is just one of many creditors who are waiting to see if an auctioning of Death Row’s assets will yield any return for them.




"January 09, 2009. MediaTakeOut.com just got some EXTREMELY interesting news. According to one of our most trusted insiders, rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is on the verge of making a MAJOR PURCHASE.No not a new car or a house – but the rights to some of the most influential hip hop tracks EVER CREATED. An insider, who spoke to MediaTakeOut.com on the condition of anonymity claims that 50 Cent is preparing to aggressively bid for Death Row Records entire catalogue."


I have read about 10 different news stories covering this and every single one stresses the fact that potential label buyer's have all been scared off because of an overwhelming fear of Suge Knight. Now that is some serious ...ummm...power...(is that what I should call it?)....that Mr. Knight wields. If 50 Cent is in fact interested in picking this label up I think that says a lot about his confidence in regards to his status within the rap community.


In an epic battle of 50 verse Suge - who would win?

January 8, 2009

Shitty Shitty Bang Bang : A Metal PSA






It’s bad enough that loud music can potentially harm your hearing. But now it turns out that head-banging, a violent and rapid form of dancing, can put you at risk for brain injury, whiplash, and even stroke.


There have been isolated reports of head-banging injuries in the past: When guitarist Terry Balsamo of Evanescence had a stroke, his doctors attributed it to his on-stage thrashing. But until now, scientists really haven’t studied the effects of head-banging since it first started back in 1968 with Led Zeppelin.


According to Australian risk and safety researchers Declan Patton and Andrew McIntosh from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, head-banging is pretty much guaranteed to give you brain damage if you’re not careful. To test their theory, the researchers went to a variety of metal and hard rock concerts (the best way to test any scientific theory) and observed the head-thrashing techniques used by artists.


Then they created a “theoretical head-banging model” and plugged in various possible head angles and intensities. Using the top 11 “head-banging songs” chosen by a focus group, they measured an average tempo of 146 beats per minute, which they combined with head-banging arcs of more than 75 degrees from a person’s upright stance. They concluded that the typical death-metal tempo combined with a head-banging arc of at least 45 degrees will likely “cause mild head and neck injury.”


So is there hope for death-metal lovers? Yes, according to Patton and McIntosh, who offer the following advice:


“To minimize the risk of head and neck injury, head bangers should decrease their range of head and neck motion, head bang to slower tempo songs by replacing heavy metal with adult oriented rock, only head bang to every second beat, or use personal protective equipment.”

January 7, 2009

Painfully Sweet

Norway does it again. My Little Pony




Divine In Every Way

The Vaselines' covered Divine's disco hit and made it famous for the non queen community but I have to say there is something to the original.

In Your Face: Suck It Losers

Nothing spells a fun night on the town like being called Communists multiple times by a team of players at a local music trivia night because we called them out for using their cell phones to cheat and look up answers.

I salute the team that was too retarded to win by cheating, looked like rejects from a Benetton ad....AND could only think of calling us Communistfor an insult.

This is the Animals with "Cheating".

January 5, 2009

The Bank Holidays

Snuggely buggely breezy pop from Australia : The Bank Holidays







Little Black Cloud Records


Label Statement:

The world needs another record label probably like it needs another band (shake head left to right and back again here) but there is always room for one more great label and a few more great bands. Right? Right.

We know a label is only as good as the records they put out so LBC will be releasing a stellar new release (vinyl and digital only) by Cinemasophia called Fits & Cycles which will kick off the label in early 2009 with a bang.

Little Black Cloud Records is three points of right...three friends (NJ/CA/VA) dedicated to releasing records so good that it will remind people why they started collecting records in the first place. Life is too short to release subpar music and it is not our intention to add to the gluttony of crap music already over-saturating the marketplace. It is LBC's goal to bring forth their obsession- bringing awe inspiring records to life so even the most disenchanted music fan will have something to smile about.

