Saturday, May 27, 2017

Killer Tracks: The Spring 2017 Collection

We're waving goodbye to spring and welcoming the summer period with a selection of some of the finest new tracks we've had the pleasure of listening to in the last few months. As we're reaching the mid-point of 2017, this playlist is also indicative of where we currently stand on the issue of the best releases of the year so far. Let's leave it to the music to do the talking:

Thurston Moore - Aphrodite


Mark Lanegan - Beehive


The Afghan Whigs - Oriole


Boss Hog - Ground Control


The Jesus And Mary Chain - Always Sad


The Black Angels - Currency


The New Pornographers - High Ticket Attractions


Spoon - Can I Sit Next To You


Kendrick Lamar - DNA.


Run The Jewels - Legend Has It



Monday, May 15, 2017

Live: Wovenhand @ Fuzz Club (Athens, May 13th, 2017)


The release last year of their eighth album, the powerful "Star Treatment", paved the way for Wovenhand's return to Athens for a sixth time. Once again David Eugene Edwards and his band led us on a musical journey to a strange place where the Old Testament meets the Old West and rock 'n' roll is the path to a higher spiritual level.


The four-piece band walked on stage to the sounds of tribal rhythms (while seconds before we were listening to The Fall's "Hit The North" coming from the venue's PA!) and started their incantations with "Hiss" from previous album "Refractory Obdurate".


This imposing start opened the way for a storming set which was largely based on the new album including tracks like "Crystal Palace", "The Hired Hand", "The Quiver" and the superb "Crook and Flail" with its infectious, eastern-influenced melody, along with a few more selections from "Refractory Obdurate".


As always Edwards presence and commanding voice was the epicenter of Wovenhand's fervent performance, while the three musicians that accompanied him did an excellent job building up the rock storm that engulfed us for an hour and a half.



The show came to an end with a scorching three-song encore that included "Five by Five", "Low Twelve" and "King O King" which marked the triumphant finale of another epic performance from a band that has rightfully earned a place among the favorites of the local gig-goers.


As an added bonus, before Wovenhand's show we had the chance to enjoy a brief acoustic set by another Sargent House recording artist, Emma Ruth Rundle. A recent injury kept her on a chair for the duration of her half hour set but her voice was in fine form, as she presented her folk-based, atmospheric songs (listen to her solo catalogue here).


Emma Ruth Rundle, live @ Fuzz Club (Athens, May 13th, 2017)

Check out below Wovenhand performing "Crook and Flail" and "Crystal Palace", and Emma Ruth Rundle in "Living with the Black Dog" from their joint gig at Fuzz Club:

Wovenhand - Crook and Flail (live @ Fuzz Club, Athens)

Wovenhand - Crystal Palace (live @ Fuzz Club, Athens)


Emma Ruth Rundle - Living with the Black Dog (live @ Fuzz Club, Athens)

Blast from the past: see here what we had to say about Wovenhand's gig at An Club in November 2009!

Wovenhand, live @ Fuzz Club (Athens, May 13th, 2017)

Sunday, May 07, 2017

New Releases: April 2017

Another great month for new releases with albums by Thurston Moore, Mark Lanegan Band, The Black Angels and The New Pornographers to name but a few. Here's our shortlist of those that stood out from the pack, including some of the Record Store Day 2017 releases:

