Showing posts with label the found. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the found. Show all posts


Tonight: The Found & White Bison CD Release/Final Show


'Tis a wee bit of a somber day here in Buffalo; for the incredible local rock outfits of not just The Found, but also White Bison, shall be in a state of permanent hiatus upon the point which these two harbingers of sweet, sweet rock n' roll leave the stage at Mohawk Place tonight (probably early tomorrow morning, in all likelihood).  It is at that time that Buffalo will get a little lighter... a little more scissor-sy... a little more lacking in the heavy rock department.

...But of course, the world keeps turning and the opportunity will prevent itself for some currently unknown troupe of miscreants to grab that Olympic torch o rock being passed around Buffalo, slap some guitar strings on it, and show us what they've got.

For now, however, you should be concerned about the events for this evening.  I have seen both these bands several times, and all whimsical writing aside, they are an absolute pleasure to see.  It would behoove you to see what these two bands are all about, as tonight will be your last chance before you become like my friend who never made it to a Chylde show and now kicks himself every time he hears them on my iPod.

What can I tell you about these two bands... well for starters, both The Found and White Bison have their origins in Buffalo, NY.  The Found employs an organ-heavy, grimy, slightly psychedelic, blues-soaked sound of the classic rock powerhouses of the mid-to-late 1960s.  Their sound is further rounded out and made complete by having a rhythm section that includes not only a drum kit, but also various other forms of percussion, as well as, soulful vocal melodies.  White Bison is a three-piece powerhouse of heavy rock that will have you bobbing your head and pumping your fist in the air within moments of launching into a song.  They are also quite proficient at slowing it down and laying a smoky, mystical, jam on you.

Of particular note, The Found will be releasing their fourth album on this night.  Word on the street is that their supply of CDs is expected to be exhausted tonight, so this is your chance to be one of a select group that get a hard copy of what is sure to be another great album by The Found.

Head out to Mohawk Place this evening and help make Ben Hayes (drummer of both bands) last* [never say never] show in Buffalo a great one.

Rochester-based Velvet Elvis, will be opening the evening with their own brand of smoke-filled, hard rock.  If you're familiar with the other bands playing tonight you'll love these guys too... if you're familiar with the other bands playing tonight, however, you've probably already seen Velvet Elvis and agree that they also kick some ass.

I couldn't find exact info on cover for tonight but I would assume $5 to be accurate.

The show starts at 10pm
(which is awesome because some people, like myself, have to work until 9:30).

Toss on a band t-shirt and rock n' roll tonight, it should be a spectacle.







Drew Kline


Farewell: The Found/White Bison



Question. What do you get when you cross Ian Paice, Levon Helm, and Bobby Caldwell?

Answer?

I don't know; three dudes can't make a baby; that's not how it works. You need, like, a Fallopian tube or something. But, HEY totally different subject, speaking of drummers, Ben Hayes is a drummer. He plays in some bands around town – some real, real good ones, you can bet your life savings, and 1) I've never heard the man hit an off note in any of the countless shows I've seen him perform, and 2) he's peacing the F out of town.

Hayes's been at the proverbial brass-and-skin helm of prog-funk powerhouse The Found for a handful of years. More recently, he's served as the backbone for White Bison, a local Moody Blues-meets-Mars Volta three/four-piece. But according to a Found press release, both bands are now up in the indefinite-hiatus air, as Mr. Hayes will be leaving Buffalo for greener pastures in a few short weeks. As a result: Both White Bison and The Found will be playing a couple of farewell performances in the area, culminating in a joint send-off from Mohawk Place on Friday, July 27. Meaning: keep an eye out for listings for either group and check them out now, ASAP, This Summer, or you'll've missed out on a rare confluence of unmitigated talent.

(If you don't have a ton of minutes to spare, slide over to the 4:00 minute mark on this for some solid, solid drummanship:)




steve gordon


Tonight: The Found, Bearhunter, & Sleepy Hahas


Nietzsche's. Rock. Tonight.

The lineup of bands playing at Nietzsche's this evening should easily be enough to erase the question mark bouncing around the inner walls of your skull, clouding your mind, and making you unsure of what your plans for the evening are.

You've got The Found.
You've got Bearhunter.
You've got Sleepy Hahas.

You've got a plan and a half to toss back a six-pack of M. Lite Shyamalan's and rage it up on Allen Street...

...and that's a good plan!

All three bands share the common denominator of being influenced by psychedelia.  From there, however, each band strikes out in their own unique direction and, ultimately, stakes a claim on their individual plots on the map of rock.

