The Airborne Toxic Event at Fingerprints Records

I first documented The Airborne Toxic Event back in November of 2007 when they played a stunning set during their residency at the Detroit Bar. The band is now breaking out into the national mainstream with the help of their infectious tune "Sometime Around Midnight" as many national alternative rock/radio stations have added the song into major rotation. They had played on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eccletic earlier in the day and were gearing up for their sold out show at the El Rey. The Airborne Toxic Event celebrated the release of their debut full length album with a captivating acoustic performace at Fingerprints records.

I had flashbacks of seeing the Silversun Pickups at Fingerprints records after watching The Airborne Toxic Event. I got the feeling that I probably wouldn't get the opportunity to watch the band up this close in the acoustic format ever again. There was an electricity to the evening as everyone knew they were watching something special.

"Gasoline" was explosive as Anna Fullbrook (Violin) carved out the catchy violin line backed by the upright dancing bass line by Noah Harmon (Bass). Steven Chen (Guitars) and Mikel Jollett (Vocals/Guitars) had dueling acoustic guitars with Mikel employing a capo for a number of songs. Daren Taylor (Drums) knocked out the shuffling drum beat intro to "Missy" as Mikel and Steven jangled away on their acoustic guitars. "The Girls In Their Summer Dresses" was seamlessly adapted in the acoustic format as Mikel jokingly forgot how the song started. A flurry of cameras and cell phones popped into the air to record "Sometime Around Midnight" as the ovation at the end of the song was deafening. The crowd demanded an encore as the band prefaced their rendition of "The Winning Side" by saying they had never performed the song acoustically. The line for autographs nearly went out the front door of Fingerprints as the band graciously took lots of time thanking their fans by signing their newly purchased cd. I will admit it. I got mine signed.

Darker My Love Interview with Will Canzoneri and Tim Presley

I first discovered Darker My Love back in 2006 when they toured with Asobi Sesku. Darker My Love recently released 2 which has been in heavy rotation for quite awhile. "Two Ways Out" is one of the strongest tunes I have heard this year and expect the album to make my shorlist of best releases in 2008.

AC: Congratulations on the your release of "2", I recognized some of the songs from the album your prior live shows. How many songs did you have completed before you entered the studio?

Will: All of em, for the most part. We spent a small eternity in pre-production with Dave Cooley de- and re-constructing the songs we had. Although the one song that really came together in the studio was "Pale Sun." We hit a point where we were ahead of schedule, and we had this 70%-written drum and bass groove (not drum 'n' bass) that had a killer melody on top, but no chorus. So we hammered out a rough chorus while everything was getting set up, and Andy and Rob recorded the skeleton of it. Then when I finally overdubbed my part on it months later, this beautiful chorus had blossomed on top of it. It was kinda like puberty, or something.

AC: If you could tour with any three bands, Who would you choose?

Will: The practical answer is Strange Boys, Nodzzz, and Drug Rug. The fantastical answer is more like Mothers of Invention '69 (featuring Lowell George and not Flo & Eddie), Beach Boys '73, and Flaming Lips '95, just to see Ronald Jones go off every night. But definitely not the Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, because their tour manager creeps me out, and Leon Russell and his gray skin can't keep his eyes open.

AC: What are some of the different clavinet, keyboards and organs used by Will on the album?

Will: Not many. We used a Hohner Clavinet C that Rob "borrowed"/salvaged from the recording studio he used to work at. All the hammer tips had turned to this muddy alien secretion goop and the thing amplified every pin drop in a 5-mile radius, which made it really difficult to use live. It's what's on the record, though it's since been retired in favor of a much healthier D6. The organ is an Ace Tone Top-5, probably from the late 60's. It's a pretty simple no-bullshit combo organ, but y'know, it's just one of those things that feels so right. The only other keyboard on the record is an RMI Electra-piano/Harpsichord - the thing from Dr. John's " Right Place Wrong Time" - that Dave Cooley kept trying to force me to use. I finally caved, just to make him happy, on "Immediate Undertaking," which was the last song we recorded, and we got some really otherworldly shit out of it. Oh, and there's a mellotron on "Waves," but Rob played it cause I was moving that day. And because he really wanted to play mellotron on the record.

AC: With both Tim and Rob sharing vocal duties, How do you delineate who sings on the particular songs?

Tim: I guess it depends on the song. Either one or the other brings a melody/lyric and the other sings a harmony. But most times we flip a coin like Two-Face.

AC: I was really impressed with the different guitar/bass tones and textures throughout the album. What types of bass and guitars did you use on the album?

