Warning: Attempt to read property "post_id" on null in /dom375187/wp-content/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/classes/ecp/Enhanced_Category.php on line 143
Warning: Undefined array key 0 in /dom375187/wp-content/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/classes/ecp/Enhanced_Category.php on line 232
[tps_header]
Crowd during Reptar at Georgia Theatre. Photo by Chelsea Kornse
2015 has put another successful Slingshot Festival in the books. Despite hiccups here and there, this year’s festival drew unique and eclectic acts from around the world. Almost every band thanked the festival, and organizer Kai Riedl, for putting together such a fantastic offering, and I’d have to agree. But since we’re all bound by the physical impossibilities of linear time, my only regret is not seeing every act all at once. Where’s a Time-Turner when you need one, right?! Ba dum tsh. Anyways: it’s safe to say that another physical impossibility was having a bad time at any of these shows.
Thursday
Slingshot being a world-focused festival, it was more than appropriate to start things off with groups like Lassine Kouyate. Adam Klein, artist-about-town, has previously traveled to Mali for Peace Corps assignments and to visit friends he’s made there. A couple years ago he decided to go Graceland and record his own versions of traditional West African Mande roots music. He performed some of them at Hendershot’s as a six-piece, singing us songs about rebuilding after genocidal violence and the true price of blood diamonds.
Zarigani$. Photo by Hannah Pap RockiPeelander-Z. Photo by Ryan Myers
Japan Nite is a reliably supersonic experience, and the bands at Live Wire delivered. Zarigani$ was like a Japanese Death From Above 1979, throwing in random psychotic bass-tastic outbursts followed by ska influences and whistle playing. Somehow the vicious low-end punk still had a girly bounce, and even the dads in the crowd got into it. Peelander-Z were their usual colorful selves, playing duckpins and crowdsurfing with an ecstatic audience.
Andy Hull. Photo by Chelsea Kornse
Rounding out a packed first night was Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra flying solo at the Theatre. Between him, the single guitar, a trained spotlight, and a small crowd, the show was almost uncomfortably intimate. Like a conversation with close friends, he was deeply touched by the fans who showed up – especially when a few requested the deep cut “Colly Strings.” Hull dug into his solo and Manchester Orchestra discographies in backwards chronological order, with passionate and bone-chilling results.
Nosaj Thing. Photo by Christopher Fodera
Meanwhile, DJs like Nosaj Thing and Clark blew minds at the 40 Watt with hypnotic dubstep beats and laser shows that would be enough to seize out a dog. The Watt’s disco ball has never looked better.
Friday
Dream Boat. Photo by Jordan Hampton
Vinyl Mag likes to party – this should be no surprise. So we hosted a couple showcases, the first being at Caledonia on Friday and featuring Dreamboat, Nightmare Air, and a very special Washed Out DJ set.
Dreamboat were one of many of E6 offshoots to play the festival, with John Fernandes on violin. The band’s cosmic pop, Henry VIII-esque chamber pop guitar licks, and vocal harmonies were enough to bliss out the crowd, but the colorful orb projected onto the group made it official: Dreamboat lives up to their name. Think Smoke Faeries with a little bit of U2 bombast thrown in, and you can get the idea – every song left the audience so entranced, we almost forgot to clap.
Nightmare Air. Photo by Hannah Pap Rocki
Up next were Nightmare Air, Dreamboat’s polar opposite. Proclaimed the ‘loudest band in L.A.’, their literally amp-busting amplitude woke up a lulled and contented crowd. Appropriately employing a smoke machine to create some nightmare air, their angular punk-and-stadium rock tunes stared into the void, like a Shiny Toy Guns played through Dinosaur Jr. volume levels.
Washed Out (DJ set). Photo by Hannah Pap Rocki
Finally, Washed Out’s Ernest Greene brought his earnestly (sorry) chill vibes to the small space. Greene combined house, dub, funk, and hazy psych plinks to keep the crowd bobbing. To make things get weird a bit, he brought an hourlong cinema smash featuring disturbing images of dissections and war propaganda and advertisements for companies like Standard Oil, Mazda, and Jell-O. Essentially it was like Mad Men word association on acid (so maybe just a day in the life of Roger Sterling), or a hyperspeed iSpy book for adults only.
Lord Fascinator. Photo by Mercedes Bleth
Over at the Theatre, Lord Fascinator opened things up with his freaky instrumental techno, requiring audience participation in the form of pulling people onstage and dressing them in body suits with attached face masks.
Reptar. Photo by Chelsea Kornse
Up next were Reptar, playing an album release show for their upcoming Joyful Noise Recordings offering Lurid Glow. Somehow the show wasn’t as packed as theirs usually are, but it was just as fun. They played classics like “Cable” and used a giant slingshot (HAH) to shoot t-shirts into the crowd.