Albums

THURSTON MOORE - Rock n Roll Consciousness
MARK LANEGAN BAND - Gargoyle
THE BLACK ANGELS - Death Song
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS - Whiteout Conditions
WOODS - Love is Love
THE BIG MOON - Love In The 4th Dimension
ROBYN HITCHCOCK - Robyn Hitchcock
GUIDED BY VOICES - August by Cake
JULIANA HATFIELD - Pussycat
FUJIYA & MIYAGI - Fujiya & Miyagi
KENDRICK LAMAR - DAMN.
RAEKWON - The Wild
ARCA - Arca
ACTRESS - AZD
GORILLAZ - Humanz
THE RAVEONETTES - 2016 Atomized
HAPPYNESS - Write In
SHEER MAG - Compilation
FATHER JOHN MISTY - Pure Comedy
FEIST - Pleasure
KAREN ELSON - Double Roses
TARA JANE O’NEIL - Tara Jane O’Neil
MARK MULCAHY - The Possum In The Driveway
BNQT - Volume 1
COLD WAR KIDS - La Divine
FUTURE ISLANDS - The Far Field
MAXÏMO PARK - Risk To Exist
SPLASHH - Waiting A Lifetime
PART CHIMP - IV
H GRIMACE - Self Architect
DIET CIG - Swear I’m Good At This
LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT - Los Angeles Police Department
A VICTIM OF SOCIETY - Freaktown
WALL - Untitled
HERE LIES MAN - Here Lies Man
WHITE REAPER - The World’s Best American Band
ALEXANDRA SAVIOR - Belladonna Of Sadness
LITTLE DRAGON - Season High
JOE GODDARD - Electric Lines
CLARK - Death Peak
JOEY BADA$$ - All-Amerikkkan Bada$$

Singles & EPs

SPOON - Hot Thoughts
THE CHILLS - Rocket Science
POLICA - Lipstick Stains / Still Counts
GOLD CONNECTIONS - Gold Connections EP
THE FIREWORKS - Dream About You
THE WAR ON DRUGS - Thinking of A Place
KEVIN MORBY - Beautiful Strangers
LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE - The Sound of All things
BARRY ADAMSON - Love Sick Dick EP
FUJIYA & MIYAGI - EP3
ARCA - Saunter / Reverie
PRIMAL SCREAM - Mixamatosis
DAMAGED BUG / BLACK PUS - Rubber Lips / High Tide
TEMPLES / KADHJA BONET - Fortune / I Wanna Be A Free Girl
THE VELDT - Symmetry / Slow Grid
THE DARLING BUDS - Evergreen
MAJOR LEAGUES - It Was Always You
REPTALIENS - Prequel / Olive Boy
BLACK HONEY - Somebody Better
SHIT GIRLFRIEND - Mummy's Boy
THE SUBURBS - Hey Muse!
THE SUBURBS - Lost You On The Dance Floor
YOUNG FATHERS - Only God knows (featuring Leith Congregational Choir)
HMLTD - To The Door / Music!
VANISHING TWIN - Dream By Numbers
OLD 97'S - Terlingua / Off My Mynd
BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY AND NATHAN SALSBURG - Beargrass Song +2 EP
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Meeting Of The Waters
SYSTEM CORPORATION - Dismal Universal Hiss


Thurston Moore - Smoke Of Dreams

Thursday, May 04, 2017

Live: Chelsea Wolfe @ Piraeus 117 Academy (Athens, April 29, 2017)


Chelsea Wolfe's first ever live performance in Athens took place at Piraeus 117 Academy and it was the highlight of the two-day Smoke the Fuzz Fest, an indoor mini festival which also featured  :Skull & Dawn:, Oathbreaker and Amenra.


Wolfe and her three band mates presented an impressive 70-minute set largely based on her last album, 2015's "Abyss", her heaviest and probably best work to date which combines expertly gothic folk melodies and dark, distorted metal power. A few songs from previous album "Pain Is Beauty" completed the set, along with a couple of new ones ("The Culling" and "Static Hum") and "Pale on Pale" from 2011's "Apokalypsis".


The best moments of the main set included a climactic, powerful rendition of "After the Fall" as well as "Carrion Flowers" and "We Hit a Wall" (which you can watch below). The night came to a close with an encore featuring "House of Metal" and "Survive", the haunting melody of the first leading the way for the noisy finale of the second, a fitting recap of Wolfe's dark, commanding sound.


Chelsea Wolfe's complete set: Feral Love, Carrion Flowers, Dragged Out, The Culling, We Hit a Wall, After the Fall, Simple Death, Iron Moon, Static Hum, Pale on Pale. Encore: House of Metal, Survive.



Chelsea Wolfe - We Hit a Wall (live in Athens, Smoke the Fuzz Fest, April 29, 2017)