I didn’t fall of the face of the earth, I just totally forgot to post a disclaimer here that I would be out of pocket for a while taking photos at Bonnaroo. This was my 5th year there and we had amazing weather. It actually felt a bit chilly some nights! Anyway, please do check out the Nashville Cream for comprehensive coverage and lots of photos from me and Michael Bunch. Back soon y’all!
Heavy Cream is the perfect example of how a band should evolve. When you say a band has “matured” it can often have bad connotations- it can be treated as a nicer way of saying a band has gotten boring or lost their raw energy. That is most definitely NOT the case with Heavy Cream. They have matured, but in an entirely good way. The rhythm section is anchored solidly by Tiffany Minton’s furious and powerful backbeats, Mimi Galbarez’s riffs have gotten more interesting while maintaining that rudimentary charm they’ve always had, and frontwoman Jessica McFarland’s vocals… well, they’ve always been really good and they’re still really good. As for the new album, it’s solid and well-produced. I have a terrible tendency to talk a lot about the production value of albums when I review them on here, but I really can’t help it this time. Ty Segall produced this album and the real victory here is the drum sounds- they’re insane but just right. Distorted but not painful… weird but not too weird. The snare drum barely even sounds like a snare drum anymore… more like pounding on muffled trash can lid at times. But for some reason it works! And the somewhat beefed-up guitar tones actually complement the overall sound quite well. The songs are as catchy as ever- but most venture into a slightly more complex rhythmic territory. There are even a few slow-burners (well, slow in comparison to most of their material at least…) that take the band from their old “girl-Ramones” vibe to a more straight-ahead, fist-in-the-face rock & roll feel that reminds me more of the Runaways. That’s a very obvious comparison but it has to be made. The biggest point I want to make is that this band has done nothing but get better over time, and this new album is the best example. Grab it now via Infinity Cat Recordings.
As I’ve mentioned before, local electronic music genius Makeup and Vanity Set did the soundtrack for the locally produced independent film 88:88. Only some of the music is actually used in the film itself, but MAVS created a whole album of material based on the ideas/emotions of the film. That soundtrack album will be released via VHS tape, yes VHS tape, on May 31st. Telefuture is behind it and, well… it’s possibly the coolest distribution idea ever, only because it’s so absurd. By absurd I mean absurdly perfect for this release and this release alone. MAVS himself tweeted “I would encourage everyone who grabs one of the 50 copies of the VHS to watch it alone in a dark room the first time. Trust me.” If the above teaser clip is any indication, I wholeheartedly agree. If you can find a VCR to play it on.
Stream the whole album via Soundcloud below:
Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp announces WANDA JACKSON as guest performer for 10 year anniversary
May 4, 2012
I’m sure you’ve heard me mention the awesome non-profit group Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities (YEAH) here before. That organization started 10 years ago with the first annual Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp. This year to celebrate their 10-year anniversary they’ve really pulled out the big guns, so-to-speak. They’ve just announced that one of the guest performers at this year’s SGRRC will be none other than the queen of rockabilly: WANDA JACKSON. I’m floored. Talk about knocking it out of the park… can you imagine being a teenage girl and getting to spend a week making new friends, learning to play a rock & roll instrument, forming a band, AND getting to see one music’s greatest female legends perform AND getting to ask her questions at the end?!?!? My mind is officially blown. Katie, Rachel, Lizzie, Kelley, and everyone involved- well done.
This is as good a time as any to say that if you have any time or talent to donate, this is the most worthwhile cause I can POSSIBLY think of. I’ve volunteered almost every year for the past 6 years and I promise it will change your life. I can sit here and go on about how awesome it is till I’m blue in the face, but you just have to do it to truly understand. So go to the YEAH website and sign up to volunteer. There are summer camps and after-school workshops/activities in both Nashville and Murfreesboro.
I can’t get over this rad new video for Punks Jump Up’s new smokin’ boogie-funk jam “Mr. Overtime” featuring vocals from Dave 1 of Chromeo. Slick, sexy, and artfully animated. Directed by Maxime Bruneel, it’s the perfect fit for the song’s 80s italo-disco influence- an 80’s throwback vibe involving sports cars driving fast on the highway at night. But the animation style has a much more current feel- a very successful juxtaposition. If this track is totally new to you, fix that by heading over to the Moda Records Soundcloud and checking out the single and all the many awesome remixes. It’s out officially on April 30th.
As you should know, this Satuday is National Record Store Day. Record stores (you know, the places you can actually walk into and touch a real album and buy it… imagine that) across the nation will be having huge special sales, and labels and artists across the nation have pressed limited edition vinyl releases, usually 45s, that will only be available at a record store, on Record Store Day. There are tons of awesome happenings here in Nashville, the biggest being Grimey’s “big ass outdoor sale.” They have a killer lineup of live music slated for the parking lot, and they always have tons of used records and CDs on sale for super cheap. Check out grimeys.com for the full lineup and schedule. East Nashville’s The Groove also has a killer lineup of bands playing on their backyard stage, and you can get most if not all of the official RSD exclusive releases there as well. Check their website for the full lineup and schedule. Those are the only two doing performances that I know of, but The Great Escape might be doing some sort of sale. There’s no mention of it on their website, however. Third Man Records will of course have lots going on in the way of sales and limited releases, etc… however they do not have live performances this year. (How can they possibly top Jerry Lee Lewis last year?)
