This is fine.
I feel like we are required to share this song. Unlike many mandatory tasks, it is one that I am very happy to complete as it has been seven years since Sigur Ros shared new music, eleven years since Kjartan Sveinsson was part of the band. Haunting, brooding, cathartic, long, but not long enough. August tour dates state side are very sold out.
I recently posted about their full on new wave synth jam that harkens to earlier Depeche Mode or Japan. With the title track to their upcoming release Bitter Reflection, Body of Light goes with a movie soundtrack darkly introspective ballad, catching me completely off guard. The video features James Duval that you may recognize from Donnie Darko. Is it a step too far into nostalgia or glorious indulgence?
Body of Light will be in town as part of Oblivion Access on a day show bill with Drab Majesty and Choir Boy.
The DJs that used to drive the airwaves over at 97X WOXY are friends of ATH. Between shared interests in movies, F1, Premier League and yes, even music, we got to know the team that was on air every day playing the jams we loved. It has been more than a decade since the station moved to Austin only to be disbanded.
One annual tradition over a WOXY was the Modern Rock 500. Think of it as the everlasting gobstopper of playlists; 500 tracks as debated by Mike, Brian, Matt, Barb, Joe, etc. that were influential, impactful or just plain amazing, classics and new jams alike. In conjunction with recent news articles and podcasts involving the DJs and people behind 97X, the Modern Rock 500 is making a return. Inhailer, a pretty great intarwebs radio station in Cincinnati, is playing host. The first play through started this morning with 100 spots per day this week and full replays over the long holiday weekend. The full 500 will be available 5/29 as a complete playlist.
*bam*
Piling on to what appears to be a VERY busy day for jams, we have Lust For Youth releasing the single “Giorgia”. The track will be instantly recognizable musically with airy distorted synths, great riffs and a driving drum track. What changes here is the language. For the first time, Hannes sings in Swedish. You will still get that feeling in your chest, you will still nod your head in a melancholy that empowers. Interpret what you hear to be what you need at the moment.
Grab the digital track here. Of note, you can get their entire digital catalog for $42. Cool.
Austin City Limits Festival has announced the 2023 lineup. To be honest, I’m down for weekend one. Sure, the headliners are not the ATH cup of tea, but there are real heavy hitters in the middle lineup. I mean Bass Drum of Death, Chromeo, The Walkmen and The Mars Volta? At ACL? OK. Talking my language. In general, we get Death Grips, Poolside, The Breeders, Yves Tumor and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Weekend Two highlights M83 and Tegan and Sara.
Wristbands are on sale in a couple of hours, but AMEX card holders get early access. CLICK HERE to learn more and shout out to ACL for finally putting the real price of the wristband on the storefront, no more fees and delivery and surcharges at checkout.
ATH has seen Body of Light a few times as they have played shows with some of our favorite dark-synth-pop-jams over the years. Two legitimately nice people hailing from Arizona, we can hear in the latest material a bit of a swing towards an earlier era new wave, still dark, but the build up has well-located hooks layered in front and behind the vocals and underlying atmospheres create an anchor for the more percussive elements to flourish. The imaging on this track is lovely; headphones or well-placed speakers in your listening area, chef’s kiss.
The new record called Bitter Reflection is due 6/30, but a pre-order gets you two tracks now.
The absolute legends in electronica, to me at least, Underwold have released the video for “and the colour red”. The song uses a driving premise, minimal lyricism and trails off at the end hinting at the blend into another track, hopefully released soon. They are between performances at Coachella; those of you in the bay area should see them Friday at The Warfield.
While I have your attention about the band, be sure to listen to “Juanita 2022“, a reimagining of the front half of “Junaita/Kiteless” from Beaucoup Fish.
Sure, we kept you up to speed the whole way through the conference. Sure, we have the big summary post. Now, I have the big gallery of pics from the week.
Lets get into it with a few highlights and the eye candy featuring shots from ATHvsSOTO, New Order, gravel pits, shiny backgrounds, bad lighting, temporary stages and new names for old favorites.
Click through, yall.
Time for a reboot.
Given all of the reimagining of classic characters (what are we on, the eleventyeth Batman?), I thought it was proper time to reset the ATH IT Department. Now, while I will pop some electronic jams up, there will be some new content. We’ll talk technology, how I listen to music to hopefully help how you listen to music, streaming, supporting artists, industry stuff. I used the Put Your Ass In The Know (PYAITK) tag in the past, a reference to one of the original technology bloggers from WAAyayayAaayyy back, and it will be a theme here. We can do simple things to make our enjoyment of music better.
Reach out, drop a comment, whatever path, what are some topics you would like to know on the tech end of listening to the music we love? In the meantime, here is a recently released track by Orbital featuring Penelope Isles. Optical Delusion, their tenth full length, is available today wherever you stream your jams, which by the way, for me is mostly Qobuz. Why? Lossless CD quality or better available for all tracks and high artist payouts per stream. Stream ethically and buy the tracks you love.
So, weekend two is upon us. I thought I’d share some intel for you folks giving this weekend a run at ACL Festival 2022.
Feel free to read up on last weekends recommendations. Aside from Nation Of Language not being here, my advice stands. However, there are some new things coming, either by lessons learned or by changes to the lineup. Let’s talk ACL Weekend Two. Hit the jump for more.
