930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: snailhook on February 25, 2005, 05:02:00 am
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since the last thread was getting pretty long, i figured i'd start a new one...
Saturday, February 26
Warehouse Next Door (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com)
1021 7th St NW
Washington DC
doors at 8:30, show at 9
$7, all ages
Earthride (Southern Lord, ex-Spirit Caravan, MD doom)
Unearthly Trance (The Music Cartel/Rise Above, from NYC)
VOG (northern VA doom)
The PB Army (Ohio stoner-punk)
Peasant (Baltimore sludge/doom)
Earthride
Earthride are another incredible band from the Doom Capitol/Maryland, the fertile breeding ground that has spawned Pentagram, Internal Void, Wretched, Iron Man, Unorthodox, and of course Spirit Caravan. In fact, there's connections to some of these bands: drummer Eric Little was in Internal Void, and singer Dave Sherman was in Wretched and also played bass in Spirit Caravan (along with sharing vocal duties with guitar god, Wino). The band's first offering was a self-produced, self-titled 4-song EP/CD on their own label, Earth Brain records (2000). This recording coupled with their relentless live shows quickly proved Earthride was more than just "Sherm's side project." The Earthride sound is a brutal combination of Sherm's whiskey-burned, Lemmy-esque vokills trainwrecked into a punishing mountain of doom. One listen to the mammoth wall of guitar that Kyle (sonic titan) Van Steinburg blankets over the concrete rythym section and its obvious that Earthride holds their own. "Taming of the Demons" is the band's first official full-length recording and was recorded by acclaimed producer Chris Koslowski (Pentagram, Spirit Caravan, Internal Void, the Obsessed) in their homestate of Maryland. The band's adopted phrase, "PURE MARYLAND DOOM FOR THE BROTHERHOOD OF MUSIC", sufficiently sums up that the strength of this band lies in their unified dedication to produce hard, no-frills, heavy music! So loud, so alive. All heavy, the Earthride!!!
Unearthly Trance (http://www.unearthlytrance.com)
"The march of Templar Knights at twilight. Ritualistic subterranean drift. The decay of cathedrals over eons. Unearthly Trance, formed in 2000 and comprised of members Darren Verni, Rion Lipynsky, and Jay Newman, unleash a frostbitten, apocalyptic vision with their brand of grim hypnotic doom. Blackened sound waves, lethargic riffs, and dire proclamations drone from the void."
"I'm having a tough time putting the Unearthly Trance experience to words. Honestly, I've been thinking about this for at least a week before first spinning Season of Trance, Science of Silence and don't quite know how to translate music so innately visceral into a formation of words that can adequately describe this recording.
I'll give it a shot. There are words - just single words - that come to mind: Black; evil; occult;oppressive; rites and ritual; suffocating; sickness; crushing; prolific; hopeless; cold.
Unearthly Trance treads in the outer fringes of doom metal, territory held within the death grip of the most extreme: Khanate; Hlidolf; Ungl'Unl'Rrlh'Chchch; Runemagick and a few chosen others. Melody is forsaken for a pure, blackened visceral aura; gut-churning bass frequencies and beyond-the-grave vocals. Guitarist/vocalist Rion Lipynsky writes some incredibly captivating lyrics - part dark prose, part arcane ritual. For added dark art credentials, famed occultist Aliester Crowley gets credit for both band inspiration and for the lyrics to "Mass of the Phoenix". Lipynsky and Jimmy Page should get together and go bowling.
Underground artist/musician/doom hero Stephen O'Malley (Lotus Eaters, Sunn0))), Khanate, etc) gets credit for the mix and co-production of Season of.... A wise choice. I'm a firm believer that everything O'Malley touches turns to quality, and Season of... is no exception. The sound here is exceptional, the guitar and percussion crushing, the low-end set on suffocation. Lipynsky's vocals alternate between blackened dissonance and what sound like cries from a dark, desolate canyon. The latter effect, which sets lipynsky's voice farther back in the mix, is particularly chilling giving the whole thing a palpable supernatural vibe. Frighteningly supernatural.
Given the amount of time and effort this band has put into it's craft, I couldn't be happier with the result of their first full length. To say it's impressive is a big understatement. I'm no psychic but I'm betting Season of... will join the ranks of underground extreme doom classics like Burning Witch's Crippled Lucifer, The Teeth of the Lions Rule the Divine's Rampton and the first Khanate album. Congrats. You just etched your name in the hallowed pantheon of the unholy. A sure bet for cult status." (Hellride Music)
The PB Army (http://www.thepbarmy.com)
"PB Army's Keith Bergman likes to describe "Inebriates, Equivocators and Mockers of the Devil Himself" as "stoner-pop-metal." Some might take that to mean that they're fusing stoner rock and pop-metal -- perhaps Fu Manchu, Orange Goblin, Goatsnake and Eyehategod by way of Warrant, Poison and Bon Jovi. That's an intriguing idea, certainly, but it isn't what PB Army is going for on this promising debut album. Rather, singer/drummer Bergman seems to mean pop as in highly melodic pop -- as in having a sense of craftsmanship and operating from the premise that headbangers don't have to govern by brute force alone. This 2002 session has most of the familiar stoner rock ingredients: a definite Black Sabbath influence, fuzzy guitars and an appreciation of Seattle's late ??80s/early ??90s grunge. But PB Army has a cleaner sound than most stoner bands, and they obviously appreciate the fact that a lot of ??70s metal bands -- including Sabbath -- were highly musical. They realize that Ozzy Osbourne and his colleagues had more than riffs and amplifiers -- they had songs. Sabbath had a commitment to melody -- a fact that wasn't lost on the Cardigans when they provided dream pop/shoegazer interpretations of "Iron Man" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" in the ??90s -- and so did Budgie and Blue Oyster Cult, two other ??70s combos that have influenced PB Army. In fact, just about every band that has affected PB in some way -- a list that ranges from those ??70s headbangers to Alice in Chains, Queens of the Stone Age, Voivod and Nirvana -- realized that loudness and musicality aren't mutually exclusive. For all its forcefulness and aggression, this CD isn't brutal -- invigorating and intense, but not hammer-to-the-skull brutal the way a metalcore outfit like Brick Bath is brutal. PB Army's debut falls short of groundbreaking; regardless, this is among the more memorable stoner recordings of 2002." (All Music Guide)
VOG (http://www.whereisvog.com)
Formed in the peak of the summer of 2004, VOG had it??s first jam in a basement in Oakton, Virginia. VOG came to fruition based on an intent to play music with other members who were serious enough to commit to playing on a regular basis. Riffs written out of pipe dreams flowed through the aura of dirge that released the steam of sour days.
VOG is the hawaiian term for a wretched gas/smoke present when volcanoes erupt that makes all that come in contact with it nauseous.
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I'll be there. Any idea when the show will let out?
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probably around 1-1:30. we're starting promptly at 9 because there are five bands.
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are you selling advance tickets for enon?
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not that i know of, though considering how packed it was last time, we probably should. swearing at motorists is opening, and i doubt they have much pull.
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Originally posted by snailhook:
swearing at motorists
hmmmm, enon and swearing at motorists, sounds like something I should go to but probably wont, when is that one?
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friday, march 25
check out the new (and still pretty minimal) website. we have all of our confirmed shows going into may.
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Originally posted by snailhook:
check out the new (and still pretty minimal) website. we have all of our confirmed shows going into may.
and that May 27 show looks like quite the party!
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Originally posted by snailhook:
not that i know of, though considering how packed it was last time, we probably should. swearing at motorists is opening, and i doubt they have much pull.
What time will doors open for Enon, and how early do you think I reasonably need to get their if advanced tickets will not be sold?
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doors for enon will be 9pm, and we will likely add a local band. if you get there around 8:30, you should be fine. if you get there early and there's no line, you can always hang out in the cafe for a bit.
i'm pretty stoked for chris thompson's new band, red eyes legends. thompson was in circus lupus, the monorchid, and skull kontrol.
mono is going to be amazing, too. their new record is as good as anything by explosions in the sky and mogwai.
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Originally posted by snailhook:
mono is going to be amazing, too. their new record is as good as anything by explosions in the sky and mogwai.
I plan on trying to make it to this show.
Would you please post the extended calendar again in this thread? The one without all the details that has all of the shows on the list.
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I was held back in the rotten core of nova babysitting my little nephew all evening and couldn't make it out to the warehouse. This is maybe the 10th opportunity I've had to catch unearthly trance and I keep blowing it. I guess I'll have to wait all the way to mid april for the hidden hand/weedeater show to get my doom fix.
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if you need your doom fix, come out next sunday for nitroseed, valkyrie, and eldemur krimm. nitroseed is rob from earthride and gary from spirit caravan playing instrumental stoner/doom with a math-rock flavor, valkyrie are kind of like a heavy psych/NOWBHM hybrid, and eldemur krimm are from maine and described as "mountain on crack."
by the way, unearthly trance absolutely tore the place up tonight. too bad you got stuck babysitting, you would've loved their slow, brutal, droned-out sludge.
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Wow I don't see how I missed this one on the calendar. I'm actually familiar with both bands. Weeknight shows can be kind of tough for me now that I don't have a car anymore and with the early metro closings and all, but I could possibly get one of my buddies to go. We'll see.
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I'll be out for Circle Takes the Square on Thursday-- they were just awesome last time they were in town.
Kudos to snail for having what is without a doubt the best lineup in the city.
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circle takes the square always play with a lot of passion and it really transfers to record too. I hate to use the dreaded term noisecore, but for my money they are the best ones doing it. I'm not too familiar with the other bands but it should be a sick show.
Snailhook,
I read on dusted that Double Leopards, Mouthus & Axolotl are touring in March.. any chance you'll be booking this here? I think Double Leopards are fucking great (one of the highlights for me at noise against fascism as well) and I've liked pretty much everything I've heard from Mouthus up to this point but have yet to see them live. Also.. Afrirampo is touring the US in June.. Id be pretty stoked if this came through DC!
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I read on dusted that Double Leopards, Mouthus & Axolotl are touring in March.. any chance you'll be booking this here?
axolotl is going back to the west coast today, but will probably be back in the fall. i talked to them when they played tarantula hill and they definitely want to play DC next time around. i have also been talking to mouthus and those guys want to come down here soon. in fact, i just scored richard bishop of the sun city girls for a house show in may and i'm gonna ask mouthus if they want to come down and play that. no word from double leopards. most of these bands are better suited for 611 florida than the warehouse.
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If you have not come to enjoy the guitar and synth drone duo that is The Angus Brainpan, hit 'DELETE' now.
If you have become enamored of their buzzsaw lull, or wish to experience it for the first time, proceed directly to:
THE WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
1017 7th St NW
Washington DC
on Tuesday, March 1
at 9pm
Pay $5 to gain entrance, visit the bar or the coffeehouse next door, won't you?
OPENERS:
The Amoeba Men (Richmond, mem. of Suppression)
The Angus Brainpan (DC, mem. of Northern Machine)
THE HEADLINERS:
(((Microwaves))) (Pittsburgh, mem. of Don Caballero/Creta Bourzia)
The Amoeba Men may be heard here: http://www.cnprecords.com/the_amoeba_men.htm (http://www.cnprecords.com/the_amoeba_men.htm)
3 men with mutating abilities and huge record collections dive headfirst into a wood chipper and attempt to reassemble, dissect, and rearrange their flesh, blood, and bone pieces into endless musical experiments...sometimes very dance-friendly, sometimes horribly monstrous. Driving, thick, distorted, rhythm section (formerly of KOJAK fame) with sharp, angular and/or all-over-the-place guitars (ex-SEVEN HEARTS). Crazy vocals too. FUCK YEAH!!!
Read all about The Microwaves at
http://www.surefiredistribution.com/cgi-bin/showdescription.pl?catno=CT7 (http://www.surefiredistribution.com/cgi-bin/showdescription.pl?catno=CT7)
and
http://www.pittsburghpulp.com/content/2004/05_27/arts_live.shtml (http://www.pittsburghpulp.com/content/2004/05_27/arts_live.shtml)
Because no other band generates the sound that (((Microwaves))) do. Early live shows and their previous release (the Professional Systems Overload CDEP, released on Cenotaph Audio) hinted at a taut, noisy post-punk sound akin to bands like Devo, Chrome, Dimension Hatross-era Voivod, and MX-80. But with System 2, the band overhauls this sound to integrate with the imposing Technopolis it's been living in the shadow of for so long. Unrelenting rhythms and heavily processed guitar and bass shift (((Microwaves))) into overdrive and shake their songs to their firmament. The noise these guys generate hearkens back to the first wave of aggressive, non-metal rock of the late 80s/early 90s (Unsane, most of the AmRep roster, Dazzling Killmen, etc.) and ups the ante by adding levels of John Carpenter-esque tension that no band before or since has been able to match. Cinematic flourishes of Carpenter's scores and the music of Italian prog-horror outfit Goblin can be heard bubbling to the surface all throughout System II, stirring the chaos even further (no surprise as Moore moonlights in prog-horror kings Zombi).
The Angus Brainpan remains without a website or release of any kind. You are encouraged to absorb the tones directly in the presence of the performers.
Thanks for reading this far. See you there?
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sunday, a trio of up-and-coming stoner rock bands doing their own thing: nitroseed jams boogie rock by way of doom and math-rock, valkyrie plays dual-guitar epic metal with anthemic vocals, and eldemur krimm creates dark, heavy soundtracks to horror/sci-fi literature. fans of clutch, sabbath, and maiden will find much to like here.
Sunday, March 6
$6, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Nitroseed (MD instrumental stoner/doom, mem. of Earthride, ex-Spirit Caravan)
Valkyrie (from Harrisonburg VA, psych-tinged NWOBHM)
Eldemur Krimm (stoner metal from Maine, like Mountain on crack!)
Valkyrie (http://www.thevalkyrierides.com/)
"According to Norse mythology, VALKYRIE were Odin??s angels of death, flying over him during battle, sending fallen heroes to Valhalla. Once in Valhalla, they served the chosen heroes unlimited wine and meat.
Well, the VALKYRIE have risen again; only this time, they are serving us with some great SABBATH inspired groove metal. "Sunlight Shines" is a three-track EP from the band. The last author, from the dogsite to do a review on this band, (for their first demo) The Dutchman, was very impressed with the band's sound. However, the production was a bit on the nonexistent side of things. While the production on this EP is not perfect, it easily passes, which really allows one to appreciate the music for what it is.
The first track, "Endless Crusade," begins with a dreamy, almost melancholic guitar lead before kicking into a bass-driven, uplifting riff and subsequent chorus. The song continues to alternate from dreamy to charging, and for the most part, really gets my head nodding in approval.
The second track, "Lost in the Darkness," kicks in immediately with some dirty heavy metal guitar riffing. Soaring above the noise is Pete Adam??s vocals, which are quite clean in a traditional heavy metal way. These vocals and the filth of the guitar provide a great contrast and a great sound. The song ends with an extended instrumental jam that comes off really well.
The final song on the EP, begins as a sprawling doom feast. The song hits a catchy riff that is very reminiscent of one played by Mr. Iommi back in the mid-'70s. The song then explodes into a jam of twin guitar soling, catchy bass lines and a driving drumbeat packed with some great fills. It is a fine way to end the CD.
"Sunlight Shines" is a great EP, containing three great tracks. My only problem is that there is not enough of it. Maybe the production could be improved a little, especially on the vocals. If you are a lover of metal or rock, this is an EP that would please your ears, get your hands on it, and if you are not...well...what the hell are you doing here?" (Peace Dog Man)
Eldemur Krimm (http://www.eldemurkrimm.com)
"Their brand of fantastical rock could have served as a soundtrack to H.P. Lovecraft's well documented nightmares."
"From Maine comes Eldemur Krimm, a four-piece band that shares a similar sound to neighbors Scissorfight and with some of the quirks of Clutch, but with less aggression than the former and more of a feel for ??70s southern roots rock, tempered occasionally with jazz-like playing.
The album starts with ??Elephant Gun,? a fast tempo rocker that highlights the band??s strengths ??- strong playing throughout (check out some of Jason Marshall??s bass licks), the John Fogarty-ish vocals of singer/guitarist Fred Dodge, and bluesy solos. It??s easily the strongest song. Eldemur Krimm have a seemingly natural knack for songwriting, which also shows on tracks like "Black Fog," "Chopper," and "Alabaster."(Fuzzrock)
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Texas psych legend -- and Roky Erickson cohort -- George Kinney will be making a very exclusive appearance in the DC area. For 13th Floor Elevators fans, this is an event not to be missed!
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Friday, March 11
Warehouse Next Door
doors at 9pm / $7
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GEORGE KINNEY (The Golden Dawn)
BRANDON BUTLER (ex-Canyon)
PAGODA (mem. of Shortstack)
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http://www.pagodamusic.net (http://www.pagodamusic.net)
http://www.brandonbutler.net (http://www.brandonbutler.net)
http://www.georgekinney.com (http://www.georgekinney.com)
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GEORGE KINNEY
Texas musician George Kinney will be appearing in Washington, Richmond, and Baltimore this weekend for an evening of storytelling and original music. He is a 2005 Texas Music Hall of Fame Nominee and also the creative force behind The Golden Dawn, who released the album Power Plant in 1968 on the legendary International Artists recording label out of Houston. He is a childhood friend of Roky Erickson and Roky has been often quoted as saying that Power Plant was the best album ever produced by International Artists.
In the early 1970s, Kinney formed Pyramid Publishing Co. and published Erickson's first edition of "Openers". The manuscripts were smuggled out of the Maximum Security Ward at Rusk State Mental Institute for the Criminally Insane
(where Erickson was incarcerated on a minor marijuana charge) by Kinney, in his boot, to avoid detection and possible confiscation.
In 1973, Kinney headed for Nashville and bought a house at the very spot where his car broke down. There, he was introduced to the legendary Johnny Cash, who was so impressed with his singing that he was given the lead part in a musical documentary being produced by Cash. For the past thirty years to the present, Kinney's musical appearances have been almost exclusively reserved for Terry Boothe's campfire concerts at his south Texas ranch in Bee Cave. In 1999, Kinney was persuaded to go back into the studio and the result was the critically acclaimed album After The Fall.
In 2001, Kinney reformed the Golden Dawn with several original members and added guitar wizard Jerry Lightfoot. In the Spring of 2004, the band toured the US. The result of the tour is an excellent live recording, The Legend of the Dawn, available now from Freedom Records, a component of the Texas Music Round Up, based in Austin.
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BRANDON BUTLER
The name Brandon Butler may not be familiar, but any fan of indie-rock and emo probably is aware of Butler's previous projects. He fronted one of the most overlooked emo bands of the mid- to late-90s, Boys Life, which produced two of the finest albums in the vein of Christie Front Drive and Mineral. One album with his next project, Farewell Bend, showed a more hooky indie-rock style with those same emo leanings. Then Butler disappeared for a while, re-emerging with his project Canyon, on which his unique vocal styles took a more country- and folk-based rock sound. Now Butler has released his first album under his own name, and Killer on the Road shows a mature, strong songwriter with an extremely unique voice.
Butler's joined on this album by cellist and pianist Amy Domingues, who adds a lovely and lighter accompaniment to his guitar and voice, and the production by Fugazi veteran Brendan Canty (with Butler) maintains a raw style that fits
the songs perfectly. Butler has a raw, whiskey-soaked voice an octave or so higher than one might expect, and while it may have sounded out of place to some in his earlier rock offerings, it fits here nicely. He has a country-esque twang that doesn't sound at all forced, and the soft acoustic tracks speak of a harsh Midwestern life.
The title track kicks things off, with the cello adding a dark and sweet touch to this standout song. The country style of guitar on "First Day" feels more akin to Butler's Canyon work, while there's some nice studio effects to provide an echoey quality to the quiet "Throwing Roses." The stark "Sixty Stitches" is an especially moving storytelling track, and the closing "True Believer" sounds like Butler was perhaps recording the song live in a large space, the echoes of his softly plucked strings tinkling in the background, his voice stark and prominent.
The more upbeat "Sparks" finds Butler providing both melody and rhythm through his stellar and often beautiful guitar playing. The rock-n-rolling "Next Time" is another fun, upbeat tracks, with some rhythm and what sounds like mandolin adding a nice touch to the song. Butler adds a few recording moments into the powerful "Surrounded By Flowers," which adds some rich piano and feels
like a more enveloping song.
Butler's voice and style reminds me of Lucero frontman Ben Nichols. For singer/songwriter fare, it definitely leans toward the country side of things, but the songs here evoke the rich songwriting style of Neil Young more than Willie Nelson, and Butler pulls it off as if he's lived a hundred years, his raw voice and stark style proving it. This is a stellar album, and it's far and away better, in my opinion, than the Canyon albums that seemed to lead Butler in this direction. (Jeff Marsh - Delusions of Adequacy)
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PAGODA
Pagoda is a four-piece band from the Washington DC area that began when Ben Licciardi persuaded some friends to help him record songs for Lazyline Records. DC paradiddle champion Kevin O??Meara tackled drums and vibraphone. Old friend and long-time musical co-conspirator Raj Gadhia helped write lyrics and later took on bass and keyboard duties. College cohort and Merle Travis aficionado
Adrian Carroll played electric guitar while members of his country quartet, Shortstack, lent a hand with stand-up bass and lap steel. Ben played guitar, keyboard, and sang.
Starting in mid-2002 the boys jumped back and forth between a local studio and Ben??s apartment, hard at work crafting melodies and cobbling together ideas. What had begun as a sort of solo project quickly expanded into a collaborative
effort. Together they constructed a group of songs that would make up their debut album, Dearly Departed. The music, inspired by the likes of the Clean, Yo La Tengo, and Big Star is catchy, moody, and melodically rich.
The group and its line-up continue to evolve. Kevin recently decided to overcome his punishing bicycle-crashing fetish and focus his energies on school. This meant leaving the band unfortunately, and they are breaking in his successor Elmer Sharp. Despite the transformations, Pagoda remains focused on creating good tunes, eating more potted meat, and working on a new invention called the
computer.
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VICE, PLANARIA, and WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR present...
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SATURDAY, MARCH 12 at Warehouse Next Door
9pm / $7
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PANTHERS
TURING MACHINE
PARTS & LABOR
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more info
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PARTS & LABOR
"Parts & Labor are an exciting prospect, drone rock that's as much rock as drone...this is an intriguing, challenging album and an excellent introduction to two artists full of great ideas." (Joe Tangari, Pitchfork)
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TURING MACHINE
Formed after the demise of Justin Cherno (guitar) and Scott Desimon's (bass) previous skronk outfit, DC's noise punks, Pitchblende. Pitchblende released three albums and a boatload of seven-inches for of-the-moment labels like Cargo, Matador, and Jade Tree. After relocating to NYC, Cherno and Desimon teamed up with drummer Gerard Fuchs (previously of ex-Bitch Magnet guitar god Jon Fine's time-signature-obsessed outfit, Vineland). Named after the obscure English
theroitician Alan Turing's abstract machine used in complexity theory and computation theory, Turing Machine do indeed deliver with precise and
appropriately complex music.
Brought together by their common background in noise/experimentation and a mutual love for esoteric Krautrock and psychedelic music the members of Turing Machine, Desimon, Fuchs and Chearno began playing together solely for a good
time, but rock and roll habits die hard. As their ideas progressed they began to search for a singer to participate in the project (an early quartet version of the band featured Matador Records founder Gerard Cosloy on 2nd guitar). After 2+ years of miserable auditions, lost friends and unreturned phone calls, it became increasingly obvious that they weren't going to find a vocalist and the decision was made to continue as an instrumental trio. With the vocal burden lifted the music began to take a turn away from the strict math rock structures of their previous combos and headed toward more fluid, percussion driven sound reflecting German avant-gardists like Can and Neu! as well as English art school rockers This Heat.
Turing Machine's DFA produced debut, "A New Machine for Living" ended up in heavy rotation as soundtrack music to two seasons of MTV's The Real World and several skateboarding and BMX videos, and the band found themselves opening for Interpol, The Faint, Don Cabellero, Jets to Brazil, and The Champs, among others.
After three years of on/off playing, the band headed into the Bridgeport CT's Tarquin Studios in October 2003 with engineer Steve Revitte (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, and Chearno's other outfit, Panthers). Again, the band set up and tracked the record live, playing the 10-minute-plus compositions in their entirety, but this time they added multi-instrument overdubs to flesh out the sound on their own. Just as the band finished tracking the record Desimon relocated to London for a year as his fiancée completed her graduate studies overseas, returning in June of 2004 to mix the record at Gigantic Studios NYC with Chris Zane (Calla, Les Savy Fav, Inouk).
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PANTHERS are not the band you've read about. Despite attempts by critics to link the group to John Sinclair's White Panther movement, the Black Panther party, and even that smarmy pink insulation peddler, with Things Are Strange the Brooklyn quintet earns the right to possess a name without bringing outside buzzwords into the discussion.
On their first full-length since 2000's Are You Down?? (Troubleman Unlimited), Panthers continue mining the dense David Yow machinations of last year's propulsive Let's Get Serious EP (Dim Mak) -- but after dosing on Magma, Swans, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Ash Ra Temple, and other agents of the baroque they've emerged with a bit of King Crimson clinging to their Jesus Lizard.
Recorded over ten days with Theory of Ruin's Alex Newport (Melvins, At The Drive In, The Locust) in relative seclusion at the Clubhouse, a converted barn in Rhinebeck, NY, Things Are Strange's nine densely sprawling tracks stretch to just about 50 minutes: single notes turn into swarms; incidental moments unroll and burrow into newer, unexpected movements before dissolving into a
disorienting pan.
"Since we are all into different music that kind of long heavy psych stuff is really where our Venn diagram overlapped," says vocalist Jayson Green.
To assist in the freak-out, German musician Simon Wojan contributes piano, organ, mellotron, and trumpet. Also beefing-up the atmosphere, Turing Machine drummer Gerhart Fuchs throws down additional percussion and a second kit. All in
all, it's an intense, almost claustrophobically expansive ride.
The initial blast of the Borbetomagus free jazz of "We Are Louder" is buried by an avalanche of cascading guitars ringing like sheets of ice until the ultra heavy drums initiate a pummeling, the voice's sighs twist into rages, and the dynamic undertow takes the track someplace else entirely (a land that includes some smokin' heavy metal fretwork). A humid biosphere breeds an echoing piano on "If You Were Once Young, Rage." And like the best of early (and hungry) Sonic Youth, "My Commodities Have Been Fetishized" builds itself upon the temporary autonomous zone of an ever-shifting, ringing guitar scrawl foundation. Each guitar line's a trampoline, lifting the song to higher levels until things explode into total rock-out ballistics.
Let's Get Serious' strongest track, "Thank Me with Your Hands," returns with its sexy swagger: David Yow copping a feel from George Michael's "Monkey." It's a warped, multi-layered shouting spree about slang and sleeping: "I was thinking we should sleep in separate beds, but the heat's gone to my head/ Let's get tired at the same time (tonight)." The pick-up line of 2003 makes as much sense in 2004.
Though the hardcore kid on the street still swears by Orchid, the seminal '90s screamo that paired Guy Debord and Born Against, you'd never guess
vocalist Jayson Green, bassist Geoff Garlock, and drummer Jeff Salane made up 3/4 of that Ebullition crew. Beside that hardcore section of the family tree, the six stringers also have pedigree: Justin Chearno is in Turing Machine and was in Pitchblende (as well as a single turn in Unrest) and Kip Uhlhorn tore it up in The Red Scare. A testament to Panthers' explorations, besides the cheeky song titles, Things Are Strange shares very few similarities with its makers' past
musical projects.
Well, the text does remains as intelligently dense as ever. Jayson Green characterizes the album on the whole as reading politics/theory through personal experience: "Sexuality, non-monogamy, gentrification, the validity of modern theory as it makes a decisive move into popular culture and as we watch the last major theorists get old and die. It seems that the two things that come up again and again are the difficulty of nontraditional (read: progressive) sexual
relationships and the confusion and impotence of being a radical post 9-11."
Green continues: "I??ve been in a non-monogamous relationship for about 3 years now and so a lot of the record deals with this experience directly. Just trying to have a relationship that is honest, but exists outside the lines of traditional dating/marriage type relationships. So obviously sex is the big sticking point in all of this, otherwise it would be a record about having a lot
of good friends."
So Brooklyn's answer to Comets On Fire kicks the political while seducing your girl into shaking her moneymaker. Though they do reside on the hipper side of the East River, musically Panthers stand quite alone in their community. Uhlhorn posits: "We're not dancy enough for the dance people, not garage enough for the garage people." "I guess we are just the Tad of the Brooklyn scene," says Garlock. Green agrees: "We don??t have a sibling band out there that we can link ourselves to at this point, but I love a lot of what??s going on in Brooklyn so I??m glad to add to the pile."
Sharing space on VICE with British working-class rap act The Streets could very well be another detail that sets the band apart from its Brooklyn peers. And in a larger context, will the oldster Orchid fans chaff at some of the magazine's non-P.C. stunts? Green enthuses: "I get excited about the prospect of being on a label that isn??t genre specific, that just puts out music it likes. I generally think the magazine tends to be pretty smart, though Gavin??s terrible neo-con bullshit needs to go in the dumpster." But he's quick to add: "VICE will officially be the first label that has put out one of my records that actually really likes the band. It??s sadly refreshing."
With Things Are Strange, Green and company should have very little trouble converting any remaining haters. Yeah, even the nostalgic hardcore kids armed with Crimethinc sound-bytes and baggy-ass Dickies.
-
Panthers are rad; its most certainly "the cool thing" for hardcore kids to talk shit about Panthers, they've put out some damn good records. Last time I saw them, they had a sweet ass lightshow/video loop projected at them, that was rad.
-
i'm pretty stoked to see panthers' progression. i last saw them in 2001 when they were just a good screamo band, a lot like orchid. i am eager to hear this psychedelia they've embraced. turing machine and parts & labor are great, and this will be a solid three-band bill.
-
SUNDAY MARCH 13th
THE WAREHOUSE THEATER
1021 7th St. NW
202.783.3933
www.warehousetheater.com (http://www.warehousetheater.com)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a night of music and film featuring
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FILMS BY BRENT GREEN with live improvised score by Amy Domingues (Garland of Hours), Brandon Butler (Canyon/Boy's Life), Brendan Canty (Fugazi), and Jim Becker (Califone).
The premier of BURN TO SHINE CHICAGO featuring footage of Wilco, Shellac, Tortoise, Freakwater, The Ponys, Red Eyed Legends, Tight Phantomz, Lonesome Organist, and Pit Er Pat.
And the D.C. premier of DEAD MEADOW's "At Her Open Door" and WEIRD WAR's "Grand Fraud" videos directed by Eric Cheevers and Scott Mueller.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
TWO SHOWINGS OF ALL FILMS / PERFORMANCES
FIRST SHOW at 7:00pm / $6
SECOND SHOW at 9:30pm / $6
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
more information:
+++++++++++++++++++
BRENT GREEN
+++++++++++++++++++
"Hadacol Christmas," "Francis," and "Susa's Red Ears" are three animated short films by Brent Green with a special live improvised score by Amy Domingues (Garland of Hours), Brandon Butler (Canyon/Boy's Life), Brendan Canty (Fugazi),
and Jim Becker (Califone). "Hadacol Christmas" is a twelve minute story where Santa Claus invents Christmas with a belly full of cough syrup and a head full of dying crows. "Francis" is based on a dream in which an elderly woman at the end of her life taunts the lethargic bears in her backyard into finishing her off. Francis achieves liberation amidst the chaos of a Hollywood press conference, her exploding children, and a kleptomaniac narrator. It was written by Tim Rutili of Califone and animated and directed by Brent Green. "Susa's Red Ears" is a six minute short about a girl with a firetruck in her head. In the film the sun explodes. She doesn't save the world or anything. But she saves herself, mostly.
Brent Green is the recipient of a 2005 Creative Capital grant. He also received a 2005 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Media Arts Fellowship, administered by Pittsburgh Filmmakers.
www.nervousfilms.com (http://www.nervousfilms.com)
+++++++++++++++++++
BURN TO SHINE
+++++++++++++++++++
BURN TO SHINE 02 CHICAGO is the second installment of a film series produced by Fugazi's Brendan Canty and directed by film maker Christoph Green. It features Wilco, Shellac, Tortoise, Freakwater, Tight Phantomz, Pit Er Pat, The Ponys, The Lonesome Organist, and the Red Eyed Legends performing in houses that are about to be demolished or burned to the ground. They document the doomed house, the bands, and the demolition.
http://trixiedvd.com/ (http://trixiedvd.com/)
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Thrill Jockey/Mego/Tortoise/IDM fans take note:
Wednesday, March 16
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:00
Radian (Thrill Jockey, from Vienna)
Machine Drum (electro-acoustic IDM from Florida)
Band of the Name (FL)
H8 (FL)
Radian (http://www.radian.at) (experimantal Austrian bass/drums/synth trio)
Radian is a Vienna trio formed in 1996 made up of Martin Brandlmayr (drums), Stefan Nemeth (synth), and John Norman (bass). The three met through a blossoming music scene and spent the better part of the year exchanging ideas, borrowing records from one another, and practicing. It was a full year after forming that they played their first show supporting DJ Pita aha Peter Rehberg. In attendance that evening was Christof Kurzmann, who at the time was running the label Rhiz. After the show, Christof asked the band if they wanted to do a record for Rhiz, and thus their self-titled EP was immediately given a home. Shortly thereafter, the Mego label also approached the band about a potential release. For its full-length debut, TG11, the band chose to issue the record as a joint release on both the Rhiz and Mego labels, a first for both labels and a dubious distinction for the band. Throughout Europe, the band has become highly regarded for their live performances which utilize a combination of traditional instrumentation (drums and bass) with modern technology (synths, mixers, and samlers), seamlessly blending the conventional with the non-conventional to form something wholly original. The band has shared the stage with everyone from Tony Conrad to Tortoise and made a distinct impression of the discerning music fan through appearances at a number of festivals, especially All Tomorrow's Parties.
Sounds like: A brainy jazz-rock band caught in malfunctioning musical software. Their attempts to escape result in some fascinating sounds.
How is it? A great example of making the most from the sonic tension existing between the analog and digital realms.
Kindred spirits: Tortoise, Jim O'Rourke, Isotope 217, This Heat
"Post-rock, minimalist classical, and that brainy, laptop-torturing bastard stepson of modern dance music known as IDM are perhaps three of the most enriching sonic head trips this side of Pink Floyd's darkest moon. And like a ruefully masterminded jam session betwen Tortoise and Autechre, testing the boundaries of John Cage's and David Tudor's 1960 "Cartride Music" movement, Austria's Radian creates an organic electronic experience of equal majesty." (Shout NY)
Machine Drum (http://www.machinedrum.net)
"Machine Drum has always been the most high-profile and in-demand artist over at Miami's Merck imprint -- no wonder given the impact his awesome Now You Know album made on its release some four years ago. Travis Stewart sticks to the Machine Drum agenda here, though dipping into some distinctly jiggy territory while he's at it. Past the glorious droned-out bliss of opening segment "Entrau", "Disa Bling" sets the agenda with a narrowly cut-up b-boy flick through hiccup funk, Prefuse stylee, though with those trademark warm strings turning things fluffed-up and blue. "Stevie Bam Jackson", "Offs," and "Inner Outer", meanwhile, add the scuzzed-up vibe that Dabrye has personalised in recent years -- though they serve as a good reminder of how upfront and up to the minute Machine Drum's sound has been, not to mention influential. 22 tracks wide, deep, instrumental electronic hip hop shiznizz, ya'hear?" (Bidnezz)
-
Originally posted by Jaguär:
Originally posted by snailhook:
mono is going to be amazing, too. their new record is as good as anything by explosions in the sky and mogwai.
I plan on trying to make it to this show.
Would you please post the extended calendar again in this thread? The one without all the details that has all of the shows on the list. [/b]
I'd like to go to that: Tue Apr 12 Mono
Eluvium 8:30 $8
-
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wed Mar 23 / 8:30 Doors / $6
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HAND FED BABIES (x-Black Eyes)
BARR (Kill Rock Stars / www.barrbarr.com) (http://www.barrbarr.com))
CAUTION CURVES (Tristana Fiscella, Rebecca Mills, Amanda Huron /
www.thecautioncurves.com/) (http://www.thecautioncurves.com/))
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thurs Mar 24 / 8:30 Doors / $6
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HORSES (x-Black Eyes, EtAtIt, Meltdown)
THE COOLIES (New Zealand Band Girl Punk / www.thecoolies.com) (http://www.thecoolies.com))
PARTYLINE (the original girls with glasses / members of Bratmobile & Hott Beat /
www.partylinedc.com) (http://www.partylinedc.com))
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fri Mar 25 / 9:30 Doors / $8
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ENON (w/ Seth from Les Savy Fav on guitar)
SWEARING AT MOTORISTS
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
a mini-noise against fascism...
Friday, April 1
$5, all ages
doors at 9:30, show at 10
USAISAMONSTER (http://www.usaisamonster.com) (Load Records, guitar/drums duo)
Northern Machine (DC duo, mem. of The Angus Brainpan)
Facemat (DC scuzz noise ensemble)
USAISAMONSTER
USAISAMONSTER started as an epiphany in 2000, taking inspiration from various leftist organizations, zines, and hardcore punk. The name represents an awakening and realization to the truth and history of world power struggle and manipulation, murder, and lies. Colin Matthews and Tom Hohmann met through an ad in a record store while living in Boston in January 1996. We did this band for 4 years called Bull-Roarer who rocked as hard as we could and paid for our own records and did some DIY touring and meant the world to us. Bass player J.K. moved to Mexico. Col and Tom decide to keep on rocking and moved to Charlottesville, VA. Founded a rad show space called the Pudhouse that was about as rad as every other wild DIY freak out fun show venue. Did a bunch of one night only bands with Hot Tang. Got Jero Harris down there, jammed, got 3 of his buddies (Vlad, Chris, and A.T.) down there, jammed, made a CDR entitled "1", then did a week long southern hardcore tour as a 7-piece noise symphony rock chaos outfit. The most newsworthy thing that happened on that tour was we played at 2 a.m. in a convenience store in Greensboro, and that show was covered signifigantly in many zines revolving around the Crimethinc organization. Returning home, we became a 4-piece with Jero and A.T. Spent summer 2001 swimming and making 3 releases: "Trippy Yet Wholesome" CDR, "Weed Blood" CDR, and "Soul Jerker" 7-inch. Each release showcased different styles. "Trippy" is folk rock, "Weedblood" is stoner metal, and the 7-inch is art-punk. The 4-piece did a week long tour up north predecided of breaking up as soon as the tour was over. After tour Tom breaks his arm, switches to bass, Colin switches to drums, Hot Tang joins the band again on Farfisa and screaming. A CDR is made entitled "5". Just a few shows are played in this lineup. Somewhere in there we also did a CDR and 10-day tour called Elvish Presley with A.T., Jonah Rapino, and Jarrod Hood and recorded a split 7? that never came out, the mystery 6th usaisamonster recording. Tom gets his cast off and the current 2-piece (Tom on drums, Colin on guitar) is formed. Songs are written quickly, a CDR is made entitled "7", and a 3-month tour is booked. Boys move outta C-Ville summer 2001. Turn vagabond. Drive around USA, rock and sightsee. Have tons of days off, play tons of shows, touring for a spell with facedowninshit. Settle in Tucson with the express intention of immediately getting jobs, booking the tour, DIY rerecording CDR "7" to become an LP, writing the next record, and leaving in 3 months. On Christmas day 2001 our beloved friends Tim and Sam offer to found a label and put out our LP. "Citizens of the Universe" is released on Infrasound Records. 4 month tour begins in January 2002. Shows proceed through USA and Europe, with even a show in Hermosilla, Mexico. Europe tour is a completely uninvited event. We just set our minds to it, and folks were wicked helpful. Friends gave contacts and friends of friends, and we made friends. Borrowed all equipment every show and took the train, bus, and hitchhiked. Went to Slovenia, England, Poland, and tons more. Returned home, recorded "Masonic Chronic", took a break, moved to different towns. Tom writes Black Elf Speaks in NYC. Colin moves back to Virginia, releases split 7-inch with Lazy Magnet. Black Elf Speaks one month every night USA tour happens in October 2002 featuring same elf band members except Chiara Giovando replaces Jonah. "Black Elf Speaks" CD is released on Bulb Records. "Masonic Chronic" is released on Infrasound. USA IS A MONSTER gets back together in Portland, Oregon in January 2003, practices all day every day for 3 months, books the tour and records Joshua Tree demo CDR with Kamilsky in Joshua Tree, plays 7 weeks of shows in the USA, again touring with facedowninshit. Then the dudes move to NYC. Then Load Records agrees to put out an album. USA is a monster goes to KeyClub studios in Michigan to record "Tashyena Compost." Record comes out, big month-long tour with Lightning Bolt in October 2003. 10-week USA, UK, Canada spring 2004 touring with Koonda Holaa, Corndawg, Vialka, and Burning Hull.
"...That??s why filing USAISAMONSTER under Load Records?? ??noise rock? umbrella just doesn??t work. The duo essentially rumble and quirk their way through 10 brick-heavy prog-rock songs, saluting punk, pop, and even wailing hair metal on the way. The diversity suggests a careful commentary on American crassness and cultural bleakness more than any brand of inter-band confusion ?? there??s no gratuitous speaker-frying sludge here (not that there??s anything wrong with that). Like the most adventurous progressive bands, distinction and clarity merely build a frame for the actual substance, and, thankfully, the albums shining production projects each simmering note loud and clear, with Hohmann??s deep snare splattering huge throughout the mix. When it comes to year-end recognition, Tasheyana Compost stands above most." (Dusted)
-
Tell me more of these Northern Machine & Facemat types you speak of....
-
northern machine is a synth/electronics/some guitars duo of a couple of DC cats who've been around the noise scene for a while. one of them is in the angus brainpan, who are more drony/atmospheric. facemat are a collective of younger dudes (and a chick) that have a core of three or four members. they were up at no fun last week with us. every time i've seen them, it's been different and always good.
for $5 on a friday night, this show's a bargain. there's nothing else interesting going on that night.
-
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TOMORROW! THURSDAY MARCH 31 ? 8:30 Doors
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DECIBULLY (x-Promise Ring, for fans of Wilco, Canyon)
CODESEVEN (Equal Vision Records)
RANCHO NOTORIUS (featuring Joe from Hoover)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FRIDAY APRIL FOOLS DAY ? 9:00 Doors
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
USAISAMONSTER (Load Records, guitar/drums duo)
NORTHERN MACHINE (DC duo, mem. of The Angus Brainpan)
FACEMAT (DC scuzz noise ensemble)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SATURDAY APRIL 2 ? 9:00 Doors
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AHLEUCHATISTAS (for fans of Ruins, Don Cab, Crimson, Beefheart, etc)
CASCADE IN BLUE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SUNDAY APRIL 3 ? 8:30 Doors
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PAINT IT BLACK (Philly HC, Jade Tree Records, x-Lifetime / Kid Dynamite)
NAVIES (DC, Lovitt Records)
TRADITION DIES HERE (DC crusty HC, X-Crispus Attucks)
AN ALARM (DC hardcore)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MONDAY APRIL 4 ? 8:30 Doors ? $7
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RED EYED LEGENDS (x-Monorchid, Skull Kontrol, Circus Lupus, Dishes, and Black
Cat Booker)
THE ETERNALS (x-Trenchmouth)
-
TONIGHT! MONDAY APRIL 4th!
9:00PM DOORS / $8.00 / All Ages
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RED EYED LEGENDS + THE ETERNALS
AT THE WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR!!!!!!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RED EYED LEGENDS
featuring Chris Thomson formerly of Circus Lupus, Monorchid, Skull Kontrol, Ignition, and Kiki of the Dishes
THE ETERNALS
featuring Damon Locks of formerly of Trenchmouth, releases on Desoto, Thrill Jockey, Aesthetics
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It would be a real shame if you were to not hear RED EYED LEGENDS. Yes it's awkward and uncomfortable, yet it is somehow strangely compelling. Then again, that's the way singer/guitarist CHRIS THOMSON likes it. If the name doesn't sound familiar, its probably cause you're lame. If you do recognize the name its because you must have some kind of love/hate relationship with Chris' iconoclastic over the top punk vocal stylings which are featured prominently on records by DISCHORD's CIRCUS LUPUS and TOUCH AND GO's MONORCHID, and SKULL
KONTROL. Add to the mix the keyboard/guitar and vocals of KIKI YABLON who adds her garage riffs and farfisa stops to the RED EYED LEGENDS new wavey punk rock stew. It should be noted that Kiki is a guitar iconoclast in her own right as a former guitar player for Chicago's THE DISHES. JASON DUMMELDINGER is the bass player, who looks nothing like JOHN ENTWHISTLE, but his bass playing certainly resembles his. The boom and bombast is again a nice counter to the whirling keyboards and rudimentary guitar licks. And rounding out quartet is PAUL JOHN HIGGINS, whose jazz refined drumming is the only kind of drumming that would make sense.
-
Hey snailhook - What's the estimated time for Medications to come on tonight? 10-ish? Expecting a big crowd?
-
Why doesn't WND start shows earlier?
-
why should we? 9-12 on weekdays and 9 or 10-1 on weekends seems normal to me.
-
+++++++++++++++++++++++
TONIGHT! ? Tue Apr 12 ? 8:30 ? $8
+++++++++++++++++++++++
the return of
MONO (Temporary Residence, from Japan)
and
ELUVIUM (Temporary Residence)
THE PLUMS (mem. of Hat City Intuitive, Portions Toll, and Spaceships Panic Orbit)
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Sat Apr 16 ? 9:00 ? $8
+++++++++++++++++++++++
THE HIDDEN HAND (featuring Wino of The Obsessed/Saint Vitus/Spirit Caravan)
WEEDEATER (Crucial Blast Rec., from NC)
RWAKE (At A Loss Rec., from Arkansas)
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Tue Apr 19 ? 8:30
+++++++++++++++++++++++
DEL CIELO (Lovitt / Exotic Fever)
THE REPUTATION (Lookout Records)
ANOUSHEH
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Wed Apr 20 ? 8:30
+++++++++++++++++++++++
FANKLIN DELANO (File 13 Rec, from Italy)
JUSTIN JONES
MARSTON & PONIEHEART (Secret Eye Rec., opening for upcoming Will Oldham tour)
MADAGASCAR (gypsy dirges from Baltimore)
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Thu Apr 21 ? 8:30
+++++++++++++++++++++++
SUPERSYSTEM (Touch and Go / formerly El Guapo)
MARY TIMONY (Lookout Records)
NO THINGS (Ex-Liars)
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Fri Apr 22 ? 9:00 ? $7
+++++++++++++++++++++++
HAND FED BABIES (ex-Black Eyes)
GANGWIZARD (Ecstatic Peace)
R_GARCIA (experimental noisy IDM from Florida)
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Sat Apr 23 ? 9:00
+++++++++++++++++++++++
DISTANT SUN (A Tribute to Captain Beyond)
WRETCHED (MD doom)
BLACK MANTA (MD doom featuring Joe Hasselvander of Pentagram on drums)
THE EXPOTENTIALS (ex-Sixty Watt Shaman)
+++++++++++++++++++++++
JUST ANOUNCED ? Sat Apr 30
LATE SHOW ? 10:30 ? $7
+++++++++++++++++++++++
THE APES (record release party for the Birdman Records release "Baba's
Mountain")
with special guests DAWN OF MAN (ex-Bluetip)
-
Originally posted by snailhook:
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Sat Apr 16 ? 9:00 ? $8
+++++++++++++++++++++++
THE HIDDEN HAND (featuring Wino of The Obsessed/Saint Vitus/Spirit Caravan)
WEEDEATER (Crucial Blast Rec., from NC)
RWAKE (At A Loss Rec., from Arkansas)
hey snailhook, do you have something written up for saturday's show?
-
not yet, i'll be trying to put something together tomorrow since today i've been spamming for my house show on sunday.
this show will do well without any prodding. if you're curious about the bands, here's some basic info:
The Hidden Hand (stoner/prog/psych rock from MD)
Weedeater (pummeling sludge, guitar/bass/drums trio from Wilmington NC, ex-Buzz*oven, on Crucial Blast, they do an awesome cover of Skynyrd's "Gimme Back My Bullets")
Rwake (epic crusty avant-metal from Little Rock, At A Loss Records, similar to Neurosis and Isis)
-
For fans of Will Oldham/Palace, Smog, Cat Power, and Califone:
Wednesday, April 20
Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th St NW WDC
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Franklin Delano (File 13 Rec., from Italy)
Marston & Ponieheart (Secret Eye Rec., from New Mexico, opening on current Bonnie Prince Billy tour)
Justin Jones (DC hillbilly soul)
Madagascar (gypsy folk dirges from Baltimore)
Franklin Delano (http://www.franklindelano.org)
Franklin Delano is a four-piece band that formed in 2002 when Paolo Iocca (vox, guitars) met Marcella Riccardi (vox, guitars, lap steel, mandolin). Soon Vittoria Burattini (drums, percussions) joined the band, giving the songs rhythmic structure, while the elusive fourth member Stefano Pilia (double bass, bass, piano) began adding classical sophistication mixed with an experimental flourish. The band recorded the basic tracks of the album at Homesleep Studios in Bologna. Then they traveled to Chicago's 4Deuces/Clava Studio where their friends Tim Rutili and Califone added layers of guitars, percussion, keyboards, and noise. Former Red Red Meat and Califone member, and producer of Modest Mouse and Iron & Wine, Brian Deck produced the Chicago overdubs and then manipulated and mixed the result into the final version of their second album, ??Like A Smoking Gun In Front Of Me.?
Franklin Delano has created a new and exciting view on American folk music. Textures blur with noise and haunting doubled voices emerge from a marsh of drones and reiterative guitars. On a solid foundation of drums and double bass is where improvisation explodes, lapsteel howls, and dueling male and female voices twist with interpretations of English words. Call it "the dark side of post folk," call it whatever? Their Italian perspective is unique in its way of transforming spaced-out blues into coherence. The band pushes improvisation into beautiful folk songs with their take on American folk/blues music derived from the other side of the ocean. Franklin Delano will tour throughout the United States and Europe in 2005, with support from File 13 and the label releasing their album in Italy, Madcap Collective.
Marston & Ponieheart (http://www.jodiemarston.com)
US singer/songwriter Jodie Jean Marston's album is a varied mix of hallucinatory dream traversing, and backwoods country and folk-styled acoustic guitar that recalls Carla Bozulich's recent, somewhat controversial treatment of Willie Nelson's classic ??Red Headed Stranger.? Intermittently backed by electric guitar and bass player Bobby Arellano and Jasper Spiecher on flute -- who add an extra shade of grey to an already dark musical palette -- Marston's slow-moving ballads are stripped of all frills, her vocals soaring over the frugal instrumentation. This simple but highly effective technique puts the listener into a hypnotic trance that's virtually impossible to snap out of until Marston's ready to break the spell. Like the Black Forest/Black Sea record, this is another oddity worth tracking down from the Secret Eye label. (The Wire)
Jodie Jean Marston is a new name to me, but this young lady comes to the psych/chamber folk scene with a fully formed, vibrant voice. Her self-titled CD for Rhode Island's Secret Eye label is one of the more assured debuts I've heard in 2003. There's nothing flashy or pretentious about these eleven songs. They're stripped down folk-pop numbers with lots of banjo and acoustic guitars and only the slightest accompaniment (electric guitar, bass, and flute), a few well-placed effects and Marston's gorgeous vocals. The end result is sort of like a cross between Gillian Welch and the Iditarod, warm and plaintive as all of our favorite trade folkies tend to be, but the expansive sound sculpture of the opening and closing numbers hint at the otherworldliness that permeates the entirety of this disk. Fits in perfectly with the earthy ethereality of all of Secret Eye's releases. (Broken Face)
Justin Jones (http://www.justin-jones.com)
Folk music has always been a home to storytellers. So it's no surprise that tales of love, loneliness and drug abuse can be found on Justin Jones's new album, "Blue Dreams."
His Web site describes his brand of folk music as "Hillbilly Soul." The term accounts for his smooth voice and touch of country twang, leftover from his days growing up in southern Virginia. The new genre comes from the expressive music that has influenced him -- Led Zeppelin, Public Enemy, even the new movement in bluegrass.
"I'm influenced by any emotional music that can make me believe in what the person is singing about," he says. And his songs find that poignant place. Jones doesn't try to prove the sadness in them; he matter-of-factly states a situation and lets us draw our own conclusion. Though he says that most of his music is not based on true stories, his past -- filled with alcoholism and loss -- may have contributed to his lyrics. "That kind of thing can lead to a lot of stories," he says. (Washington Post)
Madagascar (http://www.wearemadagascar.com)
Chamber music, Yiddish folk, gypsy laments -- the members of Madagascar draw on these influences, and more, on ??Forced March,? their debut album for Western Vinyl. The nostalgic waltzes, melancholy dirges, and dance tunes on ??Forced March? are powered by a seemingly disparate collection of acoustic instruments (accordion, ukulele, musical saw, and glockenspiel, to name a few) that seamlessly mesh together in the hands of Madagascar. Haunting, wordless vocals occasionally join the mostly-instrumental mix, forming a music that is timeless yet unique, tragic one moment, joyous the next. It's like street music for some crumbled, forgotten city, folk songs for a long-extinct people. Engineer Rob Girardi, working at Mt. Royal Studios in the bands' home base and hometown of Baltimore MD, used a traditional approach in recording the band that makes ??Forced March? a sonic delight as well as a collection of excellent songs. The musicians largely played together in one space, sounds were captured mostly by room microphones straight to 2? tape, and very few overdubs were done. T.J. Lipple's ??purist? approach to mastering further ensured that ??Forced March? sounds like actual musicians, playing real instruments, together in the same room -- a rarity in these days of made-in-Pro-Tools, hyper-compressed albums. It's the first effort, but certainly not the last, from a new, unique voice in music.
