Spacemen 3 Reunion 2010- Revolution

Space Out by Mono Stereo - An Interview

Não demorou muito para os suecos aterrizarem novamente no TBTCI, já na apresentação ficou claro as referencias dos caras, mas ainda faltou algo mais, então para saciar a curiosidade de todos, vai uma entrevista daquelas bacanérrimas, e um presente, ep ao vivo para consolidar o poder do Mono Stereo em cima do palco, vale cada segundo.

***** Interview with Mono Stereo *****

Q; When did Mono Stereo form, tell us about the beginning
A. The band was formed in the summer of 2006 by the brothers (Jakub & Geggan) . In the beginning another guy was playing bass so it wasn’t until April 2007 that the band as it is now, Geggan, Gunnar, Jakub and Kjelle, finally came together. We had all pretty much been playing with each other in other bands previous to that though.

Q. What are the band’s influences?
A. We listen to a lot of different kinds of music but what influence us the most is psychedelic music from the 1960’s and1980’s.

Q. Tell us about the recording process for space out ep and the new 7´inch?
A. We recorded both the EP and the single ourselves on our own recording equipment. We like working that way since it gives us the freedom to spend as much time as we want and need to make the best possible Mono Stereo recordings. We don’t like rushing.

Q, Tell us about playing live.
A. Doing live shows is something we really enjoy, especially if you do it in front of a crowd that gets into the music. Actually seeing people enjoy your music makes you feel that what you’re trying to do is something good.

Q. What do you think about the classic shoegaze era?
A. We really like bands like Ride and My Bloody Valentine but unfortunately we were too young to really experience them back in those days. They still influence the music we do now though.


Q. Tell us about bands in the current swedish shoegaze scene…
A. The shoegaze scene in Sweden is not very big, but hopefully we will be a part of something that will make it grow. There are a few good bands around though, like The Early Days and Bolywool.

Q. Which songs by other bands would you like to do cover versions of?
A. Right now we are only focused on making our own songs, but if we were to make a cover of someone else’s music we would probably pick a song that is not really the same type of music we play and then make it into our own. We don’t really see the point in playing songs the same way as other people have already played them.

Q. Which new bands you recommended?
A. We really like The Lucid Dream from Carlisle in the UK and Abby Go Go from Atlanta in the US. There are a lot of really good new bands coming out of the psychedelic scene across the world right now. It’s exciting.

Q. What are the plans for the future?
A. We will hopefully play some shows in Europe in the fall and winter. We are talking with The Lucid Dream about playing some shows together. Early next year our debut album is going to be released, we will probably release a first track from it in the fall and then we will cross the ocean to America for the first time. We can’t wait! It’s going to be a busy year ahead.


Q. Any important news to tell us…
A. Well of course we are delighted that our first 7 inch vinyl is now available. It has just been released by the MPLS label in the US and is limited to 500 copies – it can be purchased in the US here http://bit.ly/9cADnG or now from our own brand new website www.monostereo.se

It will also be available digitally from 2nd August at iTunes and most digital stores as well as from our site. Our website has just gone live and is a good place to come and get to know us – it also has links to all our social media – we love to connect with people all around the world and keep touch. We are pleased to have been introduced to your blog and readers – thanks for your support.
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Thanks friends...all the best!!!....Renato

Mono Stereo - Live EP

Nowhere with Velochrome

Basicamente nenhuma informação, a não ser um nome, Velochrome e uma mente por detrás, Tobias, o som, ah o som, shoegazer clássico, um pouco psicodelico, escute The Solemn Atmosphere e Stereobath e o que vem a mente é o clássico segundo album dos Telescopes, mas a vertente central aqui é o clássico shoegazer mesmo, a´la Ride, Don´t you know me, So Close Behind our eyes explicam exatamente o porque, já Worth and Matter tem um nostalgico ar 80´s mezzo Chameleons, mezzo Psychedelic Furs com toques de requinte shoegazer. Fiquei fascinado ao descobrir os caras em minhas visitas no myspace e adquiri o EP homonimo, só posso dizer que o artefato esta em alta rotação por aqui, recomendo ao extremo.

Velochrome - Velochrome EP

For Ex-Lovers Only with Procedure Club

Sabe aqueles albuns que viram discos de cabeceira de imediato, bandas que não precisam de mais do que meia hora para virarem prediletas da casa, isso aconteceu com este que vos escreve mais uma vez, explico melhor, quemme conhece sabe que sou fanatico por Black Tambourines, fanatico mesmo, dai vem uma banda totalmente desconhecida e desperta o frescor de ouvir aquela sonoridade novamente, claro tudo atualizado com os tempos modernos, o Procedure Club é isso, o Black Tambourines da nova geração, uma baruheira grudenta altamente pegajosa e deliciosamente perfeita, o debut homonimo é isso desde Seven Days Later a abertura desta perola fica claro, eu amo Procedure Club ok, Awesome Animals relembra J&MC, Primitives, Shop Assistants, ou seja, perfeição, essa é a palavra. O Procedure Club depois desse debut que é uma compilação das gravações caseiras feita pelo duo Adam Malec and Andrea causaram frenesi e rapidamente a espertissima Slumberland lar logicamente do Black Tambourines trataram-se de pegar toda a perfeição de Adam e Andrea e mandaram para o mercado o novissimo Doomed Forever e agora meus caros amigos, é show em tudo que é lugar, esse Doomed Forever facilmente devera estar na lista dos melhores de 2010 de qualquer fanatico por noise pop, shoegazer ou dream pop, digamos que o album é o Pains of Being Pure at Heart plugado no 220w. Para que eu não tenha que ficar na duvida do que deixar para vocês ouvirem, fiz o seguinte, tai os dois albuns e vicie-se a vontade, porque o Procedure Club não tem contra indicação.

Procedure Club - ST / Doomed Forever

Like an Angel with The Mighty Lemon Drops

Eu nunca me esquecerei de quando os vi aqui em São Paulo no saudoso Projeto SP, isso se não me engano foi em 1988 ou 1989 era a turne do segundo album World Without End, um show daqueles perfeitos sem bla, bla blas, Inside Out foi o apice do show, mas Like an Angel para mim sempre sera umas das melhores musicas de sempre, é por isso que o Mighty Lemon Drops é objeto de adoração deste que vos escreve, poderia escrever por oras e oras, a historia de Paul Marsh, vocais, David Newton, guitarra, Tony Linehan, baixo e Keith Rowley, bateria, banda subestimada e infelizmente mistificada como mera copia dos Bunnymen, o que discordo veementemente os caras estão mais para Teardrop Explodes ou Wah! do que para os Bunnymen propriamente dito, além de rolar similaridades com toda a class of 86 visto que os Drops estão na famosa cassete da NME, o fato é que o Poderoso Drops de Limão lançou dois albuns absolutamente irretocaveis o primeiro Happy Head é mais cru, mais class of 86 e psicodelico cru, o segundo World Without End é mais climatico, mais pos punk e igualmente perfeito, clássicos como Like an Angel, Closer to You, Happy Head, Hynotised, My Biggest Thrill, The Other Side of You, Inside Out, Out of Hands, Fall Down (Like the Rain) são exemplos de como o Mighty Lemon Drops logicamente tem toda a gama de influências citadas, mas acima de tudo essas canções tem a cara dos Drops.

Aqui disponibilizo o album Young, Gifted, And Black Country daquelas preciosidades para fans, onde inumeros dos classicos citados são desfilados ao vivo na radio Kcrm, simplesmente magistral, além de toda a apresentação, esta compilação apresenta ainda o primeiro ep dos Drops, claro Like an Angel em versão original.

Tipo se você não conhece, ou nunca deu a devida atenção, talvez tenha chegado a hora de se redimir com os Mighty Lemon Drops, na boa, eles merecem e muito.

The Mighty Lemon Drops - Young, Gifted, And Black Country

Slanted and Enchanted with The Wagner Logic

Quem não gosta de Pixies, Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Sebadoh boa pessoa não é?Certo??Certissimo, o termo indie rock pode ser facilmente explicado por estas bandas simplesmente fundamentais para todo o desmembramento do chamado rock alternativo, e é evidente que o TBTCI também é fascinado por elas, afinal de contas anos de nossas vidas foram passados ao som de Surfer Rosa, Slanted and Enchanted, Harmacy e outros tantos classicos, e é exatamente nesta fonte que os americanos do Alaska, é isso ai Alaska chamados de The Wagner Logic mandam ver seu college rock psicodelico e lo-fi com pegadas de shoegazer as vezes, leia-se shoegazer americano na linha de Swirlies, Drop Nineteens e afins, seu album de estreia Easiest to Grab é pegajoso e viciante como as grandes obras dos mestres citados, a sequencia de abertura a faixa titulo, Ambulance e Conflicting Sound é matadora, tipicamente daqueles albuns de se ouvir durante um tempão e depois de outro tempão pega-lo novamente e curtir com o mesmo frescor da primeira vez.....totalmente nostalgico.

The Wagner Logic - Easiest to Grab

Funhouse with Aqua Nebula Oscillator

Caos, é o que mais perto consigo definir sobre o que esse esquizofrenico e absurdamente caotico combo Frances/Belga/Mexicano radicado em Paris que atende pela alcunha de Aqua Nebula Oscillator e seu segundo album Under The Moon of, daqueles que desde os primeiros acordes de LSD Therapy já deixa claro que vieram para inundar o mundo com viagens regadas a psicotropicos dos melhores, pegue MC5, Stooges, Patti Smith e toda a vertente psicodelica de garagem acida, tipo, Seeds, jogue ai nitroglicerica e um monte de Bardo Pond, Spacemen 3 e derivações, chegando ao resultado dos 14 caoticos experimentos em forma de canções, um album que tem a obra maxima, Funhouse dos Stooges como ponto de partida e termina nas viagens barulhentas dos albuns do Bardo Pond, a grande maioria certamente torce o nariz por ser altamente psicotico em termos de guitarras, sempre estridentes com os vocais apocalipticos que as vezes lembram Siouxsie Sioux, Lost in Space, Silvermoon, Lsd Therapy, Beware e Girl são as vencedoras para lhe condenar definitivamente ao inferno delirante de fuzz, psicodelismo e guitarras, muitas guitarras em alto e estridente som. Tome cuidado.

Aqua Nebula Oscillator - Under the Moon of

Ladies and Gentleman Let´s Floating in Space with Laboratory Noise

Esta semana chegou um album que eu estava mais do que ancioso para ouvir, principalmente porque para mim eles são o Spiritualized moderno e finalmente pude ouvir, mas ouvir muito, insistentemente, porque esta obra prima chamada When Sound Generates Light dos ingleses do Laboratory Noise é absolutamente transcedental, shoegazer, psicodelismo, modernidade, tudo muito bem dosado, sem haver nada muito nostalgico ou nada muito moderno, o Laboratory Noise concebeu um album irretocavel, a abertura espacial com Mae já anuncia o que o ouvinte tera durante os proximos 60 minutos de audição, a sequencia é She Dies Screaming que sinceramente é um classico instantaneo, a perfeição em forma de canção, shoegazer psicodelico espacial acima de qualquer suspeita, de um bom gosto descomunal, e uma a uma Tesla e Lost In Battles se completam e são candidatas a hits um encontro de Verve e Slowdive, When Everything Burns Down, Polara in Time Stereo, a odisseia de mais de 15 minutos com a musica sem nome do album, ainda tem a emblematica Here, She is Evergreen e assim até os ultimos acordes de I Can Only Give You Everything, o desfile de canções poderosas e concebidas de forma a beirar a perfeição, ou melhor a perfeição beira o Laboratory Noise e sua obra prima When Sound Generates Light, um dos albuns do ano.

