The sun, the earth, the moon, the planets, and all of our schedules aligned in a coincidence no less than a miracle! On this glorious glorious day, we present to you the Already Dead Tapes & Records Family Reunion; all of the Midwest’s finest purveyors of experimental music in one venue. Here we have the performance slot time, the artist, their hometown, and a short description. Branch out, hear something new, then come see it live!

2pm – 2:30: Kyle Landstra – Kzoo
Ambient drone-esque noise. Minimalist, soft, organic and layered.

2:45 – 3:15: John Micah Rapp -Indianapolis, IN
A psychedelic traveler and dabbler of all musical genres, including noise, jam, world, reggae.

3:30 – 4:00: Hordes – Lansing, MI
Loud, doomy, hard-hitting gothic drone.

4:15 – 4:45: Peter Damien Juan Diego Cook – Kzoo
He might whip it out.

5:00 – 5:30: Morseville Bridge – Flint, MI
Easygoing experimental folk-rock.

5:45 – 6:15: About A Million – Honey Brook, PA
is the greatest. Hands down. Do not miss these cats.

6:30 – 7:00: Lasso – Kzoo
Rust-covered psychedelic country.

7:15 – 7:45: Problems That Fix Themselves – Chicago, IL
The label’s own neon-noise maker. This is the sound of robots falling in love.

8:00 – 8:30: Egg Chef – St. Louis, MO
“TSOL playing This Heat”. Experimental hardcore. Post punk meets the Locust.

8:45 – 9:00: Radiator Hospital – Grand Rapids, MI
Fun, upbeat soda pop punks that love Hüsker Dü.

9:15 – 9:45: Coma Nova – Kzoo
All your favourite bands of the 90’s. New wave of american grunge. Possibly their last ever Kalamazoo show.

10:00 – 10:30: Forget The Times – Kzoo
These guys suck. It’s not even music. What is this, I don’t even?

10:45 – 11:15: Solar Fox – Chicago, IL
Paisley psychedelic featuring Plastic Crimewave.

11:30 – 12: The Reptilian – Kzoo
Tappy screamy post hardcore Minus The Bear cover band. Could use another guitar player… better as a four-piece.

With all this eclectic awesomeness, it’ll be more than worth the $5 door charge. Music starts at 2 P.M. SHARP, and we’ll keep on jamming until midnight. First 50 people through the door get a limited edition Reunion cassette. Git sum.

C’mon down to the Strutt tomorrow night at 8 for a clever and eclectic assortment of local jams. Featuring some fairly well-known [and loved!] Kalamazoo residents and musicians, St. Isodore treats us to their very first show, which is sure to be a blast. Also on the bill, (a)Rare Animal; some of Kzoo’s freshest and finest indie-rockers. And lastly, but certainly not leastly, Lincoln County War and Forget the Time’s own Benji Myers rounds out the night with a solo set.

All ages, $5!

Tomorrow night at Louie’s Trophy House offers up a night of complex riffage, soulful sounds and wicked brews.

On the bill will be Kzoo‘s own math-rockers Good News serving up some wicked tunes.

Adding to the tastily complex and deliciously dissonant vibe, our sister-city GR friends in Charles the Osprey will be tearin’ it up with some new material.

To round out the bill, Jersey’s own Gates will be takin’ it down a notch [and just one notch] and giving us a taste of melodic indie soundscape-creating awesomness that’s still in the vein of tappy and experimental. 18+, 5 bones, doors at 8:30. Don’t miss this one, kids.

The good ol’ boys from the Reptilian have returned to us safely from a 3 week tour and are ready to wrap it up with a BOOM at the Strutt tonight!

Also on the bill: Empire! Empire!, who also just returned from tour, Pan, Kalamazoo’s favourite prog punk rockers, and Binary Marketing Show, a New York duo bringing an interesting brand of indie pop to the table. This is not a lineup to miss, kids.

Doors @ 8, bands @ 9. All ages. $9. Come hang out!

The show tonight at the Strutt was quite delightful. Good people, good music, good times.

Strutt newcomers, The Post Addition, put on a solid performance sounding like reverberating echoes of a post hardcore band with a more mellow twist. Would definitely like to see these guys again.

Northern Indiana’s Analecta, and hometown kids Her Majesty’s Ship, Victory! heightened the mood of the weather with a dose of powerful post rock. Both of these bands get better and better with each performance, I swear. It’s a constant treat to see how much each band progresses with every new song.

Finally, Native put on a spectacular performance, as per usual.

On the night of Friday, October 8, 2010, we had exceptionally good weather.

We also had day two of Barking Tuna Fest as the Strutt. With a distinctly diverse bill, we started the night off with a local(ish) band called Stepdad, a 3 man group comprised of guitar, synth & keyboard, and vocals. Hailing from our sibling music scene of Grand Rapids, these dudes took the stage and the crowd took the floor. They sent people into a dancing frenzy with some wicked beats and catchy melodies.
Next up was Tree City, a four man hip-hop group from Ann Arbor. Not being a huge fan of hip-hop, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself nodding to the beat and listening intently to their lyrics. It was somewhat refreshing to hear lines that actually rhymed and didn’t use a tremendous amount of profanity. Definitely was thoroughly enjoyable for something that I don’t particularly subscribe to.

Then was Child Bite, one of my current local favorites. These Detroit natives blend together  fascinating assortment of music genres including (but not limited to) bits of indie, experimental, borderline pop at times, and straight rock. The vocalist/key/guitarist put on an exceptional performance, at one point busting out a joystick controller and making noise, and never standing completely still. All of the members were very passionate about the music they were playing, which is exhilarating to witness from the perspective of a frequent show-goer. A definite must-see if you’re into this type of music.

