No Sleep Roundup: Kelly Hunt, Pickathon, Jazz Fest

Howdy kids, 

There’s a whole lot of music stuff to talk about, so let’s get to the business of telling you about a whole bunch of cool stuff.  

I just listened to the new NEKRASOV and this is some wild shit. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here, but if you like super heavy, dark one-man industrial that sounds like Battle Bots gone wild, fighting in a barbed wire-covered steel cage, then get on the new record, Lust of Consciousness. 

If you’re looking for something to satiate a pang of hunger for stripped down, old-timey banjo-driven tunes, Kelly Hunt’s new record, Even The Sparrow is a tasty choice. Hunt’s style is very much in the early Bob Dylan meets Pete Seger tradition with sharp phrasing and tonal melodies. The ghost of Hunt’s depression-era banjo Ira Tamm is omnipresent throughout the record, and there are some exciting quirks happening all throughout the project. Give it a listen, this is interesting stuff.  

If you follow anything about me, it’s widely known that I love New Orleans and lived there for a few years. When you live in New Orleans, there’s one thing that’s always a topic of discussion: Jazz Fest. In celebration of Jazz Fest turning 50, venerable record label Smithsonian Folkways is dropping a massive box set of live recordings from the festival’s past. Five records. With as many banging acts who’ve come through over the years, there’s gonna be a lot of good shit on there. 

Pickathon is happening again in August in Portland, and the line up is hot: Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Khruangbin, Mandolin Orange, Tyler Childers, Nathaniel Rateliff, Lucius, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Fruit Bats, Mountain Man, Caamp, YOB, Damien Jurado, Makaya McCraven, The Richard Swift Hex Band, Lambchop, Laura Veirs, Julia Jacklin, The Marías, Ibibio Sound Machine, Dan Mangan, Altin Gün, Miya Folick, Sudan Archives, Courtney Marie Andrews, Lido Pimienta, Cedric Burnside, The Beths, Sam Evian, and probably a few more. 

I’ve never been to Pickathon, but apparently, it’s dope as well. Which “has built a reputation over the last twenty years as the best festival experience, combining groundbreaking programming focused on discovery, sustainable ethics, and a lineup that pushes the boundaries of genre.” 

Look at some videos of the stage. If you’re going, bring drugs*. You’re gonna need them. 

If you’re after even more crazy industrial stuff: Jordan Morrison’s project All Your Sisters is some grim-ass dark music. Apparently, my man was a graveyard shift paramedic and used music as a way to deal with all of the terrible things he saw every time he went to work. Sounds like good clean fun. Listen to All Your Sisters' newest single, the industrial dirge “Power Abuse.”

6131 RECORDS is launching a vinyl subscription service, which is dope as hell. The label is consistent with putting out solid records that aren’t just one style of music. If you lean more towards hardcore, they’ve got that, just as they do a lot of weird indie stuff for chicks with straight bangs. 

Peep the deets: 

For $120 a year (plus shipping), you get:

- Six Exclusive Pressings

(Worriers, Self Defense Family, Sammi Lanzetta, Macseal, and 2 represses TBA)

- Exclusive Shirt

- Extra Goodies and Freebies

- 10% Discount Code for 6131 U.S. Webstore Through 2019

- Early Access To All U.S. Webstore Preorders in 2019

- Entry in Contests to Win Test Presses

Doesn’t sound too bad. 

-Robert Dean

—————

*of your own accord, not ours

The Dead Tongues / "Like a Dream" / Pickathon

The No-Sleep Roundup: Margo Cilker, Tyler Childers, Vandoliers, etc.

By Robert Dean

Ok kids, it’s been a minute. Blame the life of being a freelancer, and honestly, I’ve not been myself. I’ve been tired. Like, real tired lately. I don’t know if it’s getting up there in age considering I’m staring down the barrel of 40 in a few years or that I pretty write myself to death week in and week out. 

So, it ain’t you, it’s me. 

Let’s do a Round-up so I can clear out this here inbox because a lot of people are doing cool shit right now. So, shall we? 

