ARTICLES
Deep China Demo Available For Free Download
Rising from the ashes of short-lived Richmond hardcore band Brain Damage, Deep China make an excellent first impression on their four-song demo. Three-fourths of the band's lineup carries over from Brain Damage, but with bassist James Henderson now handling vocal duties, and the addition of second guitarist Reid Attaway, Deep China has a thicker, harsher attack. Much of the demo sounds like the harsh, downtuned hardcore produced by Southern bands like His Hero Is Gone and Coliseum, but there are some intriguing glimpses of melody. The clearest of these comes on the chorus of "Gun Line," on which Henderson forsakes his usual scream for a throaty croon that still projects plenty of menace. For a few seconds at a time, he vocally resembles Phil Anselmo, perhaps mixed with the sound of Entombed vocalist Lars-Goran Petrov circa Wolverine Blues. These vocals make clear that the influence of such swampy biker-metal bands is just as present in Deep China's music as is the influence of dark, heavy hardcore, but the moments of melancholy emotion that these influences usher in are brief, overwhelmed throughout this blazing nine-minute workout by speed and intensity--reflected in song titles like "Ornery Like A Wolf" and "Who The Fuck Are You?"
Deep China supplies a strong Richmond pedigree even beyond their connection to Brain Damage. Drummer Chris Brown is in Mouthbreather, both he and Henderson are in Race The Sun, and Attaway is in Murphy's Kids. Guitarist Ryan Pupa isn't in any other currently active bands, but previously played in The Human Timebomb and Vindication, among others. The wide variety of different sounds represented by this group of bands may seem strange in light of Deep China's devotion to all things heavy, but in truth, it is an asset. Bands whose members don't listen to any music outside the genres they play often grow stale and unoriginal, which is a fate Deep China shouldn't ever have to fear. Their demo is hopefully just a taste of all the excellent heavy music this band will have to offer in future. With almost all of the members in other currently active bands, they may not produce material at a very high rate; right now, they don't even have any upcoming shows. For now, I suppose we'll have to content ourselves with these four songs. As powerful as they are, though, they should be more than enough to sustain interest.
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DAILY RECORD: Punch
Punch - Push Pull (Discos Huelga/625)
One extremely hungover summer morning a few years ago I was fighting the pounding in my head, struggling to keep my morning coffee from coming right back up, and trying in vain to figure out what had happened to me the previous evening. My heart sank into my turbulent stomach when I checked my e-mail. At the top of my inbox was an enthusiastic thanks from some band I had apparently offered to book a show for in my bourbon-induced stupor. I really hate booking shows. It’s a thankless pain in the ass that’s rarely worth the effort, at least in my own experience. What was worse was that this was apparently a hardcore band I had agreed to arrange a show for and I was right in the thick of one of my occasional periods of disinterest in such bands. Before trying to weasel out of the show, however, I figured I might as well at least check them out, since they’d obviously impressed me enough to extend the invitation. And I’m glad I did. I ended up booking the band – San Francisco’s Punch – in Richmond several times, and through their performances and their releases, they have proven themselves to be purveyors of some of the best hardcore of the past decade.
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DAILY RECORD: 36 Crazyfists
36 Crazyfists - Collisions And Castaways (Ferret Music)
Having been a band for over fifteen years now, it seems that Alaskan metalcore foursome 36 Crazyfists have accepted their lot in life. Downgrading from Roadrunner Records (where they were labelmates with Nickelback), who released their first two LPs, to Ferret Music, whose most high-profile current artist is Every Time I Die, 36 Crazyfists have committed to being a cult act, seeking success under the radar and avoiding the temptation of commercial accessibility. Sadly enough, in 2010, it still seems that the path to success for heavier bands is through clean vocals and pop-influenced songwriting, but 36 Crazyfists went for that exact thing with their 2002 single "Slit Wrist Theory" and were branded nu-metal for their troubles. When their second LP, 2003's A Snow-Capped Romance, came out, a friend of mine had to do a good bit of persuading to even get me to listen to it. As it turned out, I loved it, but I think even at that point, 36 Crazyfists were moving away from tailoring their sound towards commercial accessibility. Having now reached their fifth LP, they've completely rejected concerns about what will or won't get their album a high chart position, in favor of sounding like nobody but themselves.
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DAILY FIX: Netherfriends, RVA, 4/19/10
This truly excellent video of the Netherfriends performing at a house show in Richmond on April 19 of this year was shot and put together by Graham Ohmer. We've talked about the Netherfriends before, but coming upon this video this morning was my first real experience with their music, and I was absolutely entranced. As the video depicts--with surprising fidelity, considering the circumstances of its filming--the Netherfriends have a loud, rough, but overwhelmingly melodic and catchy sound. Filling in for the lack of a bass player with keyboard drones and outstanding, funky drumming, they transcend source limitations on this video, as well as the fact that they were clearly playing in a room not designed for live music, to blow the crowd away. At one point (4:30), during a lull in the music, someone in the crowd screams, "OH MY GOD!" then babbles something indistinct. "What?" singer Shawn Rosenblatt asks into the microphone. "You guys are SICK!" the guy yells, just as the band slams right back into the song at full volume.
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DAILY RECORD: Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu – Annotated Modern Dance (Hearpen/Smog Veil Records)
--
“Culture happens in secret, all art is secret. Ordinary people only see the ashes of art, or the failures, or frozen moments. Only rarely onstage do bands achieve reality; mostly it’s in rehearsals, in lost moments.”
- David Thomas, Pere Ubu vocalist.
--
If ever there was a band deserving of the term “evocative,” it is Pere Ubu, whose barely-classifiable music offered a sonic re-creation of their point of origin: mid-1970s Cleveland. Channeling past and future into a heady mix, the band combined their hometown’s rich history of rock and roll (the term itself was coined there in 1955) with the manner in which the defeated promise of the industrial sector in postwar America was made readily apparent. Like the chemicals that trickled into the Cuyahoga River in such quantities that the river itself caught flame in 1969, the area that was fast becoming known as the Rust Belt saw economic and social stability rapidly seeping away and had come to experience a sense of cognitive dissonance as it awoke, startled, from the American Dream.
The chroniclers of this decline and harvesters of this dissonance, as so often happens, were those who never really bought into the promise of a material utopia in the first place. Like missionaries in search of fresh converts, Pere Ubu took their cacophony to whoever would listen. They sought out whichever patrons of dive bars on the edge of town who might share, if not necessarily a taste for squalling dissonance, at least an understanding that a pre-fabricated suburban home is no suitable place to be found at nine o’clock on a Tuesday night.
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Strange Matter Presents The First Annual Orientation Festival
Strange Matter's Eric Smith feels uncomfortable with the relative obscurity of today's Richmond punk scene. "It's tough to find out about shows these days," he says. "When I was growing up in Richmond in the mid-90s, there were places for teenaged kids who knew nothing about the local scene to go and learn about it." He cites shows held in the basement of St. Edward's Catholic School, on Huguenot Road in Chesterfield, as well as all-ages matinee shows at Twisters, as formative experiences. "Those shows were there when I needed them," he explains.
"But then it occurred to me," he continues. "What would it have been like if I was born 10 years later?" He explained that, while the internet has been a helpful tool for organizing the scene, it's also a double-edged sword for anyone attempting to book do-it-yourself punk and hardcore shows. At the same time that anyone can promote a house show online and get that information to a wide variety of potentially interested music fans, they also take the risk that landlords and cops will discover that info and do far more damaging things with it. That's a big risk to take when you live in the place where you're putting on shows. No one likes being evicted. No one likes risking arrest. Paradoxically, the easy flow of information over the internet has driven the day to day workings of the scene more deeply underground. People send out bulletins over Facebook or Myspace, but you often find the phrase "ask a punk" standing in for concrete information about venues. And if you're too new to the scene to know any other punks, you're left out in the cold.
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SHOW REVIEW: Deftones and Baroness
Deftones and Baroness
September 1 at The National
The National is a beautiful theater. Despite its being a relatively new venue here in Richmond, the elegant design of its luxury boxes and overhanging balcony harks back to a time when architects attempted to make audiences comfortable. It thankfully avoids the airplane-hangar ambience of many modern concert halls, instead achieving an intimacy one would more readily expect in a much smaller club setting. Wednesday night was my first experience with The National, and I've apparently missed out by not getting there sooner (penury is my only excuse).
We didn't get inside the venue until well after Baroness had started, but we did catch a good portion of their set, and it was excellent. I was initially exposed to Baroness in their early days as a band, and the complex, metallic hardcore of their early EPs blew me away. The transition they went through on their first full-length, The Red Album, was interesting, if not quite as good as what they'd started out doing. But with their follow-up, The Blue Album, they've grown into their new songwriting style, and it showed in their live performance.
