Monday, January 30, 2012
Silo Park, Auckland

Photos by Rachel Brandon

View the full Laneway photo set, with photos of more artists and the crowd  at Silo Park

Shadowy shoegaze dream-punk/pop band Night Manager released a perfectly-formed 7″ via Japanese label Big Love two months back, and yesterday it became available worldwide via Rough Trade. The three-song release captures the essence of the Brooklyn-via-Paris-and-San-Francisco band’s succinct pop with echoey melodies and doo wop-style vocals aching with an on-off nonchalance. Coming across as a softer, day-dreamier Be Your Own Pet or a more complex Best Coast, Night Manager heaps layers of scuzzy guitar reverb over fast drums and singalong-inspiring vocal melodies. Lead single ‘Ghost’ is pure pitch-shifting dreamy grunge-pop heaven, while first b-side ‘Platonic Lovers’ is an alternately sped-up/slowed-down ode in fine form. Final song ‘All Mine’ adds an old-school rock and roll croon-pop vibe to the mix.

Buy Ghost from Rough Trade

Listen to Ghost on Bandcamp

The excitement of 9 new Chad VanGaalen tracks landing in my inbox is a little bit overwhelming, especially when it’s delivered with news of a split 12″ with the ever evolving and extremely weird Xiu Xiu. The 12″ is the second release in a series of amazing collaborations being pedalled by German label The Altin Village & Mine Records. The first release came in March 2010, featuring the primal drone of Oneida and the swooping vocal melodies of Pterodactyl. Chad VanGaalen’s contribution displays the eerie brilliance of a modern musical chameleon, whose work continues to evolve and mature. His songs have a confidence that’s been missing from his past two records, sounding less fragile and more astutely balanced. There’s moments of self-indulgence and reflection, but his storytelling is more defined, revealing and romantic. Opener ‘Your Own Mind Ends’ tells off a bitter dispute between loved ones, before jumping into the Simon & Garfunkel-esque ‘Evening Sun’, full of paisley strings and wooing vocal melodies. ‘I Want You Back’ tries hard to be the record’s highlight; a brash reminder that he is not just a folk musician, thrashing out a lively grunge inspired number similar to ‘Freedom For A Policeman’, off his mesmerising second album Diaper Island. ‘Nothing Is Impossible’ continues the assault in classic Jay Reatard style – a speedy guitar-driven punk song repeating the title lyrics. And then proving nothing is off limits, he gently slides into a beautiful folk ballad titled ‘Weighed Sin’, with harmonica and acoustic guitar folding into one another.

Xiu Xiu, or more specifically Jamie Stewart’s contribution requires it’s own lengthy explanation. His side of the 12″ is a spoken word piece that requires the physical record to properly engage with it’s complex (or simplistic, depending on how you view it) lack of musical formality. The record will come with lift out liner notes containing a set of questions. The listener is required to read a question aloud and then to drop the needle anywhere on the record to hear the answer. Stewart has aptly titled his side of the 12″, ‘Fortune Teller’.

The record label currently has no distributor in New Zealand but with any luck you should be able to pick up a copy via the many world-wide distributors listed on the Soundcloud link. The 12″ is officially on sale from March 17.

The Grand Chancellors
The Spunks | Mr. Slackjaw

Saturday, January 28, 2012
Mighty Mighty, Wellington

Photos by Rachel Brandon

More photos of Thee Oh Sees, The Grand Chancellors, The Spunks and Mr. Slackjaw

It’s shaping up to be an exciting year for Christchurch three-piece The Transistors. On Monday they will take the stage to play one of the noisiest sets of the day at Auckland’s Laneway Festival – then in March they’re heading to the USA to tour with Japanese punk band Guitar Wolf.

(EMJ) Are you all still living in Christchurch?
(James Harding) Yep, we’re sticking it out down here, haha.

What’s the state of the music scene down in Christchurch, given that the earthquakes destroyed venues like Goodbye Blue Monday and The Dux and caused loads of people to leave town?
It’s definitely a bit thin at the moment. Things are picking up, but it’s slow. The Darkroom is having gigs every week and the New Dux is underway, which is great. I don’t think that many bands have bailed – things are slowly picking up, I think.

