Halloween is a holiday that always has really high expectations, and typically doesn’t live up to them…so when I heard that Mount Eerie was playing my decision was made for me…Mount Eerie never disappoints.

This was my first time hearing Malkuth and Liturgy.  Malkuth went on shortly after we got to Market Hotel, and played for what seemed like forever…and not forever in a bad way, but more like…wow this opening band is playing for over an hour.  I was pretty impressed, but as I soon found out it is hard for any band to share the stage with Liturgy. I haven’t been to a metal show in a couple months, and I really did enjoy it…even klk got into Liturgy, and the metal typically isn’t her thing.  As far as black metal goes I got more out of Liturgy’s performance on Saturday than I did out of Wolves In the Throne Room earlier this year. Liturgy can keep the underlying melodic guitars even during a full blown thrash session.  Totally worth checking out:

[full album] Liturgy- Live on My Castle of Quiet at WFMU (via FMA)

Mount Eerie took the stage in a form that I have yet to see, and this was due to the recent release of Wind’s Poem.  Not only was Elverum on stage, but he was accompanied by both Julia Chirka and Nick Krgovich of No Kids as well as two drummers.  Their set consisted entirely of songs from Wind’s Poem, and Phil let us in on something that I was previously unaware of…Wind’s Poem was written by himself and Nick Krgovich (last time I saw Nick play it was less than exciting, but he redeemed himself on Saturday night).  Mount Eerie sounded thunderous, and the amazing part was that there was only one guitar on stage.  Krgovich and Chirka both played keyboards, and Elverum stood center with the guitar. For me heavier music can sometimes get lost in the wall of sound created by too many guitars, and I think Elverum has found the perfect combination for his live set up to show off both his song writing and vocals.  With only one guitar Elverum was able to shine over the the heaviest music he has ever written.  Mount Eerie’s set was near perfect, and Krgovich even interjected a dance beat into what I consider one of the best songs of the year:

Mount Eerie still have most of their tour to go…I highly recommend catching them…only good things can come of it….tour dates can be found here.

In other Mount Eerie related news….

Julie Doiron, who collaborated with Phil Elverum on last year’s wonderful Lost Wisdom, will be gracing NYC this Thursday, November 5th, accompanied by Herman Dune at the Bell House. Julie released an excellent album this year, I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day (which will also be making my best of 2009 list), and was great when she played Cake Shop this past spring.  If you are unfamiliar with Julie she used to play in Eric’s Trip, and has been making music on her own since the early 90’s.  Check out one of my favorite tracks from last year’s Lost Wisdom:

[mp3] Mount Eerie w/ Julie Doiron & Fred Squire- “Voice in Headphones” (from Lost Wisdom, buy it here.)

Links:

• more on Mount Eerie and Phil Elverum here.
• buy Mount Eerie and P.W. Elverum and Suns releases here.
• more on Julie Doiron here.
• buy Julie Doiron’s releases here.
• more from the free music archive here.
• more gprecs video (Karl Blau, Dum Dum Girls, Los Campesinos! and More) here.

End Note: There has been a lot going on in my real, non-internet, life this week…so blog posts will be scarce until sometime next week.  My stress will greatly decrease tomorrow, and I am looking forward to enjoying Julie play in one of my favorite venues in Booklyn…beer will be calling my name.

There are very few things musically that could make my week better than Karl Blau coming to New York, but this week has topped it.  Phil Elverum and his Mount Eerie will be making two New York appearances this weekend as well!

Mount Eerie released the wonderful Wind’s Poem a couple months back, and if you are a listener or reader of NPR you might have heard about it from them (they know their stuff).  Wind’s Poem is Elverum’s second venture into the realm of black metal, and his vision is breath taking.

Don’t let the words “black metal” or even just the word “metal” scare you away from this album…let me assure you the Phil put’s his own spin on the genre (s), and it is unlike anything I’ve have heard before…metal or otherwise.   Bringing things a little closer to the pacific north west Elverum even incorporates elements of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks into this album, and brings this to the forefront on, another one, of my favorite songs of the year:

[mp3] Mount Eerie- “Between Two Mysteries”

Buy Wind’s Poem here!

I’ve now let you in on two of my favorite songs of the year (one yesterday and one today), but I will even go as far to say that Wind’s Poem is right near the top of my best records of 2009 as well.

