SILVER MT. ZION coming to Kentucky

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (formerly known as the A Silver Mt. Zion, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra la la Band and a number of other iterations) are playing at Newport's Southgate House on May 25. In the band's blog they mention a stop in Louisville. It appears they were confused (unless the 'ville screwed that pooch), but we'll forgive them, they're Canadian, and awesome.

Silver Mt. Zion features members of (currently defunct) Godspeed You! Black Emperor. They maintain the gorgeous neo-classically orchestrated post rock-informed instrumental crescendos sound, with lots of strings and things, but with the addition of warbly punk-inspired vocals. I'm not always a fan of said vocals, but their live show is an powerful experience to behold. I caught them in Nashville a couple years back and have been jonesin' to see them again since. Apparently they've lost three of the eight members they had on that tour, but I still have high hopes.

here's a video from the 2008 tour...


Their new album Kollaps Tradixionales came out February 16, and if you're gonna grip it online, do so whilst still supporting CD Central here. (I'd recommend holding out for the vinyl.)

Tickets for the Southgate House show are $12 and you can get them here.

In related news, S-gate House has the best-looking spring line-up of any regional venue, in my book. Other shows of possible interest they're bringing in this season:

Jedi Mind Tricks - March 30
Mission of Burma - April 7
Weedeater - April 6
Neil Hamburger - April 22
Frightened Rabbit - May 6
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - May 17


P.S. Silver Mt. Zion's FAQ page is the best.

Of Montreal to play Buster's..?????

Buster's has announced they will make an exciting announcement in the next hour or two. Here's the teaser they gave us on Spacebook:



Yes, I am announcing that Buster's has announced that an announcement will come soon. Hold tight, kittens....

teeth mountain members make Judge Judy appearance

Thanks to resident CourtTV expert James Friley for pointing out that Kate Levvitt from Baltimore weirdo band Teeth Mountain made a classic appearance on Judge Judy this week, claiming charges against a guy who threw multiple TV sets on her poor (now deceased) cat.



Teeth Mountain played in Lexington at The Void Skateshop last October w/ Hair Police in conjunction with Boomslang. Super awesome heavy tribal drone psych with crazy videos. If you're not familiar with the band, get there, they rule. I don't care if the JJ stunt was fixed, this somehow makes me a bigger fan of theirs. Great publicity stunt, dudes!

One World Film Festival begins this week

Now in its 12th year, the 2010 Lexington One World Film Festival begins this Thursday, February 28, with the Academy-award winning Japanese film Departures. Through the end of March, a different film will be shown each Thursday at the Kentucky Theatre and each Sunday at the downtown library theatre.

Films were chosen to stimulate discussion and increase understanding about issues regarding race, identity and ethnicity. They range from poignant to uplifting to humorous. All films are free and open to the public.

For a schedule of films click here; for a descriptions of the films that will be shown, click here.

weekend picks

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 19
Gallery Hop!

• J. Todd Dockery and Bruce Burris at Gallerie Soleil (363 W. Short St.)
• Opening reception for Dingfutzer (art by L.A. artist Justin Christopherson) at LOT (527 E. 3rd St.), 7-11 pm. Featuring DJs Sa-riot (yours truly) and L-Bizzle.
• Kisses at the Gate - painting inspired by local poets (+ live reading from Holler Poets) at Sisohpromatem (651 West Short St.)
  
• Bluegrass Printmaker's Co-Op presents The Process of Printmaking at ArtsPlace (161 N. Mill)
  

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20

• DorkBotLex #11 at Reynolds building Room 101, 5pm
• Cross/Soft Openings/The Gudwalls at The Void. 8 pm, all ages ~heavy garage psych~
• The Ravenna Colt CD Release Party at Natasha's ~ new alt-country/folk project headed by My Morning Jacket member Johnny Quaid

ATP initial line-up

Almost forgot that All Tomorrow's Parties New York (September 3-5; Labor Day weekend) was announcing its line-up today!! Naturally, it's pretty tasty so far. MOST SUPERIOR FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD? Highly likely.

The guest curator for Sunday, September 5 is director Jim Jarmusch, whose most recent movie, 'The Limits of Control,' has a KICK-ASS heavy-drone soundtrack, featuring SUNN0))), Boris and Earth (Brian Jonestown Massacre and Raekwon are his picks so far - Raekwon being Wu-Tang member, and having performed on the soundtrack to Jarmusch's film Ghost Dog, one of my favorites). I'm sure he'll be announcing some sweet additions soon.

OTHER CONFIRMED ACTS:

• Iggy & The Stooges - Performing Raw Power
• Sleep - Performing Holy Mountain
• Mudhoney - Performing Superfuzz Bigmuff + Early Singles
• The Scientists - Performing Blood Red River (First Ever U.S. Show!)
• Sonic Youth
• Explosions In The Sky
• The Breeders
• Fuck Buttons
• The Books
• Papa M
• APSE
• Raekwon
• The Brian Jonestown Massacre
  

This is the third year ATP has shared its festival with North America. (Maybe someday in the future they'll give the midwest a little love? Eh?)

In the meantime, check their website for more info about ATP New York and all kinds of European shows I'm green with envy over.

In other fun festival news ~ BOOMSLANG 2010 is in the early planning stages :) Stay tuned for more details in the next month or so.

Ear X Tacy owner addressing 'potential changes'

As you may have heard, Ear X Tacy owner John Timmons is addressing the future of his 25-year-old Louisville music store at a press conference right now. To follow live updates, check out @wfplnews on Twitter....

The press release foreshadowing the press conference can be found at Backseat Sandbar.

UPCOMING LEXINGTON SHOWS I'M PSYCHED ON

2/12 - Valentine's Cabaret feat. Ford Theatre Reunion/Burning House Sideshow/Hula Hoop Dancers @ Buster's (Lex.) A Carny-fun time!!

2/23 - Peter Brontzmann; Fred Longberg-Holm @ Gumbo Ya Ya (Lex.) seriously visceral jazz.... (NOTE ~ this show is NOt on the 28th as I had originally noted for some reason)

2/28 - Cold Cave w/ Hair Police @ Al's Bar (Lex.) weird....

2/28 - Mouth of the Architect/Everyone Lives Everyone Wins/Holy Mountains/Ohlm @ The Void (Lex.) heavy....

3/9 - Everyone Lives Everyone Wins/Camp Cougar Melon/ Junk Thought @ The Cat'd Den (Lex.) Camp Cougar melon = new Farris/Beatty/Fareed/Trevor project.

2/20 - The Ravenna Colt @ Natasha's (Lex.) solid new indie-alt-country-folk featuring Johnny Quaid (original member of My Morning Jacket) and local drummer Daniel Mohler and former Lexington guitarist Phil Carlson (of Abdomen/Roger White's Electric Heat/Zombie Cowboys/Other Brothers, etc.)

2/20 -Soft Openings/CROSS @ Void Skateshop (Lex.) Lovely Asheville weirdness meets Lexington psych/no wave darkos

3/24 - Awesome Color; Tyvek @ Al's Bar (Lex.) YES PLEASE

5/6 - Baby Dee w/ Everyone Lives Everyone Wins (acoustic set) @ Niles Gallery (Lex. - UK Campus - Fine Arts Library) Possibly the local show of the year? ELEW show will be acoustic

Mastodon playing Lexington in May

Progressive metal giants MASTODON have announced their 2010 tour dates, with their final date at Buster's in Lexington (May 22). Rumors have been flying about this show for weeks and while Buster's hasn't yet posted it on their site (not surprising, those guys have day jobs and shizz) I think we can assume it's a go for now.

All tour dates (listed below) are with Baroness and Valient Thorr. My friends in the local metal scene will be psyched. Hell, I'm psyched. Mastodon rules. See you there.

Here's Mastodon's LOL-funny intro to the Aqua Team Hunger Force movie.


4/16/2010 Charleston, SC Music Farm
4/17/2010 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theater
4/18/2010 Richmond, VA The National
4/20/2010 Baltimore, MD Rams Head
4/21/2010 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
4/22/2010 Hartford, CT Webster
4/23/2010 Worcester, MA Palladium - NEW ENGLAND METAL FEST
4/24/2010 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
4/26/2010 Pittsburgh, PA Palace Theater
4/27/2010 Rochester, NY Water Street
4/29/2010 Grand Rapids, MI Orbit Room
4/30/2010 Indianapolis, IN Vogue
5/1/2010 Columbia, MO Blue Note
5/3/2010 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
5/4/2010 Tucson, AZ Rialto
5/5/2010 San Diego, CA House Of Blues
5/7/2010 Pomona, CA Fox
5/8/2010 The Missing Link Is Coming To Oakland, CA Stay Tuned
5/9/2010 Reno, NV Knitting Factory
5/10/2010 Eugene, OR McDonald Theater
5/11/2010 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
5/13/2010 Billings, MT The Shrine
5/14/2010 Fargo, ND The Venue
5/15/2010 Omaha, NE Sokol Hall
5/16/2010 Lawrence, KS Liberty Hall
5/18/2010 Madison, WI Orpheum
5/19/2010 Urbana, IL Canopy Club
5/20/2010 Memphis, TN Minglewood
5/21/2010 Knoxville, TN Valarium
5/22/2010 Lexington, KY Busters

New release from Louisville punk icons The Endtables

A press release from the good folks at Drag City Records today confirmed a rumor that underground punk fans had been crossing their fingers over for months: the release of a CD containing a collection of songs by '70s Louisville punk band The Endtables, including six studio recordings and six unreleased live tracks.