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DAILY RECORDS: Suzi Analogue, Weekends
Suzi Analogue - NNXTAPE (suzianalogue.bandcamp.com)
Representing Philly’s hip hop underground, Klip Mode’s Suzi Analogue might as well change her name to Uzi Analogue, because on her latest release she kills it on a scale of mass proportions. The PA songstress is gaining recognition from NYC to Tokyo, and one listen to her new album leaves no question as to why so many are now paying attention to the artist’s deft songwriting and addictive beats. Analogue’s eclectic mixture of modern hip-hop/soul is set apart from the beat making pack by her sultry and outstanding voice, evoking the specter of a dope girl fresh Billie Holiday for the digital age. What makes Analogue’s release even more outstanding is the fact that the artist produces and makes her own beats, which flow from deep jazz grooves to 80s-sampling neo-funk over the course of her masterfully made album. On the track “What U Look Like,” Suzi coolly and effortlessly flows over a deeply filtered drum and bass beat. The esoteric chorus and guitar samples recall Andre 3000’s songwriting and production at its finest. The album moves seamlessly from track to track, true to its mixtape concept, leading the listener on a nonstop journey of sonic delights. NNXTAPE is an outstanding release; required listening for anyone who’s ever loved hip-hop.
Weekends - Strange Cultures (Friends Records)
Weekends makes fun music. The Baltimore duo’s sound is a weird blend of dissonant Americana and rollicking punk explosions, which produce an effect something like Bruce Springsteen jamming with half of Black Sabbath. Their new LP, Strange Cultures, does the best job yet of capturing their ambitiously large style of music. The guitars sound massive and the drums are strident and clear, the instruments coming together in brilliant bursts of power rock pyrotechnics. “Rain Girls”, by far the group’s standout track, is extended from its well-received short single form to a sprawling seven-minute stomping wall of guitar and shouted vocals. (Listen to two tracks for free at weekends.bandcamp.com.)
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SHOW REVIEW: Young Livers
Young Livers, Mouthbreather, All Teeth, Real Talk, and Sundials
Tuesday, August 31 at Gallery 5
I want to talk about Young Livers. I originally wasn’t going to write about this show because my own band played it, but after seeing Young Livers’ set, I really wanted to talk about them. Andrew told me the writer who was supposed to cover the show ended up not being able to make it, and I jumped at the opportunity to reflect on the evening.
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DAILY RECORDS: Funeral Pyre, Laurie Anderson, Tourmaline
Funeral Pyre - Vultures At Dawn (Prosthetic)
Funeral Pyre aren't breaking new ground--throat-shredding screams; fast, somewhat melodic double-picking mixed with gothic dirge riffs; and dark, warlike imagery are all standard elements within the black metal genre. However, they craft an excellent album from these elements, making their relative lack of originality easy to forgive.
Laurie Anderson - Homeland (Nonesuch/Elektra)
Minimalist, quasi-classical backing, over which the featured instrument--Anderson's voice--is given ample room to roam. It grows to fill the space it's given--talking, humming, singing, chanting. Bizarre, mesmerizing, and at points devastatingly topical, Homeland is a predictable addition to Anderson's oeuvre, but certainly not an unwelcome one.
Tourmaline - Save Me EP (tourmaline.bandcamp.com)
Decent mid-paced rock n' roll with a significant emo influence. Not bad, but I'd like to see more speed here. None of the songs do much more than stroll along, and while they're pleasant enough, sometimes pleasant is just a synonym for boring. Liven it up a little, guys.
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Moon Duo: Coming September 14 To Strange Matter
A particularly psychedelicized lovers collaboration, Moon Duo pump out endless twilight biker-rock riffs, punctuated by interstellar space echo and a repetitive, romping White Light White Heat drum-machine pulse. Like the Spacemen 3 motorized by Neu!, with the electric fuzz and fucked distorted organ sounds of the aforementioned Velvet Underground LP, Moon Duo riffs on “Love On The Sea” for over ten minutes--ten minutes of phased-out headiness where the Silver Apples-style cosmic synth and oscillations are drowned out by a plateau of perilous hooks on infinite loop. “Escape” is seven minutes of Psychocandy-outtake fuzz pop drifting over a Casiotone beat.
Modern psych-heads should recognize the guitar playing of Ripley Johnson from his other heady rock band, the Wooden Shjips. Already having played this summer at the bohemian-celebrated Big Sur forest in central California, as well as in Jeruselum and Tel Aviv, Moon Duo are true road dogs.