Primary contacts:




PR: Solid PR

Websites:
myspace.com/littleblackcloudrecords

Facebook (become a fan damn you!):#/home.php?#/pages/Little-Black-Cloud-Records/40594777335?ref=nf

Artist Roster:
Cinemasophia
Dynamic Truths
Ringfinger

Upcoming LBC Releases for 2009 (more to come)

· Cinemasophia – Fits & Cycles (March 3, 2009) – digital and LP
· Cinemasophia – reissue of Whole Ghosts + Dialectic – digital only
· Dynamic Truths – Discography – LMTD CD / Digital / possible 7” – late Spring 2009
· Drekkingarhylur (Runhild Gammelsæter of Thorr’s Hammer / Khlyst + Tracy Wilson of Ringfinger/Dahlia Seed) - Title TBD
(Fall 09)

LBC Releases To Date

· Ringfinger – Decimal – LBC 001 (LP via Magic Bullet)

*********************************************************
Cinemasophia


Websites:
http://www.myspace.com/cinemasophia

cinemasophia.blogspot.com

#/pages/Cinemasophia/51024006561?ref=s


Hometown: Richmond, VA / Brooklyn NY

The Members:
Elise Steenburgh: vocals, keyboards, samplesJohn Merchant: vocals, guitar, bassJay Ward: vocals, bass, guitarLandis Wine: vocals, guitarDan Cottner: drums

RIYL: 90s American boy/girl shoegaze (Swirlies + Lilys), Polvo, The Sounds of Kaleidoscope, a more subversive version of the Stars or Death Cab, people who dig Slumberland bands.

The Scoop: More to come on this band as we get closer to the release of their new record in early 2009 but what you need to know is this: LBC Records fell in love with this band in a big way and decided they were way too good to let some other label have them.

To put it simply Cinemasophia are a top notch indie rock band with all the twist and turns of a world class rollercoaster.

Discography:
· Fits & Cycles (March 3, 2009) – digital and LP
· Whole Ghosts CD only to date
· Dialectic – CD only to date


About the band / written by the band:

1.Played with Grizzly Bear, The Rosebuds, Dirty Projectors, Lilys, Asobi Seksu, Spokane, and many others.
2. Released two albums thus far: Dialectic in 2004 (recorded in Landis's grandmother's basement), and Whole Ghosts in 2007 (recorded primarily in the Outer Banks)
3. Formed in 2004 after the recording of Dialectic by Landis and Jay.
4. Jay, John and Landis have known each other since they were six. Played in competing garage bands since 7th grade.
5. Fire nearly consumed Sound of Music studios on the day the band was set to begin recording Fits & Cycles.
6. Never successfully made it through a record with an entire line-up in tact (14 total members since the recording of Dialectic)
7. Wrote and rehearsed Fits & Cycles in a dank shed behind a house in Richmond last Fall while consuming Mickey's and battling the elements.
8. Have never toured with less than two vehicles. (Massive carbon footprint)
9. Approached by John Morand (producer of Camper Van Beethoven, Royal Trux, Labradford, Sparklehorse, Breadwinner, Daniel Johnston) to record what became Fits & Cycles during band practice one day when he taped a track sheet to the door of our drummer's apartment building.
10. Almost broke up during the creation of these bullet points.

Cinemasophia Tour Dates :

The band is available for interviews and there is a LIMITED 5 song sampler / tour ep available upon request (see LBC Myspace page) - 2 songs from the upcoming record Fits & Cycles, 1 track from their two earlier releases, and 1 live track.

· The Czar Richmond, VAThursday, January 15 at 9:00pm
· The Bridge PAI Charlottesville, VASunday, January 18 at 8:00pm
· Cake Shop New York, NYThursday, February 19 at 8:00pm
· Reservoir Bar Chapel Hill, NCSunday, February 22 at 8:00pm


**************************************************************************
Dynamic Truths

Hometown: Richmond, VA

Formed: 1996 Disbanded: 2000

Members:
Bob Schick – (Honor Role / Coral) all songs - vocals
Dave Jones – all songs - guitar
Bill Walker- (Coral) – all songs - drums
Chip Jones- most songs (Honor Role) – most songs - bass
Will Gavin – 1st bass player

