These Are Powers: Missoula-bound, March 6.

Shuuuuucks, yes! On March 6th, the noise-punk power-vessel of (somewhat unterrifically named) Brooklyn rockers These Are Powers docks at Missoula's ZACC Basement, 235 N. 1st West. If you wanna hear what the ruckus is about, head over to theirspace or listen to Missoula's only source of loud, wild rock and roll. 'BGA, 89.9 FM! Pat Noecker, who formerly bassed-0ut for the Liars, is the slightly balding fellow on thunder broom in the band photo.

The show's all-ages-welcome, $5 and music of this quality's a rare site this time o' year. Bridgebuilder, Knot Knocked Up, Deny the Dinosaur and Electric Dandelion apply the localism.

LUX INTERIOR, WE HARDLY KNEW YE.

Pitchforkmedia.com reports that Cramps front-fellow and punk-forebro has passed on to the great sleazy punk club in the sky.

KBGA tips its cap, pours brew onto curb, and sheds a collective tear for Lux, our hearts go out to Poison Ivy and the rest of Lux's family and friends.

From a slightly more positive note: MAKE A DONATION TO KBGA 89.9 FM THIS WEEK! YOU CAN DO IT! 406-243-5242 IS THE NUMBER!

RADIOTHON 2009!

KBGA's annual fundraiser is a nearly upon us! This February 2nd-8th, KBGA is calling on you for your financial support. The goal is just $10,000. Local businesses have offered some awesome premiums, and we'll have logo'd shirts, pint glasses and more sweeeet, sweeet swag for donors. In addition, KBGA's assistant MDs are all donating a mix CD of their favorite new tunes.

Once the week's wrapped up, we'll comemorate the end of what we hope is the most successful 'Thon on record, we'll be hosting KBGA's annual:

End-of-Thon

Like a wandering, musical horde, KBGA party people will be taking over the whole Badlander Compound for the End-of-Thon 2009 party.

Saturday February 7th 2009

Theme: Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWeezUxIzaE)

Doors @ 8 PM; Show 9 PM

$5 for 7 bands and 5 DJs!

At the BADLANDER, in order of appearance:

Streetlight People (Msla) www.myspace.com/streetlightpeople08

March of the Black Queen (Msla) www.myspace.com/marchoftheblackqueen

Rooster Sauce (Msla) www.myspace.com/roostersauceband

Ze Krau (Spokane) www.myspace.com/zekrau

Thank you, fair listener-supporter!

A Fresh Dose of Baltic-Sad Wave: Bērnības Milicija From the part of the world that nurtured artistic luminaries like Sergei Eisenstein, Alexander Pushkin and Karlis Padēgs comes a young, new band hardly old enough to remember the tail end of the Soviet Union. Latvia is a small country bordered by Lithuania, Estonia and Belarus. It's got ever so slightly more ethnic Latvians than it does Russians, and it regained it's independence in 1992 when the Soviet Union collapsed. Bērnības Milicija -sounds like "bear-knee-bus meeleet-see-yuh," means childhood militia- is a band from Riga (Latvia's capitol) and they play music that sounds like a combination foreign language Joy Division, Gypsy subway-tunnel accordion wail, and late 80's Russian underground rock. To me, what's extremely special about Bērnības Milicija's music is that it continues the sad, dark, and utterly creative tradition of Soviet-Russian Leningrad supergroup Kino, or perhaps a better example is, Yanka Dyagileva. If you're unfamiliar with those two folks and consider yourself a conniseur of underground music from around the world, I recommend listening to Brian Turner's recent show, on which Kevin Pink Reason played a bunch of excellent Russian underground music. Speaking of WFMU, Bernibas Milicija has been getting some air time from that excellent outfit, in addition to KBGA.

Bernibas Milicija have got a new record called Nakti Gulot Uz Muguras which, like their debut Mūzika Dejām (Dance Music) was released by long-standing Riga label: Tornis Records.
While you're exploring that, there's a pretty solid handful of excellent Latvian music to be had from Tornis, which is also responsible for an excellent handful of 90's and 00's vintage stuff from all kinds of weird, obscure and excellent bands. Start by checking out Kartaga, Plastalins, Sarkanais Oktobris, Sirke and Voiceks! Inokentijs Marpls and Skyforger aren't directly associated with Tornis, but they make great music and are Latvians as well. If you'd like to go back further into the deep well of , search around for NSRD and Dzeltenie Pastnieki.

Travis Waves Goodbye to 2008 with his Top 10

(in no particular order)

Thee Oh Sees- The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending A Night In / For a couple of years now I’ve paid very close attention to all John Dwyer’s projects (all six of ‘em) but Thee Oh See’s have always been my favorite. It started as a lo-fi bedroom experiment that morphed into a full on garage-psych explosion. The Master’s Bedroom is full of catchy tunes that stay in your head all day, hell, all year. Can’t wait for whatever Dwyer has planned for 2009.



Eddy Current Suppression Ring- Primary Colours/ Literally the first time I heard this album I knew it was going to be on my end of year top ten. ECSR blend post-punk, proto punk, and pub rock influences into ten brilliantly crafted songs. For my money these Aussie boys created one of the best and unassuming albums of 2008.





Deerhunter-Microcastle/ This album was less weird and experimental than 2007’s “Cryptograms” which I thought was a good thing. I always thought “Cryptograms” was a good album but it will remain one that I have to be in the “mood” to pick up and listen to. Microcastle on the other hand is an album that I enjoy listening to straight through. I truly believe this is the bands best work thus far.




