CL flickr

Visit our You Shoot page.

Author Archive

Bob Weston explains why the Jesus Lizard reissues sound so good

Friday, November 6th, 2009
Bob Weston

Bob Weston Self-portrait

Mastering Engineer at Chicago Mastering Service Bob Weston (Shellac, Mission of Burma) discusses what made the reissues of the Jesus Lizard’s Touch & Go records, Pure, Head, Goat and Liar sound better and louder.

Chad Radford: Did you have any reservations about whether or not the Jesus Lizard’s records should be touched-up?

Bob Weston:  Well, “no” is the simple answer. But the question is wrong. We didn’t “touch them up.” That implies that we took the mastered versions from the original mastering jobs and made some changes to those. Instead, we did an entirely new mastering job from scratch… Like the records had just been recorded and mixed the week before we started.

There have been major improvements in analog to digital conversion quality, and in digital audio level metering in the years since these records were first mastered. Simply playing the stereo master tapes back through modern mastering-grade analog to digital converters will immediately make the CDs sound a lot better. And then the ability to properly meter the digital audio as it is being converted allows us to take advantage of all the headroom allowed in the digital audio domain. Whereas in the past, engineers needed to be more conservative with digital audio levels in order to prevent any digital “overs” (which would cause the Master CD to be rejected by the pressing plant).

Even if we had done nothing different from the original mastering sessions in terms of processing the sound with equalization and compression, these new masters would immediately sound better and louder.

(more…)

Interview: Mac McNeilly of the Jesus Lizard

Thursday, November 5th, 2009
TJL_Treegun_(by_Joshua_Black_Wilkins)

Mac McNeilly (right)

Chad Radford:  You’re a local guy, or you used to be.

Mac McNeilly:  Yeah, I grew up in Atlanta and have a lot of really fond memories of hanging out there, but ever since ’89 I’ve been making Chicago and the Chicago area my home.

How did you make the jump from playing in Atlanta bands like 86 and Phantom 309 to the Jesus Lizard?

Well, 86 played a show in Austin, Texas, and I met David Yow. He and David Sims were at the club where we played. We introduced ourselves to each other and I said ‘I like the way you sing and I like Scratch Acid,’ and he said ‘I like the way you play drums.’ So we both said something like maybe some day we can do something together musically. It was one of those things where you say something that would really be a great thing to do, but don’t think anything will come of it. We traded numbers anyway and I got a call from David Yow a couple of years later. He said ‘we’re putting this thing together in Chicago and we have an EP that we’ve done with a drum machine. I can send you a tape because we want to put a live drummer in there and actually be a band.’ When they did the EP it was just a recording project. I don’t think they had any plans to make a rock band out of it, but they changed their mind and I went up in the summer of ’89 to try out. I was playing bass in Phantom 309, but I’m not a bass player and it was a way for me to get back to playing drums. David sent me a tape of the EP and I really liked what I heard. It was the kind of music that I could really adapt drumming to so I went up and it clicked right away.
(more…)

Dethklok speaks!

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
11091_464.CR2

Metalocalypse creator Brendon Small

The almighty MASTODON returns to its old stomping grounds to cap off a lineup of extreme metal mayhem. Converge and High on Fire also play blistering sets of soul-crushing riffs. But these are all paltry mortals who have been summoned to simply clear the stage for DETHKLOK, stars of Adult Swim’s “Metalocalypse.” Animated metal madmen William Murderface (bass), Nathan Explosion (frontman), Skwisgaar Skwigelf (lead guitar), Toki Wartooth (rhythm guitar), and Pickles (drums) will appear live, in the flesh — led by creator Brendon Small — to shred through such classic originals as “Bloodrocuted,” “Murmaider,” and “Hatredcopter,” as well as some new cuts from their latest, Dethalbum II. $34.50. 6:30 p.m. Tabernacle, 152 Luckie St. 404-659-9022. www.livenation.com.

For the purposes of this interview Brendon Small did most of the talking, but I was allowed one question with each member of the band.

Chad Radford: What goes in to putting on a live Dethklok show?

