Sleeping Bag celebrated the release of their self-titled debut (Joyful Noise) with a release show at The White Rabbit Cabaret. Joining was DMA and the always popular Everything Now!

DMA

Everything Now!

Sleeping Bag

Link: http://akronfamily.com/

Remember those ‘70s driving songs? The feel-good tunes that if you had the top to put down, it was down and the wheels would spin love vibes warmed by the summer sun.

Akron/Family’s latest is a revitalization of the summer cruise music if it meant cruising around Mt. Fuji with Hokusai in mind.

S/T II for short, is a ritualistic celebration that bleeds elements of purist ‘70s power pop icons like The Raspberries or the Bay City Rollers (listen to any of these songs and any day will feel like Saturday night) with influences of Japanese noisecore and psychedelia. You can get just enough out of their music to have a mental image of the band freaking out to The Boredoms or The Flower Travellin’ Band.

Two things I really love about this album beyond the glowing aura that surrounds it. First, the way the album is laid out is flawless; the transitions impeccable. It’s like waking up and wanting to tell someone, “Hey man, I just had the most incredible dream!”

The second thing is that the album is difficult without being difficult. There is so much crazy and cool things going on that you could listen to it a thousand times and still be able to pick up on something new. But at the core of these songs, it can be deconstructed into simple pop songs that are catchy as hell.

It’s one of the greatest indie pop albums I have heard in a while.

(Click on the label to hear the song)

Link for more of Deerhoof’s latest album: http://deerhoofvsevil.com/

With an opening line of “Hello Hello Hello. Atomic Bombs are going to explode. Morning to you.” Deerhoof provides us all with our morning meditation for the foreseeable apocalyptical future.  Grab your morning coffee and dust off the hazmat suit because it’s time to check out “The Merry Barracks”, the latest single from San Francisco’s own Deerhoof.  These guys have been together for the last 16 years, but god damn! if this doesn’t sound like a single from the album Blonde Redhead decides not to record 10 years into our future.  But, just in case you’re tethered to the technology of better times, Joyful Noise is releasing the new Deerhoof full-length on cassette.  Yes, cassette.

Deerhoof vs. Evil is their new album, and they just leaked it to the masses on 11/1.  Or, you can wait to hear it in its official capacity on January 25th, 2011 via Polyvinyl. But, in the meantime, feast your ears on the future you hoped wasn’t coming over for breakfast via the Zaptown Jukebox. Morning to you, indeed.

Link: http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/catalog/jnr49

An exuberant title that bolsters the imagination, Berry’s musical effects wanders about aimlessly without any real destination in mind. Just a collection of songs with no real focus or transition of the album as a whole, expect the unexpected because the band may start out ricocheting with math-rock qualities (“Out”) the best song on the album by far, but Blue Sky, Raging Sun turns itself upside down by the time they get to “Hard, Broken, Beautiful,” where they take notes from Karate with Neil Young eyes.

“Maiden Oregon” shows us that simplicity sometimes is the best medicine to a song, but  a song like this melts too close to Mountain Goats, that is if the Mountain Goats made a rock opera about the history of exploration, a novel idea if only Berry’s vocals did not outweigh the music itself, a constant complaint throughout the release.

The downfall to this album is that these songs remain too incongruent to stick to your mind. The only thing about “Maiden Oregon” that attaches to you is the Procol Haram organs that lie within, and that feels more like oil to water than something cool and enlightening like some of their other songs.
I want to say that Blue Sky, Raging Sun grows on you, and it does a bit. But there is not enough of it that makes me want to continue coming back to, which becomes a problem to the magnetism of this release. I can pick apart each and every song and find things I want more of but too many distractions take away from the focus of the release.

Featured Musicians and Artists are as follows:

Featured Musicians:

HELADO NEGRO – http://asthmatickitty.com/helado-negro
JULIANNA BARWICK – http://www.juliannabarwick.com/
EPSTEIN – http://cargocollective.com/robertocarloslange
KID PRIMITIVE FAMILY – http://www.myspace.com/kidprimitive
BERRY – http://www.myspace.com/berry
ABNER TRIO – http://www.myspace.com/abnertrio
JOOKABOX – http://www.myspace.com/jookabox

Featured Artists:

JONATHAN DUECK – http://www.intransitcentre.info
RYAN IRVIN – http://saiddesign.com
JOHN BERRY – http://johngberry.com
DM STITH – http://dmstith.com

