About Last Night... Saturnalia

12/19/09. 1st Annual Saturnalia Festival feat. DJs dopestar, Mario Bee, NSFW, Medison. Photo: Nate Peracciny. Check out the pics here.

This Week at Soundlab... Harvest Sum Xmas Party

This Wednesday, December 23, 8pm--The HARVEST SUM XMAS PARTY feat. WOODEN WAVES, ROGER BRYAN & THE ORPHANS, ON BETA, FOUREM, AT SEA & more!

This Weekend at Soundlab... Saturnalia Fest!

Saturday, December 19, 10pm 18+ FREE with canned good. $5 without. $2 with canned good after midnight--1st Annual SATURNALIA FESTIVAL feat. DJs DOPESTAR, MARIO BEE, NSFW, MEDISON

Saturnalia is the feast with which the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn, which was on December 17th. Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals. It was marked by tomfoolery and reversal of social roles, in which slaves and masters ostensibly switched places, with expectedly humourous results.
In addition to tomfoolery, we will be celebrating about 10 peoples birthdays, so it will be steeping with Sagitarian pride. Come join us!
All canned goods will be sent over to the City Mission so everyone can enjoy a full tummy this Holiday season.
DJs will include in no particular order: Dopestar (deep house, gets the party started correct); Mario Bee (electro house, remixes, ish to make you bounce!)
myspace.com/djmariobee; NSFW (electro house along with bringing his own brand of self produced electro); Medison (electro house, dubstep, remixes)
myspace.com/djmedison facebook.com/djmedison

The National and Dan Deacon Do Google Advertisements

By Amy Phillips for Pitchfork:

Advertisements featuring music by our favorite bands is nothing out of the ordinary these days. But an ad that's completely centered around the National? That's certainly uncommon.

Google's "Search Stories" series of commercials highlights all of the services that Google offers. The spot titled "Out of Office" shows how you can easily go from searching for the lyrics to a song ("stay inside our rosy minded fuzz") to watching that song's video ("Apartment Story") to buying tickets to that band's concert to traveling to said concert to uploading a YouTube video of yourself hoarsely singing along to the song at the show. Thanks, Google!

In related news, another Google ad, this one for the Google Chrome browser, features Dan Deacon's "Build Voice" as its soundtrack. (Thanks to True/Slant for the heads up.)
Watch both videos here.

The National played Big Orbit Gallery with Mia Doi Todd and Clogs on 05/30/01. Dan Deacon hit Soundlab on 04/01/05 with Height w/Bow, Chugga Chugga.

Bradford Cox Shares 2005 Deerhunter Album With the Internet

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork:

Given the sheer volume of free music that Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox has posted to the internet, it's something of a shock to discover that there's still more out there. But there is! 

This past weekend, Cox posted on his blog a 46-minute Deerhunter CD-R called Carve Your Initials Into the Walls of the Night. The recording, which dates back to 2005, features the band at their most murky and lo-fi, so don't download it expecting another "Nothing Ever Happened".

Here's what Cox writes about Carve Your Initials: "It features only me and Moses [Archuleta] and is very experimental in nature. This was during our 'tape phase' when we would often play shows as a duo (or as a trio with colin [Mee]) playing only tape machines and vocal loops ... Recorded live to 2-track cassette machine at Moses' old house on North Ave & Ponce. 'Mastered' at the Old Notown building on my dad's ancient PC using Soundforge."

That image above? The one that looks like a psychedelic version of Charlie Brown's t-shirt? That's the cover art, apparently, taken from a Flickr set that Cox posted of artwork for Carve Your Initials. Below, we've got the tracklist. Bonus points for including songs called "Snow Dogs" and "Dogs Are Cool" back-to-back.

Carve Your Initials Into the Walls of the Night:

01 Bright and Early
02 Cicadas
03 Rotation
04 But I'm a Boy
05 Three Dolphins Melting Into Orange Wax
06 Snow Dogs
07 Dogs Are Cool
08 Homorobotic
09 Cordless
10 When I Taste Blood

Deerhunter played Soundlab on 05/06/08.

Video: Junior Boys: "Bits & Pieces"

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork:

As far as dance duos go, Junior Boys have always seemed pretty shy and retiring. You know what might bring them out of their shell? A gang of garishly neon-painted liquid dancers!

The clip for the Begone Dull Care track "Bits & Pieces", directed by Stephanie Comilang for Hellhound Productions, plays like a low-budget companion piece to Lady Gaga's epically freaky "Bad Romance" video. Junior Boys might not have Gaga's gleaming set design, but the costumes are just as outrageous. Watch the video here, via Domino.

Junior Boys hit Soundlab on 11/03/09 with Wooden Hand.

About Last Night... Communist Party feat. Reid Speed

11/27/09 Communist Party feat. Reid Speed. Clicks for pics.

New from The Red Krayola with Art & Language: Five American Portraits

Drag City announces:

Their portraits in words and music will hang in the halls of your mind, taking shape as their features are described against backdrops of familiar and characteristic music. The Red Krayola with Art & Language are responsible for such classic collaborations joining concerns from art and music as Kangaroo?, Corrected Slogans, Black Snakes and Sighs Trapped By Liars. The music features the drumming of Alex Dower of the heavy metal band Victim; the piano work of Tom Rogerson of Three Trapped Tigers; the sax and trumpet work of the French improvisational wizard Q; the guitar work of Slovenly’s Tom Watson; a bass part by Jim O’Rourke, whose credits are too long to list; piano, guitar and vocal work by Mayo Thompson; and the bass and vocal work of The Raincoats’ Gina Birch, her first appearance with The Red Krayola since Kangaroo?.

