Two Trains by Yo La Tango

Yo La Tengo at Buckhead Theater, January 25, 2013

Just because it sounds so damn sweet, here's Yo La Tengo at KCRW's Santa Monica studios performing Two Trains from their album Fade.

Artlantis 2013

A Saturday afternoon at the busy Plaza Shopping Center, known as "Plaza Drugs" to long-time locals not because of any illicit trade, but due to a former pharmacy and late-night diner that used to be there.  Now, the Plaza Theater, the city's only remaining repertory cinema, is all that's left of the Center's former glory days.

But what's that racket coming from down the street, from the normally serene and quiet Druid Hills Baptist Church?  Why, it's this year's edition of Artlantis, an event I almost forgot about until I stumbled across the announcement in the online version of Creative Loafing, Atlanta's weekly alternative newspaper. 

This was my third Artlantis, having caught the event in both 2011 and 2012, buy I missed fully half the event this year, but hadn't heard of any of the bands I missed other than country troubadour Muleskinner McQueen, who I think has played at every one of these events since they've started holding them.  By the time I got there, an electro-noise, hip-hop ensemble called Warsz was performing, but they wrapped their set up before I could really settle in.

The next band was a quite good indie rock outfit called Shepherds.  Despite their simple lineup (guitar, bass, and stand-up drummer), they managed to produce a very full sound and played a satisfying set, full of tasty guitar licks backed by driving, almost tribal, percussion.

The same bass player stayed on "stage" (actually the front door of the church) but now was on guitar and backed by a different stand-up drummer and a new singer/guitarist for the next band, Del Venicci.  Like the previous bands, they were new to me, but I also enjoyed their set quite a bit as well.  They call themselves an "Italo-Glam band" (whatever that means), and their sound is marked by the lead singer's high-octave vocals. I see that they will be opening for Mikal Cronin at The Earl later this month.  

The final band and the day's headliners were the only band that I had heard before - Atlanta's reverb-crazed noise-rockers deadCAT, who opened for The Helio Sequence and Shabazz Palaces at Terminal West earlier this year.

Their dissonant noise-rock was not to everyone's liking. 

I forgot to mention that there was also a full art show going on at the time, with various vendors, artists, and merchants.  I bought a print of the promo poster for the Dinosaur Jr./Shearwater show at Variety Playhouse during Rocktober last year, more because I liked the artwork and design of the poster than for any particular nostalgic impulse.

Best Coast, Variety Playhouse, May 31, 2013

Professional Californians Best Coast played Atlanta, Georgia's Variety Playhouse last night.  But before they took the stage, Orange County's The Lovely Bad Things opened.

Their set was loud and energetic, but marred with some technical difficulties (non-functioning guitar pedals) and other mishaps.  I've vowed a while ago not to post negative comments about bands but  to instead try to find the positive, and for The Lovely Bad Things, I can honestly say this:  they have a lot of potential. 

I hadn't heard the next band, Guards, before, but they are already my favorite new band so far of 2013.  Their pop sensibilities fit in well with Best Coast (you can see why they were asked to be tour mates), but they are far more ambitious musically and sonically, featuring interesting instrumental interplays and vocal harmonies.  I liked their set from the beginning of their first song to their way-too-soon closer.

Guards often are compared to the band Cults.  Having now seen both bands, I can say that, musically, the similarities are more apparent in recordings than live, but the main reason for the comparisons are that Guards' frontman, Richie Follin, is the brother of Cults' lead singer Madeline Follin and a former touring guitarist for Cults. 

But there are even more similarities:  Richie Follin bears a striking resemblance to Cults' Brian Oblivion - in fact, throughout the show, I thought Follin actually was Oblivion.  Since Oblivion and Madeline Follin are not only bandmates but also romantic partners, it seems that Madeline has chosen as her lover a spitting image of her own brother.  Meanwhile, her brother has been romantically linked to Caroline Polachek of Chairlift, who's sung on some Guards songs and bears a striking resemblance to Madeline.  To complicate matters even further, current Guards member Kaylie Church (keyboards and vocals) looks a lot like both Madeline and Caroline.  This is a group that could make the Lanisters envious.

But enough of all that - I'm starting to sound like a tabloid journalist. The point is that they make damn fine music, and I'm looking to hearing more from them - they were the highlight of the evening.

We last saw Best Coast on the West Coast, Seattle to be specific, during last year's Bumbershoot when they opened for M83.  They've only been on this current tour since May 25, but they appeared tired at times last night and it seemed plausible that they've been more-or-less on the road since that September 2012 Bumbershoot date.

The unintended highlight of the set was when Bethany Cosentino allowed a young man up on stage to dance along to one song.  A young lady soon followed (possibly his girlfriend, although it wasn't clear if they knew each other or not), and they made the most of their three minutes on stage, dancing, snapping pictures of themselves with Bethany, chatting with guitarist Bob Bruno, and then stage-diving into the audience before they wore out their welcome.

Best. Date. Ever.  I hope they were a couple (or are now).

In any event, the band ran through their familiar list of sunny pop tunes with a minimum of banter.  There were no surprise covers, like her performance of Fleetwood Mac's Storms when she played the Variety Playhouse last year, but in any event they were able to satisfy the crowd with their closing string of hits, such as Boyfriend and When I'm With You.

Post-Script: I don't know if the band found any energy to go out after last night's show, but someone posted this picture of Cosantino at The Clermont Lounge after last year's gig:

Josh Rouse in Austin

Josh Rouse at Terminal West, April 20, 2013

Oh, look.  Our old friend Josh Rouse just did a Daytrotter session today, a set of songs from his new LP The Happiness Waltz, including Simple Pleasures and Julie, recorded at Good Danny's in Austin, Texas.  You should go check it out.  

