who would have thought that a two-piece band featuring a live harp and bass player would be one of the more impressive shows i’ve seen in a long time. on monday night i discovered a great new band called active child opening for school of seven bells. i first heard school of seven bells opening up for m83, so i had a feeling their opening band would be worth checking out as well. i was not let down!

active child is the project of “choirboy-turned-indie pop musician” pat grossi. they play music that sounds like old 80s movie soundtracks, riding the line between dancey and atmospheric. pat’s falsetto vocals were very compelling and at times reminiscent of bon iver or antony and the johnsons. other songs were more in line with old crowded house or joy division, like on their amazing cover of ceremony, a highlight of the night. you can get their debut ep from their website for super cheap or on 10″ white vinyl! it’s totally worth grabbing.

after reading more about active child, i realized i am not alone in thinking they are awesome. npr, pitchfork, and stereogum have already featured these guys.

school of seven bells were very impressive as well! i had talked up the twin sister singers to a friend before the show and was surprised to only find one up on stage. i didn’t realize until after the show that claudia, one of the sisters, had left the band a week before. besides a couple of songs though, you wouldn’t have even noticed. although i definitely would have preferred the dueling female vocals, they still rocked live and filled in the gaps quite well. they played all of the hits i wanted to hear from both of their albums and their encore sounded like a classic mogwai concert with the distortion levels cranked to deafening volumes.

– ryan

i had a ton of fun at the recent best coast & cults show at the drunken unicorn. the opening band cults only have a 7″ out, but it’s extremely catchy and they were great live. their song go outside was the highlight of my night.

best coast was also a blast! bethany, the singer/songwriter, was very natural on stage and created a fun vibe throughout the evening. their songs packed way more punch live then they do on the album.

you can download the digital version of cults s/t 7″ here. it’s awesome, so go and grab it!

– ryan

we had a great time at the pavement reunion show last week at the the tabernacle. they played all the hits from their entire catalog and sounded amazing!

– ryan

we have a new upcoming concerts section on our blog! here you’ll find a comprehensive list of shows worth checking out at the various venues in and around atlanta. no more flipping through a bunch of weeklies and websites to find out what good concerts are around the corner. this is your one stop shop! the upcoming concerts button can be found on the top left of our site under contact.

there are some great shows on the horizon. we are excited about dom, who opens for ratatat at the the masquerade, best coast at the drunken unicorn, lcd sound system & sleigh bells at the the tabernacle, and the classic lineup of guided by voices playing their only southeast reunion show at the the buckhead theatre. here are some other great shows that aren’t sold out yet:

best coast – fri, sep 10th – drunken unicorn – $12 – 9pm – tickets

titus andronicus – mon, sep 20th – the earl – $10 – 9pm – tickets

jamie lidell – wed, sep 22nd – the earl – $15 – 9pm – tickets

wavves – thur, sep 30th – drunken unicorn – $10 – 9pm – tickets

ratatat & dom – fri, oct 1st – the masquerade – $20 – 8pm – tickets

lcd sound system & sleigh bells – wed, oct 6th – the tabernacle – $32 – 8pm – tickets

school of seven bells – mon, oct 18th – the earl – $12 – 9pm – tickets

guided by voices – sat, oct 23th – the buckhead theatre – $26.50 – 9pm – tickets

– ryan

we really enjoyed the ola podrida show last wednesday night at the drunken unicorn! they played a steady stream of hits from their two albums and left you wanting more. seeing the songs played by a full band was great as well, we had only seen david wingo play solo before. with a full array of instruments, the songs were loud and rocking. highlights were jordanna, your father’s basement, and cindy, which closed the night.

i picked up belly of the lion on soda bottle colored vinyl and also grabbed a cool split 7″ ola podrida put out with xoxo panda, aka her space holiday. the packaging for the split 7″ is really amazing, plus it’s on blue and white swirled vinyl. order the belly of the lion vinyl here before they are all gone, only 250 were pressed.

listen to some ola podrida songs on their myspace page.

– ryan & gub

we wanted to remind you that ola podrida is playing tonight in atlanta at the drunken unicorn. entry is $8 and the doors open at 9 pm with ola podrida playing at 11:30 pm. you don’t want to miss this show!

– ryan & gub

we are very excited about the ola podrida show at the drunken unicorn on july 21st in atlanta. our friend craig first introduced us to david wingo, singer/songwriter of ola podrida, after they met through mutual friends at film school. david has created the musical score for several great films, including george washington, all the real girls and great world of sound. he released his debut album, ola podrida, in 2007. we brought david to georgia to play at the hand.craft.it festival we curated a couple of years ago. we loved his performance and look forward to seeing him play with a full band.

now based in austin via new york, ola podrida’s latest album is called belly of the lion. u.s. tour dates include andrew kenny (american analog set) on bass, david hobizol on drums and colin swietek on guitar.

tickets can be purchased here for the atlanta show.

ola podrida will also be playing at cine in athens on july 20th. there’s a good article in this week’s flagpole.

– ryan & gub

we went to see sleigh bells last night at vinyl in atlanta. their live show definitely lived up to the hype; it was insanely loud with lots of strobe lights and arms/iphones up in the air. to say the least, we had a lot of fun! alexis, the female lead singer, sang from the audience at times and had the crowd singing along on other hits. there was lots of dancing and everyone seemed to know all of the lyrics. highlights were rill rill, crown on the ground and a/b machines.

i picked up sleigh bells debut album treats on picture disc vinyl at the show. it is really awesome!

– ryan