Mixtape (free download) and more info for the event can be found here: http://asthmatickitty.com/decaysustain/

Sponsors:
http://method-ad.com/
http://www.asthmatickitty.com
http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com
http://www.transpanthergroup.com
http://www.bigcar.org
http://www.mtcomfort.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/indievolumes

Links:
C.J. Boyd: http://www.myspace.com/cjboyd
Joyful Noise: http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/

It is rare to have a bassist feel such prominence within the world that lies just beyond the jazz landscape. Sure Mingus and William Parker come to mind, but jazz is not even an issue with Aerial Roots beyond simple analogous association. What C.J. Boyd does is create a musical climate of ambience and gentle experiments in the matter of three songs that stretch time to just under an hour.

Spaced out thoughts and easy music conversation, Boyd sometimes sound Chicago when bands like Karate and Dianogah used to walk the streets, while other times he goes beyond simple composition with an accomplished stance to his bass technique.

“We Know Time” is exciting in its simplistic instrumental structure, but you end up feeling like you want to float higher and higher. “Pensive Pez” is that refreshing feeling when you are completely aware of the air you breath. Natural while being exploratory, this brief moment will have you sitting back and enjoying the relationship.

There is some meandering involved on the 15 minute “Everytime I Don The Ski Mask.” But the subtle layering of string on string that builds strength to this song just before it drifts out into the stratosphere.

C.J. Boyd is as expressive as he is talented. Aerial Roots proves his vision to push simplicity into another realm that is filled with beauty without being overtly boastful in presentation.

This artist spotlight is part of a special ZapTown series in correlation with the 2009 Broad Ripple Music Fest: http://www.broadripplemusicfest.com/

Other BRMF interviews:
Heavy Hometown
Daniel Fahrner
Thunderhawk
Matt Mitchell Project
Deep Cricket Night
DJ Deanne

WHO: Stationary Odyssey
WHERE: Local’s Only, 1 p.m.; presented by Transpanther, Standard Recording, and Joyful Noise.
LINKS: http://www.stationaryodyssey.com/

SAMPLE MP3:

With a new release on the horizon  — Sons Of Boy (Joyful Noise) is due out November 10 — Stationary Odyssey returns with their glitched out intergalactic rock and roll. Indianapolis should not be shy to the band as their new effort is one of several releases in their career. Whether it’s angular math rock or power blasts of sonic intensity, this band always keeps things fresh and moving.

Stationary Odyssey is revving up their rocket ships and heading out on the road later this fall. For now, we can smell the jet fumes at the BRMF. Aaron Tanner and Brett Siler ride in the cockpit.

It’s been three years since “Head!” What took so long in between releases?

Aaron: Good question! I guess time does really start to get away from you the older you get. I mean, we all had a lot of personal stuff going on… played some shows here and there. I bought a house and fixed it up. Brett built a recording studio. Plus, once we decided to get moving on the album, it was literally one thing after another. Like it says in the press release, a lot of bad stuff happened to the both us. We’d go to record, something terrible would happen, we’d get discouraged and then take a few weeks (or more) off to refocus and then repeat the cycle.

Brett: Well, we put out a split EP with Child Bite in ’07, and “Sons of Boy” was supposed to be done in ’08. We had a lot of crazy stuff happen to us; some good and some bad. Aaron got a house, I built a studio, my house flooded, one of us got drugged and jumped, jailed twice, relatives in the hospital, women trouble. The list goes on. So, it didn’t get done until 2009.

What has changed for the band in that timeframe and what is the focus with “Sons Of Boy?”

Aaron: With “Sons of Boy,” we tried to make it sound more like our live show. In the past, we could really only pull off about half of the material from each album as a 3-piece. But now, I think there’s only one track off of the new album that isn’t doable. We’ve always referred to this one as the “rock album.”

Brett: Basically, I started writing more music we could play live. A lot of it was written with a 3-piece rock band in mind.

You have a pretty impressive tour lined up. What are you doing to gear up for that and what do you have planned this time around? According to the website, why two CD release shows (one in Indianapolis and one in Evansville)?

Aaron: We haven’t done a proper tour in a while and really felt that we should push this record hard. We’re doing one week in the Midwest, breaking for Thanksgiving, a week and a half on the East Coast, breaking for xmas and then touring the West Coast and parts of the South. The reason we opted for two CD release shows is because we felt that we should do one in our hometown and then another where Joyful Noise is based. Completely different cities and crowds, but we’re strongly tied to each.

