FYF Day One: Deadly Dust Clouds

After three days of reflection, I must say that FYF was one hell of a music festival. Though the crowd was filled with "rebels" (note the quotes. I know most people would recognize them but I really want to emphasize this) it was still none the less extremely fun. The first day was great starting with "Fidlar", a drug fueled skate punk band with very loyal and very "rebellious" group of followers that recited each line and smiled from ear to ear each time the chorus came to scream, "I drink cheap beer so what? fuck you". Here the fans continued to push and stomp in a camaraderie sort of passion which sent up dust that coated absolutely every exterior part of your body and worst of all your lungs. Once the you inhale enough dust it only came out towards the end of the day, when the sun was completely down and you wished you had a jacket and then and only then do you get to feeling of absolute pressure on your chest. Each breath in is a struggle to not sneeze, but once you do your hands would be filled with black mucus that looked like it came from the film "Prometheus". Though this wasn't common only to this particular show by "Fidlar" it was in fact an ongoing problem at FYF in the past years.

Since that FYF takes place in some crummy park near Chinatown, the grass is already nearly dead and the places that don't have dying grass is filled with lazily tossed wood chips over dirt which is where most of the punk shows unfortunately take place. Really no matter where the shows take place (except in the large tent designated for electronic music and comedy) you are most likely going to be hit by airborne dust. So last year when "Death From Above 1979" played to a massive audience on the main stage positioned on a dying patch of grass, I and many other festival goers almost passed out due to the inability to find clean air. Something they considered this year when they passed out free bandannas at the "Fidlar" show. I have now realized I have digressed and I am far too lazy to work this into a larger picture.

After the great reckless fun of "Fidlar", Bryan and I made our way over to see "Moonface", a kraut rock band fronted by Spencer Krug known mainly for his work in Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade (both projects that I am vaguely aware of. Both known by Bryan). From a ignorant point of view the jams were long, equally proportionate and absolutely emotional. The last song, "Quickfire, I Tried" is a perfect example of this with its strong emotional content and its huge finish in which Krug pulls out the book (I haven't read it myself but it is very famous) "The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao" and begins reading frantically from the first paragraph.

Next we swung by to see the Men do the last part of their very country set which to me was pretty boring. Their last song was actually noise rock song that was really sloppily done. In fact it was pretty big turn off to not only me and Bryan but to the whole crowd who quickly left. 

We went back to the punk stage once again to see the "Cloud Nothings" but we came in towards the end of Red Kross' set which was pretty much derivative hardcore. Though I am a big fan of hardcore music and even emo music (might as well make this digression as large as humanly possible) I am really adverse to revivals because in the end all people do is re-do the good and bad parts of a genre of music in this strange ode like fashion. With "Red Kross" all of their music was all taken directly from hardcore, as in, they were using exactly the same chords from bands during the 80s. So much so that I believed they were a cover band which deeply saddens me since the whole punk ethic was supposed to do something new and fresh that no one else was doing. This brings me to "Cloud Nothings". Their brand of emo is very new, but at the same time very stale. They appeal to the basic conventions of the genre and add a few things in. This was clearly shown with their set which was filled with "passionate" moments which neither moved me or provoked me to look deeper. Then their extremely long instrumental intermissions seemed to be just frustrated wankery. There was nothing really "great" about it, it was just plain boring. (this is all my opinion of course)

After the disappointing show, we swung over to the stage where we seen the Men to hear the Vaselines and reflect on what has happened so far. As the song "Molly Lips" played in the background everyone was fervently awaiting last year's favorite act, "Future Islands". To explain "Future Islands" in simple terms is to do the band an injustice. Though their music is not terribly complicated the whole dynamic of the band live is. In reality the music is really just simple synth pop with a distinctive synth sound, but the lead singer, Samuel Herring's, voice and stage presence is an anomaly. At points in a song he may sing something with a strong voice but once the chorus hits (or some emotionally charged part of the song hits) his voice turns into this weird lion like growl which fits his equally strange and demon-like stage presence . At one point he would be just standing there with his hand in the air looking at an invisible (and metaphorical) piece of his ex-girlfreind then the next moment he would be on the other side of the stage with his hand in his mouth swallowing it with a demonic stare. It is something that cannot be easily transmitted into text by such an awful writer as myself.  So without tarnishing what this show was I will not go any further detail  and move onto "Hot Snakes".

