Live: Blonde Redhead @ Gagarin 205 (Athens, March 19th, 2017)

Thankfully this time we didn’t have to wait 10 years for Blonde Redhead’s return to Athens, as it was the case between their first gig at Gagarin 205 way back in the spring of 2005 and their return in March 2015.

In the two years since their previous gig, the only new material from the band came just a few days ago with the release of the four-song EP "3 O'Clock", which they played in its entirety. The rest of Blonde Redhead’s 90-minute set was comprised with selections from their back catalogue, mainly from "Misery Is a Butterfly" και "23", perhaps their two best albums to date. Despite the recent re-release of their first two albums as part of the "Masculin Feminin" compilation, the band chose not to revisit its '90s noise-rock days and the only representation of this period came early in the set with an excellent rendition of "Bipolar" off "Fake Can Be Just as Good", their third album which recently turned 20.

Apart from the four songs off the new EP, which admittedly does not find the band in its best form, the other recent material that Blonde Redhead played were "Mind to Be Had" and "Drippin", two of the most upbeat songs off their 2014 LP "Barragán", for which Kazu Makino abandoned her guitar and started a little dance over her keyboards.

The highlights of the set, apart from the already mentioned "Bipolar", included also "Falling Man", "Elephant Woman", "Dr. Strangeluv", "Spring and by Summer Fall" and the anthemic "23" which came near the end of the three-song encore. The finale of the show came in the hushed reverie created by the atmospheric "Golden Light", a serene ending to a night of many electric delights which certainly satisfied the faithful fans of Kazu Makino and the Pace brothers.

The evening started with a set from Jack Heart and his band who presented his new album "Emotional Piñata". Unfortunately Sunday’s football derby did not allow us to be at the club early enough to catch all of his set, but the two songs we did hear, sounded very promising indeed. We’ll certainly try to see him again at the next available opportunity.

Jack Heart, live @ Gagarin 205

Check out below two songs from Blonde Redhead's live set at Gagarin 205, the new track "3 O'Clock" and the classic "23":

Blonde Redhead - 3 O'Clock (live in Athens)

Blonde Redhead - 23 (live in Athens)

The 7s, part 4: 1997

Since the beginning of the year, we have been revisiting some of our favorite albums and songs released in previous years ending in 7. So far we’ve listened to the punk sounds of 1977, the UK indie scene of 1987, as represented by the recent Cherry Red compilation C87, and the wonderful guitar noise emanating from the US underground of the same year. 

In the 4th part of this series, we are going twenty years back to 1997, a year that gave us plenty of great albums by the likes of Pavement, Spiritualized, Blur, The Verve, The Dandy Warhols, Cornershop, Wu-Tang Clan, Prodigy, Portishead, Foo Fighters to name just a few of the year’s high profile and critically acclaimed releases.

The seven albums that we have chosen to represent 1997 in this feature, include a few releases that have gained cult status over the years as the prestige of their creators has risen with each subsequent release, along with some more obscure choices which are just as dear to us and we think more people need to discover. In the first category there is Sleater-Kinney, Modest Mouse and Built To Spill, three of the greatest US rock bands to come from the Pacific Northwest really hitting their stride with their 1997 releases, and in the second there is the last ever albums in the brief but excellent discography of '90s cult heroes Helium and The Geraldine Fibbers, plus a couple of outstanding records by Swell and Prolapse, who were also at their very best around that time. Have a listen to the indie sound of 1997: 

Dig Me Out - SLEATER-KINNEY

 

Turn It On

The Lonesome Crowded West - MODEST MOUSE

Heart Cooks Brain

Perfect From Now On - BUILT TO SPILL

I Would Hurt A Fly

The Magic City - HELIUM

Leon's Space Song

Butch - THE GERALDINE FIBBERS

California Tuffy

Too Many Days Without Thinking - SWELL

(I Know) The Trip

The Italian Flag - PROLAPSE

Autocade

Live: Swans @ Gagarin 205 (Athens, March 3rd, 2017)

For their fourth gig in Athens, Michael Gira's Swans returned to Gagarin 205, the venue where we first saw them six years ago. In these six years the band has released three of the best rock albums of this decade, three epic works unlike anything else out there, and it's no exaggeration to say that all of their live shows have been nothing short of a revelation.

This means there was no way I would let my 38°C fever (which I still haven't shaken off completely as I write these lines) to prevent me from attending this sold-out gig and experiencing once again the magnificent sonic constructions that only Swans can create on-stage.