A rotating cast of characters depending on the recording session:

Ricky Tubb – (Waking Hours)
Clancy Fraher (Technical Jed)
John Gotschalk – (Tree Fort Angst, One Ring Zero, Kinevils, Red Hot Lave Men)
Steve Brooking – (Technical Jed)
Fred Schick

Discography
Dynamic Truths Discography 96-00 - coming summer of 09
Merge Records 7” You Take It All / Exit Screaming 1998
A track (Understanding is Overrated) on an early Yep Rock comp

RIYL: Honor Role, Coral, Merge Records catalog completists, Alternative TV, The Fall, Gang Of Four, Joy Division, Superchunk, Modern Lovers, Hot Snakes, Chris Thompson bands, PIL, founding fathers of math rock. noisy NZ 80’s bands, Early Echo

Influences: Alternative TV, Modern Lovers, shoegaze, NZ Flying Nun bands, Post-punk, not wanting to do a repeat of Honor Role or Coral, Leatherface

The Scoop:

I would love to be able say if you loved Honor Role and Coral you will love the Dynamic Truths too but sadly these are bands still unknown to most indie music enthusiasts… even though Merge Records has been singing their praises and releasing many of their records over the years.

These were Richmond Virginia bands that pretzel knotted hardcore ALA Husker Du circa 1983 to a groundbreaking style now called math-rock with a biting vocal attack in the realm of Mark E Smith. To further add to the band’s weight consider lyrics that read like Raymond Carver fronting Fugazi and there you have a rough idea of what Honor Role and Coral were about and then in turn what Dynamic Truths grew out of.

What amazes me most about these songs, 98% of which were never released, is how well they have survived the test of time. They could fit on a mix along with the best of 80’s British post punk, 90’s angsty indie rock like Superchunk or Circus Lupus, any band featuring John Reis or Rick Froberg, and then modern acts like Wilderness.

DT never toured and only played a small handful of shows during their time as an active band. The good news is with the release of this discography we can look forward to a reunion show or two.

Your welcome.

January 1, 2009

Top Tens of 2008

Nothing reeks of self importance like a top 10 but what can I say, I like making lists. I have written about these bands at various points through the year so I will spare you the re-review and just post the list with MySpace links just in case you want to hear them for yourself.

Top 10 Albums

1) Bottomless Pit – Hammer of the Gods (came out in Oct 2007 but I missed it) – Comedy Minus One
2) The Acorn – Glory Hope Mountain – Paper Bag
3) Pretty & Nice - Get Young – Hardly Art
4) Mutators – Secret Life - Nominal
5) Love is All – A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night – Whats Your Rupture?
6) Je Suis Animal – Self-Taught Magic From A Book – Perfect Pop
7) Jean on Jean – S/T – Kanine Records
8) Torche – Meanderthal - HHI
9) King Khan & the Shrines – The Supreme Genius Of - Vice
10) The Ruby Suns – Sea Lion – Sub Pop


Label To WatchNominal
Best Live Band: Pretty & Nice
This is the song Tora Tora Tora - think Ted Leo covering XTC


Best Reissue: Family Fodder – More Great Hits (Reissue) Jungle Record & Va / Whizz Vol 2
Best Book: Brain Rules by John Medina / Early Bird by Rodney Rothman
Favorite Record Store: Aquarius Records in S.F. (mailorder heaven)

Top 10 Songs (excluding artists from my top 10)

1) Ida Maria – Oh My God



2) Envelopes – Boat

3) French Kicks – Abandon

4) Surf City – Dickshakers Union



5) Neil Halstead – Paint A Face



6) Teen Getaway – Dancing About Architecture

7) Abe Vigoda – Dead Cit / Waste Wilderness



8) El Humo Te Hace Mal – Los Peyotes



9) School – I want you back



10) Evangelista – Truth is Dark Like Outer Space



Metal / Experi-metal



Gnaw Their Tongues


Fucked Up


Kowloon Walled City


Menace Ruine


Nahvalr


Burial Hex

Trees

Runhild Gammelsaeter

The Goslings

Gris

Big Woop