Monthly Archives: November 2014

Kalamazoo Throwbacks and Favorites – PROBLEMS THAT FIX THEMSELVES, THE NEW DIET, FORGET THE TIMES @ Milhouse 11.29

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If you haven’t heard, former Kalamazoo project turned Chicago project PROBLEMS THAT FIX THEMSELVES have released a new album. You can read all about it right here, on a lovely earlier DIT post. You can also go to the listening party at Satellite 10697266_10102636338802822_2225884409184879828_oRecords on the 29th, at 6:00PM, where you could win a free copy of the record!

Problems is a long-standing but ever changing noise project from Josh Tabbia, the Chicago counterpart to the Kalamazoo/Chicago tape and record label ALREADY DEAD, which you may or may not be familiar with from the Already Dead Family Reunion – a yearly musical event that happens in the fall based around the label.

Sean Hartman, the Kalamazoo counterpart to the label, will also be performing at the Milhouse show in his full band noise collective FORGET THE TIMES. A large difference in sound and performance style from Problems, this show is sure to illustrate variance of noise music to you, if you are still yet unfamiliar.

Finally, Kalamazoo favorites out of Chicago THE NEW DIET will be making another appearance. Though you may or may not have seen them before, rumor has it that this show will be somewhat of a departure from the stuff your familiar with. If you’re curious as to what that means, you’ll just have to come and find out. Here’s a snippet of an earlier performance of theirs at Milhouse.

Please please please bring money for donatin’ the outta towners, and be sure to take a look at the merch if you’re into that sot of thing! Be excellent to each other. No time for punk time, so be there at 9:00. Email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com for the address.

 

Monday Double Feature

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*Update*
*The Satellite show has been canceled. Wedding Dress had to reschedule due to health issues. Everyone is okay, they just can’t play tonight. Go to Casa Mona and be excellent to each other*

Monday night will provide show-goers plenty of entertainment as Satellite Records will be hosting an early show featuring Chicago’s Wedding Dress and then immediately following that Casa Mona will open their doors for touring bands Edhochuli and Gnarwhal.

Wedding Dress is a group that formed a couple years ago featuring members of Chicago indie giants Maps & Atlases, Joan of Arc, and Gypsyblood. Fans of any of those acts will surely be surprised as the band breaks away from the sound structures they have come from but certainly maintain the talent each has consistently displayed.

Joining them for the record store show will be a pair of newer Kalamazoo acts – Right There In Front Of You, the solo project of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Buczek of Dad Jeans, and shoegazing indie-rockers Cardboard Highway, which features members of the Glowfriends.

This show will start at 6PM and there is a $5 suggested donation!

Facebook event

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If you’re still in the mood for more that night or are just looking for something decidedly more raw, Casa Mona has what you’re looking for. Amping up the intensity will be a band that should be well known to Kalamazoo’s basement crowd, Edhochuli.

They’ll be on tour with one of the few bands to match their own gnarliness and shredability, Tennessee’s Gnarwhal. This two-piece mathcore group is as frenzied and chaotic as they are technical and have a new four-way split record out with the bands Woozy, Ex-Breathers, and Ovlov.

http://gnarwhal.bandcamp.com

Local hardcore/spazz-grind favorites Seventeen Again will be kicking this show off promptly after the record store gig ends. This show will mark the departure of their founding member, bassist Josh Miller, and throughout their set will be featuring both him and his replacement, Brok Leshman.

Bring some money to donate to the touring bands!

The Reptilian/Caddywhompus/Mold- Bespin 11/15

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Saturday, November 15th
9:00 PM at Bespin AKA Cloud City

Tonight is going to be a crazy night full of rocking music, heavy guitars, and emotional lyrics. Three math core bands will be showing off the technicalities behind pretty music. Please bring a little money for Merch and the touring band. You won’t regret the investment.

The Reptilian

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The Reptilian is a local mathcore/Emo band that has become a bit of a staple in the underground community of Kalamazoo. If you haven’t been to a show of theirs yet, you’d best be asking yourself why not? Not only is the music killer, but the crowd is loyal and loving. Seeing The Reptilian is always an experience, so don’t miss out.
The Reptilian Bandcamp

Caddywhompus

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Caddywhompus hails from New Orleans, Louisiana and they bring a new twist to the guitar/drum duo. They offer a large sound despite their small set up. They’re on Community Records and have an album called, “Feathering The Nest”. They’re noisy, melodic, and most importantly, rockin.
Caddywhompus Bandcamp

Mold

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Mold is a Kalamazoo band said to have been born in the dredges of Snowpocolypse 2014. As we all remember, this period of time presented a new form of brutality. As we traveled through deadly nights reaching record breaking lows of -40 degrees. We should have fucking died, but we didn’t. For the members of Mold, who used the time to fester in anger and get super, mega, really good at playing their instruments, a new breed of music was born. Come witness as history is made and feel the chill that ever aches as more snow comes.
Mold Bandcamp

Deerhoof at Louie’s November 12 2014 wsg Priests and White Reaper

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Deerhoof’s sound has been evolving their sound for two decades, simultaneously to critical acclaim but with only a few blips on the radar of the mainstream. Three of their albums managed to land on the Billboard 200, but their reputation among independent music enthusiasts cannot be overstated.

