Top 10 sonic experiences at ATP/NY 2009
#10 – Black Dice
hemorrhaging 21 Hz bass notes never felt so good…it was a surreal moment to get a massage from the Mobile Massage lass at the back of the room, to work the kinks out of my back caused by constantly lugging around a 25 lb bag of camera gear.
#9 – Suicide
As Martin Rev kneaded diseased bass notes out of his vintage synth, a water bottle slowly samba’d its way across the stage.
#8 – Marshall Allen
As one 16th of the massively impressive Caribou Vibration Ensemble, Marshall managed to bring an excellent and humorous close to the suite with a wry, quiet solo. It was great to see a living legend still doing what he does best.
#7 – Panda Bear
Though I’m not a huge fan of his music, the digital bass reached DEEP into yr pores and sounded pretty fantastic over a good system.
#6 – The Jesus Lizard
While most of the attention was cast towards the stage-diving antics of David Yow, David William Sims plays his Fender bass like he’s wrestling w/ a python, and winning. Fantastic sound.
#5 –
The twin poundings of Dale Crover and Coady Wilson could calibrate swiss watches.
#4 – Shellac
Most people aren’t as particular to the sound they create as Steve Albini, Todd Trainer and Bob Weston are. They make their own amplifiers, and use Travis Bean guitars and basses. They are professional recording people, they know what they want to hear and how to produce it. It’s a glorious racket indeed.
#3 – No Age with Bob Mould
How great is it to hear Hüsker Dü songs again? Yeah, that good. Mould’s band has pulled out the random ‘Celebrated Summer’ and ‘Divide and Conquer’ but hearing ‘Something I Learned Today’ made the hair on my neck stand up so far it would have given Telly Savalas a combover. Intense.
#2 – Boredoms
If you’ve never heard nine of the finest drummers in the world hitting the absolute skins off of their drum heads in perfect unison, well…you’ve not seen Boadrum 9. Religious? Yes.
#1 – Boris
Feedbacker is a singular item in their fairly prodigious discography, and to see it performed live, the way they did it, was totally mind-blowing. Intense, emotional, cathartic…all the things I look for in music. Thank you, Wata, Takeshi, Atsuo and Michio. Best moment of the year right there.