RVA RADIO: BbopNRokstedy August 2010 Mixtape
Electro Richmond duo BBopNRoksteday have released their first mixtape. You might have caught their set at WEIRD a few weeks ago or at the surprise RVA issue release party. Give it a listen and keep a look out.
1. Electrixx- Tetris
2. Mike & Charlie- I Get Live (Bird Peterson Remix)
Calvertron- Funky Jam (Cold Blank Remix)
3. Hiroki Esashika- Kazane (Disco of Doom Remix)
4. Benni Benassi- I Am Not Drunk (Bloody Beetroots Remix)
5. Electric Soulside- Feel Funky (Cold Blank Remix)
6. Dj Manie Ft. Casablanca Connect- Kiesz (Mightyfools Remix)
7. Aaren San- Apes from Space (Dirtyloud Remix)
8. Felix Cartal- Berlin (Religion Remix)
BbopNRokstedy- Us Us
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SHOW REVIEW: The Diamond Center, Tungs, Climbers
The Diamond Center, Climbers, and Tungs
August 26 at Strange Matter
Strange Matter--the most recent reincarnation of Richmond’s revered punk rock venue, 929 W. Grace St--was swimming in a sea of psychedelic bliss last Thursday night. The Diamond Center, Tungs, and Climbers performed for a sizable crowd, who were there to hear some of the most exciting new sounds in Richmond live and in person. The evening was a tremendous experience, as each artist helped to create a spacious yet sharply vibrant soundscape. It seemed to hang over the evening even between sets, producing a cohesive aesthetic that flowed through the divergent styles of the acts involved.
HIP-HOP PLAYLIST: The Jams Of Terry (Sept. 2010 edition)
Hey, my name’s Chris Terry. My friends call me “C.T.” Here are a few hip-hop and soul songs I’ve been hyped on this summer. I made a YouTube playlist so you can rock it while you read.
1. Am I A Good Man? – Them Two
From the incredibly solid rare soul comp, Numero Group’s Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label. Wonderful warm, up-front sound and cascading rhythm that reminds me of another favorite, “Fool for You” by The Impressions. While searching for this video, I saw that Band of Horses do a cover, which I assume sounds like a shoebox full of queefs.
SHOW REVIEW: Purple Rhinestone Eagle, The Catnip Dreams, etc.
The Grapefruit Experiment, The Catnip Dreams, Purple Rhinestone Eagle and Black Liquid
August 25 at Strange Matter
After expressing frustration with the way late shows on weeknights are often run, I found myself unwittingly becoming part of the problem last Wednesday night. I showed up at Strange Matter just after 10:30 and discovered that the first band was already halfway through their set. It's not fair to complain about shows starting late when you don't show up on time, is it? Mea culpa, mea culpa. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a decent turnout at the show. I tend to consider myself relatively "in the loop," and yet I had never heard of any of the bands that were playing. Therefore, I figured the show would be sparsely attended, which turned out to be a foolish assumption on my part. It just proves that being in the loop about one small segment of the scene does not mean that you know everything; there are probably other loops that you are out of, perhaps even to the extent that you don't know they exist.
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DAILY RECORD: Masshysteri
Masshysteri - Masshysteri (Feral Ward)
Umea, Sweden’s Masshysteri have never been able to live down their influences. Their previous releases all wore the same few reference points proudly on their sleeves: the drive of the Wipers, the male/female vocal harmonies of Dead Moon (though unlike Dead Moon, Masshysteri’s were on key), and the propulsive twang of surf music. They haven’t disavowed anything on their newest release, but Masshysteri has synthesized those elements more thoroughly than ever before, rendering each component of their sound a true influence, rather than just a record review reference point.
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MIXTAPE: DJ RNS, 'The BMORE Electro'
More great music from our boy DJ RNS. Check it.