Apenas para finalizar, pegue o arquivo e aprecie, mas não se engane o album em sua versão cd é absurdamente essencial em sua coleção, pegue diretamente aqui com a banda:

http://www.laboratorynoise.co.uk/

Laboratory Noise - When Sound Generates Light

Doom Trip by Heavy Friends

Takashi, guitarras, vocais, baixo, bateria, ou seja, esse cara é a mente perturbada por detrás dessa insanidade chamada Heavy Friends, o nome da obra é Noise Head Music. Diretamente do Japão para entorpecer nossas cabeças com este debut absolutamente chapante, 3 canções, apenas 3 canções são responsaveis por fazer este que vos escreve ficar de queixo caido, Spacewalk, My Star e Doom Trip são descendentes direta de todas as bandas que fizeram da guitarra algo mais do que apenas um simples instrumento, Velvet Underground, Spacemen 3, Loop, Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Mercury Rev (fase Yerself is Steam) tudo altamente estridente, barulhento, um trip sem precedentes e sem volta, não tenho mais nada a declarar, grave isso em seu headphone e escute bem, mais bem alto, sem esquecer que o efeito que esta serra eletrica de guitarras vai lhe causar, é imprevisivel.

Heavy Friends - Noise Head Music

Venus in Furs with Nerve City

Soturno, lo fi, garage, noise, muito VU, dissonancias a parte fazia algum tempo que eu estava para comentar algo sobre esses americanos com o sugestivo nome de Nerve City, uma cacetada de 7´polegadas e cassetes no mercado, alguns eps, dentre eles separei Hell, I Fucked Death, Red Tops e Sleepwalker, mas se voce realmente se interessar procure Bars e a cassete Catholic School que vale a pena ao extremo. Aqui o ambiente é minimalista por vezes mais garage, em outras mais noise, algumas vezes folk noise, mas sempre com o espirito lo fi o album cheio acabou de sair, homonimo, que certamente vai entrar na lista dos melhores do ano. O Nerve City ao lado do Woven Bones pega o noise lo fi, garage dark e coloca luzes não tão brilhantes, mas só um pouco mais digeriveis....simplesmente indispensavel.

Nerve City - Cassetes, 7´inches, EPs

Candy Girl by Trailer Trash Tracys

Trailer Trash Tracys, já pelo nome já é jogo ganho, um 7´polegadas de empolgar qualquer fã de shoegazer classico, tudo aqui, guitarras soterradas, vocais sobrepostos envoltos a toda a massa sonora a cargo da loiraça Sussane Aztoria, e assim caminha o debut com Candy Girl e You Wish You Were Red, ainda no arquivo tem a participação que eles fizeram na coletanea bacanerrica No Pain in Pop com a matadora Strangling Good Guys, totalmente MBV com uma vocalização mais sexy e insinuante ainda, amigos fãns de shoegazer, mãos a obra, imperdivel, para acompanhar par e passo o que esse delicioso Trailer Trash Tracys nos trarão.

Trailer Trash Tracys - Candy Girl 7´inch

No Way Out with Mono Stereo

Da Suécia para o mundo, este combo intitulado Mono Stereo, que já conta no curriculo um EP intitulado Space Out onde as influencias seguem a tendencia psicodelia 60´s de garagem passando pelos mestres J&MC e MBV e terminando as conexões com a psicodelia noise atual a nivel de B.R.M.C, Black Angels e afins. O novissimo 7´polegadas On and On/Matter of Confusion, ultrapassa a conexão europeia e atinge os Estados Unidos, o que é mais do que natural, vejamos, On and On, pegue o psicodelismo mais acustico e classico com um apelo grandiosamente grudento, candidata a hit facil, facil, já Matter of Confusion vira do avesso literalmente com sua dissonante camada crescente de guitarras, sonicamente os crescendo são a tonica da canção, um espetaculo.

O debut esta prometido para 2011, por enquanto o que posso adiantar é que logo mais rola mais Mono Stereo aqui no TBTCI, fique de olho.

Mono Stereo - Matter of Confusion

Heaven or Las Vegas with Asobi Seksu - An Interview

Algumas bandas são tão doces, tão sonhadoras que qualquer coisa que digam a respeito que seja contra a nossa propria adoração viramos monstros e queremos matar o desqualificado que diga algo desse nivel, na minha lista de bandas deste nivel, coloco Cocteau Twins, Lush, Stereolab e Asobi Seksu, logicamente que existe uma linha tenue de conexões entre todas elas, o dreampop é a mais facil, o fato de possuirem meninas com vozes magistrais é outra e logicamente o fato de serem altamente perfeitas. O Asobi Seksu é algo que transmite uma verdadeira onda de candura, claro que nos early years as guitarras faziam-se mais presentes porém a partir do album Hush do ano passado Yuki Chikudate & James Hanna optaram por reinventar-se e mandaram um trabalho descomunalmente doce, etereo e candido, uma verdadeira obra prima como Treasure do Cocteau Twins eu diria.

Nunca me perdoarei por ter perdido o unico show deles em BH, mas procurei e consegui contato direto e imediato com o Asobi e algo especial podera acontecer em 2011, esta curioso??Então leia com muita atenção e carinho o que a doce Yuki nos diz...

***** Interview with Asobi Seksu *****

Q. When the band starts?tell us Asobi Seksu history...
A. We started in 2001-2002. I don't remember anymore...it's all blurry, but somewhere around there.

Q: What are the band´s influences?
A. Right now- Air conditioning, swimming pools+the beach, cats, Larry David, Karl Pilkington, Spiritualized. There are many many bands of many kinds- too many to list.

Q: Tell us about the Asobi Seksy´s gigs...how was it?
A. Our gigs in Brazil- We've only played one show in Belo Horizonte. It was our first time in Brazil and we were very excited. We had fun. James fell down the stairs before the show. Don't worry, he was not injured.