Tim: We used most of our own instruments on this one. Though for guitar, some rhythm tracks were manipulated through a special little box that Dave Cooley had. I can't really tell you what it is.
Will: Right, trade secret. Rob uses a Gibson EB-2 on everything. Although I know he played some other hollow-body on "White Composition" and "Even In Your Lightest Day." Made it all, y'know, pluckier.

AC: Dave Cooley's production on the album is masterful. Tell me a little about working with Dave in terms of producing the album.

Will: Dave's mastered the art of inducing the generation of his own ideas in your brain. It sounds sinister, but it's not; it's what we needed. Nobody wants some producer telling them what to do, but if said producer can use the power of suggestion (and/or voodoo) to get you to come up with that sick guitar part that he knows the songs needs, then, well, you're in the right hands. Because we're pretty strong-willed, and we really braced at working with him, or anybody else. We didn't want some hotshot cramping our style. But somehow, he managed to shape this record into exactly what it needed to be, while allowing us to retain our sense of creative ownership. And dignity.

AC: Any other touring plans after you finish touring with Dandy Warhols?

Will: Hopefully they'll let us go to England . "They" being England .

AC: I loved the Spaceland recordings series of your live shows from Spaceland. Any plans for some more live albums?

Will: No. But thank you.

AC: What were some of your first concerts you attended as a fan?

Will: Well, I went to the New Orleans Jazz Fest every year from age 3 on with my Dad. It just became so deeply ingrained that, hell, by the time I was like 8, yeah, I was going as a fan. Ashford & Simpson was the first show there I remember fucking me up good. I got to see Sun Ra too before he left our planet, firmly under the belief that he was totally from Saturn.

Radars To The Sky at the Detroit Bar

After catching Pinback at the Samueli Theater, I booked it down to the Detroit Bar in hopes of catching Radars To The Sky and Aushua. I unfortunately missed all of Aushua but arrived to catch a good majority of Radars To The Sky.

It was only a few days ago that I caught Radars To The Sky with The Republic Tigers at Spaceland, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them again at the cozy Detroit Bar. Radars To The Sky was gearing up for the big opportunity of opening up for The Airborne Toxic Event at the El Rey Theater. I didn't get to hear the outstanding cover of New Order's "Age Of Consent" but was highly impressed by their new bassist Dave Marchese who returned from his trip to New York.

It is interesting to track bands in the local scene because it is entertaining to watch them grow. Radars To The Sky played with a sharp intensity as if they were playing in front of a sold out audience at the El Rey opening for The Airborne Toxic Event. This type of devotion and emotion reveals a lot about Radars character. The intertwining voices of Andrew Spitser and Kate Spitser during "I Might" was intoxicating as the song kicks into overdrive. A slow methodical build up for "Big Bang" would give way to an explosion of sound and feedback. Radars To The Sky play the Sunset Juntion festival this weekend as well as stopping by during the Death To Anders residency at the Echo in September.

Bloodcat Love at the Detroit Bar

Bloodcat Love closed out their July residency at the Detroit Bar with another razor sharp set. They played earlier in the evening as they had another gig booked in Los Angeles. I still hear they are applying the finishing touches to their recently recorded EP. I can't wait to hear the final product as the new songs show lots of growth and even stronger songwriting. Luckily, I caught three of their four nights at the Detroit Bar. Check out some archived photos and reviews of prior Bloodcat Love shows here.

Nine Inch Nails and A Place To Bury Strangers at the Ford Center

A Place To Bury Strangers buried the audience in an avalanche of feedback and white noise. I was curious to see how their sound would translate in a big arena. The teenage girls in front of me quickly plugged their ears as Oliver Ackermann (Guitars/Vocals) dialed up a storm of fuzz. "Don't Think Lover" sounded utterly massive as Oliver continually crushed his tremolo arm to add extra waves of sound. My head nearly exploded during "To Fix The Gash In Your Head" as a dramatic swirling fuzz tornado blared over the speakers. The crowd in Oklahoma quickly got the idea of what they were in for and the applause grew louder with each completed song. "I Know I'll See You" was a seizure inducing blast of strobes that hypnotized you as the sound was enveloping. It is crazy to think I saw them at Spaceland not too long ago and now they are opening for Nine Inch Nails. They made a lot of new fans on this particular night. I fully expect the trend to continue in Texas.

The private Nine Inch Nails show a few weeks ago will be one of the best shows of the year. I knew what to expect from this particular show but I am still amazed how powerful a performance Nine Inch Nails puts together. It is an aural and visual feast that overloads your senses. I hate comparing audiences but must give credit to Oklahoma for being a crazy enthusiastic bunch of fans. As expected they moshed heavily for the bigger tunes "Closer", "March of The Pigs" and "Wish".