Track List:
Drake -Find Your Love (DJ Style Bmore Remix)
DJ Fade - Scratchin Me Up
La Roux - Bulletproof (Dj K. Millz Bmore Remix)
La Roux - Bulletproof (Glasnost Remix)
Lil Jon Feat. 3Oh3 - Hey
Clinton Sparks Feat. DJ Class - Favorite DJ (BCC Remix)
Drake - Over/Go Insane (Larrikin Bmore Remix)
Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me (DJ Jonty Bmore Remix)
Usher Ft. Will.I.Am - OMG DJ Booman (Bmore Original Remix)
David Guetta Feat Fergie, LMFAO, Chris Willis - Gettin Over
Sleigh Bells - A/B Machines (French Horn Rebellion Remix)
Timbaland Feat Katy Perry - If We Ever Meet Again (Chew Fu Remix)
Tiesto - Louder Than Boom - Bart B More Remix
Lil Jon Feat. Pitbull - Work It Out
Ultimate - Its My Birthday
Usher Feat. Pitbull - DJ Got Us Fallin In Love (DJ Kue Remix)
LAX - Singin With Another (ELSTAR Remix)
Jason Derulo - Ridin' Solo (Justin Michael & Kemel Club Mix)
Jason Derulo - Ridin' Solo (Jump Smokers Remix)
Christina Aguilera - Not Myself Tonight (Laidback Luke Radio Edit)
Ne-Yo - Beautiful Monster (Mark Roberts Rmx)
Lady Gaga - Monster (DJ Kue Remix)
Katy Perry Feat Snoop - California Girls (Mikael Wills Remix)
Deadmau5 Feat Rob Swire - Ghosts N Stuff
Cullen - Easily Impressed (Calling In Sick Remix)
Black Eyed Peas - Rock That Body
Diddy Feat. TI - Hello Good Morning (Disco Fries Remix)
Ke$ha - Your Love Is My Drug
Taio Cruz - Dynamite
B.O.B. - Airplanes (DJ Megaman & Panic City Remix)
Taio Cruz Feat. Ke$ha - Dirty Picture
DOWNLOAD LINK www.mediafire.com/?w16ihha1mex2mcq
DJ RNS
www.DJRNS.com
DJ RNS aka Manotti da Vinci - Just $hut UP and DANCE Mix
http://soundcloud.com/djrns/dj-rns-aka-manotti-da-vinci-just-hut-up-and-...
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MIXTAPE: Grin
Some new music for you this afternoon. Really lovely indie stuff.
ghosts (laura marling)
in our talons (bowerbirds)
inni mer (sigur ros)
disney's ice parade (ballboy)
just like honey (headless heroes)
i wish that I could see you soon (herman dune)
integration (dengue fever)
what makes the cherry red (christine fellows)
DOWNLOAD LINK www.housepress.org/grin.zip
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Tesco Vee Presents Touch And Go
Tesco Vee is probably best known as the lead vocalist in the long-running, hilariously controversial anti-PC punk band The Meatmen. However, while he will be playing some music during his visit to Richmond on Monday, for once, music is not the main purpose of his visit. No, Tesco is on tour supporting a reissue of his original claim to fame: the complete archives of Touch And Go fanzine. Most people only know of Touch And Go as one of the best and longest-running independent record labels in the American punk/hardcore/alternative rock scene. Few are aware of the fact that the record label was merely an offshoot of the zine that started it all. Bazillion Points is hoping to correct this lapse in awareness with their recent reissue of all 22 issues of Touch And Go in one gigantic volume, and it is this hefty tome that Tesco Vee comes to Richmond to support. To that end, he'll be appearing at Chop Suey Books in Carytown from 6 to 8 PM on Monday for a signing and discussion.
Touch And Go: The Complete Hardcore Punk Zine 79-83 runs to nearly 550 pages and includes a great deal besides reprints of the original zines. A collection of introductory essays--from Vee, zine co-author Dave Stimson, book editor Steve Miller (former vocalist for early Touch And Go signees The Fix), former Necros bassist Corey Rusk (who took over the Touch And Go record label in the early 80s and has run it ever since), Negative Approach vocalist John Brannon, Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, and many other luminaries of American hardcore punk in the 80s and beyond--makes clear just how important Touch And Go was to the development of the American hardcore scene.
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SHOW REVIEW: The Protomen
The Protomen, Makeup And Vanity Set, and Craptain Jack And The Shmees
August 13 at Plaza Bowl
Plaza Bowl is an unlikely place for the fight that will determine mankind’s future. But last Friday, there they were: Richmond’s army, full of piss and vinegar, and just itching for a fight. When the Protomen came out, suited up and armed to the teeth, they were ready to deliver. “Warriors of Richmond! Are you going to FIGHT with us this evening?!” Said the robot in the jumpsuit. The crowd was ready. But first, there were the pirates, and then a ninja DJ to contend with. That was the scene Friday the 13th, when Plaza Bowl and everyone in it enlisted for the fight of their lives along with Craptain Jack and the Shmees, Makeup and Vanity Set, and The Protomen.
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