Monthly Archives: July 2013

Agitated Guitar Music Showcase @ Milhouse 7.12

Although Milhouse has had a few returning touring acts, Speedy Ortiz will be the first to return three times in just about a years time! Although this act has been getting some attention from major publications, they’re still attempting to run their tour circuit through some favorite DIY spaces – Kalamazoo included.

SPEEDY ORTIZ are on tour to promote their new album, Major Arcana, which came out July 9th. The four piece band has a huge sound, with heavy drums and spiraling/strange guitar lines, all matched with unbeatable catchy hooks.

Also performing will be locals CRASH CITY SAINTS, the local longtime running shoegaze band featuring a changing line up and evolving sound, who first brought Speedy Ortiz to Kalamazoo. SHARK BEACH the brand-spankin’-patent-pending new band featuring a few of those buddies from MINUTES will be playing their first set. And finally, local hit makers and heart breakers BORING PEOPLE will knock your socks off with delightful bummer tracks as they always promise to do.

If you like things loud, weird, and stuck in your head for days, this is the show for you.

Please bring donation for the touring act. Please respect everyone at the house. Be kind, rewind. THIS SHOW IS STARTING EARLY. We’re kicking things off at 7:30! The reason for this is that once this is done, you can get TWICE AS MUCH ROCK by going to Wayne Manor to see Jake Simmons & The Little Ghosts, The Island of Misfit Toys (Chicago, IL), The Dead Records (Fort Wayne, IN), and Saxquatch & The Bridge Band.

Shakespeares, Rattle, and Rock-n-roll tonight! 7/11

From Rockford, IL, WARREN FRANKLIN & THE FOUNDING FATHERS will be playing high-energy punk-infused pop music. It’s good.

From Houston, TX, FOOTBALL, ETC is rock-n-roll with just a twinge of shoegaze thrown in the mix. Plus they’re playing Fest 12 this year. how cool is that?

From St Louis, MO, FOXING will doing their post-hardcore thing and doing it right. they’ve been hear before. I heard it was real real good.

From Kalamazoo, MI, GOAT MACHINE (not to confused with Milking the Goat Machine) are gonna do some dancin’, organ-ized party jams. Think Ska without the ska.

Finally, from Kalamazoo, MI, BIKE TUFF will be rockin’ that punk.

Doors open at 9pm in the Basement of Shakespeare’s on Kalamazoo Avenue. Bring money for touring bands, dudes.

Sound Besieged at CRS – 7/10

Tonight is a rare and joyous occasion in Kalamazoo where Punk gets punked and sweetly sinister things happen. The Corner Record Shop is, of course, the place to find this happening, and it will be wonderful

On tour from Willimantic, Connecticut, HEATS OF FORMATION (formerly known as The Book Slave) will be bringing their acidic dual-guitars and heart-felt lyrics to the front. Strange melodies can be found in their manic music. The Book Slave came through a few years ago and were an avant-garde treate. HoF will be no different.

Local Newcomers POLYCHROME VIOLENCE will be playing support. They are a two piece drums-and-guitar punk band with an axe to grind. Hit ’em hard and fast, that’s what I always say sometimes.

violence

Finally, one of Kalamazoo’s oldest and most venerated improv-noise outfits, BORON NUZZLE, will be rounding out this bill. There is literally no telling what these guys are going to do (or even who is going to do it), but it’s always worth the experience.

Music will start near 9pm at the KALAMAZOO CORNER RECORD SHOP. You can bring your own beverages, but please bring some spare scratch for the touring guys. Gas, after all, is expensive.

Psych-Shoegaze invaders take Kalamazoo 7/7

Tonight, some folks from across the pond are bringing their psychedelic feel to our fair city.

All the way from the UK, THE TELESCOPES are here. They play fuzz and swell like it’s nobody’s business. Their tracks are haunting and ethereal without being long-winded. Their vocals are pleasant and direct. They drone, they sample. The are a force to be reckoned with.

telescope

Photo courtesy maps.rcdc.it/

Accompanying The Telescopes on their travels, LSD AND THE SEARCH FOR GOD is in from the sunny shores of California. They wash out their pop music with fuzz, filters, ‘verb, and the occasional burst of noise. Their sound is much more shoegaze-influenced than their tour-mates, and that’s just fine.

 

THE VANDELLES are on the road too, but from the opposite coast of Brooklyn. They mix surf-rock with sharp objects to get a sound that makes you feel a lot like throwing down and and subsequently not picking up after yourself.

vandelles

Finally, local Shoegazers CRASH CITY SAINTS will be bringing the support. They’re dancy, fancy, and rock real good.

This show was originally at Louie’s Trophy House, but it has been moved to the downtown VFW! Find it at

Veterans of Foreign Wars
323 N Church St
Kalamazoo, MI 49007

The cost is $10 at the door, which opens at 7:30. The music will start at 8pm and go until everyone is done dancing. All the touring bands will have much merch as well, I’m sure!

All That Noise | Corner Record Shop | 7.5

Noise music and experimental improv has several distinct roots. From high-art classical settings, jazz, rock and electronica, The Corner Record Shop is bringing all of those influential backgrounds together for one show.

fuzztown

Photo courtesy of Renee Macdonald

You, Me & The Radio are a heavily jazz influenced group, also incorporating a freak folk element. A sonicly strange combination of plucking, bowing, and vocal manipulation, this Illinois group is sure to bring something astoundingly bizarre.

On tour with YM&TR, is Spooky Dangerfield, a supposed combination of strange saxophone, comedy and sing-alongs. Though I could find no recordings, with a description like that it is unlikely to be easily compared to any performance you’ve seen before.

This show will feature FUZZTOWN the newest local sensation in experimental electronic and guitar manipulation. This duo features folks from Joshualien and Forget the Times.

Also, a new local THE CLOTHESPIN COLLECTIVE who are a duo based out of WMU’s school of music. They display their expertise in cello and percussion by showing a varied and skilled improvised performance.

This show will begin at 9:00 and donations will be collected for the traveling groups. The register will also be open if you are interested in records within the store.

IF YOU LIKE LOUD AND FAST

Then the Corner Record Shop is where you want to be Tuesday night!!

Black Mask is coming into to town, and bringing the ruckus. On tour from PA, they are a serious hardcore and noisy assault.

Chin Up is coming back from South Bend, if you didn’t catch their set a couple weeks ago at the Courthouse be sure to see this one!!
http://chinupposi.bandcamp.com/

Local support will be ANYBODY BUT THE COPS, second show with the new drummer. Mathy, fast, and dancey punk jams.

1710 W Main St Kalamazoo, MI  9pm DONATE TO THE TOURING BANDS! Or better yet pick up some merch from the out of town bands! All donations go straight to the gas tank and it’s not cheap. And if buying records is your thing the register will be open all night.

Respect the business, the bands, and the people around you!!! Hope to see you there!

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