??Like sitting on a rooftop in Zagreb, watching the crowds go by.? - Dave Heumann (Abouretum, Anomoanon)
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Hey, TONIGHT is Thursday Apr 21 and
Touch and Go Recording Artist
SUPERSYSTEM (formerly El Guapo)
will be playing with
Lookout Recording Artist
MARY TIMONY
and Mute Recording Artist
NO THINGS (Ex-Liars)
and doors open at 8:30 and
and the cost to get in this
all ages show is only $8.
Come to the Warehouse Next Door!
(set times are roughly 9/10/11'o'clock)
(come early as this show will probably sell out)
-
Tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 26
doors at 8:30, show at 9
$7, all ages
Eyes Like Knives (Boston post-punk)
The Catalyst (DC heavy rock)
Me Vs The Monster (NoVA math-rock)
Blurring the line between noise and melody, Boston's EYES LIKE KNIVES creates rock music that is at once heavy but fragile. This delicate balance defines the sonic sound that is their signature -- wailing guitars, reverb-heavy, delay-drenched ambiance and dynamic male/female vocal interaction. Think Drive Like Jehu, Quicksand, PGMG, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Treepeople, and the Pixies.
Here are some websites:
www.eyeslikeknives.com (http://www.eyeslikeknives.com)
www.dopamine-records.com (http://www.dopamine-records.com)
www.city666.com (http://www.city666.com)
Eyes Like Knives can be found consistently playing the Northeast with touring and local bands such as Denali, TV on the Radio, Detachment Kit, Skeleton Key, 27, Engine Down, Officer May, and The Lot Six.
-
The Catalyst are sweet. Mudhoney/Nirvana + Virginia scream-y
-
++++++++++++++++++++
TOMORROW APRIL 27
++++++++++++++++++++
DEAD MEADOW
THE CHILD BALLADS (Featuring Stewart Lupton from Jonathan Fire*Eater)
SAMARA LUBELSKI (of Hall Of Fame, The Sonora Pine, The Tower Recordings, &
Jackie-O Motherfucker)
++++++++++++++++++++
Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th St NW
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
++++++++++++++++++++
Samara Lubelski steps outside the context of long time collaborators Hall Of Fame, Metabolismus, The Sonora Pine, The Tower Recordings, & Jackie-O
Motherfucker to deliver a solo vision from an alternate psychedelic folk universe.
Samara is a native New Yorker who grew up in the haze of artist infestation of Soho. She has been involved with various projects ever since she was allowed to cross the street on her own for an egg cream and spilled it on John Cage. Through the time of playing in various groups, she has compiled an impressive resume that covers a myriad of genres, such as her work with the avant/psych/folk outfit Hall Of Fame, into the lair of those bohemian German musos Metabolismus, and onto the indie rock interpretations of The Sonora Pine, with some serious treks into the world of The Tower Recordings and off-world with Jackie-O Motherfucker, to name just a few.
This album is a new level where Samara controls all aspects of the sound, started at the compound of Metabolismus in the forests outside of Stuttgart, Germany with the help of Moritz Finkbeiner and David Mueller. She returned to the U.S. and to her part-time place of work to complete her album at the Rare Book Room. Joining her were two of her old chums from the Tower Recordings, PG Six and Tim Barnes. Add to the mix the guitar aficionado Marc Moore, who has had his hand in Cat Power and the Lynnfield Pioneers and various other projects' cookie jars. Cynthia Nelson, who has played from one coast to the next
performing solo material and collaborating with others, showed her verve on the flute.
What all these elements have added up to on Samara??s album is a cycle of songs that are almost deceptive in their catchiness. Layers of sound that are delicate without being fragile. There is a resilience that makes this album balance on the edge of being the type of LP that is perfect on both rainy mornings and breezy spring days. With all of her experience and skill, Samara has learned how to create atmospheres of depth within her pieces. They do not rely on the virtuosity of the players, but on them unifying with each other and the words to create an ambience that is gentle and pulls you deeper into its folds. When it ends you are carried along on its last currents. You will be looking forward to the return of "The Fleeting Skies" as it settles into your memory.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Dead Meadow, now a quartet with new guitarist Cory Shane, play an unusual blend of flawless Hendrix/Sabbath riffage, dreamy psych, heavy undulating rhythms, dirty blues-rock, and environmental jams, with eerie high-pitched vocals. Miles beyond ??stoner rock? gimmickry, this is a beautifully natural sound, played by expert instinctive musicians.
Dead Meadow met in the DC punk/indie scene, though their music draws from more faraway sources. The band formed in the fall of 1998 from the ashes of local bands The Impossible Five and Colour, when singer-guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille, and drummer Mark Laughlin set out to fuse their love of early '70s hard rock and '60s psychedelia with their love of writers J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft.
Dead Meadow released their six-song debut in 2000 on Fugazi bassist Joe Lally's Tolotta Records, and a joint vinyl release on D.C. indie label Planaria Records. In 2001, the band released its second album, "Howls From The Hills," on Tolotta. Where the first self-titled album was recorded in their practice space for a couple hundred dollars and plenty of learning curves, "Howls From The Hills" was born in a barn in Liberty, Indiana. Their sound fuller without losing its live essence, the band grew to encompass everything from ambient guitar drones to surging psych-funk sludge, blues-folk tunes to barbiturate space-rock, and some southern slow boogie thrown in for good measure.
In spring 2002, original drummer Mark Laughlin reluctantly quit the group, replaced by old friend and previous collaborator Stephen McCarty (whose
grandfather's farmhouse is where the band recorded "Howls From the Hills"). Also in mid-2002, the band found an unlikely patron in Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe, who recorded, produced, and printed Dead Meadow's live disc "Got Live If You Want It" on his Committee to Keep Music Evil imprint of the legendary Bomp label. Soon after, they recorded a Peel Session at the Fugazi practice space -- the first time the BBC recorded a Peel Session outside their own studios.
Shortly after signing with Matador in 2003, Dead Meadow self-produced "Shivering King And Others" in the basement studio of the DC Pirate House over five months and during a busy schedule of touring. Along with the heavy rockers and bluesy numbers as on the previous two records, the band went deeper into the psychedelic realm, with chiming acoustic touches and lovely, disorienting ballads.
With the addition of 2nd guitarist Cory Shane and beautifully spacious production, "Feathers" opens up the Dead Meadow sound still further, seeming at
once more experimental and more accessible than anything they??ve recorded thus far. The record captures the famous intensity of their live show, but songs like "At Her Open Door" and "Stacy??s Song" reveal an obsessive beauty as jarring as
sheer volume. Jason??s guitar virtuosity is at its peak, as influenced by the droning modal character of Eastern music as by classic rock riffs. Ever deeper, Dead Meadow remain one step ahead of expectations.
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Do I need to get to this show early?
Originally posted by snailhook:
++++++++++++++++++++
TOMORROW APRIL 27
++++++++++++++++++++
DEAD MEADOW
THE CHILD BALLADS (Featuring Stewart Lupton from Jonathan Fire*Eater)
SAMARA LUBELSKI (of Hall Of Fame, The Sonora Pine, The Tower Recordings, &
Jackie-O Motherfucker)
++++++++++++++++++++
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that would be a good idea. samara lubelski is great if you like subtle, textural folk, so it wouldn't hurt to get there early.
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SATURDAY April 30 TOMORROW!
++++++++++++++++++++++
THE APES (record release party)
with special guests
DAWN OF MAN
++++++++++++++++++++++
Warehouse Next Door
10:30 LATE SHOW!
$7 and all ages!
++++++++++++++++++++++
The APES "Baba's Mountain" full-length has arrived at last out on Birdman Records.
http://www.TheApes.com (http://www.TheApes.com)
http://www.BirdmanRecords.com (http://www.BirdmanRecords.com)
++++++++++++++++++++++
Before Comets on Fire discovered the secret to turning sludge into gold, a number of equally talented bands were hard at work on a similar sort of alchemy. The unique presence of Washington DC's The Apes removes the band far enough from the realms of the regular to earn a place on the same shelf as household names like Royal Trux (well, at least among Dusted's households). Their label
explains: "They compose songs around drawings they make and compose drawings around stories they imagine, stories that would burn green into the eyes of Philip K Dick, Jorge Luis Borges, and Ray Bradbury." The Apes have choogled their way through releases on Planaria and French Kiss records, and their latest album, Baba Mountain, was released by the venerable Birdman imprint. The Apes will be on tour of the US very soon.
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Wednesday, May 4
$6, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Psychic Paramount (Public Guilt Rec., ex-Laddio Bolocko/Panicsville)
Jenna & Barbara Bush (ex-Shortstack/Tuohy/Ruby Dare)
Trephine (Public Guilt Rec., heavy math/prog rock from MD)
Psychic Paramount (http://www.thepsychicparamount.com)
The best part of a band breakup is the aftermath ?? - the spilling-over of the former unit's now factionalized guts. Of course, this kind of rock postmortem is available to the general public only when the former band becomes two or three or four new ones. For Laddio Bolocko the split was even: Marcus DeGrazia and Blake Fleming became part of Electric Turn to Me; Drew St. Ivany and Ben Armstrong found a drummer and played as the Psychic Paramount. Though Fleming's tight, complex drumming is enough to almost make any band, Electric Turn to Me did not get the better part of this deal. The Psychic Paramount's noisy, churning rock more readily recalls Laddio Bolocko's best moments -?? and might even indicate who was behind that band after all. (Mike Kanin, Washington City Paper)
The Psychic Paramount features Drew St.Ivany (guitar) and Ben Armstrong (bass) both ex-Laddio Bolockoº (NYC). Jeff Conaway (drums) also plays in Sabers* (NYC).
The group formed just five days before a scheduled tour of France and Italy in Nov./Dec. 2002 with original drummer Tatsuya Nakatani, prominently a free music improviser from NYC. The music and performances of the tour were often chaotic and unpredictable lent by a sense of urgency and chance elements. Some of these were documented resulting in the Live 2002: Franco-Italian Tour CD which captures the birth of the group in raw, immediate form. A film of this period (Live in Rome) shot by Aran Tharp is also available on the website.
After touring the U.S. in 2004, The Psychic Paramount recorded sessions for a new CD on No Quarter titled Gamelan Into the Mink Supernatural, the first official studio release by the group. The disc features new drummer Jeff Conaway and also contains a short film shot during the recent tour on super8 by Aran Tharp. A new 7? picture disc will also be released in Feb. 2005 on the label Implied Sound (Baltimore).
The double CD set Origins & Primitives vol.1+2 will be released on No Quarter in early April 2005. A collection of diverse musical settings, the set draws directly on the automatic method of composition to emphasize first impressions.
The Psychic Paramount will be performing on the east coast U.S. in May 2005. European dates also in the works for later this year.
Trephine (http://www.trephinemd.com)
"Trephine is a heavy prog band...they have a dark and threatening sound, not dissimilar to Anekdoten or Red-era Crimson. To add to the musical dexterity on offer, and to inch up the psychotic meter a tad, they add some film samples...they have a super-over-the-top stage presentation, wearing bizarre masks and the like." (Ray Dorsey - Chaos Realm)
"Imagine if Skeleton Key and Slayer had a love child who couldn`t speak...then you would be getting a close approximation of what this super heavy Baltimore band sounds like. Lots of metal served up with a heaping slab of extra percussion...oxygen tanks, metal, cans, etc. Heavy with a capital H."
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TONIGHT (05/09/05)
at the
WAREHOUSE THEATER or NEXT DOOR....
its Emperor Jones Records recording artist:
THE CRACK PIPES (Some country teasin', a little tasty funk and plenty of garage rockin' good times all await.)
with local favorites
GONERS
featuring current or ex. members of Measles Mumps Rubella, Weird War, Thee Snuff Project, 302 Acid, Pretty Pony, Scurvy, Eyes of the Killer Robot, S PRCSS, The Mamma Jamma Ska Ensemble, The Panoply Academy, The Local Sixteens, Salute The Curse, The Dead Teenagers, etc.
http://www.emperorjones.com (http://www.emperorjones.com)
http://www.thecrackpipes.com (http://www.thecrackpipes.com)
http://www.warehousenextdoor.com (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com)
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TONIGHT!
Tuesday, May 10
Warehouse Next Door
www.warehousenextdoor.com (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com)
1021 7th St NW
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
SIGHTINGS (NYC, Load Records noise rock!)
MICHAEL COLUMBIA (ex-Bablicon/Olivia Tremor Control/Need New Body!)
OVO (noise duo from Italy!)
MR NATURAL (crazy one-man band from Nashville!)
SIGHTINGS
Never before has a band managed to erase themselves. New York City's SIGHTINGS have risen to the challenge of negation with this "what the fuck" of a record that rolls the twenty sided dice to dematerialize any trace of guitar, bass and drums into proton dust floating microns on top of the speaker cone. Minimal, yes. Previous records have gone from favorites at magazines as chocolate and peanut butter as the Wire and Terrorizer. Past records have been steaming knee burn befuddled by German technoid impulse and Yoko-damaged Beatles-busting intensity. A new icy coolness is added to the steaming soup this time allowing the sounds of mouth breathing to open up the record into a drug-fueled nightclub beast humping a bass bin as the sun rises.
MICHAEL COLUMBIA
http://www.galapagos4.com/mc/mchome.htm (http://www.galapagos4.com/mc/mchome.htm)
Veterans of the experimental indie-rock triangle of Chicago, Philly and Athens, the duo of David McDonnell, of Bablicon (Misra Records), Olivia Tremor Control (Elephant 6) and Need New Body (File 13), and Dylan Ryan, of Icey Demons (Cloud Recordings) and Orso (Perishable) came together to experiment with a new combination of sounds and beats. Through the filtered bass tones weaving in and around, synths, saxophone, clarinet, violin and delay, synthetic ambient vocals sinuously drone over pressurized machine crushing beats. Sonic payoffs build up, floating in and out of Michael Columbia??s heavy low end foundations and orchestral textures. Imagine you??re in Lee Perry??s studio with a robot clone of Don Henley who??s been raised on Kraftwerk, that almost sums up MC??s sound. These are Colored Bars gets to the core of electronic rock through heavy seductive drumming topped off with spaced-out vocal hand horn textures. Michael Columbia takes you from the streets of Chicago into the far reaches of space. One minute you're in the soundtrack to Blade Runner, the next you're driving underneath tracks racing trains, keeping pace with some classic power rock. Only a city like this could spawn such a moody, humorous and danceable album....
OVO
http://www.barlamuerte.com/bands/ovo/ (http://www.barlamuerte.com/bands/ovo/)
OVO is a project of music and life. OVO are Stefania Pedretti (also singer and guitar player of Allun) and Bruno Dorella (ex-Wolfango, Bugo, Lava, now involved in many bands and boss of Bar La Muerte records), often joined by friends that belong to many different musical scenes. Bruno and Stefania basically started this project to stay together: they were used to following their partner's different bands on tour, but they were also sick of the problems that every band has connected with the members' lives, works, studies. It was natural for them to form an open but autonomous duo, free to tour and record with or without the collaboration of other musicians. A lifestyle project, the last frontier of DIY, or the maximum freedom level. The big number of gigs played by OVO in their brief existence testifies about it. The spirit is: play everywhere, with no particular technical or economical requests, just for the pleasure of playing music. We'd like to keep OVO, if not outside the market rules, at least very free inside of them.
The recoring of their first CD Assassine needed four different sessions, one for each guest musician, each one consisting in about one hour of free improv, methodic destructuration, no wave remembrances. They choose the craziest and most surprising tracks, no overdubs (all the sessions were recorded on DAT).
MR NATURAL
A Nashville one-man band who uses contact microphones, guitar pickups, and the surfaces of objects to create what could appropriately be called sound explorations. His approach shares a kinship with a totally different group of musicians, among them San Francisco's Loren Chasse and the UK's Jonathan Coleclough, who electronically process field recordings to create pieces that can be at once gentle and disorienting.
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two if by sea plays two sleeper shows on the quiet side of next week, for
those who toil at work on weekends:
sunday 5.15
warehouse next door
with casettes & bang! bang!
show at 8:30 / $7
]http://www.warehousenextdoor.com/ (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com/[/b)[/url]
I'm out of town on Sunday, alas, but I've seen Two if By Sea and they're good. And I've heard a lot about the Cassettes -- a favorite local band of many folks around these parts... I would definitely go to this show if I were here.
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Tomorrow! Saturday, May 14
Warehouse Next Door
$7, all ages
doors at 9, show at 9:30
liquor license is back!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
GRAVES BROTHERS DELUXE (x-Thin White Rope and SubArachnoid Space)
JANA HUNTER (split with Devendra Banhart coming soon on TMU)
SEMAPHORE (from DC)
HALTON MOOR (featuring Andy Olmstead, Jennifer Potter, Karie Reinertson)
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GRAVES BROTHERS DELUXE (from SF)
www.gravesbrothers.com (http://www.gravesbrothers.com)
Members of Thin White Rope and SubArachnoid Space. The Brothers alternate between noise-scapey garage-pop and dark parlor music, drawing comparisons from SONIC YOUTH to CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL to THE STOOGES to SUN RA. ??Art-Fag Garage,? if you will.
JANA HUNTER (from NY)
www.janahunter.tk (http://www.janahunter.tk)
False heresy, the good mischief, acoustiks and ghosts cracking up in church haunt a small, shy person with glasses. She's been making and selling (at shows/record stores) her own CD-Rs for 6 or 7 years. For a short time, she sang and wrote for a band from Houston, Texas, called Matty & Mossy that released a CD (Fraimers Haimey) on Fleece Records. In 2004, her song "Farm, CA." was
included in the "Golden Apples of the Sun" CD compiled by Devendra Banhart for Arthur Magazine's Bastet label. A live version of her song "The New Sane Scramble" will be released on Spleen's compilation "The Black and White Skins" for Les Disque Du Crespuscule (France). In the spring/summer of 2005, Troubleman Unlimited will release a Jana Hunter and Devendra Banhart split LP. Hunter is currently maxing in Brooklyn.
"Jana Hunter is back in town. These days she's doing a solo thing, just her, a guitar, and a Mini-Disc full of backing tracks -- it doesn't sound like much, maybe, but it's absolutely mind-blowing. The songs are as creepy and
kind-of-sort-of menacing as Matty & Mossy's could be, but Hunter's expanded her musical palette somewhat, breaking out of the prog-blues-rock of her old band and dabbling with electronics and even pretty pop. The voice, of course, is still the same, and that's what really makes the whole thing work -- on top of some amazing songwriting, she does the most incredible impersonation of a
down-on-her-luck '40s blues diva trapped in the body of a shy, kinda geeky girl. Hunter looks a little strange sometimes up there on stage, but as soon as she opens her mouth, everybody in the room is absolutely transfixed. I swear, she's got that crazy Chan Marshall/Beth Gibbons magnetism...come to think of it, Beth Gibbons' own recent post-Portishead effort, "Out Of Season," is probably the closest thing to Jana Hunter's solo stuff. Will she keep doing her thing? Hell, I dunno...anybody know if she's recorded anything? I certainly hope so -- but just in case, I'd go see her at the first chance you get." (Space City Rock)
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Originally posted by Bags:
two if by sea plays two sleeper shows on the quiet side of next week, for
those who toil at work on weekends:
sunday 5.15
warehouse next door
with casettes & bang! bang!
show at 8:30 / $7
]http://www.warehousenextdoor.com/ (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com/[/b)[/url]
I'm out of town on Sunday, alas, but I've seen Two if By Sea and they're good. And I've heard a lot about the Cassettes -- a favorite local band of many folks around these parts... I would definitely go to this show if I were here.
Originally the Cassettes were scheduled to go on last but for some reason they decided that they wanted to go third. So the line up was Pile of Face (who were okay), Bang! Bang!, The Cassettes, Two If By Sea.
I didn't stay late enough to see Two If By Sea, and I hope I do get to see them soon. But the Cassettes did not impress me at all, especially playing right after Bang! Bang! who were great. They sound like a more punk or garage version of the B52s. They just rocked the place and really got a lot of people dancing.
By the way Snailhook, you should encourage the bands to post something on MySpace- when I was deciding if I wanted to go I listened to clips for Bang! Bang! and Two If By Sea on MySpace and it made the decision for me. It really helps for bands that are not from this area.
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Originally posted by tbmtt:
Originally the Cassettes were scheduled to go on last but for some reason they decided that they wanted to go third. So the line up was Pile of Face (who were okay), Bang! Bang!, The Cassettes, Two If By Sea.
I didn't stay late enough to see Two If By Sea, and I hope I do get to see them soon. But the Cassettes did not impress me at all, especially playing right after Bang! Bang! who were great. They sound like a more punk or garage version of the B52s. They just rocked the place and really got a lot of people dancing.
Agreed on all counts. Bang! Bang! was tons-o-fun. I really wanted to like The Cassettes, but I was a bit disappointed by their set. A bit too wacky for me. Two If By Sea were terrific. They had everyone in the room dancing before they were done. I'll definitely check them out again. I missed the first band.
The Cassettes mentioned that we were lucky to see one of their final shows. I'm not sure if "lucky" is the word I'd use, but if you wanna see them, you'd better do it soon.
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Get yourself down to the Warehouse Next Door Friday night at 9pm.
GARLAND OF HOURS (Amy Domingues, cello/piano, Brandon Butler drums) opens and MARY TIMONY (with Devin Ocampo) wields the power afterwards.
Need a double shot of BRANDON BUTLER? Come see him do his solo thing with BENJY FERREE and RAYMOND MORIN on Monday night. Will Brandon and Benjy have a drummer with them? Come and find out!
Remember ex-DC native Michael Pierce? Check out
the former bass player of Dateline Diamonds new project, the Portland-based GOBLIN CITY tonight with the popular DAN DEACON and the weirdly shocking AIR GUITAR MAGAZINE and NUCLEAR POWERED PANTS. Come early for this one!
Saturday we have the return of MANHUNTER, DC's favorite Ghostly-like electronic power house.
Sunday we have one of my favorites...Virginia's Death Metal legends, DECEASED playing with MISERY INDEX!
And just announced, the return of REVIVAL (x-Canyon) with Philly's COYOTE (Birdman Records/ex-The Holy Fallout, Excelsior and The Rabble Rousers) and MOUNTAIN HIGH (ex-Ink and
Dagger, Excelsior, Franklin, AM/FM etc) playing on Saturday, May 28th!
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====================
Thu May 19 ? 8:30 ? $7
====================
Dan Deacon
Nuclear Powered Pants
Air Guitar Magazine
Goblin City
====================
Fri May 20 ? 9:00 ? $7
====================
Mary Timony (from Helium/Autoclave/Mind Science of the Mind)
Garland of Hours (featuring Amy Dominguez and Brandon Butler)
9:00
====================
Sat May 21 ? 9:00
====================
The Sea, Like Lead... (atmospheric post-punk from Pittsburgh, in the vein of Juno?Unwound/Explosions in the Sky)
Manhunter
Water School
The Fake Accents
====================
Sun May 22 ? 8:30 ? $7
====================
Deceased (Virginia death metal legends on Relapse!)
Misery Index (Nuclear Blast)
Hope and Suicide (ex-Bloodlet)
Seventh Gate (mem. of VOG)
====================
Mon May 23? 8:30
====================
Brandon Butler (ex-Canyon)
Raymond Morin
Benjy Ferree
====================
JUST ANNOUNCED! SAT May 28? 9:00
====================
REVIVAL (ex-Canyon)
COYOTE (Birdman Records/ex-The Holy Fallout, Excelsior and The Rabble Rousers)
MOUNTAIN HIGH (ex-Ink and Dagger, Excelsior, Franklin, AM/FM etc)
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Wednesday, May 25
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Meatjack (Baltimore proggy noise-rock on At A Loss Rec.)
Weedeater (Wilmington NC heavy-ass swampy sludge metal)
Mouth of the Architect (epic, atmospheric post-hardcore from Ohio)
GreatDayForUp (classic stoner rock from Albany NY)
Meatjack (http://www.meatjack.com)
Founded by brothers Brian and Jason Daniloski, this hardworking, Baltimore, MD-based band has been constantly releasing material and touring since 1993. After a deluge of releases on 7-inch vinyl and compilations, MEATJACK found a home with At A Loss Recordings in 1999 and released their first full length CD, Trust. A split CD and 10-inch vinyl record with Prank Records artists Damad followed in 2000. Also in 2000, infamous filmmaker John Waters used the MEATJACK song "Upstart" in his motion picture "Cecil B. Demented"; the song appeared on the soundtrack along with songs by The Locust, Moby, and Liberace (no kidding!!!).
In Spring 2003, MEATJACK proudly welcomed their new drummer, Charlie Baum, and the group is now working harder than ever. In addition to releasing their new full length CD Days of Fire in the fall of 2003, the band's current plans are to tour extensively and continue to record. Days of Fire is MEATJACK's most fully realized release to date. Listeners encounter the band melding a well-crafted melodic sensibility with their traditional storm of sonic pummeling. Dense and multi-layered, the 10 new songs invoke a rollercoaster ride of aural energy, ranging from the all-out riff-rock of "Sleep," to the dark and foreboding title track, from the III-era Zeppelin-esque acoustic instrumental "Blue" and the manic ".45" to the ethereal monolith that is "Crawl." Renowned artist Stephen Kasner provides his otherworldly art as the perfect compliment to MEATJACK's music.
Weedeater (http://www.weedeatertheband.com)
Fronted by Dave "Dixie" Collins, WEEDEATER first came to prominence by way of Collins' term of duty with the mayhemic BUZZOV*EN. When BUZZOV*EN ran out of steam in 1998, Collins was freed up to concentrate on WEEDEATER, an act that had actually been gigging for some five years previous. Billy Anderson would produce the debut And Justice For Y'All album for Game Two/Berserker Records in 2000, included on which was a radical re-work of CROSBY, STILLS & NASH's "Southern Cross." The sophomore effort, once again produced by Billy Anderson and provisionally entitled Beezlebubba but emerging as Sixteen Tons, was delivered in March of 2002 and released on Berserker/Crucial Blast. Sixteen Tons remains a classic landmark in the sludgecore/doom/crust underground based on its unrelenting heaviness and southern swagger.
Mouth of the Architect (http://www.translationloss.com)
It??s definitely a triumph when a band can keep the attention of someone who possesses a near-ADHD attention span (like myself) with songs that haughtily surpass and defecate on the ten-minute mark. There has to be something special about any band that can keep me -- a person who rises suspicion in speed enforcement cops and border guards the world over due to an inability to keep my eyes from darting to-and-fro while in conversation -- fist-banging like a drunken Slayer fan, foot-stomping like the hillbillies in "Deliverance," and mouthing lyrics like that lazy-eyed kid in your English class who read everything while moving his lips. For Ohio??s Mouth of the Architecture, the cure for what ails as they rumble along with three epic-length tracks -- plus the five underdeveloped minutes that make up ??Heart Eaters? -- that are eerie and airy, yet of crushing capacity and Herculean proportions. Taking a page from the dog-eared textbook of Neurosis, Godflesh and Isis?? monumental Oceanic album, MotA hypnotically entice the listener into ??A Vivid Chaos? and ??The Worm? with teasing melodies and deceptively catchy, Ennio Morricone-affected sounds before crashing down with orchestrated guitars that wrangle moods, strangle emotions, and crush like the pneumatic press that killed Governor Schwarzenegger in the first Terminator movie. Their sound is as equally warm and inviting as it is ballistic and unrelenting and they make the most with the space and time they give themselves to build, layer, pillage, kill, and destroy before starting the process all over again. Fuck Ritalin when you??ve got Mouth of the Architect. (Kevin Stewart - Decibel Magazine)
GreatDayForUp (http://www.greatdayforup.com/home.htm)
??Dude, Curve??s new band is fuckin?? indie rock, man. You believe that??
This is what I??ve been told about half a dozen times in the past cuppla months from various and sundry Boston rocker, so it was with at least a twinge of dread when I popped this fucker in. See, for years now, Curve of the Earth records has been ground zero for Boston??s kill-for-thrills hard rock bands -- they were home to Crash and Burn, Rock City Crimewave, Lamont, Half Cocked and Cracktorch, for Crissakes -- so I was more n?? a little surprised to hear that they??d signed an indie rock band. I still am, really, but just ask Josh Todd -- nobody??s paying the bills with sleazy, heavy-ass rock and roll these days. Well, the proof of the pudding is that GDFU ain??t really indie rock in any world ??cept for Sleazegrinder??s, so rest easy. ??GLAS? is rife with churning Queens of the Stoneage-y groove riffs and pounding drums (same kinda Neanderthal whacka-whacka as pre-pussy Lars Ulrich, matter of fact), and dizzy rhythms and vox straight outta the Stone Temple Pilots school of purple powered, post-grunge radio rawk. Although it has about zero??s worth of sleaze or ham-fisted glory mongering, and there ain??t nothin?? naked or sweaty about any of it, I can still see the appeal here. It??s smart rock, ya know. In fact, it pretty much reeks of smart kid-ism, and as we all know, smart kids will inherent the earth. ??Below? is a high-brow stoner epic full of propulsive, elastic riffs, the 7 minute hellslog ??Siempre? flirts with full-on acid doom, and the rest of the tracks vacillate between deep-fried crunch and, yeah, indie clang. So, there ya go. GreatDayForUp ain??t exactly my kinda slug of the hard stuff, but what the hell. If you dig Cave-In as much as you dig Soundgarden, you??ll probably pop a neck vein when ya hear this, bro. (Sleazegrinder)
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Psych blow-out on Thursday at the Warehouse!
Thursday, May 26
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope (DC)
Relay (Philly)
The Grey Daturas (Australia!)
Kohoutek (DC)
(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope (http://www.thesoundsofkaleidoscope.com/)
The debut release by DC '60s power trio featuring two former members of The Ropers. The fellows are getting a new sound out of that '60s-influenced groovy guitar-pop thing. These are (the sounds of) kaleidoscope: guitars in red, bass in blue, bleeding into purple, drums in black and white, together they paint a tale the way a lonely schizophrenic tells stories to his friends. Songs jut like trees out of the soundscape - not simply trees, but treehouses, inhabitable space. Vocals meander in and out of the spectrum giving clues to a proper interpretation. Still, none is forthcoming; the songs flee. Catchy numbers can be caught but slyly avoid adding up, preferring to attend a giddy picnic beyond the grasp of consciousnes, where 1+1+1 equals something inexplicable, a glimpse of beautiful form: kaleidoscope. These are their sounds. With a wink to the past and a nod to the future, these sounds are now. Close your eyes and have a look. (Tonevendor)
(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope excel at producing that whirling, swirling D.C. (okay, mid-Atlantic, maybe even all the way up to Boston) indie sound. With ex-members of The Ropers and The Still joining founder Damien Taylor, and Lilys Kurt Heasley lending a helping hand, how could they not? Your toes are gonna be tapping in no time. I guarantee it. (3hive)
The Grey Daturas (http://www.greydaturas.cjb.net/)
It??s hard to categorize the sound of a band like THE GREY DATURAS from Melbourne, Australia. But if it has to be done, they are probably best described as an improvised/instrumental noise-rock band. Since their earliest shows in 2001, the Grey Daturas have been celebrated as one of the loudest and most uncompromising live acts in Australia.
As for their influences, they couldn??t be any more varied. Their influences range from such diverse acts as Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Earth, John Coltrane, Cluster, John Cage, Dark Throne, and '70s no-wave and post-punk.
Thunderous heavy psychedelia masquerading as metal
soundscapes performed in an arthouse manner reminiscent of other like-minded, contemporary sonic explorers (i.e. Wolf Eyes, Acid Mothers Temple, SubArachnoid Space, Paik (they even sport a similar multi-media show), Sunno))), Boris, Sonic Youth, Melvins, Glenn Branca, etc....) that is heavy and metal-ish and focused on darker vibes but without the weight of negative emotions to tie them down to a particular style or mood or that need for "toughness" that hampers other metal bands' ability to be everything the Grey Daturas are...simultaneously beautiful, menacing, scary, loud, and serene...
Kohoutek (http://claviusproductions.alkem.org/kohoutek.html)
Improvised psych with noise tendencies and abstraction. Sonic explorations in any combination of drums, percussion, guitar, bass, laptop, homemade electronics, field recordings, contact mics, chord organ, and household appliances. Have been described as "if Can were a 4AD band" and been compared to Jessamine, Acid Mothers Temple, and Skullflower, for what that's worth.
upcoming Clavius productions at the Warehouse:
5/31: The Dirty Projectors/Thw Wind-Up Bird/Stamen & Pistils
6/1: Wooly Mammoth/Test-Site (math-metal from Milwaukee)/Nitroseed
6/2: DCIC/Na (Japanese electro-acoustic improv)/Spaceships Panic Orbit
6/7: The Impossible Shapes (Secretly Canadian)/Odwalas (Secretly Canadian)/Donny Hue & the Colors
6/11: Navies (record release party)/Air Conditioning/Pissed Jeans/Double Dagger
6/14: Alcian Blue/The Antiques/Unlucky Atlas
6/20: Green Milk From the Planet Orange (Japanese space-rock/prog/psych)/WZT Hearts/The Cutest Puppy in the World
6/27: The Winter Set/Pagoda/Video Hippos
6/29: Rope (Family Vineyard)
7/2: Long Live Death/In Gowan Ring/Nick Castro (Eclipse Rec.)
7/10: Larsen (Young God Rec., from Italy)/Baby Dee & John Contreras (of Current 93!)/Warmer Milks (acid folk rock from Kentucky)
7/16: Reverend Bizarre (Finnish doom)/Well of Souls/Gates of Slumber/VOG
7/21: Castanets/I Heart Lung/Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice
7/24: The Mirrors (Greg Ashley of The Gris Gris)
7/29: John Wilkes Booze (Kill Rock Stars)/Newagehillbilly
8/22: Jim Yoshii Pile-Up (Absolutely Kosher)/The Fake Accents
8/26: Kinski (Sub Pop)
9/27: Wolf Eyes/Nautical Almanac
at 611 Florida:
7/7: The Peppermints (Pawtracks)/S.T.R.E.E.T.S. (garage thrash from Vancouver)
8/5: Double Leopards (Eclipse)/The Skaters/Earthen Sea (Jacob from Black Eyes)/Insect Factory/Daniel Martin-McCormick
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SATURDAY! May 28
Warehouse Next Door
9:00 / $7
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
REVIVAL (x-Canyon)
COYOTE (Birdman Records/ex-The Holy Fallout, Excelsior)
MOUNTAIN HIGH (ex-Ink and Dagger, Excelsior, Franklin, AM/FM etc)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
REVIVAL formed in May 2004 in Washington, D.C. when three former members of the band Canyon ...Evan Berodt, bass; Dave Bryson, Drums; and Derry Deborja, keys...joined singer/guitarist Josh Read, formerly of The Getaway and The Child Ballads.
COYOTE formed when members of The Holy Fallout, Excelsior and The Rabble Rousers convened in a West Philadelphia basement. Meaning: the heart of the Philadelphia music scene thrown into one supergroup is releasing their debut, and you are there. The driving pianos, screaming vocals, and fuzzed-out champion guitar leads produce a unique sound that is ready to be unleashed. They have been compared to The Black Heart Procession, The Doors, and the VSS/Slaves. By pulling from a multitude of musical influences, Coyote creates a sometimes haunting, sometimes sonic sound that allows the listener to take joy from pain. With
lyrics that often portray unnerving situations, Coyote immediately grab your attention. The piano-driven melodies invite the audience inside their frenzied spirit.
MOUNTAIN HIGH supply the snarling Excelsior sounds but adding a dual drumming attack rock that brings to mind a tribal Monorchid.
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Tonight!
Tuesday, May 31
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
DIRTY PROJECTORS (from CT, Western Vinyl/The Music Fellowship)
THE WIND-UP BIRD (The Music Fellowship)
STAMEN & PISTILS (lo-fi bedroom pop from DC)
DIRTY PROJECTORS "The Getty Address" Western Vinyl
The purpose of "glitch," the undanceable electronica that replaced beats and samples with stutters and burps, was to be, well, glitchy. That's all there was to it, which explains the
style's limited appeal. Like other out-there forms, however, glitch provided inspiration to musicians who had no intention of simply making more of the stuff. Enter bicoastal multi-instrumentalist Dave Longstreth, who records as Dirty Projectors, and who labels his new The Getty Address an "epic glitch-opera" about the Eagles' Don Henley. The Projectors perform this week on the same bill with Washington's Stamen & Pistils, whose new EP is easygoing folk pop that's also tempered by synthetic thumps and squawks.
On The Getty Address, Longstreth sings the role of Henley, whose connection to the Eagles singer-guitarist is less explicit than the composer's statement indicates. This Henley meets one Sacagawea Petrillo (sung by Lucy Greene), and the two explore an America of dwindling wilderness, expanding highways, and rapacious oil interests. Most of the scenario is explained by Longstreth's notes, not his lyrics, which tend to be cryptic. The female chorus frequently repeats a single sound or word, such as "Gilt Gold Scabs's" refrain of "kangarwomb."
As a choral composer, Longstreth seems indebted to Steve Reich, and his other influences aren't all that novel: "Tour Along the Potomac," for example, combines Balinese gamelan with old-timey jazz. It's what Longstreth does after he's written and recorded the orchestral and choral parts that
makes his work distinctive. He chops and recombines them, so that fairly conventional "modern classical" passages alternate with ones that have been reduced to pulses and loops. The
Getty Address may not have a lot to say about the state of the union, but it's an intriguing glimpse into a realm where indie pop, laptop noise, and conservatory music all blur together.
STAMEN & PISTILS "End of the Sweet Parade" Echelon Productions
Stamen & Pistils' eight-song End of the Sweet Parade is simpler in conception than The Getty Address, but still appealingly dense. Such songs as "Hand Painted Characters" and "Sleep for the Bells" seem to have started simply with acoustic guitar and voice, but then were layered with overdubs, many of them harshly electronic. Titles such as "Penny Farthing Fair" give some idea of this duo's folkie core, but not of what happens next. Drones, bangs, and whooshes
mingle with the multitracked harmonies, creating both stylistic friction and a formidable sense of space. The result may not be exactly operatic, but it is richly textured and consistently inventive. (Mark Jenkins)
Appearing Tuesday at the Warehouse Next Door with the Wind-Up Bird.
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Wednesday, June 1
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Wooly Mammoth
Test-Site (mostly instru-metal prog from Milwaukee!)
Nitroseed (instru-metal doom from MD, mem. of Earthride/Spirit Caravan)
Wooly Mammoth and Nitroseed need no description as two of the area's most forward-thinking heavy bands. Joining them on tour is Test-Site:
The first thing you need to know is that Test-Site is mostly instrumental. The second thing you need to know about Test-Site is that they were formerly called Blackwater. It seemed that there were a hundred other bands with the name. They are now Test-Site. Test-Site is led by guitarist James Potter. Potter has played in some of Milwaukee's heaviest bands. He wielded the lead guitar for the legendary Dr. Shrinker then went along for the ride when Shrinker morphed into the mighty Feck. Feck imploded under their own weight leaving Potter bandless. He even gave up the guitar for a while. Soon the Gods of the Mighty Riff came calling again. He teamed up with Tim Wick on drums (Epsom Blu) and Matt Budda on bass (Ballpoint) to form the crushing Test-Site. The Test-Site sound is like the universes of Dr. Shrinker and Feck colliding in a Big Bang of crushing riff-laden mayhem. Sparse harsh vocals pepper the decimated landscape leaving you devastated. Heavy, catchy, powerful, and mesmerizing, taking the strength of metal infusing it with'70s prog-rock (leaving all the crap out). Throwing the influences of Italian horror films and the psych films of Alejandro Jodorowsky into the mix makes Test-Site the powerful entity it is.
http://www.testsitecontrol.com (http://www.testsitecontrol.com)
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Who: DC Improvisers Collective (DCIC), Na, Spaceships Panic Orbit
What: Wild improv music from the outer reaches of rock, jazz, noise, and the universe.
When: Thursday, June 2nd, 8:30pm. $7
Where: Warehouse Next Door, 1021 7th Street NW (metro: Mt. Vernon Sq.-7th St.-Convention Center)
Venue Phone: 202-783-3933
COMPOSING IS FOR COWARDS
Most performing artists like to know what's going to happen when they take the stage. This enables them to prepare by memorizing their material. They can market their work by explaining what their show is about. The audience knows what to expect. But why pay good money to watch people act like trained monkeys?
On the other hand, spontaneous performance presents its own challenges. Without the ability to edit, fine-tune, and otherwise craft material, how can a performer deliver high quality work? Come see for yourself as three ensembles explore improvised performance from different perspectives.
Headlining the show will be the DC Improvisers Collective: a quartet exploring the intersection of jazz, contemporary composition, and experimental music. Their current lineup features Ben Azzara (drums), Daniel Barbiero (bass), Jonathan Matis (guitar), and Mike Sebastian (reeds). These musicians come together from diverse backgrounds, bringing experience from performing in rock bands and jazz groups, as well as post-classical composition. With ears wide open, they craft intricate compositions on the fly. Although the common metaphor for group improvisation often seems to be conversation, this metaphor fails to capture the true real-time, simultaneous collaboration that fuels the work. Equal parts tightrope act and group meditation, the ensemble explores the fertile territory of surprise just beyond the boundary where words fail.
Also appearing, from Japan via Seattle, is the unclassifiable trio, Na. Na formed in the summer of 2004 in Seattle, taking their name from the Japanese word for a kind of beautiful flower. Sometimes found wearing robes or homemade hats, Na consists of three performers: Noriaki Watanabe, Shinsuke Yamada, and Kazu Nomura. Na reaches musical cacophony, combining improvisation and noise with a slight pop slant and a good sense of humor. The group performs with all instruments possible, including classical guitar, piano, electronic guitar, laptop, a child drum kit, lots of cymbals and vocals with screams and laughs in their own language. Since they began last summer, Na has been busy releasing thousands of CDRs and organizing tons of performances all over the U.S.
Spaceships Panic Orbit formed in April 2001 to explore the textural and sonic possibilities of a unique combination of electronic and acoustic sound sources and a variety of sound production approaches. The group is comprised of Many Spaceships on reeds and keyboards, PJ Brownlee (Special Orbit) on laptop electronics and keyboards, and Jeff Bagato (DJ Panic) performing a musical instrument of his own invention: electronic sounds triggered by scraping a vinyl LP with a small hacksaw. Spaceships Panic Orbit's music brings together the aesthetics of several contemporary avant-garde musics, including electronica, free jazz and free improvisation, power electronics or industrial music, and avant-garde rock.
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testing
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The Pan-American String Quartet Presents
Concert of Latin American Music
Tomorrow! Tuesday, June 7 2005 at 8:00pm
$10 general public
The Warehouse Theater
1021 7th St. NW
The Pan-American String Quartet, a young addition to DC's classical chamber music scene, will perform at the Warehouse Theater. From Joaquin Turina's impressionist "Oracion de Torero" to William Grant Still's vibrant "Danzas de Panama," the evening will survey the varied moods and compositional styles of North, Central, and South American composers. Formed little over a year ago, the quartet has already performed to sold-out audiences at the Embassy of Argentina, the Ellipse Arts Gallery, and the DC Arts Center.
The Pan-American String Quartet:
Winston Yu, violin
Fan Fan Yu, violin
Pablo Saelzer, viola
Amy Domingues, cello
The Pan-American String Quartet is a new classical ensemble in the DC area. The group focuses primarily on presenting music by Latin American and Spanish composers such as Piazzolla and D'Rivera, pieces not only in the classical style
but also more indigineous forms such as the tango and Hispanic folk music. Formed in February of 2004, they have already performed to sold-out audiences at the Embassy of Argentina, Ellipse Art Center in Arlington, and the DC Arts Center. They hope to add even more music to their repertoire and perform more widely in 2005.
The members:
Fan Fan Yu has played violin since age 4. Attended Manhattan School of Music Prepatory Division, Tanglewood Institute. Ms. Yu was concertmaster of the U Penn Symphony, also played in the Longwood Symphony in Boston and the MIT Summer Philharmonic, while working on a doctorate degree in Statistics. She is a biostatistician by day at
Statistics Collaborative, Inc.
Winston Yu has played violin for over 25 years. He has performed in Israel, Jordan, Spain, and throughout the US. He played with the Boston Philharmonic orchestra for 7 years and is currently with the Alexandria Symphony. Apple Hill
chamber music festival participant. Studied with David Gillis and Min-Soo Chang. Played in a country and rock band. Undergrad at UPENN and grad at Harvard for environmental science and engineering.
Pablo Saelzer is a native of Valdivia, Chile. He has recently relocated to the Washington, D.C. area after completing his doctorate in conducting at the University of Southern Mississippi. An outstanding violist, Pablo has had an extensive orchestral and chamber music career in addition to his conducting. In Mississippi Pablo conducted the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra in Jackson,
Mississippi for four years, and the Mississippi Youth Orchestra since 2002.
Amy Domingues is a freelance cellist and composer living in Arlington VA. She maintains a teaching studio and works on various recording projects including film scores. In 2003 her first foray into soundtrack music appeared in the film
The Weather Underground, nominated for the Best Documentary Academy Award. Currently Ms. Domingues is a member of the Pan American String Quartet, the neo-classical chamber group Threnody Ensemble, and plays piano, cello and sings in her own avant-folk band Garland of Hours. Ms. Domingues has performed widely in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan, in addition to the United States.
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Tuesday, June 7
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
The Impossible Shapes (Secretly Canadian, from Indiana)
Odawas (Jagjaguwar, from Indiana)
Donny Hue & the Colors (ex-Carlsonics!)
The Impossible Shapes (http://www.theimpossibleshapes.com)
The Impossible Shapes is a quartet from the southern reaches of Indiana featuring bassist/keyboardist Aaron Deer, guitarist/bassist Jason Groth, drummer Mark Rice, and songwriter/singer/guitarist/polemicist Chris Barth. Horus is the group's fifth proper full-length album since 2000 and The One that takes the clues and abstractions of all previous albums and encapsulates them as a monumental and subversive vessel. At point A we have a classic album from a post-Aquarian world that would be on the electric side of Bert Jansch's Pentangle or Fotheringay. Then from point B Barth takes a lyrical journey that saunters against the slim lines of magickal romance, demon chasing, Pan, and vile humanistic impulses that reads equal parts Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Aleister Crowley. His litanies on discovery and the shadowy desires of hedonism and courtly love line each song with a tint of naturalistic folk force and free will.
The Impossible Shapes' previous Secretly Canadian album, We Like it Wild, carried a rock 'n' roll torch with both hands. On Horus, produced with LonPaul Ellrich (Marmoset, June Panic) at his Queensize Studio, the momentum resurfaces into an air of suspension. The band's guitar/drum swagger has slowed, allowing the slanted rhythms more time to curl around each verse, organ pump, and moonlight howl. A swell of grandeur appears across this song cycle, morphing out of the delicate, hillside-inflected guitar melodies into miniature cathedral celebrations. An association of fellow travelers exists within the 12 songs evoking the ancestral pull of early Pink Floyd and a non-acoustic Incredible String Band changing milk-into-gold with their dark brethren Comus. They even dip in some Tuli Kupfeberg, Charles Potts, and the song "Survival" sounds just like it would fit on the Buzzcock's Singles Going Steady.
The magical spells cast song-by-song grow with each moment that they are set free with every listen.
Odawas (http://www.odawas.com)
Indiana is a state that??s brimming with intelligent indie rock. Odawas, named after the Odawas Indians that were native to Beaver Island, are one of those bands. Intriguing stories abound adopting Dante??s and restructuring their own, Odawas offer some real rich tunes laden with cerebral fossils of music??s past. Lo-fi enthusiasts will be smiling from ear to ear and rushing out to share this journey with their friends while others who may be scratching their heads will take part on a whim almost daring themselves not to like it. But in the end, we??ll all turn ourselves over to Odawas and allow them to play with our minds and soul.
Odawas are nicking all over the place: from Randy Newman's plain-spoken grandeur or Beach Boy story-telling or Angelo Badalamanti's cheesy romanticism or Charles Ives' avant-garde ear or Art Garfunkel's "presence-of-a-blue-whale" harmonies.
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1905 is playing tonight.
i'll be there.
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Tuesday, June 14
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Alcian Blue (DC shoegazer noise pop)
The Antiques (DC jangle-rock)
Unlucky Atlas (Chicago political indie-folk)
Alcian Blue
http://www.alcianblue.net (http://www.alcianblue.net)
http://myspace.com/alcianblue/ (http://myspace.com/alcianblue/)
Alcian Blue create noisepop like only the Reid Brothers could make on Psychocandy...Alcian Blue's music is layered with fuzz and feedback. Though immediately catchy, listeners can expect to always find something else buried under the chaos waiting to scratch the surface. With pounding rhythms and swirling guitars and synths, vocals of murder, suicide, and ghosts wash in and out of the maelstrom. The claustrophobic atmosphere they create makes one wonder whether they are playing rock and roll or trying to conjure up demons. Either way, one listen and you??ll be itching to hear more while simultaneously ruining the speakers of your stereo system.
The Antiques
http://www.theantiques.org (http://www.theantiques.org)
http://myspace.com/antiques/ (http://myspace.com/antiques/)
The Antiques began in the aftermath of a great blizzard in Washington, D.C. in February of 2003. Originally conceived in the dead of winter in an effort to revive the spirit of George Formby, the group continues to write, record and play live. The Antiques are Craig Garrett (bass guitar), Theresa Kim (organ), John Rickman (drums), and Gregory Svitil (vocals & guitar).
Like Morrissey and Marisol on a valium bender, featuring current and ex-members of Eggs, EB&SK, Still, Union Suit, The Mayflies, The Traces, Kohoutek, Soft Complex, the Parlor Scouts, and Groove Tiger Blue (the best unheard band from Roanoke ever).
Unlucky Atlas
http://www.purevolume.com/unluckyatlas/ (http://www.purevolume.com/unluckyatlas/)
http://myspace.com/unluckyatlas/ (http://myspace.com/unluckyatlas/)
Unlcuky Atlas employs an approach to songwriting and performing that offers a thoughtful and complicated interrogation of the war in Iraq and the fiscal policies of the Bush administration. Drawing on a diversity of source material from Defense Department briefings to the verse of the Romantic poets, Unlucky Atlas??s clever strategy exemplifies the generous plurality of a sober democracy.
While speaking of Unlucky Atlas, it is hard to extricate sound from sentiment, to discern the signifier from the signified. This is ever-more true on the group's latest recording, a 3" CD entitled The Course of Empire. The Unlucky Atlas trademark of acoustic guitar and male/female vocal harmonies is expanded and emboldened on this release by an uncommon addition, Brian Getnick's accordion. The accordion serves in much the same way as bass guitar and synthesizer had on previous Unlucky Atlas records, switching between lower-register chordal drones, limber bass lines, and higher octave counterpoints to the vocals and guitar. As is characteristic of the Unlucky Atlas catalog, Terence Hannum's acoustic guitar playing stumbles from delicate to jagged; plaintive, serenely plucked passages are displaced by rigorously strummed augmented chords, a technique that courts the thin line between harmony and dissonance. Though plaintively minimal, this sonically lean structure provides a strong framework for UA's implicit political passion. Never didactic, UA's lyrics mix emotive abstraction with decontextualized snippets of U.S. government war briefings, encouraging speculation about the political normatives of a nation at war. This approach to lyrical text is as subtly provocative as Erica Burgner's warm vocal phrasings, Hannum's reedy harmonies, and the glassy layering of accordion and acoustic guitar. Perhaps this glassiness, the transparency of the Unlucky Atlas sound, results from its fractured and re-constructed character -- shattered bits of Romantic intimation, war-time propaganda, modern instrumentation, and contemporary electronics, arranged in a mosaic form where all pieces are visible but find wholeness only in their interaction.
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man, i'm so bummed this show is on the same nite that bob dylan is in town. don't know the opener, but the alcian blue/the antiques combo is probably as good as anything fort reno will have this summer, if they ever get around to releasing their schedule. bring earplugs for alcian!
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hey count me in for tonight. curiousity looms.
