April: the most brutal month

April has been quite the month for metal at the Granada. We Came as Romans, the Metal Alliance Tour, and the Decibel Magazine Tour all delivered their quota of shredding riffs, vocals from the gut, and most certainly a breakdown or two. All good things must come to an end though, as the April metal season comes to a close tomorrow night; the good news is, however, that All Shall Perish, The Contortionist, and Fleshgod Apocalypse are seeing the series to a close.

For those not in the know, All Shall Perish is a deathcore perennial, having been active since their 2002 signing with Nuclear Blast Records. If you don’t understand the difference between regular metal and anything with the suffix “-core” on the end, then take a detour to this link and get educated.

Why? Because knowing is half the battle.

ASP’s 2011 release, This is Where it Ends, topped numerous polls for the best metal album of 2011 when MetalSucks surveyed some other musicians on the international scene. If the whole world believing in you isn’t credibility, then I don’t know what is.

The supporting acts for this show are nothing to balk at either. One can never forget two things about metal shows: 1) they will always be far too loud for modest consumption and 2) there are always more bands on the bill. The “other bands” in this case are Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse and Indianapolis’s own The Contortionist.

If All Shall Perish is Budweiser, then Fleshgod Apocalypse is Stella Artois—they’re both lagers, but one is simply classier than the other. In that regard, Fleshgod dwells on a whole different level. Symphonic arrangements lead into blistering shredding and music that is, in the simplest terms possible, totally epic. Their sound is distinctly different from the rest of the bands which share this bill, which lends some enrichment to the whole experience of seeing a metal show. Repetitive metal shows are no fun. Why not get some operatic theatrics, too?

By the way, remember how We Came as Romans came as Romans earlier this month? They’ve officially been trumped. Fleshgod is actually from Rome, and that’s another goal for the Azzuri.

Finally, The Contortionist rounds out this motley line-up with a bit of progressive metal. The Indiana natives are probably not the most well-known group on this bill, but that doesn’t stop them from offering a hefty dose of thoughtful, carefully crafted progressive songwriting. Think of it as a break from the brutality. It’s bob, not bang, your head music.

Follow this link to watch some footage of their live show for this tour.

See April off right. Though May 18 is the Origin show, three weeks at the Granada without metal doesn’t make the house feel like a home. Thus, make it a mosh-pit Monday and take a gander at some of this metal crashing into our stage.

All Shall Perish, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Carnifex, The Contortionist and Renouncer perform at the Granada Tuesday, April 23. Doors open at 6:00pm. This is an all ages show.

Go ahead and drink the Kool-Aid

Get ready to line up and drink the Kool-Aid. No sense in asking what’s in it or where it’s been—just know that Cults is coming to the Granada this Saturday, and you will miss the comet if you don’t go.

Despite the fact that the name of the band opens itself to a slew of entertaining puns, the advent of the indie-pop San Dieguns by-way-of-New York to our quiet little blue speck in a red sea is nothing short of musical awesomeness. I feel like I say this a lot, and that, in many ways, I am a broken record, but this is one of the many shows the Granada has and will continue to offer that any self-respecting music fan will kick themselves for not going to see.

Cults began in earnest as the collaborative project of Brian Oblivion (guitars, percussion, keyboards) and Madeline Follin (vocals) in 2010 with what has become known as the Cults 7”, a collection of three songs posted to their Bandcamp page with intentions no greater than exposing their music to a wider audience and, you know, just putting it online.

(Here is an interview with Follin about, well, all sorts of stuff.)

Their paltry offerings did more than that, however, as the duo’s exhibition burned through the web like a fever. The question for listeners rapidly changed from “Who is this” to “Where can I get more?”

Fast forward to June of last year; Oblivion and Follin released their 11-song, 34-minute debut, also titled Cults. The full-length record received much of the same gratuity that their 7” release did. It was an eclectic mix of late-50s and early-60s doo wop, some Motown, a little bit of punk, 80s pop, and ambient noise and samples that, according to Metacritic, garnered generally positive reviews.

Reviewers favored the album for many of the same reasons they favored the 7”; Cults paid homage to a sound which, though overdone by many in their scene, they happen to execute with equal parts earnestness and precision.

Reviewers also stated the band made the most of their sampling, which serve to only augment the music, not overpower it or hide bad songwriting. Take, for example, the sample of Jim Jones (get it, cults?) talking about the treachery of life. It doesn’t own the song, but it makes it a whole lot more interesting.

The songwriting on their debut, however, claimed widespread attention as well. The apparent romance between Oblivion and Follin didn’t prohibit the duo’s drawing upon love—with all its faults—as a major source of inspiration. Follin demonstrates the airy, wistfulness of love in “You Know What I Mean” when she says, (as quoted by many a music reviewer) “Tell me what’s wrong with my brain/’cause I seem to have lost it.”

Three things: one, that’s an excellent song title; two, that’s some wordsmithery right there; three, did I mention I’m in love?

Lyrics such as this are rife in Cults, along with enough studio sleight of hand to make David Blaine blush. But what about the live show? Well, being the enterprising young musicians that they are, Cults are touring with a five-piece band, including a drummer, a second guitarist, and a bassist.

As for the live execution, a review from the Orange County Register called a show they played at the Observatory in O.C. a “triumph”. You know who gets triumphs? Roman emperors and top-notch musicians, that’s who. The review stated that the band picked a sort of “best-of” for their set list, and that the addition of a full band gave the two founders a more stable rhythmic base from which the audience could better feel their charming and dreamy songwriting. Cults also treated the audience to some covers (Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows”) and tracks not on the album—“The Curse” and “Slow Song”.

By all accounts, the transition from album to auditorium seems an easy one for Cults, thus making their show all the more worth it to see. Seriously, here goes the broken record again, but don’t miss this show. The promise evident in an act like Cults, going from internet obscurity to legitimate musical force and minor fame, is one not taken lightly. So long as they don’t blow their collective musical load  they could be around for a long time. And your friends will ask you, “Where were you when Cults came? I heard that was an awesome show.” And you should appropriately respond “Front row center, getting doused in sweat and glory.”

Cults performs at the Granada Saturday, April 14. Doors open at 8:30 pm. Advance tickets are $12. Door tickets are $14. This is an all ages show.

–Brian Sisk

March music preview

Well, music fans, March is coming up really quick, and we here at the Granada wanted to give you folks a little bit of a clue as to what’s crackin’ at the theater in the next month. Trust us, you shall not be disappointed.

The first show of March is VNV Nation. As one of the longest running acts in the electro-industrial trance scene, VNV has more than two decades worth of experience playing venues all over the world, capturing audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with their trademark epic-ness and symphonic composition.

The group recently released their eighth studio album, Automatic, to favorable reviews. This is a show you wouldn’t want to miss, if anything just because you can say that you saw one of the true legends of the ambient music scene.

Of course next weekend really starts it off right with the indie rock double-header of Blind Pilot and The Head and the Heart on March 3 and 4, respectively. Though The Head and the Heart is sold out, tickets are still available for Blind Pilot next Saturday.

The Portland-based indie folk outfit has drawn much attention in the past few years, especially since the release of their debut album 3 Rounds and a Sound in 2009 and their follow-up, We Are the Tide in 2011. The one-time duo has now blossomed into a fuller sextet, a move which promises to take their infectious folk-pop vibe to the next level of delicately sweet indie-rock goodness. Get your tickets before it sells out, for this show promises to be one of the most monumental “you-should-have-been-there” moments of the year.

And while these two particular shows are undoubtedly standouts for the month of March, the calendar demonstrates that the variety and excellence you’ve come to expect from the Granada is not going anywhere. Other performers for March include hip-hop acts such as Mike Stud on March 7 and Asher Roth (coming off his recent success Pabst&Jazz) on March 8.

Also slated to perform is piano-plucking songstress Rachael Yamagata on March 20, prog-metal paragons Protest the Hero on March 26, death metal veterans NILE March 28, and last, but certainly not least, afrobeat’s prodigal son Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 March 30.

It’s quite obvious March will be a month to remember for the Granada, and the plethora of entertainment at your favorite local theater is a testament to that mentality. Rest assured,  springtime at the Granada will bring you the quality in music you’ve come to expect, and much, much more. Tickets are available online here.

The advent of Zola Jesus

Whether or not you believe it, ask anyone on the up and up—goth is coming back with a vengeance. Thankfully, lo-fi goth-rock’s paragon, Zola Jesus, is the one bringing said vengeance to the Granada Feb. 24.

For those of you who don’t know, Zola Jesus is the moniker of Wisconsin-bred singer-songwriter Nika Roza Danilova. Raised on a farm in the “dead of nowhere,” the soundscape of Danilova’s music matches the landscape which shaped her: it is dark, it is gloomy, it is different, and, perhaps most of all, it is bleak.

Danilova brings to the fore a certain style and operatic sentiment which is brainy and emotionally heavy. This is not to say her live show would be anything like that. Much like DNA or a snowflake, the sound and experience of Zola Jesus is truly unique, inspiring awe, queer looks, amazement and perhaps even disgust all in the same stroke. She’s definitely different, but such is the way of music which challenges artist and audience alike.

At 22 years old, Danilova has managed, over the past three years, to release three full-length albums and three EPs. Her sound encompasses an ethereal and haunting tone, as one would expect from music of her genre. Yet, she embodies characteristics which would make The Cure and Joy Division blush, despite their pallor, lack of diet, or makeup.

Danilova took opera lessons as a child, lending her music a soaring vocal atmosphere reminiscent of both Mariah Carey (who can use a whistle register) and Florence Welch; an atmosphere which most lo-fi noise-goth weirdness lacks. She also possesses a certain pop air about her, which extends to her the credibility that most acts in Zola Jesus’s vein lack—trying something new in a genre which has become, in some sense, stale and a parody of itself.

In addition to the musical acclamations, some influences of Danilova’s music is right out of the hippest philosophy major’s wet dream: she cites Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Fyodor Dostoevsky as a few of her inspirations. She even went so far as to name both an album and an EP after Giulio Paradisi’s 1979 cult sci-fi flick The Visitor, though she was cool enough to use the Italian name, Stridulum. Oh yeah, and she can conduct an interview in French, too.

Though this piece may, in fact, seem to make a mockery of Danilova’s accomplishments and style, it is anything but that. An artist willing to look to the past, as well as combine their own musical and nonmusical influences together to create something completely new, always deserves hearty acclaim.

Zola Jesus performs with TALK NORMAL and White Widow at the Granada Feb. 24. Doors open at 8:00 pm. This is an all-ages show. Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 at the door.

Ying Yang Twins bring the party, crunk on Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras is rapidly approaching, and if you haven’t already made your plans to celebrate the annual peak of drunken debauchery, consider this an invitation.

The Ying Yang Twins are coming to the Granada Feb. 21 and, as usual, they are bringing enough crunk for everyone to have seconds.

Before the crunksgiving, however, we got a chance to talk with D-Roc about the Twins’ recent forays across the globe, their new album, and what their new AIDS

The Twins have been anything but idle since they visited the Granada in February of last year. Since that time, D-Roc and Kaine have toured all over the world, bringing their characteristic crunk to countries ripe for the duo’s southern-drawl party vibe.

“Europe, Japan, China… Wherever they’re calling, we’re going,” D-Roc said. “The only place I can say I ain’t been to is Africa.”

In addition to touring, D-Roc and Kaine have been recording tracks for a new album they plan to drop in 2012. The upcoming album is poised to emerge as one of the “biggest albums of our careers,” he said.

“We want to make this a great album,” D-Roc said. This means an album with more scope, grander vision and mass appeal which also maintains the classic Ying Yang Twins dirty south crunk rap sound.

“It’s still Ying Yang, but we’re Ying Yanging in the party,” D-Roc said. “We took it straight party, to the party, that’s where we wanted to go with it. Everybody’s partying now, the world is partying now. So, let’s make it one big world party, and put Ying Yang in there.”

Proceeds from this record will also benefit the Twins’ new AIDS foundation, the USafe? AIDS Awareness Project. The organization focuses on lending assistance to families and patients in need of the disease, as well as educating those most at risk about ways to prevent contracting the disease.

Isaac Hayes III will reprise his role as a producer for the Twins on this album as well. Hayes was the producer on the past Ying Yang Twins hit, “Drop,” and is credited with producing the upcoming single from their newest effort entitled “Fist Bump.”

D-Roc announced that they will perform songs from their new album on Feb. 21. Doors open at 8:30. Tickets are $15.00. This is an 18 and over show.

A breath of fresh Aer

A brief introduction…

It is traditionally believed that air is composed of about 78.09 percent nitrogen, 29.095 percent oxygen, 0.93 percent argon, 0.039 percent carbon dioxide and little bits and pieces of other gases emitted from all sorts of places and holes which we need not discuss. In 2012, however, the definition will change, as air is no longer simply the collection of gases we breathe, but also a hip-hop group very much on the rise.

We speak, of course, of Aer (pronounced as air), the two-piece chill-vibe hip-hop party ensemble from Boston which has, in the past year, assaulted both the blogosphere and the general atmosphere of up-and-coming hip-hop with unrelenting productivity. Consisting of David von Mering and Carter Schultz (and the various gases necessary for life), Aer has garnered some much deserved attention from the hip-hop community after a string of notable releases, including mixtapes such as Water on the Moon and The Reach.

Both mixes showcase their Sublime-meets-Slightly Stoopid-on-a-weeklong-West Coast-bender-with-Atmosphere sound; a combination which seems absolutely ludicrous until it is heard. In a testament to their burgeoning popularity, the duo’s third mix, What You Need, is currently available for download on iTunes. The two rappers, both only 18 years old, have a ravenous and loyal fan base, and they are always hungry for more.

We were able to catch up with the industrious twosome last Saturday as they drove toward a show in Rochester, NY. After a stint in the Northeast, Aer is making its inaugural tour of the Midwest. This includes a date at the Granada Theater Feb. 16 with Matt Easton and Myle High Society. Being the industrious, hard-working young men that they are, Aer granted 20 minutes for an interview. So, here it is: 13 questions in 20 minutes.

The Interview

The Granada: You guys started making music in high school. How has your music changed since then?

van Mering: We’re paying rent. We’re living on our own and on the road a lot. We’re still dedicated and still do what we do. We’ve grown a lot from learning about the real world.

Schultz: We go grocery shopping. We make our own food. We pay our own rent. Take care of shit on our own. It’s a lot to learn from. Especially being on the road, doing shows, we’ve seen a lot and learned a lot from other people.

G: You’ve described yourself as having a West Coast sound. Why do you have a West Coast sound when you’re from Boston?

vM: I grew up in Cali for a little bit, and that stuck with me. I never really tried to make a West Coast sound; it just came out like that. It was a force and came out like that. We’ve done some other stuff, but it usually comes out sounding like the West Coast. It’s what we like.

G: What are your influences musically.

vM: First and foremost, Jimi Hendrix. Secondly, I would have to say Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

S: Curren$y. The way he writes his rhymes, the structure, I’m into that. Musically, I’d say Jack Johnson, because I love his smooth melodies and shit. I’m trying to get with that.

G: Between the two of you, who does what in the studio?

vM: I make the beats on my own. Carter is very good at mixing. We both work on the lyrics. It’s a group effort when the song is made.

G: As for What You Need, what does Aer need?

S: [laughs] I like that question. Shit. Damn. Aer needs time. We have so much planned right now, we need to capture that time. We need to start capturing every minute.

vM: We have music videos, we’re recording, we’re touring. We’re writing full time. In the future we’ll have more videos online and more music. We want to capture that visual element.

G: What can fans of Aer expect in 2012?

S: Album-wise, they can look forward to that classic Aer style; you know, crisp beats and good music.  In the new album, we want to maintain the classic Aer style, but with better lyrics, better beats. We’re sticking to our roots, but improving them as well.

G: Where do you see yourselves in ten years?

S: Hopefully… I don’t know man. I don’t think about the future too much… hopefully living somewhere warm.  Hopefully, Aer-wise, doing what we’re doing on a bigger scale.

G: Who are you listening to right now? Any suggestions for fans?

S: I got heavy into the Asher Roth Pabst and Jazz tape. I been getting into jazz pretty hard, listening to classic jazz like Fatts Waller, Thelonius Monk, and Coltrane.

vM: To be honest, I haven’t stepped off the Adele hype. Been listening to a lot of Cool Kids, and Oh Land, she’s from Denmark. She opened up for Katy Perry, but she’s still pretty low key now though.

G: What do you have to say to the haters?

S: What haters? Not in a cocky way, but in more of a “that’s not where our heads are out.”

vM: We stick to the opinions of people we know. If people give don’t give us constructive feedback, we don’t listen.

G: How do you explain your genre?

S: Reggae influenced colorful hip-hop.

vM: That hits the nail on the head.

G: How did you hook up with Matt Easton for the show at the Granada?

vM: Matt hit us up about a year ago, and sent us a beat he produced. It ended up being his song “Easy.” We really liked it, and he kept pressing to get a show together, saying “come one man we gotta do a show we gotta do  a show.” We finally got a show booked when we started this tour and told him about it, and he took it from there.

G: Thegoodlifreviews.com named Water on the Moon one of the top ten mixes of 2011. Was this unexpected, and how has this attention helped you guys further your career?

vM: Definitely unexpected. I mean, we didn’t even know what a blog was, and then found that out. It’s huge. It has definitely furthered our career. Everyone is on the internet, and everyone can see it. You can reach people beyond your local town.

G: How do you plan to succeed?

vM: Just staying low-key and being personal with the music industry. We don’t want to be untouchable rock stars. We want to be able to tweet at our fans, and share with them our lives.  We’re not trying to hide behind anything, and we wanna capture as much as we can and show that to our fans.

Aer featuring Matt Easton and Myle High Society perform Feb. 16 at the Granada Theater. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets here. This is an all ages show. Be the first of your friends to go see these guys perform. You’ll be saying “I told you so” when they come back as full-blown rock stars.

-the Granada Crew

William Elliott Whitmore and co. this Friday at the Granada

Barn-stomping, smoke, warped wood and bootlegged whiskey is the best way to describe the beatific sounds of alt-country folk golden boy William Elliott Whitmore. Armed with nothing more than a banjo (or guitar) and a voice that makes one wonder how many illegitimate children Tom Waits has fathered, Whitmore’s dusty cornfield sensibilities grace the stage of The Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kan. this Friday.

Raised on a horse farm in Keokuk, Iowa, Whitmore’s sound gathers influences which were seemingly trapped in time on an old dusty shelf somewhere. Equal parts, 1920s era preacher and old-timey bluesman, Whitmore brings to the fore the performance aesthetic of a bygone era, when a concert consisted of one person on stage pouring heart and soul alike into lyrics and a battered old guitar. He’s earnest, he’s rustic, but most of all, he’s earthy like a rich pile of mulch. It doesn’t sound like much to stink about, but it’s more than enough to rattle your bones.

Here’s a live video of his song “Chariot” off the critically acclaimed Song of the Blackbird: 

With subjects ranging from sin and redemption to the relationship between a father and son, Whitmore is a bit of an oddity in the current music scene. Traditional enough to be considered folk, yet twangy enough to be considered country and alternative enough to deign that catchall necessary, Whitmore will deliver what would amount to the soundtrack of a walk down to the river for a baptism in a time when people wore wool and suspenders all the time and didn’t have air conditioning. They probably smelled bad, too. Did you ever think of that? People back then had to smell bad. Anyway, I digress.

Joining WEW are Drakkar Sauna, Horse Weapons, and Denver’s own Me For Radness. Local duo Drakkar Sauna certainly complement the general vibe with sounds similar to Whitmore’s own, given their equally rustic and often irreverent style. Horse Weapons, a Lawrence-based band, will deliver audience favorites as well. Me For Radness, however, rounds out the lineup with lo-fi, electronically laden bass and stilted, mechanical beats. Though standing in sharp contrast to the other acts on Friday, MFR’s performance promises to be every bit as intimate and startling as his compatriots.

Come to The Granada Friday night and witness the spectacle. It’ll be worth the $12 ticket price, I promise. Doors open at 8:30. This is an all ages show, but don’t let that stop you from knocking back whiskey sours like an extra on Boardwalk Empire.

-Brian Sisk