I could tell you about the driving percussive force behind The Found, or the fuzzed-out riffs of Bearhunter, or even the impressive way Sleepy Hahas keys and guitar play off one another... but I think you should just take a listen to each band instead.  Show begins at 9:30pm.





Drew Kline


Best of 2011 Staff Picks: Steven


Favorite Album of 2011

Thee Oh Sees – CastlemaniaThere are so many good things about Thee Oh Sees: an insane rate of musical output, notorious live performances, profoundly debauched aesthetics, and a propensity for gradual innovation despite inherent stylistic simplicity. The group started a decade or so ago as the artistic vehicle for guitarist/vocalist/flutist John Dwyer. As the full group slowly solidified, they became a wailing, garage-psych powerhouse, leveling both the strongest of minds and the dingiest of dives. A predominantly solo effort from Dwyer, Castlemania was only the first of two full-lengths Thee Oh Sees released in 2011. But it reminded us that, one: you don't have to be into grindcore to appreciate grotesque, green monster album art motifs; and two: Dwyer can write some catchy, bad-trip pop, even if the rest of the OCs aren't around.




Honorable Mention

The Found - III: I had wanted to avoid local shout-outs, because there are some dope local acts that could easily dominate this list. I really spent more time attending local shows and listening to Buffalo records this year than national ones, and among the many highlights was The Found's third record, released a few months back. Each member of this band might be the city's nastiest at their respective instruments, and this 17-track helping of funk-infused power prog is so head-bending... listening to it is like finding out Iron Butterfly is your real father. All the members. You know what I mean.

Walking on Fire by thefoundsound


Favorite Song of 2011


“Witchhunt Suite for WWIII” by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti I sorta feel like it's cheating to pick “Witchhunt Suite” as my favorite “song” of 2011. For one, the track is just a revisit of a 2006 basement tape. Second, it's more of a sixteen-minute opus than a song. But even the artist's apex release, 2010's Before Today, was primarily a full-band rehashing of Pink's earlier solo recordings – even the single “Round and Round” was just an updated treatment of the old demo “Frontman/ Hold On (I'm Calling).” “Witchhunt Suite” is an allzu-Americana-impaired reflection on our post-9/11, collective brain damage, framed within a disfiguring mirror of hyper-media saturation in The West's Consumerist, Late 20th Century Zenith. And how can you do that in under fifteen minutes? ...Call a sitter right now and watch the video to see what I mean.


Honorable Mention

"Shut Up" by Jhameel: A fellow buffaBLOGGER brought this joint to my attention over the summer, and all of my mixtapes were forever changed. With its sturdy disco beat, catchy hooks, and that gnarly Jhameel scream, I haven't been able to find a body that won't start involuntarily dancing to this jam.

Shut Up by jhameel


Favorite Show of 2011


Purity Ring, Love Scenes, Early Attic at Mohawk Place (August 23, 2011): I'd hated hard on this band for a while before the Mohawk Place show. With a half-million Soundcloud hits and a bevy of blog-love before they ever even performed, I figured Purity Ring was all hype and I planned to just sit this one out. But when they started their Mohawk Place set, I ate my own words. Heavy glitch beats, devastating lights, and banter that grounded the experience with an integral, saccharine innocence. Even if Corin Roddick's light-bulb-and-pipe “device” didn't actually generate sound – and was just for looks as I semi-suspect – it was still an impressive, compelling show. Support from local pop duo Love Scenes was an adept pairing, but I missed Early Attic's opening set, because, for once, a Buffalo show started on time.



Honorable Mention:


Laughing Eye Weeping Eye, Cinnamon Aluminum, YesYes HeavenTongue at Soundlab (June 11, 2011): This show reminded me of why I first fell in love with Soundlab; suspiciously low turnouts, uncomfortably open-minded vibes, and deeply unsettling music projects make for a perfect hotbed of weirdness. LEWE stranged things up with their circuit-bending chant opera, followed by an acoustic set by rapid-fire poet YesYes, who was surrounded by a cult of vocal accompanists, and the night ended with the synth-jungle trio Cinnamon Aluminum, who were joined by friends for a rousing set of brain-scraping pop. Afterwards, I felt as though I'd beheld the maddening machinations of Nyarlathotep, and spilled, with a newfound schizophrenia, out into the yawning mouth of oblivion that is the Buffalo streets.

Moksha by YesYesMichaelErsing


steve gordon