Brett: To get ready for the tour, I’m just practicing a lot and trying to save up or sell things so I have money. Also trying to shrink my stomach so I will be used to going on little food.

The band has utilized a varied amount of talent within the recordings, as “Sons Of Boy” is no different? What is the philosophy behind that and how does that transform to how the band currently plays live?

Aaron: Stationary Odyssey started out as just a recording project with little desire to play live… much less tour. I just wanted to record songs with friends and then burn CD-Rs to give away. But then Shawn Knight from Boyarm asked to put out our first EP, Komondor. And ever since, I’ve taken it more seriously. The process went something like this: record/write the album with a number of people, find musicians willing to learn the material and then tour with it. It wasn’t until Brett Siler was added as a permanent recording and performing band member that the group has seemed more “band-like.”‘

Brett: On the new album, it was written to where it could be performed by a 3 piece… but there are some songs that friends added little bit of instrumentation to spice the song up a bit. However, what they added wasn’t enough to totally change the song. It would just be a keyboard part in section of a song or slide guitar or something. The main meat of the songs, though, are me, Aaron and our drummer (who is currently my brother, Scott Siler). Generally, in the past, we looked at the album and live as two different ways of approaching our songs. It’s still kinda like that, but the new songs translate a little easier.

How many times have you played the BRMF? What are your views for a festival like this and how it benefits a band like yours? What this means to the culture of the city as well as music community?

Aaron: This is the first time we’ve played the Broad Ripple Music Fest so we don’t really know what to expect. Regardless, I do think community-based festivals are extremely important to both the music goer and to the bands they’re seeing. Anything with a sense of community is… record labels, festivals, whatever.  Pairing yourself with likeminded individuals only strengthens your cause. Whatever that cause may be.

Brett: I only like the Fall Festival in Evansville, IN. You can get a meal called a chunky diaper.

(Photo by Joel Faurote)

This band spotlight is part of a special ZapTown series in correlation with the 2009 Broad Ripple Music Fest: http://www.broadripplemusicfest.com/

Other BRMF interviews:

Heavy Hometown

Daniel Fahrner

WHO: Thunderhawk
WHERE: Locals Only, sponsored by Transpanther/Standard Recording/Joyful Noise
LINKS: http://www.myspace.com/thunderhawkband

SAMPLE MP3:

Josh Hall has been playing music as Thunderhawk long enough to turn ’90s indie rock upside down. With various line up changes throughout the years, Hall and the band remain a constant within the Muncie, Indiana, music scene.

With Thunderhawk VI to be released soon, the band is ripping its way into Indianapolis. Hall discusses the latest album and their first time at the Broad Ripple Music Fest.

How long have you been around as a band, specifically? How do you think you have progressed together?

Doug Market (drummer) and I started playing as Thunderhawk in 1998 and have used several line ups over the years. I don’t think we’ve progressed at all over the years. We still sound like a 90′s indie rock band because we are a 90s indie rock band. We’ve been playing all the same local venues since as far back as I can remember to mixed or no reactions.

Tell me about your latest release and about the garage pop elements you bring into it?

Well, I did an album called Gravity Wins! and I sort of “lost it” and couldn’t play music for a while. But last year I wrote and recorded 5 albums and was planning on self releasing all of them. But Standard Recording Company down in Indy showed interest in putting out an album, so we are releasing an album called Thunderhawk VI on Standard Recording as a vinyl only release. It has a bunch of country songs on it and some punk rock and classic indie rock for good measure.

Indianapolis Versus Muncie? We are seeing an increased relationship between the two and the music that affects us daily. How do you see that relationship and do we need the two geographic locations to exist?

Muncie is a weird place, a lot of good bands came out of there, Margot and the somethings, Arrah and the Ferns, Everything Now! and The Dead Beats just to name a few. But there’s really no where to play in Muncie so all those bands out of necessity have gravitated to Indy. So I would say that Muncie bands need Indianapolis but I don’t know how much Indianapolis needs Muncie.

How important do you feel the Broad Ripple Music Fest is to you and what will you be bringing in regards to your performance?

This is the first time we’ve played BRMF and I’m pretty excited, but I’m not really sure what to expect. We’re just gonna play our asses off and then get loaded after the show.