Bass Drum of Death, Glasslands Gallery, June 25, 2011

One of my big new loves of the year is Bass Drum of Death, from Oxford, Mississippi, USA. These southern boys can serve up the bad-ass garage rock & roll like no other band. Their album GB City was made for one simple reason: to play it loud and rock out like crazy. Bass Drum of Death started out as just John Barrett playing and recording everything himself, but has grown to first include Colin on drums for live gigs, and now, Print on bass. If you love rowdy rock & roll, you owe it to yourself to check out GB City and support the band. New York indeed loves Bass Drum of Death, as the packed Glasslands proved again on Saturday night. As you can see from my photos, the guys are all a blur onstage, and I think I need a faster, better camera for the next time I see them play, later this summer! They play almost all the songs off GB City and they are all amped up & absolutely crazy, so much fun to let loose to. Definitely catch these guys when they hit up your city on their tour this summer and fall. Check their BLOG for dates and news.

Heavenly Blows, Glasslands Gallery, June 25, 2011

Heavenly Blows is from New York City, Brooklyn to be exact, one of my favorite places in the world, and one of the best places to find excellent bands. DSK blog presents to you bands and musicians from all over the world, but Brooklyn bands hold a special place in my heart. Anyway, I went to see Bass Drum of Death and Hanni El Khatib play at Glasslands Gallery on Saturday night, June 25, 2011, and the band opening for them was Heavenly Blows, and their music is stunning. The guitar is lush, hollow-body, open, and big. The vocals are male-female duet sung gorgeously by Stephen and Alix. The tone of the music of Heavenly Blows is dark, yet melodic, and full of intrigue and imagery.
I bought the 3-song EP the band was selling at the gig, and it's just not enough. I would love to hear more recordings from Heavenly Blows. The 3 songs, White Horses, I Will Always Be Here Tomorrow, and Sanctuary, can by heard HERE on the band's Sound Cloud page. If you are in New York and get the chance to see Heavenly Blows live (see their Facebook page for gig updates), you will not be disappointed: the sound is even bigger and more expansive live, with the addition of a Korg keyboard. Stephen's guitar work is top-notch, really great work with plenty of reverb to sweeten the songs dark edges. There is a perfect balance of rough and smooth within each song. Cheers to the band and I hope to hear much more from Heavenly Blows in the near future, the gig was quite a treat and the perfect compliment to the harder garage rock of the following bands of the night. My best to them!

Tame Impala at Glasslands, Brooklyn, New York, June 25, 2010

Tame Impala may only be touring for their first full length album, but the young Australians have already made their way across the entire US, from California to New York, both supporting MGMT (out west and through the midwest), and playing small venues with local bands of a few East Coast cities. I had the immense pleasure of catching their Brooklyn, New York show last night at the wonderful little Glasslands Gallery, in the heart of the independent music scene of the city, Williamsburg, just a stone's throw from the famous Willamsburg Bridge and scenic waterfront and piers. Williamsburg is bursting with artists, musicians, cool small venues, and a creative vibe that is second to none. Tame Impala, playing at the art gallery/music stage Glasslands, brought with them their easy-going, signature fuzzed-out guitar rock, which they played to a sold-out crowd (and plenty of folks standing outside the open door!). Tame Impala's music is already loved by many, as it is a brilliant blend of psychedelic-style fuzz and guitar effects (I don't think I ever saw as many pedals as I did on Kevin's and Dom's floor-array boards!), mind-blowing drumming and bass-lines, and light vocals that sort of float above it all, almost in the clouds.
Tame Impala's live set for their Brooklyn gig was almost an hour of spaced-out jams after a very cool instrumental intro, a nice touch indeed.

Set list:
Intro (an instrumental expansion of It Is Not Meant To Be)
Desire Be, Desire Go
Make Up Your Mind
Alter Ego
Lucidity
Jeremy's Storm
Sundown Syndrome
Solitude is Bliss/Skeleton Tiger/Half Full Glass of Wine

Tame Impala, New York loves you. Thanks for visiting us and come again soon!

Watch Solitude Is Bliss and Half Full Glass of Wine from the show (thanks to Brian and ProAudioStar!):