Brendon Small: We have a gigantic LCD screen behind us and we play to an hour-long animated show, and that’s the real star of the live show. Me and the musicians are kind of like the pit orchestra. The drummer has a click track running through his headset and he counts us in to all the tracks. The end result is that we’re supposed to sound like Dethklok, but we’re not supposed to look like Dethklok. We’re pretty much in the shadows so you can’t really see our faces, but there’s a really cool light show going on at the same time and we’re playing to picture. It’s almost like live scoring but every single downbeat is coinciding with a cut. It’s very systematic and very integrated.

You’re playing with real metal bands; Mastodon, Converge and High on Fire. I imagine that most metal heads have a good sense of humor, but have you encountered anyone who just doesn’t think that the show is cool or funny?

They usually don’t get as far as me — they usually don’t show up. If metal heads don’t get it, that’s cool and I’m fine with it. But honestly there’s nothing much to get, because we’re not making fun of metal with the show, that’s the big thing. If they don’t get that then I’m just confused. If they just don’t like the show that’s something that I can understand. If they don’t understand the joke than they probably don’t have much of a sense of humor at all — not that I’m saying our show is funny. We’re trying to be funny, and if it isn’t, I get why people don’t like it.

(more…)

Nirvana: Bleach Deluxe Edition

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Nirvana-musicWEBBefore there was grunge, there was Bleach, Nirvana’s harsh, ‘89 debut that dragged punk’s contemptuous sneer through the mud to churn out one damn fine album. Bleach isn’t the voice of a generation that came two years later with Nevermind, but it’s an infinitely better record. “Blew,” “School,” “Love Buzz,” “Negative Creep” — they’re all raw classics that were too visceral for the masses. Cobain’s half-baked yowls still sound like they’re going to fall apart every time he opens his mouth, and the remastered job makes the album’s highs higher and lows lower. It’s a dirty album, and the production needed to be touched-up. A booklet of photos and a live show from the era are nice add-ons, but it ain’t the bells and whistles that matter here. The songs themselves make Bleach a ramshackle work of perfection. (Sub Pop) 5 stars out of 5

(Photo Courtesy Sub Pop)

A river runs through Coyote Bones

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
CoyoteBones-musicWEB

COYOTE BONES: A band that feels your pain.

David Matysiak jokes that if Bruce Springsteen’s brooding Midwestern odysseys Nebraska and The River were meant to be part of a trilogy, the third installment is Coyote Bones’ Niobrara. Along with Jordan Noel (drums) and Heather Kemp (percussion), the former Jet By Day singer/guitarist has crafted an album that flows with unnerving tales about death, stifling religion, lost love and change. “It’s a really personal record for me; one that I had to make,” Matysiak says. “I was going through so much at the time that I became possessed. The record wrote itself.”

Songs such as “Piece of My Spine” and “Out at the Bar” are the ruminations of a damaged man coping with the death of his father and a crumbling relationship amid a new sense of self-discovery.Niobrara is a far cry from the clumsy, basement art party that Matysiak spearheaded with Coyote Bones’ 2007 debut, Gentleman on the Rocks.

Continue Reading “A river runs through Coyote Bones”

(Photo Courtesy Coco Art)

Wilkie Family plays Eddie’s Attic tonight

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

King Wilke

Please note that the Wilke Family will be performing tonight at Eddie’s Attic.

Maverick string band the Wilkie Family singers (lead by King Wilkie) are playing at Eddie’s Attic tonight (Wed., Nov. 4).

According to the Wilkie Family’s Boston-based label, Casa Nueva:

The disk is a beguiling concept album, purportedly written and recorded by the dysfunctional Wilkie family as part of a music therapy program spearheaded by the mysterious Dr. Art… musically, it mixes early American stringband styles (from parlour ballads to old-time and bluegrass) with more contemporary influences — chamber-pop, brass-band music, and much more. Special guests on the disk include Robyn Hitchcock, Peter Rowan, David Bromberg, John McEuen, Abigail Washburn and Sam Parton (of Be Good Tanyas)… Their music has slowly evolved from hardcore traditional bluegrass to something quite undefinable.

