“Paradox seems to be a central part of the band’s existence, a marriage between lyrics that extol and refute the values of love, and melodies that both snarl and sigh. Tonight there’s a good mix of all sides of the band’s work, with an extended instrumental section allowing the band to rock out at the end of the show. Unfortunately the projections which featured during the first few songs quickly fell victim to technical failure, so Cambridge doesn’t receive the full APTBS treatment; however it’s a good show for all. The new tunes don’t have the epic attraction of the old ones yet, but they’re far from bad and the performance simply sucks you in.”
APTBS (shortened) are from Brooklyn. Easy. A classic of present times.
Oliver Ackermann leads the band. He takes guitar and vocal duties but it’s definitely the axe he is in love with.
On the absolutely stunning Exploding Head, the trio of singer/guitarist, Oliver Ackermann, bassist, Jono MOFO, and drummer, Jay Space realize their full potential.
NY trio, A Place To Bury Strangers lives up to their ominous name with a noise-rock sound delivered behind a thicket of distortion and feedback on their sophomore album. Reared on a diet of Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, the ragged, growling riffs and propulsive beats of tracks like “It Is Nothing” are even more unsettling with the emotionless vocals of Oliver Ackermann methodically creeping their way through it all. They live up to their reputation as ‘New York City’s loudest band’ here with an aggressive kick to your ears
The video is hazy and the sounds is brilliant, three men over taken by there shadows crank out some of the best shoegazer space rock I have heard in forever.
“Brooklyn’s A Place To Bury Strangers have developed quite a bit of notoriety for the volume of their shows, which they happily hint at it themselves. Their new album is aptly titled Exploding Head. Their effects are created by frontman Oliver Ackermann’s pedal company, Death By Audio. A favourite pedal is called Total Sonic Annihilation. You see where we’re going with this?”
“Speaking about the single, singer Oliver Ackermann said: “’Keep Slipping Away’, was a lead line I had going through my head for a couple of days. It took me a while to figure out exactly how it was played, but the melody is pretty much the same as what I first heard in my head.”
“A Place To Bury Strangers
Interview Audio: A Place To Bury Strangers Interview. Oliver from New York residents A Place To Bury Strangers chatted to Tom before the Nottingham leg of their European tour at the Bodega.”
“It’s something you’re either going to love or hate but I happen to fall into the former category. Their performance was enhanced by trippy lighting that projected patterned light on the entire band making it an extremely stimulating aural and visual experience.”
“After exchanging pleasantries with fans outside the gig beforehand, lead singer Oliver Ackermann leads his band on stage and simply exudes the presence of a front man. Well, that’s if you can even see him or the rest of the band – with the smoke machines working overtime, the crowd are mostly left the peer through an every changing coloured mist as the hyperactive lightshow illuminates the venue.”
“APtBS are more than simple volume, much more. The sound they produce is meticulously constructed. The foundations are provided by Jay Space, his drumming, relentless and happily devoid of frills. On bass guitar, Jono Mofo, a tough Welsh/New Yorker who punches out a bass line as hard as nails. Chief architect and master builder is Oliver Ackermann, once more famous for his ‘Death by Audio’ effects pedals used by the likes of Kevin Shields, U2, Serena Maneesh, Airiel and Alcian Blue, to name but a few. Ackermann possesses a rare skill, much of it learnt through years of experimentation, a lot of it just good old-fashioned talent, he can craft sound.”
“Let’s take a look at 10 useful, yet rather unknown RSS-tricks for WordPress. Each section of the article presents a problem, suggests a solution and provides you with an explanation of the solution, so that you can not just solve some of your RSS-related problems but also understand what you are actually doing. Thus, you can make sure your WordPress theme remains under your control and is not bloated with some obscure source code.”
“Mozilla just launched a new directory for Jetpack add-ons. Jetpack is Mozilla’s newest technology for building Firefox extensions with Javascript, HTML and CSS. “
“They called the video RSS in Plain English. They used paper cut outs to explain the XML format. It became an instant hit. Tens of thousands of people watched it. Today their company, Common Craft, make all sorts of custom videos. They’ve built a business around explaining concepts.”
“With larger-than-life production values, simple minimalism woven into the music, and overall just an enjoyably dark record, Exploding Head gets my vote for record of the year. Just do it. Take work off (or wait till after five), and grab this record. You will seriously not regret it, and hey, the record store can benefit from some money in this economy. Share the wealth right? You bet.”
“But it’s with ‘I Lived My Life to Stand in The Shadow of Your Heart’, the epic closing track on Exploding Head, that Ackermann and co. firmly nail their colours to the mast. Three minutes of sugar-rush pop hooks suddenly collapse into a deafening ocean of wig-out feedback, the band drenched in strobing for what must be ten minutes. It’s their psychedelic ‘You Made Me Realise’ moment, blurring the lines between pleasure and pain like only the best shoegaze can. Exploding head indeed. In a scene beset by at least as many bandwagon-hoppers as genuine trailblazers, APTBS certainly can’t be accused of lacking substance. Hopefully the ringing in our ears will stop before work in the morning”
“A Place To Bury Strangers, live they’re an experience once seen and never forgotten, and for these ears at least, next month’s ATP show in Minehead can’t come soon enough.”
“Many will dismiss them as mere shoegaze revivalists, rehashers pushing a formula through further waves of effects, but there is so much more to the New York four-piece than that.”