From Drag City:

"The Endtables were the crazed brainchild of guitarist Alex Durig, brooding chess-master of the amplified freak-out, and singer Steve Rigot, a flamboyant transgender giant from the shores of southern Indiana who reinvented himself as a Warhol Factory superstar. Like Scarlett O’Hara wrapped in a green velvet curtain, Rigot crafted his own glamorous reality from what was available in the blasted cultural landscape of 1970’s Kentucky. Gold spray paint, duct tape, Ace bandages ... a spectacularly other trailblazer who caused folks to toss their received ideas of beauty twenty years before Gossip’s Beth Ditto.

The band first took the stage in late 1978 and was finished by the summer of 1980. In the fall of 1979 they recorded six tracks at a Louisville studio, four of which came out on a 7” EP on their own Tuesday Records. The two remaining tracks (“White Glove Test” and “Trick or Treat”) were issued as a single on Self Destruct records in 1991. Both records are among the most sought-after of any American punk releases—treasures more talked about than seen, passed like secret gospels on disintegrating cassette tapes.

Now the secret is revealed and a star restored. The present CD collects for the first time The Endtables’ six studio recordings, six unreleased live tracks, and never-before-seen video footage of the band in performance. This new release is mastered from the original tapes—long believed lost, but recently discovered in a basement in Louisville’s South End. (The three Endtables songs that appeared on the compilation Bold Beginnings: An Incomplete Collection of Louisville Punk, 1978-1983 were transferred from vinyl.) The package also includes many previously unpublished photos, extensive liner notes, and Steve Rigot’s un-freaking-believable lyrics.

It’s all just in time for the original EP’s thirty-year anniversary, but this is no period piece. It’s pure American weirdness, as jaw-dropping today as the day it was recorded. In other words, timeless. Nothing could be more modern than Steve Rigot’s remote, sly singing style set against Alex Durig’s frenzied guitar outbursts, while drummer Steve Jan Humphrey and bassist Albert Durig (age fifteen!) bring the monster bam-bam jams. The band rocks its fevered vision to such a ferocious degree we’re sure you’ll agree they stand giant shoulder to giant shoulder with the greats. It’s the missing stone-cold jewel in your crown and a sound that will burn its way into your brain."

Check your local record store for the album circa April 20; in the meantime, check 'em out on MySpace.

Daniel Martin Moore and Ben Sollee to play Cd Central

Wednesday, February 17

Daniel Martin Moore and Ben Sollee CD Release Party at CD Central

CD Central's first in-store show of the year will feature two of Kentucky's finest and most quickly rising songwriters, Lexington's Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore. Their new album "Dear Companion" features songs that play homage to their home state, exploring the effects of coal mining on Appalachia in particular. Produced by My Morning Jacket's Jim James and recorded in Lexington at Shangri-La studios, this true Kentucky Proud product is garnering national attention and will be available at the show. The show is FREE and all ages. 6 p.m. 377 South Limestone. Information courtesy of cdcentralmusic.com

Vote for your favorite Doers Community Film

The Lexington Film League, an organization created last year to support and promote cinematic arts in Lexington, recently hosted a contest asking Lexingtonians to document the things that people are doing in their community. The submission criteria was otherwise vague - just find someone is your community who is doing something, and create a five minute video about it. The entries are in ~ more than 20 of them, covering a diverse base of individuals and organizations in and around Lexington. You can view all of the entries here at YouTube, and vote for your favorite by e-mailing lexfilmleague@gmail.com (include the title of the video in the e-mail).

The 10 winning "Doers Community Films" will be screened at Natasha's Bistro on Friday, February 26, and an awards ceremony will commence that evening as well, with awards including a People's Choice Award (decided by viewers the day of the event) and People's Choice Award (decided upon by a panel of judges). Doors at 6 p.m., with the screening starting at 6:30 (free and open to the public). Voting will continue through the day of the awards.

For more information on the Lexington Film League - including information about current workshops and upcoming contests - visit www.lexingtonfilmleague.org.