Saturday
Saturday saw the continuation of Slingshot’s film contingent, with several movies screened at the Globe for free to all. William And The Windmill tells the amazing and heartwarming story of William Kamkwamba, a Malawian who, at the age of 19, used scrap metal and an outdated book to build his village a water-pumping windmill. Next up was a short called Brooklyn Farmer about the rooftop gardens of New York’s ~coolest~ neighborhood. (Between these first two films, one might get their faith in humanity’s future genuinely restored, which is kind of Slingshot’s whole deal.) Next up was Palimpsest, a quirky short about a house tuner who’s on call if you think your toaster and shower aren’t in the same key. Finally, the last full feature Buttercup Bill is a tense ‘psychosexual romance’ about love, obsession, jealousy, and what it means to be a soulmate.
Vinyl Mag continued to throw down with its second showcase, featuring more E6 greatness in Mind Brains and Nana Grizol. Mind Brains opened things up with impassioned, Circulatory System-aping psychedelic explorations of the soul. Naturally they too had some freaky videography to go along with the experimental sounds, mostly putting bizarre insect habits on display (even though I am deathly terrified of bugs, I watched for you, reader, I WATCHED FOR YOU).
Closing out the early evening, Nana Grizol put the poppier side of E6 on display, with songs that could fit in anywhere in the discography of the Apples In Stereo. They also gave Live Wire’s sound guy a shoutout, and it was well-deserved – sound quality has been spotty in Athens venues recently, but the new management at Live Wire clearly hired a pro.
[/tps_header]
Nightmare Air pre-set. Photo by Matt Lief Anderson.
Ahh, spring. That magical time when the freezing rain subsides, the hillsides grow wild with kudzu, and Slingshot slingshots itself back into town. This year’s lineup is as eclectic as it’s ever been, but with significantly bigger names set to fill the marquees of Athens.
Arcade Fire’s Win Butler will be doing a DJ set as DJ Windows 98, as will James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. Reptar will be playing a Georgia Theatre album release show, and cameos will be made by Jamie XX of the xx and Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra.
As always, your best bet is to buy a three-day pass. Here are the 15 shows we’re looking forward to the most.
15. Every Art Installation (seriously) (Thurs-Sat @ Creature Comforts)
One of the most unique things Slingshot brings to Athens is the wide variety of thought-provoking electronic art installations. Last year saw hand stitched QR codes, weather balloon projectors, and a ton of reinvented psychedelic imagery. Though the installations are spread across downtown, they’ll be somewhat centered around Creature Comforts. Check out the electronic artists page to see what you’re in for.
14. Ruby The Rabbitfoot and Viking Progress (Friday @ Hendershots)
Athens’ favorite chill pixie dreamgirl Ruby The Rabbitfoot will be playing Hendershots on Friday, in support of her recent release New As Dew as well as even newer material like “Hooky Queen.” She’ll be joined by The Viking Progress, whose appropriately boat-themed songs use the same sad, droning horn sections of Neutral Milk Hotel‘s past.
13. Cottonmouth and SEX BBQ (Thursday @ Go Bar)
Though the billing may sound like a picnic gone horribly wrong, don’t sleep on either of these bands. Cottonmouth‘s alien sounds would fit in well with the electronic art crowd – though “avant hip-hop” is thrown in occasionally, this is a group of whacked out sonic explorers. Atlanta-based SEX BBQ are a little more Ath-traditional, with surf guitars bumping up against coy vocals and playful rhythms.
12. Shehehe, Little Gold, and Pinecones (Thursday @ Little Kings)
Shehehe are a good time any way you slice it. Whether it’s the straight-ahead punk of “Rollin'” or the Corin Tucker-aping “Hail Vagina”, they are in the lucky position of keeping several punk traditions alive. Little Gold, on the other hand, bring trashy Detroit-inspired rock and roll to the table. But what would an Athenian fest be without some indie psych? To be sure they are (generally) a psychedelic band, and their sound is concise but sometimes hard to pin down. Their recent single “Sleep Is Forget” plays like the Byrds fed through Ian MacKaye’s tube amp.
11. Salad Days Screening
Speaking of Ian MacKaye, every punk and hardcore band Athens has ever hosted owes much of their sound to the D.C. hardcore scene of the 80s and 90s. Obviously artists like Minor Threat, Fugazi, and Government Issue ring out, but Salad Days digs deeper into the Dischord vault. Check out the trailer here.
10. Normaltown Records Showcase feat. Dave Marr, Cicada Rhythm, and Daniel Romano (Saturday @ Caledonia)
Here at Vinyl Mag, we love ourselves some Normaltown, so their showcase on Saturday is a must for those getting overwhelmed by the explorative nature of psychedelic rock. Rootsing things down will be Cicada Rhythm with their particular brand of almost jangle noirgrass, plus the back-to-basics country crooning of (somehow Canadian) Daniel Romano. Athens legend and Man About Town Dave Marr will also be there, so, you know, ’nuff said.