Appropriately enough Mount Eerie right after this venture into the expanding realm of black metal will be performing on Halloween….with two of New York’s finest black metal acts….Liturgy and Malkuth!

This is not just any show, but a collaboration between Todd P and Pitchfork’s Brandon Stosuy.  This show is part of Stosuy’s  Show No Mercy series:

Halloween!
Saturday October 31st
at Market Hotel

Also appearing at this show will be No Kids and Tara Jane O’Neil.

I have seen Phil Elverum play as Mount Eerie several times before, and it has never been anything less than magical.  I’m extremely excited to see what type of set he decides to perform while playing with not only one, but two well know black metal acts….could there be a collaboration…I can’t wait to find out on Saturday.

If Market Hotel and black metal aren’t your thing you have a second chance to catch Elverum’s magic:

Sunday November 1st
Wordless Music Presents:
Mount Eerie
with
Tara Jane O’Neil
No Kids
and
Dina Pruzhansky
at Le Poisson Rouge

If you have a chance to catch Mount Eerie at either of these shows you will not be disappointed…if you are not in NYC Mount Eerie will also be appearing at these times and places:

• Mon. Nov. 2nd- Harrisburg, PA- Midtown Scholar Bookstore
  • $7- doors at 6:30, show at 7PM (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Tues. Nov. 3rd- Pittsburgh, PA- Garfield Art Works
  • 8pm doors, $8 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Weds. Nov. 4th- Cincinnati, OH- Art Damage Lodge
  • $7 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Thurs. Nov. 5th- Louisville, KY- Skull Alley
  • $8, doors at 8pm (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Fri. Nov. 6th- Bloomington, IN- Banneker Community Center
  • 9:30, $8 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids and Prayer Breakfast)
• Sat. Nov. 7th- Madison, WI- High Noon Saloon
  • $10, EARLY! 5pm doors, show ends at 8pm (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Sun. Nov. 8th- Chicago, IL- Lakeshore Theater
  • $10, doors at 6pm, show at 7 (with Tara Jane O’Neil and No Kids)
• Mon. Nov. 9th- Iowa City, IA- Public Space One
  • 9pm, $5 (with No Kids)
• Tues. Nov. 10th- Minneapolis, MN- Bedlam Theater
  • EARLY! doors at 5pm, music at 6, $10 (with No Kids and Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles)
• Weds. Nov. 11th- Rapid City, SD- Sports Rock Pizza!
  • $5 (with No Kids and Motorbikes and St. Merman)
• Fri. Nov. 13th- Pullman, Wash- The Bell Tower
  • $6/$8

Links:

• more on Mount Eerie and Phil Elverum  here.
• buy Mount Eerie and P.W. Elverum and Suns releases here.
  • Mount Eerie releases should always be purchased directly from Phil…I am always amazed at how delicately they are packaged.  I have never been disappointed…hands down some of the best things to pass through the USPS.

Saturday marked the first, and hopefully not the last, Underwater Peoples Records Showcase.  I was happy to be able to make it for the early part.  I was able to meet Ari and Sawyer of UP, and they were both as super nice in person as they are over the internet!  McG was there to keep me company too.

When entering a massive event at Market Hotel you have to have a plan…and mine was to catch Liam the Younger, and that is what I did.

I was able to get a couple videos of Liam playing solo before his band took the stage with him too.

[these videos were taken down upon request.  sorry to those trying to view.]

If you are interested in downloading the albums (for Free!) that these songs are on you can find links to After the Graveyard (where “This Land pt. 1″ appears), and Clear Skies Over Black River (where “Cooking” appears) on my post from last week.  Free downloads of both of these albums are provided by Brave Men Run records.

Although I didn’t get to see them at the showcase I’m looking forward to seeing Family Portrait and Beach Fossils play with Holiday Shores and Sore Eros this weekend!

More on:

• Underwater Peoples Records here.
• Liam the Younger here.
• gprecs videos here.

End note: my tripods should be coming in the mail today!  that means videos from now on should be much more sturdy…or at least when I feel like carrying the tripods…more on those to come later.

When I started writing the Great Pumpkin at the beginning of this year I could have never predicted how many good things would be revolving around a little record label that I had never even heard of…and all of the magic started with Real Estate’s first 7″…then a wonderful compilation CD,  followed by Julian Lynch and Ducktails split 7″/DVD combo, and now it is all culminating in a showcase of wonderful bands that Underwater Peoples Records are pushing into the spotlight (all in under a year)!