Lastly, and most certainly not least, was the Dan Deacon ensemble. Two words: blown away. This twelve-piece took the stage and did not give it up until about an hour and a half later after completely and entirely captivating the whole crowd. The two times that people weren’t dancing to the mesmerizing experimental dance beats was when Dan called for a gap in the middle of the crowd and announced a dance contest, and when a member of the band went to the middle of the crowd and everyone mimicked his actions. Not having heard this group before, I was extremely pleased and felt quite fortunate to have experienced such a spectacle.

All in all, this show is probably one of the top 3 I’ve attended all year. Was a great time. Hope to see you kids out there!

Happy Wave Wednesday, DIT! Kasey Chaos here, advocate of all that is hardcore and lover of general metally goodness. That being said, I can’t help but to notice all of the attention being garnered by the hardcore scene as of late. In lieu of the dead metalcore scene, some musicians tuned back up, learned a few more tricks other than a good sweep or a stomach-turning bass drop, and have found that nobody wants to hear songs based on horror movies and necrophilic romance right now. Growing steadily stronger in that place is some two-stepping riffs to get you moving, super-posi lyrics and a passionate feeling of community and brotherhood.

May I introduce: The Wave.

Firstly, Grand Rapids’ own, La Dispute. These guys have been around for quite a few years (since 2k5) with a sound that gradually grew from experimental, bordering thrashy and screamo at moments, to a more artsy, albeit catchy, and edgy post-hardcore. Their lyrics are completely outwardly focused, and members of the band show their creativity in more ways than just with La Dispute. With the 3 “Here, Hear…” concept albums, the members of the band each write a song completely, playing every instrument by themselves, and turn it over to the vocalist to lyricise. Impressive. They’ve gathered alot of attention over the past two years by being mentioned in AP two or three times, touring overseas twice, and hitting a couple national tours with well-known acts like alexisonfire, Thursday, and The Fall of Troy. You’ll also see on their myspace, on the left hand side, something I am completely proud and supportive of: their list of friend bands, venues, labels and artists. They’re huge on supporting their friends and community, which I dig to lengthless extents and feel is a good component to any artist.

Second, we have Boston’s own Defeater. Started in 2005, this Bridge Nine (hardcore record label having hosted well-known acts such as Have Heart, Verse and Terror)  band is, in my opinion, the band most mirroring the first wave of modern hardcore (not hardcore punk although there is definitely some punk influence) of the five wave bands. With a straight forward and hard-charged sound, this enviro-friendly band has been turning heads since they were called “the perfect definition of modern hardcore” by Lambgoat.com and since their record “Travels” had been cited by punknews.org as “a new artistic peak for hardcore”. It’s also cool as hell how many of them are up-front activists in their community and general life. Word up, check them out.

Next, we have Pianos Become the Teeth from Baltimore, MD. Started in 2006, this more emotional-melodic type of hardcore band has been partners with the Topshelf (Defeater, Into It. Over It., Castevet) record label since the end of 2009. A band who tours extensively and writes intensively, these guys have gotten attention from AP, Exclaim! and Indie Rock Reviews. And how! I was privileged enough to catch these guys when they came around on their Summer ’10 tour with local support (see photo blog). Being a band that’s more on the emotional side of hardcore, these guys are doing what they do extremely well and are very talented musicians. I was definitely not disappointed in their show and cannot WAIT until we get them back around here!

Bringing us to the only west coast band on the Wave, Touché Amoré. These Los Angeles-based guys just played the Sound and Fury Festival with fellow Wave bands, Defeater and Make Do and Mend. Another notch to add: they just got off tour with Bane and Strike Anywhere. Of the five wave bands, I believe TA shows their punk influence most. Making their place on No Sleep and 6131 records, this band shows much promise. They’ve done split releases with both La Dispute and Make Do and Mend, they also offer a 7″ demo and one full-length album. One quick glance through their myspace show photos will tell you that they seem to have a quite an enthusiastic crowd.

Back to the east coast: Make Do and Mend. From Connecticut’s capitol, this Panic Records band has been going at it since about 2007. Since 2009, they’ve toured like madmen and have put out two full length records on cd and vinyl. Being the only band on the wave with sung vocals, they do come across as less abrasive, but in no way less powerful. You can catch them around the area August 23 at Metal Frat in Ann Arbor.

Finally. Something to encompass and accommodate all of the eclectic and very segregated harder music scenes. I, for one, am EXCITED for this upcoming year. S’ya at the show.

resources:
http://www.myspace.com/michhardcore
http://michiganhardcore.onlinegoo.com/

For one night, and one night only (lies), the No Fun House presents Analecta, Northwest Indiana’s finest (and perhaps only?) post rock ensemble coupled with Texas’s own noisy and spastic troupe, Sohns. Left field local support is being provided by Kalamazoo’s brand new Forget The Times.

Pictures are most definitely worth a thousands words, and a quick browse of Sohns’ myspace album will tell you that these guys put on one hell of a show. Those images, plus the fact that they cite their only influence as Small Brown Bike, should spark interest.

Analecta position themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum with a more Explosions In The Sky-esque sound. Quoted as being “a great blend of agression and restraint”, this group will lull you into a calm state one moment, then will progress into a deeper and more powerful sound the next.

Forget The Times has never played a show and has no internet presence at all. However, it can be cited that they are a new project featuring Sean & Benji from Rotten Wood Moon and Peter from The Philly Crawlers. Three guitars + vocals that may or may not be run through a PA. Not for the faint of heart.

Missing a mix like this would be detrimental to your health. This wednesday, July 7th. No Fun House. Show starts 9pm. $2. Be there.