MFNW Line-Up Announced!

Well, this pretty much changes everything - Animal Collective playing outdoors at the Pioneer Courthouse Square.

To be perfectly honest, I've been somewhat ambivalent about the MFNW line-up teases to date.  Sure, Deerhunter and Austra are both great, but I've seen them both before, twice in the case of Austra.  I was looking forward to seeing Godspeed You! Black Emperor for the first time, but they've played here in Atlanta before and probably will again - a trip all the way out to Portland seemed a but much to catch just them.  The remaining acts (Murder By Death, Superchunk, and Poolside), left me, honestly, feeling a bit underwhelmed.

But then yesterday they announced Animal Collective outdoors in the Square, and the rest of the line-up was released today, and it's a veritable PDX/Seattle dream team - The Head and the Heart! Neko Case! Pickwick! Deep Sea Diver! Chvrches! Helio Sequence! Typhoon! Thao! Unknown Mortal Orchestra! Onuinu!  Throw if a few out-of-towners, like Idaho's Youth Lagoon, New Orleans' Hurray For The Riff Raff, Wales' The Joy Formidable, and Georgia's own Washed Out, the mysterious Wooden Indian Burial Mound, comedians Brian Posehn and Mr. Portlandia himself, Fred Armisen, and a few bands that I missed performing here in the ATL in just the past week (!!! and The Men), and you have a festival worth attending (not to mention the previous weekend's Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle featuring, among a great many others, Death Cab For Cutie, Alt-J, Sallie Ford, and Ramona Falls).

The full schedule still hasn't been announced yet, but here's what we know so far: 

Wednesday, Sept. 4 - Deerhunter at Crystal Ballroom, Chvrches at Roseland Theater, and Murder By Death at Dantes

Thursday, Sept. 5 - Pacific Air, Youth Lagoon, and Young the Giant at Pioneer Courthouse Square, and then later Austra (venue TBA), Hands, On An On, and The Joy Formidable at the Roseland Theater, and Mount Eerie and Bonnie Prince Billy at the Aladdin Theater.

Friday, Sept. 6 - Dan Deacon and Animal Collective at Pioneer Courthouse Square, and then later Naomi Punk, Titus Andronicus, and Superchunk at Crystal Ballroom, Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Roseland Theater,Flume at the Wonder Ballroom, and Mount Eerie and Bonnie Prince Billy at the Aladdin Theater (second night)

Saturday, Sept. 7 - Deep Sea Diver, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, and The Head and the Heart at Pioneer Courthouse Square, and then later Poolside at The Doug Fir, Charles Bradley and Shuggie Otis at the Crystal Ballroom, 1939 Ensemble and The Helio Sequence at the Aladdin Theater, Glass Candy and The Chromatics at the Wonder Ballroom, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Roseland Theater (second night)

Sunday, Sept, 8 - Pickwick, The Moondoggies, and Neko Case at Pioneer Courthouse Square, and then later Big Gigantic at the Crystal Ballroom

Here's the full line-up in alphabetical order for all of you anal retentive/OCD types out there:

!!!, 1939 Ensemble, Angel Olsen, Animal Collective, Antwon, Austra, Baroness, Beat Connection, Big Gigantic, Bison Bison, Bleached, Bleeding Rainbow, Bob Mould, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Brian Posehn, Broncho, Bruxa, Charles Bradley, Chet Faker, Chill Crew, Chromatics, Chvrches, Cody ChesnuTT, Crushed Out, Dan Deacon, Deep Sea Diver, Deerhunter, Diana, Diplo, Dirtclodfight, Earth, Eyelids, FIDLAR, Flume, Frank Fairfield, Fred & Toody Cole (Unplugged), Fred Armisen, G_Force, Gang$ign$, Gate, Gaytheist, Glass Candy, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Grieves, Hands, Hausu, Hiss Golden Messenger, Horse Feathers, Hostage Calm, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Icona Pop, Into It. Over It., Joey Bada$, John Vanderslice, Justin Townes Earle, K.Flay, La Luz, Larry and his Flask, Like a Villain, Lonnie Winn, Lord Dying, Love as Laughter, Magic Fades, Mariachi El Bronx, Mean Jeans, Mike Donovan, Minden, Morning Ritual, Most Custom, Mt. Eerie, Murder By Death, Nacho Picasso, Naomi Punk, Neal Morgan, Neko Case, Odesza, Old Light, On An On, Onuinu, P.O.S., Pacific Air, Pickwick, Poolside, Prefuse 73, Priory, Ra Ra Riot, Royal Canoe, Royal Thunder, Saves The Day, Shad, Shlohmo (DJ Set), Shuggie Otis, Shy Girls, Sirah, Sonny & The Sunsets, Superchunk, Surfer Blood, Team Dresch, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, The Baseball Project, The Bronx, The Chicharones, The Dodos, The Head and The Heart, The Helio Sequence, The Joy Formidable, The Lonesome Billies, The Men, The Moondoggies, The Thermals, Titus Andronicus, Tobacco, TxE,Ty Segall, Typhoon, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Vice Device, Washed Out, White Lung, Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Yob, Young The Giant, Youth Bitch, Youth Lagoon.

Tickets go on sale Friday, but here's the best part - I already bought my own all-access VIP wristband!

Update:  All of those band names DO NOT fit into the "labels" field.