michigan meltdown, grand rapids michigan, 7/18/12

hey! im slowly rebuilding my music collection, the mediafire shit is up in the air, i have to file a counterclaim against a couple takedown notices....dumb shit.....anyways i promised a review of michigan meltdown and here it is! it was a hot wedsday when i went downstate 2 weeks ago. the southern part of the state is parched and everything was brown......luckily ryans house was easy to find....i parked a block down and walked back to his house, i was almost immideatly hugged by rorik (cloud rat) when i got there, it was awesome, the noise acts played in the kitchen while the bands played in the garage.....i missed the first noise dude sitting on the porch fiddling with my phone....anyways DSS (dipshit system, featuring members of positive noise/oily menace) set up and played a blazing set, dylan (their drummer) gave me a shout out during their set wich was awesome....fast furious simple hardcore the way it was meant to be....after their set violet flame played the second noise set in the kitchen....he was ok, but alot of these noise guys kinda run together and sound very same-y.......once his set was finished,republic of dreams played their set in the garage....these german dudes (featuring a member(s?) of louise cypher for those that care) know how to shread your ears with some noise drenched frantic hardcore in the tried and true reversal of man/makara vein....you really have to see these dudes to know how great they are......once their set ended it was back to the kitchen to see lucky bone do his thing....kinda weird, choppy video/noise/performance art.....he set himself apart from the other noise acts, but i still wasnt completely into it......then curmudgeon set up and played their set in the (by them hot and steaming) garage. if you dont know, curmudgeon are a furious female fronted hardcore band from the boston area...crusty and pissed are the bywords here, krystina is a hell of a frontwoman, just brutal and bludgeoning all around.....excellent people too.......then back to the house for peter j woods set.......IMO, he was the best of the noise acts........he put a eyeless ski mask over his face and rolled a ball bearing around a coffee cup while sitting there manipulating his noise devices.......the sound was nice and harsh, as this style of music should be.....a pretty nice dude too.......after  his set we all herded ourselves back out to the garage for old soul.........they are a band from mt pleasant that i had ben wanting to see for a while, and finally i did!  their sound takes me back to the early 2000s when alot of  "screamo" bands were dabbling in post rock and epic-sounding song structures.......old soul seems to have taken alot of cues from bands like neil perry and welcome the plague year and then added some black metal flavor over the top of said influences...very loud, big and clean sounding live.....one of those bands that has the potential to really move you......awesome dudes as well! with no more noise dudes doing their thing, we all milled around until cloud rat set up and started their set........if youve read this blog at all over the past year and a half, then you know i hold this band and the people in it in the highest esteem.....everytime i see them its intense and memorable. never close to dissapointing EVER........all killer no filler.......this time was no exception and in fact it was the most intense set ive seen them play ever.......for reasons partially necessity, partly choice, i was right in madison's face the whole set, that might be why i thought it was so intense, but then again, i dont think that really had much bearing on how i felt at the time and do now.......i cant say enough about madison or rorik, i love them both so much, its beyond words. devastating set that had everyone in that tiny little garage moving and going nuts. if theres one active band that i think you need to see, its cloud rat, yes, they are that crucial right now..........last but certainly not least, oily menace closed out michigan meltdown with 10 minutes of their patented environmentally aware grind.....thick and brutal, just the way it should be........kevin/dylan/travis are fucking A+ individuals in any book..........after the show i hung out with the old soul dudes and drank some tea......madison invited me to go to dinner with the rest of cloud rat/curmudgeon, but things got hazy and for whatever reason, i didnt end up going =(   you guys owe me a raincheck on that! (maybe swimming?) i hung out with my new freind lydia (shes in the rat storm shirt in the header picture of this blog) and we shot the shit for a while......then i ended up talking to kevin (oily menace) and his girlfriend (i forgot your name if you are reading this, im sorry!) for half an hour....hugs were exchanged and then i went back to my truck and drove up to big rapids to get my hotel room........all in all this was the best show of the year for me and i would drive 300 miles to be with my freinds again anyday of the week.......love you all!

peter j woods

 

republic of dreams

curmudgeon

old soul

cloud rat

oily menace.

so i havent been able to update for a while......got a review of michigan meltdown comming up real soon. also getting my new laptop in a few days.......in the meantime my mediafire account has been suspended.....some bullshit claims filed on records by people who have nothing to do with them in the first place.......i had "strikes" against my account while i couldnt access anything so i couldnt do anything about it. in any case ill have to rebuild my collection from scratch and then gradually reupload all my shit.....and this time have it all on an external harddrive for backup incase this this bullshit happens again........fuck mediafire, fuck the RIAA and especially fuck whoever is making these "claims" because ive talked to the members of bands whos records "claims" were made on and they had no idea that shit had even taken place.......this is not the end of mind intrusion, but all the links are dead so you probably shouldnt bother clicking any of them.......stick with me cause this blog will continue through thick & thin.

anyways michigan meltdown review comming up soon....


thanks


johnny.