Are there many opportunities for bands in Christchurch or do you think it’s better to head north?
We’re still here, so I guess I can’t really say. For us personally it would be helpful to be in Auckland, as it’s where we record and play a lot of shows, but we also have lives down here. I get the feeling that certain bands move to Auckland because they think it’ll instantly get them more exposure or something, but I’m not sure if it makes a difference.

You’ve released an album and an EP. Tell me about your growth as a band – how have you evolved?
We’re writing better songs these days. People have been saying that the new songs are pretty catchy, which is nice to hear.

How close are you all outside of the band? Are you all best friends or do you more come together to make music?
We formed the band a few years after we became friends, so in a way we’re friends first and a band second, but since we practice twice a week, play shows and record together that’s when we do most of our hanging out.

Do you feel like there’s much of a sense of community in New Zealand for punk music such as yours? Or do you feel like you’re going about it largely by yourselves?
I think there’s definitely a sense of community in New Zealand music, I’m not so sure about punk music specifically.

Your style sounds very much rooted in the original street punk sound. What motivates you to make this kind of music/write these kind of songs?
We listen to punk music but we listen to heaps and heaps of other stuff and I think the other stuff has just as big an influence on us. Olly loves Minor Threat but one of his favourite artists is Bruce Springsteen, so I’d say we’re influenced by good bands and good songs more than any one genre. We’re just trying to make fun, energetic music and write awesome songs. That’s our motivation.

“We’ve actually just been asked to do a tour in the states with Guitar Wolf”

You’re releasing your new album Is This Anything? shortly. What can fans expect from the new record and how is it different from Shortwave and Flux Pentaphile?
I suppose it’s a pretty natural progression from what we’ve done in the past. I think the songs are better and possibly a bit faster.

How much does the music you make as a band reflect the music you listen to in your everyday lives?
I guess it doesn’t, really. We mostly listen to musicals – Hair, Oklahoma, stuff like that.

Live, you’ve played some pretty exciting shows. Tell me about touring with JEFF the Brotherhood and what you learnt from them in regards to DIY touring?
That was a really fun tour, one of our favourites. Jake and Jamin are awesome, really down-to-earth guys and their shows were fucking insane. To be honest, in terms of approach it wasn’t that different to any of the other tours we’ve been on. The only time we’re ever put up in hotels is when we play ‘industry’ shows; otherwise we stay with friends and generally keep it pretty bare bones.

Do you have any ambitious plans for 2012? Will you be heading abroad or staying in New Zealand?
We’ve actually just been asked to do a tour in the states with Guitar Wolf, which is going to be insane, we’re really excited about it. That’s at the end of March. Beyond that, who knows.

You’re playing the Laneway Festival next week and you’re possibly the noisiest band on the line-up. What are you looking forward to most about Laneway and who are you most excited to see play?
It’ll be cool to play to people who won’t have heard of us. I’m looking forward to seeing Opossom and Sherpa. I’ll check out Girls and Yuck and The Horrors, I don’t really know much about a lot of the bands but I listened to Washed Out and thought they had the most apt band name ever.

The Transistors play Laneway this Monday at 1.45pm on the Park Lane Stage

]]> http://www.einsteinmusicjournal.co.nz/2012/01/27/transistors-interview/feed/ 0 http://www.einsteinmusicjournal.co.nz/2012/01/25/xiu-xiu-new-video/ http://www.einsteinmusicjournal.co.nz/2012/01/25/xiu-xiu-new-video/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:27:45 +0000 Sarah Gooding http://www.einsteinmusicjournal.co.nz/?p=5818 Broken vista

At first a jarring, disjointed combination of jilted synths, aggressive beats and Jamie Stewart’s always-staggering vocals, eventually you’ll find yourself getting lost in ‘Hi’, the first song from Xiu Xiu’s upcoming album Always. Its video, directed by Jamie and David Horvitz, follows Jamie on a roadtrip through upstate New York, with footage of disparate events such as him biting apples still hanging on trees, scrawling lyrics in public bathrooms, shoving copies of Dick Cheney’s autobiography into a rubbish bin or setting his hand on fire. Interspersed with photos from the band’s recent tour and shots of photos in books, it has a disarming and surreal feel but is also at times quite humorous. It is essentially in the nature of everything Xiu Xiu produces: anatagonistic, confronting and dreamlike.

