Thing by TYSON TORSTENSEN, owner/operator of I HEAR A NEW WORLD Records, Tapes & CDRs; host of I HEAR A NEW RADIO; founder of MAGICAL BEAUTIFUL and NIGHT TERROR; member of GA'AN; music teacher. All photos and text by Torstensen unless otherwise noted. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, and do not reflect those of his band-mates, associates or family.
If it weren’t obvious from the lack of activity, I don’t have much time for this blog these days. I am keeping it open in case I feel the need to update it more often. I Hear A New World HQ has moved three blocks North, and while our new place is great, we currently do not have a dedicated practice space, so public activity has been sparse. That will soon pick up, though, with a Tyson Torstensen / Nick Broste ambient duo set on 12/12/11 at The Whistler, a Magical Beautiful performance at the Empty Bottle on December 21 and the Chicago debut of Night Terror in 2012. In the meantime, if you are interested in following our activities, clicking on these links will assist you:
*** I HEAR A NEW RADIO Monthly-ish podcast featuring in-depth interviews and performances / mixes from underground musicians / luminaries as well as a good deal of rambling, “uhhhhhh”s and “mmmhmmmm”. #8 NEW CHICAGO UNDERGROUND (coming soon) #7 TIM KINSELLA (Joan Of Arc; Cap’n Jazz; Owls; etc.) #6 GORDON ASHWORTH (Oscillating Innards; Concern) #5 LARRY “FUZZO” DOLMAN (Blastitude.com) #4 GA’AN (Music from Ga’an and related acts) #3 MAGICAL BEAUTIFUL / BUMMER ROCK (Mix of stuff from the MB LP & sad music) #2 SERENGETI / ADVANCE BASE (Serengeti raps for Anticon; Advance Base (formerly CFTPA) makes the beats #1B KEN CAMDEN INTERVIEW / MIX (Ken is in Implodes are records solo for Kranky) #1A KEN CAMDEN PERFORMANCE / MIX (Improvisational duo performance from Ken and me)
*** MAGICAL BEAUTIFUL The space rock band I write, play and sing for. We are writing and recording for our second LP. The first one came out in June of this year. Foxy Digitalis gave it an 8/10, saying “I would enter [Magical Beautiful’s] full-length Here Come the Wild Waves as full evidence that a careful hand in recording and a fantastical worldview can indeed produce a truly cohesive album that invokes the spirit and function of the rock’n’roll canon’s masterworks while matching the aesthetic of the very best private press records.” Doug Mosurock of Still Single hated it, saying “It’ll be easy to forget this one exists.” (Not after I box your ears, it won’t, you gross eater.) MB will be opening for Trippple Nippples (Japan) 12/12/11 at the Empty Bottle in Chicago. MB on facebook.
*** GA’AN The blackened prog band in which I play synthesizers (and formerly played bass / synths). Our vocalist, Lindsay Powell, left because of personal reasons after our spring tour. We haven’t performed since May 30, 2011, but we have been writing and have had a few rehearsals as an instrumental band with Zach Weil (Cacaw; Zath) on bass. Our second LP, Black Equus comes out TOMORROW (11.29.2011) on Captcha Records. Three songs in 38 minutes. Recorded and mixed by I Hear A New World’s Nick Broste. Ga’an on facebook
*** TWITTER This is the easiest way to see what we’re up to and get some show reviews / jokes. This month only, it’s FREE to follow Tyson Torstensen!!!
*** Night Terror This is my solo project that has only made one public performance, (in Grand Rapids, MI), to date. Synthesized prog with programmed percussion that finds the 4/4 groove in the 17/8 bass line. Chicago performances and physical / online releases starting early 2012.
Zath rules, though, and if they stick it out, you will certainly be hearing more about them. It’s Zack Weil from Cacaw on guitar, Dan Browning from Cave on bass, and on drums, Seth Sher of Ga’an, Coughs, Psychic Steel & Oakeater. Zath play progressive thrash metal with no bullshit. In fact, the complete lack of bullshit may be the one thing that could hold them back from blowing up - I’ve always thought a well-placed solo (only one) would serve them well.
But man, the stupid shit with which I gotta put up to see some good music.
So, you’ve probably noticed me talking a lot about this record, but I would be a fool not to - I spent much time and money making it, and now that it’s out, who else is going to promote it? Who’s got money for that sort of thing these days? I’ll tell you who doesn’t - this guy. (I’m pointing at myself.)
Now, I’ve written plenty about this record, but if anyone could write a concise, Twitter-ready encapsulation of Here Come The Wild Waves, it’s the legendary Blastitude, who did, thusly: “Dancehall reggae meets Enoid art rock for heavy trip into oceans of sound.” Sounds pretty good to me.
Sounds good to you, too? Imagine how good it would sound on your record player in your living room? Make that happen here, (you could even pick up a t-shirt or two). If you’re not ready to make that leap, how about streaming it (and possibly buying it) at BandCamp? Want to link to individual, web-ready tracks, or even stream the whole album a side at a time? Well, that’s what our SoundCloud is for!!!
But seriously, friends, we’re all proud of this album and think it’s well worth your time to listen to it; in fact, it gets better with each listen. If you like what you hear, feel free to pass it along - we’d love for as many people to hear it as possible. We’ve already begun work on the next album, so stay tuned.
