ATP: I’ll Be Your Mirror 2012 Preview

Great Hall

Slayer, 9:45 PM – 11:00 PM

All Tomorrow’s Parties takes its metal to the next level with the iconic Slayer (QRO photos at a festival).  Just starting their fourth decade, Slayer has been the definition of thrash since the concept began, from brutal axe work to brutal cover art – and are coming off of pounding the walls of Yankee Stadium as one of the ‘The Big Four’ (QRO review) of metal, with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

And at ATP, Slayer will be performing their seminal Reign In Blood!

Sleep, 8:15 PM – 9:15 PM

During the nineties, San Jose death metal outfit Sleep was the definition of stoner rock.  Label issues forced their break-up by the end of the decade/century/millennium, but in 2009 Sleep came back (including at ATP), and have kept on going.

Melvins, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

A serious ATP favorite, the Melvins return to All Tomorrow’s Parties after playing at least one of its events somewhere in the world 2005 to 2009 (including curating in 2008 and playing ATP in both U.K. & U.S. in 2009).  Their sludgy rock came to the fore during the grunge heyday of their native Pacific Northwest in the early nineties, but they’ve been rocking since the early eighties all the way through to today, with last year’s live record Sugar Daddy (QRO review) and recent EP The Bulls and The Bees (QRO review).

West Hall

Wolves In The Throne Room, 7:30 PM – 8:15 PM

Friday at ATP is black metal-heavy, including brothers Aaron & Nathan Weaver, who form Wolves In the Throne Room – go team Stark!

Also:

Yob, 5:45 PM – 6:30 PM

A Storm of Light, 4:30 PM – 5:15 PM

West Hall

Mogwai, 9:30 PM – 11:00 PM 

There are a few icons in post-rock, such as Explosions In the Sky (QRO live review) and Mogwai.  The Scottish outfit has done everything from a live DVD, Burning (QRO photos at a festival) to soundtracking Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (QRO review – though that was before the French football star did his illegal head-butt in the World Cup).  Last year’s awesomely titled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (QRO review) was a major comeback after the disappointing The Hawk Is Howling (QRO review), and the much in-demand tour (QRO live review) comes to curate Day One of All Tomorrow’s Parties (QRO photos at a European festival).  And this isn’t their first, or even second time curating at ATP.

Dirty Three, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM

From the other side of the globe comes the instrumental post-rock of Melbourne’s Dirty Three, who recently released Toward the Low Sun (QRO review), and are another ATP favorite (including curating in 2007 & playing four ATP events on three continents two years later).

Mudhoney, 6:45 PM – 7:30 PM

Both a forerunner to and a member of the Pacific Northwest grunge breakout of the early nineties, Seattle’s Mudhoney perhaps embodied the dirty, high-distortion sound even more than Nirvana.  More importantly, Mudhoney never stopped, becoming a veteran many times over – including curating All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2006.

Codeine, 5:30 PM – 6:15 PM

New York slowcore outfit Codeine only released two albums in the early nineties, Frigid Stars and The White Birch, before breaking up – but those were two influential albums. There’s no better place for a short-lived influential band to reunite than All Tomorrow’s Parties, and Codeine are (for their first performance in eighteen years), at the personal request of curators Mogwai (see above).

Chavez, 4:15 PM – 5:00 PM

Another reunion at All Tomorrow’s Parties, nineties alt-rock outfit Chavez reunited last year for ATP in U.S.A., and are back again.

Harvey Milk, 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM

From Athens, Georgia, Harvey Milk draw comparisons to acts like the Melvins (see above), but draw inspiration from everyone from Leonard Cohen to Hank Williams (they did a live show of only Williams covers) and their hometown’s R.E.M. – the group once played the seminal Reckoning (QRO deluxe edition review) front-to-back at home, with Michael Stipe in attendance, on April Fool’s.

Floor, 1:45 PM – 2:30 PM

All Tomorrow’s Parties is all about reunions – and this is the fourth reunion for Miami doom/stoner rock outfit Floor.

Also:

Umberto, 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM

Panaroma Room

DJs, 9:15 PM – 11:00 PM

Balam Acab, 8:15 PM – 9:15 PM

Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat, 6:45 PM – 7:45 PM

Arab Strap singer Aidan Moffat teams up with the versatile Bill Wells.

