I was reading my buddy Nathaniel’s recent blog entry on a rad fan-made video for the Atlas Sound / Stereolab collab (rhymes lol) “Quick Canal,” featuring lots of retro kitsch stock footage. Broadcast, you need to find the dude who made this video. Anyway, seeing the video reminded me of something Lana discovered not too long ago called The Prelinger Archives. As Regis Philbin used to say in the Mr. Phipps Tater Crisps commercials: “I LOVE ‘EM!”

The Prelinger Archives is a mindblowingly expansive collection of public domain films from pre and post-WWII America – most of which could be categorized within educational videos, infomericals before there were infomericials, instructional videos, and public service announcements. All of which are could be categorized as “relatively campy and amazing.”

Go to the Internet Archive splash page and browse around. You cannot go wrong with any of these ephemeral films of the atomic age. I tend to gravitate toward the Coronet Instructional Films, which provide the fatherly guidance that made our parents better people I suppose, and the Jam Handy Archive, which is just a grab-bag of awesome. The emphatic narration and general mores displayed are, in many ways, so far removed from how the world is today that you can’t help be feel compelled. The Prelinger Archives is one of my absolute favorite offerings of the Internet right now.

Below are some of the Prelinger videos that made it to YouTube. The last video is the classic “Duck and Cover” classroom film that you’re probably already familiar with but may not have actually seen. The videos from the collection itself are too big to embed on this blog, so you’ll really want to go to the IA portal to explore for yourself! Go here, mach schnell!

The recent BBC Four documentary Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany, the most thorough examination of the genre since Julian Cope’s definitive Krautrocksampler, has finally made its way onto the Interwebs. And it’s as solid as you’d expect.

From the BBC: “Between 1968 and 1977 bands like Neu!, Can, Faust and Kraftwerk would look beyond western rock and roll to create some of the most original and uncompromising music ever heard. They shared one common goal – a forward-looking desire to transcend Germany’s gruesome past – but that didn’t stop the music press in war-obsessed Britain from calling them Krautrock.”

I really dig John Weinzierl’s (of Amon Duul II) logic early in the film, when he says “we wanted to be international,we tried very hard to not be Anglophonic and not to be German. So… space is one solution.” And it’s totally worth mentioning that Werner Hertzog shows up for a bit. Action packed.

This will rule.

I believe that, technically, Atlas Sound is the headliner, but I’m treating this show as if Broadcast was. I love both artists, obviously. However, Bradford Cox, to quote The Spirit of Truth, makes his “ass very available,” whereas Broadcast hasn’t been around in a minute. So for me finally seeing Broadcast, after being a huge fan for six or seven years, is quite huge. They were also the primary motivation for making the three hour trek up I-71. I’m pleased to report that the goods were thoroughly delivered.

Opening was The Selmanaires from Atlanta. They were rad. Think of Gang Gang Dance. Now imagine a non-shitty version of Gang Gang Dance. That’s The Selmanaires. The majority of the set consisted of ambient layers by way of their Mini Korg, which eventually ascended into Mercury Rev-style ornate pop with pervasive, intricate rhythms and nasty low end. Oh, and djembes everywhere. While The Selmanaires were fairly cosmic, they do indeed like the nightlife and/or like to boogie.

One thing I really dug about the Wexner, besides being a nice college facility, was the total absence of fucking around. There was virtually no changeover time. After The Selmanaires finished up their 40-or-so minute set, the crew wheeled out the screen and flipped on the projector. The title card illuminated the screen – Winter Sun Wavelengths. And in the upper left hand corner was the Ghost Box logo, which pretty much guarantees that you’re about to see some shit. Some shit is also known as brain burning hauntological visuals from Julian House’s celestial brain.

So the Broadcast show takes a big fat page from the Wizard of Oz. Actually, spooky technicolor performance piece is a more accurate description, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll keep referring to it as “show.” Anyway, the “show” was divided, as suggested, into two segments. The first was a 20-minute, highly structured dissonant noise jam set to high contrast black-and-white visuals of opitcal illusions, eye exam cards, sine waves, and barren trees. During the epic psych slam, Broadcast was surprisingly loud. I’d put them on my top ten loudest bands I’ve seen list. Of course, their loudness is different than, say, Dinosaur Jr. Their loudness was dependent on frequencies and wavelengths that hit your ear in a very intense fashion rather than Mogwai-style pure horsepower. The permeating zone-out transmissions pulsated hard. My dome turned in to a cottonball and my balls retracted, not unlike my reaction toward My Bloody Valentine’s Holocaust Section (though Broadcast’s was less demonic).

