Yesterday afternoon, the Appleseed Cast's van and trailer were run off the road in KS. No members of the band were in the accident, but friend and tour mate Anthony Piazza of Muscle Worship was driving and luckily is OK. On the not so lucky side, Appleseed's trailer was completely destroyed, there are damages to their tour van, and many pieces of their gear were wrecked. If you have any loot to spare and want to help them get back on the road next week, we here at Graveface really appreciate it. If you donate a minimum of $15, you'll get their new (and incredible!) album, Illumination Ritual, in just about any digital format you can imagine. If you already have this record and simply want to donate, you can send your donations to gravefacerecords@hotmail.com
[Graveface Records].

Following a van collision earlier this week that destroyed their trailer, damaged the vehicle, and wrecked many pieces of gear, The Appleseed Cast are raising money in hopes of getting back on the road next week. As seen above, there are two ways to donate: via Bandcamp in exchange for a digital copy of TAC's new album, Illumination Ritual, OR via Paypal set up through gravefacerecords@hotmail.com. Their entire May tour schedule is in jeopardy of being scrapped.

TAC are also slated to play some more U.S. dates this summer. That tour includes a pair of shows at Fireside Bowl on August 8 & 9 with tourmates Heartscape Landbreak. An Aesthetic Anaesthetic will act as main support on August 8, and August 9 will feature Red Fox Grey Fox. Advance tickets for both shows are on sale now.

All known Appleseed Cast dates and a stream of Illumination Ritual are below...

Continue reading "The Appleseed Cast raising money following van collision, playing two nights at Fireside Bowl in August"

by Parker Langvardt

Shy, Low

Richmond, VA instrumental post-rock quartet Shy, Low will be playing the Fireside Bowl this Tuesday (7/3) with their hometown tour mates Comrades. Shy, Low are dynamic, with melodic ambience that can build to crushing chords and distorted bass. Comrades take a more technical, post-hardcore approach to their mostly instrumental music. The show will serve as the EP release for local headliner Loud Loud, and will also include a performance by the ambient, progressive pop quintet American Wolf. Like So will be opening with their pop-punk informed math rock. The show starts at 7:30 PM, and tickets will be available at the door.

Instrumental rock quartet An Aesthetic Anaesthetic will be playing Fireside Bowl the following Tuesday (7/10) with the more math-oriented instrumentalists Brownie Mountain. Also playing are a vaguely danceable post-punk band from Pennsylvania called Edelweiss, and Chicago math pop-rockers Options. The show starts at 7:30 PM, and tickets will be available at the door.

It will be An Aesthetic Anaesthetic's first show since opening for Battles at the Bottom Lounge, where they proved to be much tighter than their currently available albums. Their newest effort, NAMES, was recorded by Sanford Parker and will be released on August 8.

Some song streams below...

Continue reading "Fireside Bowl shows: Shy, Low this week, An Aesthetic Anaesthetic next week"

photos by John Yingling

Battles @ Bottom Lounge on 6/14/2012

On Thursday night (6/14) Battles visited Chicago to play the Bottom Lounge with support from locals An Aesthetic Anaesthetic. The trio were originally scheduled to appear at the venue on June 2 but had to postpone the gig due to a family emergency. Check out more pictures from the show below.

Continue reading "Battles & An Aesthetic Anaesthetic @ Bottom Lounge (pics)"

Local band An Aesthetic Anaesthetic have been tapped to open Battles' intimate Chicago show at the Bottom Lounge this Saturday (June 2). Parker Langvardt gave you a taste of the quartet last month, when he wrote about their new, Sanford Parker-produced LP. These guys put on one hell of a show and are a perfect fit for Battles' spazzy stylings. Tickets for the show are still available.

Do Division is also happening this weekend, which we suggested Battles might be playing. Well, turns out they aren't, but you can catch them at the Bottom Lounge.

Some An Aesthetic Anaesthetic song streams below (one of which can be downloaded)...

Continue reading "An Aesthetic Anaesthetic are opening for Battles on Saturday"

by Parker Langvardt

An Aesthetic Anaesthetic

In January, Chicago post-rock quartet An Aesthetic Anaesthetic used Kickstarter to raise just over $2,000 to put towards their sophomore full-length album, NAMES, which was recorded by producer Sanford Parker at Engine Studios over the course of four days last week. NAMES will be released via Chicago's Artistic Integrity Records, with an estimated street date of July 2012. There will be a total of 500 vinyl copies (100 colored and 400 black), with art by Robert Donis. There are also 17-test pressings of the LP, four of which are claimed by Kickstarter contributors, with custom jackets by Grant Kersey.

An Aesthetic Anaesthetic released their second EP, Ghosts in the Red Wilderness, in February of 2011 and their debut full-length, Before the Machinery of Other Skeletons (a solid Allen Ginsberg reference), in August of 2011. They achieved a variety of moods through these mostly-instrumental recordings by combining elements of post-rock, math rock, punk, and metal. The band have stated that NAMES will be darker than previous efforts and that their goal in recording with Sanford Parker was "to harness the raw energy of their live show."

To experience that raw energy in the near future, head over to Schubas on Friday night (April 6) to catch them opening up for Cleveland's eclectic rock duo Mr. Gnome. Joining them will be Chicago dance-rockers Blane Fonda, who also used Kickstarter to raise funds for their recently released EP, Foolish Croon. Tickets are still available.

Some song streams from both AAA and Blane Fonda, below...

Continue reading "An Aesthetic Anaesthetic recorded an LP w/ Sanford Parker; playing Schubas TOMORROW w/ Mr. Gnome"