Nomo is climbing...

I have been watching Nomo new album, “Ghost Rock” climb emusic.com charts for months. I had listened to a few samples and put it away for a later download.

Last week, I was looking for something to do on my birthday and came across their show at the Earl on Saturday. I marked it on the calendar and kept looking. As Saturday got closer I still had no plans and decided to take a chance on this band. So I started to do a little research on who they are and what they are going to be like. Nothing prepared me for the unbelievable live set they treated us to.

I was so blown away by what I witnessed Saturday night. The crowd had a weird apprehension as all seven band members made their way onto the stage. But as they played their first note from the shell of a conch, the energy in the crowd was palpable. Any group that starts out their session with conch shell is going to be different. They were unbelievably different and brilliant. Afro beat, nu jazz, electronic-experimentalism, or what ever you want to call their art, it is an entirely new genera for me. I have never, and probably will never, witness another performance like that.

Every member deferred to each other as they took turns showcasing their craft. Whether it was baritone sax, alto sax, drums, percussion, guitar, trumpets, keyboards or vocals, each member put everything they had into that set. There wasn’t a member who wasn’t drenched in sweat and physically exhausted at the end. What an unbelievably intimate end to the seat as well. Each grabbed an instrument and made their way into middle of the crowd for once last song. The entire place was chanting with the band. I was talking to my friend Amy during the concert and pointing out that these guys and gals mastered something that many bands don’t. There was no separation between the crowd and the band. Each feed more and more off each other. As the 20 kids in the front danced hard and hard, it seemed like the horns blew longer and stronger. The drums and percussion were faster and louder. And they ended up where it all begins, in the crowd.

Thank you Nomo for a great birthday present. Thank you for an unforgettable performance and unforgettable night. Thank you for opening my ears to entirely new genera. And thank you for making a stop in East Atlanta.

Next up for them is:

JULY 22 2008
@ Emo's Lounge
603 Red River
Austin , TX
$10 | All Ages
www.emosaustin.com

JULY 23 2008
@ Hailey's
122 Mulberry
Denton , TX
$8 | All Ages
www.haileysclub.com

JULY 25 2008
@ Off Broadway
3522 Lemp Ave.
ST Louis , MO
$10 | 18+
www.offbroadwaystl.com

JULY 26 2008
@ Wicker Park Festival
Chicago, IL
$5 Suggested Donation

JULY 27 2008
@ The Waiting Room
6212 Maple Street
Omaha, NE
$10 | All Ages
www.waitingroomlounge.com

JULY 29 2008
@ Quixote's True Blue
2637 Welton St.
Denver, CO
$10 | 18+
www.quixotes.com

JULY 30 2008
@ Belly Up
450 S Galena St.
Aspen, CO
$10 | All Ages
www.bellyupaspen.com

JULY 31 2008
@ Las Montanas
100 E. Colorado St.
Telluride, CO
$10 | 21+
www.llamapresents.com

AUGUST 1 2008
@ First Friday
Casion Center & Colorado St.
Las Vegas, NV
FREE | All Ages
www.firstfriday-lasvegas.org

AUGUST 2 2008
@ Detroit Bar
843 W Nineteenth St.
Costa Mesa, CA
$10 | 21+
www.detroitbar.com

AUGUST 3 2008
@ Spaceland
1717 Silver Lake Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
$8 | 21+
www.clubspaceland.com

AUGUST 4 2008
@ The Casbah
2501 Kettner Blvd
San Diego, CA
$10 | All Ages
www.casbahmusic.com

AUGUST 5 2008
@ Bottom Of The Hill
1233 17th St.
San Francisco, CA
www.bottomofthehill.com

AUGUST 7 2008
@ Doug Fir
830 E Burnside Street
Portland, OR
$10 | 21+
www.dougfirlounge.com

AUGUST 8 2008
@ NW World & Raggae Festival
Bob's Ranch, Mohawk Valley
Marcola, OR
www.nwworldraggae.com

AUGUST 9 2008
@ Nectar Lounge
412 N 36th St.
Seattle, WA
$12 | 21+
www.nectarlounge.com

AUGUST 10 2008
@ Media Club
695 Cambie St.
Vancouver, BC
$12 | 19+
www.themediaclub.ca

AUGUST 14 2008
@ 7th Street Entry
29 North 7th Street
Minneapolis, MN
$7.50 | 18+
www.first-avenue.com

AUGUST 15 2008
@ Annex
1206 Regent Street
Madison, WI
$8 | 18+
www.intheannex.com

AUGUST 22 2008
@ Campus Martius Park
1 Campus Martius
Detroit, MI
All Ages | Free
www.campusmartiuspark.com

Their is more to a band than their band name

Kook is a word I was introduced to in middle school by my high school brother. I was called a Kook. My friends were little Kooks. The nerds and unpopular in his class were labeled Kooks. Disdain. Humiliation. That is a Kook.

These Kooks don’t have anything to be ashamed of. I was introduced to this band three weeks ago by a good friend in Charlotte, NC, Chad. He played their cd at his house and I really liked what I heard. I brought it back to Atlanta on a mp3 cd. Two weeks later I got a chance to download it and put it digital form. They have been in steady rotation ever since. They are labeled post punk. Well, not really. I don’t see the punk side in them. I think angst, heavy guitar, loud cries of rebellion. They, on the other hand, have soulful lyrics, smooth British vocals, well produced guitar layers buried deep in sweet melodies. Almost like an indie-coldplay. I am sure they would hate that comparison but I hear it from time to time. Their second release “Konk” is packed full of great tracks. Tracks that make you think, “This one is a classic.” Something you could hear in ten years and still be relevant.

Deastro needs some press

I have been so impressed by this new artist. Well, I am not sure how new of an artist he is but if I can't find any information on Wikipedia, amazon, google... Let's just stop there. He released an album on Emusic last month and it has been going crazy on their charts. But I can't find anything, ANYTHING on this dude. I read that he produced the album in his parents basement at 22 but I am not even sure where that came from. He plays every instrument on the recording including drums, vocals, synths, guitar and such.

This is what I found off his myspace:

Randolph Chabot Jr. started to make electronic music when he was 13 at his home in Sterling Heights, MI. He finished his first album that year despite the ecstatic, aural trauma it caused his mother. He studied youth development in college with the intent of becoming a social worker, dropping out to pursue music full time. He formed an electro band called Veleciraptor, which inspired the ideas for his current synthesized projects: Our Brother the Megazord and Deastro, which try to blur the lines between electronic and acoustic music. All the music is made in Randolph's basement with the help of alot of sampled children's toys and synthesizers. Deastro's "the Young Planets" and Our Brother the Megazord's "Time the Teenage Twister" are set to be released as a 34 song double disc in July of 2007. He is currently working on songs for his acoustic project Jr. Jr. and the new Deastro album entitled "Dark Diamond."

Please, someone find him and get him out to the rest of the world. The stuff he is creating, in a basement, is not only creative and inspiring, but something that is unique to culture today. Everytime I listen, I hear Postal Service at their first recording session. I hear depechmode at their first jam session. You will hear him the future and if this is your first time hearing him here, enjoy...

I know you don't have to work Friday, so what's your excuse now?

This video will explain what I have been missing on the first Thursday of every month. That time of the month has come around again, Fuck Yesss! at the Drunken Unicorn. People, it is a $5 show. Treasure Fingers is one of the premier electro dj's in the South. Check out the link to his myspace. He has some killer mixes free to download. Also playing that night is RRRump. From the production track's on his myspace, we are in for a hell of a show.