Slowdive's triumphant comeback continues! Last year we had the opportunity to enjoy their first ever gig in Athens at Release Festival and reconnect with their '90s material, this time though we also got the chance to experience live songs from their new album, an excellent work which proves that nostalgia is not the main driving force behind the band's reunion.
The seamless way in which new songs like "Slomo" or "Star Roving" mix with those written more than twenty years ago, renders the big time-gap between their latest album and their '90s body of work irrelevant, making it clear that good music cannot be tied down to any particular era or decade. Slowdive's melodic guitar symphonies may always be associated in our minds with the early '90s shoegaze sound, but what this powerful live experience proves beyond any doubt is that their sound is a living and breathing entity that transcends time stamps and can still blow minds today, in these post-everything times of the 21st century!
This is Slowdive's set list for their show at Fuzz Club:
Slowdive, live @ Fuzz Club (Sept. 9th, 2017)
The gig opened with the atmospheric post-rock sounds of Afformance who are about to release two new albums in October, "Pop Nihilism" and "Music for Imaginary Film # 1". A good effort and certainly a good fit with the night's main act.
Afformance, live @ Fuzz Club (Sept. 9th, 2017)
Check out below Slowdive performing "Star Roving" and "Sugar for the Pill" live in Athens:
Star Roving, live @ Fuzz Club (Athens, Sept. 9th, 2017)
Sugar for the Pill, live @ Fuzz Club (Athens, Sept. 9th, 2017)
"Death Song", The Black Angels' fifth album, brought the Austin, Texas, psych-rock quintet back to Athens for a fourth time. After playing in summer festivals on their two previous visits, this time the band was here to do its own gig and present its latest release, one of the year's finest, almost in its entirety.
Interestingly enough, the only track off "Death Song" which we didn't get to hear live this time, was "Hunt Me Down", the new song they had chosen to preview in last summer'sRelease Festival set, so their loyal Greek fans have now listened live every note on the new album.
From the "death" songs that we did get to hear live on this occasion, my favorites included the opening "Currency", "I Dreamt" and "Medicine", while from their back catalogue "Black Grease" and "Bad Vibrations" are always sure fire hits, as is "Young Men Dead", one of the oldest songs in their set, which they saved for the climactic ending of their three-song encore.
Here's the entire set that The Black Angels presented in their fourth visit to Athens:
Currency, Bad Vibrations, The Prodigal Son, I Dreamt, Medicine, I Hear Colors (Chromaesthesia), Black Grease, Grab As Much (as you can), Half Believing, The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven, Entrance Song, I'd Kill for Her, You on the Run, Comanche Moon, Life Song. Encore: Estimate, Death March, Young Men Dead
The local band that was fittingly chosen to open for the Texans was Holy Monitor who, despite problems with their live sound, played a spirited half-hour set of speedy psych-garage tracks selected from their promising self-titled debut album.
Holy Monitor, live @ Piraeus 117 Academy
Check out below The Black Angels performing "Death March" during the encore of their gig on Thursday:
The Black Angels - Death March, live @ Piraeus 117 Academy (Athens, September 7th, 2017)
The summer vacations are over, time to get back into it! Let's start by rounding up some of the most interesting albums and singles released in the last couple of months:
Albums
New Facts Emerge
THE FALL - New Facts Emerge LIARS - TFCF BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE - Hug Of Thunder WAXAHATCHEE - Out in the Storm NADINE SHAH - Holiday Destination EMA - Exile In The Outer Ring JAPANESE BREAKFAST - Soft Sounds From Another Planet FRANKIE ROSE - Cage Tropical GRIZZLY BEAR - Painted Ruins THE WAR ON DRUGS - A Deeper Understanding ARCADE FIRE - Everything Now QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - Villains DOWNTOWN BOYS - Cost of Living RAINER MARIA - S/T FILTHY FRIENDS - Invitation GUIDED BY VOICES - How Do You Spell Heaven OH SEES - Orc KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD with MILD HIGH CLUB - Sketches Of Brunswick East IRON AND WINE - Beast Epic THIS IS THE KIT - Moonshine Freeze PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - Every Valley SHABAZZ PALACES - Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star SHABAZZ PALACES - Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines GHOSTPOET - Dark Days and Canapes UNKLE - The Road - Part 1 THE DUKE SPIRIT - Sky is Mine THE CRIBS - 24-7 Rock Star Shit THE DEARS - Times Infinity Volume Two WIDOWSPEAK - Expect the Best JEN CLOHER - Jen Cloher KELLEY STOLTZ - Que Aura SHEER MAG - Need To Feel Your Love MELVINS - A Walk With Love & Death THE FRESH AND ONLYS - Wolf Lie Down PSYCHIC TEMPLE - IV CHRIS FORSYTH AND THE SOLAR MOTEL BAND - Dreaming In The Non-Dream AVEY TARE - Eucalyptus EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - A Fever Dream MADONNATRON - Madonnatron A GIANT DOG - Toy SOCCER MOMMY - Collection TRAILER TRASH TRACYS - Althaea LANA DEL REY - Lust For Life HAIM - Something to Tell You MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA - A Black Mile To The Surface TYLER, THE CREATOR - Flower Boy DIZZEE RASCAL - Raskit PUBLIC ENEMY - Nothing Is Quick in the Desert
Singles & EPs
Crow Cries
GOAT GIRL - Crow Cries SAMANTHA URBANI - Policies of Power EP THE KILLS - Echo Home Non-Electric EP TY SEGALL - Fried Shallots EP HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER - Standing in the Doorway GUIDED BY VOICES - Just To Show You / Knife City ARIEL PINK - Another Weekend / Ode To The Goat (Thank You) PURITY RING - Asido THE OSCILLATION - Evil In The Tree LAMBCHOP - The Hustle Unlimited / When You Were Mine BONNIE PRINCE BILLY - Leonard MOGWAI - Party In The Dark / Eternal Panther ALICE GLASS - Alice Glass EP NINE INCH NAILS - Add Violence EP DJ SHADOW - The Mountain Has Fallen EP LITTLE BARRIE - Produkt POLICA AND STARGAZE - Bruise Blood: Reimagining Steve Reich’s Music for Pieces of Wood SQÜRL - EP #260 THE SEXUAL OBJECTS - Sometimes EP ALDOUS RH - Feelin’ Blue CONFIDENCE MAN - Bubblegum Remixes SHIT AND SHINE - Hamburger EP MADONNATRON / NOFRIENDZ - Headless Children / Bloody Love THE GOA EXPRESS - Goa / Kiss Me SLOTFACE - Empire Records / Sponge State JERKCURB - Voodoo Saloon STONE FOUNDATION - Simplify the Situation PAUL WELLER - Woo Sé Mama THE CHARLATANS - Different Days LIAM GALLAGHER - Wall of Glass SUNDARA KARMA - Explore EP ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK - Isotype
