Author: andrea Page 38 of 71

Legendary Athens, GA group Pylon is playing two dates this week in New York City —one on Wednesday at Mercury Lounge, the other at the Music Hall of Brooklyn.

I’m not going, which kinda breaks my heart but it’s a bad time to be gallivanting anywhere. I’ll make do with the brand-new, luxe DFA-sanctioned GYRATE+ reissue, which sounds not only crystalline and perfect, but IMMEDIATE, like it had just this very second been spit out by some musical equivalent of the Big Bang. Please ignore my hideous metaphor, the record really IS that beautiful. If you don’t own it, I suggest you snap it up posthaste. If you’re not quite convinced, here’s an interview with singer Vanessa Briscoe-Hay from the music documentary Athens, GA: Inside/Outside :

https://youtube.com/watch?v=E9OuD6xagLE

Meanwhile, John Doe will be playing in Providence on Thursday, November 8th (the same night Pylon will be in Brooklyn) at downtown rock n’ roll hole-in-the-wall Jake’s. I’ll be there, crying into my cider over missing Pylon, while simultaneously cheering on the awesomeness of Mr. Doe. Sound impossible?Au contraire.

DFA Store (Buy Gyrate!) | WeArePylon.com | Pylon Myspace | The John Doe Myspace Thing | John Doe at the Yep Roc Store

Pylon, “Stop It” (from Gyrate+)

Mission of Burma with Vanessa Briscoe-Hay, “Feast On My Heart” (Live at the Earl, Athens, GA, 1-13-07)

IMAGE FROM VANESSA’S FANTASTIC PYLON BLOG, PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN

Happy Halloween!! May the high-fructose corn syrup be with you (and not against you).

Spires That in the Sunset Rise, “Crooked Spine” (from their self-titled debut)

Siouxsie & The Banshees, “Halloween” (from Juju)

Dymaxion, “The Haunted Radio” (from the Vesuvius comp Spooky Sounds of Now and the Dymaxion retrospective comp, 4 + 3=38.33)

Spires That in the Sunset Rise | Siouxsie Sioux| Dymaxion

ARTWORK BY EDWARD GOREY, FROM “THE GASHLYCRUMB TINIES.”

Brooklyn trio These Are Powers call themselves “ghost punk”; if by that they mean haunting, arresting music that is difficult to shake, then sure —ghost punk it is. Their music is certainly a bracing mix of repetition, breathless narration building towards Stein-ian abstraction, and searing (yet oddly vulnerable) noise. Their 2007 Elsie & Jack 7″, Silver Lung, quickly became one of my favorite discoveries; I can’t wait for their new one, Terrific Seasons (out this week).

Sometimes all I want is restful music that doesn’t make too many demands on my attention. At other times I want music that grabs me by the throat and drags me around the room. (Figuratively speaking, of course.) These Are Powers fits that bill nicely.

Although its stylistic opposite in many ways, their music has the same attention to detail as that of Broadcast. While they may not trade in analogue lushness like the former, they know how to create a unique, consistent sonic universe for their songs to inhabit —a world of lurid detail and Technicolor dread (very Giallo), grounded by a fierce angularity that would make Mars (may they rest in peace) proud.

Anna Barie sings like a vengeful banshee hell-bent on destruction (she can also sound disconcertingly girlish when she wants to); the band, desperate to keep up, builds on the scrawled desperation with a wildly inventive percussive clatter (as one would expect from a group that includes ex-members of Liars and Knife Skills among their number). It may sound menacingly shrill at first, but give yourself a minute to acclimate —the exhilaration will catch up with you.

They’re playing a record-release party of sorts on Tuesday, October 23rd (tomorrow night!) at Brown University’s Hourglass Café (located in Faunce House on campus —75 Waterman St.). Doors are at 7PM, show at 8; donations accepted. Rounding out the bill: Parts & Labor, WZT Hearts, andWerewolf Unit. The show is being sponsored by Brown Student Radio. I wouldn’t be surprised if a live set by one (or more) of the bands found its way online.

Official Site | These Are Powers Myspace | Elsie & Jack [record label] | Hoss Records [record label]

These Are Powers, “The South Angel” (from These Are Powers EP, self-released, 2006)

These Are Powers, “Little Sisters of Beijing” (from Terrific Seasons, Hoss Records, 2007)

PHOTO BY ANDREA FELDMAN • STREET ART + GRAFFITI, WMSBURG, 2007