BLOG: Ratatat brings the heat on new LP while Sunn O))) freezes in listeners

Notes from the Underground

By Aaron Vilk, Blogger

October 8, 2008 | 6 a.m.

In the past week, the temperature in Athens has fluctuated from sweltering to near freezing, having had an adverse and unpredictable effect on my disposition. In the constant search for music to compliment my mood, I have stumbled upon two new releases that capture the meteorological schizophrenia of autumn in Athens.

Ratatat – LP3 (XL Recordings)
Rating: 8 out of 10

Despite being featured in popular indie-rock outlets like Pitchfork, Ratatat is a band I’ve never really checked out, wrongly considering it to be a knockoff of Tortoise, a band that has never really rubbed me the right way. On a whim though, I decided to educate myself by giving a listen to LP3, the newest offering from the duo of Evan Mast and Mike Stroud that was recently released on XL Recordings.

Half-expecting to hear bland post-rock with a hint of electro in the mix, I was pleasantly surprised with what I heard. LP3 is filled with washes of vintage keyboards (I heard a Fender Rhodes piano, a Hammond organ and a Mellotron in the first ten minutes of the album) and harmonized guitar lines set to electro-rock beats. In fact, many of the songs on LP3 recall the intricate keyboard and guitar interplay of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis melded with the electro sensibilities of Justice.

The Ratatat duo explores several different musical styles on their new album. The band draws influence from '70s disco, Latin salsa music and Eastern raga-rock, resulting in an exotic, almost tropical feeling that radiates the warmth of a summer day spent along the equator, even as the temperature drops. My one issue is that the album drags on too long after the first 10 songs, leaving me a bit fatigued for the remaining five. Other than that, Ratatat’s LP3 is a pleasant listening experience that features highly technical instrumentation that both ravers and musicians are sure to appreciate.

Ratatat: Mirando

Sunn O))): Dømkirke (Southern Lord)
Rating: 9 out of 10

Whereas Ratatat’s signature sound is baked by the warm sun and cooled by tropical breezes, Sunn O)))’s sound on its newest live album, Dømkirke, is frozen under mile-thick layers of permafrost and bathed in perpetual darkness. On this vinyl-only release from Southern Lord Records, the Sunn O))) members have documented their pilgrimage to Bergen, Norway, a centuries-old city that gained infamy in the early 1990s as the epicenter for a rash of church arsons who were committed by members of many prominent Norwegian black metal bands.

Recorded on the altar of a cathedral in Bergen, Dømkirke features the duo of Stephen O’Malley (member of over a dozen side projects such as Khanate, KTL and Gravetemple) and Greg Anderson (member of Goatsnake, Burial Chamber Trio and others, as well as the owner of Southern Lord Records), joined for this show by frequent guest vocalist Attila Csihar, electronic musician Lasse Marhaug and keyboardist/trombonist Steve Moore on pipe organ.

Dømkirke is intense. There’s no other way to describe it. Clocking in at just under an hour, the four sides of this double LP are chock full of bombastic pipe organ, operatic chanting from Csihar and crushing drone from O’Malley and Anderson. The only thing worth noting is that the recording, at times, sounds a bit more tinny than I would have preferred, though this may be due to the quality of the vinyl rip I listened to. Despite that minor fault, Dømkirke is an intense listening experience that showcases the atmospheric talent of Sunn O))) and its rotating cast of guest musicians. I can hardly wait to hear a new studio recording, which will hopefully include the expanded lineup.

Sunn O))): Live in Berlin:

Show Preview: Donner Party Dinner Party, The Francis Bacon Band, Bobb Hatt, Dead Winds of Summer and Nyodene D at 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9 at the Beaver Ranch

Between the blossoming of the DIY scene and the recent press that some bands have received in other campus news outlets, the experimental music scene in Athens has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity. With nearly a dozen local noise acts actively playing out in the area, rarely does a week pass without a show featuring local and traveling acts.

This week, the doors of the Beaver Ranch (40 1⁄2 Smith St.) will be flung wide open for a showcase of local noise acts. Beaver Ranch resident Bobb Hatt will be performing, making use of microphones, effects pedals and perhaps a saxophone for his brand of harsh noise. Donner Party Dinner Party will also play, adding new material to its high-energy set. Andrew Lampela, the manager at Haffa’s Records and a fixture in the experimental music scene, will be performing as Dead Winds of Summer, one of his seven musical projects.

Also contributing sets are Columbus-based group the Francis Bacon Band, Chris Dodd performing as Metal Flesh from Bangladesh and yours truly, under the name Nyodene D (this is the last time I promote my own band in this blog). Come get acquainted with the diverse experimental music scene in Athens and broaden your musical horizons.

Bobb Hatt
Donner Party Dinner Party
Dead Winds of Summer
Nyodene D

That’s all for now. Next week, I’ll be dedicating my column to reviewing new releases from local experimental acts, including Godversussatan, Donner Party Dinner Party, Mark McGuire, Foothills and Weighted Ghost.

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