Headdress – Lunes LP (no quarter)

Psych-drone. Guitar & organ duo out of Texas. Bleeding, reverb-drenched guitar lines set over a backdrop of warm, bassy drone. The guitar lines chime slow, locked and beautifully over a constant, room-filling, mind-numbing hum. At times the background drifts in and out of phasered bliss while delayed room noises push a bit of texture into the machine. There are no sharp corners to be found on this record, all movements are allowed to slowly build and are ushered in to avoid any harshness, leaving just deep, meditational sound expansion. Headdress. The name of the group makes a lot of sense right about now. Could this be the new, modern Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music? It’s definitely sensory deprivation material when turned up loud enough. It will rightly clear your mind and take the edge off the day.

Headdress – The Lost White Brother

(phone picture of megafaun in duke gardens 6/17/09)

During the summer, amazing things grow out of the Gardens on Duke’s Campus. The Sarah P. Duke Gardens are open to the public and are our own little, modest version of Golden Gate Park. Err, kind of. They’re really just a fraction of the size, but just as alluring and beautiful. Pathways wind beside ponds and through canopied shade, koi fish swim next to baby turtles as ducks (and usually ducklings) crowd, chattering among the reclining landscapes. It feels like stepping back through time for just a few hours of any given day. Nothing to worry about, no appointments to be kept. Just water, plants and shade – and a great lack of electricity.

As an ongoing summer series, the Gardens host live music Wednesday nights from 7pm-9pm. Chairs are set up about halfway back from the stage leaving ample room for blankets, sprawling bodies and open wine bottles. Off to the side, a small table is set up with beer/wine for sale – but you’re also fully encouraged to bring your own. The sound is professional, the bands are loose and chatty and the crowd is just there to hang out. It’s a pretty perfect situation for all involved.

Megafaun was the first of the series that I have actually gone to, and I am a full convert now – no matter who’s playing. Though, Dexter Romweber promising to be there this coming Wednesday sure has me anxiously anticipating next week. The boys casually took the stage and rolled into a few of their classics already burned into the majority of the crowds’ hearts while unfolding a handful of tracks about to come out on their upcoming CD / 2xLP. As mentioned before, look for that soon on Home-tapes. End of July I do believe. At a few points during the performance, all band members ventured off the stage into an expectant, slightly tripped up, but highly enthusiastic sea of sitting bodies. Even if the words were not known, people still sang along and banged their feet in time to the brand of campfire folk these boys were getting into. Drifting, uplifting while tinged with a slight, inescapable sadness, their music heaves and swells and crashes with clawed banjo, snakey bass and electric guitars. Subtle white noise weaves just under the surface as drums and cymbals break and shatter a few silent stretches. Low volume interludes and silence in songs are just as important, meaningful and weight-bearing as every thoughtfully placed piece – from a lofty three-part harmony to a whispered shaker rattle. Everyone was put at ease and there were child-like grins all around.

It was a great, full night ending with Megafaun out in the crowd finishing up their set with the entire audience. No stage, no audience – just a full, complete group. After the finale came to the finale and the band made for the stage to break equipment down, the onlookers refused to let them stop. Megafaun gave in and played out as the sun set and a few drops began to come down.

Look for this album and enjoy this clip from the show.

Megafaun – Live in the Duke Gardens (2 new songs).

It’s just a 10 minute piece taken from a 90 minute show, but it’s two full songs uncut with the banter between them. Enjoy!

RIP Michael Jackson. Sad day for Pop Music.

White Hills – Heads on Fire LP (thrill jockey)

Epic, sonic, guitar-freakout psychedelia from some inspired New Yorkers. White noise hum covers the underbelly as drone angles build and swell, swirly in layered feedback and tampered-with-space before crashing out into a Comets On Fire patented frenzy. Word is that Kid Millions from Oneida has joined the ranks (watch for their new album real soon!). Just as a song starts to twist and wrap up, hitting its crescendo and break, rolling fuzz and raga-inspired guitar lull you deeper, farther into space. Not missing a cue, we’re right back where we left off, rolling, sometimes propelled full throttle deeper into psychspace.

There have been heavy nods to Krautrock lately (Wooden Shjips, etc), but this doesn’t really fall into those ranks of psychedelia so much – this is a thicker, more freakout-centric, guitar and drum rock structure. Heavy drumming and damaged guitars as opposed to a locked drum and bass groove. One of the dilemmas of this new breed of ultra limited, sought-after records – can I still play the CDr or my own LP copy in the store after it’s sold out? Or is that just mean?

CD was released back in ‘07 by Julian Cope’s label. Thrill Jockey picked it up recently just for the domestic LP reissue. One of the hardest things about being a record store clerk and collector simultaneously is keeping the records in stock instead of in my grubby hands behind the counter. Ugh.

White Hills – Oceans of Sound

Posted some new stuff to the stock lists.
Check ‘em out if you’re sitting at work bored – NEW STOCK

After I finish reminiscing with Mudhoney’s Since We’ve Become Translucent (2002), I’ll toss some reviews up here. There’s been some great stuff released this month (and in the last few for that matter), and I’ve been meaning to touch on some of them. Outside of listening to the new Woods or Oh Sees LPs, there must be some other stuff that makes it into the player, right?

We’ll see! Two big things of note – modern psych is charging full steam ahead lately and bands that have existed on major labels for the last decade are happily defecting back to the indies. What used to be reserved for either giant major label promotion campaigns or little underground, limited-run labels is now seeing more attention through the minors like Tomlab, Thrill Jockey, Jagjaguwar, Matador, Shrimper, etc. There’s a convergence from both ends happening in the middle-ground somewhere as good, well crafted, thoughtful music returns to the airwaves (and iPods) with the help of the sweat and perseverance of the indies. Another exciting turn of events in the ever-shifting independent music realm!

Back to Translucent and gecko cage cleaning for now….

(double dagger by frank hamilton)

Thursday, June 18th. the Pinhook, Durham. 10pm-12am. 5 bucks.
DOUBLE DAGGER / ARMORED UPRISE

Double Dagger has a brand new album out on Thrill Jockey. It’s easily one of my favorites of the year so far – early ’90s Dischord/Fugazi influenced post rock outta Baltimore with the type of intensity that’s almost been forgotten on record these days. Mr. Grady has gotten on my case about forgetting to make the obvious connections/nods to the Minutemen and other early, classic SST bands. Which is entirely true and jaw-dropping; this bass player handles his instrument like some other-worldly cross between Ian MacKaye and Mike Watt. Bass. Feedback. Drums. Confrontational, ex-hardcore frontman.

Armored Uprise is Soundman Greg’s metal band. You’ll find Greg slacking away behind the booth most nights that the Pinhook has shows, but tonight he takes stage. I have yet to see this beast, but after listening to it online, it comes across as peel-yer-face, big-shoed, 80s-lovin’ thrash wrangled top speed and kickin into modern spazz, dual-harmonic metal. Get it?! Should be a good night!

Grayson does a better job with write-up over at the Independent Weekly:
How heavy can a drummer, a vocalist and a bassist be, anyway? It would be best not to roll into this appearance of Double Dagger—a Baltimore trio of art-school kids obsessed with typography (hence, the name, early lyrics and consistently intriguing graphics) and highly amplified sociopolitical reckoning—with that attitude. These dudes will damage your feelings and your ears. More, the band’s third LP and debut for Chicago’s Thrill Jockey, shocks the rotting carcass of Fugazi with defibrillating paddles and resuscitates it by breathing fuel into its lungs. Certainly capable of bellicose hard-charges that enter, aggravate and exit in three minutes, the Double Dagger of More goes for increased dynamics and complexity, both qualities that boost the urgency and unsettling air of its best tunes. Yes, that’s right, tunes: Double Dagger isn’t just fire, brimstone and Dischord follow-through, as singer Nolan Strals howls melodically, fortifying his rants into anthems that might make you stronger, too. “There’s no way we’re going to die tonight. If we shout loud enough, they can’t turn out the lights,” he concludes triumphantly on “Vivre Sans Temps Mort,” the confession of a death-obsessed kid who’s finally given up on, well, giving up. They join Armored Uprise at 11 p.m. for $5.

(megafaun @ bchq, durham.)

Wednesday, June 17th. Duke Gardens. 7pm-9pm. 10 bucks.
MEGAFAUN.

