surfer blood [live]

The Parish has done an excellent job recently of really helping me get into an appropriate summer mood (as if the weather wasn't enough). The small upstairs concert hall at the House of Blues has been host to many impressive acts like Tennis, Holiday Shores, and Surfer Blood in the past two weeks alone.

Last Wednesday a surprising crowd came out to see Florida beach indie-rockers Holiday Shores and Surfer Blood do what they do best. As a huge fan of Holiday Shores' debut record, Columbus'd the Whim, it was much to my chagrin to hear only two songs from the 2009 gem. But even in the shadow disappointment, I was thoroughly impressed with the bands overall delivery. Many of the Shores tracks, performed live, are given liberties by the band to develop and evolve, allowing them to become entities of their own and go places that may not be experienced otherwise. Though this tended to account for a playlist composed of many longer pieces, an atmosphere of depth and timelessness, reminiscent of the Doors, was achieved.

The energetic and talented musicians that make up Surfer Blood were nothing short of extraordinary. When a band drenches their music in as much reverb as these guys do, it's always hard to know what you should expect live. But rest assured hipsters, my skepticism has been put to bed and I'm a believer; the delivery of their music live, along with their onstage antics, is impeccable. The setlist, as expected, was made up predominantly of hit tracks from their acclaimed 2010 debut release, Astro Coast. However, the set was also littered with several new tracks that makes giddy as a little girl to get my hands on their forthcoming EP, I'm Not Ready. The future is bright for these young men; put on your sunglasses.

*Disclaimer: I couldn't help but throw in this sweet picture of me getting down onstage with Surfer Blood. Thanks for the photo, Josh.

- Article written and composed by J. Cheney- All photographs by Joshua Brasted

For more pictures from the show,

check out Joshua's Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brasted/

[new] Holy Other- Touch

Brand new track from Berlin mastermind/producer Holy Other. Touching on drawn out bass lines and warped vocals on repeat, this song is a bit creepy. The samples echo into each other in such a way that makes you feel desolately abandoned, but still hopeful. He will be dropping a new 12" in June on Tri Angle entitled U, a follow up to last years haunting We Over, also released on vinyl with a limited run.

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THIS is New Orleans!

Most people outside of New Orleans have probably never heard of New Orleans Bounce music before. It's a type of rap with an electronic beat that causes one to want to do nothing except shake your booty (giving momentum to the rest of your body) as fast as possible. The music is played loud over a PA system, as a large black transvestite rap/sings over the beats.

In New Orleans, the queen of Bounce is none other than Big Freedia. She brings the wildest parties wherever she plays. If you have not gotten a chance to experience a bounce night, head down to Siberia (on St. Claude St.) for any of their bounce nights and embrace it. This is a must!

art/official plans to do a large spotlight on bounce music in the near future, so I will leave more details to come. Until then enjoy Big Freedia's debut music video for her track "Ya'll get back now!"




Aaron

XXX

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art/official presents: Big History

For New Orleans, Big History is big. They take elements from some of today’s most prominent bands, but they do it in a way that is uniquely their own. Comparisons to The XX and Beach House are accurate, but not encompassing. Within Big History is manifested a fantastic medium between old New Orleans soul and contemporary indie power. They are great people who write great songs in a great city.

Those of us at art/official have seen Big History live more times than we can count, and it still hasn't gotten old. With each show the band's sound has gotten tighter and more polished. New tracks interlaced with "classics" keep the dance floor moving the entire time. The energy stays at a ten while the electronic dance beats mix with live music and the airiness of Meg Roussel's voice. The front of the crowd is the place to be at these shows, and you'll probably see us up there with you.

Below, check out the video premiere of their hit “All At Once" (is Meg a fox or what?!):

Big History- All At Once from Bret Bohnet on Vimeo.

One warm Louisiana winter night a few months ago the guys and girls from Big History invited us out to their practice space to enjoy some music and conversation. We had the privilege of asking the band a few questions:

How did y'all originally get together?

Matt: Well, Corey and I played together during high school, and most of us have been acquainted with each other for a while because of other bands we have been in. Bret and I played with Silent Cinema for a while, and Corey and Blandon played in Antenna Inn. Meg was doing solo folk stuff in the city and when I heard her sing, I knew we had to have her. Bret had always wanted to incorporate digital sounds and acoustic drums in a way that worked well together and put together this interesting drum kit for this band. So, we are able to recreate the synthetic sounds live while still hanging on to an organic feel as well.

Tell us a little about your sound and how you ended up settling where you are now.

Big History: We originally kind of wanted to do folk rock stuff, but eventually everything got to be more and more digital. Now we do a lot of recording as we go, picking synthetic sounds to add more depth and layers. Matt and Blandon do most of the writing, but everyone helps out. We even play a song that Meg wrote 100% by herself.

A lot of people in the city have dubbed you guys as a dream pop group. Is that a genre you guys would claim for yourself, and if not, what is?

Big History: I think we all agree that dream pop is a genre we are capable of living up to. We have gotten a lot of Beach House comparisons and several of our synthetic beats were heavily influenced by the XX, so dream pop makes sense.

How about your guys' favorite new bands?

Matt: I really like King Rey.

Amanda: Caddywhompus.
Bret: Curren$y!!

Matt: Animal Collective. Everything they do is so inventive. It’s way more ahead of their time than any other band, ever. Beyond that, we’re all really big fans of the Arcade Fire and Beach House. And I love 80’s music.

Besides all the local shows you guys have booked, what are your other plans? Is there a tour in store for Big History, and what are your other future plans?
Big History: We’re going to start small. We've finished recording our EP and we will have that ready to release by this summer. As far as a tour goes, we’ll probably start going out just for the weekend and coming back. We’ll start small with regional tours and work up to larger national tours.

For those of you who haven't already heard of Big History, be ashamed of yourself. This bio offers a bite-sized introduction for those of you who have yet to hear of them:

The New Orleans rock scene is downright incestuous and Big History is no exception. When Matt Glynn and Blandon Helgason set out to form a new project, the two came to the conclusion that the nature of the New Orleans scene works like a puzzle, each musician a puzzle piece shuffled about until they fit.

The two set out to find the perfect pieces for their puzzle. They enlisted Bret Bohnet, who aside from playing with Glynn in Silent Cinema, was known for blending digital and acoustic percussion seamlessly in One Man Machine, and the popular White Bitch. There was no question about who would be playing bass. The multi‐instrumentalist Cory Schultz, of the skyrocketing Mynameisjohnmichael who also worked with Glynn and Helgason in the massive psychedelic orchestra known as Antenna Inn. Helgason then enlisted his friend Amanda Wuerstlin, having heard her violin and piano work with The City Life and Kristen & the Mania. Her organic sound would provide the perfect contrast against the band’s digital hooks.

The puzzle was complete except for one key piece: a vocalist. The band sifted through its contacts, looking for the perfect component for their sound and found the perfect voice in a very unlikely place. Meg Roussel, a young folk musician playing small gigs around town accompanied by an acoustic guitar, would ironically be the perfect fit for the bands glitchy, hip‐shaking, amalgamation of electronica, dance, and pop. Her voice, a unique blend of 60’s soul, 70’s British folk, would prove itself on the bands first single Every Bone.

With no more than a few burned copies in the hands of key New Orleans DJ’s, a buzz built around the newly formed band, which began to write and record feverishly for their upcoming EP, due for a May release. If the response to the band’s first single is any indication, Big History will be around for the long haul. It’s safe to say that these musicians have more than a few tricks up their sleeves, and the New Orleans music scene has granted its listeners yet another completed puzzle.

-from Foburg Festival

Big History plans to release their debut six song EP in early May. Check out these two songs from the forthcoming EP. Free! (right click + "save as"):

TRACKS REMOVED. We will upload new tracks as they come :)

For more info on Big History, upcoming releases, gigs, etc., head over to:

-Myspace
-Facebook
-Bandcamp

Spotlight composed by: Justen Cheney, Connor Crawford, and Aaron Saltzman

Photographs by: Patrick Quirck (http://www.rapparee.us/)
Video footage by: Jeremy Blum

[new] The Flaming Lips w/ Neon Indian - "Is David Bowie Dying?"

Prayers have been answered --- psychedelic godheads The Flaming Lips and chillwave auteurs Neon Indian have collaborated, and today, the fruits of that collaboration see the light of day. Below, stream the awesomely titled "Is David Bowie Dying?" from the bands' forthcoming 12".

 

[new] YACHT- Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire)

Portland electro-poppers YACHT aren't just musicians, they are live theatrics. Mashing art, a self proclaimed "belief system" of their own, and infectious catchy hooks they are nothing short of an entertaining duo. Below is a track they released yesterday, entitled Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire). Super limited 7" single to be released soon.


EDIT: Download the track here.

[video] Akron/Family - "Island"

Psychedelic freak-folk sensei Akron/Family have just put out a video for the song "Island" from their latest album S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT. The song is a perfect laid back summer tune that features floating harmonies, spatially refreshing guitars, and hushed tribal drumming. In the video, stunning beach scenery juxtaposed with urban terrain probably provides an fitting idea of how most of us will spend the coming months. I don't know about you, but this makes me wanna go to the the Gulf of MexicooOOOOoooOo. Watch the video below:

Island by Akron/Family from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.