“Videotape” (feat. Robyn Hitchcock) mp3

For more information contact Eddies Attic. 515 N. McDonough St. in Decatur. 404-377-4976

Twin Tigers release free Automatic digital EP

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Twin Tigers

Athens’ psychedelic indie rock outfit Twin Tigers have made their latest release, titled the Automatic EP, available as a free download.

In the meantime the band recently completed work on its debut full-length, Gray Waves, which is due out on the Brooklyn-based Old Flame Records in 2010.

Grey Waves‘ first single, “Automatic”

Click below to see their remaining November tour dates.

(more…)

Fuck Buttons: Tarot Sport

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

FuckButtons-musicWEBThe second full-length from U.K. duo Fuck Buttons is an impressive shift toward accessible melodies without sacrificing the experimental grit of their ‘08 debut, Street Horrrsing. As such, it’s inappropriate to call Fuck Buttons a noise group, per se. Sure, they shun the verses, choruses and whatever else goes into what most people call songs. But the drifting rhythms and crystalline sounds in “Surf Solar” and “Space Mountain” lay out a blueprint for the group’s restrained ears. There’s nothing harsh about the album’s modernist industrial and math rock structures. Even as the buzz and mutant cut-ups on “Rough Steez” morph into obtuse beats, there’s a soothing quality to the clutter that reaches in through your brain, grabs ahold of your guts and tugs you along ever so subtly. (ATP Records) 4 stars out of 5

(Photo Courtesy ATP Records)

Twenty years after getting a face full of the Jesus Lizard, the sweat of Yow returns

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
TheJesusLizard-musicWEB

AN ODOR OF SANCTITY: David Yow (second from left) and the Jesus Lizard, reunited

The first time I saw the Jesus Lizard play was Oct. 22, 1989. I was going to see the Rollins Band play at a scary little dive called the Lifticket in Omaha, Neb., in what was then a scary little neighborhood called Benson. These days, the Lifticket is a cleaner, bigger venue called the Waiting Room, and the neighborhood is a trendy bar district with a farmer’s market open on Sundays. But it was a rough part of town in those days, hardly a place for a 14-year-old kid on a school night.

Tim Moss was the record store guy at a local punk rock record shop called Drastic Plastic. He sold me my first cassettes by Dinosaur Jr., Bauhaus, the Pixies, Big Black, Minor Threat, the Minutemen, etc. — all gateway drugs. These days, Tim plays in the band Porn, and is the road manager for bands such as the Melvins and Faith No More. Back then, he sang for Ritual Device, the scheduled show openers. He was cool and said he could get me in despite me being a solid seven years underage.

Continue Reading “20 years after getting a face full of the Jesus Lizard, the sweat of Yow returns”

(Photo Courtesy Joshua Black Wilkins)

Rev. Johnny L. ‘Hurricane’ Jones plays Park Grounds

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

johnnyflyer2

Atlanta gospel preacher Rev. Johnny L. “Hurricane” Jones, has assembled a band of young musicians from the Atlanta rock community including Bradley Bailey (drums), Cameron Stuart (guitar) and Dan Beauregard (stand-up bass) to play a free show at Park Grounds in Reynoldstown on Thurs., Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. Those Kids (DJs Jacob Blaisdell and Josh Feigert) will be spinning rare gospel records before and after the show.

Jones has been the minister at The Second Mt. Olive Baptist Church for 53 years and hosts a radio show on WYZE-AM (1480) on the first and third Saturdays each month.

Jones has been recording his sermons every week since 1960, and on Dec. 8  Dust-to-Digital will release the first of two projected LPs of Jones’ sermons, called Jesus Christ from A to Z.

Rev. Johnny L. “Hurricane” Jones “One More Time” mp3

Park Grounds is located at 142 Flat Shoals Ave. 678-528-9901.

The N.E.C. release ‘It’s Right’ video

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Mayoral write-in candidate releases campaign death dirge

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Atlanta write-in mayoral candidate Dr. Tiffany Brown has released her official campaign song, by Alpharetta hip-hop artist Tazuh.