Bryan and I caught only a small part of "Hot Snakes" so we could watch "James Blake" and for guys that are well into their 40s they were pretty great. The lead singer that is well known from the post-hardcore band, "Drive Like Jehu", Rick Froberg, did not sound his age at all. He sounded just as good as his days in "Jehu". Once again this is a situation in which Bryan knew the band more than me.

James Blake was the conclusion of the night and (for me) the best act at FYF. It might have been the constant haze of marijuana or the absolutely tiring day of music, but it was an entrancing act. The whole set list was well put together and not once was there a moment where I cringed at something being off or boring. The transition from record to live was great. The live band all contributed equally to the overall sound of the music. There wasn't a moment where there was something unncessarily added. Even the vocal effects weren't too bothersome. To my (and possibly Bryan's surprise) the set did not only consist of his music from his critically acclaimed debut album ,but he also played two songs from his more future garage EPs.  One being the grand "CMYK". He ended his set perfectly with "Wilhelm Scream" which also wrapped up the first day of the festival.

I will post my thoughts on the next day and overall my idea on the whole festival in the future for all four of our readers.

Song of the Day: Xiu Xiu - The Pineapple Vs. the Watermelon

My first introduction to Xiu Xiu was through their second album and very scary(or sad. In reality I have no clue what emotion you can place on it. Listen to the opening track, "Sad Pony Guerrilla Girl" to understand what I mean) album "A Promise". After a few listens I fell in love with Jamie Stewart's songwriting and absolutely crazy range. He could go from a seeming whisper kind of singing into an intense scream. Unfortunately for about a year Xiu Xiu remained hidden in my large library of music until I eventually had the urge to listen to more of the project which lead me to find the absolutely amazing "The Air Force".

The whole album is filled with self-deprecating lyrics, crazy synth sounds and extremely catchy sad tones. Tthe entirety of The Air Force (to me anyways) has no bad song, but if I was to chose my favorite it has to be "The Pineapple Vs. the Watermelon."

Right when the song starts you get drawn in with this very smooth bass, soft guitar arpeggios and a constant bass drum kicks. When Jamie Stewart starts "whisper singing" you get this up close emotion that is unavoidable. The lyrics tell the tear jerking story of someone praying for the return of someone that has killed themselves and because of the minimal song structure you get hit with every single emotion.

Pretty sweet album cover right? Slowly truckin' along with The Pale King (you could check my progress on Goodreads), I should be done with it by the end of this week and hopefully be starting (when it actually arrives) the Marbles Swarm by Dennis Cooper (whom has a great blog that I have recently been posting on. He is such a very nice guy that will respond to your comments (no matter how asinine and poorly written they are)) or if that comes in too late White Teeth by Zadie Smith. She is widely known for being a funny and talented writer from Britain. For her extremely intellectual discussion about her book and literature in general with Michael Silverblatt (the world's greatest reader) from KCRW's Bookworm click here.

HAHAHA oh God, I was going through the labels and seen Harry Potter.
God help you Bridgette, God help you. 

What I have been listening to lately.

So it has been a while that I have posted anything so I am going to post a few albums I have been listening to lately and hopefully you may listen to some of them.

Beau Navire - Hours 

If you know me personally you would know I am a avid fan of Screamo. Though it is a label that has been basically contaminated with metalcore and post-hardcore it is still one of my favorite subgeneres of  punk . Beau Navire features artist from different screamo bands, Loma Pierta, Specters and one of my favorites I Wrote Haikus About Cannibalism in Your Yearbook. Together, Beau Navire is a band that can provide a spectrum of emotions while playing.  This album alone is 22 minutes of sheer emotional explosions. Beau Navire has this skill of having extremely violent songs that end with sounds of remorse and loss.

Unwound- Leaves Turn Inside You

Bryan has already posted a little something about them which is a huge coincidence. This band is one of those post-hardcore bands that doesn't sound like anyone at all. I don't even like calling them post-hardcore I always feel like they are space rock. The songs on this album would probably be perfect if matched up with 2001  A Space Odyssey. Such smooth sounding atmosphere. Ohhh Boy! Good album. Good band check them out.

Danny Brown- XXX

To mix up my music taste here I am posting one of my favorite hip-hop albums of this year. Danny Brown is a Detroit rapper with a style that is his own. This whole album is just rude, crude, emotional, sad, depressing and even funny. He has songs about his many vices (drugs, drinking, partying, sex) ,but also he has songs about his drug fiend family and what being 30 feels like. I feel that there is no low point in this album at all so give it a try,

What I want from Chief Tizo

I have been sitting on this idea for a while now, tossing it back and forth in my mind and finally this is going to be the great reveal. Sorry Bryan if this turns out complete shit.