Pitchfork calls Deerhoof The Best Band In The World. MLive named Louie’s Trophy House Grill one of the top ten neighborhood bars in Michigan. This Wednesday November 12th these two bests will collide for a singular night of psychedelic music from Deerhoof’s newly released album La Isla Bonita.

Whether you put on Milk Man, The Runner’s Four, or any of their other eleven studio albums you’re guaranteed to find something you didn’t expect. Guitar lines that are intricate, melodic, but not afraid to crank up the gain when it’s warranted. Light airy and unaffected vocals floating around the rhythm section’s tight and measured framework.

Listen to Deerhoof’s first eleven albums for free on Grooveshark.

Yet Deerhoof is one of the rare acts that manages to reliably crank out interesting and truly inventive music without devolving into sprawling prog epics. On the contrary, their songs often clock in at three minutes or less, which means they can pack more songs into a set than Guided By Voices, while rivaling the complexity of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band.

For an example of how much four minutes of Deerhoof can include, listen to the title track from Milk Man:

But hey, lots of bands can bring proficient psych when they’ve got infinite retakes and overdubs, what do they sound like live? Watch Deerhoof play “There’s That Grin” just up I-94 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

Want to read more? The Kalamazoo Gazette ran an article about this show and the new album.

Opening for Deerhoof are White Reaper, and Priests.

Doors open at 7pm, music starts at 8pm this Wednesday the 12th. Tickets are available in advance for $13, or $15 at the door (if they’re not sold out).

RSVP on Facebook and let us know you’re coming – see you there!

Problems That Fix Themselves release their new album today!

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which is worse

By Peter Cook for Already Dead Tapes.

Problems That Fix Themselves’ third proper album, Which Is Worse, will wrap the head of any listener in swaddling blankets. The majority of the seven pieces which comprise this latest offering from the Chicago duo (long-time contributor Alex Borozan is now officially the other half of founder Josh Tabbia’s electronic vision) display a marked emphasis on melody and structure, with only the closing track, “Slowburn,” containing the free-form assault on the senses with which Problems have pummeled audiences throughout the Midwest the past few years.

The sound bite sampling and mechanized beats that propelled the magnificent assortment of sounds on their last release, 2010’s Seconds, have all but vanished in favor of melodic passages which move as naturally as the river flows.  Seconds was far from cold and clamorous, abundant in warmth and melody, but much of it was buried under shards of experimentation that appeared to be taking place while the tape was rolling. That is the key difference on Which Is Worse: the experimentation seems to have taken place largely in the composing process, with the textural sounds arranged into the colorful, radiating pieces, giving the album a more refined sound, while still exciting and bold nonetheless.

The titular cut acts as the opening credits, with a Baldwin Discoverer table top organ cycling through a series of sustained chords against a gentle wash of white noise thunderstorm. “Maximum Occupancy” crawls across the speakers through a wormhole into “Black Elvis,” which explodes in a majestic myriad of incandescent phosphorescence, in shades of Tangerine Dream and Harmonia. The production is stunningly crisp, with a cohesion unprecedented in Problems’ catalogue. The sole vocal performance on the album appears on “Sunday Song,” a tender tune which unites contributing member Victoria Blade’s saccharine, distorted vocals with a melodious synth line, bringing side one to a sweet-tempered close.

Side two opener “8:62” features the drill and bass drum patterns often employed by Aphex Twin and Squarepusher back in the day. A diced-up air organ supplies the main melody while cherubic flourishes distantly circle overhead. “Elsie Mary” paints a serene, understated landscape that is not unlike those explored by early pioneering electronic artists in Europe that Brian Eno sought out. The aforementioned “Slowburn” finishes off the album in an abrasive, terrifying menace of sonance that is absent from the six tracks which precede it.

Perhaps the only perceivable shortcoming of Which Is Worse is the brevity of the album, clocking in at around 35 minutes. Maybe Problems ascribe to the old vaudevillian adage, “Always leave them wanting more.” Regardless, with not a wasted note to be found, the album is comforting sonic bliss that benefits from repeated listens and can be done so ad infinitum at such a short running time. Chalk up another one for Problems That Fix Themselves.

Below is a link to their Bandcamp with the album available to stream and purchase.

Which Is Worse

BONEHAWK RECORD RELEASE!

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Sorry for the delay with this one. Tonight is going to be a heavy night of rock and roll as Bonehawk reveals their new record to the masses.

Bonehawk
Bonehawk Bandcamp
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Time to change your underwear because that record you’ve been soiling your pants over since you learned the existance of Bonehawk is finally being released at Louie’s. The full-length album, “Albino Rhino” delivers a rockin’, heavy sound that’s super fuzz scratches something into your immortal soul.

For those who aren’t familiar with the group, prepare yourselves to rock. This band rocks and they rock super hard. They use their heavy guitars with twin harmonies to create visuals through sound. With songs like “Tonight We Ride,” and “Sexy Beast,” your head may never stop banging.

Music Video

Blue Snaggletooth
Blue Snaggletooth Bandcamp

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Rocking their way across the state, Blue Snaggletooth hails from Ann Arbor and brings a D&D-influenced, psychedelic-classic-rock-rager. Their album, “Beyond Thule,” may also be available tonight. This album is a follow-up to the first album, “Dimension Thule”.
Fossil Eyes
Fossil Eyes Bandcamp

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Fossil Eyes, the rockin’ band from Kalamazoo will be sure to get this party started on the right foot. This is going to be the bands last show of the year, so be sure to come out and support local music and walls of fuzz. Fuzzy walls.

Doors will be opening at 9 pm. The show is catered to the age demographic of 18 and up. The cost is but $3. See you there.

The Forbidden Zone’s Second Show – 11.7

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The Forbidden Zone is a new house venue in Kalamazoo, 10580031_774923065895563_4987324854287964981_nmaking their debut in late October for a Halloween industrial/noise/goth show. This show is looking to span a huge range of genres, and focus on getting regional bands involved more!

This upcoming show features shoegaze, post rock, punk rock and hardcore elements. Lots of bands traveling from out of town to see what Kalamazoo is all about, so lets show them a good genre-mashing time. Damn near guaranteed to have something for everyone.

LUME – Chicago, IL – heavy noisey shoegaze with influences from post-hardcore. Really big sound

NORTHERNER – Macomb, MI – beautiful, soundscape post-rock

THE TINY UGLY GERMS – Port Huron, MI – melodic punk / post hardcore with some elements of droney-shoegaze

SIDELINED. – Sterling Heights, MI  – pop punky/hardcore/punk rock hearkening back to nights spent at The Fat Guy House

APPLEGATE – Kalamazoo, MI – ethereal blues big harmonies

Show starts at 8! Please bring donations, there’s lots of car gas tanks to feed for this show. Email DITkalamazoo@gmail.com for the address.

11/6 – Shahman, Forget the Times, and the Uncanny at Casa Mona

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Toronto’s Shahman will be in Kalamazoo tomorrow night to unleash a monolithic sonic assault on the Casa Mona basement. This two-piece band combines diverging influences of extremely heavy and dark music into something unexpected – a fierce live sound greater and louder than the sum of its parts that can jump from a whisper to a deafening roar in an instant.

Their latest release, Demise of a Body, is a sprawling 25-minute meditation on the loss of a loved one that was captured from one continuous live performance. Brooding, raw, and unabashedly emotional, this release sees the band exploring doom and shoegaze territory, and moving even further away from the screamo/punk moments that were more prevalent on their last release, Sounds That Look Like Us.

http://shahman.bandcamp.com

Joining Shahman for this show will be local experimental, improv noise-rockers Forget the Times and the strangest, spookiest, surf rock band around, the Uncanny.

https://forgetthetimes.bandcamp.com

http://theuncanny.bandcamp.com

Funk Punk and Jazz – Milhouse – 11.1

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Technical jazz, sax-laden funk, and oddball punk all on one bill! Come drink Surge or whatever these kids are doing these days and enjoy the array.

GLIMPSE TRIO (who no longer play as a trio but as a duo) are traveling all the way from California to grace your ears with their technical, complex blend of jazz/funk/rock.

Plus locals SAXQUATCH & BRIDGE BAND and ANYBODY BUT THE COPS will

If you’re unfamiliar with these two acts, expect some funky instrumental originals – in diametrically opposed ways. Saxquatch will make ya dance and move, and ABTC will make you wish you could figure out how to dance and move to what they’ve got

 

Show starts at 9:00! Please respect the house, the bands, yr friends, yr new friends you haven’t met yet. Email DITkalamazoo@gmail.com for the address. Donate to Glimpse Trio so that they may someday make it home to California.