"999,999" gave way to the fierce drum bashing of "1,000,000" as Josh Freese (Drums) is one of the many important parts in the Nine Inch Nails machine. "Letting You" continued the aural bludgeoning as Trent Reznor (Vocals/Guitars/Synthesizers) added some creepy distortion to his vocals. The mosh pit went bonkers when the opening drum beat of "March Of The Pigs" started up as if it were a call to arms. "Head Down" is easily one of my favorite songs off The Slip and sounded excellent as Robin Finck (Guitars) had the guitar tone dialed in with his baritone Danelectro guitar. Trent really started to get into the show as he tossed his tambourine into the crowd and went crazy with a Gameboy sounding glitch break down to close out the song.

"Gave Up" is one of the many impressive displays of their light show as bright blinding red and blue lights flared as they lit up the Ford Center. "The Warning" sounded and looked amazing as they played in front of a large bank of LED lights that was carefully coordinated with the music. Trent was usually a mini megaphone to distort his voice at different points in the song. A small batch of songs from Ghosts slowed the show tempo down but gave the audience and the band a breather. I would like to point out that Alessandro Cortini (Synthesizers) rocked the harmonium during "Piggy". In a Nine Inch Nails concert first, an overzealous fan jumped on the stage and made it behind the LED screen. I strongly discourage this behavior as we all remember what happened to Dimebag Darrell. I am surprised the guy didn't get tackled by Trent.

"Head Like A Hole" is the classic live staple of Nine Inch Nails and is propelled by Josh Freese as his drumming on this song is nothing short of spectacular. Josh had been drumming for almost an hour and a half and he was still killing it. The encore seemed too short at six songs but I was getting greedy. "In This Twilight" is one of my favorite Nine Inch Nails songs and serves as a hopeful ending to the show even though the band is playing behind an apocalyptic looking picture of a city. Trent even mentioned he didn't remember Oklahoma ever being this crazy before. This told me that I wasn't the only person thinking it was a great show.

Nine Inch Nails setlist at the Ford Center (8/15/08)
"999,999"
"1,000,000"
"Letting You"
"Discipline"
"March of The Pigs"
"Head Down"
"The Frail"
"Closer"
"Gave Up"
"The Warning"
"Vessel"
"Ghosts 5 "
"Ghosts 14"
"Ghosts 19"
"Piggy"
"Greater Good"
"Pinion"
"Wish"
"Terrible Lie"
"Survivalism"
"Ghosts 31"
"Only"
"The Hand That Feeds"
"Head Like A Hole"
"Echoplex"
"The Beginning Of The End"
"God Given"
"The Good Soldier"
"Hurt"
"In This Twilight"

Nine Inch Nails at the Ford Center

I decided to take a vacation to see a couple of Nine Inch Nails shows as they are playing a few dates with A Place To Bury Strangers. I don't expect my hearing to recover for quite sometime. I forgot the Flaming Lips were from Oklahoma until I saw the alley named after them.

Upcoming Shows at the Detroit Bar

I am still buried in boxes from moving but would like to point you to two shows that will blow your mind. Black Francis and Tokyo Police Club at the tiny Detroit Bar should be nothing short of epic. The price is right and parking is free. I think there are a few tickets left for Black Francis but both shows are going to sell out. Get your tickets through the Detroit Bar here.

Less Than Jake and Goldfinger at the Grove of Anaheim

I have seen some interesting shows in a few weird venues in my time. One show I remember from a number of years ago was when I saw Less Than Jake at a pizza parlor in northern California when I was in school. It was a total DIY show with a busted PA system and no stage. It was one of the more energetic shows that I can remember from that era. I would later find myself singing along to "Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts" in the photo pit as Less Than Jake still puts on high octane live shows.

Big D and The Kids Table





I don't follow the ska scene that much anymore. But it didn't take long for me to warm up to the blazing horns and frantic sounds of Big D and The Kids Table. I immediately thought they sounded like a variant of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. This was not particularly surprising when I found out that they hail from Boston. The cool breezy horns of "Shining On" blended well with uptempo skanked out guitar chords. Big D and The Kids Table summoned a little Fishbone as they ripped through "Noise Complaint". They played a short set but it was a perfect opener for Less Than Jake.

Less Than Jake






I had enough time to swing by the Virgin Megastore to catch Less Than Jake do an in-store acoustic set. Chris Demakes (Guitars/Vocals) and Roger Manganelli (Bass) were equipped with two acoustic guitars and played a small batch of songs. I was impressed how well the songs translated in acoustic form, as they still sounded full. I was starting to get excited for the main show with the full band.

Less Than Jake is touring behind GNV FLA released on their record label Sleep It Off records. "Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts" was pure nostalgic fun from their first album "Pezcore". Roger Manganelli took on the vocal duties for "All My Best Friends Are Metalheads" which has to be one of the best song titles for a ska/punk song. The amount of energy on stage was contagious. It was hard not to smile and bounce around as Less Than Jake were firing on all cylinders.