Then, very suddenly, the barren trees faded – replaced with swirling pastels and a lead in to “Corporeal.” This was the latter half of the show. Broadcast treats their set as one long piece, so most of the songs faded into each other. After some atomic deep sea diving, we were treated to more Tender Buttons action a la “Black Cat,” as well as “Lunch Hour Pops” from Haha Sound, and… gobs of new material. It seems that Broadcast is now distinctly within motorik dream pop realms laced with the type of ambiance found on Witch Cults, meaning that the forthcoming effort(s) will be decidedly different than their pre-HaHa Sound retro-futuristic lounge as well as the glitchy IDM of Tender Buttons.

The highlight of the evening, however, was the finale. Trish Keenan strapped on a dulcimer, which is one of my favorite simple acoustic instruments. For the non-musician types, a dulcimer is a popular tool in traditional Appalachian music. It’s a rather quiet instrument, and one that you can often find with build-it-yourself kits for $30 or so. Hence, I figured we were going to get a break in the stratospheric jams and take a load off with a quiet ballad. No fucking dice. That dulcimer was amplified. Wut chu kno bout an electric dulcimer?!

This, folks, is a krautrock hoedown:

Lana put it best I think. She said something to the effect of “Band did not dick around. Girl sets up, throws up hands and cusses at the sound guy, walks on, says hello, rocks out, bumps into the mic a couple of times, gives a grateful thanks plus buh-bye, and they were out.” She also mentioned she felt “haunted,” and I’ll agree with that. This is art. Broadcast slayed it.

Atlas Sound closed out the evening. B Cox, of course, came out with some his world-famous banter while setting up. The Selmanaires returned to the stage to act as Bradford’s full backing band. I was impressed at how Cox reinterpreted his catalog for the live show. The best way to describe it would be “shoegaze Americana” or “truly cosmic American music” (a play on the Gram Parsons quotation) or “kinda like The Byrds but with more effects pedals.” Harmonica and twangy, tinty guitars were given the same amount of exposure as Deerhunter’s ad infinitum stage drones and effects pedal tweaking. It was a good time, but we had to dart shortly after “Walkabout” so we could get home before 4 a.m. and I could be at work Monday morning without being a total zombie. Besides, I love ya B Cox… but it’s fucking hard to follow up Broadcast. I mean, their live set was Old Testament. I still had crazy tinnitus ringing in my ears during Atlas Sound, ya know. Gonna miss those frequencies.

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with my usual bellyachin’ about how my camera leaves much to be desired. However, I think the camera’s fuzziness in low light, combined with the high contrast visual element of the show, actually worked to our benefit this time. These photos, perhaps ironically, truly capture the telescopic mood of the show better than, say, a big boy camera like the Canon Rebel. I’m extremely pleased with how these turned out, considering troubles I’ve had with concert photos recently. Lana took ‘em all, so please send her some love on her Flickr page.

::: BROADCAST (a.k.a. <3 U TRISH KEENAN!!!1)

::: ATLAS SOUND

Though it should’ve been obvious, it didn’t dawn on me that a live performance by Slint/Tortoise/Crain/Shipping News rowdy crowd The For Carnation at a forward-thinking art celebration (The Speed Museum’s Art After Dark) wouldn’t exactly be a traditional band-plays-in-front-of-you type of gig. No dice on that. While it was odd at first, you realized shortly into the set how original and exciting such an unusual show is to experience.  It’s what Pink Floyd tried to do with their theatrical five city tour for The Wall, except it wasn’t stupid. Regardless of how you felt about its execution, you’ll definitely remember it. After I reflected a bit on what they were doing, I really got into it.

So yes, The For Carnation performed live. But they did so remotely. The group members were stationed in different locales about the museum. The show that you saw happened in the Antiquity Gallery, and it was a video project of the band performing filtered through a pixelated mosaic.

You can’t tell from the photographic evidence, but if you looked closely within the pixels, each was some sort of image, though it was hard to make out what exactly they were. It was quite incredible, actually.

So here we find vocalist Brian McMahan next to the European art collections. Hey. I didn’t find the rest of the band, but I didn’t feel the need to go on an easter egg hunt either.

This show, as well as the entire event, was triumphant and groovy. I noticed other people were videotaping the performance. If anyone has access to other videos (and permission to share), please give me a shout. Have a taste with some video we shot:

The For Carnation plays at the sold-out Ten Years of ATP festival this December in Minehead with Tortoise, Shellac, Fuck Buttons, Deerhoof, The Melvins, Explosions in the Sky, Battles, Lightning Bolt, Sunn 0))), and a slew of other decidedly awesome acts. Get yr. passport notarized, yanks.