Call me a cynic, but something tells me that this song isn’t going to catapult her into the office of Atlanta’s highest elected official.

Key piece of lyrical poetry:  “She’s the one in your town. Puttin’ it down — walkin’ around. Hand-to-hand, politicking, tryin’ to meet our every demand. So don’t forget to vote ’cause time is ticking, man.”

“Vote for Tiffany Brown”

Vic Chesnutt & Guy Picciotto discuss making At the Cut

Friday, October 30th, 2009

vicband01_YannickGrandmont

In the liner notes to Vic Chesnutt’s ’07 full-length, North Star Deserter, Jem Cohen writes, “I make films, I’m no record producer. But I needed to bring these particular people together in this particular place… I thought they might hit it off.”
Cohen’s instincts served him well. North Star Deserter added wholly new dimensions to Chesnutt’s already vast body of songs, and by joining forces with Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) and members of A Silver Mt. Zion and God Speed You! Black Emperor, Chesnutt’s grim, avant-folk tendencies were pushed to maximum overdrive in squals of distortion and dramatic, symphonic majesty. But North Star Deserter was very much a construct of Jem Cohen — a personal vision of what Chesnutt’s albums should be, where songs, musicians and arrangements were put together like actors in a film. Chesnutt’s latest album, At the Cut, finds the same players who made North Star Deserter so bold and beautiful returning, this time to operate as a band sans Cohen’s direction.

Chad Radford:  Was the lineup for North Star Deserter really all part of Jem Cohen’s grand plan, or were you playing together before the idea for the album came about?

Guy Picciotto: That’s really how it all came together. I’ve actually known Vic since 1988. He was playing bass in a band that opened for the band I used to play in, Fugazi, at The 40 Watt Club. And actually, the other three guys in Fugazi played with Vic — maybe 10 years ago. They did an Olivia Newton-John cover together for a tribute project. They played “Have You Ever Been Mellow,” but I was out of town at the time, so I wasn’t part of that.

Before the North Star record I had never actually played with Vic, but I knew him and saw him every time we played in Athens. I was a huge fan of his records and always saw him when he came through town.

“Flirted With You All My Life”

“Philip Guston”

“Chain”

“Chinaberry Tree”

Vic Chesnutt (w/ Guy Picciotto of Fugazi and members of A Silver Mt. Zion, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Witchies, and Clare & the Reasons play the Earl on Sun. Nov. 1 $15. 8:00 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Rd. 404-522-3950.

(more…)

Kid Rock joins Zac Brown & friends for GA Theatre benefit

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Zac BrownKid Rock and country artists Joey+Rory have been added to the lineup for the Georgia Theatre benefit at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, spearheaded by the Zac Brown Band on Fri., Oct. 30. Little Big Town, Shawn Mullins, Oliver Wood (of Medeski, Martin and Wood) and Aslyn are also scheduled to perform.

Tickets are available for $100 through Ticketmaster, by phone at 800-745-3000, or at the Fox Theatre box office located at 660 Peachtree St.

Proceeds will go directly to The Georgia Theatre Rehabilitation Fund, handled by The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, to rebuild the decommissioned Georgia Theatre after it caught on fire earlier this year.

… It seems like an awful lot of money to pay to have to suffer through a Kid Rock show, but hey, its for a good cause.

(Photo by Zack Arias)

Dinosaur Jr photo gallery

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Photographer Perry Julien caught these shots of Dinosaur Jr playing a free in-store at Criminal Records a couple of weeks back on Sat., Oct. 17.