Last week I started watching a ton of Punk documentaries. One of the documentaries that inspired me the most was "Kill Your Idols" ,which documented the No Wave scene in New York during the late 70s and the early 80s. The thing that interested me the most was the not only the bands (Swans, DNA, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Suicide and Sonic Youth) ,but also the philosophy of the scene.

The main philosophy of the scene was to make music with no influences. They did this because punk was turning convoluted filled with the same cancerous tumors that they were against. Bands were still using the same chords that was used in Chuck Berry songs just sped up. There was no more real revolt in punk anymore, everyone were caring about was fashion and violence.(Basically A Clockwork Orange just not as cool)

Today music is pretty stagnant there is no real revolutionary thing going on. In the mainstream people are using the same basic beats taken from clubs, the Black Eye Peas are using 80s choruses, mainstream rock is all really just bad Foo Fighter wannabes or just basic indie rock which is just emotionless post-punk. The underground indie scene is also in nearly the same place it always been, underground. The problem about the underground rock scene is that it is so claustrophobic that there is no more real flow of new ideas. In the end you get the same basic drum beat, the same shitty bass line, the same jangly guitars; nothing new, nothing innovative. All of the indie bands just want to be other bands, they either want to be My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, the Beatles or the Smiths; no one wants to express a different point of view no one wants to show anything new.  We don't need another indie band that bangs on their guitars and mindlessly mumbles incoherent babble and become known as the best thing that happened to indie rock. (Wassup Strokes?)

We need a No Wave kind of revolution. We need to have bands that are dirt poor playing different  instruments they barely know how to play. What happened to trumpets, what happened to saxophones what happened to those obnoxious vuvuzelas; rock is not only focused on just guitar, drums and bass get something new like a bike pump or a bugle.  We need more experimentation, more innovations and less copies. We need more progression in music as a whole and less regression.

Therefore, what I want from Chief Tizo is a electronic venue for the bands of the "Nope Wave", the new No Wave. I want to use this blog to showcase unusual music from different bands and artist that are not just a rehash of Joy Division ,but something different and more innovative than them. I want to have a small era of completely new ideas all created from cynical people.

All 2 followers of this blog ,please share your thoughts below.

-Starlon H.

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Here I sit after much hours of Wikipedia reading and listening to both the lush claustrophobia of Blonde Redhead's 'Misery is a Butterfly' and More Than Life's aggressive and depressing 'Love Let Me Go'. I describe what I listened to because that will 'probably' be the only links of musical relevance in this post (they're both excellent albums too).

Things have been going great lately, perhaps surprisingly. My own cynicism usually is the first layer of doubt in classifying anything as a success but I can't help but feel as if everything is... nice.

I'm a tad impatient at myself for a number of reasons though. First, there's 'Dolorous', yes perhaps it's not going to be the album of the year or decade but I have personal expectations and feel that perhaps I DON'T have enough time to finish the album in time by next week. I don't like rushing work and when it happens it declines in quality.

Second, I want to perform live much more, the problem is getting shows in this local area is very hard and without having a friend in the booking business, it's discouraging. But I hate to use that terminology because it only proves to show that one doesn't have the capacity or effort to succeed in this. So I have to fix this whole thing by the end of the month and hopefully find a balance between being a slacking college student and music.

Lately I've found myself to have been repressing something peculiar, a thought and idea that I'd have for the longest time. You see, there's this romantic view of what life is like for the idols and the musicians whom I adore. Life under that lens is not to say extravagant but rather there is a substance that is more than my own in the everyday life. With all the realities of quasi-adulthood, I had forgotten about that sort of thought process.

I approach this cautiously because I don't want to be left vulnerable to a shock. But perhaps living with this fantasy as a result of working hard and mild optimism is what awaits? I don't know. If it were as easy as saying whatever happens, happens, I'd be good to go.

P.S. Oh the motherfucking STONE ROSES reunited AND Radiohead announced their 2012 tour. Next year will be a good year, let's hope it's for this and ourselves as well.

Cool Finds! The Speed of Sound in Seawater!

Because I am very lazy right now, instead of a full review of Joyce Manor I will just write a few things about this little know math pop group called The Speed of Sound in Seawater.