Q. What´s your impressions about brazilian tour?
A. Hmmm, I don't think that one show can qualify as a tour. Hopefully we can do more than one show in 2011 in Brazil and we can call it a tour!

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the albuns, what´s the different between Hush from the others ones?
A. This new yet to be titled album that we are recording (#4) has been a freeing, truly fun experience. Hush was in many ways a record of exploration and developing new musical/aural repertoire. The new one for me was a joy to make. It's always fun working with Chris Zane. Over the years, he's become one of our best friends.

Q. What do you think about the shoegazer classic era?
A. It was a time of truly beautiful music. We owe much to that era and the innovators of the 90s.

Q. About shoegazer scene in Japan, what´s the best band in your opinion...
A. To be honest, I'm not too informed about the shoegazer scene in Japan. I do know that our Japanese fans are very passionate about the 90s and shoegaze/dreampop.

Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
A. Girl groups songs are always fun to cover. We did one of THEN HE KISSED ME. We also just did a cover of Donovan's Celeste. One of the most beautiful songs ever written. Not sure what we'll cover next. Any suggestions?

Q: Which new bands you recommended?
A. I've been enjoying Washed Out and Zane played us some of 123 band's demo which I thought was good!


Q: What´s the plans for future....new records, a tour,maybe return to Brazil one day....:)
A. We are about to start mixing our new record which is really exciting. Plan on releasing it in early 2011. Hopefully this means lots of touring- and lots of fun shows in beautiful Brazil.

Q: Any parting words?
A. Obrigada---Amo voce!
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Thanks Yuki....também amamos você!!!!!....Renato

www.myspace.com/asobiseksu

Asobi Seksu - Daytrotter Session - 6/7/2007

I Got The Devil by The Lucid Dream - An Interview

Segunda vinda destes ingleses insanos do The Lucid Dream, muito esperada depois da esbornia feita com o EP Erbistock Mill, onde o cartão de visita foi dado em forma de fuzz e reverb com muito psicodelismo frenetico, dai o interesse este que vos escreve foi crescendo e o os contatos ficando cada vez mais frequentes até o que o TBTCI fechou entrevista com os caras e além de tudo isso o Lucid Dream concedeu 3 demos ineditas para o deleite dos aficcionados nas microfonias e distorções psicodelicas. Enjoy it!!!

***** Interview with The Lucid Dream *****

Q. When did the band start?
A. The band started in January 2008, and we played our first show in March of the same year, we only had 4 songs by the first show, but once of them was 'Hits Me Like I'm Stoned', which clocks in at around 12-17 minutes, so we never had any problems doing a full set! It was really exciting doing those first shows because we never had any music online, so people did not know what to expect. It was such a buzz to do those shows, and we had a label within 2 shows which was weird!

Q: What are the band´s influences?
A. Loads of stuff, mainly Spiritualized/Spacemen 3/Spectrum/Verve/Love/Jesus and Mary Chain, 60s garage, Nuggets, United States of America, Silver Apples, Velvet Underground, Echo and the Bunnymen, The La's, 60s girl groups, Motown. Stone Roses, Brian Jonestown Massacre, hundreds of bands! We try and make our influences reflect as a melting pot on our own music.

Q: Tell us about The Lucid Dream playing with Spectrum.
A. We played 2 shows with Spectrum in February 2009, at Liverpool Static Gallery/Leeds Library. It was fantastic, and surreal. Sonic Boom is one of our biggest influences so its a huge buzz supporting an idol for 2 shows. Will Sergeant (Echo and Bunnymen guitarist) was at the Liverpool show, it was like a dream! I thought that we played to our best abilities at those shows. We didnt speak too much to Sonic Boom to be honest. I remember the Leeds show being rammed!

Q: Tell us about the process of recording Erbistock Mill EP?
A. We recorded it initially over 4 days @ Erbistock Mill, Wales, which the label at the time (Dead Young Records) had rented. We recorded some parts at Leeds Ghost Town studios with Ross Halden, who also did the Erbistock sessions. I love the finished product, although you can sometimes lose the appreciation as it was a long drawn out process. I re-visited it recently and I am definitely happy with it! It was great to see it get the flattering write-ups too. It was self-released, as we parted company with our old label prior to release. We did sessions of 12/13 hours at a time, but it was well worth it.



Q. When is an album due?
A. Early next year hopefully! We will record it throughout this year, and spend time getting it right and mixing it. It will be a 40 minute blast of drone and great songs. If we get it right we will have a classic, the songs are there. I know that sounds arrogant but I really do feel that we have something special there. We also want to make sure its not overly long. There will be plenty of variety on it too.

What do you think of the 'shoegaze' era?
A. Bands such as Ride, Verve, Spacemen 3 are a big influence, however we are not massively influenced by it. There was some great music, but some pretty bad stuff too, and the new wave of 'shoegaze' seems a bit snobby and unwelcoming, so we distance ourselves from it to be honest. We have our 'shoegaze' moments, but the tunes too. I think that is the downfall of shoegaze, good ideas but lack of killer tunes.

Q: Which band would you love to cover?
A. Tricky question, we have not done any covers yet and no plans also, so cant answer that one!

Q: Which new bands do you recommend?
A. From our new label - Elephant Stone, The See See, Mono Stereo.
Also, bands we have played recent shows with: Delta Mainline, Dogfight Revolution, Daylight Frequencies, Black Market Karma, The Loud, Crocodiles, Exit Calm, Insect Guide.

Q: What´s the plans for future....new records, a tour
A. We have just joined the roster of a new label, London based 360 Degree Music. We are looking at a late summer single with 'In Your Eyes', which is a big contrast to the EP, its a 2 and a half minute jangly psych pop song. We are recording a live session this month to have as additional I-tunes/label mailing list tracks. We will probably hold back the release until the extra tracks are done. We will be touring the UK too.

Its exciting to be on 360 Degree, it is co-run by Stuart Batsford, who worked for Warner Bros/Rhino. He is really clued up, and has been involved by releases by Electric Prunes/Jesus and Mary Chain/Love/Elektra, to name a few, its an honour to be working with them. Also, some superb acts on the label, such as Elephant Stone, The See See and Mono Stereo.

After the single, we will concenrate on album hopefully, with a single in between.

Q: Any parting words?
A. What is your favourite track of ours? :-) *
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well my favourite track is.......I Feel So Lonesome (I´m Blue for you).....thanks guys!!!!

The Lucid Dream - Demos

www.myspace.com/theluciddream08

Walking with Jesus with The Vacant Lots - An Interview

Feriado psicodelico este que estou passando, verdadeiras acid trips das melhores tenho escutado e esta aqui é especialissima, você já ouviu falar de The Vacant Lots?Não, estão se você é devoto da familia Spacemen 3 (Spectrum, Spiritualized, Darkside, E.A.R.), Suicide, os classicos demoniacos do blues Bo Diddley e Howlin Wolf, psicodelismo 60´s tipo Love 13th Floor Elevators, faça o seguinte, procure um dos 3 albuns destes seguidores dos reverbs e fuzz, o duo americano The Vacant Lots composto por Jared Artaud e Brian Mcafadyen vem excursionando com Cheval Sombre e Spectrum pelas terras americanas e quem somos nós para dizer alguma coisa se Mestre Kember aprovou, correto?!!?Corretissimo, então o TBTCI foi atrás do TVL e quis saber mais sobre o mistério envolto sobre a banda, nada mais interessante do que o proprio Jared contar como, porque e quando tudo aconteceu...ah, compre os 3 albuns ok, é um sacrilégio viver sem isso, canções como Let me Out, When The Lord Comes e Walk you Home são indispensaveis.

***** Interview with The Vacant Lots *****

Q. When the band starts?tell us Vacant Lots history...
A. The band was formed in the summer of 2008. I was auditioning a lot of musicians around that time. I had a lot of songs already written and was looking to put a band together. Looking to find a Billy Ficca or Elvin Jones. I was listening to a lot of Indian music, Blues, and early Rock n Roll at the time. Then I met Brian who was 15 years old, classically trained and could really play drums. What I was hearing in my head for the drum sound was something akin to Native American drumming. At about the third rehearsal I got him to stand up all the drums and cymbals around him and play standing up. It added more of a heart-beat rhythm to the sound. We shared a love for Bo Diddley, Howlin Wolf, The Stooges, Spacemen 3. The guitar sound was raw - I used no effect pedals. I just plugged a Country Gentleman straight into a Silvertone amp accompanied by drones and vocals. We were creating these little rock n roll ragas. In 2 years our sound has thickened and become fuller but is still rooted in simplicity. We have been a duo ever since.

Q: What are the band´s influences?
A. I guess I already answered that? A few more...John Lee Hooker, Spectrum, Rimbaud, Arthur Lee and Love, The Shirelles, Dean and Britta, Suicide, Mark Rothko, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Television, Ingmar Bergman, Edgar Alan Poe.

Q. Vacant Lots bring us the sensation of the classic "sex, drugs and rock´n´roll"....define Vacant Lots sounds...
A. Minimalist psychedelic dark pop duo mixed with the light of film projections...

Q: Tell us about the Vacant Lots debut gig...how was it?
A. It was loud and well done .

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
A. I tend to write a lot. Songs mostly develop from the poetry I have been writing. We recorded, mixed and produced 3 full length albums in less than 2 years. All 3 albums were made in the course of a weekend at Big Orange studios. Including all recording, production, mixing, etc. Our method was speed and intensity. I wanted to get the sounds I was hearing out of my head - a catharsis and release of the spirit. The best way for me at that time was to work very fast and spontaneously and let everything come through.

Q. What do you think about the shoegazer classic era?
A. It takes up a large space of my record collection.

Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
A. I think it would be cool for TVL to do an album of Buddy Holly songs.

Q: Which new bands you recommended?
A. Cheval Sombre, Screen Vinyl Image, Cult of Dom Keller, The Vandelles, Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor, The Raveonettes, The Black Angels, The Asteroid No.4

Q: What´s the plans for future....new records, a tour.
A. We just got off tour with Spectrum (Sonic Boom/Spacemen 3) in May. Which was an awesome experience. We were truly fortunate to go on tour with one of our favorite bands. Sonic Boom has made some of the best music we ever heard and has continued to write beautiful and inspired music. He is someone that has been a great inspiration to us. Right now we are working on our 4th album, new projections, record labels. We are also looking into doing some more touring soon.

Q: Any parting words?
A. Speed & intensity. And thanks.
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Thanks Jared!!!!

www.myspace.com/thevacantlots

The Sky´s Gone Out with Bloody Knives - An Interview

2010 esta realmente espetacular, inumeros albuns simplesmente essenciais vem saindo semanalmente, o nivel de qualidade esta acima da media e isso vem com o aumento gradativo de bandas nos quatro cantos do mundo, noise, shoegazer, psychedelic, stone rock, indie, post pounk, gotico, eletronicos, enfim cada segmento tem seus apices neste 2010, e logicamente não poderia deixar de incluir nesta lista que vem aumentando mais e mais o debut de um dos prediletos deste que vos escreve, trata-se do duo insano de Austin, Texas, que diga-se de passagem vem fazendo frente a NY e Londres facilmente, o Bloody Knives que tem a frente Preston Maddox e Jake Mccown divindo tudo na banda e neste absurdo Burn It All Down, pegue todas as tendencias desde shoegazer a eletronicos das quas eu citei ai para cima e inclua a paranoia total da vida atual, escute Tell me I´m Wrong, You Know You Will, Slow It Down, I Saw the Ghost That Follows You e perceba o gothic, shoegazer, pos punk, eletronico, psychedelic tudo condensado de forma agressivamente brutal e rapida, eu diria que o Bloody Knives é algo entre o Ceremony e o SVI, um daqueles albuns imperdiveis que deve ser escutado em qualquer lugar a qualquer hora, e aproveitando o lançamento de uma tiragem exclusiva em cd que pode ser adquirida no link que esta no termino deste post os caras ainda disponibilizaram o album totalmente gratis, mas veja, baixe e tente não querer ter o original....de qualquer forma a escolha é sua, mas existem mais argumentos para que você fique mais viciado pelo Bloody Knives, leia com atenção a entrevista concedida ao TBTCI e veja o porque de tudo isso.