While fans wait for the band’s impending world tour and album, they can head over to their website and check out Jamie’s blog. Just the other day he wrote about sex chat rooms, and how screenshots of their various empty locations are potentially “the greatest performance art space in human history”. He continues, “It is touching and honest and terrifying and stimulating and enlightening and filled with a dear and challenging sorrow and humor.” Much like Xiu Xiu itself.

Always will be released on March 6, and continues the band’s long tradition of working with Deerhoof‘s Greg Saunier, who produced the album and contributed drums and vocals. John Congleton, who has also worked with Antony and the Johnsons, Marilyn Manson and The Roots, mixed it. If ‘Hi’ is anything to go by, Always will be considerably accessible work for the band, encouraging listeners to respond with its inviting lyrics.

Xiu Xiu’s website

Controversial music critic Chris Weingarten called Pop. 1280 the “hardest working scumbags in the scuzzfuckery business”, when recently raving about them in the Village Voice and on Spin.com. It’s on Spin.com where you can listen to the band’s new album in its entirety, before it’s officially released on January 24 by New York label Sacred Bones Records. Titled The Horror, it’s a haunting hybrid of hatred and harassing post-punk. Violent guitars slice through layers of distortion and tin-pan percussion, while a creepy whisper of feedback adds a late-night deviance and a sick sense of perverted revelry. The album is thick and heavy, with a very dark, filthy finish, but while its grimy sound appears to be its most obvious attraction, The Horror has an oddly metaphorical core, consciously referencing the harsh reality of poverty in New York City. To put some of the band’s subject matter into context, you can read Sarah’s excellent piece written in 2010 reviewing the band’s 12″ record The Grid and explaining guitarist Ivan Lip’s connection with New York’s less privileged underclass.

After a couple of 7″ records and a 12″ vinyl release in 2010 Pop. 1280 seem ready to establish themselves in the scuzzy, grimy punk world, dominated by a growing number of artists associated with Sacred Bones Records. In 2011 the label released records by Zola Jesus, Moon Duo, Crystal Stilts and Psychic Ills, to go with previous releases by Nice Face, Gary War, Amen Dunes and The Pink Noise. Watch this band in 2011 as they climb the popularity ladder – you’ll hear more from them, I’m sure.

Stream The Horror at Spin.com

‘Like’ Pop. 1280 on Facebook

Pre-order The Horror from Sacred Bones Records

Auckland’s Autumn Splendour have a new video to share that was shot on Super 8 film and processed in Germany. We got the band to explain what they’re about and why they have an obsession with naming songs after themselves.

(EMJ) When did you start Autumn Splendour and has it always been the same line-up?
(AS: Natasha Cantwell) In the Autumn of 2009 Cait and I started the band with our friend Toby who has since moved to Dunedin. Ryan is our third bassist. He joined a year ago but he’s always been part of the Autumn Splendour gang.

What is each of your musical backgrounds?
(N) I hadn’t really played guitar before Autumn Splendour. We’re all pretty much self-taught on the instruments we play in this band. I like how it gives us an unconventional approach to making music. I have a pretty spazzy style, but I’m cool with that.
(AS: Cait Roberts) I learnt to play the drums by playing along with friends who were kind enough to be patient with me. Ryan helped me out quite a bit.
(AS: Ryan Perry) I started playing bass when I joined Autumn Splendour but have played guitar for 10 years.

What do you all do away from the band?
(N) I’m a fashion photographer and artist.
(C) I recently graduated as a psychologist but am currently unemployed.
(R) Writing a thesis on human nature (not the band).

Why punk music? What attracts you to fast, loud, aggressive guitar music?
(N) It was never a conscious decision; the music that we play is just what comes out when we get together! There are a lot of musical genres that I enjoy listening to but wouldn’t have nearly as much fun playing.
(C) I think loud aggressive music was a good way for me and Tash to vent our anger. Plus it’s just an easier style of music for beginners – which is what we were when we started the band.

So far you’ve been pretty active in Auckland, but what about the rest of the country? Have you visited many other towns and how was your music received?
(N) We’ve played in Wellington and Christchurch and we’ve generally found the student and independent radio stations in New Zealand and Australia to be really supportive. Our show at Mighty Mighty was heaps of fun. Wellington showed me a great time!
(C) I thought Wellington was a cool audience – they seemed really into our music and seemed less inhibited or something.

