David Bazan // Autotrophic Agony

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I fought against the bottle... but I had to do it drunk.

There's something in that. A sort of weary wisdom. Something that David Bazan, despite his protests to the contrary, shares with the author; with the weariest and wisest - Leonard Cohen.

David might have you believe that the relationship is one of admirer to artist, but throughout his career (from Pedro The Lion to Headphones to Bazan to a dingy corner in the basement of The Captain's Rest) Bazan's work has similarly displayed a simultaneously self-nourishing and self-loathing quality. An autotrophic agony.

Each work comes with a new expression of maturity that undermines what came before and a struggle for hope that inspires whatever is coming next. It'd be reductive to simply call this a quest for self-improvement, in the meantime David will probably try and 'be as honest and relatively well-behaved' as he can be. In his own words:

It's hard to be a decent human being.

Music by Postdata // Photo by Lyle Owerko

Posted at 16:47, 12th April 2010

Municipal Waste // Wrong Answer

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When people talk about the 'Thrash Metal Revival' they make two mistakes: the assumption that thrash metal was dead and the assumption that someone is bringing it back. Thrash metal wasn't dead, thrash metal was never alive. Thrash metal is undead. Municipal Waste aren't bringing thrash metal back, they're killing it over and over again.

The self-proclaimed 'punks playing metal' come with a live show famous (read imfamous) that combines the party attitude of two of music's most irrevrent, hard fun-loving genres. But, circle pits (some spanning two floors of King Tuts' venue space??), stagedives and partying aren't the sole concerns of these Richmond face-melter-shredder-thrasher-rippers. Vocalist Tony Foresta takes us through the rest of the important stuff... oh, and the partying as well.

Posted at 19:40, 19th March 2010

Baroness // Woah. Where?

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Something is happening in Savannah.

There's a journalistic cliché about 'sonic landscapes' that gets thrown around when... well, whenever. In response, Baroness and fellow Savannah progressive sludge metal outfit Kylesa are busy making some geographically inclined PR stooges feel pretty fucking dumb. If the usual landscape pushed in press releases is an anonymous middle-class suburb on a foggy day, then the environment created by Baroness is more akin to the band's roots in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains or their current hometown's desert namesake.

There's a plurality of meaning and texture in the band's "tracks" (whether live or recorded, listeners aren't really offered the privilege of the arbitrary repose between movements that this title would imply) that does most of Baroness' talking/landscaping for them. The listener is given no on-stage banter, no road-side directions. They are left with nothing other than a carefully orchestrated aural panorama and the feeling of not knowing where the fuck they are or where the fuck they're going.

They talked to us.

Artwork by John Dyer Baizley

Posted at 17:49, 19th March 2010

Yeasayer // Pied Pipers of Paris

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The Yeasayer greenroom was littered with half eaten chickens and bottles of beer, the decadent backdrop of the Oran Mor’s stain glass dappled hall lead me to expect Robert the Bruce to come stalking out. Instead, I chatted with the understated and chilled, Anand Wilder from the band about his dream to create a musical about coal mines, Mexican sheep riding children, infectious nanorobots, spoons…amongst other things.

Yeasayer have been washing over us with their self-labelled ‘Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel’ music since 2006 and this year has seen them release their second album entitled ‘Odd Blood’ and gain more recognition in the United Kingdom. Subcity caught up with them on the second date of their forthcoming European and North American tour.

Posted at 21:54, 24th February 2010

Marble Valley // Perty

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"Feels good being back on Sauchiehall Street, I remember this street when it was just dirt, but that was in a previous life."

Although Marble Valley have been around since 1997, you might consider them a side-project, but they are actually a party band, a self-proclaimed party band, proclaimed onstage by frontman Steve West --who in his current life cycle has been part of both Pavement and Silver Jews-- the rest of Marble Valley (Andy Dimmack, Remko Schouten, James Waudby, Beige and Carl Hogarth) seemed pretty psyched (read: a bit drunk) about touring the new Marble Valley EP Super Sober, because... well it's a lot of fun. Plus, they get to drink some quality whisky and usually they are either in the recording studio or front-of-house; this is a band comprised of the "other" guys who clearly enjoy being the main-show.

Since having babies and leaving New York behind, Steve West has lived in the "boondocks", living in relative sobriety and recording a variety of artists, one of these artists being the stonemason he began his stonemason apprenticeship with. So, in-between this "boondock" life of carpentry, stonemasonry and fatherhood, Steve West writes some songs for Marble Valley.

I talked to Steve about the Grateful Dead, Elvis, and astronauts's I thought it might be apt to share my thoughts on the latest black matter study and the Disclosure project, but I edited that bit out... well most of it.

Josh Hill // Photo: Marble Valley's Myspace

Posted at 23:37, 16th February 2010

Foreign Beggars // Rhymes with Glasgow

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Interviewing Foreign Beggars after their show seemed easy enough at first, yet after watching them produce roughly 30 minutes of devastating hardcore hip hop consisting of both fast raps and unbelievably technical beat boxing it seemed that perhaps this was an underestimation of the task. However it was quickly discovered that the on stage persona of the crew is more of a mask and that these guys were really just into having a good time.

Candidly speaking about their musical experiences, and confessing as to their opinion about whether Glasgow or Edinburgh produces a better crowd to play in front of, the tired London underground and hardcore hip hop crew had just finished the final leg of their tour as lead-up guests for the Prodigy on the recent ‘Run With The Wolves’ UK tour.

After playing an intense nine shows in 12 nights in front of one of the most well-known hardcore groups in the world, Foreign Beggars seemed in a jokingly good mood and had not let the experience affect their attitude, maintaining an air of humility.

Posted at 20:44, 11th February 2010