***** Interview with Bloody Knives *****

1. When did the band start?
A. Jake and I have been playing music together since 1998. The first time I met Jake I was working at a music store in Dallas Texas called Zoo Music, Jake was playing guitar in a metal band and I sold him a PV 5150 head and a 4x12 cabinet. Eventually he started working there too. I was playing bass in a metal band, guitar in Pixies style pop band, and playing guitar in an experimental punk band called Red Rocket. The bass player in Red Rocket left, so I asked Jake to play bass, which he didn't want to do, but eventually accepted. Eventually both our metal bands went under and Red Rocket became more experimental, sometimes just showing up at shows and jamming the whole time. People thought we were playing songs that we rehearsed! Our singer left and we could not find a singer, so I started to sing. The style of the band got darker and we changed the name of the band to Killredrocket.

We moved to Austin in 2003 and our drummer got involved in a prosperity gospel church. He would make excuses about why he couldn't practice with us, but still went to church and played with them. The drummer also disliked my singing voice and wanted to sing, which did not work out well at all. At that point Jake and I started an electronic project called Your Life in Sixty Seconds, with both of us playing different instruments, sampling from records and programming. Things finally came to a head with our drummer and Killredrocket broke up. We made Killredrocket the name of our label and started Killredrocketrecords. Jake and I tried to find a drummer and other people to play with, but nothing worked out. So we started a band with a longtime friend of ours, Josh Vaughn. Josh played guitar much like I did, so our styles complimented each other, and we wrote songs easily. We couldn't find a drummer, so Jake decided to play drums. This was the beginning of The Joy Bus. The Joy Bus played around all the time, pretty much anywhere we could, put out a few records, toured with Me You Us Them, played Kalamashoegazer. Then Josh got worn out on the touring and playing so much and left the band, and that was the end of Joy Bus.

We had all lived together, so when the band broke up we moved out of the house. Jake moved back to Dallas Texas and I moved in with my girlfriend. She lived at the Metropolis, which is a multicolored psychedelic hipster apartment complex with a reputation for drugs and all night partying. I started writing songs on bass on the front porch of her apartment complex, imagining the other parts in my head. I sold some of my gear and bought a laptop and the footpedal. Jake eventually made his way back to Austin and we started the band on the principles that it would only be the two of us and there would be no guitar player. Eventually I got a house and we set up our studio in the garage. The songs I wrote on the porch ended up being the Bloody Knives EP.

2. What are the bands influences?
A. Electronic music had a big influence on us both. Dallas has a thriving Drum and Bass/Jungle scene, and friends of ours are DJs and producers, so we would go to see DJs more often than bands. House, trance, Jungle/Drum and Bass, Dub-step, Acid House, French House, all of it really. We went to raves and the whole bit.

The bands we played with when we were kids were influential. I grew up in the beginning of the grunge/alternative/punk era, and my ideals and musical ethics come from that scene. Local Dallas music influenced us as well; Doosu, Hagfish, Caulk, Slow Roosevelt, Tripping Daisy, Urine Trouble. I really like alot of music that is considered "uncool" by the hipsters, like Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, Third Eye Blind, Goo Goo Dolls, Chicago, Pet Shop Boys, Bruce Hornsby; all huge influences. Metal, industrial and heavy punk were big for us both too. Slayer, Sepultura, Slipknot, Deftones, High on Fire, Genghis Tron, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Motorhead, Hot Snakes.

Hip Hop and Rap music is a big part of our sound. The artistic concept of sampling is a huge part of our music. UGK, Three Six Mafia, DJ Shadow, Wu Tang, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, NWA, Tupac, Biggie, Jay Z, Black Star, Binary Star, Tribe Called Quest. I used to work at a music store that sold mainly Dirty South and Screw music, it all worked its way into the brain. DJ Screw, Z-Ro, Ghetto Boys, Lil Wayne. Mannie Fresh produced all the early Cash Money records, his musical ideas played a big part in my thinking on hooks, sampling and song arrangement. Rappers phrasing and placement helped shape my vocals as well, especially Tupac, he is one of the best at that.

Visual influence is bigger for this band than musical influence. Horror movies, especially Japanese horror films, and sci-fi films. There is an emphasis on making music from a listeners perspective, or a non musical perspective, and gaining influence from non-musical sources.

Old Nintendo games and music are one of our biggest influences. We spent hours and hours playing Ninja Gaiden, Megaman, Metroid, Contra, all the classic 8 bit Nintendo games; this has shown up without any effort toward that sound.

If I had to narrow it down to a few bands, it would be Daft Punk, My Bloody Valentine, Lightning Bolt, DFA 1979, Sparta, Hot Snakes, Massive Attack, Miles Davis, Aphex Twin, Led Zeppelin, Tool, Curve, DJ Shadow, Smashing Pumpkins and At the Drive In.

My Dad has a massive record collection that spans most music done from the beginnings of recorded music to present day, so I was well versed in different types of music before I started playing. 40's big band, 50's rock, 70's psyche, blues of all eras, 80's synth music.