Portraits Of:

WILE E. COYOTE
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER
JOHN WAYNE
AD REINHARDT

On 08/06/06, Red Krayola played Soundlab with The Vores and DJ Dave G opening.

Six Organs of Admittance Gets Literate!

Drag City reports:

Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance and writer Joseph Mattson have collaborated to create Empty the Sun, a new book-with-soundtrack project now distributed by Drag City courtesy of A Barnacle Book.

It's a novel about what happens when the most important member of your body becomes severed. Hey, don't go there! We're talking about the fret finger of a guitar player. That would be a bummer, right? Well, riding that bummer is Ben Chasny, who creates the musical vibes and moods to complement your reading experience.

Curl up with a blanket and a little whiskey, Empty the Sun is available as both book & CD and book & LP sets.

Ben has played Soundlab 3 times: on 04/17/04 with Sunburned Hand of the Man and Pengo; on 10/10/05 with Hush Arbours and Warmer Milks; and 01/30/08 with Mick Turner (of Dirty Three) and The Lochs.

About Last Night...Rusko

12/05/09--Rusko, RX & Chae Hawk, Big Basha Birthday, Steve Kream. Check out pics here.

DJ Spooky Goes Glacial: New Antarctic Symphony

By Buzz Poole for the Village Voice:

Commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the Next Wave Festival, Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, a traditionally scored symphony augmented by copious sampling and Miller's own film footage, is the culmination of several years' work, drawing on history and contemporary science to better understand what's happening now. "Climate change affects everyone, and it was something that I felt needed to be explored," he says. "The field recordings, photographs, and film are all aspects of a project that looks at contemporary art and data as one and the same thing." For Miller, the connection between ice, music, and humanity is as blindingly apparent as the sun glaring off the continent's vast reflective expanses: He points out how ice-core sampling reveals layers of the planet's history, likening them to the grooves in a record.

Read the full story here. DJ Spooky played Soundlab twice, on 04/05/02 with DJ Marcos/DJ Del Mar and Christ Sinister/God Morgen; and on 04/20/05 as part of a benefit for the Critical Art Ensemble which also included Polmo Popo (DJ set), Mark Kloud and Cort Lippe/Jonathan Golove.

R.I.P. Jack Rose

By Amy Phillips for Pitchfork:

Guitarist Jack Rose died today at the age of 38. The cause of death was a heart attack, the Philadelphia Daily News reports.

Rose was a versatile player with an experimental bent, known for his work both with his group Pelt and as a solo artist. Following in the footsteps of left-field steel string guitar pioneers like John Fahey and Robbie Basho, Rose incorporated elements of drone, ragtime, folk, blues, and Eastern classical into his playing. He was featured on the landmark Golden Apples of the Sun, the Devendra Banhart-curated 2004 compilation that served as a high-water mark for freak-folk. Rose released albums on such labels as Three Lobed and VHF. He had recently signed to Thrill Jockey, who are set to release his tenth solo album, Luck in the Valley, on February 23, 2010.

In an email newsletter sent out today, Cory Rayborn of Three Lobed wrote, "Jack was a warm, caring person and was always a pleasure to be around. His larger than life spirit will truly, truly be missed even moreso than his inspired musical ability. Our deepest sorrow goes out to his wife."

Arthur magazine has compiled a video tribute to Jack Rose over on their website.

Jack Rose performed with Peter Walker at Soundlab on 12/04/06; on 09/29/07 he returned with Glenn Jones

This Weekend at Soundlab... Rusko!

Saturday, December 5, 9pm, $15--RUSKO, BIG BASHA, STEVE KREAM.

At 23 Rusko is only in 1st gear, with collaborations on the table with the likes of Switch, Diplo , Yo Majesty and Wiley the future sure is looking bright. Already setting the radio airwaves alight with his own productions and remixes of artists such as Adele, A-Trak featuring Kid Sister, Leon Jean-Marie Rusko is only going in one direction. Onwards, upwards and far beyond any producer could dream of. Rusko is like Dr. Dre, Timbaland and Switch all rolled into one with a serious overdose of bass.

Veering away from the dark, serious side of the Dubstep sound, Rusko brings a highly driven energy and fun approach to the massive, quickly coining his own take on the genre, and turning the scene upside down. His sound appeals to many people outside of the dubstep world as his productions became more adventurous in formula, sound and energy. His huge hit “Cockney Thug” has been played by everyone from Pete Tong, Switch, Diplo and Santogold. And has been remixed by Buraka Som sistema, Diplo, Drop the Lime and the Scratch Perverts. Birthday boy Big Basha and Krudmart’s Steve Kream open this hype-as-fuck throwdown. This event is limited capacity, so get tickets!

http://www.mnmpresentsrusko.eventbrite.com

Downloadable Mix Compiled by Mary Pearson of High Places/Transformation Surprise

By Zach Baron for the Village Voice's Sound of the City blog:

​Courtesy of the always excellent No Conclusion blog. The theme is "music that inspires my solo music by process and intent. This is the kind of stuff I listen to when my inspiration well is running a little dry," meaning this is more of a TS thing than an HP thing. Although the two sort of unite right between Underworld (track three) and Buffy Sainte-Marie (track six). Download it here .

High Places played Soundlab on 02/11/08 with Soft Circle.

On Fillmore Free Song Download

From othermusic.com:

Free song download of "Master Moon," taken from On Fillmore's new full-length, Extended Vacation, out now on Dead Oceans. Featuring Darin Gray (who's collaborated with the likes of Gastr Del Sol, Loren Mazzacane Connors and Kevin Drumm) and Wilco's Glenn Kotche, the album plays like the score to an imaginary David Lynch film set in the tropics, with eerie field recordings and bird calls hovering over the walking bass lines, vibraphones and hand percussion.

On Fillmore played Soundlab on 08/25/04 with Readybox.

About Last Night...Knowmatic Tribe Reunion

11/25/09. Check out pics here .

This Week at Hallwalls... Rempis/ Rosaly Duo

Wednesday, December 2, 8pm--REMPIS/ ROSALY DUO. Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Ave. $10 general admission, $8 members/students/seniors.

Saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Frank Rosaly have performed and recorded together in countless projects since Rosaly arrived on the Chicago scene in 2001, including the Thread Quintet, the Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten Quintet, The Outskirts, and The Rempis Percussion Quartet. Both musicians have established themselves as prominent players in the active milieu of the Chicago jazz scene, and spend as much time on the road in North America and Europe as they do at home. The duo has been active since 2004, and focuses on the process of free-improvisation. Their long-standing musical relationship in so many different contexts provides them the ability to navigate a broad sonic palette, and to continually push each other away from their individual comfort zones. While both musicians are comfortable in the more abstract sonic spaces pioneered by European improvisers, neither one shies away from hard-hitting grooves or melodies. Having allowed this relationship to develop gradually over the years, their first CD is scheduled for release on 482 Music in the fall of 2009.

www.daverempis.com
www.frankrosaly.blogspot.com

New Two-Part Epic Video from WHY?

By Ryan Dombal for Pitchfork:

The new video from Anticon band WHY? comes in two sections. There's the part for "These Hands", which shows the strange aftermath of a car crash. And then there's the part for "January Twentysomething", which shows WHY? playing music on a roof. I'm not sure what one part has to do with the other part but perhaps you can figure it out. The clip was directed by Ben Barnes and it's available for instant viewing at Pitchfork.tv as well as here.

Why? played Soundlab on 04/18/06 with the Dirty Projectors.

Ariel Pink Signs to 4AD

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork:

Over the past couple of years, something strange has become clear: West Coast lo-fi pop weirdo Ariel Pink is a seriously influential figure in indie music. Pink's fingerprints are all over the current horde of chillwave acts releasing murky pop jams on limited-edition cassettes and 7"s, and guys like Kurt Vile are quick to name him as an inspiration. So it makes some kind of sense that Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti has now signed with British indie perennial 4AD. Pink's crew are currently recording their first album for the label, and it's due for a spring release next year.

Dance to the Underground: Celebrating 2 Decades of Subterranean Disco

By yours truly. Check out the article published in the current Artvoice here.

The Thermals Start Work on New Album

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork:

Portland punk bashers the Thermals released their last album, Now We Can See, in April, but they've already revealed the release date for their next full-length-- which they haven't even started recording yet. Next month, the trio will head into Portland's Jackpot Studios with Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla producing. And yet Kill Rock Stars claims that the band's as-yet-untitled fifth album will drop on September 7 of next year. Moxie!

This fifth album will be the first Thermals joint to feature new drummer Westin Glass. It won't be their first time working with Walla; he mixed their first album and produced their second.

Solange Covers Dirty Projectors' "Stillness Is the Move"

By Ryan Dombal for Pitchfork:

If Solange Knowles isn't sampling Boards of Canada or getting Jay-Z and Beyoncé into Grizzly Bear, she's jamming out to Dirty Projectors. She's been bumping DP so much, in fact, that she decided to go ahead and cover the Brooklyn band's Bitte Orca standout "Stillness Is the Move", which always sounded like a monster R&B track in disguise anyway.

UPDATE: This cover is rooted in "Bumpy's Lament" by Soul Mann & the Brothers, which was sampled by Dr. Dre on "XXplosive" and Erykah Badu on "Bag Lady".

There's currently no official release planned for the cover-- Solange just really liked the song. Listen and download after the jump:

UPDATE: The track has been removed at the request of Universal Music.

Dan Deacon on Health Issues: "It Sucked Major Dick"

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork:

On Friday, we reported that Baltimore ADD electro goofball Dan Deacon had been hospitalized with acute sciatica, which forced him to cancel the remaining shows on his American tour.
Later that same day, Deacon posted a note on his MySpace page explaining exactly what had happened, and it sounds pretty harrowing.
According to Deacon, a pain in the back of his leg became more and more unbearable over the course of a week. (Deacon: "It sucked major dick.") He finally checked into an emergency room and canceled the rest of his tour. He says he won't be able to continue wearing his body out with constant touring: "i've been touring pretty nonstop for a long time now and that's going to change. before spiderman of the rings came out i was taking much better care of my body and i wasn't touring as much. i need to focus more on my health, which will lead to a clearer mind and a more focused music."
Deacon doesn't seem to be planning on quitting live performance all together, as he hopes to reschedule the canceled shows. But Deacon's been an absolute road dog in recent years, so it's not hard to see how that could wear somebody out.
Read the full text of his post here .

On 04/01/05, Dan Deacon played Soundlab with Height w/Bow, Chugga Chugga.

Animal Collective: "Bleeding (Live)"

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork: 

Animal Collective's "Brothersport" 10" single is out now, and the best reason to cop it might be the B-side, a 10-minute extended live version of "Bleeding" that the group taped in Big Sur, California. Check it out at the Hype Machine, via Stereogum.

We haven't yet heard the studio version of this track; it's set for release on Fall Be Kind, the band's forthcoming EP, which is due out November 23 digitally and December 15 physically via Domino.  According to group member Avey Tare, the live version of "Bleeding" actually includes previews of two songs from Fall Be Kind.

Talking to Pitchfork last month, Avey Tare said, "The B-side to the single is a live version of 'Bleed', which we did at Big Sur on our last large U.S. tour. We played at the Henry Miller Library, which was awesome. We did this extended jam linking 'Bleed' into 'What Would I Want? Sky', so that's on there, too."

UPDATE: Comparing this track to the version of "What Would I Want? Sky" recorded at the BBC earlier this year, however, this sounds like an extended interlude of some kind that doesn't actually kick into the song.

"What Would I Want? Sky" is the Animal Collective track that famously includes the first-ever licensed Grateful Dead sample. The whole sprawling, dizzy live version must've exploded minds at Big Sur.

 On 04/14/05, Animal Collective visited Soundlab with Ariel Pink.

Andrew Bird Scores Film, Covers Kermit the Frog

By Ryan Dombal for Pitchfork:

Singer-songwriter-whistler-violinist-etc. Andrew Bird is currently harnessing his creative flow in a very productive manner. According to a BBC interview (via TwentyFourBit), he's working on the score to the upcoming high school dramedy Norman starring Adam Goldberg and Richard Jenkins.

Bird has also recorded a cover of the Kermit the Frog favorite "It's Not Easy Being Green" for the upcoming tribute album Muppets Revisited. As previously reported, that album also features Weezer doing "Rainbow Connection". According to About.com, My Morning Jacket tackle "Our World" on it as well.

Bird is also working on an art installation...um, we'll let him explain this one: "This sculptor in Chicago makes these horns that I play through-- they are like speakers-- to create a whole installation, a room full of these horns that are shaped like poppies, making loops that come out of different horns," he told the BBC. "It's like an arboretum of sonic sculptures. It'll be a traveling museum show."

On 11/03/04 Andrew Bird played Soundlab with The Stay Lows, John Long/Amber Long.

Red Krayola Releases New Album

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork:

on January 19, a very different record will come out. O.G. psych/art crew Red Krayola With Art & Language will release Five American Portraits via Drag City. The five portraits of the title will depict Wile E. Coyote, President George W. Bush, President Jimmy Carter, John Wayne, and Ad Reinhardt. Seriously.

Red Krayola (Mayo Thompson, John McEntire, Noel Kupersmith, Stephen Prina, Tom Watson) played Soundlab on 08/06/06. Opening was The Vores, DJ Dave G.

Grizzly Bear in Bus Accident

By Amy Phillips:

Grizzly Bear's tour bus was involved in an accident Thursday night after a show in Munich, Germany. According to a post on the band's website, "the bus and trailer were hit and rendered immovable. The trailer was wrecked and the bus engine split." Yikes!

But don't worry-- everybody's OK. Unfortunately, the accident forced Grizzly Bear to miss their set opening for Wilco at Sala Conservatorio Verdi in Milan on Saturday night. Fortunately, no other shows on the band's itinerary have been affected.

Their current European trek (with St. Vincent opening) continues through late November. They're off to Australia in December and January and then hit the UK in March. Dates can be found over on the Grizzly Bear artist page.

Grizzly Bear hit Soundlab on 11/06/05 with Lichens, Soft Circle.

About Last Night...Ninjasonik

11/14/09 Ninjasonik, Communist Party, Mario Bee. For more party shots, click here.

Dan Deacon Hospitalized With Back Problems, Shows Canceled

By Tom Breihan for Pithfork:

If you've ever seen Dan Deacon live, you know he gives just about the most physical live performance in the electronic music universe. He plays on the floor, screaming into mics and fiddling with doodads while an ocean of sweaty indie kids throws down all around him. Deacon works hard, and his show is exactly the kind of thing that could potentially fuck up someone's back after a few years of heavy touring.

Now, Deacon has been hospitalized for back problems, causing him to cancel the remainder of his tour dates.

The Carpark Records Twitter writes, "dan deacon is having some serious health issues with his back and has to cancel the remaining dates of his north american tour."

A post on the Facebook page for Deacon's show at Clark University tomorrow night says, "DAN DEACON HAS POSTPONED THIS SHOW on 11/14/2009 DUE TO HOSPITALIZATION WITH ACUTE SCIATICA. THE SHOW WILL BE RESCHEDULED TO JANUARY." Thanks to Kyle Schmitz for the tip.

UPDATE: It has been confirmed by Deacon's publicist that he has indeed been hospitalized with acute sciatica. And now, Deacon has commented on the situation, via his Facebook and Twitter.

On 04/01/05 Dan Deacon played Soundlab. Opening was Height w/Bow, Chugga Chugga

This Weekend at Soundlab... Ninjasonik

Saturday, November 14, 10pm, $8--NNINJASONIK, COMMUNIST PARTY, MARIO BEE.

Ninjasonik first met in 2003 in the Bronx and have since regularly collaborated, throwing dance parties throughout the New York area. In 2007, they began to record original songs and put out a mixtape entitled “Ninjasonik: The Mix #1” which featured demos of their early recordings mixed together with a handful of eclectic guest artist spots and drops. In August of 2007, they performed their first show as a duo and since then have played alongside and recorded with a long list of amazing artists, such as Japanther, Spank Rock, Dan Deacon, The Cool Kids, Matt & Kim, Ponytail, Fiasco, the Homosexuals, Vivian Girls, Best Fwends, and many more. In summer 2008 they released their first EP on Chief Records, "The Tight Pants EP", based around the seminal "Tight Pants" song and video, which spurned the online fascination with Ninjasonik that accounted for a section of the band's initial success. This attention and the already storied energy of their live dancefloor/punk rock dervishes and comedy roast performances earned them a Spankrock hand-selected spot on the Rock The Bells tour opening for acts like Afrika Bambataa, DJ Blaqstarr, Murs, and B.O.B. With the latest addition of Telli "Bathroom Sex" Federline joining McFly on the mic with his inimitable flow, Ninjafuckinsonik are putting footsteps in your ear. Teenwolf's primitive dancefloor productions provide the charm that anchors it all, with a minimalism, touch of celebration, and hauntedness that mixed with a little taste of Baltimore Club typifies an emergent Brooklyn warehouse sound.

Ninjasonik walks a fine line between rap/dance music and all out punk rock. It is not unusual to find them performing alongside punk bands and their shows usually turn into a sweaty mess of kids surfing each other over the unique clash of sounds and Ninjasonik's irresistible take on Positive Mental Attitude. They regularly cover acts like Bad Brains and Minor Threat and have also remixed acts like The Death Set and Team Robespierre, forming staples of the band's live sets and reflecting in kind. Ninjasonik are tha future, coming from a place of pure adulation for what they get to do and the good peoples they get to do it with. Rhythms and synths so filthy they make songs about pregnancy, AIDS, and tight pants seem like odes to the dancefloor and the company of friends. You already know! With tha K not tha C.

This Weekend at Soundlab... Lights, Wooden Waves

Friday, November 13, 9pm--LIGHTS, WOODEN WAVES. By K.O'Day for Artvoice:

Intergalactic electro-pop heroine Lights (nee Valerie Poxleitner) started out as a little girl in Canada composing music in her head. If this fantasy rock opera did indeed become its own world into which she could escape, once she started laying it out with real instruments she captured that dreamy, fantasy essence to a tee. Her debut studio album, called The Listening,, was released in the States just last month, lyrically sincere dance music that can move your feet and your heart. She says, “I try to find sounds that seem like they could have been plucked from Saturn’s rings or a meteor belt,” by way of explanation. If that doesn’t help you get a sense of what she’s like, think epic ethereal beauty that stays light, and channels the happiness this little Canadian girl seems to find in whatever galaxy her muscic transports her to. Let her take you along, too. Lights comes to Soundlab on Friday (Nov. 13), with special guests Wooden Waves.

Paul Sharits: Bad Burns (1982)

From Ubuweb:

Two reels of mis-takes in shooting Part II of 3RD DEGREE. Film was loaded in camera improperly and the image slides about off-center and becomes blurred - creating some rather amusing and mysterious imagery. A made "found" object .

Paper Rad - Five Videos (2004-2006)

From Ubuweb: PaperRad is a Pittsburgh, PA/Northampton, MA collective that has bubbled under the elastic waistline of the world's slacks for over a decade, tickling its privates and filling its diapers. This collective first started churning out cortex hemorrhaging lysergia comics and moved on to bands, videos, snack foods and installations. Past videos for the band for bands have included LIGHTNING BOLT (on LIGHTNING BOLT's POWER OF SALAD LOAD 041) and the PICK A WINNER video compilation (LOAD 050). Think of this group showing up to the 80's dance party with tazers and ketamine, and you waking up at the bottom of the ball tank at CHUCK E. CHEESE. Not suitable for work, but definitely suitable for family occasions! PaperRad performed an "Art Battle" with the Beige Records Performance Ensemble (Cory Arcangel/Paul Davis) as part of the the Language & Encoding Symposium presented by UB Poetics & Media Study at the old Soundlab on 11/09/02. Check out the videos here .

This Week at Soundlab... Skoal Kodiak, Knife World

Nov 10, 9pm FREE--SKOAL KODIAK, KNIFE WORLD.

Through the wonder of DIY circuitry, Skoal Kodiak's vocalist and master electrician Markus Lunkenheimer invocations get disassembled into a mud pile of corroded digital moans, the words all but rusted away. Bit-crushed samples throb from his bay of handcrafted effects, while a clash of stiff metered drums and in-the-pocket fuzz-bass keeps unwavering time. The crazed, frenzied sound is overpowering, a ferocious presence that demands submission while earning Minneapolis’ Skoal Kodiak a following of fans as devoted and impassioned as Sufi dervishes. Witnessed, what unfold is something much more primal and eviscerating.

