Still Corners, live @ An Club (Athens, October 11, 2013)

Sights and sounds from the second appearance of Still Corners in Athens, a year and a half since their first visit.

"Strange Pleasures", their sophomore, more upbeat, album provided more than half of the gig's songs, while a handful of highlights off their atmospheric debut "Creatures Of An Hour" were also present in their set list ("Cuckoo", "Into The Trees", "Endless Summer", "Submarine").

In the live setting Still Corners' sound comes closer to rock as the guitars become more prominent in comparison with their studio recordings where keyboards and electronics reign supreme. The band's more rocking side became most evident during "The Trip", the excellent "Strange Pleasures" opening track which they save for last in their live show, and rightly so, as it is one of their most impressive compositions so far. Greg Hughes, the band's musical mastermind who is on synthesizer, bass and guitar duties during the show, really gives an impressive performance as a guitarist on this track, shredding away in Sonic Youth mode.

Aside from these occasional noise/krautrock flirtations, however, the band remains true to its mission of creating immersing cinematic, electropop soundscapes that deserve a place next to the works of like-minded acts like Broadcast or Chromatics. And with the amazing singing talents of Tessa Murray who radiates sweetness under the limelight, it's only a matter of time before Still Corners become an inspiration for the next generations of aspiring electropop stars.

Still Corners set included the following songs:

Cuckoo, Beatcity, Into The Trees, Beginning to Blue, Endless Summer, Berlin Lovers, Submarine, Fireflies, Midnight Drive, Future Age, The Trip.

Local indie-poppers (and Still Corners enthusiasts) Spectralfire opened proceedings with an interesting set culled from their self-titled debut album. You can have a listen to their music here.

Still Corners - Future Age (live @ An Club, Athens, October 11, 2013)

Still Corners, live @ Six D.O.G.S (Athens, March 3, 2012)

If Still Corners had been around twenty-something years ago, they would have been an ideal fit for the role of the house band at Twin Peaks’ Roadhouse bar. Their innocent, half-whispered harmonies suggest a dark underbelly of mystery and sinister secrets, a perfect match for the Lynchian world of the cult TV series. Admittedly, the tiny Six D.O.G.S club at the heart of Athens bears absolutely no resemblance to the iconic Twin Peaks joint, so all the credit has to go to Still Corners’ cinematic, dream-like sound for being able to transport us to a completely different, alluring and mysterious universe for the brief duration of their show.

The four-piece band led by silky-voiced singer Tessa Murray and songwriter Greg Hughes showcased last year’s excellent "Creatures of an Hour" LP while the projections shown at the back of the stage perfectly complemented the nostalgic aura of their songs. "Cuckoo", "Endless Summer", "Into the Trees" and "Submarine" were among the highlights of their set, while the encore comprised of haunting, acoustic cover versions of Bruce Springsteen’s "I'm On Fire" and Rogue Wave’s "Eyes".

 

Still Corners, live @ Six D.O.G.S

Local act My Drunken Haze who opened the show with their own brand of cinematic pop, proved to be an ideal companion for Still Corners, mining a similar vein of '60s and '70s influenced psychedelic folk sounds. Have a listen to their creations here.

My Drunken Haze

Here's "Endless Summer" from Still Corners' live debut in Athens:

Still Corners - Endless Summer, live @ Six D.O.G.S

Top 60 Albums of 2011 (31 to 60)

C.M.C.'s "Albums of the Year" week continues with the first part of our Top 60 Albums of 2011 list. Check out below the albums from 31 to 60 plus some of those that came close but didn't make the cut, then come back on the Christmas weekend for the main course - our 30 favorites of the year.

Keep in mind that this list is actually a snapshot of an ongoing process. You'll get an idea of what made us tick in the past 12 months, but there will always be a few late discoveries that are going to change the picture slightly. As always, the final version of our "Best of the Year" list will appear in Cool Music Database, the central hub of all our year-end lists, sometime in 2012. Without any further ado, here's how the second half of our Top 60 currently looks like:

Top 60 Albums of 2011: 31 - 60

31. Hot Sauce Committee Part Two - BEASTIE BOYS
32. Cherish The Light Years - COLD CAVE
33. Angles - THE STROKES
34. The King Is Dead - THE DECEMBERISTS
35. Creatures Of An Hour - STILL CORNERS
36. Sound Kapital - HANDSOME FURS
37. Red Barked Tree - WIRE
38. D - WHITE DENIM
39. Smoke Ring For My Halo - KURT VILE
40. In Love With Oblivion - CRYSTAL STILTS
41. Mazes - MOON DUO
42. Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped - MOONFACE
43. In The Grace Of Your Love - THE RAPTURE
44. Kiss Each Other Clean - IRON AND WINE
45. Apocalypse - BILL CALLAHAN
46. Collapse Into Now - R.E.M.
47. Riot Now! - ELEVENTH DREAM DAY
48. David Comes To Life - FUCKED UP
49. Skying - THE HORRORS
50. Yuck - YUCK
51. The Big Roar - THE JOY FORMIDABLE
52. Bruiser - THE DUKE SPIRIT
53. Codes and Keys - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
54. Degeneration Street - THE DEARS
55. Glass Prayer - RELIGIOUS TO DAMN
56. The Rip Tide - BEIRUT
57. The Whole Love - WILCO
58.  I Am Very Far - OKKERVIL RIVER
59. Share The Joy - VIVIAN GIRLS
60. Endless Now - MALE BONDING

Close, but no cigar: Portamento - THE DRUMS, Dye It Blonde - SMITH WESTERNS, Lollipop - MEAT PUPPETS, Tao Of The Dead - …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, Lenses Alien - CYMBALS EAT GUITARS, Violet Cries - ESBEN AND THE WITCH, The People's Key - BRIGHT EYES, C'mon - LOW, Alela Diane & Wild Divine - ALELA DIANE, Helplessness Blues - FLEET FOXES, Bon Iver - BON IVER, Demolished Thoughts - THURSTON MOORE, Circuital - MY MORNING JACKET, Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes - SOCIAL DISTORTION, Wasting Light - FOO FIGHTERS, Colour Trip - RINGO DEATHSTARR, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? - THE VACCINES, Leisure Seizure - TOM VEK, Passive Me Aggressive You - THE NAKED AND FAMOUS, Badlands - DIRTY BEACHES

Before we reveal our Top 30 for 2011, let me remind you what happened last year: click here for the complete 2010 Album list.

And here is a fine single from one of the albums just below the Top 30: "Cuckoo" is taken from Still Corners' very promising debut album "Creatures of An Hour", one of our Top 10 Debuts of the Year. The good news is that the band is scheduled to play our hometown on March 3rd, 2012 (see all their forthcoming dates here).

Still Corners - Cuckoo