Secondly, the flyer above is for a show that includes my band, thus a bit of shameless self promotion:
Come see Scale Model, Anchor Thieves, Century Club, and The Goldroom at The End Saturday night after all your RSD shopping/festivities! Anchor Thieves are releasing a free CD single, and Nashville’s own Griffin Technology will be giving away free RSD themed iPhone 4 cases. Find out more about Scale Model, the Goldroom, and Century Club (ex-Carter Administration) at their respective bandcamp pages. RSVP on Facebook here. Cover is only $5, show starts at 9:30pm, and the beer is cheap. Come party with us!
Absurdly awesome videos
April 19, 2012
Two videos which share a common theme of absurdity and awesomeness. Absurdly awesome? Awesomely absurd? You decide.
Exhibit A: Ridiculous/dumb/terrible things happening in super slo-mo. As in, 2500 frames per second slo-mo. It never ceases to amaze me how super slow motion can turn just about anything, no matter how gross or messy, into a captivating and beautiful spectacle. My favorite is the rocket-powered clothes drying rack. Why didn’t I ever think of that? Seriously though, this is one that simply MUST be seen in full HD, so set that shit on 1080p, pop it on fullscreen, and sit back. (Via Devour)
Exhibit B: The new video for Diarrhea Planet’s “Warm Ridin’.” This is a band that is not afraid of over-the-top absurdity or awesomeness, and this video is all of the above. Complete with rooftops, bare chests, flaming guitars, American flags, and jumping jacks. These dudes know how to party. If you haven’t checked out their debut album on Infinity Cat yet, go fix that right now. And if you can’t get around the name, you’re just missing the point altogether.
My pal Joseph over at Nashville Nights has been working with Red Bull to promote one of their awesome Red Bull Music Academy sessions, which is happening this Saturday at 12th & Porter from 4-5pm. It’s totally FREE, and the guest speaker is none other than Eliot Lipp. This is very unique treat to have here in Nashville, and I suggest checking it out. It’s free so what have you to lose? It’s to promote the 2012 Red Bull Music Academy, taking place in New York Sept. 30 – Nov. 2. If the full-on RBMA is something you’re interested in, and you’re from Nashville, then you simply must check this out. It’s a very cool idea: kudos to Joseph for getting involved.
No more posts this week but wormholes may be possible…
March 13, 2012
The bad news (for you at least): No more posts this week because this afternoon I’m embarking on my yearly SXSW jaunt. I’m back in the world of the badgeless this year, and currently have no obligations or assignments from the Scene, so this year should be interesting. Also, my band Scale M0del is playing the Red Gorilla Festival on Friday at 3pm at the Dizzy Rooster on 6th St. So if you’re down there, try to stop by! It’s totally free and doesn’t require a badge or wristband of any kind. Actually that may not be bad news for you at all, because it’s probably of little significance to you whether I post the rest of the week.
But, I do have good news! Wormhole travel is slightly less inconceivable now thanks to some research by a team of physicists from Germany and Greece! In short- those convenient things called wormholes that made intergalactic travel possible in science fiction such as Stargate, Contact, etc… are actually pretty tricky business, and were once thought to require unfathomable amounts of negative energy to keep stable enough for a person to travel through. All the while, the very existence of negative energy isn’t even a sure thing. BUT, this new research pulls from elements of string theory, quantum theory, and other far-out theories to get around that massive negative energy requirement. This New Scientist article explains it all, so head over and check it out. It’s a long one, but well worth the read. Unfortunately the idea of traveling through a wormhole is still pretty inconceivable, because according to these new calculations, the wormhole would have to be tens to hundreds of light years across in order for a human to travel through it without getting ripped apart by tidal forces. I actually LOL’d at the line “…our galaxy’s stars are crowded together within a few light years of each other. While this doesn’t prevent the existence of a wormhole with a mouth tens of light years across, it makes it hard to position it so that star systems don’t accidentally fall in. Fallen stars would surely disrupt the timetable and so users might avoid our galaxy altogether.” (Emphasis mine.)
This is one of those articles which requires you to create an account through New Scientist, but it’s free, and all you’ll have to endure is a few email newsletters full of fascinating discoveries and other tidbits from the science world. Not bad if you ask me.
I shall see you back here sometime next week, whenever my brain and liver have fully recovered from SXSW. Till then, cheers!
Goldrush: Prabir Mehta’s new band
March 9, 2012
Remember Richmond, VA’s Prabir & The Substitutes? Or even farther back, The Rachel Nevadas? Those were some great bands that used to tour through middle TN quite a bit, and they were all fronted by Prabir Mehta. The Substitutes disbanded in 2009, (whoa has it really been that long?) and out of the ashes came Goldrush. They’re playing the Basement this sunday night along with a few other bands who are passing through town on their way to Austin for SXSW. So I recommend, along with the shows listed in today’s A Few Good Shows, checking out the show this Sunday night at the Basement. Lineup: Goldrush, The Amboys, Battle Ave, and Andrew Leahey & The Homestead. Cover is $5 and it’s 21+ as always!
steve cross loves music and science 