For those of you unfamiliar with Underwater Peoples it is a record label based in Washington DC, but has strong ties in New Jersey and Brooklyn.  The boys that run the label are super nice, and give off positive vibes all around.  In addition to running a record label and playing in bands they are now responsible for a study of people who create homemade flame throwers (more on this below).

Tomorrow night marks a very special event in the early life of this record label…August 22nd will be Underwater Peoples Records Late Summer Showcase at the Market Hotel!

SET LIST!!!!! (rumor has it these might have been pushed back by 30minutes)

• 5 – Big Troubles
• 5:30 – Dana Jewell
• 6 – Ducktails
• 6:30 – Frat Dad
• 7 – Liam The Younger
• 7:30 – Beach Fossils
• ***Second half***
• 8:15 – Fluffy Lumbers
• 8:50 – Andrew Cedermark
• 9:25 – Alex Bleeker & The Freaks
• 10 – Family Portrait
• 10:35 – Pill Wonder
• 11:10 – Air Waves
• 11:45 – Real Estate
• click through on any of the bands to hear their music.

The showcase only costs $5, and tickets can be purchased in advance here. If you can make it out for any part of this event it is sure to be special.  I’m personally hoping to catch Liam the Younger, but overall you can’t go wrong…so many good bands and so cheap.

If you are interested in buying Underwater Peoples releases you can do it directly from them.  The Real Estate 7″ is now out of print, but the compilation and Julian Lynch/Ducktails 7″/DVD combo are still available here!  Keep an eye out…there will be more good things to come from Underwater Peoples in the future.

If you are interested in supporting Underwater Peoples study of homemade flamethrowers please check out their  first video documenting it which is also the first “music video” by Family Portrait titled “Mega Secrets.”  For more info on the study read their full blog post about it and vote for them to present their findings at SXSW.

I’ve written about a handful of these bands in the past too (click through for videos, mp3s, pictures, and more):

• More on Ducktails here.
• More on Real Estate here.
• More on Liam the Younger here (including free albums!)
• More on Underwater Peoples in general here.

Saturday should be a blast!  And congrats to Underwater Peoples for coming so far in such a short period of time!

Here is this weeks batch of Weekend Recs.  Above all I recommend trying to catch So Cow over the next couple days…you won’t be disappointed!

Tonight: Friday 5/8/09

• So Cow w/ the Procedure Club @ The Silent Barn

• Crystal Stilts and Blank Dogs @ The Bell House

• Drink Up Buttercup @ The Cameo

Saturday 5/9/09

• So Cow w/ Pink Reason and others @ Death By Audio

• Cause Co-Motion, The Beets, and Liquor Store @ Bruar Falls

• Karl Blau, Doug Gilliard (x-GBV) and more @ Cake Shop

• USAISAMONSTER’s Last Show Ever @ Market Hotel

• Ghost @ MHOW

• Real Estate @ Santos Party House

• Lucky Dragons @ The Stone

Sunday 5/10/09

• Karl Blau @ The Stone

• Frodus @ Death By Audio

• Times New Viking, Blues Control, Woods, Blank Dogs, Pink Reason @ Market Hotel

Monday 5/11/09

• Jason Anderson @ Cake Shop (Free!)

• Times New Viking w/ Vivian Girls @ Bowery Ballroom

• Karl Blau @ Zebulon

I guess this is going to be a weekly feature?  Not a bad thing at all, right?

Friday May 1st (all in Williamsburg and Greenpoint this week!):

• Husere Grav, Liturgy , Predator Vision (canceled),  Telecult Powers, Sannhet @ Death By Audio

• Browns , Pacific Theater, and The Sundelles  @ Matchless

• The Beets, Wild Yaks, The Subjects, pow wow! @ Red Star Bar

Saturday May 2nd:

• Kurt Vile, Sightings, Drunkdriver, and Gary War @ Silent Barn

• Beachniks (members of German Measels and Crystal Stilts), Honeydos , Gutsies (Jacob from the Beets!), Rare Form, Teenage Nightwar @ Live at Shea Stadium

• Browns (on at 8pm), and others @ Coco 66

• Beer Event: Bock Party @ Brouwerij Lane (featuring Einbecker Mai-Ur-Bock, Hofbrau Maibock, Victory St. Boisterous, and Stoudt’s Double Blond Mai Bock.  If I make it there I will be drinking St. Boisterous!)