“They represent things Natasha or I have said, or stories about extreme behaviour.”

Auckland has a pretty solid alternative punk scene, have you played any particularly memorable shows?
(C)  I really like playing parties – so any house parties we played were memorable. There is less pressure and everyone is just having a good time rather than paying to see a band.
(R) My first performance was an impromptu set after The Crabbs at a house party in West Terrace. Memorably, Peter Crabbs introduced us as Awesome Blender.
(N) Pushing that over-eager drunk girl off the stage at Mighty Mighty was pretty memorable. I never know how far you can take things when you’re on stage. She was fine though, drunk people bounce back.

You released your first EP on 7″ vinyl. Have you recovered the costs yet?
(C) Gosh, I have no idea.
(N) We still have some available for sale. Once they’re all sold we’ll almost break even! It was never a financially motivated decision. It’s so exciting having your songs on vinyl, we just wanted to do it and make something we’d be proud of.

Are you about to release your debut album or another EP?
(N) Currently we’re just releasing singles one by one rather than as a whole EP or album.

How does your new music differ from what’s on your first EP?
(N) The EP is the first six songs we ever wrote, recorded only six months after we’d formed the band. We used to just write songs on the spot, now we spend a bit more time trying out different ideas.
(R) The new songs are darker and more aggressive. We’ve probably developed as musicians or something, but in the very least there is ever-increasing bass distortion.
(C) I think it has more depth to it – musically, that is. We’re more confident to try out different things now. I’m not so worried about playing my drums “right” like I used to be.

You seem to like using your own names as song titles, ‘Cait’ on the first EP and now ‘Natasha’. What do those songs represent?
(C) They represent things Natasha or I have said, or stories about extreme behaviour.
(N) All our songs are named after our friends, but I swear it’s only a coincidence that we end up recording the songs about band members.

When is Ryan going to get a song, and what will it be about?
(R) I have one! Everyone is going to get to hear a recorded version really soon that we did at the same time as ‘Natasha’. It’s about schoolyard anxieties and a fear of germs. It’s probably exaggerated.

You’re releasing your new video today. Tell me about it?
(N) We’re releasing a video for ‘Malcolm’, which is on the EP. My friend Tom and I shot this video before the band had recorded our new songs, but difficulties in getting the film processed in Germany has meant we’ve only just finished it now! It’s shot on super 8 (which I’m obsessed with) and features a wannabe Malcolm getting ready and hyped up for a night out. It was inspired by the gin drinking and dancing habits of my friend (who has requested to remain nameless) who stars in the video and references one of my favourite artworks, ‘Gordon’s Makes Us Drunk’ by Gilbert & George.

How can people find out more about Autumn Splendour and when can they next see you play live?
(C) : Come talk to us after gigs if you want to know more!
(N) We’re playing on Saturday, January 21^st at Bodega in Wellington with The Eversons and we’re currently organising an Auckland gig with Mean Girls in February.

‘Like’ Autumn Splendour on Facebook

Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Opera House, Wellington

Photos by Rachel Brandon

See more photos of Beirut and Tono and the Finance Company

Knoxville, Tennessee’s COOLRUNNINGS just popped onto my radar with their new single ‘Spirits of the High’, a fuzzy psych-rock blow-out that channels all things from the Mothers of Invention to Wooden Shjips. The band began in 2009 when Brandon Biongo and Forrest Ferguson combined their solo-projects to perform live – they’re now a four-piece with Adam Cottle and Scott Kapuscinski. Together they’ve released two EPs, an album, and a 7″ under the name COOLRUNNINGS, each time evolving to become a more noisier, driving force. Their Fool Moon 7″, mastered at Abbey Road studios and released on British label Too-Pure is an outstanding highlight, full of psyched out synths, chugging percussion and hypnotic vocals. It was released as part of Too-Pure’s Singles Club series – a monthly 7″ release that eventually comprises  twelve 7″s per year and can all be purchased for a single fixed subscription price. The band’s back catalogue is well worth checking out as there’s something for everyone, be it the scuzzy electro-punk of their Babes Forever EP (mostly the work of Brandon Biongo) or the more energetic, artful pop of their debut full-length Dracula Is Only The Beginning. All can be streamed, downloaded and purchased in physical form from the Dracula Horse label website.

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