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Monday, June 20
Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th St NW, WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
http://www.claviusproductions.org (http://www.claviusproductions.org)
Green Milk From The Planet Orange (Japan)
Wzt Hearts (Baltimore)
The Cutest Puppy in the World (DC)
Green Milk From The Planet Orange
http://www.green-milk.com (http://www.green-milk.com)
The strangely named Green Milk From The Planet Orange is a young Japanese band that perhaps figured they have what it takes to become the next Acid Mothers Temple or Ghost, and they could well be right! This is an impressive domestic debut from GMFTPO (who had a couple of other Japan-only, now out-of-print cd-r releases, a few tracks from which appear here in re-recorded form) and should definitely appeal to the whole Japanese psych lovin' crowd and maybe to yr average indie/post-rockers as well, if they're open to a dose of '70s inspired experimentation: long proggy songs that are plenty weird and varied, both druggily spaced-out and/or noisy and heavy. Yeah, it's a spookily baroque trip, these guys stirring everything into their prog-pot from doleful trumpet to jazzy walking bass to wild psych-guitar soloing and pinging electronic effects. Equally capable of grandiose epic bombast and gentle, slow-paced vocal balladry, GMFTPO glory in proggy changes and this album should certainly be investigated by fans of Ghost's recent opus Hypnotic Underworld. Of course, the bands that GMFTPO would want to be compared with are undoubtedly their '70s prog-psych, and specifically krautrock, influences: Can, Faust, Agitation Free, Nektar... You can also hear a bunch of '60s west coast psych in there as well (I bet they probably own that Kak album for instance). Yet despite all the "retro" elements, Green Milk still sound young, even a little punk -- which they are, some of 'em being former members of stoner rock/grindcore outfit No Rest For The Dead. Though with GMFTPO they've set aside their metal/punk past, they still draw on it in sorta the same way as Guapo does. Kudos to Beta-Lactam Ring for bringing this our way...and also, after complaining about past Beta-Lactam Ring art/design, we have to give 'em some credit here, they did a nice job with this one. The disc comes housed in a beautiful digipak, with "distressed" graphics giving it the old '70s LP vibe. Real nice all around. (Aquarius Records)
Wzt Hearts
Jason Urick on Wzt Hearts' mission: "The music can sound like everything you've heard before -- or nothing. Each night we play, none of us are sure of what it will sound like. In the eight months of playing together in this form, there has never been any talk between band members about the actual music other than the occasional 'Let's start slow tonight.'"
Jeff Donaldson: guitar and mixing board
Jason Urick: laptop
Shaun Flynn: drums and vocals.
The Cutest Puppy in the World
http://www.myspace.com/thecutestpuppyintheworld (http://www.myspace.com/thecutestpuppyintheworld)
DC-area avant-improv informed by out-jazz, psychedelia, and noise, influenced by Sun Ra, No Neck Blues Band, Animal Collective, Acid Mothers Temple, John Zorn, etc.
upcoming Clavius Productions events:
at 611 Florida:
7/7: The Peppermints (Pawtracks)/S.T.R.E.E.T.S./E-Zee Tiger/Le Flange du Mal
8/5: Double Leopards (Eclipse)/The Skaters/Earthen Sea/Insect Factory/Daniel Martin-McCormick
8/19: Rake (reunion show!)/Jana Hunter/Mouth of Leaves/Meadows/Lights
at Warehouse Next Door:
6/27: The Winter Set/Pagoda/Video Hippos
6/29: Rope/The Plums/Tape Rape/Daniel Martin-McCormick
7/2: Long Live Death/In Gowan Ring/Nick Castro/Talibam
7/10: Warmer Milks
7/16: Reverend Bizarre/Well of Souls/Gates of Slumber/VOG
7/21: Castanets/I Heart Lung/Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice/Portions Toll
7/24: The Mirrors/Primes/The Factory Incident
7/28: Love as Laughter/The Migghty Flashlight
7/29: John Wilkes Booze/Newagehillbilly
8/21: Hafler Trio/Colin Potter/Andrew Liles/Irr.App.Ext.
8/22: Jim Yoshii Pile-Up/The Fake Accents/Get Him Eat Him
8/24: Caution Curves/Others/Jesse Kudler
8/26: Kinski/Last Days of May/Kohoutek
9/16: 302 Acid/Gel-Sol
at DC9:
9/1: Valkyrie/Starchild
9/12: The Fatal Flying Guilloteens
9/27: Wolf Eyes/Prurient/Nautical Almanac
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Tonight! For fans of Yo La Tengo, The Feelies, The Clean, Jesus & Mary Chain, etc.
Monday, June 27
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Pagoda (mem. of Shortstack)
The Winter Set (moody indie-pop from NYC)
Video Hippos (guitar/drums multi-media art-punk!)
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[sigh] A Monday night. :confused:
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Don't miss what is sure to be one of the most interesting and diverse experimental music bills in DC this summer!
Wednesday, June 29
$6, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Rope (Family Vineyard Rec., atmospheric post-rock from Chicago via Poland)
The Plums (mem. of Hat City Intuitive, Spaceships Panic Orbit, and Portions Toll)
Tape Rape (mem. of Facemat)
Daniel Martin-McCormick (ex-Black Eyes doing solo experimental guitar)
Rope (http://www.ropetheband.com)
Rope is the trio of Przemyslaw Chris Drazek (guitars) and Robert Iwanik (electric bass, vocals) and Michael Kendrick (trap set). Formed in 1998 by Drazek and Iwanik in Poland, the two now reside in Chicago. Rope creates an inverse of crushing weight through trance-like guitar picking coupled with deep valleys of absence, light drones, frantic to grounding drumming and Iwanik's soothing bass. Intense performers, the three utilize shifts in volume and silence to evoke near-classical structures before vaulting into the near haze of cascading guitar sheets of sonic blight. Rope's debut EP Fever was released in 2002 on Family Vineyard and the debut full-length Widow's First Dawn came out October 2003 on FV.
Expatriate Polish post-rock act Rope are all about generating an atmosphere, and it's a creepy one, though quite arty. We liked their debut EP Fever, and this full-length delivers more of the same, and more besides as they've added more instrumentation (drums, piano, saxophone) to the bass and guitar previously employed. Furthermore, as if to evoke the widow of the title, there's some wordless soprano female fake 20th-century classical vox to compliment the throat-constricted whispery vocals of bassist Robert Iwanik, who sounds not unlike a sinister version of US Maple's Al Johnson. We're also reminded of Alan Dubin's Khanate croakings, and another Polish expatriate act, Dead Raven Choir. Indeed, though far from black metal, this has some of that sort of vibe. It's spooky stuff, as if the music is lurking in the dark, bursting in brittle sheets to threaten the listener, even as the lulls soothe one into a trance. Washes of cymbals and jagged guitar offer no mercy, and even when the volume gets intense, the menace seems more mental than physical. Some may find this sort of thing, the female vocals in particular, too gothically-academically pretentious, but for others it will quite effectively set a mood and hold your musical interest as well. Spaciously recorded with a large, empty live reverby room sound by Steve Albini in Chicago, where Rope currently reside. (Aquarius Records)
The Plums
Instrumental DC-area quartet, including members of Hat City Intuitive, Spaceships Panic Orbit, and Portions Toll, playing music influenced by Krautrock, post-rock, and psychedelia.
Tape Rape
Members of DC's Facemat experimenting with tape loops and reel-to-reels. First ever performance.
Daniel Martin-McCormick
Former Black Eye exploring the outer reaches of the electric guitar's tonality and rhythm, informed by the innovative technique and approaches of Derek Bailey and Keith Rowe.
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Clavius Productions presents:
Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th St NW
Washington DC
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
http://www.claviusproductions.org (http://www.claviusproductions.org)
Long Live Death (Baltimore, Secret Eye Rec., mem. of The Anomoanon and Oxes)
In Gowan Ring (Utah, Bluesanct/Durtro Rec.)
Nick Castro (CA, Eclipse/Strange Attractors)
Talibam (NYC, mem. of Storm & Stress/Coptic Light/Crossing Clouds)
Long Live Death
http://www.longlivedeath.net (http://www.longlivedeath.net)
Long Live Death is a communal folk group based in Baltimore, RI who compose spooky, commie folk for gong, musical saw, cello, and vocals. Legend has it that one night in 2003 while touring with Will Oldham, the entire group stripped naked and danced in the aisles. Recently we here at Secret Eye were informed that the gong they play is named "Thunder Expressions" and it is only struck with a one-of-a-kind mallet who goes by the name of "Electric Destiny." They share members with popular math-rock band Oxes.
In Gowan Ring
http://www.ingowanring.com (http://www.ingowanring.com)
From the land of little Osmonds, comes this nomadic bunch of sprites and pot-headed pixies, led by the enigmatic B'eirth and wielding such modern day contraptions as sackbut, cornetto, cittern, psaltry, zither, timbrel, whistles, bells, gongs and tons of other weird sounding shit too numerous to mention. Epic-lengthed drones are nestled comfortably amidst some of the finest acid/psych/wyrdfolk on this (or any other) planet.
"Though arguably the best In Gowan Ring experience is live -- B'eirth plays the medieval troubadour quite well and mysteriously, but doesn't forget humor or the fact that the Industrial Revolution has in fact happened -- The Glinting Spade is quite a lovely listen indeed. Anyone captivated by folk that either consciously explores its very early roots or the acid folk approach that psychedelia let in will find something to like here; B'eirth's approach suggests Edward Ka-Spel as much as it does the mythical figure of Ossian, say. His generally acoustic bent is more carefully seasoned by low-key experimentation throughout The Glinting Spade -- extended tones, strange echoes, and buried sounds expand the palette of his work to an intriguing degree, with "In the Dream of the Queen" being an especially striking example. That said, the choice of instruments tends to be tried and true -- everything from church organ to zither is credited, along with more esoteric choices of fire, chalice, bow and arrow, even oats! Quite what the role of everything is meant to be is unclear, but if the effect is to create a sense of a shadowy ritual out of time past, In Gowan Ring succeeds quite well. B'eirth isn't one to shout or scream -- what's the point, after all? -- and his style of singing is very, very restrained, avoiding the sometimes tiresome drama of similarly minded revivalists who apparently think they really are about to summon up the Horned King and the Great Hunt. Songs like "To Thrum a Glassy Stem" and "Bow Star" are quiet beauties, while the lusher approach of "Cipher's String on the Tree" suggests a great lord's minstrels performing a late-night service. (Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)
Nick Castro
http://www.spyinthehouse.com (http://www.spyinthehouse.com)
"On his second album, Nick Castro works with a slightly ad hoc band, the Poison Tree, drawing on similarly Pennsylvania-based 21st century acoustic/psych performers such as folks from Espers. It's a fine pairing, resulting in an album very much in the vein of performers old and new such as the Incredible String Band in its quieter moods and Stone Breath at its most gothed-out. As many musicians are now actively exploring this vein, though, it's all the more important to stand out from the field. Castro's singing voice is in ways his calling card. His songs are enjoyable if not surprising interpretations of the form, so it's the clear, crisp rasp in his singing -- a bit Nick Drake on songs like "Guilford" but not overly indebted -- that often lends a slight edge to the compositions, less a medieval minstrel, say, than a reflective veteran from some strange conflict. While musically acoustic guitar unsurprisingly forms the basis of the arrangements, it's Castro's work on whistles (and on "Music for Mijwiz" that particular wind instrument), Adam Hershberger's on flügelhorn, and Helena Espvall's on flute that actually proves the most distinct element, establishing a continuity song for song and making Further From Grace seem that much more of a unified piece. When set aside from the gentle variations in the songs -- the queasy, slightly tripped-out guitars on "Unborn Child," the self-descriptive instrumental "Waltz for a Little Bird" (with jaunty piano from Castro) -- the results can be quite enjoyable. The murky, haunting extended coda of treated voices and improvised flute on the opening "Sun Song" gets contrasted against the slightly commanding tone of Castro's voice, each standing out all the more. If Castro's not as dramatic as, say, Brendan Perry from Dead Can Dance, he doesn't need to be, finding the right balance between close, almost tactile recordings -- the instruments seem to be sitting right there next to you, such is the quality of the engineering -- and a mysterious, removed resolve." (All Music Guide)
Talibam
Improv/rock three-piece of synth, drums, and baritone saxaphone via electronics...sort of in between '60s Euro improv and "black _____" bands. Talibam??s raucous output comes from synthesizer manipulations by Matt Mottel, baritone sax trenchwork mechanics by Ed Bear, and further confused drumming by Kevin Shea (Storm and Stress, Coptic Light). Talibam amalgamates, remixes, and chews out sonic influences of groups like early Cecil Taylor Trio, MEV, and the Sun Ra Arkestra.
Clavius events:
611 Florida
7/7: The Peppermints (Pawtracks)/S.T.R.E.E.T.S./E-Zee Tiger/Le Flange du Mal
8/5: Double Leopards (Eclipse)/The Skaters/Earthen Sea/Insect Factory/Daniel Martin-McCormick
8/19: Rake (reunion!)/Jana Hunter/Mouth of Leaves/Meadows/Lights
Warehouse Next Door
7/10: Warmer Milks (acid-folk-rock from Kentucky)/Wax & Wane/Human Host
7/16: Reverend Bizarre (Finnish doom)/Well of Souls/Gates of Slumber/VOG
7/19: The Rat Traps (Goner Records, from Memphis)/Jeffrey Novak (one-man band from Memphis)/The Blast of Valour
7/21: Castanets/I heart Lung/Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice/Portions Toll
7/24: The Mirrors (Birdman, feat. Greg Ashley)/Primes/The Factory Incident
7/28: Love As Laughter (Sub Pop, ex-Lync)
7/29: John Wilkes Booze (Kill Rock Stars/Family Vineyard)/Newagehillbilly
8/22: Jim Yoshii Pile Up (Absolutely Kosher)/The Fake Accents/Get Hime Eat Him (Absolutely Kosher)
8/24: Caution Curves/Others/Jesse Kudler
8/26: Kinski/Last Days of May (ex-Dream Syndicate)/Kohoutek
9/2: Easy Action (ex-Laughing Hyenas/Negative Approach)/The Old Haunts (Kill Rock Stars)
9/16: 302 Acid/Gel-Sol
9/30: Phosphorescent
DC9
9/1: Valkyrie
9/12: The Fatal Flying Guilloteens (Estrus)/16 Bitch Pile Up (all-female noise trio from OH)
9/17: The Hidden Hand/Wooly Mammoth
9/27: Wolf Eyes/Prurient/Nautical Almanac
9/29: The Bloody Hollies (Sympathy for the Record Industry/Alive)
10/9: Barbez
10/26: Green Milk From the Planet Orange (Japanese space rock/prog-psych)
10/30: DMBQ (Japan, Estrus)/An Albatross
11/2: Miminokoto (Japanese psych, ex-White Heaven)/Kohoutek
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hey snailhook,
any chance of booking saturday looks good to me? or are they black cat league?
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you got Easy Action?? whoa NICE man. Ive been DYIN to see them. Is hafler trio still confirmed for the 21st of august?
hey dude how was the show last night i couldnt make it!! Noose was tired after practice and decided not to go so i just said fuggit and saw war of the worlds.
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any chance of booking saturday looks good to me? or are they black cat league?
hmmm...i'm not really into that band, and i do shows with their booking agency, and they've never asked about doing a show at the warehouse. i'd rather book them at DC9 where i don't have to be there to manage a show, but they probably have a lot of under-age fans.
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Is hafler trio still confirmed for the 21st of august?
nope, hafler trio canceled on me on monday. the reason why is really lame, too. i'll tell you more later. i still may do something for colin potter and andrew liles.
hey dude how was the show last night i couldnt make it!! Noose was tired after practice and decided not to go so i just said fuggit and saw war of the worlds.
rope were fantastic...reminded me of caspar brotzmann massaker, oxbow, and sleepytime gorilla museum. it was really inspiring to see what three men could do in a "rock" trio format. the music was really spacious and tense, with never much catharsis or release. the drummer augmented his four-piece set with electronic drums and an assortment of pots, pans, and various metals. the vocals were menacing and sinister. i got their full-length album.
tape rape were surprisingly good, too. those facemat dudes are always interesting. for this show, they put four reel-to-reel machines on the stage and built up a wall-of-drone with crazy instrumentation over it. daniel has also gotten really good at exploring sound with the electric guitar, using bows and clips and such.
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FRIDAY JULY 1
9:00 DOORS
WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
+++++++++++++++++++++++
FRENCH TOAST (Dischord)
THE NEIN (x-The White Octave, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Milk Cult)
VERBAL
+++++++++++++++++++++++
FRENCH TOAST:
Engaging new duo comprised of JAMES CANTY (NATION OF ULYSSES, CUPID CAR CLUB, MAKE-UP) and JERRY BUSHER (ALL SCARS, FUGAZI, FIDELITY JONES). A blend of guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion,
samplers, sequencers, and haunting vocals that have earned comparisons to Mission of Burma, Savage Republic, Captain Beefheart, Wipers, and
Wire.
THE NEIN:
The Nein's debut full-length, Wrath of Circuits (May 17, 2005), is an album that reveals more with every listen. With substance and creativity, melodies shine through a mass of artful discord, capturing the listener's attention. The Nein formed in early 2003 after the demise of Cohen and Biggers' former band, The White Octave. Based in Durham, NC, The Nein
self-released two CDRs before becoming one of the first American bands on Canadian label Sonic Unyon. Their label debut, a self-titled six-song EP, was released in October 2004, eliciting praise from both sides of the border and helping set the stage for what was to follow. The band incorporated sound manipulator Dale Flattum after recording the EP. With a setup of sampler and tape decks, Flattum (Steel Pole Bath Tub, Milk Cult) brings an entirely different element to their overall sound. His noises and found sounds are grafted upon THE NEIN's pop-song framework, revealing their innate melodicism through repetition. In 2004, the band headed into
Pontchartrain Studios in Chapel Hill, NC, with producer Jay Murphy for their first studio experience as a quartet. Taking time out of recording for their first Canadian tour, the band wrapped up the album at the end of December. The results are massive. Lyrically, much of the album
addresses a fear of technology. The title originates from an activity known as circuit bending: a process that entails randomly connecting different circuits together on a keyboard's or toy's circuit board, manipulating the original sound until a new one is created. "It's a pretty amazing subversion of technology," says Cohen, "but it's also kind of scary to think of one of those machines coming to life randomly" -- hence the 'Wrath of Circuits.' Cohen also recognizes inspiration for the record in the talents of the late Randy Ward, friend to the band and fellow Raleigh/Durham Triangle musician, who built a machine that mechanically played live drums while Ward improvised on circuit-bent instruments. According to Cohen, Ward "inspired a lot of people to experiment more with circuit bending, which has provided the music scene here with a lot of really cool artists." Not a casual
listening experience, Wrath of Circuits forces you to take notice of the interplay between instruments and before you know it, the combination of grin and head-nod is uncontrollable. Dissonant, creative, a danceable
cacophony: Wrath of Circuits solidifies THE NEIN's position as one of the most interesting and exciting new bands of 2005.
VERBAL:
Verbal is the antidote to a word-led world. In shutting up and making noise, Verbal seeks to reinterpret familiar musical forms, challenging their audience to dance and consider the possibilities of a loud tomorrow devoid of the words. The danceable breakbeats, the pounding drum 'n' bass, the swirling melodies, the assertive riffs and DIY spirit combined with the openness owing to Verbal's early days as an improvisational trio take the band beyond genre-cation. Too rock for post-rock, Verbal embraces the grand tradition of instrumental rock without alienating those in the audience with little exposure to the lyric-less rock. The layered hook-laden melodies enmeshed with the relentless attack of the rhythm section make memories of lyricists short-lived.
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Originally posted by snailhook:
any chance of booking saturday looks good to me? or are they black cat league?
hmmm...i'm not really into that band, and i do shows with their booking agency, and they've never asked about doing a show at the warehouse. i'd rather book them at DC9 where i don't have to be there to manage a show, but they probably have a lot of under-age fans. [/b]
book em, people will come
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Originally posted by snailhook:
FRIDAY JULY 1
9:00 DOORS
WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
+++++++++++++++++++++++
FRENCH TOAST (Dischord)
THE NEIN (x-The White Octave, Steel Pole Bath Tub, Milk Cult)
VERBAL
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Any idea what time French Toast might come on?
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probably at midnight, no earlier than 11:30.
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Thanks!
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Clavius Productions presents a Sunday night of experimental folk and noise...Warmer Milks are one of the best unheard bands doing this type of thing right now. Check them out before Devendra says they're cool!
Sunday, July 10
Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th St NW WDC
$5, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Warmer Milks (acid folk from Lexington, KY)
Wax & Wane (folk-psych from Baltimore)
Ca$h $lave Clique (DC improv noise)
Warmer Milks
http://sweb.uky.edu/~mjlaug2/death/themilks.html (http://sweb.uky.edu/~mjlaug2/death/themilks.html)
Nevermind Chinaboise, THIS is my pick of the issue. From Lexington, Kentucky, consider Warmer Milks a real "band to watch." I really thought this was going to be a jam-noise album, with its John Olson/American Tapes-style artwork, right down to the cubist lettering. With two of the Hair Police playing on here, I figured it would be the October Faction to Hair Police's Black Flag...but oh my GOD. This is not a jam-noise album. Not at all. This is an album of songs, and they are golden electric-guitar folk-rock dreams. I was definitely digging the first three songs right away, but it was during the fourth and fifth, both recorded live, that the jaw went ahead and dropped. The fourth track "Dogs All Slain," without really sounding like My Bloody Valentine, features some of the best glide guitar playing I've heard since that band gave us Loveless. After the first 2 or 3 minutes (the part with the words and vocals), it settles on a lovely circular guitar-chord cycle and just goes and goes, until it ends over ten minutes later to small-crowd whoops of applause and a "hell yeah!" But that's nothing compared to the goes-and-goes you get with "Penetration Initials," the last track on here, a 30-minute epic that winds its way through soft uninterrupted moods and golden-slow-chord folk forms, beautifully progged-out with occasional soft-yelp vocals. On first listen, about 10 minutes in, I realized something special was happening, so I stopped the work I was doing and just laid on the floor like I was on a blanket in the grass at an outdoor concert. Everybody who is alive or has ever lived was there. Neil Young finally stopped staring out at the ocean, looked back over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Keiji Haino and Jandek strolled by, Jandek eating an ice cream cone, dressed up just like he was onstage in Scotland. They stopped and listened, closing their eyes and nodding their heads. After the song/set ended, they went over to the merch table and Jandek bought Keiji a Warmer Milks CDR. The 24-year-old Tim Buckley was there listening, deciding that he should stick it out with the whole Starsailor vibe after all, even though it wasn't selling too well. Even the controversial but ticket-selling headliners Simon & Garfunkel, who had been confidently having a pre-party in the backstage tent with an entourage that included Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, got a little quiet and pensive during the last half of this epic song, quietly realizing that the folk-world winds were changing direction. (Blastitude)
Wax & Wane
http://www.humanconduct.org/wax&wane/ (http://www.humanconduct.org/wax&wane/)
We're a little over two years old now. When we started we were younger, more beautiful, and more or less sadder -- methinks, anyhows. We had boils, drugs, vodka, and plenty of personal relationships to avoid writing any music about. Anyways, fast forward two years and here we are writing happy songs about flowers, love, and peace. Well, no not really, but regardless of subject matter we sound like a soundtrack to a left-wing thinktank deliberating over the fine points of ecology as it relates to humans and their bedrooms. We're bigger now as well -- we play as a four-piece (mostly) which includes Sine as violin and guitar, Justin as percussion and guitar, Ari as guitar, piano, organ, and Danny as guitar and percussion. We all sing. We're not at all difficult to listen to, no crazy experimental antics from projects past (members of Organ Donors, Telesma) and no wild rock and roll numbers either (members of Wail Sounds, Emily Fox). We're quiet as folk, and folk as love is hate. Please come see us and talk to us sometime...this might make more sense if you do.
Ca$h $lave Clique
http://www.cashslaveclique.com (http://www.cashslaveclique.com)
http://www.myspace.com/cashslaveclique (http://www.myspace.com/cashslaveclique)
Dynamic DC duo of insane electronics, percussion, and fevered imaginations features former member of Osaka, Japan's Nimrod, current member of 36, who has performed with Spaceships Panic Orbit, Steve McKay (sax dude on The Stooges' Fun House), Nik Turner, NoFi, etc. CDs on the Sounds from the Pocket label. Let there be cash!
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Memphis garage at the Warehouse! If you're into In the Red, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and Hasil Adkins, you should check out this show...DC doesn't get too many bands like this.
Tuesday, July 19
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
The Rat Traps (http://www.myspace.com/rattraps) (Memphis)
Jeffrey Novak One Man Band (Memphis)
The Blast of Valour (http://www.theblastofvalour.com/) (DC)
Check out this interview on Terminal Boredom with Jeffrey for more info: http://www.terminal-boredom.com/jeffnovak.html (http://www.terminal-boredom.com/jeffnovak.html)
The Blast of Valour
This instrumental rock onslaught of epic proportions specializes in melting faces. They can most easily be compared to The Fucking Champs with healthy doses of pop melodicism, punk and rock 'n' roll drive, and Deerhoof-esque quirkiness. Jeff was always a rock drummer but is also an electronic composer. Tom started out with jazz saxophone as his concentration among a dozen other instruments. Nick was a jazz guitarist and rockabilly fan, and Ben was a young history teacher at their high school in DC, pining for a band that took rock as seriously as he wanted. Both now play guitar and bass for The Blast of Valour. Tom started writing songs last year, which turned into a portfolio and a kickass band. Together now for more than a year, they have performed at small, rockin' clubs around DC and recorded a demo.
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Clavius Productions presents:
Thursday, July 21
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Castanets (Asthmatic Kitty Records, from San Diego)
I Heart Lung (guitar/drums experimental rock duo from CA)
Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice (improv folk/psych on Troubleman/Time Lag/5RC)
Portions Toll (DC folk/noise/improv duo)
Castanets (http://www.asthmatickitty.com/musicians.php?artistID=2)
The core of the Castanets is the lyrical and musical talent of Raymond Raposa. The son of expatriate journalists, Raposa tested out of high school at the age of 15 and traveled the U.S. via Greyhound bus off and on for the next four years. This unusual educational experience spawned a musical vision that reflects a disquieting sub-strata of American life.
Castanets create music that is epic and inspiring. From somber love ballads to haunted tales of frustrated redemption, the delivery is potent and devoid of cliche or sentimentalism. Echoes of the The Velvet Underground, No Neck Blues Band, and the delta harness a strain of ancient Americana that even today pulses through a subdivided and paved landscape; the result is avant-country.
A favorite of the San Diego underground scene, Castanets have shared bills with the likes of Six Organs of Admittance, Hella, Acid Mother's Temple, and The Dirty Three.
I Heart Lung (http://www.soundsareactive.com/catalogue.php?album=iheartlung01)
I Heart Lung grew up in California. It is the child of drummer Tom Steck and guitarist Chris Schlarb. They feed it back and beat it freely. An organized/open duet of choke-like intensity and sometimes raging quiet. Solemnity in space and seraphim, I Heart Lung recorded their first album in two hours in what is now an abandoned building. They were supposed to do Africa but were sent north. Their first performance was a headlining affair (that LA Weekly pronounced as, "one of those legendary gigs you only hear about 10 years later") at which the Pink Mountaintops' Stephen McBean bespoke of drummer Steck as a ??force of nature.? Others agreed. I Heart Lung exists within a textural dimension between drone rock and free jazz.
"I Heart Lung have created a space where songs compose themselves, avoid the ping-pong of forced resolve, and rock courts jazz in a precariously delicious harlequin drama. Beneath all of this is the anonymous orator who faintly ghost laces the entire spread with an off-key counterpoint whisper, a passionate hum only caught on a full volume playback." (Foxy Digitalis)
Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice
Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice were assembled from the ashes of the Golden Calves, who were one of the finest psych/improv outfits around. Led by James Toth, WWVV have started to carve out their own niche. This year they reissued their vinyl debut, the brilliant Xiao. It has cemented their place as one of the most exciting and original bands in the spiritual, improv underground. Using a variety of acoustic and electric instruments, this group of musicians channel sounds that come from a higher plane. If you don't feel inspired after hearing WWVV, then you likely won't ever feel it.
"Over the course of their recording career, Wooden Wand And The Vanishing Voice have proven to be multi-faceted and difficult to define. They have successfully allowed the body of their work to be cryptic, proto-spiritual, emotionally bare, brashly exuberant and, throughout it all, completely entrancing. Their discography, which contains numerous cassettes, CDRs and a little bit of vinyl -- all of which display their twisted and droning take on psychedelic folk -- has been constantly evolving and has seen each of their superb releases build upon the strengths of its immediate predecessor. L'un Marquer Contre la Moissonneuse is an exploration of the goodness inherent in the human heart and how that decency can help transform the world into a better place. Sound grandiose? Well, revolutions do begin with ambition. Long-held beliefs state that every morning that one rises from bed they have cheated Death once more through the grace of God. Through the extension of this theme, every good deed a person performs during those waking hours may very likely stand as a mark against the Reaper on the great cosmic score sheet. Wooden Wand And The Vanishing Voice have collected these four tracks recorded in various locations over the fall of 2004 to act as a sonic testament to this principal." (Forced Exposure)
Portions Toll (http://www.portionstoll.com/)
John Masters & Marc Masters (of Metropolitan and The Plums) playing folk/noise/improv rock.
Upcoming Clavius events:
at 611 Florida
8/5: Double Leopards (Eclipse Records)/The Skaters/Earthen Sea (Jacob from Black Eyes)/Insect Factory/Daniel Martin-McCormick
8/19: Rake (reunion show!)/Jana Hunter (has upcoming split LP with Devendra Banhart)/Mouth of Leaves/Meadows/Lights
9/24: The 2nd Free Folk Phantasmagory w/ Nisennenmondai (Japanese no-wave/noise/psych all-female trio)/Stone Breath/Forgotten Works (Erik Wivinus of Salamander)/Paul Metzger (avant-banjo on Chairkicker's)/Sunwards (ex-Rake) and more TBA
10/14: Nautical Almanac (Load/Heresee Rec.)/Life Partners (Twisted Village)
at Warehouse Next Door
7/24: The Mirrors (Birdman Rec., mem. of The Gris Gris)/The Factory Incident (ex-Government Issue)/The Trust Riots (mem. of Accelera Deck)
7/28: Love As Laughter (Sub Pop, ex-Lync)/TK Webb (The Social Registry)
7/29: John Wilkes Booze (Kill Rock Stars)/Newagehillbilly
8/22: Jim Yoshii Pile Up (Absolutely Kosher)/The Fake Accents/Get Him Eat Him (Absolutely Kosher)
8/24: Caution Curves/Others/Telepathy (mem. of Bloodlines)/Jesse Kudler
8/26: Kinski (Sub Pop)/Ostinato (ex-Hidden Hand)/Kohoutek
8/27: October 31 (mem. of Deceased)/Beaten Back To Pure/Withered (ex-Leechmilk/Social Infestation)/Ecliptic/Magrudergrind
9/2: Easy Action (ex-Negative Approach/Laughing Hyenas)/The Old Haunts (Kill Rock Stars)
9/9: The Wayward/The Dream Is Dead (Escape Artists)/Wetnurse/The Expanded Form
9/15: The Mass (Crucial Blast)/So I Had To Shoot Him
9/16: 302 Acid/Gel-Sol
9/30: Phosphorescent (Misra Rec.)
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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES (GSL Records)
MESS UP THE MESS
THE AMOEBA MEN
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Friday, July 22, 2005
Warehouse Next Door
Doors are at 9pm. Bring your six bucks.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES
www.veronicalipglossandtheevileyes.com (http://www.veronicalipglossandtheevileyes.com)
San Francisco quartet VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES have been described as "like an outtake from Downtown 81," the Basquiat film inspired by New York's eclectic funk-punk/art scene of the early 1980s. The half-male, half-female group have been playing up and down the west coast since 2003, amassing a growing cult of sweaty devotees hungry for their urgent postpunk dance beat and stage theatrics. Bringing to mind the sax-driven likes of PSYCHEDELIC FURS, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR/early BIRTHDAY PARTY, ROMEO VOID, NINA HAGEN, and others...VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES will release their debut album on GSL in summer 2005.
MESS UP THE MESS
The members of Mess up the Mess first came together at a far-flung dojo where each had come to devote herself/himself to the mastery of the martial arts technique known as the quivering palm -- aka "the touch of death." During their down time they decided to form an upbeat musical combo
through which they could channel their rage and frustration -- for one must never use the ancient arts in anger. Interestingly enough, at one time or another the members have applied the quivering
palm to each other -- so it's anyone's guess when they will all drop dead. It adds an element of
excitment to the shows -- will today be the day one of their hearts explodes? Could be, could be not. You'll have to come and see. In the meantime enjoy their brand of jangly messcore -- the musical equivalent of the touch of death -- and just see if your own heart doesn't explode.
Who needs Seattle when Washington DC just won the feminist sweepstakes? This year's most energetic new band is comprised of four girls and one boy who prove that politics, punk-rock and a party attitude aren't mutually exclusive. Having just completed their self-titled EP, part riot grrl and part new wave, this politically minded dance outfit is ready to take 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by storm. In their own words, "imagine if the Algonquin Roundtable has put out 7"s instead of writing for the New Yorker". That's the sentiment of Mess Up The Mess! Led by the energetic Cricket McLeod (yes, that is really what her parents named her), this is one mess worth getting into. (ON TAP MAGAZINE)
-
monster show tonight.....wooden wand blew minds
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Texas garage-psych and John Stabb together. One night only!
Sunday, July 24
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
The Mirrors (Birdman Rec., mem. of The Gris Gris)
The Factory Incident (ex-Government Issue)
The Trust Riots (mem. of Accelera Deck, Scarcelight)
The Mirrors
http://www.birdmanrecords.com/ (http://www.birdmanrecords.com/)
Welcome to the first recorded dream of modern psychedelic poster child Greg Ashley. Before the dream became Medicinally Fucked, before the rise of The Gris Gris, before young master Ashley was even close to drinking age, before he left the confines of Houston for the ghetto in Oakland, there was the legendary Mirrors -- school buddies with a zest for the melting paisleys. Greenhorns making green swirling music, recorded when all those involved were still in their mid-teens. Released on vinyl back in the day and long since out of print, Green Dream is available for the first time on CD, completely remastered with a new cover and new liner notes. For fans of true psychedelic music à la The Electric Prunes, The 13th Floor Elevators, and Syd Barrett.
"A Green Dream is an eclectic album about art, poetry, dark, light, and gray tones...It's a music lover's record; a lover of sounds record." (Blank Generation)
The Factory Incident
http://www.factoryincident.com (http://www.factoryincident.com)
http://www.postfact.com (http://www.postfact.com)
The Factory Incident are a Washinton DC-based quintet that formed in early 2000 featuring John (Stabb) Schroeder of Government Issue fame on vocals.
The six tracks on their new recording (Redtape) expand on the broad range hinted at on their debut: dissonant melodies and intricate, compelling songs. The guitars vary from textured to minimalist, yet with a conscious restraint. Schroeder's vocals provide a rare dramatic bent that takes the uninitiated by surprise. The songs overall are epic and emotional like the best of their post-punk influences of the '80s, but concise with minimal filler.
"The much-admired Schroeder's smart, matter-of-fact, deadpan-croon talk-singing sounds fresh and unlike any of the ubiquitous emo bands that followed in his footsteps in the 1990s. Plenty of older (P.I.L, The Sound) and contemporary Brit influences can be heard, too, especially fierce first-two LPs Swervedriver in the floor tom shredding (by Stephen Brown) and harsh ringing guitars (courtesy of Karl Hill and Aimee Soubier) of the standout "Said and Won." The band has coalesced tremendously, and their range is invigorating, from the vaguely funky basslines (from Shaun Wright) on "Argument," to the Gang of Four-ish stutter-beats of "In the Vile," to the odd-dirge-chord opening smasher "Rail." This is primo stuff that breaks out like hives with more listens. Will they garner acknowledgment outside of the nation's capital?" (Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover)
The Trust Riots
http://www.scarcelight.org (http://www.scarcelight.org)
Mike Karadimos - bass/guitar/feedback/tapes
Chris Jeely - guitar/feedback/drums/tapes
The musical partnership of Chris Jeely and Mike Karadimos began in 1994 in the basement of Mike's parents' house, when Chris asked Mike to learn how to play bass. Over the last eleven years their individual paths have seen Mike play in a handful of bands (Trading Shirts, The Ashley Tremolo, [both w/ Chris] and Cherry Valence), while Chris later went on to record solo guitar work as Accelera Deck. A few attempts over the last five years have been made to record some of Mike's solo work, and recently Mike began engineering and producing the forthcoming Skulllike album, Wide Awake.
From this fertile background has sprung The Trust Riots, which is a meeting point for both artists based on a mutual love of guitar feedback, and a desire to capture the spirit of early punk rock. Their sound revolves around the use of live processed guitars, laptop, and multiple tape players creating an atmosphere that is equal parts drone, noise, and found sound.
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Thursday, July 28
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Love As Laughter (Sub Pop, ex-Lync)
TK Webb (Social Registry, from NYC))
Revival (ex-Canyon, now a duo!)
Love As Laughter (http://www.loveaslaughter.net)
Following the 1994 dissolution of indie-pop cult faves Lync, singer/guitarist Sam Jayne formed the lo-fi solo project Love as Laughter, self-releasing a pair of cassettes (an eponymous effort and Clear Sky Blue Dye) before issuing The Greks Bring Gifts on K in 1996. #1 USA followed in 1998, heralding the additions of guitarist Jessica Espeleta and ex-Lync drummer Dave Schneider; Destination 2000, Love as Laughter's Sub Pop debut, appeared a year later.
Love as Laughter kind of meandered to a pause after 2001's fabulous Sea to Shining Sea. But that's not the same thing as being inactive. Sam Jayne put together a solo album and moved to New York City, where he got to performing troubadour-like quite regularly. While LAL were away, a lot of people started noticing the Shins -- another Sub Pop band making literate, charmingly weary little songs -- and those same listeners will love Laughter's Fifth. (Naturally, the veteran Jayne aficionados don't need to be cajoled.) Fifth isn't as loud as Sea. It has those moments -- the rich, ringing-out chords of "I Won't Hurt You," for example. But "In Amber" and "Idol Worship! Idol Worship!" are instead shaggy pop songs tweaked with knowing bents toward gettin' older and bein' cynical. The latter starts out with just Jayne and his acoustic before he's joined by chirping organ and some great layers of electric guitar. By the time the drums kick in, the song's transformed itself into a loose, good-naturedly stomping rocker of the sort Ryan Adams might never write again. Jayne doesn't wow you with grand lyrical imagery. He doesn't even have that great of a singing voice. But his skills work wonders nevertheless, letting him mask a song's gravity behind tousled, self-cut bangs or an easygoing pat on the back. "Every Midnight Song" is like that. It sneaks up on you, and not only because it starts with just the gentlest of notes. "Every midnight song," Jayne begins with a breath, "I'm gonna wait 'til that song comes on/Because after that nothing can go wrong." He continues on, sketching a picture, and the track rises to a frantic high point of crashing cymbals before falling once again to the original lyric. It's the sort of song you get lost in live, or place in the center of a mixtape as a bridge to the quiet stuff. Laughter's Fifth continues with a little copping of Malkmus ("Dirty Lives"), name-checking of 50 Cent (the NYC tribute "Canal Street"), and buoyant reminders of past LAL records ("I'm a Ghost"). Jayne sounds like one of Elmore Leonard's trashy antiheroes on the lazily drunk "Corona Extra" (it has kazoo solos, seagulls, surf), and the meandering "Pulsar Radio" taps a vintage drum-machine beat over raw organ tones like the remnants of a new wave love ballad. This is an album for pop fans as well as guys who just dig the instrumentation. It's personal, it's cryptic, it's hilarious -- it's Laughter's Fifth, and Sam Jayne is definitely some kind of genius. (Johnny Loftus, AMG)
TK Webb
http://www.thesocialregistry.com/_mp3/artistmp3menus/tkwebb/tkwebb.htm (http://www.thesocialregistry.com/_mp3/artistmp3menus/tkwebb/tkwebb.htm)
Every once in a while someone will see something in their life which has such a profound impact on their psyche that they are never able to fully shake it; it leaves them with the equivalent of phantom pains that they can never quite shake from the rafters of their mind. TK Webb describes seeing the shanty towns of Kansas City, Kansas when he was a boy much this way: small houses built out of tin and cardboard, the kind of place you file away in your mind as a place you hope to never see. TK wrote and recorded KCK drawing from these memories, attempting to exhume not the sad narrative tied to KCK, but the emotional landscape it left imprinted on him.
Born Thomas Kelley Webb in rural Missouri, TK took to the guitar at a very young age and we mean that in the most prodigious sense possible. It is said that by age 9 he had mastered the entire Zeppelin catalog, and by 13 he was applying his skills to bands spearheaded by people almost twice his age. In his mid-teens TK inherited a stack of delta blues records and found himself at home. This led him away from the by the books style of indie rock that so many of his contemporaries were getting into. When TK eventually moved to NYC he found no shortage of people anxious to have him sit in, whether it be lending his harmonic skills to bands like the Witnesses and label mates Blood On the Wall or being recruited to lend a slow hand to the boys of the Anniversary for their first tour with their new outfit The Only Children. TK though has always been more at home doing his own music, stamping out the rhythm by thumping his foot onto a broken down old suitcase loaded with a tambourine, beating on his resonator with the kind of fluid control most players aspire for, and howling into a microphone or harmonica like a madman let loose on the audience. This latest record, his second, was recorded over a weekend/sixpack of sour mash at Junkyard Audio Salvage into the wee hours of the morning. With Sean Maffucci at the board, this record brings to light TK Webb's inherent vision-talent-musicianship as well as all those memories. You can hear them dancing in the tape delay like some audible sense of utter desolation, as TK howls back at them in the rafters.
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This eclectic bill of relatively unknown talent might just be graced by the presence of Chicago outsider blues legend Little Howlin Holf. Check it out: http://white-rose.net/mystere12.html. (http://white-rose.net/mystere12.html.) I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Friday night!
Thursday, July 29
$7, all ages
doors at 9, show at 9:30
John Wilkes Booze (Kill Rock Stars/Family Vineyard, playing in rare duo format!)
The Pages (NYC country/folk/psych-rock)
Newagehillbilly (one-man band from Baltimore)
Jane Herships (dark epic folk from NYC, mem. of Spider)
John Wilkes Booze (http://www.johnwilkesbooze.com)
These are troubled times. Troubled enough, that you don??t need us to talk about it. But if there was ever a time to make a break, or to find a way out, it is now. That is why we, John Wilkes Booze, are here with five stories of honest life scorching Soul, a starter plan if you will, that should set the fire in your feet to get up and move in all directions. First off, John Wilkes Booze are six spirit-fueled, R&B players from South Central Indiana -- Bloomington to be exact. And by rhythm and blues, we are talking about Hoosier R&B: warbly and frantic falsetto vocals backed by electric bass, organ, drums, and dual guitars with the frequent ecstatic spurts of trumpet, saxophone and electronics. We come from the very soil that birthed JJ Johnson, MX-80 Sound, Phil Niblock, Dancing Cigarettes, and the Gizmos. Add it up, and we??re there. As obsessive collectors of the raw and esoteric, we??ve taken our flotsam of films, books, and vinyl collections and transfused them into a sound not far from the orbits of our garage or El Saturn, nor from intellectual dissections and analysis of these modern times.
While this is purportedly a tribute to soul music, the soul music seems to be mostly implied here, like "soul" in spirit, in concept, in intention, but not in execution. Which is not a bad thing. This IS soul music, but the way it can only be played by middle-class, white, mid-western boys. All shrieking, skronking, sweaty, pounding, rocking, and GROOVING. You can catch glimpses of the Make Up, the Blues Explosion, the White Stripes, New York Dolls, as well as Alice Donut (especially in the vocals). Weird and pretty wonderful. Spazzy, soulful, glammy ROCK AND ROLL. There are 5 volumes (we have the first four). Short and sweet (almost too short, clocking in at 10-15 minutes) and all in honor of JWB's peculiar ideas of the pillars of soul: Melvin Van Peebles, Tania Hearst (Patty Hearst with her SLA name), Albert Ayler, Marc Bolan and the as yet to be announced 5th pillar. (Aquarius Records)
The Pages (http://www.unsoundrecords.com)
"The Pages = Incredible String Band + The Kinks + Neutral Milk Hotel. What would happen if Ray Davies got together with Phil Lesh in Phil Spector??s grandma??s basement, with no money, and decided to record an album right next to a shelf of granny??s homemade peach spread? Well, you??d have an album called Creatures of the Earth, and that band might call themselves The Pages. Man, this album is great! It??s the kind of album that will impress ironic hipsters and stodgy traditionalists alike. You know who you are! This is like a smoky '60s dance-club band with a slight weirdo bent. With shades of country, folk, psychedelia, funk, and quick random solos that space out just enough before returning to the task at hand, The Pages are definitely on my list of bands that I will be recommending and raving about to my friends. Will you be one of the lucky winners?" (Jamila Roehrig, Slugmag)
Newagehillbilly (http://www.newagehillbilly.com)
A one-man generator of noise, grooves, and moods created on guitar, vocals, drum machines, synths, old cassette walkmans, samplers, mini-discs, and other assorted noise-makers. Newagehillbilly played more "traditional rock" music in bands like Operation Huss and Charcoal in the late '90s, mainly playing bass and guitar. Other bands followed and Newagehillbilly began to explore new sounds and experimentation such as Rot Guts and Pillage of the Glass City. As a solo project and performer, different levels are searched for musically and sonically, usually resulting in textural soundscapes that vary from relaxing
to chaotic.
Jane Herships
Epic folk rock in the vein of Cat Power and Neil Young.
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how about a recap of that mirrors show? sorry i had to miss it...
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Originally posted by shoot ur shot:
how about a recap of that mirrors show? sorry i had to miss it...
Yeah, I want to know too. I really wanted to go to that along with Friday's (sounds of) show.
I really need to move to the DC area....somehow. Though I will greatly miss those delicious smells wafting in my windows from McCormick's Spices.
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the mirrors were excellent, although greg ashley, the singer, was coming down with a sore throat and cold, so he was feeling under the weather. despite that, they played a kick-ass 30 minute set of about six dark psych gems, some jangle-pop in the kinks/byrds vein, others blazing noisy rave-ups like the sonics/13th floor elevators/count five. nothing but vintage equipment on the stage, and uncanny rapport between bandmates. there was maybe 20 people left to watch a young band hopefully on the verge of recognition (i hope).
the factory incident were mediocre to ok, but i was mostly bored by their set. totally typical, unapologetic DC post-punk that a hundred bands around here have done since 1980. john stabb is fun to watch but he ain't no mark e smith/ian curtis/jon king.
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Originally posted by snailhook:
the factory incident were mediocre to ok, but i was mostly bored by their set. totally typical, unapologetic DC post-punk that a hundred bands around here have done since 1980. john stabb is fun to watch but he ain't no mark e smith/ian curtis/jon king.
Yeah, but Stabb has been in DC bands since 1980 or so. If anyone still deserves to get away with typical unapologetic DC post-punk it's him.
They're nothing special, but Stabb is still a good front man.
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TOMORROW!
SATURDAY JULY 30
9:00/$6/ALL AGES
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RIS PAUL RIC (Chris Richards of Q and Not U)
MODERN DAY URBAN BARBARIANS (mem. of No Neck Blues Band)
DANIEL MARTIN McCORMICK (ex-Black Eyes, White Flight)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
More about Modern Day Urban Barbarians
http://mdub.com (http://mdub.com)
"More radical ambivalence from the fertile crescent of Williamsburg, MDUB's distorted bass and pounding drums make for noisy, riff-heavy
blues. Vocals are spit, form trumps sentiment, the harmonies are bound by one or two measures, songs thud toward the edge and abruptly fall off."
- The Village Voice
"two piece MDUB are spazz and groove technicians"
- The Village Voice
"Most of the time, when a band comes along sounding a mess like these Barbarians do, we turn up our noses. But not just anyone can do fucked-up
with the right combination of spirit and determination, and we think this duo -- at times coming off like a cross between Beat Happening and Vertical Slits -- may know something it isn't telling us."
- Time Out New York
"Experimental drum and bass duo from nyc. Take a little slice of Suicide and a dash of the Fall and you have MDUB."
- Flywheel Arts
"There are also two humans in Modern Day Urban Barbarians, but their vibe is more about broken down trash rock played with the right amount of
manic energy."
- Time Out
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great show last night...revival sounds great in dual-electric-guitar format and have written improved songs, tk webb was phenomenal and should be revered my many in the not-too-distant future (take note palace/smog/white stripes fans), and love as laughter recaptured mid-'70s neil young raggedy heavy folk rock vibe well.
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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TOMORROW! THURSDAY AUGUST 4th
8:30 DOORS/9:00 SHOW/COME EARLY
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DANIEL HIGGS (of Lungfish)
AMPS FOR CHRIST (Folkcore/Musnik from Man Is The Bastard Noise/5RC/KRS)
GOWNS (mems MAE-SHI & AMPS FOR CHRIST)
WZT HEARTS (Improvisational and experimental rock from Baltimore)
Music supplied by
GEOLOGIST of ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
between sets.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AMPS FOR CHRIST (AFC) is about the combinations of many styles of music and sound from hardcore and noise to traditional musics (Folkcore and
Musnik). The subjects go from war and runaway corporate capitalism to peace and the love and mercy of God. The warp in the harmonic scale,
experimentation with waveforms, and "beat-tones" are matters of great intrigue.
Barnes has been building stringed instruments, pre-amps and amplifiers of an experimental nature for many moons and used them while in the
hardcore/noise band Man Is The Bastard (MITB). Barnes and Connell (drums of MITB) started a side band called Two Ambiguous Figures with Barnes playing sitar and Connell on the tablas. It evolved into AFC after Barnes' amicable departure from MITB in 1996. Since '92, Barnes has also been working with Wood -- and sometimes Nelson -- on another side band called Bastard Noise.
Amps For Christ has strong elements of pure noise and experimental throughout. Back in 1996 Barnes met Enid Snarb who is a recording freak and preparer of Hammonds. They started recording AFC. There have been many collaborators: The beautiful Tara Tavi singing and playing Chinese instruments, Marz of Pyramids On Mars and Barnes' bro, R., and dad, R.G. Barnes, as well as many others.
Claremont, California is home base. Barnes got his first axe at The Folk Music Center in Claremont during the brief period when it was across the street from where it is now. His mom is a folklorist and traditional ballad singer and has been very influential on his traditional side from early childhood on. Barnes' dad was into John Cage and Harry Partch and had an early jazz band for which he was songwriter, washboardist, and singer for many decades. Barnes' Grandma (Lita) was the organist at a church and taught piano lessons at home in San Bernardino, California. So you see some of the eclectic influences, eclectic desires, and reasons for the eclectic sounds of Amps For Christ.
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Warehouse Next Door/1017 7th Street NW, DC
202.783.3933/http://www.warehousenextdoor.com
All Ages/21+ with ID to Drink
9:00 DOORS/10:00 SHOW/$9
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TONIGHT! FRIDAY AUGUST 5th
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MANHUNTER (Spectral Sound/Ghostly International)
A HAWK AND A HACKSAW (The Leaf Label/Jeremy Barnes from Neutral Milk Hotel)
COLLEEN (The Leaf Label)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Are you into soundscapes that beg for inclusion in David Lynch's next film? If so, how do you prefer your aural blanket -- maniacally cross-stitched or
with more restrained ornamentation? Those into attention-mongering fusions of East and West who are willing to brave the more radical strains of klezmer music with a higher purpose will find something of interest in Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeremy Barnes' new project, A Hawk and a Hacksaw.
AHAAH's second album, Darkness at Noon, is rich and varied and, at worst, like something out of Lord of the Dance. Equally worth investigating is Colleen, whose new disc, The Golden Morning Breaks, is a delicate selection of harmonious tones, evocative of a back yard lit by a convention of fireflies. Your intelligence will not be insulted when Colleen and A Hawk and a Hacksaw play with Manhunter at 9 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $9. (202) 783-3933. (Christopher Byrd/Washington City
Paper)
COLLEEN
While last year's Everyone Alive Wants Answers was an extremely pleasant exercise in looped and layered ambience, the latest from Parisian sound sculptor/musician Cecile Schott (aka Colleen) delves even further into developing her own personalized aesthetic. The instrumentation favors a similarly acoustic sound to that of her previous effort (guitar, glass
glockenspiel, cello, etc.) but as opposed to the sample-heavy compositions on her debut, The Golden Morning Breaks illustrates a new phase for Colleen, which focuses as much on performance as it does on sound. The album opens slowly with a haunting guitar and cello refrain that foreshadows the cyclical melodies to come. The overall structure is deceptively simple with each track escalating just a little further than the previous. While Colleen samples and manipulates her own acoustic sounds freely, it's done in such a loosely fluid style that the listener becomes
engaged with the music rather than the technology. The Golden Morning Breaks is a beautifully constructed album of musical vignettes that become
richer with each new visit. This is one of the very few new electronic releases that I have found myself coming back to over and over again. Well worth the entrance fee. [KH] (OTHER MUSIC)
A HAWK AND A HACKSAW is none other than Elephant 6 Collective member Jeremy Barnes (of Neutral Milk Hotel and Bablicon). We know very well the degree of creativity and craft that goes into all of the E6 family's musical endeavors, and Barnes' latest musical pursuits are no exception. This is his
second release under this moniker, and it picks up right where his self-titled debut left off, traversing the great expanse of folk music from around the globe (of which he's done his fair share of exploring in the past year). However, whereas he made his first AHAAH album all by his lonesome, for this one he recruited a full band. Heck, we can see why! In typical E6 fashion, he's encorporated an overflowing mixed bag o' acoustic
instruments (various horns, bagpipes, accordion, ouds, piano, harp, and assorted percussion). Barnes invites seemingly divergent elements from
distant plains to entwine on Darkness At Noon. Keep your ears peeled for moments influenced by klezmer, flamenco, and mariachi as well as interludes seemingly inspired by Carl Stalling, Steve Reich, and the solo accordion work of Lars Hollmer (member of Swedish prog rock greats Samla Mammas Manna). Like musical ivy, they creep and wind their way in and around each other. Very much in a similar film soundtrack-y vein to Tin Hat Trio's most recent album, the gorgeous Book Of Silk. The lead-off track "Laughter In The Dark" is a fitting entrance point. The seven-minute-long, richly atmospheric piece gradually lures you away from the lights and roar
of the city towards more fire-lit enchanted surroundings. Barnes allows his adventurous spirit to run free, and we're fortunate to have a front row seat on his musical caravan. (Aquarius Records)
http://www.colleenplays.org (http://www.colleenplays.org)
http://www.brokenheartfoundation.org.uk/hawk (http://www.brokenheartfoundation.org.uk/hawk)
http://www.ghostly.com (http://www.ghostly.com)
http://www.theleaflabel.com (http://www.theleaflabel.com)
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Hey Snailhook!
Are Xiu Xiu playing the Warehouse 8/31? And when and where are Wolf Eyes playing? Brainwashed doesn't have a date listed, but I think you said they were playing...
Thanks in advance.
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xiu xiu/yellow swans/nedelle are at the warehouse on 8/31. get there early. the show will start at 9.
wolf eyes/prurient/nautical almanac/the show is the rainbow/books on tape are at DC9 on 9/27. the four opening acts will all play roughly 20 minute sets. the show will start at 9.
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yea the xiu xiu show will probably sell out before doors open. i sense another Envy ordeal. Besides, you want to see Yellow Swans.. they will destroy. and don't miss the Wolf Eyes show for anything in the world. Also on that bill is Prurient who's been known for delivering some of the most impassioned, drop you to your knees visceral performances youll ever see,hear or feel. I'll be front and center for this one as well as in baltimore the night before and now that Love has canceled, i'll defintiely be seeing the richmond show too. All I can say is DC9 better have one asskickin PA.. my ears need abuse!
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love canceled?!? didn't hear about that...looks like i might just go to richmond as well.
DC9's PA is way better than the warehouse's.
-
Wolf Eyes is playing Richmond? When/where?
-
Originally posted by shoot ur shot:
yea the xiu xiu show will probably sell out before doors open.
Does that mean there are advance tickets? Or are you just saying there will be tons of people there before they open the doors.
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no advance tickets, but tons of people before doors. if you want to see this show, get there super early.
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Is anyone going to the show tonight? I can't go, but I'd love to hear how Call Me Lightning are live.
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kurosawa, i booked call me lightning in april and they were pretty good. they didn't blow me away, but they had a solid touch and go/amrep sound, like the jesus lizard or helmet. i find it surprising they are on revelation, because they do not sound like a revelation band. i might go to the show tonight, not sure...gotta pick up a friend at BWI.
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snailhook, i beleive Arthur Lee is going through another rehab program.
Wolf eyes are playing at the nanci raygun with Prurient and another local band. I hear they just got their air conditioning fixed,,kinda sad to hear.. had a lot of great memories in that sweatboxx. september 28-Doors are at 7.. 5 beans.
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Warehouse Next Door/1017 7th Street NW WDC
202.783.3933/www.warehousenextdoor.com
All Ages/21+ with ID to Drink
9:00 DOORS/$7
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THIS SUNDAY! AUGUST 14th
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
GLASS CANDY AND THE SHATTERED THEATRE (Troubleman)
DANAVA (Troubleman)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(The Convocation Of... has cancelled)
listen to these unreal DANAVA demos:
http://www.piecemeal.net/artists/danava (http://www.piecemeal.net/artists/danava)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This no wave threesome from Portland, OR, is fronted by the strange and exquisite waif Ida No, whose crazy caterwauls recall the frantic singing of the Swans' Jarboe, David Bowie, and the shifty rhythms of James Chance. John David V provides disco beats, while a changing cast of drummers has included Avalon Kalin and Jimi Hey. Two singles ("Brittle Women" and "Metal Gods") appeared on K Records shortly after they began playing in the Pacific Northwest. A 2001 tour with the Baltimore band the Convocation Of... introduced their raw, glammy performance art-oriented show best captured on the Smashed Candy (Live) album on Vermin Scum. In 2003 they released their proper full-length debut, Love Love Love, on Troubleman Unlimited; Life After Sundown arrived the following year. (Daphne Carr, AMG)
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Originally posted by shoot ur shot:
Wolf eyes are playing at the nanci raygun with Prurient and another local band. I hear they just got their air conditioning fixed,,kinda sad to hear.. had a lot of great memories in that sweatboxx. september 28-Doors are at 7.. 5 beans.
Thanks for the info! I'll check my datebook see if I can make it.
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Good show on Monday if you're into The Smiths, The Go-Betweens, The Wedding Present, The Field Mice, and all things literary, jangly, and pop.
Monday, August 22
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Jim Yoshii Pile-Up (Oakland, Absolutely Kosher)
The Fake Accents (DC)
Get Him Eat Him (Providence, Absolutely Kosher)
Jim Yohii Pile-Up
http://www.jypu.net/index.htm (http://www.jypu.net/index.htm)
Oakland, CA's Jim Yoshii Pile-Up began in 1997, when Paul Gonzenbach (vocals/guitar), Frankie Koeller (bass), and Ryan Craven (drums) began performing as a trio. The addition of guitarist Sikwaya Condon added much-needed new blood later that year, and the band took off, performing their unique brand of textured indie rock, including tender and harsh tones, along the West Coast. Named in honor of Jim Yoshii, a high school friend of the band, the group released a self-titled EP on Yoshii's own Old Prospector Records in 1999. Guitarist Ian Connelly joined in 2000, and the band's first full-length, It's Winter Here, was released the following year on San Francisco's Absolutely Kosher Records. Condon soon stepped down as a full-time member of the band, opting only to contribute occasionally to the group. His full-time replacement was guitarist Noah Blumberg, who was first featured on 2002's Homemade Drugs CD, again on Absolutely Kosher. The album marked a definite transition in the band's
history, as the members experienced dramatic changes during the album's assembly. (Stephen Cramer, All Music Guide)
Emotional torment living in the slums. Brutality at the hands of homophobic police. Blatant thoughts of suicide. Paul Gonzenbach doesn't hold back in his lyrics, probably because he thinks people don't pay attention. "It's easier to lie to an audience when nobody's listening," the melancholic Jim Yoshii Pile-Up songwriter moans in "Jailhouse Rock." He's actually using a crafted image of a performer playing to a crowd in a prison ("You will spend the next 10 years/ working out the last six months"), but one can't help but draw parallels to the singer and his actual audience. After all, the San Francisco indie quintet drapes its despair in gently beautiful arrangements and, on the new Picks Us Apart (Absolutely Kosher), driving dance rhythms; it's easy to just bob your head and ignore the dark side. Those who do pay attention will find Gonzenbach writes some of the most burningly confessional words this side of Morrissey, but not in such a sardonic, self-parodying way. Rather, he draws empathy moreso than mockery. On "Thanksgiving Grey," he muses, "There's so many more of us than there are of them/ an easy target when I inevitably miss the mark." It's dark and heavy stuff, but presents a touching, honest picture of human despondency, one that could only be told by somebody who's lived through it. Gonzenbach obviously has, and Picks is a work that will offer comfort to those who can relate. (Philadelphia City Paper)
The Fake Accents
http://www.thefakeaccents.com (http://www.thefakeaccents.com)
The Fake Accents: An enigma wrapped in a mystery, shrouded in a dream. A Candle in the Wind ('97). A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar. Yes, all of those things - and yet still more. And yet still less. And yet...and yet...fuck, dude, I dunno.
Anyway, the whole mess started when Zack and Dave, both of the late, not much lamented Morimotos, decided that since they still had all that damn equipment and were on the verge of actually learning how to play their guitars, they should really try and get another band together. Said band came together with the introduction of Pete, a fellow WMUC-FM DJ and rock aficionado who also happened to own a drum kit (score!) and was open to playing with them (double score!). Practices were arranged, songs were composed, and after a truly torturous set of brainstorming sessions (The Paper Spores, anyone?), they agreed upon a name. Thenceforth, they would be known not as "who are those losers?" but as The Fake Accents - something they all agreed was a lot better.
They played as a guitar-guitar-drums trio through the summer of 2003, crankin through early hitsville tracks like "Hipness Unto Death," "Japanese B-Side," and "32 Times." This was all well and good, but upon the return of their pal/also DJ Mai Nguyen from self-imposed exile in Colorado, she entered the fold as a bassist (and now songwriter!), thus completing the stereotypical indie rock lineup that's kept 'em chugging along to this very day.
Anyway, there've been a few recording sessions along the way. You can find a few tracks up on this site that'll give you an idea of what the FAs have been up to the last two years, and sometime whithin the next few months they'll record a complete set of songs. Until then you should check out one of their shows to get the full experience, as they say.
Get Him Eat Him http://www.gethimeathim.com/ (http://www.gethimeathim.com/)
Remember The Stranglers? Magazine? Bands that happily embraced punk rock primitivism and new wave noodling, that leapt nimbly between lizard-brained sleaze and nerdy angst without a backward glance? Get Him Eat Him does, or at least these Brown University students have done the back science on their new wave ethos in order to produce an album that distills both the catchy and the jarring elements of their forebears' work into an odd yet potent liquor, suitable for refined (if slightly warped) palates. Matt Lemay's almost-folksy voice is frequently in danger of drowning in a seething mixture of baroque synths, sludgy guitars and pounding beats, but it works. Lyrics like "you know you're so pretty / and you make me feel pretty when I??m with you" (from "Bad Thoughts") are propelled by instrumental bombast into a place that's at once amusing and disorienting. In fact, that seems to be Lemay's general take on relationships, whether he's singing about nearly failed pick-up attempts ("Not
Not Nervous") or faltering relationships ("Separate States"), he's always that little bit alien -- always outside it all, looking in. And even if the album's overall feel isn't exactly "deep," it is strangely entertaining.
Our only point of contention is the cover art, which depicts what we fervently hope are two lumpy brown seals lifting their voices in song. Please, god, let them be seals... (Splendid)
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Wednesday, August 24
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
The Caution Curves http://www.thecautioncurves.com (http://www.thecautioncurves.com) (DC electro-acoustic femme trio)
Others (laptop/electronics/violin trio)
Telepathy (NYC no wave femme trio, mem.of Bloodlines and Wikkid)
Jesse Kudler (Philly solo noise/prepared guitar improv)
Others
http://set-projects.com (http://set-projects.com)
Rachel Thompson (violin and electronics) works with sound, video, and textiles. Her instruments of choice include the violin, two digital video cameras, and a 1970??s Brother sewing machine. She both exploits and embraces the seeming imperfections and functional peculiarities of her instruments. Rachel holds a BA and MA from Wesleyan University where she studied composition and ethnomusicology. She is a nomad.
Jonathan Zorn (laptop and electronics) makes sound using voice, viola, cello, double bass, piano, accordion, harmonica, modular synthesizer, and computer. He is interested in creating systems of interaction that exceed the control of any single participant, creating surprises for both performers and audience. Jonathan was a founding member of the Middletown Creative Orchestra and The Middletown Three. He is currently working on an MA in music composition at Wesleyan University.
David Kendall (laptop) is from Southern California. David Kendall began by experimenting with multitrack audio and degraded sound sources in the early nineties. David Kendall??s practice explores the essential, monadic aspects of music-making materials. Improvisation, found electronics, amplification, the self-referential, recursion, and resonance form the basis for much of David Kendall??s music. Collaboration has been a central focus of the live performance of David Kendall. Groups include or have included the invisible Music Production Ensemble, Improvisatyrs, Honeycomb Wheels, Others, The Kentucky Knobs, and many others. Collaborators include or have included Jeremy Drake, Jessica Catron, Sandor Finta, Doug Russell, Andre Vida, Albert Ortega, Bob Bellerue, Bryan Eubanks, David Rothbaum, Jonathan Zorn, Akihiro Shimizu and many others. http://davidkendall.net/index.php (http://davidkendall.net/index.php)
Jesse Kudler
http://www/white-flag.org (http://www/white-flag.org)
Studied music at Wesleyan University with Ron Kuivila, Alvin Lucier, and Anthony Braxton. He eventually became active as an organizer and performer in improvised, experimental, and electronic music, forming a regular duo with Jonathan Zorn and leading the large electronic improvising ensemble Phil Collins. Kudler has also worked as a recording engineer for various projects. His solo work often operates on the extremes of volume, demonstrating an interest in the subtleties that can arise from intense softness or loudness. He is also interested in allowing complex processes or setups to develop on their own, with minimal intervention from the performer.
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JUST ANNOUNCED
Warehouse Next Door
Sun Aug 28/doors at 8:30
BURMESE
(Load Records/Planaria Recordings, now featuring Bianca from Erase Eratta and members of OCS and Flying Luttenbachers)
HOSPITALS
(Load Reords/In The Red Records, members of Pink & Brown and The Coachwhips)
BLANK:BLANK
(featuring Jonathan Kreinik, Nikhil Randade, and Brendan Slash Seb Hynes)
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i hate going out on sundays, but i guess i'll have to make an exception this weekend. it sucks i'll have to miss carlos giffoni's set at tarantula hill though.
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We're excited to be playing with Kinski and Ostinato this Friday at the Warehouse. This was going to be our CD release show but things got a little delayed, so you're all going to have to wait. Kinski are one of the best experimental rock bands around (with the emphasis on rock), and Ostinato's great if you're into bands like Unwound, The Shipping News, and Explosions in the Sky. Hope to see you there!
Friday, August 26
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$7, all ages
doors at 9, show at 10
Kinski (Sub Pop/Strange Attractors, Seattle psych-rock!)
Ostinato (DC atmospheric post-punk, ex-Hidden Hand)
Kohoutek (DC improv psych/noise)
Kinski
http://www.kinski.net (http://www.kinski.net)
Combining avant-garde experimentalism picked up from their interest in composers like Terry Riley and Steve Reich with a fondness for '70s Krautrock pioneers like Ash Ra Tempel, and the gut-level thrust, heft, and swing of Black Sabbath, the Groundhogs, and legendary '60s/'70s Mexican band Los Dug Dugs, Kinski have established themselves as Seattle's foremost psych rock explorers. They have toured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan, including tours with Mission of Burma, Oneida, Comets on Fire, Acid Mothers Temple, and ...Trail of the Dead. Blender magazine on their last album (2003's Airs Above Your Station): "...they follow measured guitar burn with bone-rattling explosions, and roll mesmerizing tension into colossal release."
With Alpine Static, their second Sub Pop release, Kinski tap directly into their explosive live energy, adding it to the expansive and dramatic drift heard on previous releases. Heavy/heady rock melodies mix with surprising changes in pace, volume, and structure. Driving power combines with experimental noise. Of the Kinski approach, The Stranger writes, "They reconcile the tension between sonic experimentation/improvisation and song structure with grace and cunning." Alpine Static contains some of their most direct and immediate songs yet; songs that wage an unreservedly primal attack with bared teeth and claw.
Alpine Static and Kinski are about the power, range, and outright thrill of the guitar as vehicle. As with their previous releases, the new album takes you on a journey. Kinski's guitarists create a range of feeling through their mixture of improvised sound exploration and solid distorted rhythms; from euphoria to melancholy; from excitement to introspection. They manage to infuse experimental music with emotion, fun, and a sense of wide-eyed adventure. Alpine Static opens with an exhilarating ride, calms to an underwater exploration, and then brings the listener back to the surface again.
Over-driven and raw, countered with moments of eerie tension, Alpine Static hits you in the stomach, ties you up in flowing '70s scarves and throws you in the trunk with Catherine Deneuve and Steve McQueen. In other words: in here (points to head) or out there (points to rest of world), this thing will move you.
Ostinato
http://www.ostinatoproject.com (http://www.ostinatoproject.com)
Ostinato construct their sound in the same sporadic way the mind changes: Emotional impulses are often overwhelming and rampant. Their songs are structured in the same fashion, capturing the inexplicable exhilaration or devastating anger that is often so hard to translate. The result is a rich blend of melodic stimulation which evokes feeling, sonic guitar, swelling drums, and a fibrous flow of bass mesh harmoniously to produce a unique ethereal vibe, surprisingly created by only three musicians. Ostinato, an Italian musical term meaning "a recurring melodic fragment," is a name perfectly suited to the band.
Ostinato hails from the Virginia/Washington DC area. After years of friendship and relaxed free form music creation, Ostinato was officially baptised in 1997. Jeremy Ramirez (bass), David Hennessy (guitar and vocals), and Matthew Clark (drums) rented a house and got focused, eventually amassing the material which was recorded for the 1998 self-release <unusable signal>. Extensive gigging in Washington DC and Virginia followed, as did several extended hiatuses. Their second record was recorded throughout summer 2003 and was released on June 24th 2004 on Exile On Mainstream Records.
Kohoutek
http://claviusproductions.alkem.org/kohoutek.html (http://claviusproductions.alkem.org/kohoutek.html)
Improvised psych with noise tendencies and abstraction. Sonic explorations in any combination of drums, percussion, guitar, bass, laptop, homemade electronics, field recordings, contact mics, chord organ, and household appliances. Have been described as "if Can were a 4AD band" and been compared to Jessamine, Acid Mothers Temple, and Skullflower, for what that's worth.
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
AT THE WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TONIGHT! THURSDAY AUGUST 25
8:30 doors/9:00 show
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CHROMATICS (Troubleman/GSL)
EYES OF THE KILLER ROBOT (brother, sisters, dennis)
PARTS AND LABOR (Narnack Records)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CHROMATICS
"The new songs are taking them places they have never been. Think Roxy Music mixed with dark wave mixed with a hint of Italo/Euro disco. The new songs are going to break new ground my friends, get in on the ground floor! Recorded by Johnny from Glass Candy. This shit is the future, as they say." - TMU
PARTS AND LABOR
Brooklyn analog noisepunk trio Parts & Labor weaves infectious melodies around the searing electronic noise of malfunctioning toys. Dinky Casio SK-1s and Yamaha Portasounds roar apocalyptic fury after being stuffed through pedals, oscillators, and oft-ablaze amplifiers; old-fashioned guitar and drum muscle keep the cogs from clattering to the cold floor; protest anthems are cloaked in metaphor and howled though a delay
pedal. In three years of harsh, pretty, and fuzzy pummel, Parts & Labor has released a spastic instrumental full-length (Groundswell, JMZ), an
aggressively pastoral split EP with Tyondai Braxton (Rise, Rise, Rise, Narnack) and various 7-inches and compilation appearances. Their
tumultuous live shows have assaulted and wooed audiences on two national tours, collaborating with Can's Damo Suzuki and performing with The Fall, TV On The Radio, Melt Banana, Deerhoof, Jim O'Rourke, Ween, Enon, Lightning Bolt, Oneida, Coachwhips and dozens more. Their upcoming material is the sound of the perpetual victory dance, election-results-be-damned, as Parts & Labor attempt to make pop music for noiseniks, noise music for popsters, and rewrite the national
anthem as a "New Day Rising" filtered through a feral Atari. Join the fray.
UPCOMING SHOWS++++++++++++
SUNDAY AUGUST 28
BURMESE
(Load Records/Planaria Recordings/now featuring Bianca from Erase Eratta and members of OCS and Flying Luttenbachers)
HOSPITALS
(Load Reords/In The Red Records)
BLANK:BLANK
(featuring Jonathan Kreinik, Nikhil Randade, and Brendan Slash Seb Hynes)
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31
XIU XIU
YELLOW SWANS
NEDELLE
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you'll book xiu xiu and not saturday looks good to me? :(
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actually, i didn't book xiu xiu, but i would have. i'm actually more of a fan of yellow swans. xiu xiu is overrated. i'd book saturday looks good to me if the situation is right.
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So bummed I'm missing Kinski tomorrow at Warehouse (out of town). Saw them many times while living in Seattle. Great, great stuff.
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Originally posted by snailhook:
actually, i didn't book xiu xiu, but i would have. i'm actually more of a fan of yellow swans. xiu xiu is overrated. i'd book saturday looks good to me if the situation is right.
yay! :D
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keeeeen skeeee 2NITE.. the heavens will burnnnn
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Saturday, August 27
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
OCTOBER 31 (members of Deceased, Thrash Corner Records)
http://www.truemetal.org/october31/ (http://www.truemetal.org/october31/)
This is October 31's first show in DC in a while! The band features King Fowley from Deceased on vocals, and if you caught him with Deceased at the Warehouse Next Door, a few months back, you sure as hell don't want to miss this. These thrash titans bring some serious power metal comparable to early Overkill mixed with early Twisted Sister. Too much metal for one hand! COMMIT TO SIN!
ECLIPTIC
http://www.theeclipticpath.com (http://www.theeclipticpath.com) www.myspace.com/ecliptic (http://www.myspace.com/ecliptic)
Markus Von Hampel (guitar/vocals) and Sidney L Mortensen II (percussion) formed the death/black metal band, Ecliptic, soon after meeting. A demo CD was created in 1999/2000 and released in the spring of 2001. A full-length album was recorded in 2004 and is set to be released in 2005. Ecliptic expanded the band by adding David Everett (lead guitar) in 2002. After an extensive search for a bassist, Nicholas Kuhn is found and joins in 2004. Shortly after Nicholas joins, Jaclyn Davis fills the lineup with lead vocals. Ecliptic is working on a second full-length and new songs will be posted soon.
BEATEN BACK TO PURE http://www.beatenbacktopure.com (http://www.beatenbacktopure.com)
"'Trailer-core' was the only term I could come up for this hazy Southern slab of fuzzed-out, earthy metal. Equal parts sludgy, hazy doom-rock and groovy southern hardcore, BBTP have released an album that comes across as Crowbar and Floodgate meets Eyehategod and Down while in a Jack Daniels and Darvocet-induced stupor and simply oozes character from every alcohol-soaked pore. Sweaty, oily, and hairy, BBTP are metal rednecks with a mission to simply play a music that mixes the South??s bluesy heritage with a harsher, gritty metal sound, and it works so perfectly I found myself wearing flannel, chewing tobacco, and I installed a gun rack in my Honda Civic. The riffs are thicker than swamp water and equally infectious, all laced with Ben??s whiskey-ripened roar and sometimes soulful back-porch croon. The mood of the album is a tangible humidity and grime than puts you in the Bayou backwater while wearing spikes and bullet belts, the mix of metal and fuzzed-out Southern hostility is superbly rendered and each track is a swarthy, groove-laden dirge of incest, stale beer, and gator-fuckin?? Southern pride. Unashamed of their origin, the General Lee aesthetic of the artwork carries over into the material that??s awash with grimy layers of stoner doom but often rife with a heavier, more abrasive manifestation that gives the album some Skoal-induced bite. The pacing starts with surprising immediacy as ??America Vermin? tumbles from the speakers with a rock 'n' roll gait smothered in hot sauce and saliva. But the rest of the album is more of a sonic hangover with a far more drawn-out pace and plenty of appropriately Southern bridges and acoustic interludes that enforces the heaving Swampish atmosphere. ??Smothered in Sundress? starts off with a surprisingly articulate intro before the song explodes with a crushing groove and metal square dance face-off that??s only missing a fiddle and some teeth to make it true hick-core. ??Hell Goes Thru Hanging Dog? highlights Ben's almost Jan De Koeyer-like (Gorefest-circa Erase) growl along with his suitably bluesy drone that could be from any Down album. Now fear not, The Burning South isn??t all just murky, pot-hazed doom, as there are some Crowbar-like moments of sheer oppressive weight as heard on ??One Shovel and a Place to Die? and its gargantuan main riff. The slight injections of acoustic flair complete the album??s redneck pretense without overdoing it, as they add just enough deep-fried ambiance to give the album heaps of atmosphere amid the slovenly hardcore guise. ??Where the Sewer Meets the Sea? and ??Pillars of Tomorrow, Piles of Yesterday? are the albums most truly white trash-core, gravy-soaked offerings with plenty of soulful, clean gregariousness from Ben but both settle into gaping maws of drawn-out sludge. The only thing missing is a cover of ??Sweet Home Alabama? to make this album any more Southern, but the rocking instrumental ??Vertigo? is close enough and the brilliantly named album closer ??Running Out of Neck? rumbles with the resonance of an idling Fat Boy before it closes with what can only described as an epically southern, throat-clearing warmth. Beaten Back to Pure??s ??Dixie core? is a fine offering that mixes a massive Bourbon-induced hangover with a 3-day meth binge into one brawling sonic expulsion. Often lulling and hazy, but equally as attention-getting as a knuckle duster to the face, The Burning South is perfect for those who wish Down were a tad heavier and Crowbar would have a little more variety. You??uns better get this ??ere album, ya hear?" (Erik Thomas, www.digitalmetal.com) (http://www.digitalmetal.com))
WITHERED (ex-Social Infestation, ex-Leechmilk) http://www.withered.net (http://www.withered.net)
"Brutal music out of Georgia. The Demonstration CD features 3 tracks from the forthcoming 5-song EP Order Born From Chaos. Withered, formed in 2003, features Chris Freeman and Mike Thompson of the crust-punk/grindcore outfit Social Infestation in control of some very heavy guitar and gruff vocal duties. Leaning toward death and black metal, these songs destroy. Holding up the rhythm section are Wes Kever (Puaka Balava) on drums and former Leechmilk bassist Greg Hess, who they recruited at a show in the basement of Brent Hinds (Mastodon). What does this mean? Face-melting power grind worthy of high praise. All 3 songs contain intriguing structure. They sway from full-on grind, power-crust to a heavy sludge melody. Nice guitar work. This could very well be the heaviest band ever!" (Bobby, Boggob Magazine)
MAGRUDERGRIND (return from tour show!)
"It is hard to type when your whole body is thrashing to and fro in an involuntary reaction brought on by eight tracks of brain-blistering power violence-influenced grind. So many bands are trying to take grind to new levels; it is refreshing to hear a band whose only "level" is leveling their listeners. MAGRUDERGRIND unleash their audio audacity with absolute abandon. This is the kind of extreme grind that probably first turned you on to the genre. This is the power violence sound that you thought was long gone anywhere outside of Japan. Buy this. Listen to it. Try and keep your neck from snapping and your arms from flailing. I dare you." (Mindspell Webzine, www.mindspell.org) (http://www.mindspell.org))
and from the City Paper:
The Southern sludge-metal band Beaten Back to Pure was a central player in one of the more fascinating rock happenings I??ve witnessed. BBTP was but one of many bands slated to play in a festival here last year. One of the preceding acts took a break in the middle of its set to berate the bewhiskered Beaten members for their frequent use of the Flag That Shall Not Be Waved. (Now, in case there is any doubt as to the band??s aesthetic, sample album titles include Southern Apocalypse and The Burning South.) The offended opening band not only called BBTP out as hillbilly hatemongers but also went on to say that it would never again play with a band that flew the Stars and Bars. (Guitarist Vince Burke is pictured.) At this point, a plant in the audience raised her fist and incitingly yelled, ??Long live the New South,? a phrase I had never actually heard said in earnest??even when I was a Kappa Alpha pledge. Suffice it to say that the men of BBTP promptly renounced their cracker ways, joined hands, and sang a stirring rendition of ??Ebony and Ivory,? and racism was finally cured. OK, they actually ignored the statements and unrepentantly barrelled through a bludgeoning set heavier than all the Fabulous Freebirds?? songs put together. A band that looks like Antiseen??s little brothers and sounds like Molly Hatchet??s Danny Joe Brown having a hoedown with Pig Destroyer doesn??t really care much for the opinion of others. So, after you finish protesting the antebellum bullshit of The Dukes of Hazzard, come continue the discourse with the good ol?? boys of BBTP. Beaten Back to Pure plays with October 31, Ecliptic, Withered, and Magrudergrind at 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $8. (202) 783-3933. (David Dunlap Jr.)
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1. So is this place located right at Massachusetts Ave. and 7th street?
2. What's the best idea for parking?
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Originally posted by sonicyouth42:
1. So is this place located right at Massachusetts Ave. and 7th street?
Just above New York and 7th actually. New York is a block above Mass.
Originally posted by sonicyouth42:
2. What's the best idea for parking?
I've only been there twice, but haven't had trouble with street parking.
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Originally posted by ggw?:
Originally posted by sonicyouth42:
2. What's the best idea for parking?
I've only been there twice, but haven't had trouble with street parking. [/b]
I've had problems on Friday and Saturday nights when I arrived on the late side. Arrive early.
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Originally posted by sonicyouth42:
1. So is this place located right at Massachusetts Ave. and 7th street?
2. What's the best idea for parking?
oh, my turn! my turn!
the best idea for parking is your nearest metro station. warehouse is one block away from the mt vernon square metro station.
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shouldn't have any trouble on the street. i parked right in front of the warehouse last time i went. got there pretty early, i was all paranoid about not getting to see enon, though
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So, any word on how much the Xiu Xiu show will cost? Should I be OK for tickets if I get there around 6:30?
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6:30 is way too early. id say, 7:30 at the earliest although youll still probably be waiting for another hour or more to get in only to wait another hour for any music to start. hope yer bringin someone along to help pass the time.
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the show will be $7.
mike kanin's write-up on the show, though i have to respectfully disagree with his thoughts regarding noise.
Noise music: There are so many easy, obvious beefs to have with it. And sure, some of it is flat-out crap??a boring, muddled beard that can con bored music-nerd into believing that layers of digital distortion make up for putting in no more than a passing effort. But not every DIY noisenik is an unprepared, lazy piece of shit. And at its best, some of the stuff that gets made is actually interesting. As for Yellow Swans, to judge by the beats emerging from the feedback, the might-as-well-be-Brooklyn-based act is certainly better than some. Still, the band members?? habit of letting their thing go on for 12 not-so-developed minutes is a bit much. And the inevitable pretension that goes with such things??check out the ??lyrics? on the back of Bring the Neon War Home??is gag-inducing. That one Pitchfork writer called that recording ??heady shit? is in and of itself a warning that maybe there??s not much to the thing. Not that there??s really all that much to the genre. Still, when the pulsating strands of noise do crack your skull enough to warrant praise, that??s really all that matters. And by that measure, Yellow Swans are slowly, painfully getting there. Yellow Swans play with Xiu Xiu and Nedelle at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $7. (202) 783-3933. (Mike Kanin)
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Originally posted by sonicyouth42:
So, any word on how much the Xiu Xiu show will cost? Should I be OK for tickets if I get there around 6:30?
i really hope this xiu xiu show goes well for you, seems like you've spent the past two months on here fretting about it
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the show is now 8 bucks. round up them pennies.
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OK, so John Brannon's in town. This should translate into 500 music geeks lining up outside the Warehouse at 6pm to make sure they get in, but it doesn't, sadly. I'm not gonna get on my soapbox and give a history lesson, but i need to say that this is the man whose voice influenced a generation and more of hardcore, noise rock, and even grunge. He is the American punk underground's equivalent to Nick Cave. You should be there.
Friday, September 2
$7, all ages
doors at 9:30, show at 10
Easy Action (ex-Negative Approach/Laughing Hyenas!, Reptilian Records)
The Old Haunts (Kill Rock Stars, ex-Excuse 17/Two Ton Boa/The Serum Greys)
The Blast of Valour (DC post-punk instrumental rawk, like The Fucking Champs meets Deerhoof)
Easy Action
http://www.easyaction.org (http://www.easyaction.org)
As raw as open-heart surgery on a subway train, John Brannon's caged lynx howl found its third release valve with Easy Action. The former Laughing Hyenas and Negative Approach vocalist has here added guitar to his repertoire, even if only to augment the depth of the band's sound.
In the early '80s, Brannon's uncompromising, pointedly aggressive Detroit hardcore outfit Negative Approach, along with Boston acts like SSD and DYS and D.C. groups like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and S.O.A., established the paradigm for American hardcore music. Negative Approach was just that: the sonic equivalent of a chair through a window, with Brannon venting and ranting frustratedly and indeed, negatively. With the termination of the band in the mid-'80s, Brannon, with guitarist Larissa Strickland, founded the equally devastating ??- though roots-inspired ??- noise punk-blues hybrid Laughing Hyenas, a band often cited for its influence on punk, indie rock, and grunge from the early '90s onward. The Hyenas were a more apt vehicle for Brannon's tortured baritone; he has truly been blessed with an excellent, terribly authentic vocal range and feel, moving from a throaty scream to blues crooning in the space of half a measure, unselfconsciously, and without contrivance.
After a spell of five CDs and numerous tours, the Hyenas called it quits. A few years later, Brannon, along with former Hyenas bassist Ron Sakowski ??- who also worked with the Necros -?? formed Easy Action, a blend of amped-up Detroit garage rock, the rusty-nail blues of the Hyenas, and the scraped-knuckle aggression of Negative Approach. Easy Action proved to be a way for Brannon to howl as demonically as he had in the early and mid-'80s and still croon when the mood struck. The band released its first two singles on Reptilian Records in 2000, then followed a year later with a self-titled album, also on Reptilian. (All Music Guide)
The Old Haunts
http://www.oldhaunts.com (http://www.oldhaunts.com)
Fallow Field is Old Haunts' Kill Rock Stars debut, consisting of two previous EPs from the Olympia stomp rockers with six new tracks added. It's sorta country, this band's stuff, with Craig Extine's slippery yowl out front of spindly guitars and the kind of rhythm that only requires one big kick drum. (Though there's a snare too, and at least one cymbal.) "Deflect It" and "Boots Are Clubs" are great distillations of this. But Old Haunts also have a punk sensibility in the vein of the Wipers or Chicago's Drapes -- intriguingly rough edges, and songs that are tossed-off but still dangerous. "By the Bay"'s pace is hyper and impatient, "Old World" adds rickety farmhouse piano to a typically tense pacific northwest indie rattle, and "You Could Never Know" only needs slashing guitar and the choppy reports of a snare to make Extine's vocal sound perfect and urgent. Fallow Field is only about a half-hour-long, and rarely wavers from its favorite sound, staccato guitar notes pecking at muddy but expressive basslines. (See "Cult Baby.") But despite their limitations, Old Haunts bring a cool sense of creakiness to their songs. "Walk Through the Woods" is aptly named -- Fallow Field sounds like hill people's punk rock. (All Music Guide)
The Blast of Valour
http://www.theblastofvalour.com (http://www.theblastofvalour.com)
This instrumental rock onslaught of epic proportions specializes in melting faces. They can most easily be compared to The Fucking Champs with healthy doses of pop melodicism, punk and rock 'n' roll drive, and Deerhoof-esque quirkiness. Jeff was always a rock drummer but is also an electronic composer. Tom started out with jazz saxophone as his concentration among a dozen other instruments. Nick was a jazz guitarist and rockabilly fan, and Ben was a young history teacher at their high school in DC, pining for a band that took rock as seriously as he wanted. Both now play guitar and bass for The Blast of Valour. Tom started writing songs last year, which turned into a portfolio and a kickass band. Together now for more than a year, they have performed at small, rockin' clubs around DC and recorded a demo.
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damn this show is gonna be good...possible negative approach covers! from the baltimore city paper interview:
??I??ve never had a problem with my voice,? says Detroit vocalist John Brannon, when asked whether his ferocious singing has caused any physical damage. ??It feels stronger than ever. I really feel like there??s nothing holding me back. I??ve still got some batteries left, and I think I can do this for a while.?
Brannon??s lung-depleting howl, equal parts primal power and melodic reach, has ripped air for nearly 25 years, first with hardcore pioneers Negative Approach, then with blues-punkers Laughing Hyenas, and now with the steamrolling quartet Easy Action. That Brannon??s intense roar has survived this long is pretty miraculous. ??I don??t know what else to do,? he admits. ??My mother still says, ??When are you going to get a job??? and I always say, ??Mom, I??m a singer!???
On Friends of Rock and Roll, Easy Action??s 2005 album on Baltimore??s Reptilian Records, Brannon darts from slithery croon (??There Was a Time?) to slamming screech (??Get the Fuck Out of My Way?) to harrowing rage (??Kool Aide,? which drags the Stooges?? ??Little Doll? through a dark tunnel of violent Brannon screams). While the band??s self-titled 2001 debut shone like hot chrome, Friends feels looser and more lived-in, like a well-worn leather jacket. It??s impressive given the group??s tumultuous history.
??We just couldn??t hold the band together, because nobody wanted to tour. People my age really don??t want to get in the van,? Brannon says. ??But I don??t want to just play weekend shows in Detroit. I want to take this to the streets and show people how we rock. The lineup??s steady now, everybody??s up for touring, and we??re all really in tune to what we??re doing.?
The rough swagger of Friends of Rock and Roll reflects the spontaneity of its recording session, helmed by Detroit veteran Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Dirtbombs). The lurching ??What??s Going Down? was built from a single riff minutes before it was recorded, while the anthemic title track employs an impromptu choir to buttress Brannon??s heroic bellow. ??A friend of ours was planning to visit the studio after a night at a bar, and somehow word got around the bar,? Brannon recounts. ??The next thing I knew, 20 kids walked in with him. So we said to them, ??OK, you can hang out, but you??ve gotta help us sing this song.?? And it worked out great.?
Brannon began Easy Action with guitarist Harold Richardson in 1998 during the demise of Laughing Hyenas. ??Harold and I were just messing around, doing ??70s glam covers,? Brannon recalls. ??At some point I realized the Hyenas were not getting back together, and I was getting itchy. I??ve been touring for so long, and once you stop you really miss it. I felt like I had something more to say.?
Initially, Brannon also played guitar. ??I never did that in Negative Approach or the Hyenas, though I always wrote songs on guitar,? he says. ??But as the songwriting [in Easy Action] got going, we really only needed one guitar. Plus, I needed to concentrate on my vocals, to put on a crazier performance. The way I sing I need to have nothing holding me back??to be able to break some stuff and pump people up.?
With current bassist Tony Romeo and drummer Matt Becker, Brannon and Richardson have honed a tough, frantic sound that evokes numerous legendary bands from their hometown. ??Growing up in Detroit in the early ??70s, bands that people regard as major influences were just local bands to me,? Brannon says. ??The Stooges, Alice Cooper, MC5, John Lee Hooker, even Motown, I got saturated with that stuff. So I thought music was like that everywhere.? But Easy Action??s noisy edges place the band squarely in the current Motor City milieu. ??We??re friends with Wolf Eyes, we really like playing with them,? Brannon says. ??Same with Human Eye, the new band of Timmy ??Vulgar? Lampinen from the Clone Defects. All the bands around here, we all go to the same bars, we all hang out.?
Still, the road is Brannon??s true home. ??We??re excited to play anywhere we can,? he says. ??I??ve been lucky??because of Negative Approach and the Hyenas, my demographic is like 15 to 50. I still get kids that were checking me out years ago. A lot of them want to talk to me about Negative Approach, and I don??t have a problem with that. It??s cool that they still remember who the fuck I am. And I think they dig Easy Action, too, once they??ve seen it. We??re older, we hit it at a different angle, but we try to show them something they??ve never seen.?
Negative Approach songs have even shown up in Easy Action??s live set. ??Yeah, if the mood??s right, we??ll kick some NA at the end of the show,? Brannon says. ??I have a whole new audience of kids finding out about that, and they never saw those songs performed.?
For those looking to learn more, earlier this year Reptilian issued the exhilarating Negative Approach CD Ready to Fight, featuring demos and live recordings from Brannon??s vaults. ??Chris X was really on my butt to get it together, because I was being kind of lazy about it,? Brannon says of Reptilian??s owner. ??I finally went to my mom??s house and dug up all the old tapes and put the best of what I had on there. There had been some bootlegs, and they were pretty crappy, so it was relieving to finally get it out.?
After its current tour, Easy Action plans on immediately writing and recording a new album, followed by more shows. For Brannon, there are no alternatives. ??I would??ve hung up the towel by now if I didn??t want to do this, but I??m too deep into it to turn back,? he says. ??If I have to do the John Lee Hooker thing when I??m 68 and sit in a chair and sing, that??s fine with me.?
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CREEPING NOBODIES/Hand Fed Babies/Equinox/Nicht Nichtet
Warehouse Next Door -- this Saturday (tomorrow)
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Tomorrow's show with the Creeping Nobodies should be really fun. Hope you may be able to make it. Here is the info:
Creeping Nobodies (Canadian girls and boys making some intelligent post-punk)
Hand Fed Babies (Hugh and Sean playing some machines)
Equinox (Hugh playing some machines and Saran singing on top)
Nicht Nichtet (Members of Rude Staircase with a plot to take over your ears)
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th Street NW
Close to the Mt. Vernon Sq. metro stop on the Green Line
Doors - 9pm
$7
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14
SWORD HEAVEN
RL STEIN
TRIANGLE & RHINO
PLAIN LACE (Mike from Navies)
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW
$6, 9pm
SWORD HEAVEN
Hailing from Columbus, OH, the mighty Sword Heaven channel some serious visions for a new world disorder. Panic-ridden throat scrapings through delay boxes and primal percussion lay at the root of a vicious live show that have left many scared and have earned these boys a well-deserved reputation among Midwest noise mongrels. "The lost
dreams of the kids pictured missing on the sides of milk cartons. Broken, perhaps angry, and often misdirected communication skills lurch and spit along a path of sour milk and barbed wire. If you've ever cut yourself while shaving any part of your body, these gents -- a single-gender Three's Company but without the sexual innuendo or Crass
stencil typeface -- have probably done as good a job as anyone at encapsulating that feeling through sound. Oh yes, and according to Inuit legend, "they friggin' RAWK." (Crippled Intellect). They've released records on Chondritic Sound and Gameboy, including a hottttt split LP with sister group 16 Bitch Pile Up.
RL STEIN
On tour with Sword Heaven, RL Stein is a Philadelphia-oriented free noise group that features Matt Rademan (aka Newton) and Rat Bastard
(Laundry Room Squelchers, To Live and Shave in LA, that drunk guy at this year's Noise Against Fascism). Sizzling feedback and chaos from people that probably have crushing minimum-wage day jobs. Also authored the "Goosebumps" series horror novels for children.
TRIANGLE & RHINO
Pittsburgh guitar and drums duo playing their part in the AmRep renaissance. As sloppily inappropriate as corn rows on a white dude but technically proficient as in they probably have downloaded tabs for Maiden and Priest.
PLAIN LACE
First solo show for Mike of the DC Navies Nation. Loopings and guitar. Might sit down and play.
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Thursday, September 15
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Octis (Mick Barr of Orthrelm solo!, on Troubleman)
The Mass (SF heavy prog/math/skronk-core, Crucial Blast)
So I Had To Shoot Him (SF prog/grind-pop?!?, Crucial Blast)
Child Abuse (NYC noise rock)
Octis
http://www.millionraces.com/orthrelm.htm (http://www.millionraces.com/orthrelm.htm)
OCTIS is Mick Barr from ORTHRELM's solo endeavor. Mick has been called one of the greatest guitarists in the underground, if not world/universe. This particular release finds Mick playing solo over programmed drum machine blast beats. The results are simply incredible. Is it thrash? Is it jazz? Is it metal? Is it "avant"? Who cares? What we DO know is that this shit is the future!
Fretboard brainiac Mick Barr (of Orthrelm, Crom-Tech, and Quix*o*tic) is back with a new album from his solo manifestation Octis (and is also now living here in San Francisco, playing in the Flying Luttenbachers). Ocrilim is one 33-minute track of squiggly quasi-metallic guitar and drum machine. Electro-shock therapy too expensive? Try this! A tinny drone jabbed and jarred with manic outbursts of hyper spazz guitar, with which the drum machine can barely keep up. It's, in a word, maddening. And of course we love it. (Aquarius Records)
The Mass
http://www.themass.us (http://www.themass.us)
The 2nd album from Oakland, California's THE MASS, Perfect Picture of Wisdom and Boldness, further refines the band's unique brand of malevolent indie-thrash, oozing a crawling heaviness not apparent on earlier releases. Crushing, epic, and melodic...moving beyond the hyperkinetic seizures of City Of Dis, here THE MASS whip out blazing, staccato riffs and multifaceted vocal attacks that knife through complex structures and sludgy, epic elegies, as wicked saxophone melodies interweave with angular crunch and creepy nocturnal post-rock. Like a stuttering, bat-winged Bay Area thrash metal outfit arming itself with Louisville/Chicago schooled math-thug asymmetry, pounding dirge-core, and fierce, evocative jazz flourishes while lobbing some whopping bonged-out grooves, THE MASS continues to evolve its cryptic heaviosity.
So I Had To Shoot Him
http://www.soihadtoshoothim.com/ (http://www.soihadtoshoothim.com/)
Formerly a fire-breathing, art-damaged power-violence outfit from New Jersey that released a handful of EPs, split 7"s, and compilation tracks in the mid-1990s, SO I HAD TO SHOOT HIM has spent the past couple of years reconfiguring itself into a noisy, surreal, utterly catchy grind-pop seizure that has culminated in their debut full-length, Alpha Males And Popular Girls for Crucial Blast Records. Here, sweeping melodic beauty peeks through cyclones of gasoline-soaked no-wave/grind skronk as steroid rock riffs, warped go-go beats, and malformed metalcore riots are inflamed by singer Contessa Von Bismarck's sublimely sassy vocals. Alpha Males And Popular Girls is a genre-torching maelstrom of crushing riffage and ferocious blastbeats, melodic dirge bliss, some absolutely spazztoid axe shred, and gorgeous sugar-coated pop that will gum up your grey matter. Truly mutant blast-pop!
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TONIGHT!
302 Acid (DC instrumental ambient psych/dub)
Gel-Sol (back from Seattle!)
Escape By Ostrich (current and former members of Mofungo, Tono-Bungay, Fire in the Kitchen, The Scene Is Now, Fish & Roses, and anti:clockwise)
$7, all ages, doors at 9
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More Japanese experimental/psych/noise/whatever at the Warehouse tomorrow!
Tuesday, September 20
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Nissenenmondai (Japanese all-girl no-wave/psych trio)
WZT Hearts (electro-acoustic improv noise from Baltimore)
Facemat (DC improv noise)
Carbonic (solo folk/psych from Rochester)
Nisennenmondai
http://www.nisennenmondai.com (http://www.nisennenmondai.com)
"Who: Himeno (drums), Takada (guitar), Zaikawa (bass). Why: They upstaged the mighty Anadorei at a recent event, and Melt-Banana are on their next guest list. In Japan's underground ??noise?? scene everyone is talking about a new band called Nisennenmondai (Year 2000 Computer-Bug Problem). As they sound like the end of the world, this isn't surprising. The blitzkrieg starts with Takada issuing three deafening shrieks like a pterodactyl with a tummyache, but it's Himeno who leads the sonic assault with an apocalyptic barrage of jungle-punk percussion. It's so intense that the vocal-less 25-minute set often ends with Himeno wiping away tears. ??They're not tears - I'm wiping sweat from my eyes. Honest,?? she says, a little embarrassed.? These gals tore it up in Chicago at the Million Tongues Festival last year, and Nisennenmondai's second mini-album finds them running along in a similar vein to their debut, Sorede Sozosuru Neji, with Sayaka Himeno's always impressive drumming and occasional over-use of the crash cymbal providing each of the tracks with their primary impetus. Track three is actually a different recording of track five off Sorede... with the addition of some vocal overdubs, which is to say that it's brilliant and a pleasure to make its acquaintance again, but while this is all undoubtedly good stuff, I can't help feeling that there's a whole lot more they should be doing in the studio, and that given a bit more ambition, a MicroKorg, a decent producer -- say, Eno circa 1977 -- and something more than the sub-lo-fi recording quality on show here, they could be producing Japan's very own Loveless or something." (Ian Martin)
"There's no tracklisting on this mini-album; the five tracks blend together into a twenty-six minute, multi-movement noise symphony. Starting out with a clatter of drums, raining fiery death from all sides, it moves into a tighter, more menacing, bass-driven segment, punctuated by increasingly frantic bursts of screeching guitar feedback and drunken bumblebee soloing. Part three is a short burst of stop-start Boredoms noise, before the spectre of Neu! makes its appearance felt in the drumming. The bass just hammers away endlessly on one note, while the thin, metallic guitar takes the track by the scruff of the neck, spluttering in and out according to a rhythm of its own. The final, and best, part takes the best elements of the rest of the album; the frenetic drumming, the brooding bass, the explosive guitar; and takes the whole track as close to spacerock as three Japanese girls recording in a shoebox can be reasonably expected to go." (Ian Martin)
WZT Hearts
Jason Urick on Wzt Hearts' mission: "The music can sound like everything you've heard before -- or nothing. Each night we play, none of us are sure of what it will sound like. In the eight months of playing together in this form, there has never been any talk between band members about the actual music other than the occasional 'Let's start slow tonight.'"
Jeff Donaldson: guitar and mixing board
Jason Urick: laptop
Shaun Flynn: drums and vocals.
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Wednesday, September 21
$6, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Michael Bullock/Vic Rawlings/Mazen Kerbaj Trio (avant-improv bass/cello/electronics/trumpet from Boston and Lebanon)
The Cutest Puppy In The World (DC improv)
Insect Factory (microscopic ambient guitar drone from DC)
Boston's Vic Rawlings/Mike Bullock electronics/string duo will be joined by Lebanese trumpet player Mazen Kerbaj. The Vic Rawlings/Mike Bullock duo combine classical string instruments and meta-musical electronics in ways that bring out the rawest parts of each. Vic Rawlings plays amplified cello and a rack of electronics he built out of exposed circuit boards and stripped speaker cones. Mike Bullock plays amplified contrabass and a tone generator originally made for scientists. The result is an unbelievably stark sound world utterly alienated from the glib fluidity usually associated with bowed strings.
MICHAEL BULLOCK (contrabass, Boston)
http://www.mikebullock.com (http://www.mikebullock.com)
Free improvisor Michael Bullock has played bass in eight countries, on a dozen records, and in a variety of bands, touring extensively both solo and as part of various ensembles. He has also played with well-known improvisors Eddie Prévost, Lê Quan Ninh, and Peter Kowald, in addition to working with numerous members of Boston's improvised music community. Two of his current obsessions include IIbasSpit, an electro-acoustic trio with Tucker Dulin (trombone) and Seth Cluett (bass, voice) which is planning a CD release this year; and an ongoing curiosity with acoustic feedback. Bullock has released recordings on such diverse labels as Emanem, Rounder, and Naxos.
VIC RAWLINGS (cello/electronics, Boston)
Vic Rawlings (prepared/amplified cello, circuitry) is active as an improviser and instrument builder. His performances focus on the metamusical potential of unstable sounds and silences. He has developed instruments that are specific to this compositional aesthetic. As an instrument builder he specializes in modifications of existing instruments and has developed extensive cello preparations. He also continually
develops an electronic instrument from extant exposed circuitry, producing, in effect, a modular analog synthesizer with a highly unstable interface. This electronic instrument is paired with a flexible array of exposed speaker elements, chosen for their often unpredictable and idiosyncratic acoustic qualities.
He performs as a soloist and as a member of undr quartet, The BSC, and in duo and trio ensembles with Michael Bullock, Greg Kelley, Bhob Rainey, Sean Meehan, Jason Lescalleet, James Coleman, Liz Tonne, Tatsuya Nakatani, and Howard Stelzer, among others. Collaborators have included such diverse musicians as Eddie Prevost (AMM), Donald Miller (Borbetomagus), Daniel Carter (Other Dimensions in Music), Laurence Cook, Jaap Blonk, Masashi Harada, and Stephen Drury.
He appears on the following record labels: Grob, Sedimental, Emanem, Boxmedia, Chloe, Absurd, and Rykodisc. He has performed as a soloist/composer with Nicola Hawkins Dance Company and has composed scores for films by Alla Kovgan and Jeff Silva. He has toured in the US and France.
MAZEN KERBAJ (trumpet, Beirut Lebanon)
http://www.kerbaj.com (http://www.kerbaj.com)
Mazen Kerbaj was born in 1975 in Beirut and lived there since. His main activities are comics, painting, and music. After a lot of works for different publishers and magazines, it is in March 2000 that he releases some of his more personal works in his Journal 1999 (a diary in comics' format). He self-published eight other books and many short stories since.
It is also in 2000 that he plays for the first time in concert, in the Strike's pub in Beirut. This concert, a duo with Lebanese sax player Christine Sehnaoui, is probably the first improvised music concert in the Middle East.
In 2001, together with guitarist Sharif Sehnaoui, he creates the MILL association that curates since IRTIJAL an annual international festival for free music in Beirut as well as various concerts and events (IRTIJAL saw over the years some great improvisers like Fred Van Hove, Johannes Bauer, Lê Quan Ninh, and Franz Hautzinger).
In August 2002, together with Sharif Sehnaoui and double bass player Raed Yassine he recorded the album A published by La CD-Thèque, Beirut.
After meeting Franz Hautzinger by chance in Lebanon in February 2003, they played in a duo in Beirut and in Paris and in a trio with Japanese laptop player Taku Unami at the IRTIJAL 2003 festival. Then they were joined by Sharif Sehnaoui and Helge Hinteregger to form Oriental Space quartet that played in Nickelsdorf, Berlin, Vienna, and Klagenfurt. A recording of this group is avilable on the Austrian label aRtonal, and Abu Tarek, a recording of the duo Hautzinger/Kerbaj is available on the Portugese label Creative Sources.
In 2005, Kerbaj releases two new albums on the Lebanese newly-born label Al Maslakh (The Slaughterhouse), one in solo and the other with Rouba3i quartet.
Between 2000 and 2005, Mazen Kerbaj played in solo and various groups in a lot of venues in Lebanon, Damascus, Paris, Bordeaux, Vienna, Berlin, New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.
Regular and occasional partners includes: Sharif Sehnaoui, Christine Sehnaoui, Raed Yassine, Charbel Haber, Jad Balaben, Jassem Hindi, Franz Hautzinger, Helge Hinteregger, Lê Quan Ninh, Bertrand Denzler, Stéphane Rives, Edward Perraud, Taku Unami, Guillermo Gregorio, Gene Coleman, Toshimaru Nakamura, Michael Zerang, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jim Baker, Jack Wright, Mike Bullock, and Vic Rawlings.
The Cutest Puppy in the World
http://www.myspace.com/thecutestpuppyintheworld (http://www.myspace.com/thecutestpuppyintheworld)
DC-area avant-improv informed by out-jazz, psychedelia, and noise, influenced by Sun Ra, No Neck Blues Band, Animal Collective, Acid Mothers Temple, John Zorn, etc.
Insect Factory
http://www.myspace.com/insectfactory (http://www.myspace.com/insectfactory)
Solo microscopic ambient guitar drone infleunced and inspired by the likes of Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Fripp/Eno, John Fahey, and Coltrane. Hypnotic layers of drone textures.
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Shoegaze assault at the Warehouse! Airiel remind me of a cross between Kitchens of Distinction and Ride.
Thursday, September 22
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Alcian Blue (DC)
Airiel (Chicago)
Hartfield (Japan, Clairecords)
Alcian Blue
http://www.alcianblue.net (http://www.alcianblue.net)
http://myspace.com/alcianblue/ (http://myspace.com/alcianblue/)
Alcian Blue create noisepop like only the Reid Brothers could make on Psychocandy...Alcian Blue's music is layered with fuzz and feedback. Though immediately catchy, listeners can expect to always find something else buried under the chaos waiting to scratch the surface. With pounding rhythms and swirling guitars and synths, vocals of murder, suicide, and ghosts wash in and out of the maelstrom. The claustrophobic atmosphere they create makes one wonder whether they are playing rock and roll or trying to conjure up demons. Either way, one listen and you??ll be itching to hear more while simultaneously ruining the speakers of your stereo system.
Airiel
http://www.airiel.com (http://www.airiel.com)
"Masterpieces of swirling guitar the likes of which have not been seen since Kitchens of Distinction called it a day...blistering waves of gorgeous guitars, kinetic drum beats, and soaring vocal harmonies."
Airiel is rapidly becoming one of Chicago's best-kept secrets. Formed in '97 by Jeremy Wrenn, initially a solo project supported by various drum machines, Airiel is now a solid 4-piece determined to be heard. The addition of guitarist Zeeshan Abbasi, bassist/vocalist Cory Osborne, and drummer John Rungger have taken the prior format of warm-as-a-blanket guitar soundscapes and injected a post/pop-rock energy and verve that heralds the coming of a new shoegaze archetype. Many bands try to emulate the sounds of My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Verve, Slowdive, and others, but Airiel build off the foundation of their influences, seeking to push the genre forward. A strident combination of reverb, distortion, and sweat, they are advancing the art of sheer sonic energy while utilizing the power of a good melody to provide a basis for the effects, never forgetting the innate human desire to shake one's ass. In short, it's loud, it's beautiful, and you can dance to it.
Hartfield
http://www.hartfieldweb.com (http://www.hartfieldweb.com)
Dreamy melodies...comfortable, noisy guitars...breathy male/female vocals.
"Some time ago, an incredible compilation came out of Japan (featuring a number of Japanese, American, and other international shoegaze bands) that floored the listening community. The sounds that burst from Seven Winters filled our ears with incredible shoegaze sounds that expanded the term "shoegaze" and what the term even meant. Seven Winters featured amazing songs from bands like the furious Ca-P (one of my faves), Airiel, Astrobrite, and a whole host of Japanese acts that amazed listeners with their music. Now, several years after the release of that mind-boggling collection of songs, one of the previously unknown bands featured on Seven Winters has released a full-length CD of their own unique take on the shoegaze sound.
Hartfield is that band.
Hailing from Japan, Hartfield play a very pleasant-sounding, melodic style of shoegaze rock that soothes the listener. Not unlike The Lassie Foundation's Pacifico, Hartfield's full-length debut, True Color, True Lie features sighing male and female vocals, soaring pop melodies, all delivered with a healthy dose of syrupy guitars. A good example of this sound is the scarily-titled "She Bangs" (am I the only one whose mind conjures up frightening images of a Ricky Martin/William Hung hybrid?). Thankfully, Hartfield delivers an original song, full of exquisite harmonied-duet vocals, jangly guitars mixed with more fuzzy-sounding guitars, and a quick tempo. The melody of this song is catchy enough to be on Top 40 radio, but the band adds just enough dissonance in the music to add depth to the song, while ensuring its lack of radio play. Another gorgeous song, "Blow Away," takes a slower, more deliberate approach. Featuring buried male Japanese vocals, thick layers of guitar, and an achingly beautiful melody, "Blow Away" moves the listener.
While much of Hartfield's trademark sound of sunny melodies enveloped in shoegaze bliss can be attributed to the band's musical skill, no doubt their sound on True Color, True Lie benefitted greatly from the mix of Scott Cortez, the visionary American behind Astrobrite, Lovesliescrushing, and a host of other amazing shoegaze and dreampop projects. Cortez's influence is perhaps best noted in the fluid "Girl Like You," which is a rerecorded version of Hartfield's Seven Winters offering. This new version, complete with back-tracking guitar lines, dense-but-light walls of guitars, and flowing female vocals, sounds even crisper and more poised than the Seven Winters version. "Stand By Me" also benefits greatly from the Cortez mix, as Hartfield slowly builds their song, layer by precious layer, to an epic-sounding climax. At the end of the 7 1/2 minute song, the listener is treated to an explosion of glorious sound. It's safe to assume that Hartfield is more of a pop-oriented shoegaze band, with songs like "Stand By Me" present on True Color, True Lie; the band showcases their ability to patiently create blissful songs.
Ultimately, True Color, True Lie is a very, very pleasant listen for fans of shoegaze music. By combining accessible melody with the sonics that have always been associated with shoegaze, Hartfield has also created a CD that is an excellent reference point for any newcomer to the shoegaze ideal. With style and substance, Hartfield lives up to the Seven Winters hype." (Somewhere Cold)
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Go see the strugglers! 10/26 theyre sweet
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MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26
WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
8:30 DOORS
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BLACK MOUNTAIN: Arguably the most hyped band at the moment (besides Dungen). This Vancouver, BC band can back up the hype. Enough so, that the most popular band at the moment, COLDPLAY, took them on tour and seemingly impressed what portion of the summer amphitheatre audience wasn't stuck waiting in line for their $10.00 souvenir guitar-shaped beer mugs. But, having performed at two of the ten highest-grossing North American concerts this year, Black Mountain are now looking
forward to getting back to the simpler places where they feel much more at home. Up next, then, is the grand and glorious circuit of dark and
smoky music venues dotted across North America. Recommended if you like Black Sabbath, The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, Dead Meadow,
Animals-era Pink Floyd, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, and Can.
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AT WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR/MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26
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BLACK MOUNTAIN (Jagjaguwar Records)
BLOOD MERIDIAN (Matt and Josh of Black Mountain's other band)
LADYHAWK (who you will hear more about very soon)
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"Stephen McBean's vocals are a smoother, bluesier amalgam of the voices of Neil Young, Mick Jagger, and perhaps a James Brown loaded on cough syrup. Amber Webber's vocals are something other-worldly and, by itself, almost incomparable. When their voices intertwine, the combination brings to mind the potency and chemistry of Richard and Linda Thompson singing together on Shoot Out The Lights, or of Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley howling together on Bat Out Of Hell."
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BLACK MOUNTAIN
"The swimming hole looks inviting under the blue sky...Come back at dusk, however, and the pond turns black -- as dark as death -- or on the contrary, a restful dark, a dark to savor. Take it as you will." (Edward Hoagland)
There is no simple life, and these are not simple times. The mythical days of clearer heads, of moral certainty, and of men and women acting
with resolute spirit are behind us (if those times ever existed). Black Mountain, from Vancouver, British Columbia, write, perform, and record
music that speaks (and sings) to this realization: that solutions are rarely simple, that the world is as complex as it is ambiguous, and that music sprinkled with an inoculating dose of madness may well be the Pied Piper that takes us all back into the primordial mountain, where our hearts can be made steady and our minds can be set free.
Black Mountain is Matthew Camirand, Stephen McBean, Jeremy Schmidt, Amber Webber, and Joshua Wells. Their debut self-titled record, like a
space probe built of erector set parts and transmitting secret and arcane messages to earth by string, charts territories unknown yet remains grounded by the roots of classic rock and roll. Musical comparisons aside, the Black Mountain full-length is one part protest song, one part pop-cultural commentary, and one part sick-groove-rock casserole peppered with mesmerizing ballads and intoxicating ditties. "Modern Music" is the lead-off hitter and counts
its way to the imposing and riff-rife "Don't Run Our Hearts Around". Immediately thereafter, the sludge-rock masterpiece "Druganaut" establishes the fecund heart and tone of the record. And just when you think that things can't get any better, the songs "No Hits" and "Heart of Snow" are injected into your consciousness, clearly demonstrating that this band has no creative bounds.
Four of the five members of Black Mountain work as social workers in Vancouver's Downtown East Side. Much like the similarly-named Black Mountain College of artists, poets, and musicians who felt that a strong liberal education had to be holistic -- happening inside and outside the classroom and not removed from a communal setting -- the members of Black Mountain feel that their art and their music and the problems of the real world, which they experience daily in their working life, cannot be made distinct from one another. If "the personal is political" -- a persevering and still resonant slogan of the women's movement of the 1960's -- then, regardless of the level of their
lyrical or visual specificity, art and music are always political. The Black Mountain record demonstrates this with flying colors. The music
contained therein contributes to a belief that is an essential first step in making the world a less crazy place: madness is not a contagion that can be simply amputated. Madness is an intrinsic part of all of us, an indelible part of the fiber of our being.
Black Mountain are also five good friends who affectionately consider themselves as part of the Black Mountain Army, a loosely defined family
of friends in the Vancouver area who endeavor to have good times while collaborating on art and music. The five of them are former or present
members of The Pink Mountaintops, Blood Meridian, Jerk With A Bomb, the Black Halos, Dream On Dreary, Sinoia Caves, and Orphan. Black Mountain's debut full-length was recorded in the winter and spring of 2004 at the Argyle Hotel and The Hive by Colin Stewart and Black Mountain. A video by Heather Trawick of the song "Druganaut" is
included on the CD version of the record. Black Mountain have also released a 12-inch single (on Jagjaguwar), including an extended mix of
"Druganaut" on the A-side. This single has just recently been re-released in the CD format with some added material. The band's currently sexploitative counterpart The Pink Mountaintops released their self-titled debut record (on Jagjaguwar as well) in the summer of 2004 and will be touring later this year in anticipation of some
upcoming recordings for Jagjaguwar.
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Friday, September 30
$7, all ages
doors at 9, show at 10
Phosphorescent (indie-folk on Misra/Warm Records)
The Bloody Hollies (garage rock on Sympathy for the Record Industry/Alive Records from Buffalo)
Pagoda (moody indie/jangle from DC)
Phosphorescent
http://www.thewarmsupercomputer.com/PHOSPH.html (http://www.thewarmsupercomputer.com/PHOSPH.html)
Truly great songwriters hit people in a particular way -- for some, it's the sound of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum or Palace's Will Oldham. Others hear that extraordinary something in Bob Dylan or Neil Young -- it can't easily be defined and is a power possessed by only the rarest of songwriters. It is bold to say, but 26-year-old Matthew Houck is one of them. As with the illustrious names above, behind Houck's songs lie nothing but the raw compulsion to write and play them, the fateful, joyful yearning to connect -- the intuition that making music, for Houck, is inevitable.
The 26-year-old who now records as Phosphorescent grew up in Alabama, but the Southern cadence palpable in his songs is just a portion of Houck's story. At age 18, after a short attempt at college, he dropped out and began living out of his pickup and busking everywhere from New Orleans to the Southern California beaches for spare change. Eventually Houck began adding originals into his repertoire of old folk and country covers and started booking himself into bars and coffee shops around the country. On a random stop at a youth hostel in Austin, TX, a UK booking agent happened upon one of Houck's sets and bought his home-recorded CD. A month or so had passed when the booking agent contacted Houck to book a solo tour in the UK -- so off he went into a cascade of praise from the fickle UK press, who hailed his Dylan-inflected folk as the next big thing. Upon returning to the States, Houck landed in Athens, GA. Turning down offers from overseas labels and talent agencies, he abandoned the one-man show, and began again as Phosphorescent.
Houck's Phosphorescent has recorded two frighteningly brilliant works, 2003's A Hundred Times or More and 2004's The Weight of Flight EP, both released on the Warm label to quiet, but lavish, praise. While they weren't widely heard, those who did tune in felt the spark in Houck's cracked voice, wondered at the weird and beautiful poetics, sensed the involuntary smile behind the lyrics, and settled in for the ride.
Now, Aw Come Aw Wry moves the band's loose, ever-shifting arrangements away from the sparse and melodic and toward the rowdy and unhinged, at times conjuring a free, revival-tent spirit awash in homespun orchestrations and brushed with spiritual and psychedelic undertones. Let the dense and enchanting intimacy of these personal yet universal songs soak in, turn them up and sing along. You'll find not the sterile, self-consciously literate verses of an English major -- this is a poetry that emanates directly from heartache and joy and lust and the incomparable feeling of losing and finding yourself again and again. Wrapped in a gauze of surreal imagery, and backed by an always revolving (and expanding) ensemble of horns, pump organ, piano, pedal steel, fuzzed guitar, choral voices and percussion, Phosphorescent is entrancing, unruly, cacophonous. Like a snapshot taken through a moving car's window, Aw Come Aw Wry is hazy, imprecise, yet intimates something perfect and possible; it's the only souvenir you've got of a life glimpsed on the way to the next town.
The Bloody Hollies
http://www.bloodyhollies.com/ (http://www.bloodyhollies.com/)
Unlike the many garage rock revivalists who seem content to follow in the footsteps of their forebears (but with less energy and creativity), on their debut album, Fire at Will, the Bloody Hollies burn with a crazed intensity that ignites each track. "Give it all you got!" Wesley Doyle screams on "Penetrate," and it could be the motto for the entire album. Songs like "Downtown Revolver" and "Swing" -?? a rockabilly-tinged, chair-kicking song about "just hangin' around" ??- get right to the point with an energy that borders on apocalyptic. Along with their other Sympathy for the Record Industry compatriots and alumni, the Bloody Hollies are experts at making stripped-down and basic sound vital and exciting. Their take on garage rock is amped up with the relentlessness of punk and tempered with keen pop structures, especially on "Hard-Bitten" and "Yeah Yeah." In fact, the first half of Fire at Will is a nearly flawless display of the Bloody Hollies' powers; on the second half, they tweak the formula slightly, with varied results. "Tired of This Shit" captures the young, loud, and snotty vibe of classic punk perfectly, while the bluesier, slow-burning "I Need Love" is probably the closest the band will ever come to a ballad. Songs like these prove that the band doesn't always have to be on fire to be good, but two-and-a-half-minute outbursts like "Strip," "Blood Pressure," and "Emergency Shutdown" are where they really excel. By the time the snarly instrumental "Dogfight" finishes off the album, the Bloody Hollies have taken their listeners through a consistently exciting debut that's a blast of instant-gratification fun. (Heather Phares, AMG)
Pagoda
http://www.pagodamusic.net/ (http://www.pagodamusic.net/)
Pagoda is a four-piece band from the Washington DC area composed of Ben Licciardi, Adrian Carroll, Raj Gadhia, and Elmer Sharp. We formed in the Spring of 2002 with our original drummer, Kevin O'Meara, and recorded our first album, Dearly Departed, over the next several months with help from a bunch of our friends. Kevin continued to play in Pagoda thru the Fall of 2003 as we recorded our forthcoming EP, Seven Nights. By the end of that year, our good friend Kevin was off to art school and our old pal Elmer Sharp took over on drums.
By the time Dearly Departed was released in March of 2004 on Lazyline Records, we were playing out fairly often in DC, had made a trip or two out of town, and finished mixing the songs for the EP we started the prior fall. Since then, we've been working diligently on new material for our next full-length and collaborating with our friends TJ Lipple and Liza Hamilton.
Music is something we love doing mostly because, for us, it revolves around exploration and communication. For that reason our influences and genre are less important to us than having fun and saying something. That said, we're indebted to all the bands we love and it may show: YLT, the Clean, Big Star, and all our favorite folk and country artists.
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Epic, progressive sludge-metal in the Warehouse Theatre! Recommended for fans of Neurosis, Isis, and Godflesh.
Saturday, October 1
$7, all ages
doors at 9:30, show at 10
Minsk (ex-Buried At Sea, At A Loss Records, from Chicago)
War Injun (mem. of Earthride and Internal Void, MD doom)
Admiral Browning (prog-metal from MD)
http://www.admiralbrowning.com (http://www.admiralbrowning.com)
Minsk
http://thesoundofminsk.com/ (http://thesoundofminsk.com/)
Drawing its nominal inspiration from a remote Belarussian city nestled deep amidst the in-betweens of the East and the West, a city that has been burned to the ground on several occasions only to be rebuilt like a Phoenix rising from its ashes, Minsk is a sort of dark cerebral experimentation...an emotive conceptualization that sears the visceral and hopes for something real...something between the conscious and the unconscious... a roller coaster of passion, noise, rhythm, and trance.
Drawing its brand of eclecticism from a milieu of broadly spaced musical and conceptual influences, Minsk is a bodily experience that hints at a sort of mystical awareness and sophistication. The music is as organic as it is other-worldly, infusing the rhythms of the earth and the resonance of the human voice with the synthetic
sounds of machines, amplifiers, and effects.
Minsk combines a sonic onslaught of dirge-like walls of doom and metal with Hawkwind and Jethro Tull-inspired 1970s psychedelic rock and tribal elements reminiscent of Dead Can Dance. The vocals range from soulful singing, to three- and four-part anthemic arrangements, to barbaric screams, and the result is a dynamic and emotional piece of sensory overload that has been compared to Neurosis, Mastodon, Cult of Luna, Entombed, and Acid Bath.
The group formed in the summer of 2002, performing its first show in early 2003 and completing its demo CD, Burning, in the fall of that year. Still in the infant stages of their efforts, they embarked on a tour in support of the CD which took them from Illinois to the West Coast and back. 2004 and 2005 have begun the realization of the band's labors, allowing them to share the stage with many incredible bands at the Templars of Doom, South by Southwest, and Emissions From the Monolith Festivals. Recording with producer
Sanford Parker (Pelican, Unearthly Trance, Lair of the Minotaur, Venomous Concept) at Volume Studios has yielded both their AT A LOSS debut full-length album and a new bass player in Parker himself, also noted for his play in the "megalithic doom outfit" Buried at Sea.
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Speaking of Godflesh, you should do whatever it takes to get Broaderick's spin-off project, Jesu at Warehouse. Have you heard it? It's brilliant, especially if you are a fan of Sigur Ros.
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believe me, i'm trying my best to get jesu here. i love that record. jesu and pelican were supposed to tour this summer but it fell through.
i like sigur ros, but i like jesu much more; broadrick's music is just so visceral and heart-wrenching, while i find sigur ros sort of precious. the jesu record splits the difference between my bloody valentine and the swans.
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Thursday, October 13
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Nethers (ex-Carlsonics, CD release show!)
Make A Rising (avant-chamber rock from Philly, High Two Records)
Wunderground (ex-Carlsonics)
Nethers
http://www.netherscomputer.com/ (http://www.netherscomputer.com/)
Bluegrass shamble and retro-psych twistiness seethe towards some forgotten intersect of pop-mindedness. Nethers do as the name implies, procuring tunes that are neither here nor there, yet are somehow distinct in that absence of place.
The new album can be streamed here:
http://www.apolloaudio.com (http://www.apolloaudio.com)
Make A Rising
http://www.tonewplanet.com/MAR.html (http://www.tonewplanet.com/MAR.html)
Tunneling its way out of the West Philadelphia netherworlds, Make A Rising is a band that is beyond unique. The quintet??s debut record is a swirling mix of violin, keyboard, guitars, drums, saxophone, trumpet, bells, whistles, and assorted noisemakers ??- all swelling together for subversively addictive pop gems. With orchestral crescendos combined with off-kilter vocals and fast-changing tempos, Make A Rising is the sound of chaos, bliss, bravado, nerves, and naivety -?? avant-chamber rock at its most dynamic -?? like Daniel Johnston singing Beach Boys songs interpreted by Naked City.
"Philadelphia psychedelic rockers Make A Rising supply zany and digressive compositions on Rip Through the Hawk Black Night, an album which manages to persuasively combine power and whimsy. Cooing vocals are set against bumptious piano licks, discordant electronics, and animated drumming in the psych-calliope ambiance of "Look At My Hawk." "Song for Dead Nickie" is equally filled with diverse excursions, but its introduction is imparted with a graceful post-minimal sheen that belies the band's prevailing penchant for jocularity. "When Moving West" sets a chamber-pop vocal loop against chaotic heavy rock, whereas "I'm Scared of Being Alone" adopts an affecting prog-rock demeanor.
In its first section, "Plastic Giant" creates a wall of complex sustained harmony, over which is placed reverberant, discordant singing; this is succeeded by a Zappa-esque freak-out of an instrumental coda. Sometimes, the band's use of juxtapositions is a bit too cute -- the thwack of noise-rock in the middle of the otherwise gentle "Lonesome in the Skiff" is a prime example; but usually their employment of head-turning style shifts work quite nicely. Some pieces even function in a more conventional sense; "Expired Planet," a concoction of Sun Ra Arkestra cosmology and indie-rock guitars, is a strong song, demonstrating that Make A Rising is never so obsessed with eccentricity that they can't make memorable music along the way." (Christian Carey)
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Clavius Productions presents a rare appearance by underground trangressive legend Lisa "Suckdog" Carver (performing with comic artist Dame Darcy on singing saw) at the Warehouse Next Door:
Monday, October 24
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Lisa "Suckdog" Carver w/ Dame Darcy
http://www.suckdog.net/suckdog/default.asp (http://www.suckdog.net/suckdog/default.asp)
http://www.damedarcy.com/ (http://www.damedarcy.com/)
Alzo Boszormenyi and the Acid Achievers
http://www.nutmusic.com/alzo/default.asp (http://www.nutmusic.com/alzo/default.asp)
Faith and Jude (calypso cabaret campaign songs!)
Drugs Are Nice 2005 Tour
In honor of her new memoir DRUGS ARE NICE, Lisa "Suckdog" Carver will be doing a lecture on post punk: why it happened and what went wrong. Accompanied by ethereal comic artist Dame Darcy on the singing saw, Lisa will draw diagrams and dry erase, explaining how chaotic, self-violent, transgressive performers like GG Allin, Suckdog, Lydia Lunch, and The Swans came to be. Also why they didn't wear colors and why they smelled so very bad. She will then turn the room (by top secret methods we would die rather than disclose here!) into a physical representation of ten minutes of the era she likes to call "the late '80s, early '90s." Don??t miss this unconventional, unforgettable book event by a major shaper of the era!
"The 31-year-old married mother from Dover may well be the country??s supreme cultural anthropologist: part literary provocateur, part social analyst. She??s been called everything from this decade??s ultimate underground Renaissance woman to America??s horniest optimist. Hunter S. Thompson in a miniskirt." (Boston Magazine)
Lisa "Suckdog" Carver has written widely on popular music, culture, and her own sex life. With "Drugs Are Nice," she charts the birth of the movement she helped create, from the dizzying highs of European performance art tours to the genesis of the zine phenomenon. It??s an extraordinary life, told by a writer only now coming into her own.
When her drug dealer father calmly explained to 15 year old Lisa that he??d murdered a man, she knew any chance of her own life being normal was off. Soon after, in 1987 in the small town of Dover, New Hampshire, she and her best friend Rachel set up a punk show at the Veteran??s Hall. But when headliner act GG Allin got drunk and never showed up, the girls took the stage themselves. Lisa and Rachel put on the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, caterwauled, took off their clothes, and hit things and people. Suckdog -?? called "the most interesting band in the world" by England??s Melody Maker -?? was born.
Lisa Carver left for Europe at the age of eighteen, becoming a teen publisher (of the fanzine Rollerderby), a teen bride (to French performance artist Jean-Louis Costes), and a teen prostitute (turning her first trick a few days before turning 20). Hustler called Rollerderby "quite possibly the greatest zine ever," and The Utne Reader chose Lisa Carver as one of the "100 Visionaries Who Will Change Your Life."
But when her baby was born in 1994 with a chromosomal deletion and his dad -?? industrial music maven and rumored Nazi Boyd Rice -?? became violent, Lisa began to realize the life that needed changing was her own. A story of lasting lightness and surprising gravity, "Drugs" is a book about the generation that wanted to break every rule. A definitive account of rules broken, left intact and re-written forever, it ripens into a classic account of an artist and mother becoming an adult on her own terms.
"With her tart writing and unswerving devotion to lowbrow culture, Carver sounds like Camille Paglia channeling both Tonya Harding and Liz Phair." (Dwight Garner, Details)
"When Newt Gingrich wakes up sweating in the middle of the night with a hard-on and a sense of nameless dread, the face that he sees might be Lisa Carver??s." (Time Out New York)
"Carver is arguably the best-known non-celebrity her age. Try spitting into a poetry slam without hitting someone who hasn??t read her or been punched out by her." (Utne Reader)
"Lisa Carver is a nightmarishly beautiful version of the American Dream...an infamously bizarre gamin." (Screw Magazine)
"Carver's prose is smart, sassy, even endearing.... Her feisty and fresh voice is a tonic." (Publishers Weekly)
"At her best, she wrestles meaning from chaos like an unrepentant St. Augustine." (Salon)
"Lisa is the laugh, the fart, the make out, the beauty, the LIFE. She is a messenger of God." (Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth)
About the author:
Lisa Crystal Carver was born in 1968 to a drug dealer father and an English teacher mother. Instead of going to college, she toured the U.S. and Europe six times in the performance art troupe Suckdog. They put out three albums, including Drugs Are Nice, which Spin called one of the best records of the '90s. Lisa Carver started the magazine Rollerderby and has written for Newsday, Playboy, Nerve, The Utne Reader, Mademoiselle, Details, and Glamour. She has been featured on MTV, VH1, HBO and NPR -- most recently on "This American Life." Lisa Carver is a Nerve.com sex diarist. She lives in the small town of Dover, New Hampshire, with nine-year-old Wolfgang, and Mercedes, who is two.
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The authors of Smart Women/Foolish Choices: Finding the Right Men, Avoiding the Wrong Ones probably didn??t have Lisa "Suckdog" Carver in mind when they penned the classic women??s self-help guide. However, the great 'zine queen would have been the perfect audience for sage advice on choosing male partners. As a teenager, she left America to wed the skeezy French noise musician Jean Louis Costes. Then she came back and got with notorious noise musician and amateur Nazi Boyd Rice. They had a baby, who was unfortunately born with a chromosomal deletion, and Rice began getting violent. Amid all those early-'90s missteps, my buddies and I had huge crushes on Carver, and we would eagerly anticipate each issue of her magazine, Rollerderby, which was easily one of the five most important 'zines of that decade. Tonight, she'll be reading from her memoir, Drugs Are Nice, which looks to be in the same vein, so to speak, as her 'zine articles, which always contained a nice mix of the quotidian and the decadent. Carver explains it all with Dame Darcy and Alzo Boszorjemyi & the Acid Achievers at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $8. (202) 783-3933. (David Dunlap Jr.)
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More info on the other performers:
Dame Darcy -- Toured with Lisa Suckdog in the '90s in several key performances. She also records and performs under her own name, as well
as hosting cable TV shows, making cool dolls, and tons of other stuff.
More info: http://www.damedarcy.com (http://www.damedarcy.com)
Alzo Boszormenyi & the Acid Achievers -- has been making improvised, anarchic punk music since 1986. This seven-piece unit includes two guitarists, bass, drums, keyboards, theremin, and the grand madman Alzo himself. City Paper/Washington Post music critic Mark Jenkins once said Alzo sounds like "a Northern Virginia version of the Fall," but you might also hear the influences of Gong, Sun Ra, Funkadelic, Fugs, Fibulator, etc. Nut Music recording artists (and Lisa Suckdog labelmates).
http://www.nutmusic.com (http://www.nutmusic.com)
Mayor Faith & Jude -- Calypso campaign cabaret by DC's longest running mayoral candidate Faith and her irrepressible companion/guitarist/Sinatra sound-alike Jude. Whether wearing see-through body stockings and blowing her trumpet at DC Statehood rallies or appearing at local screenings of the musical film Gypsy (she played the stripper Mazzeppa who taught the young Natalie Wood to "Get a Gimmick"), Faith has more energy than performers half her age. (Lisa watch out!) Did I mention that Faith is a septuagenarian? A DC legend and, therefore, a national treasure.
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hmmmm....that one's very tempting...
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Thursday, October 27
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Dysrhythmia (Relapse Records, from Philly)
Drugs Of Faith (ex-Enemy Soil)
Left Unsaid (DC hardcore)
Dysrhythmia
http://www.dysrhythmiaband.com/ (http://www.dysrhythmiaband.com/)
"Dysrhythmia can bring the rock. Hard. It??s not willfully complex, or tricky just for the sake of it; the tunes hang together as tunes first and foremost. Everything from sheer hard-hitting rock to ambient trance, from thrash to Melvins-like sludge-jams is put in the kick-ass blender that is Dysrhythmia. Hang on!" (Dusted)
"...the record Sonic Youth would make if they cared more about heavy metal, the record Slayer would do if they were art-school nerds" (The Philadelphia City Paper)
The Philadelphia trio Dysrhythmia are not at all the sort of group typically sponsored by the extreme metal label Relapse. Their blend of post-hardcore bombast and prog intricacy takes cues from the more spastic side of art-metal, but owes just as much to the muscular jazz-noise of the Sonny Sharrock Band or Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society. With their 'stop on a dime' changes, guitar bleats and occasionally furious tempos, Dysrhythmia neatly fit alongside primarily instrumental groups like The Flying Luttenbachers, Orthrelm, Ruins, Sightings, and even Lightning Bolt. Pretest is Dysrhythmia's third release, following 2000's Contradiction and 2001's No Interference. It's little more intricate than No Interference, with riffs building fractally rather than following the propulsive grooves that distinguished the last disc. The two-part "Annihilation" suite is the album's high point, particularly "Annihilation I", where Clayton Ingerson's throbbing, post-punk bassline buoys Kevin Hufnagel's screaming 'space rock meets thrash' guitar. It's unclear how much of this often-astonishing music is notated, and how much improvised, but given the quality of the results, it's difficult to care. If there's a problem with the record, it's that Dysrhythmia don't always have the courage of their convictions. The slow number is a watery jam that goes nowhere, and not in a fun way, like Subarachnoid Space. It's also possible to dispute their choice to hire Steve Albini as engineer. His obsession with huge drum sounds make it almost impossible to hear just how locked-in and unified they really are. Still, on balance, Pretest is a superb record by a wordless group with much to say. (Phil Freeman, The Wire)
Drugs Of Faith
http://www.drugsoffaith.cjb.net/ (http://www.drugsoffaith.cjb.net/)
Here's an incredibly brief promo from the latest project of former Enemy Soil/The Index/Triac grinder Richard Johnson, and it's actually something a little different than what most people might expect. Is it grindcore? Sure, on some level. Probably at its base, perhaps? Though the focus here is thankfully not on senseless speed in the least. Opener "No Sense of Occasion" definitely plows through some intense blasts, but there's also some subtle classic hardcore/punk in there, as well as some caustic Black Flag-esque guitar work in brief snippets...and what about the way the song slows down and gets a little sludgy towards its close? "So Be It" follows and is shorter, though it feels a little longer with its twisted dissonant rhythms and crunchy chord progressions with a much more forceful mi-paced tempo driving its core. Both of these songs are rough mixes so the output levels are pretty quiet and the sound feels a little too raw to do justice to the music, but I can live with that. Things can be overly rugged and somewhat distant at times, definitely sounding like they might have been recorded live in the studio, but you can basically make out all of the instruments, and I like the way the vocals are flat out shouted without going for anything too forcedly "extreme". (Aversion)
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TONIGHT!
The Apes (Birdman, from DC)
The Modey Lemon (Birdman, from Pittsburgh)
Chris Brokaw Rock Band (ex-members of Come/Codeine/Rodan/Karate)
Big Bear (Monitor Records, Boston)
doors at 8:30/$8/all ages
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Monday, November 21
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Elf Power
The Positions
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ARTHUR MAGAZINE, PLANARIA, TRANSFORMER and THE WAREHOUSE present
a BENEFIT FOR QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT featuring
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QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT (New Orleans, Louisiana)
with special guest
HARRY MERRY (Holland)
and a special performance and book signing by the amazing art collective
PAPER RAD
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Saturday November 19th
Warehouse Nextdoor
1017 7th Street NW Washington D.C.
202 783 3933/www.warehousenextdoor.com
$10/all ages/21+ with ID to drink/9:00
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LETTER FROM QUINTRON (after Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana)
As I am sure you all must know....me and Miss Pussycat got out.....most of our instruments were also evacuated, but the entire electronics lab was destroyed and many Pussycat paintings and puppets were also lost. Also, the house (SPELLCASTER LODGE) is questionable.......the front gable blew off and the whole downstairs (the LODGE) was REALLY the underwater dance club for about 3-4 days. Unfortunately the only things dancing were dead animals, benzine, E-coli, fire ants, and human feces........Our entire building structure being condemned is a real possibility. The good news is that as far as I know all Rhinestone
Records Krewe are ok......Trachiotomy rode it out along with Strangebone (Jeff Matson), DJ Math Problem (Brian Marchese), Mikey Serabrini, Danger Dan Fusilier (famous painter of Mother in Law), Jamie & Raven, and many others. Antoinette K-Doe (of the MOTHER IN LAW LOUNGE) also stayed and survived but her lounge saw even deeper water than the Lodge. I know that many of you are having various benefits and you should send your money to any place that makes the most sense to you....if you are donating directly to the Lodge please know that the $ will go to replace equipment and to re-build the Spellcaster because we have no insurance of any kind. It will also go to keep the show on the road for many of the above mentioned Hurricane heroes. The reason I am writing this is because I have been asked by benefit organizers to
explain somehow what is happening and where the benefit funds for Rhinestone Records will go...so, that is my explaination about money........as far as what is happening.......i don't know what the
fuck is happening.....this is biblical and it is breaking my heart to see New Orleans burnt, flooded, neglected, ethnically cleansed, and
basically shoved underwater to drown........but we can breathe underwater baby. Cajun Atlantis has just begun to emerge and the moment those fuckers let us back in the gates, we are going straight to the gun store and then to the boat bar for all the free drinks we can drink. Thank you all for everything........ WE LOVE YOU!...............
sincerely, Mr.Q and all of Rhinestone Records
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ABOUT QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT
Quintron and Miss Pussycat, are a glamorous swamp-tech, rock and roll, 360° dance party act (with magical puppet show). They make friends and
fans wherever they go and all who see them fall under their irresistible spell. Mr. Quintron is a concert and nightclub organist, from New Orleans, Louisiana. He plays music on a custom made
Hammond/Rhodes-combo organ, backed by his own patented invention The Drum Buddy® -- a rotating, light-activated analog synthesizer which is
played much in the same way that a DJ spins and scratches records. The Quintron and Miss Pussycat experience is one of barely controlled electronic chaos, up-tempo swamp-tech beats, small explosions, incredible clothes, and entertaining puppet stories. You can see them perform regularly at The Spellcaster Lodge in New Orleans, Louisiana or on one of their many tours around the world. This act somehow has equal relevance in sleazy nightclubs, pizza restaurants, and university
lecture halls.
Quintron and Miss Pussycat enjoy a cult following in the US where they tour regularly. Their home, on the fringes of the New Orleans French Quarter, is 'The Spellcaster Lodge', a secret underwater dance club where Peaches and Jon Spencer, among many others, have taken part in their spectacular fancy-dress musical extravaganzas. Always violent and interesting, Quintron's exciting clothes, high energy, rawness, and originality never fail to entertain. Extremely creative and colourful,
Miss Pussycat is not like anything else you will ever see in a rock club. Most famous for her legendary puppet band Flossie and The Unicorns, she sings back-up, plays maracas, and adds unforgettable sparkle. (31G/Skingraft/Tigerbeat/Bulb Records)
"One part Fraggle punk puppet show and two parts synthesized, Le Tigre-level installation rock, the everything-ecstatic performances of Quintron & Miss Pussycat are as engaging visually as they are
sonically. The duo's Web site, www.quintronandmisspussycat.com, (http://www.quintronandmisspussycat.com,) is a good place to start if you want an idea of what to expect. There you will find still shots of Miss Pussycat's freakish felt friends, a link to a faux-mercial for Quintron's patent-pending Drum Buddy (a
cool-as-hell, light show synth we're not at liberty to explain), and an explanation of what all this means. The story is surprising to say the least.
Born in Germany and raised in...Alabama...Quintron is actually a former staple of the Chicago noise scene, one that actually used to bang out dissonant bliss alongside members of Wolf Eyes and Andrew W.K.'s house band of miscreants. Once he moved to New Orleans in 1996, he met up with Miss Pussycat and was drawn into her Adult Swim-unrated world of Sifl and Olly sock puppets and organ-driven, Jon Spencer-on-speed madness. So, technically speaking, the DVD/CD presentation Electric Swamp is the ninth Quintron record and the first for the duo on kid606's illustrious Tigerbeat6 label. However you look at it, their sensory overload of a show is perfect for Space 1026, the gallery space we proudly present performance art shows at from time to time now. Though it must be stated that there are actual songs behind the spectacle here -- a fire-in-your-gullet blend of electro-blues, like a modernist spin on the rich, mythic musical history of the city Quintron still calls home, New Orleans. Speaking of, the Quintron recording/rehearsal/design compound went subterranean during Katrina, so the group is still recovering. Don't expect a drab vibe here, though. The Quintron cult has grown largely on the strength of the shows, and this tour is bound to be no different: A triumphant return to inspired madness, if you will." (stolen from R5 Productions)
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PAPER RAD
Half art book, half graphic novel, this tome intersperses photographs, drawings, prints, and junk by Paper Rad with two graphic novellas
(Spaceballz and Alfe) by Ben Jones. Paper Rad's work synthesizes popular material from television, comics, video games, and advertising, and explodes with color, feeling, and good humor. This book, created and designed by the group, will explore the worlds of one of the most vibrant constellations of artists working today. Their website, paperrad.org, is one free Mega-Mall information overload for your soul. A mind-blower, for sure.
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http://www.quintronandmisspussycat.com (http://www.quintronandmisspussycat.com)
http://www.harrymerry.com (http://www.harrymerry.com)
http://www.paperrad.org (http://www.paperrad.org)
http://www.arthurmagazine.com (http://www.arthurmagazine.com)
http://www.planariainc.com (http://www.planariainc.com)
http://www.transformergallery.org (http://www.transformergallery.org)
http://www.warehousetheater.com (http://www.warehousetheater.com)
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Hey, Snailhook. How much is the cover for the Voxtrot show Saturday night? Here's a link (http://www.voxtrot.net/) for anyone that wants to hear them.
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Originally posted by kurosawa-b/w:
Hey, Snailhook. How much is the cover for the Voxtrot show Saturday night? Here's a link (http://www.voxtrot.net/) for anyone that wants to hear them.
Any *general* idea of set times?
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At the Warehouse Theater
Thur Dec 15 - 730 & 930
$6
FILM
PANCAKE MOUNTAIN
Pancake Mountain Episodes 5 & 6, featuring performances and appearances by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Billy Idol, Garbage, Shonen Knife, Widespread Panic, Weird War, Rick Derringer, Chuck Levell, Liz Durret and others.
Pancake Mountain (www.pancakemountain.com) blends child entertainment with performances and appearances by some of the most cutting edge bands and musical artists. Pervious episodes have included The Arcade Fire, Henry Rollins, Scissor Sisters, Fiery Furnaces, George Clinton, The Evens (featuring Ian MacKaye of Fugazi), Vic Chestnutt, Thievery Corporation, Bob Mould, Brendan Canty and many more.
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the voxtrot show is $7. we still haven't determined the order of the bands, but it will probably be:
10pm: ceremony
11pm: the antiques
12am: voxtrot
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the voxtrot show is $7. we still haven't determined the order of the bands, but it will probably be:
10pm: ceremony
11pm: the antiques
12am: voxtrot
is this looking more likely to be the order/times?
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this is likely, but not 100%. anyone going to this should see all three bands anyway.
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I'll be there and can't wait to see Ceremony again. Pure drone in all of it's joy.
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voxtrot canceled. the antiques and ceremony will play as scheduled.
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The Alkem Foundation invites you to join us at the Warehouse Next Door for live music and art:
Saturday December 17, 2005
1017 7th St NW, Washington DC
http://www.warehousenextdoor.com (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com)
8pm, $8
http://www.alkem.org/warehouse.html (http://www.alkem.org/warehouse.html)
Alkem is hosting its second annual event to showcase the many talanted artists that make up the Alkem community. Please join us to enjoy the diverse artistic talents of local musicians, artists and more that all work together to build this grass roots DIY endeavour.
Meet and learn more about our community supported foundation by visiting our website http://www.alkem.org. (http://www.alkem.org.) Proceeds from the event go directly to help maintain and expand Alkem's services.
Music: (in alphabetical order)
The Antiques: http://www.theantiques.org (http://www.theantiques.org)
Sarah Azzara: http://www.sarahazzara.com (http://www.sarahazzara.com)
DCIC: http://dcic.alkem.org (http://dcic.alkem.org)
Kohoutek: http://www.claviusproductions.org/kohoutek.html (http://www.claviusproductions.org/kohoutek.html)
Lida Husik: http://www.aliasrecords.com/lidahusik.htm (http://www.aliasrecords.com/lidahusik.htm)
Pup Tent: http://www.benazzara.com/puptent/ (http://www.benazzara.com/puptent/)
Shame Girl
Artists:
Sesow: http://sesow.com/ (http://sesow.com/)
Dana Ellyn: http://www.danaellynart.com/ (http://www.danaellynart.com/)
About Alkem:
The Alkem Foundation is a privately funded non-profit organization providing free internet resources and support for artists, musicians, and creative visionaries who share the ideals of the Alkem Foundation, and/or who it is felt would further the Alkem Foundation's cause, but lack direct resources, technical ability, or other significant input to the international network, known as the World Wide Web.
Alkem strives to engender communication and discussion of ideas and values of importance and substance in the fields of arts, philosophy and religion, in a forum, free of economic, political or social agendas. The potential altruistic nature of the internet has largely been replaced with hype, commercialism, pornography, and mainstream banality. The soul is not bound by wealth and neither should the creative expressions of those souls who have collected their thoughts on Alkem's servers.
Many artists, musicians and creative visionaries lack the access, financially or otherwise, to fully utilize the inherent advantage of communication over the internet. Alkem will help with the utilization of the most powerful communications tool of the modern age by embodying the forum to facilitate the exchange of understanding and communication in real and virtual space.
The Alkem Foundation can be reached by contacting: info@alkem.org
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Clavius Productions presents a night of off-the-wall aggro rock:
Saturday, January 7
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 9, show at 10
The Wayward (ex-Carrion, stoner/math/noise-rock trio from NoVA)
Genghis Tron (Crucial Blast, from NY)
Child Abuse (experimental trio from NY)
The Bugs (Portland via DC noise rock duo)
Genghis Tron
http://www.genghistron.com/ (http://www.genghistron.com/)
Cloak of Love is the debut EP from Poughkeepsie-based trio Genghis Tron, a virulent pop mutation that seamlessly binds acrobatic shred and machine gun blastbeats to soaring synth-pop and electronic melodies. With surreal lyrical visions that fall somewhere between the abstraction of modern metalcore and the sugary anthems of electropop, and a ridiculous fusion of formerly disparate genre stylings, these five songs are infectious sonic beatings that we've been unable to crowbar out of our collective craniums. Imagine Painkiller hijacking Erasure's dance synth hits...or Brutal Truth and Afrika Bambaata in a vicious nightclub brawl with Depeche Mode. Or something along those lines.
"Now this is some seriously crazed shit. Imagine Public Image Ltd., early Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, Funkadelic, and Brutal Truth all battling for supremacy in a studio cluttered with leftover fragments of pop, industrial, dance music, grindcore, and anything else that happens to be lying around...This is the sound of musicians with a severe tendency toward attention deficit disorder, five songs of cut 'n' paste mayhem that is genuinely diabolical in its ability to combine catchy, even (oh, the terror!) danceable beats and swell, swell melodies with the unnerving sound of asylum inmates turning over all the hospital beds and electroencephalograph machines, then setting them on fire and bolting from the building while throwing grenades...Truly one of the strangest releases on America's heaviest label. It should be interesting to see how they pull this off live..." (Dead Angel)
Child Abuse
http://www.chldabse.blogspot.com/ (http://www.chldabse.blogspot.com/)
"...One more killer Folding jammer is the Child Abuse cassette which may be a goddamned lame name but is saved by the nutso retardo sleeve which has some little dude hand tethered to a stick looking very pissed off. It's horrible, yes but so ridiculous that you can see MAYBE where these mofo's are coming from (answer: we dont know). Child Abuse is a drum/organ twisted nut of a sesion and pretty damn fucked and really doesnt audibly portray the sad violence of their moniker. Which is ok and adds new depth to their motive. What the fuhk." (Bull Tongue)
upcoming shows at the Warehouse:
1/8: Get Him Eat Him (Absolutely Kosher)/The Fake Accents/Drums Vs Jules
1/15: Na (Japanese electro-acoustic improv)/Gestures (mem. of Et At It/Hand Fed Babies/Caution Curves)/The Cutest Puppy In The World/Death Chants (Time Lag)
1/20: Say Hi To Your Mom/Dirty On Purpose/Five Four
1/21: Jack Wright Trio (free jazz)/Hat City Intuitive (Ecstatic Peace)/Kohoutek
1/27: Alec K Redfearn & The Eyesores (Cuneiform)/Make A Rising (High Two)/Little Howlin Wolf (Heresee, outsider legend from Chicago!)
2/9: King Valley/A Thousand Knives Of Fire
2/15: Nethers (ex-Carlsonics)
2/17: Pig Destroyer (Relapse)/Battletorn (Troubleman)/Drugs Of Faith (ex-Enemy Soil)
3/10: Deceased (Relapse)/Kiss Of Death (ex-Dragon Green)/Plaguewielder
3/13: Rumpelstiltskin Grinder (Relapse)
4/1: Facedowninshit (Relapse)/Deadbird
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a couple questions -- what's up with arthur doyle!
is the wayward playing last on saturday?
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Clavius Productions presents a night of improv ranging from folk-psych to free jazz to indecipherable vocals:
Sunday, January 15
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30
Na (electro-acoustic improv from Japan)
Gestures (mem. of Et At It/Hand Fed Babies/Caution Curves)
The Cutest Puppy In The World (SocketsCDR)
Death Chants (folk/psych improv on Time Lag)
"It looked so darling when you saw it at the store. It was clumsy and fuzzy; how could you not take it home? Those first few months were great, but eventually the novelty wore off. House-training wasn??t much of an issue, but there were other problems. Namely noise. The constant foot-pedal noodling, the out-of-tune guitar, the bowed gong. Sometimes it went on all night. The neighbors were not pleased. Soon enough, it was dragging in trashy keyboards off the street and cluttering up the house. When it started bandying about such terms as ??improvisational ethics of interaction,? you began to rethink your decision. But what can you do? You??re stuck with it for however long it lives. Well, you could just tie it to a fence post and drive away. But how could you do that to the Cutest Puppy in the World, which plays with Na, Gestures, and Death Chants at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW? $7. (202) 783-3933." (Aaron Leitko)
Na
http://homepage.mac.com/noriakiwatanabe/na.htm (http://homepage.mac.com/noriakiwatanabe/na.htm)
Na formed during the nice summer of 2004 in Seattle, taking their name from the Japanese word for a kind of beautiful flower. Sometimes found wearing robes or homemade hats, Na consists of three performers: Noriaki Watanabe, Shinsuke Yamada, and Kazu Nomura. Na reaches musical cacophony, combining improvisation and noise with a slight pop slant and a good sense of humor.
The group performs with all instruments possible, including classical guitar, piano, electronic guitar, laptop, a child's drum kit, lots of cymbals, and vocals with screams and laughs in their own language. Since they began in the nice summer, Na has been busy releasing thousands of CDRs for free with no responsibilities and organizing tons of performances all over the U.S.
The Cutest Puppy in the World
http://www.myspace.com/thecutestpuppyintheworld (http://www.myspace.com/thecutestpuppyintheworld)
DC-area avant-improv informed by out-jazz, psychedelia, and noise, influenced by Sun Ra, No Neck Blues Band, Animal Collective, Acid Mothers Temple, John Zorn, etc.
Death Chants
DC-area freak folk quartet explain themselves as follows: "DEATH CHANTS WAS BORN FROM THE RIME OF GINNUNGAGAP AND NOW WALKS ABROAD THRASHING TROLL WIVES AND CHANNELING THE NUMINOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE COSMOS THROUGH CORPSE-HEAP WOLF-SONG!! METAL AND WOOD CALLERS IN VOICE-MESH COMMUNION BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF ALL FORETHOUGHT!!!!" Those who attended the 2005 Free Folk Phantasmagory at 611 Florida will fondly recall their expansive "guerrilla" set in the bombed-out backyard. CDR release imminent on Time Lag records:
"Gorgeous new full-length disc from these newborn sonic voyagers, and their best stuff yet...all the finest elements of the band's two self-released cassettes, Natural History & Moss Master, lifted ever higher by added electricity and some slight distillation... flickering neon smoke rings of sound dissolving into the atmosphere...alternating melancholy/ecstatic vibes with raga-esque acoustic guitars, chiming electric guitars, slippery liquid flute, harmonium, sparse percussion, blissed female/male vocal bits, low level bass drone, kosmic synth tickles and damaged tape warble, plus one beauty of a "song"...the kind of smoked-out bedroom cult, eyes to the ceiling, home-fi psychedelia we just can't get enough of..." (Time Lag)
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TONIGHT! 01/14/06
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THE DOUBLE (Matador Records)
CELEBRATION (4AD Records, x-Love Life/Jaks)
LOW MODA (members of Fascist Fascist/Ink/Candy Machine)
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The Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th Street NW
Washington D.C.
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9pm doors/$8/all ages
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www.myspace.com/celebrationcelebration (http://www.myspace.com/celebrationcelebration)
www.4ad.com/celebration (http://www.4ad.com/celebration)
www.thedoublethedouble.com (http://www.thedoublethedouble.com)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's a celebration, all right. A visceral, full-throated, kinetic celebration of the power of music to take you out of yourself and into a strange new space peopled by angels, devils and white hot electricity.
Celebration is the band that Katrina Ford and Sean Antanaitis have been searching for, ever since they hooked up in high school. As drummer David Bergander says: "It completely blows my mind -- it's totally ecstatic, the energy that we end up creating together." For a taste, check out the way that album opener "War" comes fizzing and skidding
out of the traps, propelled by David's scattershot drumming and Katrina's no-holds-barred whoops: got more guns than anybody! But don't jump to conclusions. Celebration are also capable of more
measured, reflective bliss, as the swaying, shimmering swoon of "Lost Souls" demonstrates.
In short, this band is the most fully realised and three-dimensional stage of a decade-long journey through a string of striking, unsettling, and influential projects. Here's a little history: first came the unhinged punk expressionism of Jaks, which Katrina now describes as "kind of a spastic mess-induced rock band -- it was really fun and exciting and all about being violent". But despite their low-budget ferocity, the recordings that Jaks made have passed into underground
legend, and -- reissued in 2005 by Three One G -- they're now inspiring a new generation. Jaks also saw Katrina starting to explore the possibilities of her own vocal chords ("I wanted to sound like a man", she says) -- an exploration that has led to the spellbinding range and force of her performances with Celebration.
After Jaks came Lovelife, and two resonant, bold albums (one released by Jagjaguwar, the other by Troubleman). "It was all about identifying with deep sadness," says Katrina now, "and also about
trying to sing rather than screaming and howling everything". An evolution, then -- the next stage, rather than the last stage. Lovelife fragmented a couple of years ago, and in the space they left
behind, Celebration gradually took shape.
Like Lovelife, Celebration are a band that lean heavily on Sean's multi-instrumental abilities. He plays all the music except the drums -- a feat he manages live as well as in the studio -- and from his armoury of organs, electric keyboards and Moog bass pedals he summons a unique, dense, swirling sound. Muscular, but completely involving. He also makes use of the guitorgan, an electric guitar hand-modified so that it can produce sound through an analogue organ tone generator as well as through its conventional pick-ups. Onstage, this translates into an intensely concentrated, four-limbed performance -- one which leaves David and Katrina unencumbered, and free to follow their instincts.
"I like to get to the point which flamenco artists call duende", Katrina says, "which is when you completely lose your sense of self, and you're completely absorbed with the spirit -- the demon -- of music." It's one of the reasons why Celebration is the right name for this band -- it's not just about self-expression, it's about something wider than that. As David puts it: "It's the name of the band and it's the way the music is -- everybody is invited..."
Celebration's debut album was recorded at Headgear Studios in Brooklyn, New York, with David Sitek from TV On The Radio at the controls. Sitek is a long-time Celebration cheerleader -- he introduced the band to 4AD -- and being able to make this record was the fulfilment for him of months and years of dreaming and scheming. As well as producing the album, he contributed treated guitar parts and synth noises which -- along with Martin Perna and Stewart Bogle's flute and sax parts -- make for a record splashed with beguiling texture and sonic surprise. The other members of TV On The Radio were also around during the making of
the album -- Tunde, Kyp, Gerard and Jaleel all make guest appearances as vocalists on various tracks.
And this collaborative mood is a signal of sorts. For all its starkness, its twitchy, raw-boned energy, and its unflinching focus, Celebration is an inclusive, even euphoric record. Throughout -- in the tidal swell of "Diamonds", the hanging, haunting guitars of "New Skin" and the relentless rhythmic drive of "Stars" -- this is music that
speaks of a primal thirst for life. And in dark times, that's a cause for celebration indeed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There is a foreboding sense of everything coming apart at the seams in The Double's subversive take on pop music. Their Matador debut, Loose in the Air, is an eerie, paranoid album steeped in a
hyper-awareness of the impermanence of things. Melody moves through thick layers of noisy, manic guitars and heavily distorted keyboards, and drums fight through a dense fog of melancholy. Tender vocals soar high and low through an atmosphere of chaos -- it's at once unsettling and utterly captivating.
The men of The Double are completely tuned into their own frequencies, seemingly unaffected by current trends. As a result, they have quickly
attracted a loyal following that craves the Double's brand of sonic experimentation and innovation. Last year's Palm Fronds (Catsup
Plate) is a rock-pop album in the same way that David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" is a romantic comedy. Still, in addition to charming critics, Palm Fronds earned the Double a coveted Peel Session, as well as opening slots for Interpol and Blonde Redhead in Europe.
For Loose in the Air, the band escaped New York and holed up with Steve Revitte for 12 days at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Having recorded everyone from The Liars and Tito Puente to the Beastie Boys and Black Dice, Revitte embraced The Double's idiosyncrasies and captured their broad instrumental scope. The result is 10 songs that burst with frantic energy and reach sublime transcendence.
"Up All Night" opens the record as a sort of manifest, the blueprint for what's to come. David says, "I found the melody singing along to instrumental dub tracks; I was reaching for Yoko
Ono's minor notes." "In The Fog" was originally written and recorded during their Peel Session last year. Jacob arranged the instrumentation on piano in the studio, and inspired by the history of their surroundings, they set out to write a "classic" and re-recorded it at Tarquin for Loose In The Air. The epic "Dance"
was written to accompany a fashion show and debuted last spring at Lincoln Center. In it, David talks about the performance and exhaustion
of dancing -- "hulled out of breath, all loose at the ends, so bodied to ourselves in the head".
Of "Hot Air", Jacob says "I hope Ray Manzarek hears this and shits peyote out of his mouth. Vox Continental organ and piano, just like the Zombies, but maybe a more grotesque, undead Rod Argent." "Busty Beasty" is a stoner lullaby of sorts, Jacob rocking those ethereal E Naturals in the cascading G Major-to-Minor section like a
street fair magician, and Donald his sick, beautiful maiden. Elsewhere, the Double even lay down their version of a radio hit in "Idiocy"
and a love song -- the "dorm room make-out anthem", says Jacob -- in "Ripe Fruit".
The Double cite influences as diverse as Syd Barrett, Alice Coltrane, the Beatles, Horace Andy, the Zombies, Suicide, Brian Eno, Keith Hudson, and the Velvet Underground, and though the spirit of these bands is present in The Double's music, their sounds are not. Loose in the Air is a unique work that is beyond comparison. It's a mature album as viscerally satisfying as it is intellectually stimulating. It sounds like a premonition -- a bone ache, before a big storm.
David Greenhill - bass and vocals
Jacob Morris - keyboards
Jeff McLeod - drums and electronics
Donald Beaman - guitar and vocals
"The varied swath of music categorized as noise tends to bank on its ties to the sublime: the ability to induce bewilderment, stupefaction,
and awe that traverses fear. But for the Brooklyn-based foursome The Double, noise-metallic clacks and supersonic crackles, crumpling
guitars and disappearing vocals is an accessory that sweetly disorders melody, a union that entreats and welcomes rather than confuses and
commandeers." (Village Voice)
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the double are EXCELLENT live; but i'll be at 9:30 :)
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Clavius Productions presents:
Saturday, January 21
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$7, all ages
doors at 9, show at 10
Jack Wright/Ben Hall/Hans Buetow (sax/drums/cello avant-improv)
Hat City Intuitive (CT psych/jazz/noise-rock improv)
Kohoutek (DC improv psych/noise)
Insect Factory (DC solo guitar minimalism)
Jack Wright (saxophone, from Easton PA)
www.springgardenmusic.com (http://www.springgardenmusic.com)
Over the past twenty-five years JACK WRIGHT has been a bold saxophonist, as well as an influential musical personality. Either on tour or organizing the next one, he has played in virtually every venue available to experimental improvised music in the US, and many in Europe as well. In 1982 he began Spring Garden Music as a vehicle for organizing an improvisational music community, which continues to grow through regular No Net weekend sessions. He has been called the Johnny Appleseed of free improvisation for his encouragement to young players. As a musical explorer as well, his music passes through radical shifts of style and approach from one year to the next, yet always somehow identifiable as his own. These days he is playing mostly alto and soprano saxophones, in every possible direction, sometimes even recognizable as such. He lives in Easton, which enables him to commute easily to NYC and Philadelphia. He is also increasingly active in Europe, touring both sides of the Atlantic with European musicians.
The Washington Post says, "In the rarefied, underground world of experimental free improvisation, saxophonist Jack Wright is king." And a German publication, Bad Alchemy, had this to say of his solo work: "Wright does not make music, he embodies it, he transforms it with a naiveté of another order. It grows into a sound river, he is part of the diaphragm through which the heterogeneous whispers."
Jack has over sixty partners around the US and in Europe with whom he plays on his travels and records. His most recent tours have been with Carol Genetti, sound vocalist of Chicago, and Jon Mueller, percussionist of Milwaukee; French soprano sax player Michel Doneda and NYC percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani in France and the US; Nate Wooley, trumpet, of NYC; cellist Bob Marsh of the Bay area; Michael Griener percussion and Sabine Vogel flute of Berlin; Reuben Radding, NYC bassist; and Phil Durrant, English laptop musician.
For a full bio, writings, sound files and list of recordings visit his website: www.springgardenmusic.com (http://www.springgardenmusic.com)
feature article in Signal to Noise Magazine: www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2003/04apr_text.html (http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2003/04apr_text.html)
2001 interview with John Berndt:
www.redroom.org/documentation/wright.html (http://www.redroom.org/documentation/wright.html)
Ben Hall (drums, from Detroit)
Improvising percussionist BEN HALL splits his time between Detroit, where he founded and co-curated the experimental music venue Entropy Studios, and Vermont, where he attended Bennington College to study with Professor Milford Graves. He has also studied West African percussion with former Miles Davis sideman Jumma Santos as well as trap set with Herman Kelly. Mr. Hall has also been fortunate enough to perform and/or record in the jazz, free-improvisation and noise idioms with
Faruq Z. Bey, Northwoods Improvisers, Philip Wofford, Jonathon Vincent, Peter Kowald, Jeff Arnal, Bob Marsh, Maury Coles, Jack Wright, Alberto Braida, Giancarlo Locatelli, Skeeter C.R. Shelton, Luc Houtkamp, Ernst Reiseger, Nate Wooley, Double Leopards, Burning Sar Core (C. Spencer Yeh), Sub Pop recording artists Wolf Eyes, and Knitting Factory recording artists Blue Dog. In 2003, his Boston trio of Katt Hernandez (violin) and John Voigt (bass) closed the Improvised and Otherwise Festival (improvisedandotherwise.com) in New York City. This is a return engagement for Hall who has been the guest of the Ford International Jazz Festival, The Audio Obstacle Course New Music Festival and Deep Listening Festival.
Mr. Hall's current project is the chamber trio, Graveyards, with cellist Hans Buetow and saxophonist John Olson of the noise super group Wolf Eyes, with whom Hall has been recording with on Olson's American Tapes label since 1998. Graveyards will play under the moniker Double Trouble at the NoFun festival in March of 2006. The Double Trouble group will include Chris Corsano, Paul Flaherty, Greg Kelley, C. Spencer Yeh, and Nate Wooley. Graveyards will also play the Subcurrent festival in Glasgow, Scotland in April of 2006.
of Graveyards:
"Free Fucking Music Jam Squad" led by John Olson of Wolf Eyes, synth abusers Dead Machines, and the legendary American Tapes label. Total fire-music free jazz ecstatic skronk that finds Olson trading caveman electronics for post-Ayler animal alto sax, backed by bass and drums from the guts of Detroit. Graveyards "...cut Folkways-style jungle swat with beautiful punk primitive Norman Howard/Paul Flaherty/Kaoru Abe-style brass assaults, dooms of handcuff percussion, minimal drum skin contact and the sound of analog tape spooling Now through your wide-open skull." (David Keenan, Volcanic Tongue UK)
Hans Buetow (cello, from Detroit)
Based in Detroit, Michigan, improvising cellist and bassist Hans Buetow attended Bennington College where he graduated with a composition degree in the spring of 2004. While a student, he studied and played music with Anthony Coleman, Kitty Brazelton, and Milford Graves. Upon graduation he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he now lives and plays with a variety of improvisers including John Olson from Wolf Eyes, the Northwoods Improvisers, Double Leopards, Nate Wooley, Jeff Arnal, John Voigt, Philip Wofford, Alberto Braida, C. Spencer Yeh, and Giancarlo Locatelli. His current project, Graveyards, a trio with Ben Hall and John Olson, recently completed a tour in support of their newly released LP Monument Centers on American Tapes. Mr. Buetow also has recordings on labels Gods of Tundra and editions brokenresearch.
Hat City Intuitive
http://www.hatcityintuitive.com/ (http://www.hatcityintuitive.com/)
Evolving 15 years ago from the equally fertile and toxic fields of Western Connecticut/Westchester, NY that spawned such acts as Tower Recording, Bunnybrains, and Cro-Magnon, The Hat City Intuitive (aka HCI) have been experimenting with the purest forms of improvisation, dabbling in free jazz, noise-rock, and just sounds as sounds.
The band has released their two latest albums simultaneously on their own Hat City Sounds label following the snail's pace release schedule of 1995's Superlux Records Happiness Is A One Trick Pony/Crying Is Shaped Like A Seahorse and 2000's Crank Automotive They Must be Clapping For...Me. The two new albums Narrow Miss On The Chamber Pot and /\\//\/\// (grey goose & a whole lotta hydro) are of various studio sessions over the past five years, which represent the full range of this unique band: the clatter, the clang, the noise, the serious, and the fun. More releases are planned by 2006.
"Their ESP-Disk-inspired aesthetic is more to do with composing in mid-air rather than all-out freeform clash. That is, they rock as hard as The Magic Band or the Cleveland avant-garage of pre-Pere Ubu Rocket From The Tombs." (The Wire, March 2001)
Kohoutek
http://www.claviusproductions.org (http://www.claviusproductions.org)
Kohoutek play improvised psychedelia with abstract noise tendencies. Their sonic explorations encompass any combination of drums and percussion, guitar, bass, laptop, homemade electronics, field recordings, chord organ and analog synths, bells, and household appliances. The DC-based ensemble's influences range from free jazz and Krautrock to acid folk and shoegaze drone and everything in between. They've been described as "Can as a 4AD band" and compared to Sun City Girls, Acid Mothers Temple, Skullflower, Bardo Pond, Popul Vuh, Amon Duul 2, and Meddle-era Pink Floyd.
Insect Factory
http://www.myspace.com/insectfactory (http://www.myspace.com/insectfactory)
Solo microscopic ambient guitar drone infleunced and inspired by the likes of Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Fripp/Eno, John Fahey, and Coltrane. Hypnotic layers of drone textures.
Upcoming Clavius Productions events at the Warehouse Next Door:
1/27: Alec K Redfearn & The Eyesores (Cuneiform)/make A Rising/Little Howlin Wolf/The Staccatos
2/9: King Valley/Godzero
2/17: Pig Destroyer (Relapse)/Battletorn (Troubleman)/Drugs Of Faith/Prowler
3/3: Violet/Alexei Borisov & Anton Nikkila
3/4: Terminal Lovers/Ketman
3/10: Deceased (Relapse)/Kiss of Death (ex-Dragon Freen)/Plaguewielder
4/1: Facedowninshit/Deadbird/Lord
4/28: October 31/Attacker
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Clavius Productions presents the return of Little Howlin Wolf, making his second appearance in DC this week. Those who witnessed his two-hour set at 611 Florida on Wednesday night won't soon forget it. Make A Rising, Plain Lace, and The Staccatos open:
Friday, January 27
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$7, all ages
doors at 9, show at 10
Little Howlin Wolf aka Deacon Blue aka Buccaneer Bob aka The Shadow Drifter (straight outta South Side Chicago)
Make A Rising (avant chamber-rock from Philly, High Two Records)
Plain Lace (Mike Petillo of Navies doing experimental solo guitar)
The Staccatos (DC improv rock)
Little Howlin Wolf (James Pobiega) has been cutting insane slabs of vinyl since the late '70s. In recent years, with the help of Twig Harper and others, his vast body of work has gained notoriety and acceptance. With a repertoire of well over 100 songs and various approaches, no two Wolf sets are ever the same. Somewhere akin to Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits, Jandek, John Lee Hooker, and Albert Ayler but nothing like any of them, the Wolf is truly in a class of his own, and if you let him, he'll school ya!
http://white-rose.net/mystere12.html (http://white-rose.net/mystere12.html)
james pobiega lives on the southwest outskirts of chicago, where he has spent a great deal of time playing as a street musician. his aliases include little howlin' wolf, deacon blue, buccaneer bob and shadow drifter. he described himself as a musicologist. he has an extensive list of credits, including street theater and his long career as a do-it-yourself musician.
if you are fortunate enough to meet him and spend some time listening, he will proudly share with you accounts of other adventures... as a bounty hunter, scuba diving instructor, activist with the solidarity movement, secret agent, even working in character as a children's entertainer in pirate guise. famous names are sprinkled thru the conversation, mentioned as both friends (mr. t) and those who have derived inspiration from his activities (steely dan).
during the time i spent with him, he was kind enough to share several of his recordings, some released, some unreleased. he also had a huge quantity of documentation of his career, including clippings from newspapers, magazines, cartoons, man on the street interviews, pictures of him playing in europe.
he has primarily worked within the blues & freeform jazz idioms, but is very open to other influences...cajun, voodoo, pirates included. his recordings are hard to come by, and are much sought by collectors. the one lp i have, the cool truth, is a melange of styles: drums with chants in tongues i cannot recognize, multi-tracked blues songs that seem to threaten to fly apart, but hold together somehow, growling buccaneer-speak and channeled new orleans spirits. i have to mention the hand-painted & lettered cover as well, becuase it reflects the quality and personality of the music in the grooves perfectly.
hopefully, james pobiega's work will become more available in the next year or so, as the destijl label is set to release shadow drifter lp, and there is hope that his live performances with nautical almanac will become available at some point.
james pobiega discography
as little howlin' wolf:
* the guardian
lp (1980 solidarity?)
* i move the underworld b/w talkin turban
(198? blackstone)
* stranger mon' b/w sunny come early (mambo voudoux)
(198? beacon)
* oul nei piesc ostatni morzu b/w oul nei piesc stracony aureola
(198? solidarity)
* black orchid chant (zen deka zeza) b/w the last word
(198? solidarity)
* the birds of capistrano> b/w white flamingo
(198? alcatraz)
* i done made your heart rebel b/w old glory
(198? solidarity)
* hung done in high shadow b/w gray ghost (bamus baguia)
(198? justice)
* cool truth
lp (1985 solidarity)
as shadow drifter:
* shadow drifter
lp (forthcoming 2003 destijl)
More info can be found here: http://www.heresee.com/hs54wolfvol2.htm (http://www.heresee.com/hs54wolfvol2.htm)
Make A Rising
http://www.tonewplanet.com/MAR.html (http://www.tonewplanet.com/MAR.html)
"Philadelphia psychedelic rockers Make a Rising supply zany and digressive compositions on Rip Through the Hawk Black Night, an album which manages to persuasively combine power and whimsy. Cooing vocals are set against bumptious piano licks, discordant electronics, and animated drumming in the psych-calliope ambiance of "Look at My Hawk." "Song for Dead Nickie" is equally filled with diverse excursions, but its introduction is imparted with a graceful post-minimal sheen that belies the band's prevailing penchant for jocularity. "When Moving West" sets a chamber pop vocal loop against chaotic heavy rock, whereas "I'm Scared of Being Alone" adopts an affecting prog rock demeanor.
In its first section, "Plastic Giant" creates a wall of complex sustained harmony, over which is placed reverberant, discordant singing; this is succeeded by a Zappa-esque freak out of an instrumental coda. Sometimes, the band's use of juxtapositions is a bit too cute -- the thwack of noise rock in the middle of the otherwise gentle "Lonesome in the Skiff" is a prime example; but usually their employment of head-turning style shifts work quite nicely. Some pieces even function in a more conventional sense; "Expired Planet," a concoction of Sun Ra Arkestra cosmology and indie rock guitars, is a strong song, demonstrating that Make a Rising is never so obsessed with eccentricity that they can't make memorable music along the way." (Christian Carey)
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Thursday, February 9
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Unorthodox (MD doom!)
King Valley
Ol' Scratch
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Clavius Productions presents a night of improvised abstract electronica:
Friday, March 3
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
http://www.warehousenextdoor.com (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com)
http://www.claviusproductions.org (http://www.claviusproductions.org)
$7, all ages
doors at 9
Brown Wing Overdrive (laptop/electronics duo, mem. of Measles Mumps Rubella/Mikroknytes)
Violet (solo DC noise sculptor)
Alexei Borisov (Russian electronic composer)
Matthew Ostrowski & Anne La Berge (electronics/flute duo)
Violet
http://www.zeromoon.com/violet/index.php (http://www.zeromoon.com/violet/index.php)
Violet is the current moniker for solo works by Jeff Surak, who has played in such projects as v., Normal Music, Critikal, Second Violin, -1348-, New Carrollton, and a multitude of collaborations. Organic irrational compositions, using electro-acoustic instruments and tape/CD/vinyl manipulations. Violet has performed across the USA and in Europe.
Alexei Borisov
http://www.electroshock.ru/eng/records/personalities/borisov/ (http://www.electroshock.ru/eng/records/personalities/borisov/)
Alexei Borisov was born in 1960 in Moscow, USSR. In 1983 he graduated from Moscow State University, History Department. He started his music career in 1980 as a guitarist of the first Moscow new-wave band, The Center. In 1981 with guitarist Dmitry Matzenov he organized big-beat-ska-mod band Prospekt. In 1985 he formed the first Russian techno-industrial duo Notchnoi Prospekt with the keyboard-player Ivan Sokolovsky. This project is still active by now, playing concerts and taking part in different festivals in Russia and abroad. Notchnoi Prospekt released five albums, one of them (Sugar) has been released on the Accelerating Blue Fish label (Malmo, Sweden) in 1990. Since the beginning of the '90s, Borisov plays in electronic duo F.R.U.I.T.S. (with Pavel Jagun), that became quite well-known in Russia and abroad. Among his latest projects are electronic-ethnic project Volga (with Angela Manukjan and Roman Lebedev), Gosplan Trio with Moscow saxophonist Serge Letov, and experimental duo with Anton Nikkila (Finland). In 2000 Borisov and Nikkila formed the N&B Research Digest recording label. Among other of Borisov's collaborations are the joint projects with the performance-group North (Russia), KK Null (Japan), Jeffrey Surak (USA),and Leif Ellgren (Sweden). Borisov also collaborates with the video-artist Roman Anikushin, multimedia-artists Aristarh Chernishev and Vladislav Efimov and also with Olga Subbotina, Moscow theatre director. Lately Borisov prefers a solo music career. He also works as a DJ in clubs and on radio and contributed as a journalist to some Russian (Bulldozer, Ptjuch, Fuzz, Downtown, man'Music, etc.) and foreign (B'Mag, Technikart) magazines and newspapers. His articles are also available on www.kontramarka.ru (http://www.kontramarka.ru) and www.specialradio.ru. (http://www.specialradio.ru.)
Additional information about Alexei Borisov's activity could be found on various Internet portals, such as www.enmuz.here.ru (http://www.enmuz.here.ru) www.nbresearchdigest.com (http://www.nbresearchdigest.com) www.shum.info, (http://www.shum.info,) etc.
"After 36 CDs released, Electroshock had achieved a precisely-defined artistic line. Alexei Borisov's Polished Surface of a Table, number 037 for the Russian record label, pushes this line further into experimental electronica and it is a nice change. Considerably stronger than his previous solo effort (Before the Evroremont, released on Research Digest), it offers a stimulating dose of ruptured beats, glitchy textures, processed noise and disembodied voices. The voice holds an important place in these constructions, whether singing (the beginning of "Dew") up front, reduced to a background murmur ("Polished Surface of a Table") or treated and embedded within the other layers of sounds. Borisov's sound universe is generally abstract, although it repeatedly refers to the DJ culture. Beats are skipped, sound collages flash before our eyes, snippets of songs are briefly recognizable in the distance (Serge Gainsbourg's "Je Vais et Je Viens" makes an unexpected appearance in "Rotor"). The music is uncompromising and explores many aural extremes of electronica, from pure tones to minimal digital manipulations (glitch) and outbursts of noise, all of these elements interacting with more appealing material. Highlights include the opening "Revlon", one of Borisov's strongest pieces to date, "Blue Vinyl" (reinventing DJ Spooky) and the title track. "Zaraza. Volume I" is the only piece crossing over five minutes and the only disappointment of the CD. It slows down the pace and fails to capture the attention, although its insisting pulse might provide a few listeners with something to cling to. But that track aside, Polished Surface of a Table is a very strong album in its field. (Francois Couture, All Music Guide)
Matthew Ostrowski & Anne La Berge
http://www.ostrowski.info/ (http://www.ostrowski.info/)
http://www.annelaberge.com/ (http://www.annelaberge.com/)
A New York City native, Matthew Ostrowski has been using electronics since the early 1980s, working in improvised music, multimedia music- theater, and audio installations, with a continuing interest in density of microevents, rapid changes, and using technology to stretch the functions of human perception. He studied electronic music and composition at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Institute on Sonology in the Hague. Active as an improvisor in New York in the ??80s, he spent most of the ??90s living in Holland, concentrating more on music-theater and semi-composed solo works, and serving as composer-in-residence for the Streb/Ringside dance company. He returned to New York in 2000, working intensely in audio installations and improvisation. His work has been seen or performed on five continents, including the Wien Modern Festival, the Kraków Audio Art Festival, Sonic Acts in Amsterdam, PS 1 and The Kitchen in New York, the Melbourne Festival, and Unyazi, the first festival of electronic music on the African continent. As an improvisor, he has performed with John Butcher, Anthony Coleman, Nicolas Collins, Shelley Hirsch, Kaffe Matthews, John Zorn, and dozens of others. Recently, he completed a tour of the Balkans with contrabassist George Cremaschi, a solo tour of South Africa, exhibited and performed his performance/installation Draden, for amplified florescent tubes, in New York City, and collaborated with Zeena Parkins for live processing of her string quartet Persuasion. He has received fellowships from the Media Alliance (2000) and the 2001 NYFA Artist??s Fellowship in Computer Arts, and is a nominee for the 2006 Alpert Award in the Arts.
Anne La Berge is a flutist, composer, and performer of new music. Merike Vaitmaa (Muusika, Estonia) describes La Berge's technique: "different lip-positions, attacks, ways of breathing, distance from the microphone; everything has been foreseen and elaborated. Her textures are often two-voiced. It is all so complicated that it defies description and yet it sounds very natural, like a bird's song."
La Berge has been a regular guest performer and lecturer for music festivals, television, and radio in Europe and the United States...She performs on Brannen/Kingma flutes, for which she has commissioned numerous works. Her own compositions have been commissioned by the National Flute Association, Amsterdam Funds for the Arts, Rotterdams Improvisation Pool, Utrechtse School...She has received support from STEIM, been awarded a performance prize at Darmstadt Ferenkursen für Neue Musik...Her collaborators include composer/guitarist David Dramm, percussionist Yuko Suzuki, and the improvisation group aardvark. She has performed with the Ensemble Modern, Frances Marie Uitti, Gene Car...Her music has been recorded by BVHaast, Frog Peak, X-0r...
Anne La Berge lives in Amsterdam and tours extensively. She is co-programmer and organizer for Kraakgeluiden in de Binnenstadan, an electronic music improvisation series in Amsterdam.
"My work has been a life-long endeavor to expand the role of the flute and the flutist...My current passion is composing music that uses performers as readers and improvisors."
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Dear music fans,
You know those plans you'd made for Saturday night? Your speaking engagement at the dirt track? The hours you were hoping to spend with a slide rule and some pomade? Your promise to inflate the Moon Bounce? Those tickets you had for the videogame / tv show / music video / movie / videogame / tv show / music video / reality cartoon / product placement movie? The finishing touches on your cat-trimming project? Bidding on another Hummel figurine? The dry-run for your big presentation before the International Federation of Grape Stretchers? Ironing out the creases in your ironing board cover? Braiding tinsel into your mustache? Filling out a patent application for your hybrid hydrogen-, solar-, wind- and hydro-powered electric security fence for use at nuclear reactors? Biting and kicking and cursing and scratching?
Well, save all that for some other night. Focus your attention earward. A feast for them awaits:
WHO: Black Taj, The Spoils of NW, Terminal Lovers, Ketman
WHAT: Rock and Roll
WHEN: Saturday, March 4. 9:00 p.m.
WHERE: Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th Street NW DC, 202-783-3933, http://warehousenextdoor.com, (http://warehousenextdoor.com,)
between the Chinatown and Convention Center. Green Line Metro.
Headliner Black Taj released their amazing debut CD last year. The band consists of Chapel Hill, NC musicians Dave Brylawski and Steve Popson, who played guitar and bass, respectively, in Polvo; second guitarist Grant Tennille (Idyll Swords and session work with DC's Trans Am), and Tom Atherton (Jimi Hendrix Inexperience). Brylawski now lives in New York City, and the rest of the band is in North Carolina. They play very heavy, melodic, eastern-influenced rock.
The Spoils of NW is made up of former members of the High Back Chairs (Peter Hayes, guitar, vocals, keyboards, harmonica); Tuscadero (Phil Satlof, bass); Cleveland's the Revelers (Joel Kaufman, guitar); and Philadelphia's Pteradactyl (Bill Brown, drums). Bill and his two sons, Charlie and JJ, are in another amazing band called Eyeball Skeleton. The Spoils play heavy, melodic rock with echoes of 70s psych, blues and soul.
Terminal Lovers are from Cleveland, and Ketman is from Boston. More information for all of us can be found here:
Black Taj -- http://www.amishrecords.com/ami021.html (http://www.amishrecords.com/ami021.html)
The Spoils of NW-- http://www.spoilsofnw.com (http://www.spoilsofnw.com)
Terminal Lovers -- http://www.davecintron.com/terminallovers.shtml (http://www.davecintron.com/terminallovers.shtml)
Ketman -- http://www.myspace.com/ketman (http://www.myspace.com/ketman)
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Hello all. Please come out and celebrate the release of two new cd-r's on SocketsCDR:
*Sockets Audio Zine #2
*Slim Castle's "Siege of His Sand City"
There's going to be 8 different bands, amazing art by Eddie Janney and other local artists, a Donovan tribute, free buttons, video projections, discounts on all Sockets stuff, and tons of hugs to go around. Seriously. I'm a hugging machine come Sunday. If you're not comfortable with hugs, I got plenty of high-fives.
Here's the info:
*SocketsCDR Audio Zine/Slim Castle Release Party
***************March 5, 2006
***Warehouse Next Door - 1017 7th Street NW WDC
***************************************************************************EARLY
SHOW! 8pm! $6!
Featuring:
-Echolalia - Solo theremin by Amber Dunleavy. So great. So haunting!
-Cornel West Theory - A mouthpiece for truth in DC. Dark, ambient and pulsing dub/hip-hop
-Occupational Athlete (mem. of Big Cats) - Channeling the spirit of Donovan. Can't wait!
-Layne Garrett (mem. of Cutest Puppy in the World) - Compositions from another world.
-William Wilson (mem. of Supersystem, Edie Sedgwick) - A man from Pennsylvania and his songs.
-Slim Castle (mem. of Kohoutek) - Layered electronic textures with fleeting guitar melodies. Genre-bending in every sense.
-Rivers in Fields - Sloppy rock'n'roll. Dirty even...
-Martin McCavitt/Brian Jones - Marxophone and drum duo. Jazz from the orbit of another place and time.
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TOMORROW! WEDNESDAY! 03/08/06
ALL AGES! $7! 8:30 DOORS!
at the WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
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GSL RECORDS presents:
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GOGOGO AIRHEART (San Diego funky free-association noise punk)
THE JAI ALAI SAVANT (reggae-slanted post-punk, ex-Franklin & Kill The
Man Who Questions)
SUBTITLE (L.A. underground Hip-Hop/Project Blowed Crew)
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THE JAI ALAI SAVANT/www.thejaialaisavant.com
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Chicago-by-way-of-Philly trio THE JAI ALAI SAVANT (pronounced hi-a-lie sa-vant) have been active since 2002. Their list of influences are vast and their sound eclectic, but it's their reggae-slanted post-punk roots that take the foreground in the most recent music of the band. Their genre-bending pop compositions coupled with an obvious love of bass culture have drawn comparisons to everyone from The Clash to The
Police, Trenchmouth and Fugazi. Groove-oriented and accessible yet still engaging and challenging to the idea of what punk-derivative music should sound like is what makes THE JAI ALAI SAVANT a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale and hype-driven world of independent rock music.
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SUBTITLE/www.giovannimarks.com
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L.A. underground emcee SUBTITLE has been active in the "urban" underworld of southern California for going on seven years. Originally involved with the highly-respected Project Blowed crew (ACEYALONE, MURS, etc.), and then with WEEKEND SCIENCE EXPERIMENT and the SHAPE-SHIFTERS, SUBTITLE steadily made a name for himself as a truly off-kilter and unpredictable wordsmith and crafter of twisted beats. While the "players" of mainstream and indie hip-hop alike were occupying themselves with bling acquisition and image-creation, SUBTITLE's nose-to-the-grindstone output for years consisted of simple homemade CDs and cassettes with hand-drawn covers, sampling the likes of SONIC YOUTH rather than the predictable sources such as FUNKADELIC, etc. His peculiar output and lovable persona, together with his
towering 7-foot frame, has made SUBTITLE a unique and immediately recognizable presence among his peers. Eventually joining forces with GSL in 2003, SUBTITLE released the relatively bizarre, undeniably boundary-pushing I'm Always Recovering from Tomorrow EP, which features production from Adlib (aka Thavius Beck, SUBTITLE's partner in the current LABWASTE project). This was followed by a series of regional tours including 2 weeks supporting THE MARS VOLTA in Europe during the spring of 2003. SUBTITLE spent the subsequent 18 months slowly crafting a series of new compositions as well as initiating collaborations with a virtual who's-who of California underground hip-hop. He released the "teaser" single "Leave Home" in mid-2004 (a split
12" with FREE MORAL AGENTS), which featured the impressive production skills of OMID (Mush Records). Now, in 2005, the completed project will
see the light of day. Entitled Young Dangerous Heart, the 17-track album features guest appearances from ACEYALONE, BUSDRIVER, MURS,
members of VISIONARIES, etc., as well as production contributions from THAVIUS BECK, OMID, DEESKEE, ALIAS, and others.
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GOGOGO AIRHEART/www.gogogoairheart.com
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San Diego, CA's GoGoGo Airheart began writing in 1996 at the hands of core members Mike Vermillion and Ashish Vyas. After two years of relentless basement rehearsals and a string of homemade cassettes, GGGAH were picked up by local indie label, Vinyl Communication. Augmented by drummer Andy Robillard and violinist Teri Hoefer, the
group recorded their self-titled debut LP in 1997. Combining virulent dub inflected rhythms, spasms of skittish, wirey guitar and Vermillion's signature breathless vocals, GoGoGo Airheart stands as a distinct blueprint of post-punk's progressive ideals and Dub Reggae's elastic studio wizardry (due largely to experimental producer/collaborator, Spacewurm).
Following shortly thereafter, 1998's superb Love My Life, Hate My Friends LP emerged to meet the group's increasing word of mouth popularity. Love My Life finds GGGAH in darker spirits, a hybrid of late-seventies post-punk (The Pop Group and Public Image Ltd.
in particular) and homegrown American art-rock (Pere Ubu, Rocket From The Tombs) are channeled through Vyas' mutated funk bass lines, Hoefer's twisted yet sublime saw-like violin and Vermillion's intensely oblique and personal lyrics. 1999 caught GGGAH at a crucial point; both with Touch & Go subsidiary Overcoat releasing the highly regarded The Things We Need EP to significant critical acclaim and boasting the introduction of guitarist Ben White and temporary drummer Jimmy Lavalle (Tristeza/Album Leaf) in wake of the departure of Hoefer and Robillard. Presenting a subtle nod to the early-70's Glam rockers Roxy Music and the skewed art-pop of Brian Eno, The Things We Need stands as an eclectic portend of future recordings.
Soon thereafter the group turned the tables with another unique release, this time for West Coast indie, Sympathy For The Record Industry, a split album with Los Cincos' side project The
Syncopation. The Krautrock influenced jam, "The Beauty of Appetite" and the prickly pop of "Teri and Julie" marked GGGAH as cultural auteurs,
bearing their varied influences with virtually every new release. With consistently favorable national press, rabid college airplay and daringly original material, GGGAH were picked up by the
estimable So-Cal indie, GSL. The third LP, also self-titled, showcases a striking version of The Pop Group's "Trap" and further provides the
group's trademark hyperactive mettle. A more streamlined affair, GGGAH comes across as the band's punk record, though acutely
subversive and deeply textured. Vyas contributes vocal duties for "The Prince" and "Glad To See You", while White's ominous organ bolsters
Vermillion's haunting Peter Laughner-esque guitar lines with drummer Jay Hough suitably complimenting the trio.
After a superlative 45 single, the dance-punk homage "Real Live Kill/Ripe From The Vine", GGGAH unleashed their most revered LP to date. 2002's Exit The UXA combines the diverse territories of disco, post-punk and the art-rock glam classicism of The Stooges in a stunning display of slippery funk bass lines, jagged guitar cuts, scathing vocals and polyrhythmic drumming. The completion of a successful European tour saw the departure of White and Hough pairing the group down once again to core members Vermillion and Vyas, and the return of Robillard on percussion.
The remaining members of GGGAH returned to work in 2004 demoing new material with John Reis (Rocket From the Crypt) at his infamous Drag Racist studio. White then rejoined the band later in 2004
(permanently, he insures us), at which point the demos were set aside. Gears shifted, and a new phase of GoGoGo Airheart began taking shape. The band recorded two albums' worth of material in Los
Angeles with Carlos de la Garza, fifteen tracks of which will emerge in fall 2005 as Rats! Sing! Sing!, the fifth full-length album from
GoGoGo Airheart. Still toying with the punk/funk/dub mash-up they perfected early on, Rats! Sing! Sing! sees the band expand into a far more varied range of styles and approaches, and is arguably their most accomplished album to date: an ambitious, passionate, and reaffirming
blast of no-frills rock 'n' roll.
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Clavius Productions presents:
Friday, March 24
$8, all ages
doors at 9, show at 9:30
The Drift (ex-Tarentel, Temporary Residence, jazzy/dubby post-rock from SF)
Souvenir's Young America (atmospheric post-rock from Richmond)
First Nation (mem. of Telepathe/Wikkid, Pawtracks)
The Plums (DC experimental psych-rock, mem. of Hat City Intuitive/Spaceships Panic Orbit/Portions Toll)
Werewolf Unit (primal noise a la Wolf Eyes and Godflesh, from Savannah GA)
The Drift
http://www.thedriftmusic.com (http://www.thedriftmusic.com)
Originally a side project from Danny Grody (Tarentel) and Trevor Montgomery (Lazarus), San Francisco's The Drift very quickly matured into a full-time dub-jazz-rock ensemble. After Montgomery left Tarentel and The Drift to focus on his Lazarus project, the band enlisted upright bass phenom Safa Shokrai to replace him -- in addition to Jeff Jacobs on trumpet and Rich Douthit (Halifax Pier) on drums -- ultimately steering the band away from its ambient rock leanings and into the hazy world of dub-infused guitar stabs and inspired jazz shuffles.
The Drift are an instrumental four-piece from San Francisco who are comprised of trumpet, electronics, guitar, keyboards, upright bass and drums. The music combines elements of rare groove, dub, out jazz, and more esoteric leanings that conjure a unique musical space free of traditional confines, simultaneously frenetic and sublime.
Souvenir's Young America
http://www.syarva.com/ (http://www.syarva.com/)
http://www.myspace.com/souvenirsyoungamerica (http://www.myspace.com/souvenirsyoungamerica)
Started by two friends in the Autumn of 2004, Souvenir??s Young America began with layers of live keyboards, analog sounds, and ambient noise overlapped by soaring guitars and minimal percussion. That two-member line-up of Jonathan Lee and Ken Rayher recorded a three-song demo at the Sound of Music at the end of 2004. That demo was well-received, often being compared to movie soundtracks by masters like Vangelis, Brad Fiedel, or Goblin, only (as multiple reviewers wrote), ??played by members of Neurosis or Godflesh.? After a short trail of live shows, the band decided to scrap all the old songs completely and head in a new direction. In the Spring of 2005, Souvenir??s Young America turned a duo into a trio with the addition of drummer Graham Scala. The once-minimal synth-and-guitar soundscapes were replaced by heavy synth swells, ambient electronics, metallic guitars, driving percussion, and a wide variety of experimentation on various instruments. It??s an instrumental mix of electronic and avant-metal sounds coming together to form something quite different. The first song to come out of this new direction, ??The Towering Abyss,? was released on a split 7-inch with ambient project Spylacopa on New York state label UndeRadar. Their most recent recording was done during October 2005 and February 2006 at Minimum Wage Studio. The self-titled record will be out in late March 2006 before their short tour with The Drift. In 2005, SYA was on the road with New Electric, Kayo Dot, and Gregor Samsa. Expect more touring in April 2006.
"Souvenir's Young America assures me that VCU isn't the only thing artistic in the capital of my home state Virginia. Blending ambient with electronic rock and progressive rock, the trio uses a wide array of diverse instruments like accordion, xylophone, cello, and samples to convey their often erratic and eclectic sound. Similar in vein to some bands they've played with like Isis, Bellini, Gregor Samsa, and Sparrows Swarm, Souvenir's Young America have also shared a split 7" with Candiria/Isis ambient project Spylacopa. The guitars on "Still Like the Hummingbird" share that shoegazing effect that Explosions in the Sky have. Fans of Godspeed You Black Emperor will most definitely fall in love with this explosive and highly creative young group. Incredible." (Smother.net)
First Nation
http://www.myspace.com/firstnationlove (http://www.myspace.com/firstnationlove)
Nina and Kate started playing acoustic guitars and singing folk songs in the dark a few years ago. Both of us knew Melissa and when the first jam happened, things were really good from there. We practiced in Melissa's room for a year, then played a bunch of shows. The first one was January 2005 at Lit in NYC and it was a tsunami benefit. Melissa has played in a lot of bands. Before First Nation started she was in Wikkid and now she is in Telepathe, with drummer Busy Gangnes. First Nation is into rhythms, fast guitars that repeat over and over, percussion and singing with each other.
Paw Tracks presents the debut single "First Nation Coronation" from the New York City trio First Nation. Just over a year old, First Nation (featuring Melissa Livaudais, Nina Mehta, and Kate Rosko) have already shared the stage with fellow musical cohorts and admirers The Animal Collective, Excepter, and Gang Gang Dance. Their single contains two songs. "Antelope Attack" is, well, exactly that: all hoof stomping, melodic tones rustling in the wind, and then the feverish rhythmic chase. "Braided Metal" is the sound of a Glenn Branca orchestra gone atonal before giving up and going twee pop.
Werewolf Unit
http://www.justinbarnes.net/werewolfunit.html (http://www.justinbarnes.net/werewolfunit.html)
http://www.myspace.com/werewolfunit (http://www.myspace.com/werewolfunit)
http://standardoilrecords.com/bands/werewolfunit/ (http://standardoilrecords.com/bands/werewolfunit/)
With this band, Justin Barnes runs into and out of pre-adolescence, while colorful lights and wonderful props destroy the hunched over death of noise music. Bleeps and bloops and ringalangs. One half Wolf Eyes freak out noise section, one part 2nd grade show and tell, and gallons of warped free jazz vinyl records left in the snow. It's funner this way. It's funner when everyone is laughing and shrieking when the sounds get loud. Join in on the party that EVERYONE is invited to. No exclusivity, no heirarchy, if you like it, play a set right after Werewolf Unit has shut down. We are the tanks and we have the most tanks. Scrumptious treats and delicious juice drinks.
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Clavius Productions presents an evening of music and cinema, as Boston's Devil Music Ensemble scores Murnau's "Nosferatu":
Wednesday, March 29
Warehouse Theater
1021 7th St NW WDC
$10, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Devil Music Ensemble
http://www.massdist.com/dme/ (http://www.massdist.com/dme/)
Devil Music was founded in 1999 by Brendon Wood to explore the many facets of music (rock, electronic, orchestral, folk, improvisation, incidental, etc.). The group itself was ever-changing, as new members came and went, adding a variety to the sounds and the style. Starting in 2002, Devil Music settled into the core group of Wood, Rapino (from the acclaimed, New Millenium String Ensemble), and Nylander (former member of Say Zuzu). Since then, Devil Music has strived to present new, original, diverse works with performances in Boston and all over the country. Devil Music recently finished a U.S. tour, performing live soundtracks to silent films at movie theaters, performing arts spaces, rock clubs, college campuses, and musuems. The attempt to pigeonhole Devil Music's sound has been frustrating audiences and critics since its incarnation 6 years ago, and will continue as such as long as the love of experimentation stays with the group.
Nosferatu
http://www.massdist.com/dme/Nosferatu%20page.htm (http://www.massdist.com/dme/Nosferatu%20page.htm)
Nosferatu, like The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis, descended from the same artistic wave of German cinema in the 1920s, is the definition itself of artistic film, where painting, architecture, literature, psychology, and politics meet in a work that gratifies both the eyes and the spirit. Thus the film develops over several dimensions, from its artistic claim of Romantic-Expressionism, the advent of Naziism, to homosexuality, desire, globalization, and a reflection on cinema itself. Murnau draws from a history that links Vampires to unexplained deaths. The term, Nosferatu, is of modern origin and derives from the Slavic "nosufur-atu" which is a derivation of the Greek "nosophoros" or "plague carrier." The understanding that rat-borne illnesses were the cause of many plagues dominated scientific thinking in recent centuries. While in earlier times many unexplained deaths fueled a developing culture of Vampirism and the concept of the "un-dead" in Europe. While drawing on popular Vampire lore Murnau and Albin Grau also relied heavily and without permission on Stoker's novel. They apparently had no intention of paying any royalties for their use of the novel as the basis for their screenplay. They attempted to disguise the characters by changing their names and geographical setting. The film premiered in 1922 but eventually, Florence Stoker with the aid of the British Incorporated Society of Authors succeeded in destroying the original negatives and most of the prints of Nosferatu.
PLOT SUMMARY: In the 1830s, Hutter, the young clerk of a real estate agent, leaves his wife Nina in order to conduct the sale of some property with the mysterious Count Orlock (Nosferatu) in Transylvania. He falls in the clutches of the Count but manages to escape. Leaving his castle with a number of earth-filled coffins, the Count travels by ship to Bremen. The entire crew of the ship dies during the journey and when the ship arrives at port, a swarm of rats descends upon the city. Hutter has returned to Nina and tells her his tale of Count Orlock. She resolves to destroy the vampire by keeping him at her bedside until sunrise, when the sun's rays will destroy the monster's body.
Nosferatu (1922)
format: DVD, 16mm, and 35mm
movie running time: 81 minutes
performers:
Tim Nylander: drums, percussion, synthesizer
Jonah Rapino: electric violin, vibraphone, synthesizer
Brendon Wood: guitar, lap steel, synthesize
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Clavius Productions presents:
Tuesday, April 11
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
Dark Skies (garage psych from Portland OR, Empty Records)
Gildon Works (experimental pop-psych from Philly, mem. of Relay)
http://www.myspace.com/gildonworks/ (http://www.myspace.com/gildonworks/)
John Bustine (amazing downer country-folk from DC)
Sequence Chair (improv psych, mem. of Sounds of Kaleidoscope/Kohoutek)
from the Washington City Paper:
Portland, Ore., has a tradition of no-bullshit rock bands: Wipers, Dead Moon, and now Dark Skies. Fronted by ex??Vegas Thunder member Joe Machamer, Dark Skies add a heavy dose of British art blues (Groundhogs, Cream) to the stripped-down Portland garage-punk formula. Machamer puts on a ridiculously energetic, good-natured live show and has been known to clamber up amp stacks and teeter across the stage as if he were on the deck of a listing ship, all without missing a riff. See Dark Skies perform at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $7. (202) 783-3933. (David Dunlap Jr.)
Dark Skies
http://www.geocities.com/j_machamer/darkskies.html (http://www.geocities.com/j_machamer/darkskies.html)
http://www.myspace.com/darkskiesportland (http://www.myspace.com/darkskiesportland)
DARK SKIES is a no-bullshit, three-piece rock-and-roll band from Portland, Oregon. Fast, loud, and dirty, Dark Skies drop their brand of garage heavy psych-blues with the weight of an anvil through your fucking speakers. Joe Machamer (Vegas Thunder, Tough Love, Sharks Kill), Charlie Gotgart (bass), and Rob McConlouge (drums) stomp and twist their throttling, heavy soul stylings through channels of Groundhogs and the MC5 ?? but burgeon in the hydroponic northwest heat of Dead Moon and the Wipers. Originated in 2002 as Hookie Boys, Joe and Charlie laid the foundation of their blues/folk explorations with drummer Holly Morgan (ex-Nearly Deads, Headliners, Juanita Family). In 2004, with Rob on drums, Dark Skies began to chart the wilds of their demiurgic sound, while still retaining a solid foundation in traditional blues craftsmanship. But this is no hipster band pushing meta-kaleidoscopic rock; Dark Skies is a band that's well worn in real blues. Joe Machamer's soulful and raw vocals demand the ears of the turned on; Charlie Gotgart weaves the low end of the bass in and out, sewing the circle of thick blistering guitars tight; John McConlouge attacks the beat from every angle on the drums. It's a true trip these guys are on: the swagger of the earth, the moveable feast of the mystic and the strange. For their debut, self-titled release on Empty Records, Dark Skies invited in the singular talents of Dave Harvey on sax (Nudity, Tight Bros.) and Dave ??Roach? Simmons on keys (Fireballs of Freedom, Starantula) into Smegma studios to work with legendary noise guru ?? and guest theremin player -- Mike Lastra (Smegma, LAFMS). The result is a potent offering of real and timeless rock and roll. No shtick, no gimmicks ?? just full stacks and faith in the power of rock
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Clavius Productions presents:
Friday, May 5
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$7, all ages
doors at 9, show at 9:30
Experimental Dental School (no wave/noise rock from Oakland)
Kohoutek (DC improv psych)
Human Host (Baltimore improv ensemble, ex-Charm City Suicides)
Saladbar (member of DC's Facemat solo madness)
Experimental Dental School
http://www.experimentaldental.com (http://www.experimentaldental.com)
With Shoko Horikawa on organ and sampler, Ryan Brundage on drums, and Jesse Hall on guitar-o-bass and vocals, the distorted Oakland California trio Experimental Dental School began to carve a solid niche in the Bay Area's thriving art rock scene in early 2002.
The band's unpredictable sonic approach led to the sharing of stages with other creative bands such as Deerhoof, Numbers, Hella, XBXRX, Mae Shi, Erase Errata, Coachwhips, and Trans Am. Touring regularly in the United States and Europe, (in addition to numerous West Coast swings) the trio swiftly earned respect throughout underground circles.
The full-length CD Hideous Dance Attack!!! was released in 2003, as well as many singles and split records on labels in Sweden, Australia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Portugal. With Hall's zealous vocals and bizarre guitar approach, Horikawa's Fellini-esque organs, and Brundage's choppy spliced meter drumming, the band's circuit-bent art-wave pop has earned the group much praise and adoration. EDS was honored the S.F. Guardian's Best Of The Bay award, as well as #1 spots on local radio stations.
2006 brings Experimental Dental School a US, European, and Japanese tour, as well as their much anticipated Cochon Records release, 2 1/2 Creatures. All songs are mastered by Weasel Walter (Flying Luttenbachers, XBXRX), and four songs feature the drumming and production talents of Deerhoof??s Greg Saunier. 2 1/2 Creatures captures the chaos and enthusiasm that ensues at their live shows, and also reveals a sophisticated studio album. Fusing musicality with colorful test tube ideas, E.D.S. has created and cultivated a sound that is both cohesive and entirely unique.
"...providing the evolutionary link between Deerhoof and Devo, and sweeping up the Talking Heads in the process, EDS kick up a furious racket over the 10 tracks of Hideous Dance Attack!!!." (Matt Fink, Skyscraper)
"2 1/2 Creatures confirms that EDS are more than capable of making themselves equally at home in indie post-rock and no wave basements, jazz joints, and circus tents." (Aquarius Records)
Jesse Hall:
Plays "guitar-o-bass" (a custom-built low-tuned guitar with bass strings) run though a pile of pedals and gadgets (overbro, miditard). Lyrics involving animals, machines, and ice cream tears. Sings like bear.
Shoko Horikawa:
Sings like bird. Plays Casiotone organ with a fractured, careening and churning, disjointed "Flight of the Bumblebee" style. Dr samples.
Ryan Brundage:
Drums like octopus in spliced meters, vacillating between gloomy disko and violent, rollercoaster-y polka. Tape loops, found sounds, noizes of all kind.
Kohoutek
http://claviusproductions.alkem.org/kohoutek/ (http://claviusproductions.alkem.org/kohoutek/)
Improvised psych with noise tendencies and abstraction. Sonic explorations in any combination of drums, percussion, guitar, bass, laptop, homemade electronics, field recordings, chord organ, and household appliances.
"...we were stoked to get our mitts on this self-released CD-R of smoke-blowing, heavy noise-inflected psychdrone. There's two tracks on hand, both instrumentals, with a total half hour running time: the opener, "The Burning Sea", starts off by invoking some gorgeous, bleary psychedelic noodling and skittery improv percussion with vaporous Middle Eastern melodies and twinkling chimes in the background, then slowly builds into a pulsating acid drone rock mantra akin to Skullflower hijacking Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold", throbbing single-note bass and muscular drumming laying down a limestone foundation for burning feedback-soaked guitar action to get down in an ocean of reverb. The second track, "Four More Years", is a swarm of helicopter electronics and rapid-fire improv drumming, a crackling free noise jam shooting sparks onto basement walls, sleigh bells and snakey bass drones squirming through a blizzard of buzzing cables and oscillating tones and noisy skree. These jams are righteous drone/improv/noise workouts, can't wait to hear more from Kohoutek. There's definitely much to like here for fans of Skullflower, Can, Acid Mothers Temple, etc. Comes packaged in an exquisitely handpainted/screened wallet, with the CD-R itself blasted with spraypaint." (Crucial Blast)
Human Host
http://www.mt6records.com/humanhost.htm (http://www.mt6records.com/humanhost.htm)
http://www.myspace.com/humanhost (http://www.myspace.com/humanhost)
In December of 2002, Human Host was formed by ex-members of the celebrated Baltimore, Md. band Charm City Suicides almost immediately after that band??s dissolution. Their goal: to create a multi-media amalgam of punk, psychedelia, spirituality, and theatrical performance. The creative core of the group includes ex-Charm City Suicides Mike Apichella & Josh Marchant, and New Flesh's Rick Weaver, as well as Mike Garber, Kim Cafuir (a.k.a. Kim++), Marc Rothe, Brian Averill, Jessica Reifler, Cory Davolos, Alex Strama (a.k.a. New Age Hillbilly), and Mike Gittings. They have presently released two CDs: a split with the Baltimore band Fridge A on the Baths Of Power label in summer 2003 and a collection of 11 tracks titled Invisible Arteries released by MT6 Records in October 2004. In February 2006 Human Host will release Exploding Demon -- their second full-length record on MT6. A series of promotional tours/appearances by the group will follow the release of this CD. Learn more about Human Host at www.angelfire.com/ultra/hh. (http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/hh.)
"...this is sci-fi horror synth-pop! Singer sounds tortured and blood-curdled (although he is an actual good singer), while strange keyboard processions wind their way underneath and a drum machine progresses at a funereal pace. And the lyrics! 'Blood shot skull drone/Greased arm kontrol/Mind mend pill, rising sphere/The color pyramid appears...' This is some pretty weird complex synth-punk-something, I feel like I've barely gotten started with it." (Blastitude)
"Baltimore??s Human Host got their start some four years ago. Combining electro, punk, and rock with abrasive guitars and vocals Exploding Demon seems to be a noisecore fan??s favorite. But it??s not all loud and balls to the wall, often it??s just downright odd with psychedelic elements that will have you reaching for that elusive good tab of acid. On occasion there can be some disjointed parts but that??s the charm of Human Host -?? it could also be a result of having eleven revolving contributors to the band." (Smother.net)
Upcoming Clavius events:
at 611 Florida:
5/19: Mike Tamburo (Music Fellowship)/Keenan Lawler (Eclipse)/Nick Schillace/Seahorse Staircse
6/18: Will Soderberg/Roxanne Jean Polise (MI noise)/Adam Mokan/John Dikeman (free jazz sax player)
at DC9:
5/23: Green Milk From The Planet Orange (Japanese psych/prog/space rock)/Kohoutek/Black fire Revelation
6/26: Espers (Drag City)/Brightblack Morning Light
6/29: Drunk Horse (Tee Pee)/Birds Of Avalon (ex-Cherry Valence)
at Warehouse Next Door:
5/11: Shoplifting (Kill Rock Stars)/Mecca Normal (Matador/K/Kill Rock Stars)
5/14: Year Future (GSL, ex-VSS)/With Love (from Italy)/The Picture Is Dead
5/15: Mandarin Movie (mem. of Chicago Underground Duo)/DCIC/Na (Japanese electro-acoustic improv)/Supernatural Hot Rug And Not Used (guitar/bass duo from Japanada, ex-Nimrod) *in the Warehouse Black Box Theatre*
5/17: The Old Haunts (Kill Rock Stars)/Partyline (ex-Bratmobile)/Raccoo-oo-oon (Time Lag)/Woods (mem. of Wooden Wand)
5/29: Excepter (Load/5R, ex-NNCK)/The Amoeba Men
6/1: Outputmessage (Ghostly)/FFFFs/Mimeth
6/4: Sound Of Urchin/Pink Mountaintops (mem. of Black Mountain)/Catfish Haven/Benjy Ferree
6/5: Nudity (ex-Tight Bros)/Triple Burner (Harris Newman w/ mem. of GYBE!)
6/8: Black Cobra (ex-Cavity/-16-)/Dragon Green
6/11: Residual Echoes (Holy Mountain)/Mammatus (Holy Mountain)
6/15: Conifer (maine math-metal)/VOG (VA doom)
6/30: The Good Anna/The Blizzards/Knife Crazy
7/12: Carla Bozulich (of Geraldine Fibbers)/Dead Science
7/16: Vetiver
7/19: Genghis Tron/Drugs Of Faith
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Thursday, May 11
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Shoplifting (Kill Rock Stars, ex-Chromatics)
Mecca Normal (Kill Rock Stars/K/Matador)
Cataract Camp
Excessively straightforward song lyrics can be cringe-inducing. Fans of abstract artistry might not take a shine to a singer who declares, "I want cold impersonal sex during which I??ll be pretending I??m with someone else" and "I hear him stretching the condom like he??s making a balloon animal." Yet, somehow, Mecca Normal, aka vocalist Jean Smith and guitarist David Lester, get a pass. A unique offshoot of skronky, delay-drenched ??80s No Wave, the pair has enjoyed a 20-year reign as Vancouver, British Columbia??s generally drum-free art-punk duo. Their latest, The Observer, is a desperately personal record inspired by Smith??s Internet dating experiences. (Yep, you read that right.) The LP is more immediately pop than earlier efforts -- Lester focuses less on hypnotic guitar loops than honest-to-goodness chord progressions -?? but Smith burns through songs like "I??m Not Into Being the Woman You??re With While You??re Looking for the Woman You Want" in a casual, no-nonsense Sprechstimme that??s as awkward as it is compelling. Watch these legends continue their unusual journey through the avant-garde -?? always on point but comfortably north of hip -?? at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse, 1017 7th St. NW. $8. (202) 783-3933. (Justin Moyer)
Shoplifting
http://www.myspace.com/shoplifting (http://www.myspace.com/shoplifting)
http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/factsheets/shoplifting/ (http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/factsheets/shoplifting/)
An even smarter and more uncompromising set of songs than Shoplifting's self-titled EP, the band's debut full-length, Body Stories, expands on their sound and attitude. Shades of Slant 6 and Sonic Youth can still be heard in their music (particularly in the dark tangles of guitar on "What About a Word?"), but Shoplifting takes advantage of having an album's worth of songs in which to hone their originality. "Male Gynecology," for example, uses dense but not exactly hard-hitting guitars and drums to underscore the uneasy feeling of lyrics like "Open wide to my own gynecology/There's no shame if the self-exam is bloody." Chris Pugmire and Hannah Billie's dual boy-girl vocals remain one of the band's greatest strengths, particularly on the album opener, "M. Sally." On paranoid, hypnotic tracks like "Talk of the Town" and "Cover to Cover," Shoplifting plays with ideas about music and society with enough wit to keep them far from pretension. And though the band is more than accomplished on moody pieces such as the instrumental "Flying Factory" and the spooky-sexy final track, "Claude Glass," they really excel at loud, fearless punk like "Illegalists" and "Syncope Riders." Equal parts brains and brawn, Body Stories finds Shoplifting growing into their possibilities. (Heather Phares, AMG)
Mecca Normal
http://mecca_normal.tripod.com/ (http://mecca_normal.tripod.com/)
A seminal influence on Northwestern indie rock (and especially on the riot grrl movement), Vancouver's Mecca Normal was the bridge between female post-punk primitives like the Raincoats and the Slits -- not to mention Patti Smith's punk poetry -- and the more explicitly political, feminist noisemakers of the '90s. Lo-fi, amateurish, and decidedly minimalist, Mecca Normal was essentially a duo, with occasional studio help; vocalist Jean Smith (also a poet, novelist, and painter) declaimed her stream-of-consciousness, aggressively topical lyrics over guitarist David Lester's clattering cacophony. Their prolific partnership lasted over two decades, during which time they earned a reputation for fiery concert performances and enjoyed stints on some of the era's most notable indie labels, namely K, Matador, and Kill Rock Stars.
Smith and Lester formed Mecca Normal in Vancouver in 1981, at which time both were working in design for print media. After several years of rehearsing, the duo made its first home recordings in 1984, and completed its first album in 1986; simply titled Mecca Normal, it was released on the band's own Smarten Up! label and sold chiefly at live shows. It helped lead to a friendship with Beat Happening frontman and K Records honcho Calvin Johnson, who signed the band for its 1988 sophomore effort, Calico Kills the Cat. A stream of albums on K followed, including 1991's Water Cuts My Hands, 1992's prettier and more subdued Dovetail, and 1993's Flood Plain. 1993 also brought Jarred Up, a compilation of the band's singles for various indie labels over the past six years.
Mecca Normal subsequently signed with Matador and debuted with 1995's well-received Sitting on Snaps, which featured musical involvement on drums and piano from New Zealand producer Peter Jefferies. Smith and Jefferies formed a concurrent side project called 2 Foot Flame, which released two albums over 1995-1997. Jefferies stuck around for the next two albums, 1996's The Eagle & the Poodle and 1997's more acoustic Who Shot Elvis?. Mecca Normal subsequently went on hiatus for a few years while Smith and Lester pursued other creative activities; in 2000, Smith signed to Kill Rock Stars and issued her self-titled solo debut. Mecca Normal returned in 2002 with The Family Swan, also on Kill Rock Stars. Album number 13, The Observer, appeared two years later, along with a spring tour of both U.S. coasts. Shoplifting joined them for the East Coast dates.
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Saturday, May 13
$8, all ages
doors at 9, show at 10
Say Hi To Your Mom (NYC indie pop)
Old Time Relijun (K Records)
Person (mem. of Stamen & Pistils/Metropolitan)
Say Hi To Your Mom
http://www.sayhitoyourmom.com/ (http://www.sayhitoyourmom.com/)
Say Hi To Your Mom simultaneously defies and enforces physics. We're the mumbling in your head while you're crunching the numbers. We're the apparitions, ticks, gut wrenching, suspicion and glee too. We're the reason you rolled a nineteen for charisma, the cat's meow, your least favorite aunt. Touch us and we'll touch you. Watch us and we'll watch you. You once tried to call us and the line was busy, but that was actually just us making busy signal noises with our mouths. If you would have called back we would have cooked you some pasta. What you're looking for right now is going to evade you forever. Fish don't speak but squirrels do. It all depends on your longitude. You should start from the beginning, but ignore the prequels. We like minimalism, broken robots, granny smith apples, sneakers and the mundane. We like make believe vampires but the real ones scare us. We don't care too much for your boss and the fact that you're starting to resemble her. You should work on that. You'll find us to be very reasonable if you'd just give us a chance. You can paint us by numbers. You can tell us to your shrink. You can consume us up to three times daily but you shouldn't ever exceed twelve doses in a four day period, unless you have a note from your mother. We definitely detest mom jokes. Seriously. We don't need to be reminded of what we resemble. We named ourselves after Midwestern dairy queen civility. We usually involve a variety of livestock running rampantly around. We think sideways motorcycle helmets are all the rage now that sideways trucker's hats are out. We are live, fleshy human beings attempting to recreate these sounds in real life. We put out our own records. We speak in binary code. We're in the market for an A-team van. We strive for muzak and custom made slip n' slides. We write under pseudonyms. We play for keeps. Our grass is always greenest. Our hair is unkempt.
Brookyln's Say Hi To Your Mom is the vehicle for the idiosyncratic songwriting of Eric Elbogen, whose geeked-out, but loveable, songs straddle the line between mopey bedroom pop and the quirk of bands like The Flaming Lips and Built To Spill.
Old Time Relijun
http://www.krecs.com/oldtimerelijun/ (http://www.krecs.com/oldtimerelijun/)
CONFRONTATIONAL DANCE MUSIC TAKES OVER THE WORLD!
The End of Oppression!
From the backwood jungles of Olympia, Washington, Old Time Relijun is the barest of the "bare bones" you will ever meet. With a nearly incomprehensible blend of primitive swamp stomp 'n' swagger meets gutsy fucked-up free jazz and throat-singing punk gospel, they are the true and original American Primitive Deconstructionist Visionaries. That this mélange is blatantly, infectiously danceable in a "this world is an illusion burning up so let's get sweaty" kind of a way gives further evidence of Old Time Relijun's claims to prophecy in a new era of fiery, sexy, soul-punk rebellion.
Drummer Jamie Peterson thumps furiously against the tyranny of the ages, while upright bassist Aaron Hartman underpins the erotic earthquake with a sinister subliminal groove that unlocks the trap door to hypnotic oblivion. These Forces of Nature are conducted by the bug-eyed brilliance of preacher's kid-gone-bad Arrington de Dionyso's symbiotic churning of one-note guitar scrapings within the hallucinatory world of yelps, yawps, howls and other proto-musical utterances that make the bulk of his lyrics. (Arrington is an acknowledged master of Tuvan throat singing, with a degree in ethnomusicology!)
A little angst goes a long way, and in Arrington DeDionyso's case, he got a whole career out of it. It would be foolish to expect him to be mellowing out after more than a decade in the business, and Lost Light delivers the tense goods you'd expect. The stripped-down-sounding trio of DeDionyso, double bassist Aaron Hartman, and drummer Rives Elliot plays taut funk-punk rhythms behind the frontman's yelps, which sound like a fire-and-brimstone sermonizer who's definitely taken a turn for the darker side. It's music of integrity, but not of great variety, recalling some of the more atonal aspects of the early New York punk-new wave scene, perhaps with a funkier bent and an even gloomier outlook, as if Jandek had decided to get a real band together. Images of closed doors, vampires, immersion in threatening waters, "10,000 tigers gnashing teeth," and the like permeate the songs, the hellish organ of "Cold Water" adding to the sense of impending doom. Not a cheerful listen, no siree. But the band isn't all about vocal thrash, throwing in arty instrumentals to keep listeners a little off balance ??- "Music of the Spheres" has some eerie upper-register tinkles and wildly upward zoom guitar slides atop the thud, and "Cold Water, Deep Underwater" is a little like the most way-out early Velvet Underground instrumentals in its gnarly guitar textures. (Richie Unterberger, AMG)
Person
http://www.personmusic.com/ (http://www.personmusic.com/)
Person is the D.I.Y. pop brainchild of guitarist Miguel Lacsamana of Stamen & Pistils (Echelon Productions) and Metropolitan (Crank Automotive). The band aims for a similar territory of danceable indie rock -- such as the Notwist, LCD Soundsystem, and the Postal Service -- but with a more soulful approach, reaching the likes of the Neptunes, Timbaland, and beyond to create a glitchy, electro/hip-hop backdrop.
The Person full-length, Entitled, is a comment on the fallibility of humanity, and many of the songs play off of one another in an ostensibly contradictory fashion. It follows a protagonist who is in search of truth, but fumbles along the way. Entitled starts off with an almost cautionary sci-fi epic tale, "The Fall of Perception," produced by Outputmessage (Ghostly International/Melodic/Echelon Productions). Throughout the album, Person denounces, then succumbs, to the insatiable desires of the sensory overload within this hyperreal environment. "Valid Concerns," an indie rock/IDM club jam, voices thoughts of what he should do to find that special someone, even if just for one night. "You Ain't Hot," featuring Young Rae (Echelon Productions), is a scathing criticism of today's pop world, achieved by successfully imitating the tried and tired formula of today's pop charters. Motives takes a Phariseean approach to the one-night stand: by giving in, yet placing the blame on the other person. "Who Do You Want Me to Be?" explores how we all adjust our personalities to satiate what we desire. "Neither Forgiving Nor Forgetting" is an angry banger calling out the shortcomings of a former lover and by doing so, calling out his own. Although there are critical lyrics, Person concedes that he still surrenders to the ideals of todays consumer-driven culture in the album closer, "Business Class."
The album will be released by Echelon Productions on June 27, 2006.
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Sunday, May 14
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Year Future (GSL, ex-VSS/Angel Hair/Dead And Gone)
With Love (no wave/psych from Italy)
The Picture is Dead (dark synthscapes from DC, ex-From Quagmire/Laconic Chamber)
Year Future
http://www.yearfuture.net/ (http://www.yearfuture.net/)
Year Future is:
Rockey Crane - guitar
Sonny Kay - vocals
Pete Lyman - bass
Paul Christensen - drums
Year Future was formed in early 2003 by Rockey (Dead And Gone/Creeps On Candy) and Sonny (The VSS/Angel Hair), with Jim Andersen (drums) and Sam Ott (bass). The four members knew one another
having each moved up and down the California coast a few times, and once all in L.A. at the same time, nature took its course. This founding lineup toured most of the U.S. and Europe in 2004, and released two EPs on Sonny's GSL label: the first self-titled 4-track (2003) and The Hidden Hand (2004).
In early 2005, Pete Lyman replaced Sam on bass guitar, and Gabe Serbian (of The Locust) joined temporarily as drummer. In March 2005, with Gabe on the skins, Year Future toured to Austin's annual SXSW festival, along with Some Girls, 400 Blows, and the Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower. Chris Hathwell (of Moving Units, and previously Festival of Dead Deer) then took over the drums, and songwriting commenced for what eventually became Year Future's first album, First World Fever (GSL, 2006). YF toured Europe in November and December 2005 with The Locust and 400 Blows, supported by a limited-edition 4-track EP of early mixes of some album tracks entitled Strictly Ampersands (Monorhetorik, 2005).
Hathwell's duties with Moving Units forced his early retirement from the band in early 2006, replaced for the time being by Paul Christensen of the L.A. band Qui.
With Love
http://www.thewithlove.org/ (http://www.thewithlove.org/)
WITH LOVE is a quartet formed in the Italian countryside sometime in 1995. The band shortly made a name for themselves with their wild and aggressive live shows in every type of venue, from squats to clubs, friends' gardens, in the woods, and even at folk festivals. After many shows around Italy and the rest of Europe, the band managed to record their first album With Love (Green Records, 1998) followed shortly by I Love Cul De Sac (Green Records, 2000), both considered essential releases for the Italian punk scene. WITH LOVE combine a range of influences -- from American bands such as HEROIN, ANGEL HAIR, and CRIMSON CURSE, to Italian bands like NEGAZIONE and INDIGESTI. In 2004, the band released the critically acclaimed Tuoni Fulmini Saette (Heroine), an insane mix of violent and fast hardcore with ambient, noise and progressive edges. In 2005, they completed recording of the follow-up, A Great Circle -- essentially a single, long track created to accompany singer Nico Vascellari's short film of the same name. Based on three live performances created and staged in three locations (an art gallery, a museum and a forest), it will be released by GSL on DVD in June 2006. For more info, please check also www.goldstandardlabs.com (http://www.goldstandardlabs.com) and www.thewithlove.org (http://www.thewithlove.org)
The Picture is Dead
http://pictureisdead.com/ (http://pictureisdead.com/)
THE PICTURE IS DEAD. Any detectable visual or audio data is a remnant, an echo from a now extinct epoch. Happily, there is still a wealth of information to be obtained from these signals and, thanks to the cooperation of a consortium of international institutions, an approximate model of THE PICTURE IS DEAD is beginning to take shape. However, it is important to be reminded that all present THE PICTURE IS DEAD shows are painstaking reconstructions of prior performances and must not be confused with actual live performances. THE PICTURE IS DEAD. For less information visit www.pictureisdead.com (http://www.pictureisdead.com)
RIYL: early New Order, early OMD, Kraftwerk
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Special Clavius event in the Warehouse's Black Box Theatre!
Monday, May 15
Warehouse Black Box Theatre
1019 7th St NW WDC (between the cafe and WND)
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Mandarin Movie (Aesthetics, mem. of Chicago Underground Duo/Isotope 217, featuring Alan Licht)
DCIC (DC's premiere avant-jazz ensemble)
Na (electro-acoustic improv from Japan)
Supernatural Hot Rug And Not Used (experimental guitar/bass duo, ex-Nimrod, from Canada/Japan)
Mandarin Movie
http://www.aesthetics-usa.com/artists/mandarinmovie/bio.html (http://www.aesthetics-usa.com/artists/mandarinmovie/bio.html)
Mandarin Movie is the new project from Chicago native and current Brazil resident Rob Mazurek, a cornetist, composer, painter, improviser, and multi-media artist whose unique musical style draws from free jazz, hard-bop, experimental electronica, and minimalism. Mandarin Movie's debut release is a full frequency audio assault, dense and beautiful at times, unrestrained, chaotic & hard at other times, with an almost sculptural quality, always preparing us for the beauty of sound and silence. The name 'Mandarin Movie' stems from a dream Rob had in 2003, evoking an artist's vision of singular clarity similar to Sun Ra's Space Is The Place. At the dream's end, Rob found himself atop the highest building in the world where 'It was all light beams and flying discs and dense beautiful sounding explosions which put a good feeling in the back of your head'." Includes Alan Licht on guitar.
Rob Mazurek (Chicago Underground Duo/Isotope 217) - computer, electric eels, Moog, pianette, cornet
Alan Licht (Run On) - guitar
Steve Swell - trombone
Jason Ajemian (Born Heller/Dragons 1976) - double bass, electronics
Matt Lux - bass guitar. electronics
Frank Rosaly (Dragons 1976) - drums
With contributions from members of:
WILCO. TORTOISE. ELEVENTH DREAM DAY. CALIFONE.
"The brutal metal industrialism of God and the electronic freakout of Merzbow." (The Wire)
"This thing moves like a ton of lubricated metal." (Sunday Herald)
DCIC
http://dcic.alkem.org/ (http://dcic.alkem.org/)
Jonathan Matis - guitar/electronics:
Jonathan Matis is a composer and performer whose work actively combines the practices of composition and improvisation. Matis has composed music for dance, incidental music for theater, and a variety of concert works. Performing with electric guitar, a small collection of low-tech preparations, and live signal processing, Matis coaxes textures from the instrument -- in addition to the occasional tried-and-true plucked string approach. Currently, he serves as the Director of the Washington DC Chapter of the American Composers Forum. His last name is also Morris. It's kind of a funny story.
Mike Sebastian - tenor & soprano sax / bass clarinet:
Mike has been playing reed instruments for over 12 years. His passion to play grew when he first heard the spirituality of John Coltrane's music. Mike plays improvised experimental, jazz, rock, gospel, and any other type of music that encourages creativity. His experience includes playing in a gospel orchestra, as well as with various local improvisers. Recently Mike played improvised music for dance with Jon Matis and Mark Merella at the DC Improv Festival. A particular thrill was playing with Peter Kowald and local Baltimore musicians at the Red Room in 2000.
Daniel Barbiero - double bass:
A native of New Haven, CT, Daniel has been involved in creative improvised music in the Baltimore-Washington area for several years as a performer, composer, and sometime bandleader. He has worked in a variety of contexts, including modal and post-bop jazz, free improvisation, and world fusion drawing on the Indian classical and Middle Eastern musical traditions. His solo music has been used as a background for contemporary dance exercises.
Ben Azzara - drums/percussion:
As a child Ben saw Kenny Clark play with Dizzy Gillespie and ever since he has been seduced by all things drums. Jazz trained but seasoned in rock clubs across the North America and Europe, he has been the progenitor of numerous groups including the emo-punk innovators Junction, the infamous Delta 72, and most recently Dischord's Capitol City Dusters of whom the UK's Q magazine said, "...Dischord has struck another vein of precious musical ore." Ben continues to perform with his wife SARAH AZZARA and has produced three full-length releases with her. You can listen to MP3s from all of Ben's various musical excursions at his website benazzara.com.
Na
http://homepage.mac.com/noriakiwatanabe/na.htm (http://homepage.mac.com/noriakiwatanabe/na.htm)
"Na is that exceptionally rare experimental act that is actually interested in...experimentaion. Their music, a strange quilt of aural patches woven from guitars, mouths, child??s drum sets, keyboards, xylophones, computers, drum machines and piles of ancient, dented cymbals, gives the distinct impression that it is choosing the direction, not the players. While playing, Na take themselves on many strange and unpredictable journeys and good-naturedly invite the rest of us along to share in the fun. They are honest, humble, and very, very weird. If your spirit has been suffering from cabin fever, Na would be happy to take it out for a long, wild, and frantic walk." (Sean Molnar, Signal to Noise)
Supernatural Hot Rug And Not Used
http://gule.pupui.jp/ (http://gule.pupui.jp/)
A fixture on the Osaka avant-rock scene, Tim Olive is a veteran of numerous projects, including recordings with Nimrod, Twerdocleb, Soap-Jo Henshi, Jeffrey Allport, and Nishikawa Bunsho, and live performances with Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Ezaki Masafumi, Guilty Connector, Otomo Yoshihide, Martin Tetreault, Unami Taku. New CD forthcoming with Nishikawa Bunsho (Supernatural Hot Rug And Not Used); sounds at http://gule.pupui.jp/ (http://gule.pupui.jp/)
Nishikawa Bunsho (guitar, record player) and Tim Olive (bass) have been playing together as a duo since August 2003. Nishikawa has performed with Alessandro Bosetti, Annette Krebs, Andrea Neumann, and Martin Tetreault. Olive with Nakamura Toshimaru, Otomo Yoshihide, Sugimoto Taku and Unami Taku, and a long-term duo with Jeff Allport. However, their music as a duo is perhaps louder and noisier than their previous collaborations.
Based in Osaka, they have roots in the Osaka noise scene, and a non-doctrinaire approach to music making. A guitar, a broken record player, and a bass with one string are used to create a wide range of textures and dynamics. Not noise, but sometimes noisy. Not "reductionism," but sometimes quiet.
For more information (including Real Audio), please visit the Gule Disk website or contact Tim Olive.
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show is gonna rip. are NA still getting around on greyhound buses? HA! i remember where i know Rob Mazurek from now - he's on that touch & go 25th anni. dvd. he recounts an amazing story of seeing SUN mmuhfuggin RA for the 1st time at a really young age and it totally scaring the shit out of him coz of the absolute storm of sound that they started their set with. according to him, best musical minute as well as scariest minute of his life. im curious to see how,if it at all, translates to his playing. then again, what free player hasnt been cast under sun ra's spell at some point in their life?
cool fact id like to share -
alan licht's rock band Run On once opened for THE DEAD C and HARRY PUSSY at the old black cat in like 95 or 96. thats one of those, id happily trade a few years of my life to have seen that, shows.
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i saw run on and harry pussy separately in 1996/1997. run on were an underrated indie supergroup with sue garner, rick brown, and alan licht. dead c are one of the few bands that i worship that i've never seen live.
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Wednesday, May 17
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
The Old Haunts (Kill Rock Stars, ex-Excuse 17/Two Ton Boa)
Partyline (ex-Bratmobile, mem. of Hott Beat)
Raccoo-oo-oon (Time-Lag, Iowa psych/noise/folk rock)
Woods (Shrimper, mem. of Wooden Wand)
The Old Haunts
http://www.oldhaunts.com (http://www.oldhaunts.com)
Fallow Field is Old Haunts' Kill Rock Stars debut, consisting of two previous EPs from the Olympia stomp rockers with six new tracks added. It's sorta country, this band's stuff, with Craig Extine's slippery yowl out front of spindly guitars and the kind of rhythm that only requires one big kick drum. (Though there's a snare too, and at least one cymbal.) "Deflect It" and "Boots Are Clubs" are great distillations of this. But Old Haunts also have a punk sensibility in the vein of the Wipers or Chicago's Drapes -- intriguingly rough edges, and songs that are tossed-off but still dangerous. "By the Bay"'s pace is hyper and impatient, "Old World" adds rickety farmhouse piano to a typically tense pacific northwest indie rattle, and "You Could Never Know" only needs slashing guitar and the choppy reports of a snare to make Extine's vocal sound perfect and urgent. Fallow Field is only about a half-hour-long, and rarely wavers from its favorite sound, staccato guitar notes pecking at muddy but expressive basslines. (See "Cult Baby.") But despite their limitations, Old Haunts bring a cool sense of creakiness to their songs. "Walk Through the Woods" is aptly named -- Fallow Field sounds like hill people's punk rock. (All Music Guide)
Partyline
http://www.partylinedc.com/ (http://www.partylinedc.com/)
Formed in Washington, D.C., in 2003, Partyline are singer Allison Wolfe, guitarist Angela Melkisethian, and drummer Crystal Bradley. Though very much a political band -- all six of the songs on its self-titled 2005 Retard Disco debut EP chronicle social injustice and discontent through a girls-with-glasses eye view -- what's best about the band is its commitment to carrying on the fast and furious tradition of classic punk. Though it's leavened with a dose of riot grrrl snarliness (sample lyric: "I don't wanna marry/I don't wanna have your brats/Yeah I had a mother/She taught me to want more than that"), a BS-busting Ramones-era sensibility seeps through; these girls came together not just to revolutionize, but to rock. Bands in Partyline's past include Bratmobile (Wolfe), Hott Beat (Melkisethian), and the Applicators (Bradley).
Raccoo-oo-oon
http://www.raccoo-oo-oon.org/ (http://www.raccoo-oo-oon.org/)
"Hot new real CD reissue of the CDR version that went instantly out of print last year...Raccoo-oo-oon are one of those bands that can somehow shift between seemingly divergent genres, while the whole time keeping a sound very much their own. The disc launches with a speed-blasted, noise-fueled, psych/punk rocker, slides into nearly grooving free jazz territory, then into a gorgeous, buzzing/floating/tinkling bliss mantra, and that's just the first three tracks. Things continue unfolding from there, but the overall sound constantly slips back to the sort of mantric, damaged rock thud these guys are clearly fond of. A rather thrilling and quite great ride...remastered by Pete Swanson (Yellow Swans) for extra punch. Packaged in a full color off-set printed tri-fold art paper cover, reproducing Shawn Reed's original eyeball frying art, inside and out. Woven Japanese innersleeves. Limited edition of 1000 copies." (Time-Lag)
"Raccoo-oo-oon fits in nicely with the Bügsküll, Jennifer Gentle, and Animal Collective branch of noise rock, but while those groups take the music into more pop directions -- Bügsküll sounding more indie rock, Jennifer Gentle sounding more Barrett or Zappa, and Animal Collective sounding more Beach Boys or Olivia Tremor Control -- Raccoo-oo-oon keeps the music close to the soil.
Hailing from Iowa -- a little further south in the prairie from Davenport -- Raccoo-oo-oon creates a similar sort of nature-based communal jam. However, while Davenport organically search for the zen-like groove hidden in the din, Raccoo-oo-oon follow a bit more closely to the rules of rock and roll. Riffs are the foundation for them to build ecstatic clutter on top, not the other way around.
The riff on "Forever" is tremendous. It's a great, sludgy psychedelic sound, the riff just chopping away, again and again for 9 minutes. Raccoo-oo-oon don't have to play heavy to sound good, though, as the soft sounding "On the Roof" is a great ode to morning, as gentle notes drip off the electric guitar, like the sunrise hitting the grass.
While guitar is the focus of a lot of songs, saxophone is also used heavily, and it gets its own song in "Under the Deck." The mix of hard rock drumming and the slow, harsh sax tones build the tension until it lashes out, chugging forward with hard, trilling notes.
While the songs are very rock, the influence of primitivism is still profound. The vocals on the opening track, "Cave of Spirits," are a jackal-like howl, with fast, aggressive drums spinning the cries into a dizzying whirlwind. Loud, thick guitar provides the pounding beat for Native American chants on "Stick Eaters" before the song devolves (or rather evolves!) into the most delicate electric guitar part.
This melange of hard guitar, crazy sax, and primal grunting makes the band seem much more punk rock than those directly before them. But unlike Magik Markers, they can actually thrash. (Fakejazz)
Woods
http://www.fuckittapes.com/woods.htm (http://www.fuckittapes.com/woods.htm)
Woods began in the woods, at the foot of Bear Mountain. In the earliest days, it was a collaborative improvisational group with two core members and several guests, known as "woodsists." Shortly thereafter, Jeremy Earl and Christian DeRoeck emerged from the woods, dusted themselves off, and began to walk upright. The two woodsists immersed themselves in human culture, learned to craft a melody, to wield a tambourine, to construct a crude phonograph from spare bicycle parts. They learned the value of a cassette. Jeremy and Christian returned to the woods and shared their newfound knowledge with the other woodsists. The result was Woods, songs and improvisations by outsiders, inspired by the human experience.
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Clavius Productions presents a very special event in the Warehouse Black Box Theatre. This one will probably sell out, so get there early!
Saturday, May 20
Warehouse Black Box Theatre
1019 7th St NW WDC
http://www.warehousetheater.com (http://www.warehousetheater.com)
$8, all ages
doors at 9:30, show at 10:30
Thrones (Kill Rock Stars, Joe Preston of Earth/Melvins/High On Fire)
Growing (heavy guitar/bass drone duo, Kranky/Troubleman)
Alasehir (mem. of Bardo Pond playing improv psych)
Thrones
http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/thrones/ (http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/thrones/)
http://www.southernlord.com/thrones/ (http://www.southernlord.com/thrones/)
Joe fuckin' Preston!!!! Need we say more??! The man has the burliest resume in the history of heavy:
?EARTH
?Melvins 1991-1992, played bass on: Lysol, Nightgoat 7". Not to mention a solo EP that was released along with Buzzo and Dale's. Also featured on the DVD Salad Of A Thousand Delights.
?The Whip 2001-2002: played guitar in this band with former members of Karp.
?Thrones 1996-present: Thrones is the "solo project" of Joe Preston. Thrones features all instruments. Including bass, drums, vocals, and synth performed by Joe Preston.
?SunnO))) 2002-2004: played on both Sunno))) albums White 1 and White 2. Played a multitude of instruments on these albums including bass, vocals, and drum machine programming.
?High On Fire 2004-2006: joined High On Fire for their summer 2004 tour. Also played bass on the latest recording Blessed Black Wings.
In underground music circles, the name "Thrones" has become synonymous with the amplifier-worshipping one-man thunderfuckery of Joe Preston. Which is handy, because Thrones is Joe Preston. His musical career can be traced back through the early '90s, when he played bass for those twin Northwestern pillars of de-tuned slo-mo indie-metal, the Melvins and Earth. In fact, one might say Preston first codified the mondo disturbo aesthetic that would become Thrones when he recorded the Joe Preston EP in 1992 (in homage to flash-metal queens KISS, each member of the Melvins released a solo joint with his own Chevy Chase airbrushed on the cover), but to that assertion Preston would undoubtedly reply, "Give me a break." In fact, he sort of did. Apparently, he's not particularly fond of those days.
Regardless of his past affiliations, Preston has been referred to in these very pages as a "Viking Tornado," which is as befitting a description as one could imagine -- assuming that person has an affinity for the kind of robo-metal/blast-beat disco/vocoder hell that only Thrones can deliver. (J Bennett)
Growing
http://www.growingsound.com (http://www.growingsound.com)
Growing evolved out of two bands, Joe Denardo from Black Man White Man Dead Man and Kevin Doria from 1000 A.D., in Olympia, WA. in the fall of 2001. Joe Denardo moved from Chicago to Olympia and helped operate the Thin The Herd label with Zack Carlson, which released early material from Vaz and Total Shutdown. Eryn Ross joined to make Growing a trio. Moving from hardcore towards something slower and more expansive the band played around its hometown and up and down the West Coast of the United States. The first Growing release was a 7-inch single on the Nail in the Coffin label.
Growing played in a variety of settings and contexts, from art galleries to hardcore all-ages shows. The group has arranged quadraphonic sound installations and lugged stacks onto a stage. Growing have made soundtracks for videos (most recently a project for continuous two channel video and multichannel sound installation with Lisa Darms) and often play accompanied by Denardo's photographs. Growing self-released a number of cassettes of music.
After a tip from Paul Dickow of Strategy, who played a show with Growing and was struck by their quadraphonic sound environment, Kranky began the process of releasing the debut Growing album in spring 2003. The Sky's Run Into The Sea came out in August 2003. As Denardo described the recording process, "We recorded the record with a friend, so the atmosphere was very laid back and cheap, this was long before Kranky decided to put it out. It took place over three months, but mostly because of equipment failure. Since it was winter it rained a lot."
Otis Hart described the nature of the band's music in Dusted: "Reach for an initial word, a label -- say Doom Metal -- then watch, as the demonic guitars slowly morph into demonstrative bliss. Drone may come a bit closer to the truth, but only slightly, as silence plays an equally significant role in the proceedings. Alas, Growing's anomalous sounds dwell in perpetual nigh-fidelity, permeating the gaps between equalizer settings with evasive intent, frustrating any attempt at optimization, and therefore, classification."
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Clavius Productions presents:
Sunday, May 21
Warehouse Black Box Theatre
1019 7th St NW WDC
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Mêlèe (mem. of Graveyards, trumpet/cello/percussion trio from Detroit/NYC)
The Cutest Puppy In The World (DC improv)
Slim Castle (DC experimental solo guitarist, ex-Kohoutek)
Mêlèe
Mêlèe is Nate Wooley (trumpet), Ben Hall (percussion), and Hans Buetow (cello). Together this trio has formed compositional strategies for new music street-fights where everything is fair but with a pugilist's sense of decorum. The group's collective interest in extremes in
dynamics, timbre, and instrumental techniques points to their association with players as diverse as Anthony Braxton, Wolf Eyes, Steve Swell, Hair Police, Faruq Z. Bey, and Jack Wright. Their kitchen-sink, "it's not all good," (but it all counts) approach to sound is not so much reductionist or minimalist but more topiary in
their music's regard to finding the compositional shape in the shrub and then pruning it back to essential elements. All of the normal signposts are there: Feldman, Dixon, Coleman, Ayler, Messiaen, and Webern, but interests in industrial sound, black metal, and ethno-folkloric music brings out quite a different articulation of
attention.
Hans Buetow: Based in Detroit, Michigan, improvising cellist and bassist Hans Buetow attended Bennington College where he graduated
with a composition degree in the spring of 2004. While a student, he studied and played music with Anthony Coleman, Kitty Brazelton, and Milford Graves. Upon graduation he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he now lives and plays with a variety of improvisers including John Olson, Double Leopards, Jeff Arnal, John Voigt, Philip Wofford, Alberto Braida, C. Spencer Yeh, and Giancarlo Locatelli. His current project, Graveyards, a trio with Ben Hall and John Olson, recently completed a tour in support of their newly released LP Vulture's Banquet on brokenresearch. Mr. Buetow also has recordings on labels Gods of Tundra and American Tapes.
Ben Hall: b. 1973, Detroit, MI. Ben Hall received his bachelor's degree at Bennington College where he studied with Randy Neal and Milford Graves. Previous to that, Hall played in jazz, free jazz, and noise groups in Detroit with such local luminaries as Faruq Z. Bey, Blue Dog
(Knitting Factory), Jumma Santos, Northwoods Improvisers, and a variety of pre-Wolf Eyes John Olson groups including his long-standing Graveyards group which closed No Fun Fest 2006 in NYC and included C. Spencer Yeh, Greg Kelley, and Chris Corsano. Hall has also played and/or recorded with Blaise Siwula, Jeff Arnal, Peter Kowald, John Voigt, Katt Hernandez, and Tatsuya Nakatani. Hall has also composed and arranged for dance for Keith Thompson, Brendan McCall, and Susan Sgorbati.
Nate Wooley: Nate currently resides in Jersey City, NJ and performs solo trumpet improvisations as well as with his trio Blue Collar with Steve Swell and Tatsuya Nakatani. He has also performed regularly with Anthony Braxton, Bhob Rainey, Alessandro Bosetti, Fritz Welch,
Herb Robertson, Kevin Norton, Tony Malaby, Randy Peterson, Scott Rosenberg, Matt Moran, Chris Speed, Andrew D'Angelo, Tim Barnes, Okkyung Lee, Assif Tsahar, and other improvisation greats.
The Cutest Puppy In The World
http://www.questionthetruth.com/noise/cutestpuppy/ (http://www.questionthetruth.com/noise/cutestpuppy/)
The Cutest Puppy In The World is the vehicle of Bryan Rhodes (piano, analog synthesizers, and combo organ) and Layne Garrett (guitar, bass clarinet, thumb piano, kora, et al.). Based out of the Baltimore/Washington DC area, the two create a hermetic, contained sound that evokes an otherwordly urban landscape at 3:00 am, dark alleyways that are simultaneously sinister and strangely familiar and welcoming. The band??s spare arrangements are often about space, but not necessarily wide open space; there is always something of the closed in, the claustrophobic. And not about silence either for even though the instrumentation can be very sparse and minimal, there is always something going on even if it is just a quivering hum. Rhodes?? constant background of subtle activity helps to balance Garrett??s occasionally more violent outbursts but the disc??s finest moments occur when the tension between these elements is temporarily held in abeyance in an uneasy peace ("Yugen Gracehopper", and "Wu-Men Koan"). The recordings that comprise Finfolk were taken from two performances in Washington DC, one on-air at community radio station Radio CPR (in November, 2005), and one earlier at The Warehouse Next Door (June, 2005) and come housed in a slim DVD keepcase with a cleverly surreal cover image by local artist Joe Mills.
The November, 2005 set starts off with "Sordomutics" in which spare piano chords punctuate hovering loops to form a hypnotic base while guitar feedback and a plaintive bass clarinet weave in and out. Eventually the clarinet and piano follow each other around in a spiraling crescendo before subsiding back to their creepy saunter. "Yugen Gracehopper" starts in a squeal and roar of billowing clouds of guitar scrape and wind. Plucked semi-detuned strings seesaw against a menacing background deep synthesizer hum at first slowly, then picking up steam as they plunge headlong into the thicket. The smoke clears to reveal a vibrato laden serpentine slide guitar figure that enters Tom Carter territory in short order. In fact it??s hard not to hear the echoes of Charalambides here albeit slightly darker in its formulation. Things get a bit noisier over the next few tracks, regaining that sublime middle ground halfway through the closer "Olold Arcadian" only to be swallowed by a spastic guitar that kicks up the volume into thunderheads of clangor that collapse into a darkly ambient coda.
The June 2005 set begins with "Nangen Cuts The Cat In Two" which starts out as the soundtrack to a conjurer??s performance in a small village in the countryside before very restrained percussive piano and clarinet lead each other into the submerged Chinese opera of "Three Pounds of Flax." The crowning achievement of the set has to be the gorgeously balanced dance of "Wu-Men Koan" with its shimmering slide guitar, creaking attic piano rumble and glistening bells. A beautiful din arises only to be led away from the precipice by the re-emergence of slide and lyrical piano.
The one annoying thing about the mastering on the disc is the insertion of a second of silence between each track disturbing the seamless flow of the performances. However, that is a small price to pay for such consistently inventive and lovely compositions rendered with the utmost care. The Cutest Puppy In The World may sound nothing like their name, but that??s exactly why you should be paying attention to Finfolk. (Steve Rybicki, Fake Jazz)
Slim Castle
http://www.myspace.com/slimcastle (http://www.myspace.com/slimcastle)
http://www.socketscdr.com/ (http://www.socketscdr.com/)
Sprawling and lush guitar, atmospheric electronics, and genre-bending sound that's accessible. Like an aphrodisiacal sonic cocktail of Kevin Shields, Robert Fripp, and Richard Thompson.
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Can you get advanced tickets for Warehouse shows?
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nope. unfortuantely, it's first come, first serve. which show(s) are you curious about?
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Originally posted by snailhook:
nope. unfortuantely, it's first come, first serve. which show(s) are you curious about?
There's a Beirut show on 8/23 posted in the Just Announced thread. I'm thinking there might be a large turnout considering the hype.
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it's going to be hard to tell with that one. i booked it knowing that there is a growing buzz about them. curtains (chris from deerhoof) and get him eat him are the openers. it's also a wednesday.
just get there early. at this point, i doubt 150 people will show up for it, but you never know.
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Clavius Productions presents:
Sunday, June 4
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9
The Sound of Urchin (mem. of Moistboyz)
Pink Mountaintops (mem. of Black Mountain, Jagjaguwar)
Catfish Haven (from Chicago, Secretly Canadian)
Benjy Ferree (fantastic DC singer/songwriter, recently signed to Domino)
The Sound of Urchin
http://www.soundofurchin.com/ (http://www.soundofurchin.com/)
Since the release of their first EP in 2000, and through 2002??s You Are The Best, The Sound of Urchin have been hell-bent with their goal of total world domination. The band has toured incessantly, gathering a rabid cult following that will travel anywhere to get their "Urchin F*cking Rock" fix, and will trade anything to get CD copies of live Urchin shows. SOU has also toured with a diverse group of artists like Tenacious D, Ween, North Mississippi Allstars, Mike Watt, Cracker, Cobra Verde, and The Ziggens. "We even went out on the Deep Purple, Dio and Scorpions tour," says lead singer/drummer Tomato. "To have Ronnie James Dio come up and tell us to ??keep the rock n?? roll flame going?? was just insane. We had beers with Dio! That was huge!" Now comes the release of The Sound of Urchin??s ambitious and extremely ass-kicking new album, The Diamond due out in April on Hybrid Recordings. "This is the big rock record we??ve always wanted to make," Tomato enthuses. "The Diamond is a totally new phase for the band. There??s still the Urchin vibe and diversity, but our main objective for the album was to make a very focused record, capturing the energy and passion of our live show and the duel lead guitar attack of B-ill and Seahag."
"We embrace so many different styles of music and our influences are constantly growing," he continues. "Not to generalize, but songs written today seem more like commercials. Maybe a little individuality squeaks through, but for the most part, everything sounds the same, so compartmentalized. Bands that influenced us were always searching for, and finding, different kinds of songs from one record to the next. That??s where the mystery of rock n?? roll comes from."
Searching for a producer who could crystallize its many influences and fine tune the songs that would become The Diamond, The Sound of Urchin chose to work with melodic power pop maestro Adam Schlesinger (founding member of Fountains of Wayne and Ivy). "Adam was the perfect producer to help us make this record," says Tomato. "He brought out elements in our music that we didn??t see, and his relaxed, yet meticulous, production technique really captured the Urchin spirit onto tape." The Diamond was recorded at Stratosphere Studios in Manhattan and features two guest performances: Former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha appears on the track "Blown Away" and Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister guests on "The Jack O?? Lantern."
Though a New York City-based band, The Sound of Urchin met through mutual friends in the surprisingly musically fertile town of New Hope, PA. "New Hope is a place people visit to go antique shopping," Tomato offers, "but it??s also an incredible community of rock musicians who get together and jam all the time." A "drummer by birth" who writes songs obsessively, Tomato spent years drumming for many other bands before realizing his heart wasn??t into being the drummer for someone else??s musical vision. "I decided to go out on my own and start something that could be a vehicle for the songs I??d been writing. When we put this band together, it was just natural that I would sing and play drums," he says. It was in the formative stages of Urchin that the band met New Hope resident, Dean Ween, who became a mentor, co-producing Sound of Urchin??s first EP and helping the band find it's way through the music industry. Tomato and B-ill also play in Dean Ween's side band, The Moistboyz.
Looking over the 11 tracks listed on The Diamond -- with titles like "Police Helicopters Over Brooklyn," "There Are People In The Clouds," "The Door," "The Jack-O-Lantern," and "Dracula Bite" -- it??s clear that The Urchin's abstract vibe remains intact. However, Tomato's songs weigh much more on the personal side, and are more direct and immediate than on the previous albums. "The Urchin has one main philosophy," Tomato states. "We will never write the same song twice; we are always finding new ways to keep our creativity alive. Once you stop growing, you're done. That simple thought is more important than anything when it comes to making music. And for this album, we all had one of the most brutal winters ever in NYC: All our friends were out of jobs, the music industry was suffering, we were at war, it was 8 degrees everyday, etc, etc. I was writing songs to make it through the winter, trying to shed some light on it, and knowing that someday spring would pop up and put us back on our feet."
The Diamond also captures the unpredictable energy of an Urchin live show. "We??re a loud guitar band, with two of the best lead guitarists on the planet! We also have a classic rock vibe in the sense that we change the set every night and extend some of the songs into improv jams," says Tomato. "We never use set lists and we??re always off-the-cuff. I??ll call out songs from the drum kit, and that??s how we go. Rock n?? roll is supposed to be spontaneous. Sometimes there??s that element of danger where you feel like you don??t know what??s going to happen next -- we take the crowd on a ride! That's what it's all about!"
Ultimately though, Tomato believes The Diamond is an album for music fans: "We mean everything we say, every note we play, and we show our passion on this album. We believe in rock n?? roll, and we want to ROCK, no matter how silly that might sound. Rock is not an ironic thing to us, it is our life. We all grew up wanting to play music more than anything...sitting in our rooms, listening to our favorite records, turning up the stereo and playing along with the music. Now that we??ve got our hardcore fanbase together, we hope The Diamond will get our sound out to more music fans. This is the Sound of Urchin, right here."
Pink Mountaintops
http://www.thewaxmuseum.bc.ca/jwab/ (http://www.thewaxmuseum.bc.ca/jwab/)
http://www.jagjaguwar.com/pinkmountaintops/ (http://www.jagjaguwar.com/pinkmountaintops/)
If you measure every human act or expression as some manifestation of our hard-wired propensity to have sex, survive, and spread our genetic junk around, you could be labeled a Darwinist. And they seemingly come in all sizes and shapes: economic and literary Darwinists, evolutionary psychologists and biologists, and, paradoxically, creationist-leaning conservatives, to name a few. Unwittingly, then, those kind rock journalists out there who have summed up the music of Pink Mountaintops as being all about sex have fallen into the same age-old trap of oversimplification (for which we are partially to blame). The desire is for everything to be in a neat little box, much like the variously configured Darwinists out there would prefer that everything we do be explained by just one simple and powerful idea. But what is real and true in the world does not work like that, we humbly believe. Yeah, you may express, with a wink, that you know what the "pink mountaintops" are all about. Perhaps you can fuck them, both literally and figuratively. But we'd maintain that you can't put your hands around these mountaintops. No, because these mountaintops are unreachable. You can't measure them. You can't know them or neatly dissect them. You can't possess them. All you can do is look at them. And, hopefully, having gazed on them, you'll come to the realization that you can think about them in more than one way.
Pink Mountaintops is Stephen McBean (and also many of his friends when the full band is assembled to play live). McBean has been in numerous groups over the last two decades. As a thirteen-year old, he played in a band called Jerk Ward, playing hardcore influenced by the Neos, Discharge, Crucifix and whoever else was fast or the fastest. His other bands to date have been a straight-out punk outfit, a crusty punk/metal band, and, most recently, a psych-tinged maximal rock group whose self-titled debut record, Black Mountain, captured a great amount of critical acclaim (and meteorically became Jagjaguwar's best-selling title.) With Axis of Evol, Pink Mountaintops' second full-length record, McBean has once again created something much greater than the sum of his influences. Axis of Evol begins with a forboding spiritual called "Comas," the kind that McBean and only a very few other songwriters of this generation could pull off. It includes the tone-setting lyrical phrase "I have been wrestling a dead angry deer, and she is still with me after all of these years." The record then almost immediately ramps up into a thumping, buzzing, blissful haze, at various parts sounding like the Velvet Underground or Spacemen 3 or the Jesus and Mary Chain circa Psycho Candy. And at the end, the album then segues into a hypnotic, Smog-like meditation called "How We Can Get Free." Throughout the record, McBean sings about love and war, the love of war, and the war of love -- on the body, on the mind and on the soul. Home-recorded and largely self-produced, Axis of Evol is a further testament to the vital prolificacy of Stephen McBean. His mind, body and soul have once again created something that can't be simply measured, coded or decoded. Experience it, then think about it in more than one way.
SONG LIST:
Comas
Cold Criminals
New Drug Queens
Slaves
Plastic Man, You're The Devil
Lord, Let Us Shine
How We Can Get Free
Catfish Haven
http://www.catfishhaven.com/ (http://www.catfishhaven.com/)
"Catfish Haven's debut EP, Please Come Back, is a surprisingly poignant ode to the innocent hedonism of youth...their music eschews hipster irony for earnestness, channeling Buddy Holly and Del Shannon as opposed to the Standells. In fact, standout cuts like "You Can Have Me" and the blistering title cut show a band with both heart and soul, both of which are the only true benchmarks for rock & roll longevity." (All Music Guide)
"This is soul music for future generations of rowdy rustic types, and when singer George Hunter proclaims "I??m down on bended knee," with his raspy wail, we learn that the Midwestern trailer-park-born reincarnation of Otis Redding is a white kid strumming the shit out of his acoustic guitar...Catfish Haven have put together a mighty portrait of a band musically going for broke." (CMJ)
"On the title track's searing rave-up, staccato emotive bursts get swept up in a tide of concisely pounding percussion and stately rhythm guitar. Projecting from the diaphragm without overselling the memorable melody, Hunter's voice can crank up like a lawnmower or suddenly dip into bluesy melancholy with equal facility, and on this track in particular he belts like Van Morrison at his amped-up best. But this isn't his only register. On the smoldering dirge "Crying Shame," Hunter trades his exuberance for a sinister theatricality á la Nick Cave, dragging the last word of each line over infernal embers. Both styles find purchase on "Madelin," as whining string bends and a diabolically distressed "whoa" suddenly let out into winsome, clattering rock. Take away quirky instrumentation, genre experiments, and yelping vocals; what's left in the modern guitar band's arsenal? Catfish Haven remind us: Tuneful, passionate singing, lucid songwriting, and engaging riffs." (Pitchforkmedia)
Benjy Ferree
http://benjyferree.com/ (http://benjyferree.com/)
Benjy Ferree may hail from our nation??s capital, but his real inspiration seems to come from across the Atlantic. His debut EP Leaving the Nest suggests nothing so much as an American take on the upbeat acoustic pop concocted by Paul McCartney and Ray Davies. While there are certainly elements of Americana in Ferree??s sound -- plaintive fiddles, out-of-tune harmonicas, and a Johnny Cash cover ("A Little at a Time") -?? his sing-song melodies clearly owe much to his British forbears. Hints of Davies and early Marc Bolan also shine through in his vocal delivery, while the plentiful backing harmonies that populate the album have Beatles written all over them.