The Soft Moon, 5:15 PM – 6:15 PM

Mogwai’s (see above) tourmates on their last visit to the States, The Soft Moon have a post-post-punk sound that’s been called ‘Post-Apocalyptic’.

Antoni Malovyi, 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM

‘The Music of Can’, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Celebrate the music of the iconic Can – the definition of krautrock, including unreleased music and a discussion with Can’s Irmin Schmidt and Jon Podmore

Also:

Lord Sinclair’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Bingo, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

West Hall

El-P, 11:15 PM – 12:00 AM 

Brooklyn’s Jaime Meline, a.k.a. El-P, has been an important factor in the alternative hip-hop scene, bringing together the two otherwise divergent scenes.  So he’s a perfect fit to bring the rhymes as he returns to ATP.

The Afghan Whigs, 9:30 PM – 10:45 PM

Greg Dulli’s soul-influenced rock group rocketed out of Cincinnati in the nineties, but broke up the same year Americans learned Afghans weren’t just blankets (with Dulli going on with his Twilight Singers – QRO photos at a festival).  But in 2011 not only did the group announce their reunion, but also that they would be curating All Tomorrows Parties in not just London but also America!

The Make-Up, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Ladies & gentlemen, The Make-Up!  Out of the ashes of the seminal D.C. hardcore act Nation of Ulysses came that Gospel Yeh-Yeh sound, a mix of punk, garage, soul, and liberation theology that brought rock ‘n’ roll to communal epiphany, fronted by singer Ian Svenonius and including guitarist James Canty (now of Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – QRO photos at a festival).

The Make-Up broke-up in early 2000 (or rather, just as NOU became The Make-Up, The Make-up rearranged and were reincarnated as Weird War, and now Svenonius’ new Chain & The Gang – QRO photos), but are doing special reunion gigs at ATP in U.K. & U.S. (cue the NOU reunion rumors…).

Yuck, 6:45 PM – 7:30 PM

A young band (QRO photos at a festival) on the upswing in terms of hype, but one that deserves it, is Great Britain’s Yuck (QRO live review), who have the kind of skilled-yet-accessible punk (QRO photos at a festival) that’s worked so well for Sonic Youth (QRO live review) & Dinosaur Jr. (QRO live review).

Archers of Loaf, 5:30 PM – 6:15 PM

Amidst all of the alt-reunions, how are Archers of Loaf (QRO photos at a festival) only reuniting now?  The Chapel Hill act were as important to the nineties alternative music scene as Pavement (QRO live review), and deserve as great a reunion tour – which has included ATP last year (QRO photos).

Thee Oh Sees, 4:15 PM – 5:00 PM

Hailing from The O.C. (the name was original ‘Orange County Sound’, then ‘OCS’, then – well, you get the idea…), John Dwyer formed Thee Oh Sees (QRO photos at a festival) to put out his experimental, instrumental home recordings, but over seven records has morphed into a full band and a wild live show (QRO photos at a festival).  Thee Oh Sees return to ATP behind last year’s Carrion Crawler/The Dream (QRO album review).

Also:

Demdike Stare, 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM

Blanck Mass, 1:45 PM – 2:30 PM

Forest Swords, 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM

Panorama Room

DJs, 9:15 PM – 11:00 PM

Tennis, 8:15 PM – 9:15 PM

The indie-pop of Denver’s Tennis (QRO photos at a festival) is as cute as the husband-and-wife duo, though a little lightweight for All Tomorrow’s Parties.

Sleepy Sun, 6:45 PM – 7:45 PM

Though still only a few years old, San Francisco psych-rock act Sleepy Sun has had building critical praise since 2008’s Embrace – including playing four All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2009, on three continents, quite a feat for such a young band.

Tall Firs, 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM

Folk-rock outfit Tall Firs already played All Tomorrow’s Parties once this year (at March’s event curated by Jeff Mangum, which was delayed from December 2011).

Also:

DJs, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Lord Sinclair’s Rock ‘n’ Pop Quickie Quiz, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM