Episode 18 – Podcast About Nothing

HERE we are with Episode 18 – Podcast about nothing. Brought to you by the KYS Department of Getting Shit Done for the Sake of getting it done. There isn’t a lot to say. Next Podcast is gonna be more of a mixtape. I think I am gonna go that route until I come up with more interesting things to say. I would have recut this one, but I was sorta pressed to get something up for the day. This daily posting thing is getting hard. It’ll be easier later I guess. Thanks for checking it out. Peace.

Episode 18 – Podcast about Nothing

1.    Sleep Forever – The Gift – Mostly in Sickness out soon on Amor Y Lucha

Break

2.    Southern Air – Capital – Givers/Takers – self released as a download
3.    Different Girls – Lemuria ¬– Pebble – on Bridge 9
4.    I Hate Summer – Fucked Up ¬-  Couple Tracks – Matador Records
5.    Iraq – Selfish Whales -  Enjoy The Weather – self released.
6.    My Gap Feels Weird – Superchunk – Majesty Shredding – Merge Records

Break

7.    Forced to Breath Concrete – Mancake – We Will Destroy You – Art Monk Construction
8.    Everything in my Life is For Sale – Blacklisted – No One Deserves to Be Here More Than Me – Deathwish
9.    Malady Savy – Pygmy Lush ¬– Bitter River – Robotic Empire
10.     Rent-A-Cop – Shitstorm ¬– Magrudergrind/Shitstorm Split CD – Robotic Empire
11.    Green Sperm – Devour – Insect Circuitry – Head Count Records

Break

12.    49 Words – Majority Rule – Emergency Numbers – Magic Bullet
13.    Brand New Love – Sebadoh – Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock – Sub Pop
14.    Alien Baby – Ultra Dolphins – Alien Baby – Exotic Fever
15.    Let the Bitches Die – Lightspeed Champion – Falling of the Lavender Bridge – Domino

Break

16.    The Dilemma  – The Arrivals – Volatile Molatov – Recess Records
(44:48)

The Gift – Mostly in Sickness

The Gift
Mostly in Sickness
Amor Y Lucha

The musical apocalypse is upon us. It is time to meet your creator and destroyer and turn towards the light and darkness and accept what has come to pass. The Gift, so new and yet so infinite have come from the mucky, expensive swamps of Washington DC in an effort to bring order from the chaos with chaos.

Actually, after seeing this band live a few times, I am quite pleased and a bit surprised at how focused of an album Mostly in Sickness is. Their self released demo tape last year was a noisy, lo-fi power punch filled with dirt and grit where all the layers piled up on each other burying the nuance I began to learn about the last time I saw this band. But with the release of this new album, the true and absolute beauty and power of The Gift has been unleashed.

I sat in my living room, the dark of night upon me and a lamp light was all that illuminated the room. I curled on my chair with a book about biology and Mostly in Sickness filled the air as I read. The music felt so familiar, so immediate, I responded instantly to it. It was, in all it’s buzzing confusion calming to my frayed nerves. I felt the same way I do when I listen to Lungfish. This is a band that speaks its own language.  Sure, it’s a rock band with all the modern trappings of western rock music, but there isn’t any imitation in the sound. It’s a self-created form of communication.

Vocalist Beck Levy, known by some from the frighteningly intense Turboslut, in which wailing, screamed vocals were the norm, has transformed her vocal presentation with The Gift to momentous heights. She has developed this haunting, purr like delivery that shimmers over the heavy, trudging music. And as ghost like and ethereal and even spooky as it is, it’s also beautiful and pleasing. Such a combination of qualities is rarely found, it’s hard enough to even call what most vocalists do singing. Levy’s performance is one to be reckoned with and surely will not be easily forgotten.

Further, Mostly in Sickness finds the musicians in total sync with each other. The rich, deep metallic bass gives The Gift incredible weight, sinking every bash and thump into the gut. Henry Mesias is not merely accompanying the band, providing low-end. His sonic contribution shades the shimmering guitar parts with a brooding dark. Each song lays with great weight upon the ears. The marching band like drums in album opener “Sleep Forever” sound as though The Gift are going to war and when the explosion finally hits and the band comes crashing in, it’s hard not to feel like you are under attack, or at the very least under a spell. This is no surprise as Levy has brought her mysticism to The Gift, a charm and magic that is so rarely found.

 

Best of 2010 – EP’s, Tapes and Singles

I am, and have always been an album kind of guy. The only time I’ve ever liked Mix Tapes was when they had a bunch of stuff I never heard that I knew the creator loved. There is something about continuity that really strikes me. For me, that continuity comes through different twists and turns. But as it is, so much great music gets released in little teasers like the EP, the Demo Tape or the 7″ single. These formats are incredibly frustrating, because almost always they make me want more. Either more music from the band, or a bigger production. They often hint at untapped or unreleased greatness that is lurking in the members or on some assholes hard drive.

2010 was a year I actually got really back into the single and buying 7″ again. It seems a lot of DIY bands are doing tapes and 7″ again. To which I say AWESOME!, especially since they have digital downloads a lot of times so the need to digitize them or collect anthologies down the line are no longer necessary. So here are the best of these formats that found their way into my lap this year.

EP’s
1. No Friends – Traditional Failures – Kiss of Death
Seriously, No Friends is a pretty awesome band. The fact is, I told you this shit was free when it came out. If you don’t know how infectious this band is by now, you are living in the dark ages. This EP was pretty welcomed as I picked up their self titled LP earlier this year. It just extends the fun, playing the full discography from front to back. This is a very good thing.

2. Double Dagger – Masks – Thrill Jockey
I saw Double Dagger open up for the Jesus Lizard in their home town of Baltimore. That show would have been a lot better if the weirdo, solo guy wasn’t in between these two bands. Because it was like seeing the past and the present collide. Double Dagger make really fucking great, art-rock music. Which is hard, because that shit can come off as disingenuous. Smart music that is actually soulful and genuine is hard to come by. Masks on the other hand hints at a band that hit their stride and decided that wasn’t good enough. I really wanted this to be an album because it is so damn good.

3. The Max Levine Ensemble -  Them Steadily Depressing, Low Down Mind Messing, Post Modern Recession Blues – Asian Man
Washington DC has been in a state since 2001. Fugazi, The Dismemberment Plan and Q and Not U broke up since then. The beginning of last century gave us so much hope and it all burnt out so quickly. Little did we know that a pop punk band from Takoma Park, Maryland would emerge. It’s hard to say where the Max Levine Ensemble will go at this point. This EP is the best music they have ever made. If they put out an album building on this, punk rock will get face punched. They are ten years old now, they do not have the recognition they deserve from DC or elsewhere, this EP should be heard by more people. This band should be loved by anyone who likes music.

4. Puerto Rico Flowers – 4 – Fan Death
Fucking Fan Death Records are the real deal. They are just this small label, run by a pair of music geeks who don’t give a fuck about your band. The bands you are into (me included) are trivial. The thing about their shit talk that hit the DC internet in waves this year is that its backed up by some sick fucking bands. Puerto Rico Flowers is one of those bands. This “cold wave” (whatever the fuck that shit is) project of John Sharkey III, the instigating former front man for sludge rockers Clockcleaner, is a total head fuck. It evokes Joy Division, but resonates with a stark, dark, morose tone that would make Ian Curtis turn his head. The band refuses to tour, Sharkey having moved to Australia, and they are all but unwilling to talk publicly about the music. But what is there to say that the songs don’t already say? This is some other world type shit here. Never mind what you are listening to, it sucks.

5. Trap Them – Filth Rations – Southern Lord
Trap Them is actually better in short bursts. Probably because they are so brutal over four songs, that anymore would just cause soul fatigue. Filth Rations is the Providence band’s latest and easily greatest. They are a band that seems to shift and morph between releases, which personally has been a bit off-putting at times. Filth Rations however,  nails it right on the head. It comes on full speed and doesn’t let up. Frankly, it’s fucking incredible. Metal/Hybrid Metal/Hardcore/Post Hardcore, what ever the hell this is, it’s brutal and if you want to hate yourself, which you should because you suck, then get this, now.

Tapes

1. The Gift – S/T Demo – Self released. The Gift are terrifying. They combine song writing with blistering, terrifying noise. This music will boil your skin. The demo tape is loose and crazy, remnants of a band that has grown into their own. With a full length album already on the horizon, this young band is going to ruin lives. The bands these kids were in (Exosus, Turboslut, Anchors, etc) should tell you what you are in for, but only informally. The Gift kills it.

2. Zomes – Improvisations 1 & 2 – Imminent Frequencies. I love Zomes. You can’t get this tape anymore. You should be jealous. This is meditative, universal, space music. I truly can not get enough of Zomes. Ian MacKaye, are you listening? Get Asa in the studio, put out a solid release. I love the lo-fi, but it’s time to put the music world to bed. Zomes.

3. Body Cop – S/T – Fan Death. There is a reason Fan Death are all over this blog post, because those fuckers have their finger on the pulse of the most fucked up music on the planet now. Body Cop is one of the reasons I am sad to leave DC. No shit, they totally blew me away with their fucked up sludge. Body Cop, along with the Gift are redefining and owning DC’s punk rock history.

7″

1.Frodus – Sound Laboratories 1 – Lovitt Records. When I first heard the three songs that make up this 7″ I wanted to cry. This is such a fucking tease from one of my favorite bands as a youth. The Frodus boys were my contemporaries but they made music so beyond their years. Shelby Cinca and Jason Hammacher have finally caught up to their music as musicians and Sound Laboratories 1 is document of a musical duo that has grown up together. I want more, so so so much more than can be reasonably expected. While Liam Wilson from Dillenger Escape plan does a great job on bass, I do miss Nate Burke, who to me was the missing piece. Regardless, this was so important and amazing. FCI is back.

2&3. Give – Boots Of Faith/Going Confetti – Deranged Records, Heaven is Waiting/One – React Records. Right now, in DC, Give is the most important band in operation. That’s a tall order and one I could probably argue against on any given day. But for now, right here, I mean it. These singles, coupled with a self released EP, are a document to a band that needs to be heard more. That the globe isn’t demanding more from Give is a travesty. DC always has best kept secrets, much to my chagrin. Give is that secret now and it needs to stop.

4. Puerto Rico Flowers – 2 – Fan Death Records. No quite as strong as the songs on 4, 2 still offers some really out of earth type music. It’s slow and drowning and punishing to listen to. If you just aren’t depressed enough after listening to 4, then this single will push you over the edge.

5. Too Many Daves/Dude Jams split 7″ – ADD Records. As much as my best of lists are always replete with a lot of really damaged music, I have a soft spot for punk rock. Dudes just bashing out honest or even silly songs will always capture my attention. This single was awesome and seriously, it makes me happy there is a band in the world called Dude Jams.

Brave Young, The Gift, Pygmy Lush – Live at the Black Cat 12/07/10

December 7th, 2010 will be a very bittersweet day for me. I am glad that I am no longer employed, for the energy I brought with me to the Black Cat Backstage was one that had been missing from many shows I’ve seen as I’ve gotten older. Knowing that my late night out, enjoying some of the best music this world has to offer would not be stabbed by a shit pile of someone’s idea of what work is was a knowledge I could happily revel in through the night. There are times when you wish that you could live inside music rather than continue on in human form; rather than exist in this oddly restrictive physical world. December 7th, 2010 was one of those nights for me. The pulses from the speaker cones that electrified the vibrations of hands and fingers, bow and plastic against strings or the strained voices from the beautiful people on stage had me transfixed outside my temporal self. Instead a seamless existence felt possible with the rattling of drums or the deep reverberations of bass under my feet. I want to go back twelve hours, turn these menacing hands of time and stop and rewind continually, creating a spacial loop. This, sadly, is not possible.

The night’s musical demonstrations was headed by Brave Young, a band from North Carolina who, on the surface appear as though they would play a bombastic A-Bomb type of music that hits you in the face with the power of distortion and overdrive. Instead, we, the lucky audience, were treated to the gentle pulling of bows against guitars, winding chimes of bells, resonant drum hits on the tympani. Even when the swell of the musical storm was vibrating from the amplifiers, filling the room with a robust weight, it all felt gentle and sweeping. Indeed, musical magic was present. Another world occupied the space between bodies contained within a room.

One of the saddest things about moving from DC is that I will not feel the heavy, gory beauty of The Gift as they grow into the mighty elephant they are destined to become. Each time I see them they get better, as any band should. The confidence of this trio is now matched with an astral communication that is translated into the darkest, heaviest grace my ears have heard. This nights show was dense and dark, enjoyed by slow plotting in the beginning, heighten by hyperactive energy in the middle, and resolved with sweeping, serene movement. Beck Levy’s voice has grown into a powerful oration, the haunting allure of it crushing a memorized audience. A more unique and fixated talent can not be found during these cold, gray months in the drab dead city. The Gift have created the greatest séance to celebrate the brutal winters. It’s an energy that is jagged, but gorgeous and symphonious. Do not think that it is the energy of dark, for it is the acceptance of all energies and movement, those that contradict and complement each other.

Shamans are people thought to be full of wisdom and experience and if that is the case then Pygmy Lush are some of the greatest healers the world has ever been blessed with. Every detail of this band matters, their origins and experiences and friendship is just as vital to the music as the strummed chords or pushed vocals. They are less a band and more of a tribe, with claims to vast lands and many journeys through this life. The collective spirit that Pygmy Lush is can be striking and intimidating. They give to each other in need and from that take the most intense sounds from their given instruments. The addition of Eric Kane on drums moved Pygmy Lush’s music from the soil and into the air. The brothers (and I include all members, not just Chris and Mike) are connected at deep levels that can only come from the comforts and confrontations of friendship. The music, well the new songs that were on display last night are well beyond their greatest moments, making previous output seem pedestrian. The inclusion of “Asphalt” from their astonishing Mount Hope album brought familiarity and comfort to an audience already in awe of the unaware waves that came before them. Pygmy Lush are modest and honest and these two traits usually bring the cancer of under-appreciation to artists, and this is criminally the case. I will never want to forgo these intimate experiences for larger, less hushed and humble audiences. But they deserve the attention of many more than those that are willing to stop life and commit to something greater than the every day mundane.

Music, by its nature is transgressive. It penetrates the unseen and can move physical objects. It is designed to reverberate with in the engaged, but it is also external in nature, existing outside of all bodies of matter, filling space and air by force. It is as close to magic as I have ever seen on this planet, existing not through the complex building blocks of biological nature, nor through toxic formulas that are burnt together by man. The tools of music all seem so perplexing, a feeling I have even after years of holding them in my hands. December 7th, 2010 the last foreseeable time I will see music in Washington DC, the city I have seen the most music in, was a night of this kind of indescribable magic. The preceding words were a failed attempt at telling you a factual story, but it is not one that I could tell that would truly bring you there. I will never forget it. That is all I can say on the matter.

Episdode #11

After a short Hiatus, We Give you Herpes
Smash Hits – Kid Canaveral
So, now that we have our STD results back, lets share with the group. Billy, how did you fail an STD test?
Race to the End – Police and Thieves
An Unforgivable Invasion of Privacy and a Complete Betrayal of Trust (I Wish You Wouldn’t) – The Gift
Real Mean – RVIVR
Dullards and Dreadful Prose – The Measure SA
Gimmie the Wire – Ted Leo
Now, that Billy has been sent to the principal’s office, lets talk about prevention. Jimmie, licking the floor is not a method of prevention. Jesus, you kids are idiots.
Said Gun – Embrace
Anger Means – Ignition
Anything Tribal – Branch Manager
Letter to Raoul Peck – Black Eyes
Solidarity – Scream
Okay Class, now what Jimmie did was not good, so we suspended him from class for the next three da…oh for fuck sake, Christan, get the fuck down from there, now, no now. Fuck it, I quit.
Parasites – Bankrobber
Buy/Sell – Thank God
Unanswerable – Night Birds
Back in 84 – Ceremony
Free Your Self – Striking Distance
Hello Boys and Girls, I’m your substitute teacher. My Name is Mister…oh for the love of god. You, what’s that kids name? Timmy. Timmy, put that back in your pants right now young man. That is not appropriate. No, that is not…we don’t do tha…no…no…Timmy. I am gonna beat your ass…oh for the fuck of sake….
Jay’s Big Date – Brainworms
(48:54)