9. Comedy Night feat. Kurt Braunohler, Ron Funches, and Kyle Kinane (Saturday @ Morton)
Slingshot also brings the laughs every year, and in 2015 we’re lucky enough to host these big names in alt comedy. That podcast you listen to? Kurt Braunohler has most likely guested on it. And don’t forget his IFC gig hosting the absurd gameshow Bunk!. Ron Funches has rolled through various late night standup corners to muse about Black tuba players and the inherent freakiness of identical twins. Kyle Kinane has guest starred in a ton of shows and movies, and his specials Whiskey Icarus and I Liked His Old Stuff Better show his wide comedic range.
8. Ryley Walker, Roadkill Ghost Choir, and Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra (Thursday @ GATH)
Like the Normaltown showcase, Thursday’s GATH shows will be stripped down and based in purer southern traditions. Roadkill Ghost Choir play a shimmering, steroid-popping type of noirgrass that occasionally slips into War on Drugs territory. Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra drops the yowling southern shoegaze affectations when he goes solo – most of his songs are him and an acoustic, featuring more personal and plaintive songs about growing up as a pastor’s kid. And Ryley Walker’s Voice Of The Seven Thunders-esque guitar work is a can’t-miss; he’s also something of a vocal dead ringer for Jim Morrison.
7. Kenosha Kid Album Release w/ Etiene de Rocher (Saturday @ Hendershots)
Athens being the Classic City, the old is bound to intermingle with the new. This juxtaposition will be in full swing on Saturday with the jazz stylings of our own Kenosha Kid, and Etiene de Rocher, an Athens transplant from the Bay Area. Kenosha Kid are known for modern reinterpretations of stalwart jazz ideas, and they play Hendershots all the time so they’re very comfortable in that space. Etiene de Rocher’s music is a grab bag of 60s and 70s influence, and songs like “Juniper Rose” sound like a newly-discovered section in “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”.
A hometown Reptar show is a special thing to behold, but throw in an album release and you’ve got grounds for another broken floor (hopefully the Theatre is built better than that.) The Joyful Noise recruits will be joined by Skylar Spence, who are similarly funk-sample laden. And make sure to get there early for Fascinator, whose of Montreal-emulating visuals pair nicely with their paranoid, ravine-jumping, Beastie Boys-emulating sound.
5. Single Mothers and Monsoon (Friday @ Live Wire)
The beach-punk-spazz stylings of Monsoon is probably the best live show in Athens right now, so see them any chance you get. Playing alongside them on Friday at the Live Wire (formerly New Earth) is the Canadian hardcore four piece Single Mothers, who sound uncannily like a pissed off Hold Steady.
4. Japan Nite (Thursday @ Live Wire)
Japan Nite 2014 was a festival highlight, so don’t expect anything to change this time around. Peelander-Z are making a colorful return to Live Wire, along with fellow Japanese punkers Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, Quorum, Bo-Peep, and Zarigani$. The fin. will be there to slow things down a bit, with their melodic M83-influenced plinks. God Bless America and all that, but expect these whippersnappers to remind us what punk started as in the first place. There will be leather jackets, and there will be ‘tude.
3. Night of Too Many DJs feat. Michael Lacowski of Pylon, DJ Windows 98 aka Will Butler of Arcade Fire, and James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem (Saturday @ GATH)
Okay, when these names are all sharing the same stage, “too many” doesn’t really apply. Deejaying may not be the same as seeing these folks’ full ensembles, but consider the wealth of musical knowledge that will inhabit the Theatre on this night. This will be the dance party to end all dance parties.
Our showcase will be kind of trippy, man, so prepare yourself. Dream Boat do indeed sound like a boat to your dreams – they create experimental, faraway sounding beats that vaguely resemble church bells. Prince Rama are more concerned with melodies, but are similarly characterized by distance – their heady songs have Warpaint grooves and creepiness, with plenty of chanting, obviously. Nightmare Air are what you might imagine an all-werewolf band to sound like – dark, loud, and dangerous, but still pretty compelling.
Mind Brains are one of the latest iterations of Athens’ storied psych scene, featuring former of Montreal and Olivia Tremor Control players. Like its predecessors, Mind Brains have invented a world for themselves; they classify themselves with monikers like “experimental” and “muffins”, and their press kit states thusly: “Mind Brains’ new album drops on Hamuary 666th, 1945, and hearing it is not unlike happening upon a horde of corrupted Gregorians using garbage-picked toys and circuit-bent home-aids to worship at the high pagan monoliths of Silver Apples, Tubeway Army and Chrome.” Nana Grizol use crunchy indie rock to backdrop singer Theo’s sad, emotive lyrics, and while they may not be as quirky as Mind Brains, they’re a little more danceable. Horns and handclaps will be plentiful.