Chris had a nice Epiphone Gibson Les Paul goldtop plugged into some Mesa Boogie amps for a nice crunchy guitar tone that obliterated eardrums during "Look What Happened". "The Ghosts of Me And You" continued their choice of songs from the album Anthem as Roger and Chris combined their vocal talents. "How's My Driving, Doug Hastings" was another nostalgic blast from the past as it barely clocks in over one minute. "Conviction Notice" from their new album was filled with horns and plenty of "na-na-nahs" that had the crowd surfers going over the barricades. An explosion of streamers and confetti showered the crowd to close out their dynamic set. I was surprised Less Than Jake wasn't headlining and apparently some fans thought the same thing and left.

Goldfinger






Goldfinger brings back memories from the nineties as well. I distinctly remember seeing them at the Universal Amphitheatre opening for the Sex Pistols. Goldfinger played the tongue in cheek track "The City with Two Faces" which takes some humorous pot shots at the city of Los Angeles. This did not go over well in front of the staunch old Sex Pistols crowd and booing ensued. I thought it was hilarious.

Goldfinger recently welcomed their old guitarist Charlie Paulson back into the mix as they put together a chaotic set that featured most of their debut album. John Feldmann (Guitars/Vocals) was jumping around stage in his two piece suit so much that he ripped his pants. That is what I call punk. Charlie looked and sounded like he could have been playing in Rancid, as he frequently would jump into the crowd to the dismay of the bouncers. "Here In Your Bedroom" had the bouncers working overtime as the fans were crowd surfing like crazy. I seriously thought the plug was going to get pulled when they invited everyone on stage for "Mabel" as security tried in vain to contain the crowd. "Miles Away" is probably my favorite Goldfinger song and was turned into an extended jam as they repeated the chorus a few times. Goldfinger also played their cover "99 Red Balloons" to bring an end to a raucous night of ska punk fun.

The Republic Tigers at Spaceland

The Republic Tigers dispensed some addictive auditory treats when I saw them a few months ago at Spaceland. I ended up acquiring their release Keep Color and quickly became very familiar with the album as it has been on steady ipod rotation for quite a few weeks.

Radars To The Sky




Radars To The Sky continues to harness the buzz they built up after wrapping up their successful Echo Residency in April. Spaceland was filling up nicely as the members of Radars To The Sky took the stage. Andrew Spitser (Vocals/Guitars) announced early on that they were without their usual bass player but had some excellent help from members of Death To Anders, The Hectors and the Flying Tourbillon Orchestra. "Victoria" had its usual sense of urgency with Seamus (Guitars) and Andrew rapidly strumming their guitars. Andrew introduced "Sunk My Teeth" as a response to his brother going to Iraq, as the song had was equally biting in the music as well as the lyrics. A familiar hyperkinetic drumbeat became instantly recognizable as a cover of "Age of Consent" by New Order. Kate Spitser (Vocals) and Andrew traded off vocals as Kate closely matched the classic synthesizer patch. "Big Bang" was an appropriate closer with its slow build up before ending in a sonic explosion. I also managed to catch their set at the Detroit Bar on July 31st after Pinback which I will post in a few days.

The Republic Tigers





Keep Color is one heck of debut LP from The Republic Tigers. "Feelin' The Future" plays like a cross between the Shins and MGMT as the chorus blasts out of the stratosphere with vocal harmonies. Tightly woven guitar parts infused with another batch of glorious vocal harmonies make up a strong foundation for "Made Concrete". The Republic Tigers ventured back to their self-titled EP for the electronic tinged track "Drums". Kenn Jankowski (Vocals/Guitars) and Ryan Pinkston (Guitars) both had extra drums set-up for them as they pounded away for a thumping version of "Sinkin' Annie Down, Down, Down, Down". Bubbling electronic elements percolated through the air as the intro to "Golden Sand" morphed into a frenzied blast of guitars and urgent vocals. "Give Arm To Its Socket" is one of my favorite songs from the album as it has the perfect mix of guitars and electronic programming that ruminates in your head all day. Shades of influence from Travis can be identified in the song "Buildings & Mountains" due to its memorable acoustic guitar riff and delayed vocals. Adam McGill (Guitars) had a Epiphone B.B. King "Lucille" guitar plugged into an Electro Harmonix Memory Man while Adam McGill (Guitars) alternated between a Fender Jazzmaster and an acoustic guitar. Spaceland did not budge when The Republic Tigers didn't come back for an encore. The Republic Tigers were happy to oblige as they came out for another song to cap a perfect evening.