3. Tell us about the Bloody Knives gigs, how is it?
A. Our first show was on Halloween at a warehouse party in San Antonio called the 5th Dimension. Our friends in the band IoK helped set it up. There was a group of kids flying high on mushrooms, feeling the good happy groovy vibes and then we went on and it sent their trip in the wrong direction, they all ran out of the room! So it was us and maybe five people watching. It was fitting in an odd way.

The rest of our shows have been well attended and well received for the most part. Our music appeals to a wider group of people than I thought it would, which allows us to be able to play with lots of different kinds of bands. The shoegaze scene, the punk scene, electro-pop, psychedelic, dance music, all of these scenes like what we do. We make our way into all of these groups.

People have caught on to the dance element in our sound, so there is often people dancing at our shows. I think this is one of the coolest things to happen to rock shows, it's about time dancing came back. People just standing there has gotten boring, dancing is more fun for lots of people, and its more fun for us too.
We are antisocial and disconnected people, to be able to connect with the audience on a subliminal level is rewarding.

I always hear about how loud we are, even though I don't think we are that loud. Its a rock show, it's supposed to be loud, right??

We also have visuals projected behind us, that's a big part of our shows. This is part of the rave scene that has stayed with us. Horror movies, sci-fi movies, other oddball visuals. It all helps the music come across to the crowd.

4. Tell us about the process of recording the album.
A. We spent about three or four months writing songs. The studio is set up in my garage, so we have all the time we want to record. We wrote around thirty songs for the record. We kept writing until we thought there were enough good songs that were diverse enough for a complete record. Its our first record and we wanted it to be a good representation of the spectrum or our sound. Jake wrote demo beats on the computer and I would write all of my parts then he would come back and finish the drums.

After that we sent the record to our producer Josh Pursur, who helped pick the songs and made suggestions to try and make the songs as good as they could be. The biggest thing he did was help us understand how we appealed to people in an immediate sense; we wanted a record that would be as accessible as we could be. We went back into the studio and added some extra things, re-tracked some parts, trying to take the songs as far as they could go.

Then I spent another couple of months mixing and remixing the songs, getting the drums right, adjusting minor details that probably only me and my audiophile friends can hear! It takes exponentially more effort to make the record 10% better, but that 10% is worth it, it was the difference between a professional sounding record and a demo.

Kramer had approached us a while back about mastering. He has worked with a wide range of great music (Low, Galaxie 500, Alice Donut, Daniel Johnston, Butthole Surfers, Sareena Maneesh, Bongwater, Ween) and had the Shimmy-Disc label. He comes from a similar ethic as us, emphasis on ears and understanding over expensive equipment, and did a great job polishing up the record, making it sound like we recorded it in an expensive studio instead of in my garage on my $200 computer, taking it to a radio-ready quality level. His ear for specific frequencies is unreal, and his ability to hear through the noisy mess of our music was impressive.

5. What do you think about the classic Shoegaze era?
A. I think its appropriate and funny that shoegaze became a mainstream thing later on. If you told me 10 years ago that all the hipsters would be talking about MBV I would have laughed at you. I got made fun of all the time for listening to shoegaze, so I had to listen to these bands on my own time away from my friends! I remember finishing practice with my metal band a putting on My Bloody Valentine on the way home.

I didn't catch onto shoegaze until 1999. I was about 10 years old when all this was out at first, I missed all the original bands when they came out, I was playing pee-wee sports and listening to 2LiveCrew, Motley Crue, Public Enemy, Guns & Roses and Naughty By Nature!!!!

All I heard from friends were negative things about shoegaze bands. With MBV it was that you couldn't hear the vocals or drums, with Cocteau Twins it was that the singer sang like a dramatic chirping bird. I didn't care, I loved it. What impressed me sonically with these bands was the sweeping massiveness of the music, it seems to fill up all the space around me almost, its like I'm surrounded by the music when listening, as opposed to being attacked by the music, like metal or heavy punk. Once I caught onto it I was hooked, it was a completion of the kind of music I wanted to hear and make.

When you put it into context of when the music came out, the original shoegaze bands were all extreme fringe bands, bands that drew influence from diverse kinds of music but didn't relate or fit in with their surroundings or any specific crowd. They didn't seem to care either. This aspect is what I relate to more than anything. These bands followed their ears and hearts to the music they made, not any trend or movement in music, or corporate persuasion.

This created bands that were different from one another but founded on similar principles, which created similar music. The massive sound of the original bands was so overwhelming and different, at the time it was destined to fail, it was so far away from mainstream and even underground music. None of these bands seemed to care. Nothing promotes music better than good music, and the people who loved these bands carried them along with them, and then the younger people noticed and popularity grew. Its well deserved.

6. Which bands would you like to do a cover version of?
A. I just got into JAMC this year, the song "The Living End" encompasses much of the influence we drew from them, someday I would like to cover that song.
Tom Petty's "Learning to Fly" is an all time favorite, as well as "Wildflowers".
Iron Maiden's first record is a classic. We could do a sick version of anything on that record.

I am influenced by female singers almost exclusively. If there is a Curve tribute album count me in!!!! "Perish" and "Horror Head" are two huge favorites. Fleetwood Mac would be fun too, "Gypsy" or "Sweet Little Lies" or "Everywhere". Any MBV song. I love 50's music too, that would be fun. Motorhead would be fun, Lemmy is one of my favorite bass players. Or anything by The Cure.

7. Which new bands would you recommend?
A. Check out our label Killredrocketrecords. We have free downloads of lots of the great bands I come across.

http://www.killredrocketrecords.com

I'm going to miss someone on this list, but here it goes: Me You Us Them, IoK, Screen Vinyl Image, Laserz, Powerlifer, Infinity Rider, Dirty Dishes, Ribs, Dead Leaf Echo, Burnt Ones, We Are Hex, The Lost Rivers, Suicide Party, Stellarium, Between the Cities are Stars, Was She A Vampire, Ceremony, Victorie & Hyde, the Black Hole Lovers, Gift Horse, Erode and Dissapear, Paperthreat, Black Nite Crash, SPC ECO, Real Book Fake Book, Panda Riot, Brief Candles, A Place to Bury Strangers, Double Ugly, MFM, Stinking Lizaveta, One Day as a Lion, Holy Fuck, Medicine Theory, Gran Moff, The Fever Dreams.

