photos by Tim Griffin

Deerhunter/Kaleidoscope/Man or Astroman @ APF 4/27/2013

Deerhunter took a long time setting up, and a long time scuffling through a needlessly elaborate twinkle-rock atmospheric intro, but at their peak they've got an impeccably sharp sound that cuts through the self-conscious drone from the rest of the weekend. Imminent new album Monomania mixed in with enough old favorites to keep the unfamiliar material from sounding too austere.

The star of the show was, as usual, Bradford Cox, the effusive, easily annoyed frontman at the center of the band's artistic posture. Sometimes we get the pensive, pissed-off Bradford who rips through the set as fast as possible. Other times you get the casual, extremely talkative Bradford who keeps things as unpredictable as possible. The latter showed up Saturday wearing a dress and wig.

At one point, upon hearing their van's car alarm going off, he casually retorted, "Hey, this is a psychedelic festival, let's just jam on that." Sure enough, he and his band used that bleat to launch into a beautiful stargazing instrumental. It was as impressive as it was funny, and certainly not something you're going to see every night.

That's the beauty of having a guy like Bradford Cox around. - [Austin Chronicle]

Spirits at Day 2 (4/27) of Austin Psych Fest were literally dampened, a little, with an shower that interupted Os Mutantes' set, but the rain couldn't wash away the good vibes at Carson Creek ranch, especially with a line-up that also included Deerhunter, Boris, Black Mountain, Man or Astroman? and Black Mountain, to name just a few. Saturday also welcomed '60 cult band Kaleidoscope (best known for minor hit "Flight from Ashiya") whose Psych Fest appearance was part of the band's first-ever U.S. tour:

Backed by a all-star band that included Rob Campanella from Brian Jonestown Massacre along with Nick Castro and Christof Certik from the Young Elders, Daltrey unloaded a treasure chest of vintage, late-Sixties British psychedelia. If the setup and line checks took longer than normal, it was only because the band had a passion for getting the sound and feel just right. Even the vintage keyboards rang with authenticity. - [Austin Chronicle]

That Kaleidoscope tour didn't hit NYC unfortunately but Boris and Man or Astroman? will both be here soon. A set of photos from Day 1 are HERE and you can check out more shots from Day 2 below.

Continue reading "Austin Psych Fest: Day 2 in pics (Deerhunter, Boris, Black Mountain, Kaleidoscope, Man or Astroman? ++ more) "

Tamaryn is DJing at New York's Museum of Modern Art on Sunday evening (4/7) as part of a PopRally event called "Abstract Currents." Against projections of one-minute videos submitted by the public, Tamryn will provide a "hypnotic soundtrack to the collectively built abstract videoscape." It's in conjunction with MoMA's Abstraction, 1910-1925 and Abstract Generation: Now in Print exhibition and tickets are still available.

Later this month, Tamaryn will be in Texas' state capital for Austin Psych Fest (Apr. 26 - 28), which features a pretty amazing line-up that runs the gammut of "psychedelic," including Deerhunter, Spectrum, Black Mountain, OS Mutantes, The Moving Sidewalks, Clinic, Besnard Lakes, Elephant Stone, Roky Erickson, Sweden's GOAT and a bunch more. The fest just announced the day-by-day line-ups which are listed below.

Continue reading "Tamaryn DJing MoMA; Austin Psych Fest finalizes lineup"

words by BBG, photos by Samantha Marble

Slayer

In 1991 there was The Clash of The Titans tour, a meeting of some of the biggest names in metal at the moment with Slayer, Megadeth, and Testament all on board for European and US legs featuring a rotating cast of Alice In Chains, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies, and more. A lot of time and changes have come to pass since that tour; Slayer lost their founding drummer and then found him, Testament battled cancer and arrived victorious, and Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine has a NY Times best-selling book among many other things. But nineteen years later, these thrash metal giants are still kicking around and reformed for a string of summer/fall dates that included the Izod Center in NJ on August 12th (and includes Nassau Coliseum on October 8th, where the classic lineup of Anthrax replaces Testament as opener).

Testament opened the Meadowlands show to a progressively growing audience at 7PM. The band's 40 minute set featured output from their career, with a few nods to their latest From Formation to Damnation. Although I enjoyed their set somewhat, the sound was unintelligible; guitars were completely buried in the mix with only the highest leads bleeding through the mud. That said, Alex Skolnick still knows how to rip it, Chuck Billy plays a mean air guitar, and they definitely know how to incite a killer Wall of Death (check out the video below).

Normally a set by Megadeth wouldn't get my heart racing, but tonight was Rust in Peace in it's entirety so I was guaranteed some of my favorite Megadeth songs. The band, now with Dave Ellefson back in the fold, followed Testament by launching directly into the classic Rust In Peace opener "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due". Sporting the classic "biohazard" emblazoned drumkit from the "Hangar 18" video, the band continued through the LP in track order declaring declaring "That was Rust In Peace!" at the finish and retreating from stage momentarily for a quick costume change afterword. Megadeth then looped back to classics like "Peace Sells" and "Symphony of Destruction" before a reprise of "Holy Wars" to close out the set. Mustaine's voice was a bit buried in the mix from my perspective, a relief in some ways as when he did come through it was too high pitched and nasal for my liking.

Little has changed since the last time I saw Slayer. Jeff Hanneman is still sporting the baseball catcher's shin plates, rockin a Raiders jersey and has his Heineken-style (that reads Hanneman) guitar. Kerry King still looks like a cross between Junkyard Dog and a cast member of Road Warrior. Dave Lombardo is still one of the best drummers on the planet. But what had changed was Tom Araya, due to his recent back surgery: no more head on a swivel, doctor's orders. The thrashing Araya was missed, but that didn't affect the legend's searing set of Seasons In The Abyss (in order) followed by a short set of Slayer classics. Easily my favorite preformance from the night. Dave Lombardo is god.

Tons more pics, some video and the set lists are below...

Continue reading "Slayer, Megadeth & Testament played classics, led a Wall of Death @ the Izod Center (pics, video, setlists) "

During their performance at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin on Saturday (11/8), Tony Foresta announced that lame bands like Atreyu and Yelloward were doing the wall of death at their shows and therefore this would be Municipal Waste's last. The crowd was essentially challenged to make it extra special, and this is how it came out...

Continue reading "Municipal Waste's final wall of death @ FFF Fest (video)"