wett nurse @ upfront & co, 7/12/13 (sekoitus) pt2

wett nurse @ upfront & co, marquette, mi, 7/13/12 (sekoitus) pt1

oily menace @ the commons, marquette, mi, 7/13/12, (sekoitus)

two holes of man @ the commons, marquette, mi, 7/13/12 (sekoitus fest) pt2

two holes of man @ the commons, marquette, mi, 7/13/12 (sekoitus fest) pt1

sekoitus first day (two holes of man/oily menace/wett nurse/m. sword/mountain goat) 7/13/12

so yesterday i went to the opening day of the inaugural sekoitus fest in marquette, michigan.......this looks to be the start of an annual musical exposition in marquette........something the city needs badly in my opinion.....sekoitus is itself a finnish word meaning mixture, as in a mixture of different styles, which is what this fest is all about and that was strongly in evidence on the first day...the festivities commenced with the first three bands playing outside on the marquette commons, basically a big park with a pavilion for the bands to play infront of/under......when i got in, some bar rock band was playing......i sat in my truck and waited them out, basically playing with my phone......(also, it was the hottest day of the year up here yesterday, somewhere in the mid-upper 90s) then two holes of man, who id been told id like, set up and started playing....i was not dissapointed.....their sound is a kind of charged up excitable power pop with certain mathy sensibilities here and there.....(i think their guitarist also plays in witch's tit) they all had weezer shirts on and eventually played a cover of "say it aint so" which IMO was the low point of the set....i havent been a weezer fan since i was 15 so my appriceation for anything to do with that band is sorely lacking....but in any case, aside from that, their set was soild as fuck, the impromtu drum circle that started during their last song was fun too, wouldnt mind seeing them again sometime.

next up was the main reason i came.......oily menace are a band ive been jonesing to see ever since i got my grubby paws on their 3 way split (reviewed in this very blog) they set up and played as good a set as is possible when a band of their style plays outside....thick ugly (but socially aware) grind that hit the spot......after their set, i talked to kevin and the rest of the oily dudes for a while and then we all went swimming down at the beach (well i didnt because i didnt have a spare set of clothes) amazing people, amazing band, cant wait to see them again wedsday at michigan meltdown!

after the swim/talk, we all went over to upfront & co to catch the inaugural evening matinee of  sekoitus being held at upfront & co, a rather upscale bar/brewery(?) downtown.......wett nurse were first up and played for a little over half an hour......they were great but i think their style of psych/surf pop translates better in a cramped basement like merlot mansion than  a spacious club stage....thats just how i see it.........i feel kinda shitty that ive seen this band twice now and i still havent introduced myself to any of them.........hopefully that will change soon.......


m. sword too the stage next and played an uneventful (to me) set that, despite the nifty lightshow and alan parsons-esque 80s tv soundtrack music, never captured my interest........i loved his work with keleton dmd and especially quixote, but i just cant get into his solo shit...........



finally mountain goat took the stage and assaulted the audience with their patented brand of burly fuzz rock..........the first comparison that came to mind was fu manchu......big and lumbering......the sound was decent, but that whole scene isnt really my forte and i was largely indifferent to it......i did like the "black metal" song they played towards the end of their set.....


anyways sekoitus continues today with another 6 bands, most of whom i know nothing of.......just that swimsuit contains fred thomas, formerly of lovesick (who i adored), and witchs tit, who are great live, unfortunatly i wasnt able to make a return trip for tonights festivities.....saving cash for michigan meltdown dontcha know........anyways hanging with kevin & the rest of the oily menace was the highlight of my day. yesterday and it was one of the best days ive had in my 4 years in da UP..........id like to thank nick erickson for working his ass off to help put this fest on and being a hell of a dude too.




not too many pictures this time, as i was more concerened with taping full sets.....

impromtu drumcircle during two holes of man's set.

mountain goat.

fucked up cellphone pic of travis (oily menace) and their roadie just before everyone went in the water.........burns me up that my simcard mangled these pix so badly...........

procession - your turn to feel (2012)

hope everyone is having a safe and fun 4th............i spent most of mine hiking with my uncle and cousins and i have the sunburnt face and aching knees (from trudging over countless sand dunes) to show for it! anyways what we have here is the debut full length from grand rapid's shoegaze kings (and queen) procession. if you have followed this band and heard this full length, you know that 98% of this record isnt new material, its more of a compilation of  older tunes with a couple new ones throw in at the end, but all n all its great stuff.....the melodies shine brightly on every song present and britty sings wonderfully over it all....there was a period over the past few months where i neglected my old procession EPs, but this record  re-hammers home how great a band these dudes/dudettes are for me.....i havent gotten to see them since last june.......theyve toured twice since then but ive never been able to line things up to get downstate when they are playing in driving distance. i need that to change because its been far too long since ive seen them. wonderful music from wonderful individuals. if youve heard it before, youll be pleasantly suprised. if you havent, i think you'll have found a new favorite band.........





procession - your turn to feel

raymond brake / rebar split "7 (1994)

so i guess there will be some july posts afterall. ive been able to commondeer my mom's laptop for a while...........anyways  im hitting you with a blast from the past today........two of the more obscure and largely forgotten indie rock bands from the 90s who seemed to live under the shadows of archers of loaf/sonic youth/superchunk/pavement/ect.......which just means they were around playing shows and putting out (great) records that unfortunately, not many people heard because they where caught up in the aforementioned bands' (generally well deserved) buzz.......each band contributes one song to this split. greensboro, NC's raymond brake starts things off with "davliks" a disheveled, yet breezy tune that sits somewhere between harriet the spy and fellow (much more well known) statesmen, archers of loaf. clocking in at 3:08, this song is over way too soon for my taste, but its A+ indie rock, just like their full lengths were.......on the flipside we have rebar, who hailed from somewhere in california.....they take a longer, slow burning approach to the dischordant indie thing and punctuate their song "tansparent" with an explosion of noisy angst that fades back into the wandering trudge towards the end.........i liked this song alot and have been trying to find other rebar releases over the years but so far, with no luck..........all in all a great split from two bands that got lost in the shuffle. a perfect snapshot of real DIY indie rock from the mid 90s.





raymond brake/rebar split