The For Carnation are a post-rock band from Louisville, Kentucky who formed in 1994. The band was formed by Brian McMahan, who is the only constant group member. McMahan's previous band Slint hinted at the distinctive sound and sombre aesthetic he would create in the For Carnation. To date they have released an EP and two albums: Fight Songs (Matador Records, 1995), Marshmallows (Matador, 1996), and The For Carnation (Touch and Go Records, 2000). Fight Songs and Marshmallows were compiled into one record, Promised Works, and released by Runt in 1997. Promised Works was re-released by Touch and Go Records in 2007. The band has included Doug McCombs and Johnny "Machine" Herndon of Tortoise, Todd Cook (Shipping News) as well as Britt Walford and David Pajo of Slint.

The For Carnation are on for TONIGHT (12/17), when the team up with Mountains at Knitting Factory. Tickets are still available. The band recently played a show at ATP's 10th anniversary, as well as a prior warm up show in their native Louisville. No word on if Dave Pajo will he in the house for the show, like he was for ATP.

David Pajo is actually out on tour with Gene Ween which means you can catch him opening the show Wednesday at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and again the day after that at Highline Ballroom. Tonight/Sunday Gene doesn't have a show though, and David is using his day off to headline the Knitting Factory's Old Office space. Men and Women, Hard Bop and 1200 Trees are also on the bill. In related news, David is putting out a Misfits cover record. He explains...

I'll explain more after the record comes out, but basically I recorded a bunch of misfits songs at a friend's house with a radio shack mic duct taped to a cymbal stand into one of those 70s handheld cassette recorders (back when they had huge hands). it sounded like shit. I was recording the songs to get warmed up (I was about to start work on what became the PAJO record). I usually pick a songwriter that I like and learn some of their songs to get into the mindset. who better than glenn danzig?!

this was in 2004. I forgot all about it but somehow that tape circulated. chan marshal told me she heard it at a photo session a few years ago. it moved to the west coast. it had kids, formed governments, started revolutions. my friend dirk asked me if he could release it on vinyl.

hellz yeh, I replied.

Angelfuck is streaming at MySpace. All dates below...

Continue reading "David Pajo - 2008 Tour Dates (3 NYC shows), Misfits covers"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Dead Child - "Sweet Chariot" (MP3) from Attack, out now on Quarterstick.

Sometimes you just want to forget about texture, subtlety, beauty, and building momentum and you just want to pummel someone over the head. Repeatedly. In a good way. I am pretty sure that's how David Pajo must have felt when he and some of his comrades from the mighty Slint decided to give birth (sorry, couldn't resist) to Dead Child. Think 80s thrash, Maiden, The Sword. Dead Child is:

Dave Pajo (Slint, Tortoise)
Tony Bailey (Lords)
Todd Cook (Slint)
Dahm (Phantom Family Halo)
Michael McMahan (Slint)

Members of Slint AND Lords in the same band. Ouchie. Their tour started last night in Kentucky, and tickets are on sale for two upcoming NYC shows. All dates below....

Continue reading "Dead Child - 2008 Tour Dates, new album, MP3"

DOWNLOAD: Sloan Wainwright - Silent Night (MP3)

This was maybe going to be a post about how the-band-recently-signed-to-Secretly-Canadian Bodies of Water posted some free Christmas songs for download on their MySpace page, but then this message they posted on the homepage of their regular website seemed even more interesting...

12.21.07 - I can't understand why anyone likes these musical groups and singers:

Wilco
Jeff Buckley
Elvis Costello
The Police
Slint
Rush
Joni Mitchell
Steely Dan
Afghan Whigs

Perhaps you are offended by this. If so, I feel glad. You need to be shaken up. You need to have whatever skewed values you've cultivated over the years CHALLENGED. Listen again to this stuff - you will see that it is junk. (I say all this with the utmost sincerity, but I'm sure that in a year or two 'synchronicity' will be on heavy rotation in my house. This goes for all of these except for Steely Dan. I will never, ever like Steely Dan as long as I live.)

And to that Steely Dan might say...

Check out the Bodies of Water take away show @ La Blogoteque (and while you're at it, check out the new Jens Lekman one too).

Slint @ Pitchfork Fest 2007 (CRED)

The performance of Spiderland was perfect. Every build up, every release was exactly how it was recorded seventeen years ago, but now it was immediate and on the stage in front of me. Although it was hard to finally put a face to the voice that whispers “I’m trying to find my way back home,” it was quite the way to open the festival. However, after they finished the last notes of “Good Morning Captain,” they slipped into what I am assuming is a new song that I wish had ended as soon as it began. [Perpetual Nervousness]

Last night (July 27, 2007), Slint did it at Webster Hall in NYC.

First Morrissey, and now Slint....

Slint will no longer be playing the July 18th Don’t Look Back concert date at Webster Hall. Fear not, all tickets for that show can be swapped out for spots on the 17th, when they will still be performing Spiderland in its entirety.

Poor Slint.

Today Evan Korte concludes his review of the 2007 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain. If you're just joining us, why not start with day one and day two? And now, day three....

The Good The Bad & The Queen @ Primavera Sound 2007 (CRED)

The Good the Bad and the Queen (or the band with no name): The first few hours of Saturday’s Primavera were uneventful for me. I got there later than I wanted to, and only saw the last song of Ted Leo’s set. I was thoroughly unimpressed by both the Long Blondes and Architecture in Helsinki, and chilled in the back for Patti Smith.

The Good, the Bad and the Queen was the first concert in which I had high expectations. I haven’t heard the album, but I mean come on - with all the talent in that band I’d be an idiot not to check it out. Unfortunately it was a disappointment. A mere two days after the concert, the only thing that stands out in my mind is how badass bassist Paul Simonon looked hopping around in his suit, smoking cigarettes with no hands, and chugging whiskey like it was Kool-Aid. I guess an apt analogy would be seeing the Dream Team in a free throw shooting contest. Damon Albarn’s songs did absolutely nothing for me, and drummer Tony Allen and guitarist Simon Tong were completely under utilized. Everyone else in the crowd seemed to be pretty into it though.

Sonic Youth @ Primavera Sound 2007 (CRED)

Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation! I must confess that my overall Sonic Youth expertise is not that great. I had only heard Daydream Nation a couple of times in passing, but I mean everyone loves that album, and it was the first time ever that they performed it from beginning to end. They went on at 11:35 which meant I'd have to miss most of Hot Chip who were going on at 12. I made the right decision - the album rocked live! They mentioned several times that they hadn’t played many of the songs in seventeen years, but I thought they sounded incredible. The band was just so incredibly tight. Thurston Moore and the drummer absolutely blew me away. I forgot how experimental, yet melodic that album is. They're performing the album again at McCarren Park Pool in July, and I would encourage all of you to cough up the 34 dollars or whatever it is and go. You won’t be disappointed. They played a second, shorter set of newer material, but I had to skip that to check out the Buzzcocks.

The Buzzcocks @ Primavera Sound 2007 (CRED)

The Buzzcocks: My biggest conflict of the festival was between the Buzzcocks and Grizzly Bear. As much as I love Yellow House, the Buzzcocks are legends. I simply could not miss the opportunity to see them live, even if there are only two original members in the band. This was possibly the best show of the festival. They look like old men now, but who cares? They still know how to rock with the best of them. I was up front eagerly awaiting the first song, and as soon as the first notes were played, a gigantic moshpit erupted all around me. When they came out for the encore, Steve Diggle was clearly wasted. He told all of us to, “Stop watching MTV, it’s killing your minds!” about ten times. It was the last show of their tour, they were thrilled to be there, and the audience was ecstatic to be watching them. At the end of the show, nearly everyone that had been shoving me around like a pin ball, put their arm around me or gave me a high five. What a great time. Highlights included “Orgasm Addict,” “What Do I Get,” “Autonomy,” and “Ever Fallen in Love.”

Editor's Note: While Evan was moshing to the Buzzcocks, Zach from Beirut was busy jumping up and down on stage with Grizzly Bear...

Wilco @ Primavera Sound 2007 (CRED)

Wilco: My Primavera experience ended satisfyingly with Wilco, though I was a bit disappointed. The new songs sounded great live, and the band certainly has the best musicians that they’ve ever had. Guitarist Nels Cline plays the pedal steel like a Nashville veteran. Glen Kotche is one of the best drummers around. The band on any given song is able to take a number of noisy, avant-garde detours and still get back to the main melody of the song that they are playing in a heartbeat. I guess my biggest complaints are with the song selections. No “Heavy Metal Drummer,” only a couple of songs off of Summer Teeth, and nothing off of Being There. The set was pretty much an exact replica of the one I saw them play at Lollapalooza last summer. Jeff Tweedy is a masterful songwriter, and Wilco are still one of the best bands around, but you get the feeling that they are slipping into complacency a little bit. And that would be a terrible thing. Still though, there’s nothing wrong with watching adventurous musicians do what they do best. Highlights include “A Shot in the Arm,” “Jesus Etc.” “I’m the Man Who Loves You,” “Via Chicago,” and “Shake it Off.”

Primavera Sound 2007 (CRED)

Overall, Primavera Sound was an amazing festival. I saw just twelve bands out of the twenty or thirty that I wanted to see. That’s a testament to what a great job the organizers did. They know what the hipsters want to hear. Of course there were flaws (the most glaring one being the sound problems on the ATP stage), but anytime you have this many great bands in one place it’s going to be mostly spectacular. If they keep putting lineups together like this one, I’ll be heading back very soon.

Editor's Note again: Though Evan did catch Daydream Nation, he missed Slint play Spiderland on the first day of the festival. Videos below....

Continue reading "2007 Primavera Sound Festival - day three (Saturday June 2)"