MP3 :::
The For Carnation – Emp. Man’s Blues

Brad Cox has never heard the term ‘camera shy’. His love of confrontational stage antics is only surpassed by his desire to make people as uncomfortable as possible. Well thank God for that. Skip to 5:00 minutes in to see what happens when he turns a question about Deerhunter’s first record into an opportunity to dig up a precious childhood moment. I would file this under ‘just enough information’.

Hey, we’re not all scholars. Dave Thomas of Pere Ubu understands that sometimes you gotta break it down in layman’s terms if you want people to really appreciate your point. Reflecting on the band’s career in 1989, he uses a simple prop to condense their entire philosophy into one easy lesson. You might want to take notes.

Thurston Moore is sort of like the Kevin Bacon of rock music, you can connect him to just about anybody. This segment is from the cutting room floor of the Minutemen documentary We Jam Econo. When asked about how he met the boys, Thurston instead decides to try out his Mike Watt impression. This video is worth watching for Thurston’s knowledge of Watt’s dietary regiment alone. “Seafood and Punk Rock”, sounds like a winning autobiography to me.

Saved the best for last. For this humble blogger, right here is the Holy Grail of pointless interviews. I don’t know what you expect to get out of The Butthole Surfers, one of music’s most playfully nihilistic children, but this is what happened when one dude tried to talk with them backstage. Looks like he got to the party a little late. I have no words that could do this video justice.

Alright, so rowdy new Kranky artist White Rainbow starts talking about Flying Saucer Attack and the golden age of space rock, and then Pauly Shore rolls through and asks him about his jams and they have a quick brodeo. No words, my friends, no words. Thanks to Porch of the Mystics for unearthing this most gnarly of vids, bud-dee.

FIST BUMP!

Actually, no… this is the most gnarly of vids. I hate that it’s called “The Worst Thing I Ever Saw On Public Access TV.” It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen outside The Spirit of Truth. Simply amazing. This dude is the best dude. 

Dream bill: Wolf Eyes, Jandek, Steverino, and the above gentleman (herein referred to as “hurdy gurdy bro,” as that is evidently the name of the instrument and of no relation to Donovan). So epic.

Two quick items notes. First, Invaders were amazing live. While on record, you could sorta pinpoint where they came from and where they’re going – a little shoegaze here, and little stoner metal there. Live, they’re something completely different. Invaders are not really anything. They’re not space rock, they’re not shoegaze… they’re vaguely rock and roll mixed with something sinister. Essentially, they’ve created a new sound. Not only is that a huge compliment, but it’s heartwarming to know that there’s music coming out of Louisville that is truly new. Invaders are a major force in this.

I color saturated the shit out of this video because that’s sort of the visual I have in my head when I hear their music. Plus, I think it looks cool – ya know, Exploding Plastic Inevitable, et al. Another good video shot by Lana-style:

UPDATE 9.21 – The videos have decided to unembed themselves, and I can’t figure out what’s going on. Totally weird and bogus. I have to go to work, so I’ll try to fix this later. In the interim, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/ateasegentlemen to view my videos.

Secondly, as usual, the photos are kinda shitty because our camera is kinda shitty. Lana was able to take a few really good shots of Marmoset, though. But ultimately, I need better tools. So Bloggins is saving up for a good SLR camera as we speak, and additional concert coverage on this blog will improve. I’m goin’ pro, ya’llz. And, best of all, you, the reader, won’t have to hear me bellyache anymore about it! Righteous!

I wasn’t able to get any coverage of The Harlequins because I’m a bad blogger. I was drinking beer during their set and enjoying myself. Sorry. But I will say that they are a good band, the singer wears rowdy stripped trousers, and you should see them. Very early Kinks-ish with a modern flair.

Marmoset played MY FAVORITE SONG off MY FAVORITE ALBUM (Record In Red – which Jorma, I believe, sarcastically described in a quick banter session as a “horrible album”) out of sheer happenstance. I was pumped:

UPDATE 9.21 – The videos have decided to unembed themselves, and I can’t figure out what’s going on. Totally weird and bogus. I have to go to work, so I’ll try to fix this later. In the interim, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/ateasegentlemen to view my videos.

Okay, I think that covers it. Oh, I got to meet Jorma after the show, and that dude’s rad. All the Marmoset dudes are rad, as they were cracking jokes and acting very relaxed and goofy throughout their performance. It was good clean fun. Thanks to everyone who came out! We had a pretty good turnout, and I’ll definitely be doing more shows at Skull Alley. Very nice place indeed…

I just love this video that L-Train discovered the other night featuring music by Lightning Bolt. It’s beautiful through and through. The short sorta reminds me of The New Radicals video for “You Get What You Give,” except with a fun-loving monster bro, less bucket hat, and better jammage. Enjoy.