Ten Kens- Ten Kens/ It’s interesting to hear bands debut albums because I always get the feeling the band has been working on the songs for a couple of years and are trying to grapple all of their different influences. This causes each song to sound completely different than the one before. Sometimes this makes for disheveled listen but in the case of Ten Kens we get eleven songs of “where the hell did these guy’s come from”. This shit is excellent.



Endless Boogie- Focus Level/ Top Ten of a Top Ten of why I love Endless Boogie:
1.) The band is named after a 1971 John Lee Hooker Album.
2.) Band members go by Top Dollar, Grease Control, The Governor, and Memories from Reno
3.) Top Dollar rocks the Cat Power haircut with a crusty goatee.
4.) Endless Boogie is all of the members hobby, two work for Matador records The other two at record stores.
5.) They will play for free if you ask them.
6.) Average song on Focus Level clock in at 7minutes of pure psych/ metal/classic rock/blues jams, full of riffs that melt faces into pudding.
7.) Have songs called Low Lifes, Smoking Figs in the Back Yard and Jammin’ With Top Dollar.
8.) The combined age of the band is 169, but rock harder than any band with a combined age of 80.
9.) List influences as ZZ Top and Canned Heat.
10.) Oh yeah, did I mention they fuckin’ slay!!!!


Blood on the Wall- Liferz/Brother and sister Brad and Courtney Shanks share leads vocal duties once again for their third full-length. Blood on the Wall keep a mid-west honesty to their music. The tunes balance humor along with insanity and the Shanks male/female vocals kind of remind me of Frank Black and Kim Deal.





Flat Duo Jets-Two Headed Cow/ This is the soundtrack to a documentary that was done on the duo. No new material but a lot of live and different versions of songs. The Duo Jets are pure energy and the intro to the album sums up pretty much what you’re going to get for the next 70 minuets.






Black Mountain- In the Future/ In the Future is a far-out adventure that makes me want to hang out in my moms basement and smoke weed for seven days straight, drink high-life and play Atari. This was one of my most anticipated albums of 2008 and it didn’t disappoint.






Religious Knives- The Door/ Bands that start out as side-projects and morph into main projects 80% of the time kick ass. Maybe it’s because the band members have the freedom to try new things that they wouldn’t normally try and then they realize just how great it is. This is proven with Religious Knives, started as a side-project of Maya Miller and Michael Bernstein of Double Leopards the band creates complex garage-psych songs that are downright amazing.



Thomas Function-Celebration!/ I can finally say I love something from Alabama. Thomas Function is not one person but instead four gentlemen that constructed some of the catchiest tunes of 2008. Tracks like Relentless Machines and 2012 Blues are the type of songs that get tattooed into your brain causing you to sing, hum, or whistle them for weeks.

Top Ten 2008 Shows I saw in Missoula:

1. The Dodos
2. Monotonix
3. Dirtbombs
4. Thee Oh Sees
5. Blood on the Wall
6. Black Diamond Heavies
7. Ponytail
8. The Sword
9. Wilco
10. Blitzen Trapper

Eddy Current Supression Ring:

COMPACT AUSTRALIAN-PUNK.
There are a couple of things to immediately like about the Eddy Current Suppression Ring: 1) they formed on sort of a lark, to play some music for the Christmas party at the record pressing plant where they all work; 2) the singer has a vocal delivery sort of reminiscent of one of my favorite rock and roll singers, Bon Scott; and 3) their songs are short, neat packages of well-constructed rock and roll music.

Sounds like a kind of clinical examination of what's more of a visceral thing... I really like this band for some reason, and like most good things, I'm not positive why. Something about the challenge of writing an entire album that does its job well in about a half hour, and that leaves you singing songs like My Ego Got the Best of Me. I hear all sorts of power pop and proto-punk goo all over the place. Stuff like the Celibate Rifles, Replacements, the Real Kids, and the Jam all come to mind.

Their wikipedia entry tells the story, and lists their discography. Domestically, the Goner record label has just released their Primary Colors record.
Thanks to Goner and the band for getting us both their debut CD, and their most recent release! Both are excellent examples of modern rock and roll played with an ear for the best of the past. Terminal Boredom did an interview with them after their 2007 U.S. tour, you can find that here.

Other things in the KBGA new pile of note: Quintron: Too Thirsty 4 Love, Usaismonster: Space Programs, Pierced Arrows: Straight to the Heart and the Paranoia 7", Touchers: Blithe

We'll be asking for your support for KBGA this January during our annual RadioThon. Talk to you soon--

Fun fact: Speaking of Australia, and its people: the word "aussie" sounds like "ozzy", not "ossy".

Josh

AIDS WOLF: NAKED ART-JAZZ CANUCKS ATTACK MISSOULA WED. NOV. 26TH
Montreal, Quebec may be better known for the ponderous meanderings of Godspeed You Black Emperor, or the sappy pop of the Unicorns, but for my money, AIDS Wolf get to wear the weirdo crown. In a world where being indie/alternative/punk generally means structuring most all of your music in the standard way that it's been done for the past 60 or so years (blues-based, 4/4 time, etc.), a band that just gets up and beats the shit out of their gear, has a good participatory time, and makes you think is a refreshing change. Speaking of refreshing, judging from the photos of the band (when you google image search) AIDS Wolf seem essentially uncool with clothing.

Amusical music? Free jazz punk? Spazz rock? Not sure.
Compelling, wild and great: Check.

The show's officially free, but as you might imagine, gasoline and food still aren't giving themselves away, so bring along a couple dollars to pitch their way.

If you're into comparisons, I get reminded of Arab on Radar (interestingly another Skin Graft outfit) and lots of the more driving no-wave from the Early '80's.