Luckily, Ferree is a strong enough performer to keep Leaving the Nest from feeling like mere homage. Despite being only 26 minutes long, the album makes an uncommonly strong impression. Ferree has a clear gift for fashioning hooky melodies, and each track contains a surplus. The musical ground covered here is considerable as well: not content to settle with one memorable motif, Ferree delivers up several at a time by dividing his songs up into clearly distinct but coherent sections, consistently throwing out enough melodic ideas to keep things interesting. The title track, for one, shifts between a George Harrison-inspired slide guitar lead, a bluesy droning verse, and a sing-along chorus: the elements seem irreconcilably different, but somehow Ferree manages to stitch them all together.
Leaving the Nest is most impressive due to its density: Ferree crams into 26 minutes a wealth of melodies and hooks to make most full-length LPs look dull in comparison. It??s idyllic and upbeat without being sappy (complete with two whistling solos), comfortably familiar and yet well-executed enough to merit a listen even from the most jaded pair of ears. Benjy Ferree may not have a particularly unique or innovative sound, but he??s clearly hit on a winning formula. (Michael Cramer, Dusted)
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Clavius Productions presents:
Monday, June 5
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Nudity (ex-Tight Bros From Way Back When/Dub Narcotic/Two Ton Boa/Behead the Prophet)
Triple Burner (mem. of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and featuring acoustic guitar wizard Harris Newman, from Montreal)
Pup Ten (DC post-punk a la Mission Of Burma and Wire, mem. of DCIC/Sarah Azzara)
from the Washington City Paper:
By counterculture-fashion-trend-longevity standards, the recent resurgence of gingham, empire-waist dresses, and commune beards on the music scene should have faded faster than junkie chic. Yet, the latest wave in a seemingly endless stream of indie psychedelic bands continuously manages to keep the hippie-look both hip and relevant by dutifully kicking out the jams of their forebears. And when it comes to keepin?? on keepin?? on, Nudity knows what it takes to really go the distance: sitars and congas. Led by former Tight Bros From Way Back When guitarist Dave Harvey, Nudity has a sound that??while certainly psychedelic??is decidedly dashiki. Still, the band??s not to be pigeonholed (even in such an obscure-to-the-point-of-nonexistent genre), and their recent EP features songs such as ??The Nightfeeders? that venture into krautrock-esque territory. (Imagine Comets on Fire with restrained guitars and a motorik beat.) Get your be-in on when Nudity performs with Triple Burner at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $8. (202) 783-3933. (David Dunlap Jr.)
Triple Burner
http://www.harrisnewman.com/tripleburner.html (http://www.harrisnewman.com/tripleburner.html)
Harris Newman is one of the most diverse guitarists to emerge in the last 10 years and Bruce Cawdron is most notably known as the drummer for Godspeed You Black Emperor. Together they've both played as Esmerine with Beckie Foon of A Silver Mt. Zion, and without her, the duo has released their first album as Triple Burner.
Their debut album sounds more like one continuous performance: like a concert in various movements. It starts quiet -?? very, very quiet ??- and from the first real full song, "The Wherewithal," it seems as if this duo is going to head down a more languid Esmerine-like path: with Cawdron bowing the marimba to the serene notes of Newman's guitar. Things are still calm by the start of "Roundabout" but they build in volume, intensity, and pace, with Cawdron fully engaged in the hand and malleted percussion. By the song's end the duo are blazing at a lightning pace, and the energy is maintained more or less throughout the rest of the disc.
I don't know if Bruce is playing the plastic spoons at the beginning of "Bride of Bad Attitude" but this song is a distinct turning point in styles for Harris. Whereas before the guitar playing was more in line with the sort of new folk sounds coming out of people's guitars like James Blackshaw or Ben Chasny, "Bride" looks south of the Mason-Dixon line, with a Kentucky Bluegrass tinge, and by the next song, "Wall Socket Protector," the train-like snare drumming from Cawdron matches the piercing slide guitar in a very Mississippi Blues manner.
Although the serenity returns for the most on the nearly 14-minute "The Pulse of Parc Ex," it sounds as if Bruce has built his drumset up, piece by piece, with either cymbals or cymbal-sound producers (you can never tell with this guy). The song naturally progresses between the quiet and more moderately paced playing, never quite getting out of hand, leading naturally into the closer "Regresso," which echoes "Wall Socket Protector" with a much more complete drumset in the hands of Bruce.
Newman and Cawdron are excellent players but they clearly work well with each other: Newman's playing is fantastic but a guitarist needs something more to make the sound a little more full without becoming a complete distraction. With the flood of new folksters it's becoming hard to keep up but thankfully Newman doesn't look like he's planning on getting lost in the shuffle. It's a perfect time now to catch up with Esmerine and Newman's solo releases (see Strange Attractors) and those lucky enough to live in the Northeast US and Canada can catch them on the road in the next few weeks. (Jon Whitney)
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Damn! I wish that I could get down to see The Pink Mountaintops.
Somebody go for me, please.
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I'm going to try to get to the Pink Mountaintops show. Snailhook, are they 2nd on the bill or headlining? I'd rather not stay out too terribly late since I have a couple other shows this week.
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kurosawa, pink mountaintops are playing third, for 40-45 minutes. sound of urchin is headlining, which is good for you because they're not that great and will allow people to see PM before the metro closes. PM should be on from about 10:30-11:15. they will definitely be done by 11:30.
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y'all should've shaken off the sunday night doldrums and made it out for pink mountaintops. very good stuff, and there was actually a pretty nice crowd there too. take one killer riff, half spacemen 3/half velvets (with just a pinch of stones), add plenty of percussion, including multiple tambourines, and lots of backing vocals, repeat, repeat, repeat. great druggy music but without being so over-the-top druggy, like the warlocks can get at times. i actually like 'em a little better than black mountain. less "interesting," perhaps, but they sure do that one thing they do very well.
catfish haven was a pleasant surprise, too. straight up bar band indie rock; not like the hold steady, but just power chords and stompin', catchy stuff.
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what BookerT said. i think i still prefer black mountain a wee bit more -- they're slightly heavier and more eclectic -- but pink mountaintops were very consistent and catchy. the warlocks comparison is accurate, though PM are not quite as slow.
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Clavius Productions presents a very special evening with two up-and-coming California bands in the vein of Comets On Fire and Mudhoney. Vincent Black Shadow just got "album of the month" on Julian Cope's website Head Heritage. And local noise merchants Facemat will tear it up, with a special guest from Kohoutek on percussion. A Sunday night not to be missed:
Sunday, June 11
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Residual Echoes (Holy Mountain, heavy garage psych from Santa Cruz CA)
Mammatus (Holy Mountain, stoner psych from Santa Cruz CA)
Facemat (DC improv noise/psych)
Vincent Black Shadow (Baltimore garage psych)
Residual Echoes
http://www.holymountain.com/echoes.htm (http://www.holymountain.com/echoes.htm)
The Residual Echoes were formed by Adam Payne after he moved to Santa Cruz and met the encouraging forces of Ethan Miller (Comets on Fire) and Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance). They have blossomed into one of that city's finest groups. Their sound is a vibrant collage of everything that has ever happened in music, all deftly manipulated and manicured by Mr. Payne into some of the most farfreaking-out jams ever heard.
Santa Cruz, California -- known for abandoned military bases where rumors persist of strange mind control experiments a la Montauk -- is an area that was at one time the "serial killer capitol of the world." I know, I missed that sign, too. Anyway, you've got these mountains full of getting-away-from-the-city-type cults and communes rife with pure magical evil and ritual sacrifices. Whoa, Maury Terry; hold on there, Preston Nichols -- what's this got do with a high-energy psychedelic rock band? Have you heard about these experimental drugs that afflict enemy soldiers with intense halitosis, or cause their hair to fall out, or the one that makes everyone super-horny? This album is like a really small dose of that kind of drug. Go to one of their shows. The band gets crazy and the people who see them get even crazier.
Phoenecian Flu And Ancient Ocean is another seething mish-mash of psychedelia, krautrock and free-noise -- the perfect follow-up to last year's highly regarded self-titled debut LP. Partially self-recorded and partially recorded in the studio, Phoenecian Flu and Anciet Ocean is full of absolutely staggering material. The endless riff-sanity of "Death Comes for the Archbishop" is followed by billowing smoke, then a fuzzy-wuzzy pop number that finally shoots itself when the smell of smoke turns out to be an amp that was on far too loud for far too long. That piece of reverbed noise insanity might've been all were it not for the depraved psychedelic dub and Monoshock tribute that follows. Odes to the acoustic guitar and former gods of the six-string close the album. What does it sound like? Everything and nothing, baby.
Mammatus
http://www.mammatus.org/ (http://www.mammatus.org/)
Whoa, heavy!! This is a whole-body-vibrating, brain-melting, serious amplifier-worship ceremony! The first time I (Allan) saw these guys, last year sometime at the Hemlock here in San Francisco, I was blown away...I'd been told they were a heavy "stoner rock" outfit from Santa Cruz and worth checking out, but I didn't realize they were gonna be quite so AMAZING. Hairy backwoods hippy dudes, the drummer wearing what looked to be a home-made Whysp t-shirt, guitars turning the air to cottage cheese a la Blue Cheer while creating a trance-zone worthy of Finland's Circle!! So good that I immediately bought the live cd-r they were selling...we were gonna try to get some for the store, in fact, but then we found out that local label Holy Mountain run by our pal JW was on the case already and would be issuing Mammatus's debut studio full-length CD Stateside (with Rocket Recordings, home to the most recent Ufomammut, putting it out in Europe).
So yeah, heavy stoner rock this is, but waaay psychedelic and Hawkwindy, kinda like what maybe you thought Circle side-project Pharaoh Overlord was gonna (and sometimes does) sound like. Loud, massive and mesmerizing, swirling sludge psych! Their songs, often of epic length, are ever chugging skyward, dripping molten goo, full of feedback and fx. Their energetic riffage and warm drones are adorned by drifting vox (not unlike Dead Meadow, with whom they share certain proclivities) and fantastic, metallic, progtastic imagery. Take note of titles like "Dragon Of The Deep" (parts one and two!) and the Roger Dean-esque cover art by Arik "Moonhawk" Roper.
Further musical comparisions aren't hard to come up with -- Mammatus belong in the company of such bastions of cosmic heaviness as Sleep, Boris, YOB, Ufomammut, Earthless, old Monster Magnet, Acid Mothers Temple (at AMT's heaviest, like on Starless & Bible Black Sabbath), Tarantula Hawk, and even Amon Duul (especially on the druggy, krautrocky jam "The Outer Rim"). And of course they're now labelmates with OM, which also makes perfect sense. If you love many, or even just any, of those bands and the sounds they make, this comes highly recommended. (Aquarius Records)
Vincent Black Shadow
http://www.heartbreakbeatrecords.com/ (http://www.heartbreakbeatrecords.com/)
"...Moreover, with regard to the sound made by Vincent Black Shadow, their unrighteous Israeli Wall of Sound issuing forth behind this Great Stone Eater is an ultra confident stop-start micro-Detroit machine-shop of the highest order, nay the newest order! Mix one part of Blue Cheer??s ??Out Of Focus?? with two parts early Pa Ubu (??Non Alignment Pact?? via ??Cloud 149??), then filter all through Beefheart??s ??Moonlight On Vermont??. Drain and serve on a bed of Terry Knight production values, and you got this debut LP by Vincent Black Shadow...
VINCENT BLACK SHADOW is a monumental debut, and damn me if it ain??t righteous the way they bring in the whole ship and cargo at just over thirty minutes. Place yourselves in central Greece, brothers??n??sisters, for that is where our tale ??The Legend of Side A?? begins with ??Child Of Orion??. High on the broken battlements of Orchemenos sits the heroic bearded figure of Bobcat Rufus Platt, each drum having been hefted, dragged, threatened and cajoled up to the citadel from the Boeotian Plain below. Bobcat commences a massive soul stomp in the Don Brewer/Scott Krauss manner, and wakes from its slumber the whole of Boeotia, home of Orion. And it??s up here high upon the citadels of Orchomenos, ancient capital of Boeotia, that we first glimpse Brother Black Savage searching frantically at the foot of the dusty dry-stone walling for the eyes of his blinded father Orion. Insurgents armed with solid-body-six-strings join Bobcat high on the citadel and proceed to lambaste the scenery with the kind of braying Glitter Band-plays-kazoo marching band guitar snarl that was at its height of popularity in the early post-Christian late 1960s, but which continued to inform the rock genre until the middle of the 22nd century, via the accidental re-discovery in 2078 of the DEVOTION LP, an unlikely 1970 hybrid proto-metal doom epic from the pre-Mahavishnu??d mind of John McLaughlin during his forgotten Black Sabbath-informed period on Douglas Records. That??s Outer Dave Litz standing in the doorway, his dreadlocked longhair streaked with dry egg and cereal, for he is the Guitar Muncher and often makes his most beautiful sounds when he??s eating the strings. Parallel with Outer is his shorthaired be-shaded counterpart Dan Van Owen. When he??s strangling hoary clichés out of his axe, some call him just Dan Owen, but it??s the ??van?? of vanguard that is the key to this man. And when Dan kicks his middle name into gear, The Van accelerates to new heights. Over this fully-loaded twin fuzz Mekong Delta soul stomp, Adam Black Savage fesses up to being the grandson of Poseidon and the son of that great Boeotian hunter who took so much shit from Apollo and Dionysus. It??s a barbarian classic, if you??ll ??scuse the oxymoron. The ducking and diving triple riffing of ??Real Wood?? kicks in next, a raging Tiger B. Smith dumb punkathon, with stop-start rhythms somewhat akin to ??I Want, Need, Love You?? by the legendary Australian band The Black Diamonds, but played harder as though by ABSOLUTELY FREE-period Mothers. That bass ??- what the fuck? A single torn 8" speaker cone mike??d up by someone??s home tape recorder??s microphone. Is the Savage yelling ??It??s hard work?? or ??Sod work!?? Both ways is fine by me, as bottleneck guitars and blistered bluesy fuzz bass underpins the ??American Woman??-styled harmony twin lead. The Savage screams over and over: ??Tell me I??m a sucker, tell me I??m a sucker...?? over and over and fucking over into the ending. Then, with barely a moment??s rest: ??Heat rays is what we??ve got going on?? and the small beginning of ??Blow It Up In The Sunshine?? suddenly blows up and opens out into a flattened and shimmering motorik kraut (small ??k??) road-trip in an open-topped pre-WW2 Mercedes (black with massive fenders) in the style of Can??s ??Mother Sky?? or The Stooges?? ??Loose??; as the Savage wishes he was a lightning bug because he??s out of control, he??s out of control, he??s out of control. Then, as the urging siren guitars feedback on and into each other in pure coagulating sonic alchemy, the sky turns red and the Savage??s lupine howl announces a sunset, as the feedback guitars, panned now hard right and left, decorate the horizon with the good jismick juice. Side One concludes with ??Colours & Feelings??, a kind of one-minute instrumental ??Boris The Spider?? bass-player take on the GET CARTER-theme that swans in, does a once around the block, then sods off quick. I want more...??Ain??t No Law?? kicks off Side B like Joy Division playing a demented Hawkwind song (DOREMI-period), with FX of the Thirteen Floor Elevators persuasion, as the catchy bastard ??Ain??t no law, ain??t no law?? chorus blasts a seemingly endless repeat, that is until they slow it all down to half-speed (this is becoming an excellent habit) and THEN some (Joey Smith-stylee), as the scything schrieking feedbacking guitars howl and stratospherize the nacht into a towering ack-ack anti-aircraft gun search for enemy planes flying too high to be detected up at 50,000 feet. Then we??re off to the pure LOVE IT TO DEATH of ??Raoul??, a kind of Alice-meets-side-two-of-the-red-Grand Funk second LP. Darker than usual is the ??Legend of Sex?? with its lead bass and Terminal Lovers/Downside Special rock melody over uncanny and strange chords, eventually dropping down into another classic repeated chorus: ??Does anyone know about the body??? Some places this band go allow the bass insurgency to climb right up there freaking out alongside the guitars, leaving excellent room for a fuggy haze of chordless free-rock to hang about the air conditioning system, facilitating the entrance of the final song ??Drunk In Space?? to kick in like early Alice does with the free-rock of ??Return Of The Spiders??. ??I know no God?? bawls the Savage over a riff somewhat akin to The Stooges playing a pounding and far more remedial version of the ??School??s Out?? riff. The Savage would only need to sing ??let me in?? at this point for the Alice-Iggy Cycle to be completed, but the twin 15 minutes of this Vincent Black Shadow is already over, Brothers??n??Sisters. However, I??ll tell you this, gentlemen of the Shadow, you??ve achieved one excellent and real motherfucker of a debut. It??s hard as nails, catchy, obsessive, smart and dumber than almost everything out there. This stuff will be on the compulsory listening list in a few years?? time, of that I??m sure. You catchy motherfuckers deserve to go far." (Julian Cope, Head Heritage)
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Originally posted by snailhook:
Clavius Productions presents a very special evening with two up-and-coming California bands in the vein of Comets On Fire and Mudhoney. Vincent Black Shadow just got "album of the month" on Julian Cope's website Head Heritage. And local noise merchants Facemat will tear it up, with a special guest from Kohoutek on percussion. A Sunday night not to be missed:
Sunday, June 11
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Residual Echoes (Holy Mountain, heavy garage psych from Santa Cruz CA)
Mammatus (Holy Mountain, stoner psych from Santa Cruz CA)
Facemat (DC improv noise/psych)
Vincent Black Shadow (Baltimore garage psych)
I hope some of you are going out to enjoy and support this show. Should be an excellent evening.
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absolutely fantastic show, though nobody came out and supported it. everybody's loss...mammatus and residual echoes were both phenomenal. wolfmother wasn't even close.
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Clavius Productions presents:
Friday, June 23
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
http://www.warehousenextdoor.com (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com)
$8, all ages
doors at 9, show at 9:30
Zodiac Mountain (mem. of Wooden Wand/Davenport)
Religious Knives (mem. of Double Leopards/Mouthus)
Chris Grier (solo electric guitar, of To Live And Shave In L.A.)
Insect Factory (improv drone, mem. of Kohoutek/Go To Sleep)
Rivers In Fields (DC guitar/drums duo)
from the Washington City Paper:
It's no surprise that Joanna Newsom, Devendra banhart, and the rest of today's folk and psychedelic acts get the fun freak-out sound right: After all, one doesn't have to own too many Pentangle records to have a firm grasp on the retro instrumentation and mystical lyricism that have come to characterize nu-campfire. The true explorers of New Weird America, however, are the ones who dig a little deeper. From Delta spirituals to Chicago free jazz, from Appalachian ballads to Louisville noise, Wooden Wand Jehovah and Clay Ruby have never met a musical style they weren't ready to record. Jehovah is best known for his role as the frontman for Wooden Wand and the Vanishing voice. In that lineup -- one of several different Wooden Wand incarnations -- Jehovah is joined by singer Heidi Diehl, whose gypsy-esque wail anchors hoodoo explorations. Ruby's Davenport Family -- the most visible of his innumerable Madison, Wis.-based projects -- has a more literal wanderlust: Just one of the collective's dozens of recordings resembles a traditional studio album; the rest are outdoor field recordings from performances, happenings, and other sound experiments. Jehovah and Ruby perform together as Zodiac Mountain, and with the accompaniment of who-knows-how-many artists from their respective extended musical families, the two have set out on a course across the heartland frontier. Zodiac Mountain performs with Religious Knives, Chris Grier, Insect Factory, and Rivers in Fields at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $8. (202) 783-3933. (Kriston Capps)
Zodiac Mountain
http://www.woodenwand.net/ (http://www.woodenwand.net/)
http://www.23productions.net/ (http://www.23productions.net/)
Zodiac Mountain is Wooden Wand & Clay Ruby (Knoxville/Madison), known for fronting Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice and The Davenport
Family, respectively. For this tour, the duo (plus occasional special guests like Tovah Olson of Dead Machines and Maya Miller of Double Leopards and Religious Knives) come together to shake the demons out and let the blues muse cruise wild weekend style. In other words, anything goes! No requests for certain songs will be honored and may very well get you shoved around. The boys have been listening to tons of Hawkwind and Velvet Underground bootlegs, to give you an idea of their current mindstate (hedonism/reverence/heaviosity), and they hope maybe you can pick up what they're putting down this time around.
Religious Knives
http://www.doubleleopards.org/ (http://www.doubleleopards.org/)
Religious Knives is Maya Miller, Michael Bernstein and Nate Nelson. They spend a lot of their time playing in bands like Double Leopards, White Rock, and Mouthus, and running labels like Heavy Tapes and Our Mouth. This recent incarnation of Religious Knives has been compared to Goblin and Popul Vuh, which is chill, because who wouldn't love that? Electric Piano, Guitar, Drums, Percussion, Tapes, Effects, and plenty of Singing, Moaning, and Screaming all find themselves together at last in Brooklyn, New York. Come and love with them today.
Chris Grier
DC-based writer and member of To Live And Shave In L.A. whose guitar pieces saddle both the beautiful and bloody. His early recordings layer fuzzed-out rhythms and charming string plucking. Grier can also be found jamming around DC with Don Fleming, Big Cats, and Ultimate Vag, among others.
Insect Factory
http://www.myspace.com/insectfactory (http://www.myspace.com/insectfactory)
Solo microscopic ambient guitar drone infleunced and inspired by the likes of Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Fripp/Eno, John Fahey, and Coltrane. Hypnotic layers of drone textures.
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Clavius Productions presents a night of youthful energy running the gamut from psychedelic improv noise to fierce garage-punk:
Friday, June 30
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
http://www.warehousenextdoor.com (http://www.warehousenextdoor.com)
$7, all ages
doors at 9:30, show at 10
The Good Anna (improv guitar/drums duo from UK)
The Blizzards (avant-pop trio from NYC, mem. of Castanets/Owl Sounds/La Otracina/Lust Ionics)
Knife Crazy (garage rock from Buffalo, mem. of The Bloody Hollies)
The Good Anna
http://www.myspace.com/thegoodanna (http://www.myspace.com/thegoodanna)
The Good Anna is a free improvisation duo made up of Graham (20) on guitar, and Patrick (22) on prepared drums and amplified objects. The Good Anna came together by chance after Patrick returned from a 6 month stay in India, where he
was taught classical North Indian Tabla by Pandit Nayan Ghosh. As a result of his stay in the East, Patrick began to think about treating the drums more as textural surfaces rather than just an outlet for rhythm. During the same period Graham was taking a contrasting path to Patrick's geographical excursions, but had equally cocooned himself in study. He began absorbing a vast array of new music, furiously digesting jazz harmonic theory, performing locally to trial run fresh ideas and teaching to make ends meet, all the while constantly composing and improvising. They united in Spring 2005 with a burgeoning interest in spontaneous performance and a mutual appreciation of music such as Milford Graves, AMM, LaMonte Young, and John Coltrane. Holed up in a tiny garage in the Midlands recording all sessions on a weather beaten Dictaphone, they set about applying the knowledge they had garnered over the past year to hone their abilities for immediate __expression.
from a review of a live gig:
"Onwards to 'The Good Anna' from Nottingham who played on our festival last year and blew us all away with their power and finesse. This is a duo that combines technique (effortlessly) with the physical Grantham plays with his back Miles Davis style to the audience tonight, focusing on his amp and effects, but jerking and waving his guitar, always moving. And Porkbowl on the drums uses his whole body it seems to get the rhythms and cross rhythms pouring out in a wild, abandoned stream. I've been around, you know as Al Pacino said in 'Scent of a Woman' and I've heard some great drummers in the last year Denardo Coleman and Tony Oxley to name two world beaters (no pun intended) and this young guy is going to be a contender, mark my words. He reminds me a little of the free-jazz drummer Milford Graves in the ways that he uses his hands and other objects as well as sticks and brushes, pummeling, stroking, banging and paradiddling, elbows utilised to mute drum heads and alter timbres, feet up on them at times (interesting socks), at one point exploding whatever implement he was using a maracca or something similar (don't write in it's not that important) in a spectacular shower of dust - I was up front and am still coughing out the debris! Girdle seemed further back in the music than the last time I saw them but still contributed a fiery blaze of guitar that seems to cross from rock to free-jazz while maybe they are just playing Good Anna music screw the labels At times he had a high, squealing series of notes that reminded me of Pharoah Sanders when he used to play with Coltrane The audience were captivated throughout O.K this is 'difficult' music, but played with this intensity and vigour it proves that it can cut through to people prepared to listen."
The Blizzards
http://www.vorg.net/csr/artistsblizzards.htm (http://www.vorg.net/csr/artistsblizzards.htm)
Blizzards are a minimalist informed avant-pop trio of musicians usually dabbling in the worlds of free-jazz, noise, stewed electronics,
psychedelic-prog, blissed drones, and imaginary time music. Adam Kriney is the drummer and runs the Colour Sounds Recordings label, plays in the groups OWL XOUNDS Exploding Galaxy (one of Wire magazine's top jazz/improv releases for
2005), La Octracina, Dead Girls, Quivers, Divine Invasion, and is a touring member of Castanets and The Places. Cousins Anthony Lebron and Hektor Fontanez are both the guitarists, vocalists, and electronics wizards of the group, and they have released many dazzling solo and collaboration discs under the monikers of Twi, Liek, and Lil Humble Veli, on the Learning The Language label. Blizzards runs slower than you walk fast!
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Snailhook, what's the deal with the Vetiver show on Sunday? What time, cost, etc?
-
TONIGHT!
Clavius Productions presents:
Wednesday, July 12
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Carla Bozulich's Evangelista (Constellation)
Brandon Butler (ex-Canyon)
Dead Science (Absolutely Kosher)
with a short set by Carla's violist Anni Rossi
Carla Bozulich describes her latest record, Evangelista, as "a sound that you can open your chest with, pull out what’s inside and make it change shapes." Frankly, I think it sounds like the former Ethyl Meatplow and Geraldine Fibbers frontwoman is asking her audience to rip their hearts out of their chests, stick microphones into their still-beating ventricles, and use the damn things as drum machines. It would certainly provide an appropriately minimalist backing beat to the sparse atmospherics Bozulich and her new Constellation Records cohorts serve up on the record’s nine tracks. Yet, as Bozulich explains, "Even inside this void there is sound. You will hear it...the sound of your own pulsing blood." Pray the only human heart on display is the one Bozulich always wears on her sleeve when Carla Bozulich’s Evangelista performs with Brandon Butler, Dead Science, and Anni Rossi at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $8. (202) 783-3933. (Matthew Borlik)
Carla Bozulich's Evangelista (playing in a full band with members of GYBE and A Silver Mt Zion)
http://www.carlabozulich.com/Evangelistamenu.html (http://www.carlabozulich.com/Evangelistamenu.html)
Carla Bozulich needs no introduction. Her work with Ethyl Meatplow, The Geraldine Fibbers, Scarnella, The Red-Headed Stranger (with Willie Nelson), and many others spans over twenty years of uncompromising sound, driven by a voice and
vision that consistently delivers spine-tingling beauty, originality, and directness. You may have seen her on tour with WILCO or heard about her most recent work with members of Godspeed You Black Emperor and A Silver Mt Zion. Carla's new
album (her first on Constellation, and the label's first release by a non-regional artist) is a devastating, elegiac, brutally honest song cycle that finds her voice unleashed with
unprecedented emotive depth and determination. Evangelista is heartrending and gutwrenching, with isolation and desperation redeemed by incantatory sonics and out-reaching, soul-saving
words. One damn compelling exorcism of a record, churning and channeling out of loneliness to heal and rebuild connective tissue through sound -- pocketful of beautiful noises and loops with various guest players adding strings, guitars, drums, organ, piano, hums, and other sounds. Constellation Records.
Brando Butler
http://www.brandonbutler.net/ (http://www.brandonbutler.net/)
"The name Brandon Butler may not be familiar, but any fan of indie-rock and emo probably is aware of Butler's previous projects. He fronted one
of the most overlooked emo bands of the mid- to late-'90s, Boys Life, which produced two of the finest albums in the vein of Christie Front Drive and Mineral. One album with his next project, Farewell Bend, showed a more hooky indie-rock style with those same emo leanings. Then Butler disappeared for a while, re-emerging with his project Canyon, on which his unique vocal styles took a more country- and folk-based rock sound. Now Butler, on his own, shows a mature, strong songwriter with an extremely unique voice. Butler has a raw, whiskey-soaked voice an octave or so higher than one might expect, and while it may have sounded out of place to some in his earlier rock offerings, it fits here nicely. He has a country-esque twang that doesn't sound at all
forced, and the soft acoustic tracks speak of a harsh Midwestern life. For singer/songwriter fare, it definitely leans toward the country side
of things, but the songs here evoke the rich songwriting style of Neil Young more than Willie Nelson, and Butler pulls it off as if he's lived
a hundred years, his raw voice and stark style proving it."
Dead Science
http://www.thedeadscience.com/ (http://www.thedeadscience.com/)
With roots in jazz, art/experimental, and the more accessible side of post-rock, the band creates an enigmatic yet uniquely compelling sound which showcases vocalist SAM MICKEN's
breathtaking tenor over the group's gritty
guitar-drums-upright bass arrangements. Like experimental pop running mates Blonde Redhead, Deerhoof, and Xiu Xiu.
Absolutely Kosher Records.
Anni Rossi
http://www.myspace.com/annirossi (http://www.myspace.com/annirossi)
A girl who writes songs on the viola (with vocals ala Joanna Newsom, Regina Spektor). It's slightly out of tune, but not too much, just enough to be rough.
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Snailhook, what's the deal with the Vetiver show on Sunday? What time, cost, etc? [/b]
8:30 doors, show at 9:30, $10, two DJs
more info coming soon...
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Sad to say I'm gonna miss this...I went to 4 shows in a ROW! I'm so tired and have a cold. LOL
Originally posted by snailhook:
TONIGHT!
Clavius Productions presents:
Wednesday, July 12
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Carla Bozulich's Evangelista (Constellation)
Brandon Butler (ex-Canyon)
Dead Science (Absolutely Kosher)
with a short set by Carla's violist Anni Rossi
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Snailhook, can you book XIU XIU, please?
:)
-
Easily the most underappreciated singer recording today. I've been a huge Carla Bozulich fan since Ethyl Meatplow and I still think her albums with Geraldine Fibbers are classics. Even if you don't love her sound of the moment (she alternates between alt country, punk, and noise rock), you can't help but be seduced by her smokey vocals. Absolutely worth $8 and dragging your carcass off the couch. It'll be even better than "Rock Star: Supernova" I swear.
Originally posted by snailhook:
TONIGHT!
Clavius Productions presents:
Wednesday, July 12
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:15
Carla Bozulich's Evangelista (Constellation)
Brandon Butler (ex-Canyon)
Dead Science (Absolutely Kosher)
with a short set by Carla's violist Anni Rossi
Carla Bozulich describes her latest record, Evangelista, as "a sound that you can open your chest with, pull out what’s inside and make it change shapes." Frankly, I think it sounds like the former Ethyl Meatplow and Geraldine Fibbers frontwoman is asking her audience to rip their hearts out of their chests, stick microphones into their still-beating ventricles, and use the damn things as drum machines. It would certainly provide an appropriately minimalist backing beat to the sparse atmospherics Bozulich and her new Constellation Records cohorts serve up on the record’s nine tracks. Yet, as Bozulich explains, "Even inside this void there is sound. You will hear it...the sound of your own pulsing blood." Pray the only human heart on display is the one Bozulich always wears on her sleeve when Carla Bozulich’s Evangelista performs with Brandon Butler, Dead Science, and Anni Rossi at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $8. (202) 783-3933. (Matthew Borlik)
Carla Bozulich's Evangelista (playing in a full band with members of GYBE and A Silver Mt Zion)
http://www.carlabozulich.com/Evangelistamenu.html (http://www.carlabozulich.com/Evangelistamenu.html)
Carla Bozulich needs no introduction. Her work with Ethyl Meatplow, The Geraldine Fibbers, Scarnella, The Red-Headed Stranger (with Willie Nelson), and many others spans over twenty years of uncompromising sound, driven by a voice and
vision that consistently delivers spine-tingling beauty, originality, and directness. You may have seen her on tour with WILCO or heard about her most recent work with members of Godspeed You Black Emperor and A Silver Mt Zion. Carla's new
album (her first on Constellation, and the label's first release by a non-regional artist) is a devastating, elegiac, brutally honest song cycle that finds her voice unleashed with
unprecedented emotive depth and determination. Evangelista is heartrending and gutwrenching, with isolation and desperation redeemed by incantatory sonics and out-reaching, soul-saving
words. One damn compelling exorcism of a record, churning and channeling out of loneliness to heal and rebuild connective tissue through sound -- pocketful of beautiful noises and loops with various guest players adding strings, guitars, drums, organ, piano, hums, and other sounds. Constellation Records.
Brando Butler
http://www.brandonbutler.net/ (http://www.brandonbutler.net/)
"The name Brandon Butler may not be familiar, but any fan of indie-rock and emo probably is aware of Butler's previous projects. He fronted one
of the most overlooked emo bands of the mid- to late-'90s, Boys Life, which produced two of the finest albums in the vein of Christie Front Drive and Mineral. One album with his next project, Farewell Bend, showed a more hooky indie-rock style with those same emo leanings. Then Butler disappeared for a while, re-emerging with his project Canyon, on which his unique vocal styles took a more country- and folk-based rock sound. Now Butler, on his own, shows a mature, strong songwriter with an extremely unique voice. Butler has a raw, whiskey-soaked voice an octave or so higher than one might expect, and while it may have sounded out of place to some in his earlier rock offerings, it fits here nicely. He has a country-esque twang that doesn't sound at all
forced, and the soft acoustic tracks speak of a harsh Midwestern life. For singer/songwriter fare, it definitely leans toward the country side
of things, but the songs here evoke the rich songwriting style of Neil Young more than Willie Nelson, and Butler pulls it off as if he's lived
a hundred years, his raw voice and stark style proving it."
Dead Science
http://www.thedeadscience.com/ (http://www.thedeadscience.com/)
With roots in jazz, art/experimental, and the more accessible side of post-rock, the band creates an enigmatic yet uniquely compelling sound which showcases vocalist SAM MICKEN's
breathtaking tenor over the group's gritty
guitar-drums-upright bass arrangements. Like experimental pop running mates Blonde Redhead, Deerhoof, and Xiu Xiu.
Absolutely Kosher Records.
Anni Rossi
http://www.myspace.com/annirossi (http://www.myspace.com/annirossi)
A girl who writes songs on the viola (with vocals ala Joanna Newsom, Regina Spektor). It's slightly out of tune, but not too much, just enough to be rough.
-
She's smoking on the devil's johnson :p
Originally posted by Lamb007:
Easily the most underappreciated singer recording today. I've been a huge Carla Bozulich fan since Ethyl Meatplow..
-
Snailhook, can you book XIU XIU, please?
i was going to book them in october at the rock and roll hotel, but they decided to reroute the tour. i think they are planning on hitting dc next spring. i booked them last august and they sold out the warehouse.
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Clavius Productions presents a rare area performance by Spain's premier conceptual sound artist Francisco Lopez, supported by DC's Violet!
Saturday, July 15
Warehouse Black Box Theatre
1019 7th Street NW WDC
$10, all ages
doors at 9:30, show at 11 sharp!
Francisco Lopez
http://www.franciscolopez.net/ (http://www.franciscolopez.net/)
Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the underground experimental music scene. Over the last twenty five years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion. He has realized hundreds of concerts, projects with field recordings, and sound installations in 50 countries of the five continents. His extended catalog of sound pieces (with live and studio collaborations with over 100 international artists) has been released by more than 140 record labels worldwide, and he has been awarded twice with honorary mentions at the competition of Ars Electronica Festival. The audience will be blinded during the performance.
Violet
http://www.zeromoon.com/violet/index.html (http://www.zeromoon.com/violet/index.html)
J. Surak (aka Violet) is a veteran experimenter from Washington, DC. Since the early 1980s, he has explored the netherworld between improvisation and composition to create something between the two auditory realms of experimental music. Found objects, microcassettes, damaged cds, prepared acoustic instruments, and old record players outfitted with foil are the tools of choice.
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Clavius Productions presents:
Sunday, July 16
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$10, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9:30
Vetiver (from San Francisco, DiChristina)
Benjy Ferree (from DC, now on Domino...congrats Benjy!)
Blood Feathers (from Philly, Box Theory)
plus two very special guest DJs!
Vetiver
http://www.vetiverse.com/ (http://www.vetiverse.com/)
To Find Me Gone is the second album from Vetiver, singer/songwriter Andy Cabic's ever-evolving musical home base. To Find Me Gone comes two years after Vetiver's eponymous debut and is being released May 23 by DiCristina Stairbuilders. Since Vetiver's release, Andy has toured the world repeatedly as a member of close crony Devendra Banhart's live band ("Hairy Fairy" and "Queens of Sheba" are among the monikers they're known by), as well as with Vetiver (occasionally with Banhart in tow); Vetiver released Between, an EP of live and demo recordings in conjunction with their 2005 European tour. Over the passed two years, Cabic's Vetiver has transmuted into a full-on singer/songwriter cum band/project aided and abetted by some of the best players (and Andy's closest friends) in the extended family of acoustic/experimentalists he finds himself a central member of. To Find Me Gone was skillfully produced by The Pernice Brothers' Thom Monahan at his home studio in Los Angeles during the Spring of '06; Thom also mixed the album with Andy. Most basic tracks were recorded by Cabic with guitarist Kevin Barker (Currituck County) and percussionist Otto Hauser (Espers) who he then toured with extensively backing Banhart, road-testing and adjusting some of this repertoire during those shows. Finishing touches were added and additional songs recorded throughout the year by an intriguing cast of characters including Devendra, Noah Georgeson (producer of Joanna Newsom and another "Hairy Fairy"), Vetiver's resident cellist Alissa Anderson, Monahan, Brad Laner, "Farmer" Dave Scher, Dina Maccabee, Irene Sazer, Shaw Pong Liu, and Jessica Ivry among others.
Andy Cabic grew up in northern Virginia and spent a few years in Greensboro, North Carolina, playing guitar, writing music and recording as a member of the Raymond Brake. After moving to San Francisco, Cabic joined the rock band Tussle, simultaneously recruiting other local musicians including cellist Alissa Anderson, troubadour Devendra Banhart, along with special guests Colm O'Ciosoig (My Bloody Valentine), Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) and the then-unknown Joanna Newsom among others to record Vetiver. The album was released in 2004 to high critical praise from around the world:
Vetiver is named for an aromatic East Indian grass that grows in California, and their music delivers on the sunny, hazy sweetness the band's name suggests. Singer Andy Cabic has -- with some help from Devendra Banhart -- written a set of songs that at their best are strange, subdued and otherworldly, a quality you can't fake...Cabic's voice lures you in, like a less showy Jeff Buckley, and the rest of the songs unfold like a dream. There's the rapturous "Without a Song" (with a tapping-break in the middle that's unlike anything I've heard), the jaunty "Farther On," and the complex epics that make up the album's last half, with a detour for the goofy "Amour Fou" (co-written with Banhart). This is folk music that combines the ghostly power of scratchy blues 78s with the epic swirl of My Bloody Valentine or Mazzy Star (members of which make guest appearances). (Phillip Cristman/Paste)
The track at the heart of Vetiver is "Angel's Share," named after the whisky that evaporates during the distillation process. It fits a collection which suggests a world where the very atmosphere has become slightly tipsy, at the point between feeling warm and safe and a sense of menace. Devendra Banahrt (yes, him again) and Andy Cabic have taken their acoustic prairie sounds, added strings and called in some favours...the music is toned down because it's confident enough in its own texture to allow the beating of blood in your ears to provide the percussion. If Americana has always left you cold, a sip of this could be enough for you to fall under its influence. (Simon Hayes Budgen/NME)
The languid sounds comes courtesy of Andy Cabic's quiet, sweetly dazed vocals and guitarist Devendra Banhart's delicate, rustic strumming. Vetiver has some overlap with Banhart's solo albums in that if you played it for a time traveler from 1911, they wouldn't freak out too badly, and it possesses a warmth that can't be faked. This should prove to be near ideal listening for the summer; great to lay back and drift off to when you're feeling heavy of limb and light of mind after a day out in the sun. (Tom Forget/Bust)
Do not, repeat DO NOT, miss Vetiver, the Bay Area not-folk-but-not-rock outfit whose vocals-guitar-cello-violin live lineup brings an extraordinary air of grace and sway to leader Andy Cabic's strangely ageless, moonlit songs, the kind that Neil Young still writes sometimes. (Jay Babcock, LA Weekly)
Like an album of dreamy, gentle songs that George Harrison would have written in some sunny country garden. There's hypnotic finger-picking on guitar, a warm steady drone of cello. The band includes neo-folkie mystic Devendra Banhart, who does minimal singing and songwriting for the most part, but one can hear the aesthetic of Banhart's music here, even if the songs aren't as haunting. The high point is probably "Angel's Share," a lovely song that has Hope Sandoval from the band Mazy Star singing languid and sweet harmony vocals. There's also a winning and odd swooning eulogy to the Seattle Arboretum. Vetiver is a type of Indian grass, and this is music designed for lazing about in a summer lawn. (John Adamian/Hartford Advocate)
In the years following Vetiver's release Andy toured the world intensively with both Vetiver and in various incarnations of Devendra's touring ensemble. In early 2005 he joined Banhart in Woodstock to record the latter's fourth album Cripple Crow and then hit the road again, pausing only in May to do primary tracking for To Find Me Gone and then rejoin Devendra on the road. Final overdubbing and mixing on the album were completd in September and the final results are decisively different from its predecessor.
While as carefully crafted as Vetiver, To Find Me Gone is far freer and more mature, reflecting Andy's progress as a songwriter, not to mention the musicianly growth experienced by all his friends who've lent their support to it. According to Andy, "I feel the new album embodies the swirling duality of these last two years, the duality of presence and absence, both in how protracted its birth has been, and in it's lyrical themes. There are scenes in the songs where figures come back from far away, to changes and time itself rolling by in their absence. To Find Me Gone has songs of remembrance and recollection, all made in order to conquer absence." Turning to the music per se there's a dreamy Topanga Canyon vibe on some songs (underlined by the pedal steel calling in the case of "No One Word"), and plenty of crunchy candy for those who have appreciated Andy's recent nods towards the magic era of '70s Fleetwood Mac (check out the screaming guitar outro on "Red Lantern Girls"). Yet everything is simply, amazingly Vetiver-esque, not anything else, as Andy Cabic steps out and makes To Find Me Gone his own original statement, an album that many will consider as one of the finest albums of 2006.
Benjy Ferree
http://www.benjyferree.com/ (http://www.benjyferree.com/)
Benjy Ferree may hail from our nation??s capital, but his real inspiration seems to come from across the Atlantic. His debut EP Leaving the Nest suggests nothing so much as an American take on the upbeat acoustic pop concocted by Paul McCartney and Ray Davies. While there are certainly elements of Americana in Ferree??s sound -- plaintive fiddles, out-of-tune harmonicas, and a Johnny Cash cover ("A Little at a Time") -?? his sing-song melodies clearly owe much to his British forbears. Hints of Davies and early Marc Bolan also shine through in his vocal delivery, while the plentiful backing harmonies that populate the album have Beatles written all over them.
Luckily, Ferree is a strong enough performer to keep Leaving the Nest from feeling like mere homage. Despite being only 26 minutes long, the album makes an uncommonly strong impression. Ferree has a clear gift for fashioning hooky melodies, and each track contains a surplus. The musical ground covered here is considerable as well: not content to settle with one memorable motif, Ferree delivers up several at a time by dividing his songs up into clearly distinct but coherent sections, consistently throwing out enough melodic ideas to keep things interesting. The title track, for one, shifts between a George Harrison-inspired slide guitar lead, a bluesy droning verse, and a sing-along chorus: the elements seem irreconcilably different, but somehow Ferree manages to stitch them all together.
Leaving the Nest is most impressive due to its density: Ferree crams into 26 minutes a wealth of melodies and hooks to make most full-length LPs look dull in comparison. It??s idyllic and upbeat without being sappy (complete with two whistling solos), comfortably familiar and yet well-executed enough to merit a listen even from the most jaded pair of ears. Benjy Ferree may not have a particularly unique or innovative sound, but he??s clearly hit on a winning formula. (Michael Cramer, Dusted)
Blood Feathers
http://www.bloodfeathers.com/ (http://www.bloodfeathers.com/)
http://www.myspace.com/bloodfeathersrockandrollband (http://www.myspace.com/bloodfeathersrockandrollband)
Named for the new or developing feathers which still contain blood in the quill, Blood Feathers have taken flight with their debut album Curse and Praise (Box Theory Records). Perhaps it??s the result of selective breeding? Featuring Mazarin front man Quentin Stoltzfus on drums and Mickey Walker on bass, Blood Feathers also includes Ben Dickey on guitar and Drew Mills (Aspera). Mills?? reedy voice at times brings to mind Tom Petty (Meddlin??), at others Geddy Lee (Cat Can Coo Too), and still others Colin Meloy (Sea Legs). It??s pretty sumptuous stuff -- perfect for a Sunday afternoon drive.
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Any details on the Oneida show yet? Do you think it'll sell out?
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i doubt this show will sell out, but there is a chance. my guess is around 100 will show up. if you can get there at 8:30, you'll be ok. you wanna see awesome color, anyway.
$8, doors at 8:30
awesome color: 9:30
oneida: 10:30
the apes: 11:30
the apes are supposed to headline, but they might switch the order. don't miss anything!
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phil manley of trans am is onedia's new member and will be in the house tonight.
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can you tell me if Oneida is playing last?? I want to see them after Sleater-Kinney...
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oneida is scheduled to play in the middle, at 10:30. they might switch with the apes, but chances are it won't happen.
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oneida called and they wanna play last now, so it looks like 11:30 for them.
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nice! :) though I think I'll miss some of it. SK will end playing at 11:30 I bet.
Originally posted by snailhook:
oneida called and they wanna play last now, so it looks like 11:30 for them.
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Snailhook, any idea what the set times are for the Beirut show?
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doors: 8:30
get him eat him: 9:15
the curtains: 10:15
beirut: 11:15
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Snailhook, any info on the Advantage show?
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doors at 8:30, $8
durga temple at 9:15
french toast at 10:15
the advantage at 11:15
this show should be well-attended, but it won't sell out. if it does, i will be the happiest motherfucker on the planet. say hi if you see me, nkotb...i'll be running around.
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Clavius Productions presents:
Wednesday, August 30
Warehouse Next Door
1017 7th St NW WDC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30
USAISAMONSTER (Load Records)
Ostinato (ex-Hidden Hand, atmospheric post-punk)
Ca$h $lave Clique (DC improv psych/noise, mem. of 36/Nimrod/Radon Ensemble/Nik Tunrer/Acid Mothers Temple)
Ingrid (mem. of Mass Movement of the Moth, DC noise-rock duo)
USAISAMONSTER
http://www.usaisamonster.com (http://www.usaisamonster.com)
USAISAMONSTER started as an epiphany in 2000, taking inspiration from various leftist organizations, zines, and hardcore punk. The name represents an awakening and realization to the truth and history of world power struggle and manipulation, murder, and lies. Colin Matthews and Tom Hohmann met through an ad in a record store while living in Boston in January 1996. We did this band for 4 years called Bull-Roarer who rocked as hard as we could and paid for our own records and did some DIY touring and meant the world to us. Bass player J.K. moved to Mexico. Col and Tom decide to keep on rocking and moved to Charlottesville, VA. Founded a rad show space called the Pudhouse that was about as rad as every other wild DIY freak out fun show venue. Did a bunch of one night only bands with Hot Tang. Got Jero Harris down there, jammed, got 3 of his buddies (Vlad, Chris, and A.T.) down there, jammed, made a CDR entitled "1", then did a week long southern hardcore tour as a 7-piece noise symphony rock chaos outfit. The most newsworthy thing that happened on that tour was we played at 2 a.m. in a convenience store in Greensboro, and that show was covered signifigantly in many zines revolving around the Crimethinc organization. Returning home, we became a 4-piece with Jero and A.T. Spent summer 2001 swimming and making 3 releases: "Trippy Yet Wholesome" CDR, "Weed Blood" CDR, and "Soul Jerker" 7-inch. Each release showcased different styles. "Trippy" is folk rock, "Weedblood" is stoner metal, and the 7-inch is art-punk. The 4-piece did a week long tour up north predecided of breaking up as soon as the tour was over. After tour Tom breaks his arm, switches to bass, Colin switches to drums, Hot Tang joins the band again on Farfisa and screaming. A CDR is made entitled "5". Just a few shows are played in this lineup. Somewhere in there we also did a CDR and 10-day tour called Elvish Presley with A.T., Jonah Rapino, and Jarrod Hood and recorded a split 7? that never came out, the mystery 6th usaisamonster recording. Tom gets his cast off and the current 2-piece (Tom on drums, Colin on guitar) is formed. Songs are written quickly, a CDR is made entitled "7", and a 3-month tour is booked. Boys move outta C-Ville summer 2001. Turn vagabond. Drive around USA, rock and sightsee. Have tons of days off, play tons of shows, touring for a spell with facedowninshit. Settle in Tucson with the express intention of immediately getting jobs, booking the tour, DIY rerecording CDR "7" to become an LP, writing the next record, and leaving in 3 months. On Christmas day 2001 our beloved friends Tim and Sam offer to found a label and put out our LP. "Citizens of the Universe" is released on Infrasound Records. 4 month tour begins in January 2002. Shows proceed through USA and Europe, with even a show in Hermosilla, Mexico. Europe tour is a completely uninvited event. We just set our minds to it, and folks were wicked helpful. Friends gave contacts and friends of friends, and we made friends. Borrowed all equipment every show and took the train, bus, and hitchhiked. Went to Slovenia, England, Poland, and tons more. Returned home, recorded "Masonic Chronic", took a break, moved to different towns. Tom writes Black Elf Speaks in NYC. Colin moves back to Virginia, releases split 7-inch with Lazy Magnet. Black Elf Speaks one month every night USA tour happens in October 2002 featuring same elf band members except Chiara Giovando replaces Jonah. "Black Elf Speaks" CD is released on Bulb Records. "Masonic Chronic" is released on Infrasound. USAISAMONSTER gets back together in Portland, Oregon in January 2003, practices all day every day for 3 months, books the tour and records Joshua Tree demo CDR with Kamilsky in Joshua Tree, plays 7 weeks of shows in the USA, again touring with facedowninshit. Then the dudes move to NYC. Then Load Records agrees to put out an album. USA is a monster goes to KeyClub studios in Michigan to record "Tashyena Compost." Record comes out, big month-long tour with Lightning Bolt in October 2003. 10-week USA, UK, Canada spring 2004 touring with Koonda Holaa, Corndawg, Vialka, and Burning Hull.
"...That??s why filing USAISAMONSTER under Load Records?? "noise rock" umbrella just doesn??t work. The duo essentially rumble and quirk their way through 10 brick-heavy prog-rock songs, saluting punk, pop, and even wailing hair metal on the way. The diversity suggests a careful commentary on American crassness and cultural bleakness more than any brand of inter-band confusion -?? there??s no gratuitous speaker-frying sludge here (not that there??s anything wrong with that). Like the most adventurous progressive bands, distinction and clarity merely build a frame for the actual substance, and, thankfully, the albums shining production projects each simmering note loud and clear, with Hohmann??s deep snare splattering huge throughout the mix. When it comes to year-end recognition, Tasheyana Compost stands above most." (Dusted)
Ostinato
http://www.ostinatoproject.com (http://www.ostinatoproject.com)
Ostinato construct their sound in the same sporadic way the mind changes: Emotional impulses are often overwhelming and rampant. Their songs are structured in the same fashion, capturing the inexplicable exhilaration or devastating anger that is often so hard to translate. The result is a rich blend of melodic stimulation which evokes feeling, sonic guitar, swelling drums, and a fibrous flow of bass mesh harmoniously to produce a unique ethereal vibe, surprisingly created by only three musicians. Ostinato, an Italian musical term meaning "a recurring melodic fragment," is a name perfectly suited to the band.
Ostinato hails from the Virginia/Washington DC area. After years of friendship and relaxed free form music creation, Ostinato was officially baptised in 1997. Jeremy Ramirez (bass), David Hennessy (guitar and vocals), and Matthew Clark (drums) rented a house and got focused, eventually amassing the material which was recorded for the 1998 self-release <unusable signal>. Extensive gigging in Washington DC and Virginia followed, as did several extended hiatuses. Their second record was recorded throughout summer 2003 and was released on June 24th 2004 on Exile On Mainstream Records.