words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Ryan Muir

Steve Albini in Shellac

"We're taking a bath, but I don't care," Barry Hogan told [Sasha Frere-Jones]. We were standing in the makeshift production office for the All Tomorrow's Parties festival, at Kutsher's, a resort in the Catskills.

Kutsher's, where Muhammad Ali trained and a thousand schticks were born, was once the jewel of the Borscht Belt. The main venue at Kutsher's, the Stardust Ballroom, has a capacity of 2,800. But Hogan seemed largely unbothered that only 1,800 tickets to ATP had sold. It is 2009, after all.

"My name is Sufjan Stevens and I am going to play all of my Seven Swans album. That should be a good early afternoon hangover sort of thing"

Considering the bad coffee situation and the fun that I had the day before, Sufjan was spot on. Clad in tie-dye that the band had purchased at the general store at Kutsher's, the five piece were delicate, light and lilting. Sufjan's bright banjo strums and songs, like the sunny "Sister", resonated so well in the Stardust Ballroom. The Seven Swans album was an excellent choice for a wake-up set on the second day of the three day upstate NY festival (Saturday, September 12, 2009).

After Sufjan, I wandered over to catch a crew of young Aussies named Bridezilla. Though their name is a touch offputting, guitarist/vocalist Holiday Sidewinder has a sexy and breathy coo that recalled PJ Harvey and their her cocktail-dress-ed crew were a surprise and a delight.

Grouper were next, and as a fan of 2008's Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, I was eager to check out Liz Harris's ambient soundscapes. Playing to a projection of an ocean at night, the stage show wasn't much visually but the tides of noise was otherworldly.

Conversely, Black Dice in the same room was a psychedelic mindfuck. Blasts of tribal noise beats nodded heads and shook them in equal measure.

As a fan of Bradford Cox, it was great to see him pull a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning with Atlas Sound. Rolling solo with guitar, harmonica, and some backing tracks, Cox was engaging both in song and with between song banter. I would regrettably end up missing Deerhunter's set a few hours later. Drowned in Sound was there though:

Bradford Cox is a picture of serenity as he swaps his shirt for a more tasteful number and leads Deerhunter into their Saturday night set. He announces that this will be their last performance for some time, causing the band to roll out the hits in quick-fast fashion. They gallop through 'Cryptograms' and 'Nothing Ever Happened', the positively herculean double guitar sound feeling unstoppable and a sense of jubilation ricocheting between the walls as people succumb to these great big shining pop songs. The closing 'Calvary Scars' is a slab of beautiful kraut-pop, with Lockett Pundt's metallic Tim Gane-esque strum leading the way, face-painted kids jerking their bodies back and forth, and Cox looking genuinely sad that this will be the last time these songs will be wrung from his fingers and throat for a while.

Anti-Pop Consortium was my next venture, the first time I had ever seen the crew though I was a long time fan. On the Stardust Ballroom system, APC's distorted and creative beats sounded amazing but save for Beans energetic movement, I was less than impressed with their live show. Live hip hop is hard to pull off, and those who try should heed the great Rakim who said "to me MC means move the crowd". If you want to give them a chance, they're at Santos Party House on September 29th.

Sleepy Sun were line checking when I got back to the second stage, with vocalist Rachael Williams checking her levels in the monitor

"Check. Check. I. Hi. Me. You. All of you. Us. Getting nervous."

If they had nerves, the band channeled them into positive energy. Sleepy Sun's influences fit right in with their hometown, San Francisco, as the band dabble in a psychedelic California sound with some krautrock-y elements. I was most struck by their fantastic drummer Brian Tice as well as vocalist Williams, who ripped out a solo that had the crowd shouting and applauding. Wayne Coyne watched the band from stage left, clearly impressed.

After an elongated line check, El-P came on and with a four-piece band (Chin Chin) and hypeman (Mighty Quinn) to the sound of "Tasmanian Space Coaster". I have a soft spot for El-Producto's Blade Runner beats and post-apocalyptic rhyme styles, and it was great to see a Hip Hop artist who actually puts an emphasis on his live show. As a matter of fact, El-P put a little too much of himself out there, almost falling off the stage after pogo-ing around during "Smithereens". Careful dude... we need a follow-up to I'll Sleep When You're Dead.

I hadn't seen Akron/Family since the then more acoustic-centric band played Tonic many years ago (with Hamid Drake?) and it was refreshing to see their energy were still in place. Against a backdrop of a tie-dyed American flag, the band played a rousing and ripping set. It's good to see that the loss of Ryan Vanderhoof to a Buddhist center hasn't slowed them a bit.

Autolux had the discordant riffs, feedback squalls, and a 90s alt punk sound to hit all of the right influences (Joy Division, Sonic Youth, etc), but unfortunately didn't really distinguish themselves from their influences. Autolux isn't offensive by any means, just not compelling or distinctive, and I find it a touch disappointing that guitarist Greg Edwards was a member of Failure (a band that I dug).

Dead Meadow and their fuzzy freakout psych blues were riffing on Stage Two towards the end of the Autolux set, but by half way in, the crowd had diminished considerably due to Shallac on the main. For shame, as the trio played a ripping set!

continued below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 - Day 2 pics & review (Atlas Sound, Deerhunter, El-P, Boss Hog, Shellac, Animal Collective, Dead Meadow...) "

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Hopewell - "Stranger" (MP3)

Hopewell

If you haven't noticed, ATP NY is a little more than a week away, and though there will be a ton of one-off appearances at the festival, one could ATTEMPT to see all of the bands in their NYC appearances. I prefer to kill all of it in one fell swoop, and that's why the ATP set times are below. For those that prefer the former, this post is also for you, as we rounded up some of the NYC shows that surround this mammoth festival.

One show we haven't mentioned thus far is Hopewell, who in addition to their support slot for Dead Meadow on 9/9 on a Rocks Off Cruise, will also play an "ATP warm-up show" at The Cameo Art Gallery show on 9/10 with a full choir (!) and projections. To be more specific, they will actually be performing the Desperation Suite set that they put together for ATP NY.

Want to go to Dead Meadow/Hopewell on the boat? I have TWO PAIRS of tickets to give away. More details on how to enter at the bottom of this post.

Boredoms are scheduled to play Boadrum 9 at Terminal 5 on 9/9 (at 9:09:09?). Tickets are still available.

The Feelies have set aside 9/13 for Brooklyn (namely, Southpaw -tix here) to play TWO sets, that's as many days after they play Crazy Rhythms in it's entirety at ATP.

Circulatory System plays Le Poisson Rouge on 9/9 (tickets).

Deerhoof is scheduled to play Le Poisson Rouge on 9/15. Tickets are on sale.

Melvins are touring NYC with Down, Weedeater, and Evil Army, hitting Nokia on 9/11 (tix). The band headlines ATP Stage Two on 9/12 (Sat).

Super Furry Animals have a pair of NYC-area dates scheduled, including Maxwell's on 9/12 and Highline on 9/11. Tickets for both are here.

Grouper is scheduled to team up with Tim Hecker for a show as part of the Wordless Music Series on 9/11. Tickets are still available.

Dirty Three play Bowery Ballroom on 9/13 (tix), two days after they play Ocean Songs in full at ATP.

The Drones are scheduled to play all of their LP Wait Long By The River at ATP, and will also play The Bell House on 9/9. Tickets are still available. Bridezilla will support The Drones at The Bell House and are also playing The Annex on 9/10.

And last, but certainly not least, Autolux & Sleepy Sun are teaming up at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg on 9/14 (tix) and 9/15 (tix) respectively.

Check out the ATP NY Set Times below....

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 is almost here - SET TIMES & related NYC SHOWS (including Hopewell w/ a choir & on a boat) "

All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) is happy to announce its return to Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York for the 2nd annual ATP New York festival. The event will be held Sept 11-13, 2009. Last year's festival, co-curated by My Bloody Valentine, was a critical and cultural success with rave reviews from media and fans. This year's Fest will be co-curated by The Flaming Lips.

ATP has announced the final lineup additions to this year's festival. That includes the comedians who will be joining David Cross on Friday night, and official confirmation that it will in fact be Bob Mould who will be playing Husker Du songs (a whole LP to be exact) with No Age (who also just announced some NYC shows). Every act who plays Sunday will be playing some kind of special set...

Recently added were Crystal Castles, Super Furry Animals, Boris performing Feedbacker, Low Lows and "Oneida presents the Ocropolis" - where Oneida will transport the impetus, spirit and community of their multidisciplinary studio/performance space, The Ocropolis, to ATP for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, combined with the astounding Mighty Robot Visuals light crew. Other announced acts include Boredoms continuing their BOADRUM series, performing with 9 drummers on stage. Deerhoof will perform with special visuals by Martha Colburn. Caribou will perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble, with a 4 piece horn section, 4 drummers and a choir and guests that include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet/Fridge/Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane), Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra) and more.

Other brand new additions to Sunday are Menomena, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Birds Of Avalon, and Hopewell.

Circulatory System, was added in the last announcement, and have since revealed an entire tour. Dead Meadow play ATP on Saturday and will perform on a boat in NYC that same week. The Feelies have a Brooklyn show scheduled. Super Furry Animals play NYC and NJ in addition to ATP. The list of related shows goes on...

Unfortunately missing from the ATP NY schedule is Nick Cave - not that he was ever supposed to be there, but in addition to being very involved with ATP in general, he was recently confirmed to be only a short car ride away just one day after the festival ends. Full 2009 lineup below...

Continue reading "ATP NY final 2009 lineup -- Bob Mould (now official), Eugene Mirman, Menomena, Hopewell & more (but not Nick Cave) "

Sufjan Stevens w/ Clogs @ BAM in February (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

We are extremely excited to announce the addition of Sufjan Stevens to the ATP-curated Saturday lineup. Stevens, who will be releasing Run Rabbit Run (a re-arrangement of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit) in October, has not played a US show in over two years, and this is sure to be a special performance. [ATP NY]

Sufjan is one of the most recent additions to ATP NY, running September 11th-13th in Monticello, NY. It'll be his first show in a while, though over the past year Sufjan has made appearances joining St. Vincent at BAM, The Welcome Wagon at St. Paul's Lutheran and the Clogs with My Brightest Diamond (which you can see above) again at BAM .

Sufjan will be joined on the Saturday bill by new additions Shellac, Circulatory System and Grouper (who we previously announced).

On the Sunday, the Flaming Lips-curated bill has added Crystal Castles, who has been touring North America and Europe. They're also on the schedule for All Points West on August 1st.

Other Sunday additions are Super Furry Animals (who are also playing Maxwell's and Highline Ballroom), Boris, Low Lows and Oneida, the latter of which will perform a special set, described below...

"Oneida presents the Ocropolis" - where Oneida will transport the impetus, spirit and community of their multidisciplinary studio/performance space, The Ocropolis, to ATP for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, combined with the astounding Mighty Robot Visuals light crew.

Limited tickets for the fest are still on sale. Ongoing coverage of ATP NY and related NYC-area shows HERE. Full lineup so far below...

Continue reading "ATP NY adds Sufjan Stevens, Boris, Shellac, Crystal Castles & more - full updated lineup"

Boss Hog @ Maxwell's (more by Tim Griffin)

Friday will feature a first New York show in a long time by The Jesus Lizard and newly announced, ATP favourites Iron and Wine. They will join the Don't Look Back shows also taking place on Friday: The Feelies performing Crazy Rhythms, New York's finest Suicide performing their first LP, Dirty Three performing Ocean Songs and The Drones performing Wait Long By The River... The evening will be rounded off with the Comedy Stage hosted and curated by the one and only David Cross.

Saturday is curated by ATP and is headlined by Animal Collective and an exclusive performance by Panda Bear. Other confirmed acts include the newly announced Boss Hog, Deerhunter and Bridezilla, plus the previously announced Melvins, Black Dice, Dead Meadow, Autolux, EL-P, Akron Family, Antipop Consortium, Atlas Sound and the hotly tipped Sleepy Sun.

Sunday is curated by the outlandish Flaming Lips. Every act that plays will perform an exclusive special show, bespoke for this event. First up are the Boredoms who will continue their BOREDRUM [BOADRUM?] series, performing with 9 drummers on stage. No Age will perform a whole LP by Husker Du including special guest vocalist [um... Bob Mould?]. Deerhoof will perform with special visuals by Martha Colburn. Caribou will perform as Caribou Vibration Ensemble, with a 4 piece horn section, 4 drummers and a choir and guests that include Kieran Hebden (Four Tet/Fridge/Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid), Koushik (Stones Throw Records), John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac), Kathryn Bint (One Little Plane), Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane) and more. Finally Stardeath and White Dwarfs also join the line-up, with lots more to be announced!

This is great. Full (current) lineup (in list format), and more info, below...

Continue reading "ATP NY 2009 adds more acts & crazy stuff w/ Boredoms, Iron & Wine, Boss Hog, Deerhunter, No Age & more..."