8. What are your plans for the future?
A. We go on tour July 12th through August 1st through the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast. I can't wait, we are playing with some of my favorite bands, its going to be so cool to see them play, visit all the cities and have some fun. We are going to try and make it to the west coast next, and then we are going to try to make it to Europe to play there. I think we would go over well there, considering that the bands we sound like came from there.

Our first record "Burn It All Down" comes out July 13th, we are looking forward to that. Its the first day of our tour, it makes more sense to me to celebrate the release of our record in a city we have never been to with a party band like Powerlifter!! haha. We will have an official release show in Austin when we get back, probably in the fall.

Our next release is going to be a split 7" vinyl with Me You Us Them coming out in the fall. We used samples from the Me You Us Them song "Drugs" in the song. I hope to find some more artists that will let me re-sample their music and turn it into songs, its fun to integrate their style into our music and make it work, and the bands dig it too.

We are doing a dance remix of our new record called "Burn It All Up". We hope to make the party happen with this remix record. Probably be done next winter.
I'm recording the IoK record in August. I'm also doing videos for Black Nite Crash and Infinity Rider.

As far as our next record, there will be more obscure sampling, and we are going to take a more improvisational approach to creating it. Try to keep it the same while still doing something different. We are never entirely happy with what we create, its always a chase to try and get what we want. That's most of the fun! Its good to have a challenge, I hope we never get where we want to go so we keep chasing it. Rejection and failure have helped us out quite a bit! .

The studio itself is an instrument, our approach to it changes with each record. It will be fun to try and figure out how to take our music to the next level and what part the studio plays in it.

9. Any parting words?
A. When we were kids, before the internet and album leaks, we would wait for months for our favorite band to put something out. Sometimes we would skip school to go to the music store and get the record on release day. When we finally got the record we would listen to the whole thing all the way through, usually more than once. We would give the record a chance whether we liked the songs on the first listen or not. It was almost a religious experiance, and it bred a amount of respect for music and art.

The internet has killed off this experience. Now most people just cycle through mp3's and throw them away like yesterdays garbage.

If you love a band, buy the whole album. Listen to the whole album. Most artists are trying to tell you something and take you somewhere; let them do it. Its worth it.

Thank You Renato!!!! I appreciate your interest in our music and I wish you the best of luck with everything you do.
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Thanks Preston, I love it!!!....Renato

www.myspace.com/bloodyknivesunderyourskin
Bloody knives - Burn It All Down

Playing with Fire with The Henry Chinaski's Ashtray

Se Cheval Sombre esta para Spectrum esta maravilha chamada The Henry Chinaski's Ashtray esta para Spacemen 3, um frenetico combo francês que tem 4 registros todos disponiveis com links em seu myspace, mas este Da kannst du was erleben meine Liebchen! me chocou tamanho o reverb, fuzz, tudo cru e puro, como nos aureos tempos de quando Peter Kember e Jason Pierce conseguiam dividir palcos e estudios. Este 4 registro do The Henry Chinaski´s Ashtray é longo, só para ter uma ideia o arquivo tem 174 MB, a grande maioria das canções ultrapassam os 6 minutos de duração, o que representa para quem é aficcionado por este tipo de sonoridade, viagens, viagens, bad trips guitarristicas que são um deleite esquizofrenico com vocais distantes soterrados pela massa sonora complexa e viciante. Se você ama Spacemen 3 não perca tempo, pois eu nunca ouvi nada tão proximo aos mestres. Perfeito.

The Henry Chinaski's Ashtray - Da kannst du was erleben meine Liebchen!

Revolution with Spacemen 3

Tenho escutado o Playing with Fire muito por estes dias, se marcar tomei uma multa por alta velocidade graças a pancadaria de Revolution, que é daquelas canções que me remetem ao descobrimento das coisas ouvir Sonic Boom declamando a letra de Revolution me excita ao extremo...não é necessario dizer que este album do Spacemen 3 é facilmente um dos mais perfeitos de todos os tempos, daqueles que podem passar anos, decadas e quando se coloca Suicide, Revolution e How Does It Feel?, percebe-se o quão atual os caras são, uma obra prima com todas as letras.

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Well look out

Well I’m sick
I’m so sick
Of a lot of people
Tryin’ to tell me
What I can and can’t do
With my life

And I’m tired
I’m so tired
Of a lot of people
In a lot of high places
Don’t want you and me
To enjoy ourselves

Well I’m through with people
Who can’t get off their arse
To help themselves change this government
And better this society
‘Cos it’s shit

But hold on a second
I smell burning
And I see a change
Comin’ ‘round the bend
And I suggest to you
That it takes
Just five seconds
Just five seconds
Of decision
To realise
That the time
Is right
To start thinkin’ about
A little…
Revolution!
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Revolution - Spacemen 3

Summer Babe with Megaphonic Thrift

Presentaço do brother Al, mente alucinada por detrás do barulhento Sussuros e Escarros, esse debut do Megaphonic Thrift é puro noise, lo-fi com muito barulho a´la Sonic Youth, Serena Maneesh, Pavement e Flaming Lips fase pancadaria, os noruegueses comprovam neste Decay Decoy que vieram para estilhaçar as guitarras, Talks Like a Weed King, Queen of Noise, Sister Joan, Candy Sin são clarissimos exemplos do poder de fogo dos caras, são tempo para respirar, Decay Decoy deixa claro que a Noruega vai muito além de Serena Maneesh e Maribel, simplesmente viciante.

Megaphonic Thrift - Decay Decoy