Rock Star Journalist

This episode of the podcast is just one big mix. It’s just as much due to my foggy, sore throat, as it is due to the fact that these songs just ended up flowing really well. It’s a little creepy, a little dancy, and maybe even a little melancholy.

If you liked what you heard, I highly suggest tracking down pretty much every release featured on this particular installment of the podcast. Most notably, you should really go to the trouble of listening to the Bombay Royale’s peformance at globalFEST 2014, streaming at NPR Music. It’s their debut US performance, but most importantly, it’s just good music.

Podcast #106, “Melancholy Dance Party”
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I really want to look at AL_X‘sShunt as a solid work, akin to an imaginary film score or concept album. Enough of the tracks work well together — “Takk (En Sens)” followed by “Into the Trees” followed by “Shunt (Part I),” especially — but the vocal tracks, working in standard song structures, just lose me.

It may be that I’m not particularly a fan of the Antony and the Johnsons school of falsetto, but frankly, the tracks that follow this pattern (“Too Late, Too Far,” “Faux,” et al) work like those really awful tracks that run over the end credits after the main title reprise or whatever has run, while they’re listing the second unit key grips and catering providers.
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If Panda Kid ever deigns to tour the Midwest, I can’t begin to think of how much I’d thank them for the absolute joy they bring into my life with each and every release. Summetry, their latest LP, got a US release a few weeks back courtesy of Chicago’s Already Dead, and much like everything this Italian group releases, it’s taken a while to figure out what I think about it.

I mean, granted, I like it. It’s pretty much a given that any Panda Kid release will get some form of thumbs up from me at this point. It’s really more of figuring out what tack the group will take on any given release. On Summetry, it’s a vibe that reminds me if it were possible for a time-traveling Beatles to have grown up listening to Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd.
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Jumping up and down in my chair, listening to everything kick in on the first track of Acid Fast‘s Rabid Moon, it’s like that first time I heard Ned’s Atomic Dustbin doing “Kill Your Television” on 120 Minutes — I am happy, I am elated, and I’m wondering how this band figured out how to make such catchy music sound so dark.

Acid Fast demonstrate time and time again they know how to make you anticipate, then lose your shit. It’s not quite build and release, but more of a sense of knowing when you can drop out certain sonic elements to emphasize the others. Case in point: if a band has a song called “Shred Forever,” there damn well better be a guitar solo, and while it’s not quite what you’d expect, it’s there, and it’s boss.
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Potpourri of Pearls‘ We Went to Heaven has been playing down here in the basement, in the living room, at work, and various places over the past week. I’ve been trying to figure out if my initial impressions of it being amazing and weird have held up to repeated listens.

Honestly, the first time I listened to We Went to Heaven, the whole ’80s worship thing was a fun angle — especially the fact they were lifting Erasure, making this a refreshing switch from bands who’ve been swiping New Order’s sound for the better part of two decades.
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Over the weekend of Friday, January 31, through Sunday, February 2, North Kansas City’s Screenland Armour will play host to the second annual Panic Film Fest. In addition to a slew of classic horros films like Deep Red, Driller Killer, and the infamous Cannibal Holocaust, the fest will feature a selection of newer genre fair from Magnet Releasing. Additionally, there will be some interesting left-of-center selections like Spaceballs and Serenity to offer a bit of variety — to say nothing of beer from Tallgrass Brewing and a wide number of vendors.

It’s obviously right up our alley here at Rock Star Journalist, so we reached out to one of the organizer, Tim KC Canton, of Downright Creepy He was kind enough to answer a bunch of our questions via e-mail.
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The podcast returns after an extended holiday hiatus, with a short twelve songs, covering the gamut from blues-influenced garage rock swagger to metal to … weirdness. Yeah. It’s been a bit, so you’d think this would be longer, but no. I’m a man of many words, but I’d rather quality of over quantity.

Expect a new one in two weeks, since it’s actually already recorded. We’re gonna make this thing a regular occurrence this year, god willing and the creeks don’t rise.

Podcast #105, “Short & Sweet”
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In addition to being the man behind Operation: Cliff Clavin, Ghost Mice, and The Devil Is Electric, plus running record label Plan-It-X, Chris Clavin is a damned fine author. The latest book he’s masterminded only features a short piece from him — but all of the pieces in it are short, because it’s a collection of tour stories, entitled Tour Sucks.

Some of the worst things happen: tire blow-outs on a busy interstate, dog shit onstage, various attempted sexual molestations, bad weather, and more. The book’s a great read, and the perfect size to fit in a backpack and take with you. Clavin was cool enough to answer some of our questions via e-mail about the book and the possibility of another volume.
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Pairing Adventures with Run Forever is such a ridiculously perfect idea, it’s basically one of those “shut up and take my money!” releases. Adventures’ dreamy indie pop has a certain angular melodicism to it that hints at part of the band’s involvement with Code Orange Kids. It especially comes out in the feedback-drenched ends to their songs.

Run Forever, however, works it a little differently. Rather than fading out their songs, they opt for epic intros, leading into harmonies suited perfectly for lifted hands and heartfelt sing-alongs. The bands compliment one another, and they’re both on the rise, so why wouldn’t the two acts come together?
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The name Jon Bernstein might not mean much to you, but his nom de musique, Disparition, is surely familiar to anyone who listens to the wildly-successful Welcome to Night Vale podcast. His compositions bookend each and every episode of the program, and his music can be found throughout, as well. However, many may not know that much of his music is composed independently of the program, and that he’s been working for years making ambient soundscapes. Bernstein was kind enough to answer some questions in advance of Night Vale‘s next episode, which releases tomorrow.
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