The Hippodrome

Double Dragons are a duo from Exeter, New Hampshire, composed of Peter James and Josh Picard, childhood neighbors. Starting as a crude Hella tribute band, DD has evolved into a noisy and technical (but still concise) band that hasn’t had alot of opportunity to play live due to its members being in different states.

But when they do play live, DD is wonderfully true to the recordings. “Four” is the most popular track, managing to still be catchy despite its machine gun flurry of scales and snare rolls. Most DD tracks manage this same feat, making the experience far more than a demonstration of virtuosity.

Tours and future plans are up in the air, but a strong childhood foundation makes a DD breakup unlikely. So write Marnie Stern an email now and tell her you got her next tour opener.

Audio: 4
Audio: 8
Audio: 5c

Hi friends,

I want to apologize for the lack of updates lately. For the first time in the ‘Drome’s history, it’s because I’m behind in writing, not behind in finding awesome bands to write up. The reasons for this, however, are good ones. I’m working hard to establish a sustainable promotions and consulting company with an associate who I met in my Calabash days, Erich Ludwig. For our first set of promotions, we have the honor of working for Boban Markovic, a Serbian master, who not only influenced Beruit to no end, but is playing at the Pitchfork Music Festival next month.

The other exciting thing in my online life is the launch of Snack You Silly, a snackfood review site that I co-founded along with Zvi Finklestein of Saving Progress and Kyle Wallace of TMT/Deez Peanuts/Smor.es We’ve gotten a great response so far, and I’d welcome any more feedback. I think the site stems from all of us being a bit fed up with the inanities of online media, and poking fun at all of it through something as non-elitist as possible… snacking. The humor’s already been lost on quite a few people (the SU rating on the McCain Snack Article was poor), but we’re confident in its appeal.

So that’s my bit, but musically, don’t despair. Later today I’ll have an exclusive feature from the two and only Double Dragons, one of the best math/hardcore duos I’ve heard in ages. See y’all soon!

Dinowalrus is a band that somehow lives up to its name. A three piece, their music finds freshness in its combination of 80s rock, punk, and drone, which is fairly astounding considering their locale, Brooklyn. To keep it even fresher, the band drastically mixes up instrumentation live.

DW uses all the fun new stuff (sampler, Theremin, etc.) in their tunes pretty convincingly, and reports their ownership of a “1983 Roland analogue synth named ‘Marc Bolan’”. The band has played with some underground hotshots; Titus Andronicus, Michael Jordan, and Ringo Deathstarr to name just a few.

They’ve also landed a show with Ponytail this Saturday at the Music Hall in Williamsburg, as a part of the After The Jump Festival.

Audio: Duke Nuke ‘Em
Audio: Bead

A federal court judge ruled on Friday that selling promotional CDs, even when they’re marked “not for resale” by the label, is legal. The judge rightly affirmed the fact that a company can’t throw a restriction on a product to prevent the first-sale doctrine; that is, that once one assumes ownership of a product, that person may do with it what they please.

Obviously a big victory for the consumer, it’s hard to ignore what this means for the future of the CD. Selling CDs has already become a joke… last year, Wired pointed out that to sell CDs in states like Florida and Utah, you now need to be fingerprinted and present your driver’s license. Why? Because the RIAA’s boiler is slowly exploding.

I’m curious to see how CD stores react to this. Everyone sees promos on ebay and used bins anyway, but can I really sell all these promos at the record store counter now? Is it even worth the gas money I spend driving there? I’m guessing that it’s probably not, but nonetheless, this is a good piece of news for the music industry.

Lady Lovelace and the Calculator Death Machine, the duo now turned three piece, are about to release their new album Music for Two Musicians. David Kant, singer and multi-instrumentalist, tells me that the new project is “one large piece. So, in that sense, it’s not really an album at all. The album is divided into sections where new ideas emerge and where we thought track breaks would be convenient.”

Performing live, Lady Lovelace is a surprisingly dense experience, showcasing Charysse Redwood’s hard hitting drum beats and percussion behind Kant’s frantic sampling, saxophone playing, and guitar noise. Echoes of free jazz and folk rock are the biggest underlying themes, at least to most ears.

These new recordings are surprisingly similar to the live sound, and they no doubt show a rare attention to detail, which is especially impressive considering the improvisatory nature of the compositions’ formation. The whole album can be streamed on their MySpace, but Parts V and VI can be downloaded here, and only here my friends.

Audio: Part V
Audio: Part VI