Live: Wire @ Temple (Athens, May 23rd, 2019)

The long overdue return of Wire to Athens took place at Temple Club last Thursday. Eight years after their last gig here, the archetypal art-punk band was back with a remarkable set showcasing their rich history and still casting an eye to the future.

Not currently having a new album to promote (their latest release was 2017's "Silver/Lead") turned out a to be an opportunity for the band to create a live set that revisited and reconstructed tracks from all their various periods.

Like a faulty time machine which skips back and forth in time, Wire took us on trip that went as far back as their seminal debut album, 1977's "Pink Flag", to remind us of the classic "Three Girl Rhumba" (the track that Elastica "borrowed" for their '90s hit "Connection") and the proto-hardcore of "12XU" (closing track of the album and of this show), they revisited "Two People in a Room" from "154", their third LP which turns 40 this year and closed their first (and most revered) period, they included a few highlights from their '80s return when they experimented with a more electronic pop sound ("Ahead", "Over Theirs", "Drill") and of course played us several tracks from recent years with "Short Elevated Period" from "Silver/Lead" being a prime example why Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Robert Grey and "new" boy Matthew Simms (who, of course, is part of the band for almost a decade now) remain a force to be reckoned with.

Wire, live @ Temple (Athens, May 23rd, 2019)

Wire included at least one new track in their set, which we suppose is a first taste for things to come in the near future, and you can sample it below ("Primed And Ready"), along with first and second period classics "Three Girl Rhumba" and "Over Theirs". Wire's history continues to unfold and every chapter holds new and exciting surprises!

Wire - Three Girl Rhumba, live @ Temple (Athens, May 23rd, 2019)

Wire - Over Theirs, live @ Temple (Athens, May 23rd, 2019)

Wire - Primed And Ready, live @ Temple (Athens, May 23rd, 2019)

The privilege to open for Wire's second Athens show went to noise makers Rita Mosss and the experimental bass and drum duo Hand & Leg.

Hand & Leg, live @ Temple (Athens, May 23rd, 2019)

Live: Courtney Barnett @ Fuzz Club (Athens, May 16th, 2019)

Rest assured that in a few months time, when we'll start the conversation about the artists that stood out in the musical landscape of this decade, Courtney Barnett will certainly be on everybody's short list. With two outstanding solo albums, several EPs and singles plus a fine collaborative effort with Kurt Vile, the often self-deprecating, but immensely talented Australian singer-songwriter has rightfully received plenty of critical praise and awards.

The timing of her first visit to Athens couldn't have been better, with last year's sophomore album "Tell Me How You Really Feel" cementing her reputation and recent single "Everybody Here Hates You" (which made its live debut here) keeping the momentum going. Of course the title of the single was the complete opposite of the reaction and sentiment that Barnett received from the fans that congregated in Fuzz Club on Thursday night.

 

Although the show was not sold-out (as it should have been), the enthusiastic reception of the crowd made it obvious that everybody present was thrilled to have the opportunity to enjoy live the music of Courtney Barnett and her band and, as she recognized towards the end of her faultless 90-minute performance, this is something we should do again very soon.

As for the set list, as you can see below, it included most of the songs of her recent album without omitting some of the key moments of her previous work, most importantly the song that introduced her to most of us, the exquisite "Avant Gardener", as well as "History Eraser", "Depreston", "Elevator Operator" and our Track of the Year for 2015, "Pedestrian At Best". "Let It Go", from her collaboration with Kurt Vile, was also performed solo as part of the three-song encore.

Without a doubt, along with Anna Calvi's performance a couple of months back, we can safely say that this was one of the top gigs of 2019 for Athens, although we haven't even reached the middle of the year yet!

And of course we should mention that another thing that these two gigs had in common was the quite good support performance by Amalia and her band The Architects, who presented us their indie-pop tunes plus an interesting, slowed down version of the Violent Femmes classic "Blister In The Sun".

Amalia, live @ Fuzz Club (Athens, May 16th, 2019)

 

Courtney Barnett, live @ Fuzz Club (Athens, May 16th, 2019)

Courtney Barnett - Depreston (live @ Fuzz Club, May 16th, 2019)

Courtney Barnett - Crippling Self Doubt and a General Lack of Self Confidence (live @ Fuzz Club, May 16th, 2019)

Live: Howe Gelb @ Faust (May 5th, 2019) / No More Shall We Part: The Concert @ Benaki Museum (May 9th, 2019)

Howe Gelb, live @ Faust (Athens, May 5th, 2019)

In a very busy week for live events in Athens, we had the opportunity to attend last Sunday night a solo performance by Howe Gelb at Faust Club, where the leader of Giant Sand with the help of an old guitar and a piano presented us songs and shared stories from all of his amazing career so far, and on Thursday evening we were at the moving tribute to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' album "No More Shall We Part" by a select group of musicians including Jim Sclavunos, Eleanor Friedberger, Stef Kamil Carlens (Zita Swoon, dEUS), Illegal Operation with Etten and The Callas at the patio of The Benaki Museum, an event which was the audio part of Stefanos Rokos' exhibition of paintings inspired by Nick Cave's 2001 album. Check out below photos and videos from the two events:

Howe Gelb @ Faust (Athens, May 5th, 2019)

Howe Gelb - Shiver (live @ Faust, May 5th, 2019)

No More Shall We Part: The Concert @ Benaki Museum (Athens, May 9th, 2019)

Eleanor Friedberger with Jim Sclavunos

Eleanor Friedberger

Jim Sclavunos with Illegal Operation

Etten with Illegal Operation

Stef Kamil Carlens

Eleanor Friedberger with Jim Sclavunos - God is in the House (No More Shall We Part: The Concert, live @ Benaki Museum, May 9th, 2019)

New Releases: April 2019

Roundup of the most interesting new releases of April 2019, including several Record Store Day exclusives that stood out:

Albums

FONTAINES D.C. - Dogrel
PRIESTS - The Seduction Of Kansas
ALDOUS HARDING - Designer
FAT WHITE FAMILY - Serfs Up!
JOSEFIN OHRN AND THE LIBERATION - Sacred Dreams
WEYES BLOOD - Titanic Rising
KEVIN MORBY - Oh My God
THE FLAMING LIPS - King's Mouth
KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD - Fishing for Fishies
GUIDED BY VOICES - Warp and Woof
WAND - Laughing Matter
THE PROPER ORNAMENTS - 6 Lenins
IDLEWILD - Interview Music
SLEEPER - The Modern Age
STEALING SHEEP - Big Wows
ELVA - Winter Sun
LOCAL NATIVES - Violet Street
PETER DOHERTY AND THE PUTA MADRES - Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres
THE MEKONS - Deserted
CRAIG FINN - I Need A New War
BAND OF SKULLS - Love Is All You Love
ART BRUT / WE ARE SCIENTISTS - Wasabi
THE DRUMS - Brutalism
MARTHA - Love Keeps Kicking
SKINNY GIRL DIET - Ideal Woman
WITCHING WAVES - Persistence
COWBOY FLYING SAUCER - Travel Lodge
W H LUNG - Incidental Music
DRUGDEALER - Raw Honey
SOAK - Grim Town
ROSE ELINOR DOUGALL - A New Illusion
MARISSA NADLER AND STEPHEN BRODSKY - Droneflower
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS - In League with Dragons
FOXYGEN - Seeing Other People
THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS - No Geography
BIBIO - Ribbons
GANG OF FOUR - Happy Now
JEFF TWEEDY - Warmer
DAMIEN JURADO - In The Shape Of A Storm
JOSH RITTER - Fever Breaks
CHRIS FORSYTH - All Time Present
THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH - I Love You. It’s a Fever Dream.
THE LEISURE SOCIETY - Arrivals and Departures
SUNN O))) - Life Metal
CAGE THE ELEPHANT - Social Cues
SCHOOLBOY Q - CrasH Talk
ANDERSON .PAAK - Ventura
JACK WATERSON - Adrian Younge presents Jack Waterson
HANNAH COHEN - Welcome Home
HEATHER WOODS BRODERICK - Invitation
ROZI PLAIN - What a Boost
MAMMOTH PENGUINS - There Is No Fight We Can’t Both Win
CONTROL TOP - Covert Contracts
REPTALIENS - Vails
THE ROCKINGBIRDS - More Rockingbirds
THE MINUS 5 - Stroke Manor
BIG BUSINESS - The Beast You Are
OTOBOKE BEAVER - Itekoma Hits
GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE AND CARL ABRAHAMSSON - Loyalty Does Not End With Death
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records

Singles & EPs

MARK LANEGAN BAND - Stitch It Up
THE NATIONAL - You Had Your Soul With You / Hairpin Tunes
ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER - In The Capital / Read My Mind
COURTNEY BARNETT - Everybody Here Hates You
MODEST MOUSE - Poison the Well
FAT WHITE FAMILY - Tastes Good With the Money
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE - Let’s Try the After Vol. 2 EP
METRIC - Risk
L7 - Burn Baby
LEMONHEADS - Can't Forget / Wild Child
SLEEPER - The Sun Also Rises
FRANKIE COSMOS - Haunted Items #4
HONEYBLOOD - The Third Degree / She’s A Nightmare
JULIEN BAKER - Red Door / Conversation Piece
BENJAMIN GIBBARD - Me and Magdalena / The Concept
PETER DOHERTY AND THE PUTA MADRES - Who’s Been Having You Over / Paradise Is Under Your Nose
IAN BROWN - From Chaos To Harmony / Black Roses
NOEL GALLAGHER'S HIGH FLYING BIRDS - Wait And Return EP
TINDERSTICKS - Willow (Featuring Robert Pattinson)
MORRISSEY - Lover-To-Be
SWERVEDRIVER - Think I'm Gonna Feel Better / Reflections

THE SCIENTISTS - 9H2O.SiO2 

THE SPECIALS - 10 Commandments / You're Wondering Now
ELVIS COSTELLO - Purse
IDLES - Meat EP / Meta EP
BAD RELIGION - My Sanity / Chaos From Within
MEATRAFFLE / MADONNATRON - Bella Ciao / Brigante Se Mor
MOURN / CHASTITY - Sun
DIALECT / TALKBOY - In My Zone / Wasting Time
STRAIGHT ARROWS - Another Day in the City
SHIT GIRLFRIEND - Dress Like Cher
CARLA DAL FORNO - So Much Better
JESSIE WARE - Adore You / Overtime
ALL WE ARE & ALEX KAPRANOS - Heart Attack
PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND - Jail
THE SUNDOWNERS - Ancient Cares / Pig Pen Blues, Stinkeye
SAINT ETIENNE - Saturday Boy
JAH WOBBLE - The Electro Dub Extravaganza EP
TVAM - No Silver Bird / Narcissus (Tunng Remix)
TALK SHOW - Fast and Loud
DANA GAVANSKI - One By One
THE LEISURE SOCIETY - I'll Pay For It Now (featuring Brian Eno)

 Mark Lanegan Band - Stitch It Up

Courtney Barnett - Everybody Here Hates You