Astral Pattern

Three of the five members of S.C.U.M are now back as dream-pop practitioners Astral Pattern, a band reportedly influenced by a trip to Dusseldorf to see Kraftwerk. Thanks and a tip of the hat to Fanfarlo for making me aware of this, even though I'm now majorly crushing on singer Melissa Rigby.

Radiation City

So this was fun: last night, Portland's Radiation City played The Earl in Atlanta.  Joseph War opened.

War started with a two- or three-song acoustic set, solo on stage with just a harmonic and an acoustic guitar (the strap of which broke), before going electric with a full band.  During the second portion of his set, the string broke on his electric guitar (it might have been one of those nights for him), but Radiation City was in the audience watching and their guitarist lent him his guitar to finish the set.

Mishaps aside, War put on a fine set of original songs, highlighted by his capable and masculine voice. A good start for the evening.

Headliners Radiation City took the stage around 11:00 pm.

I saw Radiation City play a free set for KEXP one September morning during MFNW 2012 and although I couldn't remember a single specific note, I recall being impressed by Lizzie Ellison's vocals.  I knew they were good enough to get me out of bed early after nearly 5 days of Bumbershoot and MFNW to hear their 10:30 am set at The Doug Fir Lounge, and I remember being pleased enough with their set that I was ready to come back out and see them when they came through Atlanta last night.

Radiation City at Doug Fir Lounge, MFNW, Sept. 7, 2012

What's funny is that I don't remember them as being nearly as good as their performance was last night at The Earl.  Ellison's vocals were as warm and sensual as ever, but she was ably backed with some terrific harmonies, and various other members of the band all took turns at lead vocals as well.  They employed a lot of interesting rhythms and all played various percussion instruments at various times.  In all, it was a great set of songs by a very capable and accomplished band, and either I wasn't awake enough that September morning to fully appreciate them or they're one of the most improved acts of 2013.

But don't just take my word for it.  Check out this recent set for yourself:

I think they chose their song Lark, the song  in the video above, to close their set, asking if we'd mind if they closed with a lullaby, promising that it would get a little boisterous toward the end (we allowed it).  Check out some of the other videos at the end of the clip above to get an idea of their range.

So what I guess I'm trying to say is that I'm glad that I trusted my instincts and went out to hear a band I only half-remembered as good, and I can guarantee you I won't soon forget them again.  However, I still don't know what they have against old upright pianos.

Motion Sickness of Time Travel

In addition to having one of the coolest names in music today, Georgia's Motion Sickness of Time Travel (Rachel Evans) has just released Song of Zenana, one of the most soothing ambient tracks heard in a while.  Listen late at night and enjoy.   

Father John Misty

Father John Misty at the godforsaken Masquerade, May 11, 2013

New FJM video, this time for Funtimes In Babylon.

Is that the set from Donnie Darko?

Gold & Youth

How am I supposed to keep up with all of the great new music coming out when a band like Vancouver's Gold & Youth come out with an album as good as Beyond Wilderness? And to distract me even more, they put the whole thing up for streaming (below), release a video (even further below), and offer a song for free download over at The Current. 

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.