Saw Patrick Sweany a few weeks ago. Was hoping to interview him since he was recording in Austin, but no dice. Anyhow, the show was incredible. I’ve been wanting to see him for quite a while now and I was damned excited to get the chance. If he comes to your town, get the fuck to that venue. He’ll give you your $15 worth and then some and then some. 

If you’re in my former stomping grounds of New Orleans, Margo Cilker and An American Forest will be in town the week of Feb 10-12 playing shows around town. One of which will be at Dragon’s Den. If you’ve never been, it’s easily one of the best small venues in town you can catch a good show. I’ve seen some insanity in that building. 

Pickathon released its lineup and it’s nasty. If you’re in Portland, might wanna pony up some cash for this one. TBH, you might want to grab them just to see Tyler not play a stadium at this point. It seems like each time he rolls through a town the venue triples in size. He’s got TWO sold out shows at Stubb’s down here. 

Anyhow, here’s the lineup: 

To go deeper into the lineup, here’s Pickathon’s Spotify playlist:

https://spoti.fi/2RW0zy0

And here’s the full lineup, check it out!

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Khruangbin

Mandolin Orange

Nathaniel Rateliff

Tyler Childers

Lucius

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Fruit Bats

Mountain Man

Caamp

YOB

Damien Jurado

Lambchop

Laura Veirs

Julia Jacklin

The Marías

Miya Folick

Sudan Archives

Bonny Light Horseman

Mdou Moctar

Courtney Marie Andrews

Lido Pimienta

Cedric Burnside

Town Mountain

Jupiter & Okwess

The Beths

B Boys

Our Girl

JJUUJJUU

Sneaks

Young Jesus

Sam Evian

Black Belt Eagle Scout

Flasher

Mike and The Moonpies

Nap Eyes

Soft Kill

H.C. McEntire

Helena Deland

The Cordovas

Lauren Morrow

Bodega

David Nance Group

The Po' Ramblin' Boys

Virginia Wing

Garrett T Capps

Martha Scanlan

Gold Star

Colton Turner

&more (Chill Moody & Donn T)

David Bragger & Susan Platz 

Jeremy Short is headed back to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Short has placed as a semi-finalist in the past, but let’s hope this year he wins this shit. That dude’s record smokes, plus he’s gets something right: blues records aren’t meant to sound clean, they’re supposed to sound vintage and dirty. Short’s records keep the spirit of the music intact and if you’re need some voodoo magic from a dude who sings about chicken shacks, you’ve got your man. 

Vandoliers have a new record, Forever dropping the end of Feb and it’s a mixture of the best stuff about Texas: it’s a little red dirt country, but has a Lucero punk flair to it which pleases me. What’s nice about Vandoliers is they go to places musically I wasn’t expecting. A lot of times, you can guess where the songs on a record are going to go and I was legit surprised the collection Forever had some huge hooks and even parts that reminded me of Mariachi El Bronx. 

If you’re feeling that old school Appalachian style bleeding from the hollers right now, Allison De Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves have a record dropping that will satisfy the purest of country sweettooths. The duo dance around that Flatt & Scruggs banjo meets fiddle style that honestly so few can do correctly. Give it a spin, you can find it here. 

Austin Terrorfest just announced its lineup. Indian and Pig Destroyer are playing. Consider me psyched. 

I guess Static-X is doing a memorial tour…. without Wayne Static. The surviving members of the band are going do a massive summer thing with Devil Driver in tow. I think this is going to become the new thing for fans. I’m waiting till they do the Nirvana tour with Dave, Kirst, and Pat. So, while it seems stupid on the surface, it gives people the chance to holler along to the songs they have so many times in cars or sitting around at a party talking about how they wished they could have seen ‘that’ band.

Side note: Devildriver are going to be playing a bunch of Coal Chamber tunes. Dez keeps talking about how good they’ll sound. 

Jessie Leach is taking a break from Killswitch Engage again, so is Howard Jones coming back? 

That’s all I got. Stay weird.