This past saturday was a much anticipated show featuring Jungol, Stokeswood, both from Atlanta, and The Zou from Ohio.

All I can say it is was very sweaty in there.

Here are some videos I managed to catch.

Stokeswood

Jungol

The Zou / Stokeswood Backstage after the show

This was my first time at New Earth and the place is nice, especially for a party like this.

SeaDub was hosting throughout the night with some awesome mixes. Also the live drum and bass set was great.

While we were waiting for Rusko these guys were doing some sick popping and locking right beside us, then eventually disappeared.

They then reappeared when Rusko hit the stage, wearing gold outfits and masks.  They did their thing for about two songs and it was awesome.

Then it was time to turn the bass up and get crazy.

Seriously once Rusko took off it was 2 1/2 hours of jams until they turned the lights back on. He had a great set that kept moving keeping people dancing. His energy is enourmous on stage and everyone ate it right up…myself included.

If you havn’t taken a second to check out DJ Rusko yet, I recommend you do so. If he’s coming to a town near you, definitely go check it out, just be ready to get sweaty.

DJ Rusko Mini Mix – great mix of some of his classic stuff…it gets fun around the 1:12 mark

http://www.myspace.com/ruskonfire

Pandora.com is a serviced based on the Music Genome Project.

I have been listening to Pandora for a few years now and it continues to get better and broader.

Today I wanted to talk about the holiday stations.  Typically around this time of year one would need to either play from their own collection of holiday jams, be it CD’s, records, MP3s, etc., or they would need to tune into that one radio station in the city playing all holiday jams exclusively.

Sometimes though, especially from personal experience, this is not enough.

For one thing, the holiday jams on the radio are the same holiday jams I’ve been hearing on that station since I was just a tiny little tot.  Don’t get me wrong, they are good jams but there e so many other takes on those jams available, why not mix it up some?

As for my own personal collection of holiday music, I will always fancy it.  It continues to grow every year and I definitely play MY favorites from it annually.  These might not be everyone elses favorites though…which is where Pandora comes in.

This year around December 1st, I went to Pandora.com and typed in “Chirstmas”.

As you can see there are at least 99 holiday stations ready for access.

I’ve have not nearly been through all of them, and to be honestly this year have mostly stuck to Jazz Holidays.  There are some real sleepy tunes that play there occasionally, but for the most part, it is some great jazz musicians playing some excellent holiday covers. I highly recommend you take a listen to that station stat.

I plan to do a future write up about Pandora as a whole, as I think it is a very interesting project and am very excited to see how far it has come in the time that it has been online, so stay posted.

B

Over the past decade I have listened to 90% of the music I have ever listened to in my life.  My musical pallet has sampled many a sound in that time.

This year I have also sampled a good amount of new music, some from bands I already enjoy and some from new bands that I have come to enjoy. Unfortunately some of the music I have come to love this year, was not necessarily released this year so I might just have to make that Albums of the Decade post after all.

Normally I would throw in some “key” songs for album reviews, but all of these albums are all good all the way through, so if you are going to give them a try, just go all the way. Go big or go home…

My top 5 picks are the albums that I listened to the most when I first heard them.  They inspired me and played with my emotions more than the rest.

In no particular order:

Fall of Troy – Phantom on the Horizon

I’ve been a fan of Fall of Troy for a while now. They write passionate, high energy music that makes my ears happy.  While I was not super stoked about their last full release Manipulator, I did enjoy it.

Something was missing from it though. It seemed like the technical skill of the band had progressed where I had hoped it would by then, but the direction of the song writing did not necessarily do the same.

Insert Phantom on the Horizon. A rerecorded and finished version of the Ghostship EP which the band released in 2004. I had never heard anything from that EP but immediately snatched up the Phantom on the Horizon as soon as I could.

The album showcases the band in a more experimental way that I was hoping for after Doppelganger.  I realize much of this music is older, they reinvented it in a way that feels more like progress.

As long as Fall of Troy continue making music that makes them happy, I am confident they will make music that makes me happy.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Xenophanes

Since the release of Deloused I have been ready and awaiting anything Omar Rodriguez comes out with. His last few released efforts have not been as exciting and re playable for me as earlier work, but that all changed with Xenophanes.

From the very first song there is a change of pace that hasn’t been there on the last couple releases. The music is tight but still carries that signature Omar weirdness. I know we were all curious about how Omar’s vocals would be sounding on this album, and I have to say, they are much improved and sound especially good complimenting the female vocals.

As a whole this album feels more cohesive than some of the stuff he has been putting out, keeping a strong vibe from start to finish, instead of feeling like a bunch of random songs thrown together.