Megafaun in the Duke Gardens tonight! If that doesn’t get ya excited about ducking out of that stifling, claustrophobic house for live music, I ain’t too sure what will. Open air, grass, beer/wine bar, chairs, peoples, hoots, hollers, campfire folk with a cheery attitude, flip flops (ewwww) – the only downside is no dogs. I think I can manage an hour away from Boss Rothko though.

Those of us that have had the fortune of hearing the new Megafaun are harboring a massive, hemorrhaging secret. I don’t think we’re prepared for the weight carried or the flood that’s to come from the unveiling of the new Megafaun and Bowerbirds records within a few weeks of each other – quickly followed by a large-scale US tour together. The new record is mixed by Mr. Chris Stamey who pushes and pulls an amazing sound out of the brothers Faun. Each instrument is dynamic and clear in its own right but intertwines in space amazingly with that mad psychic collaboration they’ve mastered at every beat of the path.

Combining a high mastering of Appalachian, mountain folk with a conscious understanding of sound manipulation, subtle white noise and gentle, rolling feedback, the boys put on a must-see spectacle. Not only do they hit these peaks onstage, they take it off. They pull the audience into their frenzied state of party, psychedelic old time, often passing out instruments or inducing singing/stomping/swaying. This new album looming from the cliff above (which we’ll lovingly refer to as the ‘End of July’) is set to blow some minds. And not just locally. Keep an eye on Hometapes Records and thank them for all their hard work on what’s about to come.

Megafaun – The Fade
(off upcoming CD/2xLP – Gather, Form and Fly on Hometapes Records)

(pontiak promo)

Wednesday, June 17th. Nightlight. 10pm-2am. 5 bucks.
PONTIAK / IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG / CALTROP

Completely forgot!! Following just one week after the triumphant indie record label coup involving Sonic Youth jumping from the majors back to Matador, we’ve got a fresh new Dinosaur Jr. glaring menacingly at us from around the corner that is this weekend. Dinosaur is handing us a brand new, dirt’n'fuzz-addled record on Jagjaguwar. They’ve been off the majors for a hot minute now – Beyond was brought to us by Fat Possum – but I’m floored and excited at their choice in labels for this return to counterculture culture.

Not only does it prove their respect for and trust in modern indie labels, but it also shows their complete understanding of the modern indie and psychedelic movement. Currently, Jagjaguwar is one of the leading labels for bigger-scale psychedelic and experimental music (from Oneida, Parts & Labor and Women to Bon Iver). We’ve got phenomenal labels like Woodsist, Sacred Bones, Not Not Fun, etc. holding down the fort for the more underground and abstract goings-on, but this label actively keeps things rumbling along in a positive, documented and most importantly, well-distributed manner.

Honestly, hearing that Dinosaur Jr.’s new album was getting released by Jagjaguwar was almost as thrilling as it would have been to hear that SST was pulling the label back together to sling some new classics at us. Actually, with that said, it’s a little bizarre to think that ex-labelmates, the Meat Puppets, also just released a new album not even a month ago. And even farther – it was not a bad record! And then to take that even farther – remember when Sonic Youth was on SST?? (Three 80s SST bands releasing a current album within a month of each other?!) Sign of the times? Or does that mean I’m old and my classic rock is becoming classic rock. That won’t quit. Yikes. It is true that I don’t get the music that the “kids” are listening to today, yes. But then again, I’d like to just think that there’s a revival and this stuff is becoming pertinent again in this day and age. Guess I’ll just have to sit back and watch exactly who it is that’s buying these records. Maybe I’m becoming a niche classic rock shop quicker than I thought I was!

If you hit me up tomorrow and “pre-order” the Dino album before I send my order in, you’ll get an mp3 copy of their tour 7″ for nothing extra from the label. It’ll also be like getting the album for free on Tuesday because you will have forgotten that you already paid for it! Another thing about Jagjaguwar – they have amazing prices! CD = 14.98; 2xLP = 16.98. Yup, that’s a double LP you just saw mention of – and cheap at that! Errr, at least, I think that’s what the prices are, I could be over by a dollar or so.

Dinosaur Jr. – I Want You to Know

Welcome back to WNnG! Thanks for connecting over in this direction from the old wordpress-hosted version.

Tomorrow I’ll be tackling how to post mp3s onto this site and we’ll go from there!

Thanks again for updating a bookmark if you had one!