Sunday May 3rd:

• 5 Boro Bike Tour! (sold out)

• Tara Jane O’Neil (K Recs), Mirah (K Recs), Air Waves, Tall Firs (Ecstatic Peace) @ Market Hotel

Monday May 4th:

• Jason Anderson (with a full band), The Wailing Wall, Aldenbarton @ Cake Shop (FREE!)

So ya’ll there is a lot going on this weekend!

(Calvin Johnson and the Hive Dwellers at 92nd Street Y Tribeca)

Tonight Friday April 24th!

Julie Doiron & Katie Stelmanis @ Cake Shop (early show starts at 8pm, Julie’s on at 9pm)

Gary War w/ Sore Eros and more @ Pianos

Jeremy Jay @ Union Hall

Blank Dogs and Cold Cave @ Secret Robot Project

Tomorrow Saturday April 25th:

Oneida and Pterodactyl @ Monster Island Basement

Box Elders and Greg Ashley @ Cake Shop

Blank Dogs and Jeremy Jay @ The Silent Barn

Julie Doiron and Purse Snatchers @ Union Hall

Ponytail and Real Estate @ MHOW

Sunday April 26th:

Chain and the Gang , Calvin Johnson , Mahjongg , Noah Britton@ Market Hotel

Monday April 27th

Lord Dog Bird and Micah Blue Smaldone @ Cake Shop

I won’t make it to all of them, but if I was a super hero I would.

One of my indie rock crushes is the K Records head himself, Calvin Johnson, and he will be in our lovely city tonight (and again in a couple weeks).

This time Calvin isn’t doing it by himself …he has a new band, The Hive Dwellers.

I haven’t heard much by the Dwellers yet, except for the track they did for the Merge SCORE! Covers Comp (stream the whole album including the Hive Dwellers track for free for a limited time!), but I’m damn excited.  Gothamist confirmed that this is The Hive Dwellers first official release.

There really is nothing like watching Calvin mesmerize you with his dances on stage while you listen to his baritone voice.  Except the fact that his opening act is Fred Thomas and Ryan Howard’s CITY CENTER, and the headliner is Ian Svenonius’s new band Chain and the Gang.  Which makes these shows even better.

Besides Calvin fronting the Hive Dwellers and Ian fronting Chain and the Gang these two bands share all other members (they just switch it up on the instruments):

Bret Lyman (Bad Thoughts), Brian Weber (Dub Narcotic Sound System), Sarah Pedal, and Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, City Center).  [via TMT]

Yes, that’s right.  Fred Thomas will be playing in all of the bands tonight!

Tonight should prove to be a wonderful evening, and I will leave inspired by Calvin’s dance moves (and hopefully bust some of my own).

If you want to catch the Calvin Johnson and his Hive Dwellers there are two chances in the NYC area:

Apr 17, 2009 – New York City, New York
92Y Tribeca – (as The Hive Dwellers) w/ Chain and The Gang, City Center

Apr 26, 2009 – Brooklyn, New York
Market Hotel – (as The Hive Dwellers) Chain & the Gang , Mahjongg

And if you didn’t notice: Mahjongg (also of K Records) will be opening the Market Hotel show on the 26 of April!

Both of these shows should be super fun, and the line ups can’t get much better.  For the rest of the Hive Dwellers and Chain and the Gang’s tour dates check out the K Records tour page.

Gothamist just did a very entertaining interview with Calvin too…check it out here.

The Hive Dwellers will prove to be more rocking than some of Calvin’s more mellow solo stuff, but I found this recording of Calvin Johnson and Julie Doiron preforming the Halo Benders’ “Lonesome Sundown” and it’s just too good not to post!

[mp3] Calvin Johnson & Julie Doiron- “Lonesome Sundown” (Halo Benders cover) (via Gorilla Vs Bear) (well it’s not really a cover since Calvin sang on the original, but buy the original version here)

[mp3] Calvin Johnson- “I’m Down” (off of Before the Dream Faded) (Buy it!)

On a side note Julie Doiron will be in town next weekend…I should have a post up about her shows on Monday or Tuesday.

Photo of Calvin Johnson by Hillary Harris (via krecs.com).