photo by Brittney Bollay

We’ve featured A Place to Bury Strangers’s excellent new album, Exploding Head (Mute) here before and before that, but nothing can prepare you for witnessing the sonic attack that APTBS’s live performance, as during their recent performance in the KEXP studio. One of their more epic tracks, “I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Love,” starts off all dreamy and Cure-like, but soon enough noise peddler Oliver Ackermann (that’s a joke, if you’re nerdy enough to get it), Jono MOFO and Jay Space do what they do best: tear the &#@$ out of the song! The half as long title track channels a more agitated Pornography-era Cure, but the boys manage to remain calm. That’s ’cause “Exploding Head” is only the setup for the final eruption!

Here are the first and last tracks of the set, courtesy of More Dust Than Digital. You can listen to the entire performance, which just so happens to be our current Live Performances podcast.

Check out more photos here.

One of the many reasons you love KEXP and would go out of your way to support us during our 2009 Fall Membership Drive (going on now!)? The fact that we go out of our way to bring you great music not just on the airwaves (and internet waves) but also for you to stream, watch and download on the KEXP Blog.

Just like every Tuesday, on Out This Week, where we scour the web to find the latest videos and legitimate MP3 links for your own guilt-free downloading, allowing you to sample each week’s new releases before you head out to your local record shop or online tone vendor. Not only is this a truly great resource for your own musical discovery, but it’s also smart thinking in these uncertain economic times. KEXP is here to help you!

And just look at today’s list of new releases! Yowza! Built to Spill (sorry, no MP3 but you can stream the whole thing here), Air, Lou Barlow, A Place to Bury Strangers, Dead Man’s Bones, The Dutchess & the Duke, Gossip, Califone, The Raveonettes, The Mountain Goats, The Very Best… and do I really need to keep going? Check out the complete list with links to buy from our friend Largehearted Boy, but don’t head out until you’ve had a chance to sample all of these fine tracks, compiled by the station where the music matters!

photo by Doron Gild

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Midday Show host Cheryl Waters, is “In Your Heart” by A Place to Bury Strangers from the 2009 album Exploding Head on Mute.

Whether or not you believe the hype that they’re New York City’s “loudest band,” there’s no doubt A Place to Bury Strangers knows how to turn earsplitting noise into sonic bliss. Guitarist and singer Oliver Ackermann, who founded the recording space and music venue Death By Audio, also creates effects pedals under a company of the same name. Over time, Ackerman and partner NY guitarist Conboy, turned the made-to-order custom effects pedal company into a tight line of sought after pedals including Fuzz War, Interstellar Overdrive, Sound-Saw, and Soundwave Breakdown with clients including Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and U2’s The Edge.

Of course, these auditory experiments translate directly to APTBS’ sound. The new album, Exploding Head, is a further continuation of the path Akermann started on with Skywave, a band that received quite a bit of airplay on KEXP back in 2004. Now, supported by bassist Jono MOFO and drummer Jay Space, APTBS builds similar driving structures beneath layers of droning feedback, clicks, clangs, bangs and and sonic squalls, but the overall result is tighter and more focused. While obvious nods to 80’s bands like Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure, The Jesus & Mary Chain, and My Bloody Valentine are all part of the fun, the new songs like “In Your Head” remain fresh through Ackermann’s ability to write memorable hooks and melodies that last far beyond the apparent chaos.

A Place to Bury Strangers is currently touring North America extensively with fellow noisemakers All the Saints, and, depending on what city you see them in, These Are Powers or Dead Confederate (a great lineup any way you look at it!). They’ll be in Seattle on October 19 at The Crocodile. Check their MySpace page for more dates. For now, here’s the official video for today’s Song of the Day: