Mockingbird Airbag

Wall of Sound

Last weekend Spune Productions put on the annual Wall of Sound Festival in Fort Worth. Last year it was in Denton. Next year, hopefully it's in Dallas. As each year goes by, the festival gains more and more publicity and clout. This year national acts such as Low, Pedro the Lion's Dave Bazan, and Okkervil River were invited to headline. This is our second year to be involved, and both times, we have come away with a great impression of how it is run. Lance Yocum of Spune is almost single-handedly making the tri-cities more than a passing thought in the national music scene. Not only is he booking fantastic bands at the Cavern and Hailey's, he has created a festival that DFWD can hang its hat on for years to come. It is just going to get better from here on out. Along with the attention SXSW brings to Texas, the WOS festival is a nice tag-on to a month of incredible music throughout the state.

My impressions about the show and what bands I was able to catch:

Mission to the Sea: Our friend Deck always plays a beautiful set and this time was no different, in fact it may have been better. Subbing in for the cello player was a pedal steel guitar play from Austin. However incredible the cello sounded in the mix, the pedal steel may have been better. Soul-aching gorgeous-ness.

Loxsly: Another band from Austin. I think I would have liked them better if I stuck around, but the first few songs' lack of cohesion mixed with sound issues mixed with my hungry belly forced me to leave to find some food. After going back and listening to them on myspace, I realized they have some interesting songs and wondered where those songs were live. They had a pedal steel guitar as well, but it sounded a bit superfluous for their sound.

Cue: One of the better bands of the day. Self described "chamber rock." These guys produced some epic soundscapes that were very Mogwai-ish. Apparently the crowd knew what was coming, because they were packed in to see these guys. They played with a great energy and their sound was complemented with a fantastic violin player.

Pink Nasty: Apparently was a last minute addition from Austin. Pink (who may have come with her brother, Black Nasty....wow) sounded a bit like PJ Harvey but had a good upbeat set.

Black Angels / Experimental Aircraft: I've written about these guys before; we have played 2 shows with them (both being excellent). Exp Aircraft have never sounded better than they did on Saturday in my opinion. Accompanied by a video background and a large, cavernous space, they took their show to a new level. Rachel's soft voice is in perfect contrast to the loud, droney layers of guitar sound. Unfortunately the Black Angels couldn't quite pull off the "best I've seen them" award, but it was a solid set. Their sound issues maybe came from the fact that they performed on the side stage (cramped space) or the fact that that much reverb is hard to control in a place like Ridglea Theater. They would have been better served on the main stage with its sound crew. Regardless, they are one of my favorite live bands and it was a pleasure to see them again.

The Angelus / Pleasant Grove: The Angelus started with the same song as last year (and maybe every show) with the frontman swinging the huge bells and the semi-chanting drawing the crowd into a meditative state. It was actually the perfect sound for my decompression state of mind (we had just finished our set). I tuned out everything else, closed my eyes, and sat in the swirl of gorgeous vocals and guitar layers. As the Angelus' set ended, a Pleasant Grove guitar followed the last chord and kept the music flowing between bands. PG is a band I have always enjoyed for the music as well as the antics of the lead singer, but I have seen them put on better shows. I heard a rumor most of the songs were new, so maybe they haven't been live-tested enough yet. Regardless, I look forward very much to their new album.

John Lamonica: John is an incredible artist and I really hope for the best for him. He played an intensely quiet, acoustic set and held the crowd in his hands. Whether he's punking out with Tiebreaker or plucking acoustic (solo or laptop-enhanced), he deserves to make it somehow.

Treewave: Low-fi groove electronica extraordinaire. Here's what happens....I think.....one guy plays Atari catridges that sync up with a portable DVD player and projector. Treewave "program" appears onscreen and the backing percussion tracks are chosen using the Atari controllers, printer adds more percussion beats, while one member "plays" melody with a midi controller keyboard and the other member (a girl) sings vocals over the top? However it's done, it's wonderful stuff, esp Combat Rock, which syncs up the beat to a projection of the old Atari game where you have battling tanks. Super creative and ingenious, really.

Midlake: Incredible set from the creators of the "album-of-the-year-to-be." The sound guys almost nailed these guys, and that is a compliment, because I can imagine they are tough to mix. The new album, Van Occupanther, comes out soon and we managed to hear 3-4 songs from it. With most of them swirling around the internet somewhere, I think a lot of people were familiar with the new ones. Accompanying each song were full-fledged videos of young brides, foxes turning into humans and vice versa, and turn of the century lost loves. Very inspiring.

Other notables: The Southern Sea, Zookeeper, Mazinga Phaser II, Kissing Cousins, My Education

posted by Airbag1 @ 9:57 AM