The Speed of Sound in Seawater is a unique band. They have a math rock sound which they mix with pop delivery. They have successfully found a appropriate balance between hard and soft which has became a important part of their sound later on in their small discography.  With each EP they have released and they have quickly became a very special part of my library. The Speed of Sound in Seawater accomplished something that many other artist have failed at and that is making catchy math pop without sacrificing speed or skill. 

All of The Speed of Sound in Seawater's are available for free here. You can listen below before downloading. 

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This isn't the acclaimed sequel to 'untitled 1' but rather a whole other story altogether. I can only hope that whomever reads this at least tries to understand I've made an effort towards that.

Regardless there are some cool things that have been happening lately. The work on 'Dolorous' is starting to come together and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting more visible. Songs like 'The Bloodless' and 'Winter Leaves' were really starting to get on my nerves but I've managed to pin down how I want them to sound and I think they'll be ready for release sooner than I thought.

Work on 'The Bloodless' initially began as in exercise in trying to record something concrete as quickly as possible but after leaving it aside for a few months I felt it fit with the rest of the material and worked on it. I was initially confused on how to approach such a basic track and decided that just piling as much shit into it would be the best course.

Much to my surprise I could actually take out the main guitar track and it would be an entirely different song altogether. I liked both so I'm a bit at odds at what to do but I think I'm simply going to release it with everything on top of it.

'Winter Leaves' is even older and had it's basic track recorded a year ago in a period of Mark Kozelek worship (still do) and was my perverse take on a RHP song if they decided to go into a shoegaze direction. It was pretty weird as it has this very uncharacteristic chorus because something about how it sounds is so dissonant. Despite that I enjoyed it at the time and kept it in the pile for later. I rediscovered it a few weeks ago and have re-recorded the drums just this past week. I like it but I'm not sure how I'll sing on it; I have lyrics just no real delivery idea.

Aside from album stuff I've been making some new material alongside this and will probably see the light in an EP next year when I can get some time to settle down. I'd really like to take a step back from the intricate arrangements of the 'Dolorous' era and make some more simple material. I don't think this will happen in actuality but I'd love to make an EP like 'A Stranger Danger' again.

I'm also waiting for a response on an advertisement I made about a new drummer for 'How Scandinavian' in a live setting. Let's hope someone answers as it would be best for everyone if this happened. Starlon and I already had a year long discussion on the rise and fall of drummers last Friday and I'm sure we'll have more as this week comes into fruition.

Besides boring music I was happy to spend the entire weekend with Nancy, my girlfriend. I hadn't seen her for about three weeks and it was a real happy and fun time to be with her after so long. I hope to be with her again soon as the days are much easier to bear with her than without.

Later this week I'll be hosting a live music listening chat room over at http://listeningroom.net/. Anyone can join and you can upload your favorite songs so we can all listen to them together. I don't think many people will join but hopefully some of you will. I'll be uploading my favorite songs and hopefully someone will get something out of it.

Here's to a good week.

Top 5 albums of 2011 thus far.

Bryan and I were talking about this year for music earlier today over lunch. We both agreed that this year pretty much sucked. Goblin turned out to be a huge disappointment, as well as Watch the Throne and Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang. So to combat this pessimistic view of the year here is 5 albums that might be worth your while.

5.) The Saddest Landscape- You Will Not Survive

These guys are probably the only band still making authentic screamo. The instrumentals are amazing. I hope these guys keep stay around and not split like their contemporaries.











4.) Shabazz Palaces- Black Up

I mentioned this album before in my first post. This album takes hip-hop and launches it to a futuristic place. The beats on this album are out of this world. It feels like the beats were made by a supercomputer from the future.

3.) Giles Corey - Giles Corey

One half of Have a Nice Life, Giles Corey is nearly equally as depressing. I can't say anything other than the fact it is absolutely soul crushing.

2.) *shels - Plains of the Purple Buffalo

Nothing more I could say about this album that I haven't already said already in my review. This album creates "epic soundscapes" which feels like a imaginary world.











1.) Joyce Manor- Joyce Manor

Though this album may be considered just a simple punk album,  it feels so much more than just that. From the first track, "Orange Julius" to the last track, "Constant Headache" you feel this surge of strange teenage joy which can only be explained simply by the strong songwriting. I have probably played this album 20-30 times this month and it still hasn't got old.