This is the Omar Rodriguez we all know and love.

Dirty Dishes – In The Clouds

I would like to preface this particular section with the fact that my good friend Keith Freund told me about Dirty Dishes.  Keith recorded one of the 13 Day Mission album, as well played a hand as producer and engineer for the Dirty Dishes.

All bias aside…this EP is great. Having found this EP any other way, I am positive that I would still be as hyped about it as I am.

First off, they sound great. Sonically this album is everything you would hope for from a modern recording.

To boot, the song writing is very tasty. The guitar riffs are a little spacey, a little mathy, and very fun for my brain.  As well the drums are holding down some unfamiliar beats that are refreshing to hear. Lets not forget the vocals that sound great without auto tune, but add in some heavy reverb for some additional ambient spaciness.

You can hear this album in its entirety at http://thedirtydishes.bandcamp.com/

Mastodon – Crack the Skye

I have been a fan of Mastodon for a couple of years now.  I have even had the opportunity to play a show with one of Brent Hinds other bands around Atlanta.

Leviathan was my first taste of Mastodon. That is a really good album but it wasn’t something that I necessarily felt attached to.

The same happened with Blood Mountain, although this was definitely a lead in the right direction. It still did not captivate me.

Crack the Skye is both of those albums combined, plus the additional growth one would hope for in a band. For several weeks I listened to this album over and over picking it apart slowly until I was satisfied. This bonding was what I had been waiting on from Mastodon and I look forward to their future efforts.

Closure In Moscow – First Temple

Closure is Moscow is an Australian band that a friend of mine recently gave me the heads up on. They are apparently recording  at the same studio that this album was recorded at. All I can say about that is I hope the same person is mixing and mastering because this album sounds GOOD.

These guys are a great mix of a lot of different things that I enjoy about music.

Technicality, I strive to increase my skill level with instruments all the time, and I appreciate hearing others that obviously do as well.The guitarist, bass included,  have some awesome riffs and some unique tones. The drums easily keep up with and compliment the guitars, and finally a vocalist that can actually sing. This guy hits some crazy notes but writes really good melodies using his voice more like an instrument.

Lets start with Arablak. A good friend of mine that I have been working with as an engineer and producer for the past couple of years, Arablak aka Jermaine Edmonds, has been doing random shows down here in Atlanta, typically being on nights that my band 13 Day Mission has a show. That said I’ve been unable to catch his live set until last Saturday at the A3C festival.

A3C is a HUGE Hip Hop festival that is held once a year in Atlanta. There are over 100 artists that perform at several venues all located in the same area, over the course of 3 days. Its massive. In the short time I was there I met quite a few big names, the one I was most excited about was getting to meet J Dillas uncle Herm. Dilla is such a legend and his family has such a positive energy that it just brings out the best in everyone around them.

Anyways, Arablak was set to go on first at 529, and its a good thing he did because he got the crowd fired up. Unfortunately they had him start later than he was supposed to, so I didn’t to catch any of the other acts at 529, and I was forced to miss the opening acts over at Drunken Unicorn.

Either way, Arablak blew it up. I’ve known he had the jams deep inside him and I’ve heard all his studio work many times. It was a treat to get to see him perform live with a sound system as crushing as the one at 529. It was also nice to see that his hard work around town has been paying off as I was definitely not the only one singing along to all of his songs. The venue was packed to the max and I could barely move other than throwing my hands in the air and dancing with the people in my immediate vicinity.

Enough typing, check out these two videos(from my understanding the dude in the red hat in the front is one of the biggest supporters of hip hop in Atlanta):

Not 5 minutes after he was off stage I got a text saying that Odist was playing so I hustled over to DU only to find they had not even set up yet, but at least I didn’t miss anything.

This was their EP release and there was definitely a good crowd there. Graham Yoder of the Atlanta band Jungol was a guest guitarist with them on a few songs and totally ripped it up. Sarah destroyed the drums. I’ve seen her play a number of times and she always rocks it out, but this time she really let it all out. I can’t stress enough how much of a amazing musician Jason is. He is definitely one of the best bass players that I’ve seen playing out in Atlanta and together he and Sarah make up a MEAN rhythm section.

The show was great, the new music is HUGE for a two piece, and Graham stepping in for some of the older material from when they were a 3 piece couldn’t have been better. Again enough of the type, check out this video:

To hear more from the groups mentioned in this post check out:

http://www.myspace.com/arablakmusic
http://www.myspace.com/enjoyodist
http://www.myspace.com/jungolband