Awesome Color
Encyclopedia
History
The band was formed by MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
natives Michael Troutman (aka Michael Awesome), Allison Busch (aka Allison Awesome), and Derek Stanton (aka Derek Awesome) in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, in 2004. Inspired by Detroit garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
, they came to the attention of Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
, who signed the band to his Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace
Ecstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from Michael Gira of Swans and Lydia Lunch...
label.
They released a self-titled debut album in 2006, which was followed by a second album, Electric Aborigines in 2008, both released by Ecstatic Peace. (Vinyl editions for both albums were released by American Dust
American Dust
American Dust is an independent record label operated out of Oakland, California. Notable artists to have released records on American Dust include Department of Eagles, Port O'Brien and Awesome Color....
.) The first album drew comparisons with the Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
(with Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
going as far as saying "there are times when you could play Fun House and this album back-to-back and not be able to tell the difference between the two") as did Electric Aborigines, although this album expanded the band's sound and drew comparisons with The Scientists
The Scientists
The Scientists are an influential post-punk band from Perth, Australia, led by Kim Salmon, initially known as Exterminators and then Invaders. The band had two primary incarnations: the Perth-based punk band of the late 1970s and the Sydney/London-based swamp rock band of the 1980s...
and Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. Their music was "colorfully mind-altering, but not in the sense of the acid rock of the '60s; instead, the band developed its own minimalistic psychedelia"...
. The band were described by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
as sounding like "a grimier version of Sonic Youth". In 2007, the song ¨Hat Energy¨ from the album Awesome Color appeared in the film I Know Who Killed Me
I Know Who Killed Me
I Know Who Killed Me is a 2007 American horror-thriller film directed by Chris Sivertson and starring Lindsay Lohan.-Plot:The quiet suburb of New Salem is being terrorized by a serial killer who abducts and tortures young women, holding them captive for weeks before murdering them...
, starring Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
. After the second album, the band toured the world in support of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and Dinosaur Jr. during 2008. They recorded and released a new album called Massa Hypnos on April 6, 2010. They have been touring to promote it with Tyvek and Hair Police. They announced via myspace.com that they had broken up with a quote saying "AC 2005-2010".
In early 2008, the band released a video for the single "Eyes of Light" directed by The Wilderness
Albums
- Awesome Color (2006), Ecstatic PeaceEcstatic PeaceEcstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from Michael Gira of Swans and Lydia Lunch...
- Electric Aborigines (2008), Ecstatic PeaceEcstatic PeaceEcstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from Michael Gira of Swans and Lydia Lunch...
- Massa Hypnos (2010), Ecstatic PeaceEcstatic PeaceEcstatic Peace! is a record label based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1981 by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from Michael Gira of Swans and Lydia Lunch...
External links
- "Awesome Color - Awesome Color", Dusted
- Powell, Austin (2006) "Awesome Color", Austin Chronice, November 10, 2006
- Modell, Josh (2008) "Awesome Color, 'Electric Aborigines'" (review), SPINSpin (magazine)Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
- Heaton, Dave (2006) "Awesome Color Awesome Color", PopMattersPopMattersPopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
- Mills, Fred (2007) "Concert Reviews: Dinosaur Jr, Awesome Color and the Labiators Live in Asheville", Harp
- McKay, Helen (2008) "Awesome Color/Vile Imbeciles At Hackney Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen/Bar and Grill" (review), Drowned in SoundDrowned in SoundDrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
- Lowrey, Jack (2007) "Awesome Color: Awesome Color", Drowned in SoundDrowned in SoundDrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
- Awesome Color's "Eyes of Light" video" on VimeoVimeoVimeo is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. It was founded by Zach Klein and Jake Lodwick in November 2004...