Jim DeRogatis: The Velvet Underground: An Illustrated History of a Walk on the Wildside

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

music_DeRogatisWEBWhen Lester Bangs, Lenny Kaye and every other half-cocked rock critic on the planet has weighed in on the Velvet Underground, what’s left to discuss? Not much. That’s why Chicago Sun-Times pop critic Jim DeRogatis lets the pictures do the talking in this friggin’ gorgeous collection of photos, fliers and album art that captures the Velvets in all of their glorious vanity. A brusque 1975 interview with Sterling Morrison is the most revealing component. Otherwise, the coffeetable book has to be the greatest visual history ever produced on the band. What’s more, it isn’t overwrought with pointless hero worship like the kind that guides so many other books that broach the Velvet Underground. DeRogatis’ Walk on the Wildside shows Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker, Nico, Warhol and the rest of the hangers-on in the good, raw and ugly. (Voyageur Press) 4 stars out of 5

(Photo Courtesy Voyageur Press)

Kurt Vile is no joke

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
KurtVile-musicWEB

NOT SO VILE: Kurt Vile unveils his sophomore release.

Strange semantics surround the Philadelphia-born guitarist, vocalist and home-recording devotee Kurt Vile. His name isn’t an attempt to create a Johnny Rotten-like persona for his dreamy folk, pop and minimalist rock songs. Nor is it a play on 20th-century German composer Kurt Weill. It’s his family’s name, and there isn’t a hint of irony in his voice when he explains it away. “Some people are shocked that it’s real. Others just can’t believe it,” Vile says. “It never fails.”

But irony is thick when he sings, “You tell me a good man is hard to find. What are you blind? Nevermind. Let’s try to have a good time,” in “Dead Alive” from Childish Prodigy, his third proper album and first for Matador Records. The lyrics are Dylan-esque in their rambling construction, but juvenile in their lazy delivery. When taken alongside Vile’s starry-eyed guitar picking, swimming in reverb, other songs such as “Hunchback,” “Overnite Religion” and “Freak Train,” gel with clumsy beauty that’s as captivating as it is perplexing.

Continue Reading “Kurt Vile is no joke”

(Photo Courtesy Shawn Brackbill)

Califone canceled

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Califone

Califone’s show at the Earl tonight has been canceled. Refunds for tickets are available at point of purchase.

Chad Rad’s picks for concerts of the week

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Mon., Oct. 26 Future of the Left, Hawks and Predator. $7. 9 p.m. 529, 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769.

Future of the Left consists of singer/guitarist Andy “Falco” Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone, both previously of Cardiff band mclusky, alongside singer/bassist Kelson Mathias, formerly of the Ammanford-based group Jarcrew. … The band were signed to Too Pure who had also signed Mclusky, however the umbrella company Beggars Group disbanded Too Pure transferring the band to 4AD; most famous for signing the Pixies in the mid eighties.

Wed., Oct. 28 Lead by saxophone player Julian Julien, Fractale is a Parisian five-piece jazz/electro ensemble that melds traditional jazz and rock ideas with improvisation and a computer-generated bent to arrive at a simple, melodic sound. The music is cinematic in scope, and vastly experimental. $8. 9 p.m. Eyedrum. 404-522-0655.

Wed., Oct 28 Cocktoberfest featuring:  Stolen Hearts, Pillow Talk DJ’s (in bikinis) with Misty Waters and the return of the Star Bar Dating Game. $5. 9 p.m.  Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018.

(more…)

Vic Chesnutt: At the Cut

Monday, October 26th, 2009

music_ChesnuttWEBMuch like ’07’s North Star Deserter, Vic Chesnutt’s At the Cut finds Athens’ grim folkie still soaring beyond the devices of a traditional singer/songwriter. Many of the players who made North Star Deserter so bold and beautiful, including members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and former Fugazi vocalist/guitarist Guy Picciotto, have returned. But whereas North Star crystallized Chesnutt’s stark visions into swirls of strings, rhythms and dissonance, here the expansive sound feels natural. “Coward” opens with epic drama, and Picciotto’s guitar adds terse immediacy to “Phillip Guston,” while “Granny” wilts with somber remembrance. Riding these peaks and valleys is emotionally exhausting, but if you’re a fan you already know the kind of pain you’re in for. At the Cut doesn’t hold North Star’s surprises, but it’s a stunning companion album. (Constellation Records) 4 stars out of 5

“Flirted With You All My Life”

“Philip Guston”

“Chain”

(Photo Courtesy Constellation Records)