Nuclear War

Here's Yo La Tengo in 2002 covering Sun Ra's 1984 composition.  Vocals and percussion are by Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew, and the backing vocals are by their kids and family August Kaplan, Hillary Hubley, and Isaac Hubley, along with Claire Hill, Stephen Hill, Erin Schwartz, Eufemia Vercillo, Isabel Ramirez, Leila Rosenthal, Max Rosenthal, and Sophie Rick.

I saw Sun Ra perform this piece one night in 1984 at Atlanta's now-defunct Moonshadow Saloon, It blew my mind that night as much as hearing Yo La Tengo having their way with it does now. However, I don't recall too much else now about that boozy night at the Moonshadow other than Nuclear War and the sheer thrill of sharing a barroom with Sun Ra and the Arkestra.

I've actually been fortunate enough to have seen Sun Ra in New York and Boston multiple times during the period of approximately 1974 to 1980, including an epic five-night residency in Boston's Orpheum Theater, as well as less frequently in the 80s and on up until he left this plane of existence in 1993.  

I even got to meet him in real life a couple of times, once on the subway in New York and another time coming out of a matinee screening of Invasion of the Body Snatchers in Boston.  We didn't exactly have conversations on those occasions (although I'm sure that there is much that he could have taught me) other than my acknowledging that he was indeed Sun Ra, but let me say this - the man was always in character.

Yo La Tengo are heavily influenced by Sun Ra, and they named their classic album And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out after a Sun Ra quote ("At first, there was nothingness, and then nothingness turned itself inside out.").  Not that there aren't a lot of other bands out there with Sun Ra influences, ranging from NRBQ to Akron/Family. 

I actually meant to talk here about nuclear war (I'm against it), but there's no way that I'm going to post about Sun Ra and his music without including something by the man himself.  There's no date on this video, but I'm going to guess it's sometime between 1972 to 1976 just by the appearance of things.  This is really, seriously, what his shows were like back then, with the dancers, the singers, the free improvisations, and the sing-along sermons.  So without further to-do, I'm just going to assume that you're against nuclear war, too, and let Sun Ra himself get in the last words.  

Caveman

We last saw the Brooklyn band Caveman opening for Here We Go Magic back in May 2011, when they were touring behind their great album, 2011's Coco, Beware.  

Caveman has a new, self-titled album coming out April 2, and they will be coming to Atlanta's Drunken Unicorn on Saturday, April 6 in support of that effort.  Here's In The City, the first release from the new album.  

No opening acts have been announced for the Drunken Unicorn yet, but the April 6 show is the start of a run of great, post-March Madness dates at the D.U., including:

Monday, April 15th: Wavves, Fidlar
Tuesday, April 23rd: Acid Mothers Temple
Monday, April 29th: Akron/Family
Saturday, May 4th: Telekinesis

Akron/Family

Akron/Family have leaked No-Room, our first taste from their forthcoming album Sub Verses, due out April 30.

Meanwhile, my copy of their CD, ATL 2 ELP, which includes their performance last year at The Drunken Unicorn, arrived the other day.   The band returns to the DU on April 29, which, wouldn't you know it?, is a Monday night so I probably won't be able to make it.

At least not by the doors-open time . . .

Dude, I Was There!

One of my favorite concerts of the year was held during MusicFest Northwest, but wasn't actually a part of MFNW, when My Morning Jacket played an outdoor show in McMenamin's Edgefield in rural Troutdale, Oregon.  Some magic combination of MMJ's epic jams, the beautiful setting, the sunset, and the fact that my being there was totally unplanned (my itinerary had me seeing Kishi Bashi in the basement Doug Fir Lounge over in Portland) all made it a very special show.  The quality of this fan video isn't professional but it isn't all that bad either, and it does give a fairly good impression of what the show was like.  As I recall, this number was about a third of the way into the set.

I don't like to rank anything as "Concert of the Year," as that's such a relative title, and many shows deserve top ranking for one aspect of the performance or another.  But, because such things are traditional at the end of the year, here in chronological order are some of my favorite concerts of 2012:

1. Akron/Family, Drunken Unicorn, January 14
2. Thurston Moore, The Goat Farm, February 8
3. Allo Darlin' & The Wave Pictures, 529, April 28
4. Damien Jurado, The Earl, May 23
5. Sonic Generator performing Steve Reich's Drumming, The Goat Farm, July 27
6. Dirty Projectors, Variety Playhouse, August 9
7. M83, Bumbershoot, Seattle, September 3
8. Low, Bumbershoot, Seattle, September 3
9. Black Mountain, Doug Fir Lounge (MFNW), Portland, Oregon, September 8
10. My Morning Jacket, McMenamin's Edgefield, Troutdale, Oregon, September 9
11. Animal Collective, The Tabernacle, September 30
12. David Byrne & St. Vincent, Cobb Energy Center, Marietta, Georgia, October 3
13. TOPS, Farm 255, Athens, Georgia, October 6
14. Sharon Van Etten, Terminal West, October 27

Dude, I Was There!, Part Whatever

Akron/Family at The Drunken Unicorn, January 14, 2012

The band Akron/Family recently announced that they're planning on releasing a new album in 2013, a follow-up to last year's Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT.  To help fund the new record, the band had released a live double CD in a Namlook-like limited edition (1,000 pressings), with  the first disc consisting of their January 14, 2012 show at Atlanta's Drunken Unicorn.

Dude, I was there!  It was my first show of 2012 and an auspicious start to the year.  To make it even more special, the band has posted a link to a recording of the Drunken Unicorn show on their website, so if you want to hear the show, well, here it is:

The music gets more and more insane with each passing track, just as the evening did.  I believe the tracks are: 1. Happy Birthday/Intro (3:46), 2. Gravelly Mountains of the Moon, Part 1 (3:46), 3. Light Emerges (4:00), 4. River (6:42), 5. A AAA O A WAY (3:59), 6.Island  (9:08), 7. So It Goes (2:38), 8. Another Sky (12:08), 9. Gravelly Mountains of the Moon, Part 2 (6:48), 10. Everyone Is Guilty (12:22), 11. Silly Bears (6:21), 12. Ed Is a Portal (10:14), and 13. Love & Space (4:46).

Somehow, the order of some of the tracks in the gadget above got scrambled - for example, I'm pretty sure Track 7, So It Goes, immediately followed Track 5, A AAA O A WAY, and Track 6, Island and its guided meditation, came some time later, but I'm not complaining.  

In any event, the ATL 2 ELP CD contains the full Atlanta show plus some experimental pieces recorded in El Paso later in the year. Each copy was handmade and hand-stamped by the band.  Of course I've already ordered my copy before they all run out, and you can get yours at the Akron/Family webstore for a mere $20.