Brothers in Proximity, Knife World were born for a lawless otherworld. In a single song, they echo the baroque rhythms of a prog powerhouse – a swig hard-rock guitar swagger- then free-fall into polyrhythmic chaos. A hypnotic and disorienting composition of musical schizophrenia. This complexity may disorient a casual listener, but it's a risk that Knife World happily take.

This Weekend at Soundlab... Ho-ag, Deep Earth

Friday, November 7th 9pm, FREE--HO-AG (Boston black electro) with DEEP EARTH (Chicago kraut sunshine) & W ((aa)) ou W! (Buffalo avant world-music).

Ho-Ag plays a mess of sci-fi B-movie spazz-rock. Instrumentation includes guitars, bass, Moog synths, theremin, electronic noise boxes, and drums.

This is long-running, underground soul-crushing sort of work that deals in hobbled bits of haunted house themes, scraping guitars, synth bleats, upside-down bits of New Wave, wrecks of lyrics that clang on by like the homeless ghosts of never-were prophet-salesman. That muted trumpet sort of Velvet Glove Cast in Iron thing you can't figure out. The Darkness, Ortho Stice. The glory days of the Trinity Site and men that found the remnants in briefcases floating around black and white palm tree paradisos. The doctors have knives for answers. Oh no!

Ho-Ag has played with the following good people: Neptune, Melvins, Deerhoof, Melt-Banana, Dan Deacon, Dark Meat, Jello Biafra, Daughters, Dresden Dolls, Enon, The Octopus Project, Six Finger Satellite, Twig Harper, Parts and Labor, Wolf Eyes, Marnie Stern, Big Bear, Ex-Models, Sleeptyime Gorilla Museum, Skeleton Key, The Mae-Shi, The Shipping News, Icy Demons, Hallelujah the Hills, Double Dagger, Animal Hospital, Monotonix, Cinemachanica, We Versus the Shark, Neptune, Fat Day, World/Inferno Friendship Society, Professor Murder, Capillary Action, Ghengis Tron, USAISAMONTSTER, So Many Dynamos, DMBQ, Yip Yip, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb.

New Boris Video "H.M.A. Heavy Metal Addict"

Reports Tom Beihan for Pitchfork:

Japanese fuzz-bangers Boris have just unveiled the video for their queasy six-minute lurch "H.M.A. - Heavy Metal Addict", one of the tracks from their Japanese Heavy Rock Hits 7" series.

From the looks of things, the video consists entirely of murky footage of an outrageously theatrical pink-haired Tokyo thrash band called-- swear to god I'm not making this up-- Sex Virgin Killer. The song doesn't have all that much to do with the visuals. But really, you could set a Shins song to footage of Sex Virgin Killer setting their guitars on fire and it would still be pretty amazing.

Boris played Soundlab on 12/01/08.

Jessica Pavone Interview

From the Roulette blog:

Composer/string instrumentalist Jessica Pavone is “one of the busiest young performers on the city’s creative music scene,”. On Tuesday, November 10th she celebrates the Tzadik release of “Songs of Synastry and Solitude”; a collection of songs for string quartet influenced by an interest in the simple beauty of folk songs, the ghosts of all things lost and Leonard Cohen’s encouragement to live outside this world.

Read the interview here. Jessica played Soundlab as part of Prairies, a duo with Mary Halvorson. Also on the bill was Josephine Foster, Arizona Drains and Robbie Lee.

Dirty Projectors Play Acoustic "No Intention" Via Satellite

By Brandon for Stereogum:

Dirty Projectors showcased an acoustic "No Intention" at Housing Works this past Spring. Take a break from familiarizing with new DP material, for another stripped-down take on the Bitte Orca tune: They did it this time for Sirius' new XMU Sessions, a series that has upcoming showings from Dinosaur Jr., the Raveonettes, and Thao Nguyen. Those will likely be interesting enough, but it's always a treat watching Dave Longstreth & Co. lay open the intricate guts of their compositions without a safety net.

Dirty Projectors have performed at Soundlab 3 times: on 06/29/05 with Wind Up Bird and Nat Baldwin; on 04/18/06 with Why? (and "The Getty Address," an animated film by James Sumner); and on 08/27/07 with Yacht and Vampire Weekend.

Black Moth Super Rainbow Remix Air

By Brandon for Stereogum:

The psychedelic Pittsburgh analog experimentalists contribute a thick layer of dandelion gum to Love 2's pastoral, carefree "Sing Sang Sung." Black Moth Super Rainbow's teeming fuzz keeps the song pleasant, but does bring a bit of darkness to the picnic. Or, more accurately, a bit of barometric pressure. It'd go well with the animated mushroom-sprouting video, of course. There's currently no commercial release date planned for the remix, but you can soak it up here.

On 06/18/06, Black Mother Super Rainbow shared the stage with Octopus Project and Besnyo.

See Kaufmann/ Gratkowski/ de Joode This Saturday at Hallwalls

Saturday, November 7, 8pm--KAUFMANN/GRATKOWSKI/DE JOODE TRIO. Hallwalls, 341 Delaware. $12 general admission, $8 members/students/seniors.

Achim Kaufmann (piano), Frank Gratkowski (alto saxophone, clarinets), Wilbert de Joode (contrabass).

The music of Kaufmann/Gratkowski/de Joode is completely improvised. Veering between abstract lyricism, haunting sound excursions and uninhibited aggressiveness, the chemistry of this trio is remarkable, the split-second decision-making and level of communication being almost telepathic. According to critics and audiences alike, this is “one of the best working groups in improvised music right now”. http://www.myspace.com/achimkaufmann

“It's like the three musicians are channelling themselves through the same default sound - a strikingly original opening gambit to a savvy hour of improvised music.” Philip Clark, The Wire (about palaë)

"The best band I heard [at the 2008 Dutch Jazz Meeting] was the free-improvising Wilbert de Joode/Achim Kaufmann/Frank Gratkowski trio." Kevin Whitehead“The three spontaneously weave compact pieces full of intricate, multi-threaded interaction. (…) The group can construct spare, riveting music from the quiet hush of bristling detailed textures. They can also shape improvisations that build to a full-bore rush of heated intensity. But what stands out most is how they do this with such a highly-developed group sound…” Michael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise (about kwast)

“…it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard before." Greg Buium - down beat magazine (about ‘kwast’)

Ubuweb Featured November Resource: Holis Frampton: Heterodyne (1967)

1967 / 7' / colour / silent. Frampton on Heterodyne :  

"I began to make it when I had no money for raw stock and only several rolls of colored leader but nevertheless (had) the need to make or work on a film. As I first conceived the film, I intended it to be a kind of revenge done with the bare hands against - first of all animation - or cell animation in particular and secondly, against abstract film with a capital A as they were practiced in the late 40's and 50's as a kind of engine cooler for the art houses where I first saw serious foreign movies. As I thought about the film, I wanted it to have a very open, resilient kind of structure with the maximum possible amount of rhythmic variety, both in terms of count, beat and variety in the rhythmic changes of shapes and the rate of the rhythmic change. I used a debased form of matrix algebra to make up, in advance, the structure of the film, and tried out several arithmetic models for that structure... with very short film pieces, before I found one that seemed to suit me. As I came to make the film, it consists entirely of 240 feet of black leader into which are welded about 1,000 separate events. Each consists of one frame, and there are 40 kinds of frame, ranging from a frame that consists entirely of red or green or blue to a frame which may consist of red leader with a triangle of blue leader welded into the middle of it. I say welded because the film was put together using three colors of leader and 3 ticket punches - a square, a circle and a triangle - which I felt to be constantly recognizable and also impersonal shapes - and where one color is let into another, or where a color shape is let into black leader, it is literally welded in with acetone. I was doing all of this under a magnifying glass with tweezers and brushes and so forth... they're disposed along the continuous line of film by a scheme roughly the following: in order to avoid a scheme in which certain types of frames would, by rhythmic recurrence, fall at the same spot in the film, or in the same exact frame, I decided to use prime numbers, that is, numbers divisible only by themselves and as a starting-point since they begin to share harmonics extensively only in their very high multiples - I further decided I could use no prime numbers less than 40, because 40 is the number of frames in a foot and didn't want any single type of event to occur any more often than once every one and two/thirds seconds, and then I subjected my list series of tests that involved the sums of their digits-casting out those that didn't meet the tests so that as it turned out the, commonest event, a frame that is entirely red, occurs every 61 frames in absolutely regular repetition throughout the film; and the least common event, a red triangle on a black ground, occurs every 2,311 frames - all of this necessitated an amount of arithmetic which I did over a period of 6 weeks - reduced it to a large stock of 3X5 cards and collated them, and sat down which my rewinds and splicer and simply put the thing together - altogether on the level of personal logistics, it tied up my time and need to be making a film for about three months at the end of which I found myself with a little more money for raw stock and I could go on and make other kinds of films."

Video: Vampire Weekend Play New Contra Songs Live

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork:

Slowly but surely, Vampire Weekend's hotly anticipated sophomore album Contra is coming together. The LP isn't due until January 12 (via XL), but we've already heard "Horchata", the busy and uptight first single and album opener, and we've linked to footage of the band playing album tracks "White Sky" and forthcoming single "Cousins".
This past weekend, the band played two surprise shows in Los Angeles, bringing with them lots of new songs. Stereogum posted a video of the track "California English". And we searched around YouTube for footage of more Contra tunes, which can be seen here.

On 08/27/07, Vampire Weekend played Soundlab with Dirty Projectors, Yacht.

Weird Folktstress Josephine Foster Returns

Tom Breihan for Pitchfork reports that December 7 is the release date for Graphic As a Star, the newest album from freak-folk songstress Josephine Foster. The entire album is based on Emily Dickinson poems. Foster has played Soundlab thrice. On 04/21/04, her group Born Heller played with Picastro and Dear Families. She played a solo show on 11/02/06 and on 05/30/06, she shared a bill with Prairies (Jessica Pavone/Mary Halvorson Duo), Arizona Drains and Robbie Lee.

New High Places Video: "I Was Born"

By Zach Baron for the Village Voice's Sound of the City blog:

Your new-look High Places: sing-y, bassoon-y, spooky. "I Was Born," the single, is out today on Thrill Jockey; here is the duo's self-made video for the song, which is suitably scary and features what is either a nearly unrecognizable Mary Pearson or, alternately, an entirely different person. That's definitely Rob Barber though, covered in mud. This is a song about being born again, literally. Take that how you will--we do not think religion is what these two have discovered out in the wilds of Los Angeles. "I Was Born" will get the remix treatment soon, as part of a 12" single that will also feature another new song. In the meantime, Thrill Jockey's selling this one for a dollar.

High Places played Soundlab on 02/11/08 with Soft Circle.

New Radian: Chimeric

Thrill Jockey reports that the new album Chimeric, by Vienna-based instrumental post-rockers Radian, is now available for pre-order. "The CD version is presented in a 4 panel mini-LP style jacket. LP version is limited to 1,000 copies for the world and includes a free download coupon." For more info, click here. Radian played the old Soundlab with Pan American and Singer (live video by Chris Coleman) on 10/22/02. They visited the new place on 03/20/05, when they shared the stage with Hymns and Aaron Miller.

Xiu Xiu: New LP, Theater Score, Remix

By Tom Breihan for Pitchfork:

Just when it looked like side projects were occupying most of Jamie Stewart's energy, the man's always-disturbing art-pop crew Xiu Xiu shudders back to life.

Yesterday, the band's website reported that there's a new Xiu Xiu album on the way. Back in May, we mentioned that they were working on it, but it's done now. The title: Dear God, I Hate Myself. If any other band released an album with that title, it might be shocking. With Xiu Xiu, it's business as usual. According to that post, the album will be out be out the first week of February in the UK, with an American release to follow a week later, via Kill Rock Stars.

There's more. On November 6, the play "Nibbler" will open at L.A.'s Theatre of NOTE. The play features original music from Xiu Xiu and the awesomely named band the Avon Barksdale. Playwright Ken Urban writes that "Nibbler" is "a dark comedy about a group of high school students in the summer of 1992 who are visited by an alien."

And if that wasn't enough, the band's contribution to Merge's forthcoming remix compilation is now available for free online. Right-click here to download their clanking, seasick I Hope Your Train Crashes remix of the 6ths' "Volcana!".

On 10/16/06 Xiu Xiu played Soundlab with Gong For Brums and The Dirty Projectors.

This Week at Hallwalls... Eisenstadt/ Wooley/ Bauder/ Dingman/ Opsvik

Wednesday, October 28, 8pm--HARRIS EISENSTADT'S CANADA DAY. Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Ave. $12 general admission, $8 members/students/seniors.

Harris Eisenstadt (drums)
Nate Wooley (trumpet), Matt Bauder (tenor saxophone), Chris Dingman (vibraphone), Eivind Opsvik (bass).

Canada Day is the eponymous debut of Brooklyn-based drummer/ composer Harris Eisenstadt's two year-old working quintet. This release, the Toronto native's eighth as a bandleader, documents his book of originals for the band, developed at gigs around New York and beyond. Built around the specific personalities of its members, trumpeter Nate Wooley, saxophonist Matt Bauder, vibraphonist Chris Dingman and bassist Eivind Opsvik, this group has been his primary focus as a bandleader since returning to New York in 2005. "Nate and Matt are known for their experimental sides," explains Eisenstadt, "yet both are lyrical players with totally personal sounds in more jazz/song form-oriented contexts. Chris, who I've worked with since my 2007 record, The All Seeing Eye + Octets (Poobah), brings harmonic sophistication and a skeletal, shimmering texture that only vibraphone can provide. Eivind is one of the premier young bassists working in New York and I felt instantly at home with his lyrical and rock solid approach. He thinks in song forms even when abstracting material, making him the perfect bass player for these compositions.".

Learn more at www.harriseisenstadt.com

About Last Night...Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!

Click here for pics.

Listen to New Music from Arrington de Dionyso

Tom Breihan reports for Pitchfork:

Going solo is Old Time Relijun's Arrington de Dionyso. On November 3, K will release his album Malaikat Dan Singa.

Old Time Relijun played Soundlab on 05/26/06 with The Stay Lows and Dimetrodon.

This Weekend at Soundlab... Biodiesel, Joe Nice

Friday, October 23, 9pm--BIODIESEL, JOE NICE.

Biodiesel lies in razor thin space between band and dj, synthetic and human, man and machine. On one end you have drumming legend Johnny Rabb- pioneer of the freehand technique, who has performed and given clinics the world over. Recognized as an inventor, author, educator and the original World's Fastest Drummer, Johnny is able to execute his passion for live electronic music in ways that few (if any) others are able. His high rhythmic plateau is the foundation on which BioDiesel is constructed. Then add Clay Parnell- who is known throughout North America as bassist for Brothers Past - one of the premiere bands blending rock and electronic music. Put their latest studio release at the top of the growing pile of genre bending releases. Performing regularly with what reads like a who's who list in the edm and livetronica world, Clay has emerged as the go to bassist in this rapidly expanding genre.

The most famous American DJ playing Dubstep, Joe Nice founded New York's irregular Dub War club night, which has hosted performances by prominent British Dubstep artists such as Hatcha, Youngsta, Kode9, Mala, and Loefah. He performs regularly in New York, London (including at scene pillar DMZ), and elsewhere. He first heard Dubstep in 2002, at the Baltimore venue Starscape, and began playing it that same year. He has been praised for his charisma and stage presence. In 2005 music journalist Martin Clark also praised him for his access to new dubplates (in contrast to other American Dubstep DJs) and willingness to play tracks by lesser-known producers. In 2007, Nice was selected as one of URB magazine's Next 100.

http://www.mnmpresentsjoenicebiodiesel.eventbrite.com