The two hour and 15 minute set masterfully balanced extended, drone-noise pieces like the new composition "The Knot" that occupied the first half hour of the set or "Cloud of Unknowing", with shorter (for their standards, of course, meaning around the 10-minute mark!), leaner, rhythmic noise-punk explosions as the exquisite "Screen Shot" (off our 2014 Album of the Year "To Be Kind") or "The Man Who Refused to Be Unhappy", another excellent new number that prepares us for the next chapter in the Swans history.

The triumphant gig reached its climactic ending with another epic composition, "The Glowing Man", the title track off their latest album. If this album, and therefore this tour, turns out to be, as announced, the end of their current line-up, I can't imaging a more fitting epilogue than this great show. And as the new songs have shown, there is a lot more to expect from Gira and any new reincarnation of the Swans.

The gig opened with something completely different, an hour-long set of Cretan music with the unique voice and lyra playing style of Psarantonis. Gira, a big fan of folk music, is among his admirers and picked him for the opening slot, which was warmly received by the crowd.

Psarantonis, live @ Gagarin 205

Check out below two of the highlights from the fourth Athens gig of the Swans, "Screen Shot" and "The Man Who Refused to Be Unhappy" and click on this tag if you want to remember what went down at their three previous shows here (and more Swans related posts).

Swans - Screen Shot (live @ Gagarin 205)

Swans - The Man Who Refused To Be Unhappy (live @ Gagarin 205)

Swans, live @ Gagarin 205 (Athens, March 3rd, 2017)

New Releases: February 2017

Round-up of the most interesting new releases of the month:

Albums:

THE FEELIES - In Between
MOON DUO - Occult Architecture Vol.1
PISSED JEANS - Why Love Now
THE BATS - The Deep Set
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH - The Tourist
THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - Don't Get Lost
THE UNDERGROUND YOUTH - What Kind Of Dystopian Hellhole Is This?
KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - Flying Microtonal Banana
SUMMER MOON - With You Tonight
DIRTY PROJECTORS - Dirty Projectors
JESCA HOOP - Memories Are Now
TIM DARCY - Saturday Night
SUN KIL MOON - Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE - Burning The Threshold
MEATBODIES - Alice
CRYSTAL FAIRY - Crystal Fairy
LOS CAMPESINOS! - Sick Scenes
THE DEARS - Times Infinity Volume One
JULIAN COPE - Drunken Songs
MODERN ENGLISH - Take Me To The Trees
ELBOW - Little Fictions
RYAN ADAMS - Prisoner
SON VOLT - Notes of Blue
CHUCK PROPHET - Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins
OLD 97s - Graveyard Whistling
THE SADIES - Northern Passages
TOBIN SPROUT - The Universe and Me
JENS LEKMAN - Life Will See You Now
SURFER BLOOD - Snowdonia
MOZART'S SISTER - Field of Love
NOVELLA - Change of State
THE NECKS - Unfold
COMMUNIONS - Blue
FUTURE - Future
SINKANE - Life & Livin' It
DUKE GARWOOD - Garden of Ashes
DUTCH UNCLES - Big Balloon
LUKE HAINES - Smash the System
XIU XIU - Forget
MUNA - About U
STEF CHURA - Messes
DAMS OF THE WEST - Youngish American
DUDE YORK - Sincerely
BLANK SQUARE - Animal I
THE MENZINGERS - After the Party
PALBERTA - Bye Bye Berta
PVT - New Spirit
BENT - Snakes and Shapes
GRAILS - Chalice Hymnal
GREAT YTENE - Locus

Singles & EPs

PARQUET COURTS - Captive of the Sun (featuring Bun B)
JOSEFIN ÖHRN + THE LIBERATION - Sister Green Eyes
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - The Painters EP
BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - Dropping Bombs On The Sun (UFO Paycheck)
ALLAH-LAS - Autumn Dawn / Hereafter
TEENAGE FANCLUB - I'm in Love
PART CHIMP / GREY HAIRS - Lies / Capable Man
BRUISING / PERSONAL BEST - What It Feels Like / Rollies
WICHSWUT - Wichswut EP
CFM - Homegrown Paranoia EP
JW RIDLEY - Everything (Deathless)
PAUL WHITE ft. DANNY BROWN - Accelerator EP
JLIN - Dark Lotus EP
SALEN - Copper Kiss
DIRTY DISHES - All Of Me / Sentiment
RETRO KID - Retro Kid EP
ALDOUS HARDING - Horizon
HOLY MOTORS - Sleeprydr
GULP - Search For Your Love
CRAIG BROWN BAND - Overthinking / Last All Night
TEAM PICTURE / LAMINATE PET ANIMAL - Back to Bay Six / Eve
THE SHERLOCKS - Will You Be There?

Parquet Courts - Captive of The Sun (ft. Bun B)