Was just listening to Swans’ latest, excellent album (My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky), and in the track 3-4 stretch of “Reeling the Liars In” and “Jim”, I was heavily reminded of the fifth album from The The, Dusk (1993).
Now, I can’t imagine someone with a right mind finding a similar resemblance, but it was only a week ago that I was listening to Dusk, and before that it was only a year, and before that a year, and so on, way back until I was 13 years old and heard it for the first time on my brother’s stereo. Now, at 31 years, I rarely expect anyone to relate to what I’m saying about music - I hear something, and when I point it out to someone else, even a bandmate, a blank face stares back.
So, obviously, Swans do not sound like The The, but I do think there is some common ground between the newest Swans album and the The’s greatest album, Dusk. …And while you may find some of Dusk’s production choices to be dated, I’m sure an extra couple of listens will yield some gold. I remember reading an interview with Matt Johnson, (the The’s leader) many years ago in TapeOp where he talked about the very complicated vocal chain involving three microphones used to capture his voice, and it can certainly be heard in the following song (ignore the video - listen to the song):
What an album opener, huh? Huh? Not for you? Alright, understood - maybe you’ll give it more of a chance if I tell you that Johnny Marr played guitar and harmonica on this record, and it’s really the only post-Smiths thing that he did that shows his personality?
(Ignore the video portion - just listen to the music.)
Man, listen to those vocals! Those lyrics!! Still don’t like it? Fine - you want to listen to something more “tasteful”? Alright - here’s the Swans, you obscure asshole:
(Your hero live in the forests of Northern New Jersey; self-shot)
Hello, dear reader. I have just returned from a 19-day tour of the Eastern Coast and Midwest of the United States of America, playing synthesizers and bass guitar for the progressive rock band GA’AN.
(Ga’an live in St. Louis. Photo by the great Charlie Vinz.)
It sure did rain a lot - half-submerged trees and telephone polls were a common sight while driving across the near-South. We visited a couple places new to me, like Providence, RI and Carbondale, IL, both of which provided their own brand of excitement. Carbondale is a fantastic place to play if you are in a touring band; many thanks are due to the friendly folk at the Skihouse. In Providence, I was happy to play with Wolf Eyes and Black Pus, as well as see the building that formerly housed Fort Thunder. The next day, we caught a 2D screening of Thor with Misters Chippendale and Forgues inside of a gigantic mall. Despite severe disappointment at missing the extra dimension, I found Thor thoroughly enjoyable, and was happy to revisit the movie’s extra-psychedelic scenes through closed eyes as we played intense sets in the following days.
(Outside the Olneyville, Providence compound that houses a large portion of Providence’s art weirdos. We played at Soft Approach, a building a bit left of this picture. Picture taken pre-Thor.)
In beautiful Ithaca, NY, we played in a large ballroom with beautiful acoustics. I ate bad, “healthy” “Mexican” food, and we had all become cranky toward each other. However, we met some great people - one of whom was Bubba, promoter of the show and sleeping-place provider. He took the below video of our band performing “Arms They Speak”:
Ithaca is gorgeous, and since we had missed our one chance for camping in Kentucky earlier in the trip (due to foul weather), we woke early to hike up Buttermilk Falls. It was, as my mother says, a sight for sore eyes.
(Your protagonist attempts a buffalo stance at Buttermilk Falls; Ithaca, NY. Is this a buffalo stance? Photo by Seth Sher.)
(Lindsay skippin’ stones.)
(A rare, smiling photo of Seth.)
(The falls fell in short bursts.)
The next night, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we played with Richard Pinhas, of Heldon. Immediately following our set, Mr. Pihnas (who is, on this tour, performing with his handsome son, Duncan) immediately asked Seth to accompany him on drums.
(Richard Pinhas with Seth Sher of Ga’an on drums and Duncan Pinhas on electronics. Richard’s main piece of equipment, an Eventide guitar synth, had broken earlier that day. Perhaps as a result, the sound was incredibly muddy.)
But hey - I’ve started near the end of the trip - let’s go back to the beginning.
Not too much worth noting happened in Iowa City, IA, except Seth and I drank whiskey on some train tracks, where whiskey tastes best. I was afraid we’d play as poorly on all nights, but in a swampy basement in St. Louis, MO, we played quite well to an audience that included my Magical Beautiful bandmate Charlie Vinz and his temporary art partner Theaster Gates, as well as a confusingly-inebriated man quite out of his element. The latter can be seen, shirtless, in this long, VHS-edited video of our set. (I am not embedding the video here because it is quite long and my bass falls off my back early in the set, causing some tuning problems later in the set.)
We then had the day off, spending some time watching Seinfeld at our most gracious host Josh Levi’s house, then driving through the rain to Louisville, KY, where we stayed with Cropped Out organizer and Sophomore Lounge-running Ryan Davis. We made the cover for the cassette version of the new Ga’an album (“Black Equus”) and watched Curb Your Enthusiasm. I will never get enough of neurotic Jews!
(Here’s Ryan in his parent’s basement with a self-portrait pillow he made as a younger man.)
Ryan’s sweet Grandmother awoke us early to do a ton of laundry, so we were off to Lexington, where we played one of the only rock clubs of tour and had some serious hang-time with Robert Beatty, famed member of Hair Police and Three Legged Race. After the after-party, as we hunkered down for sleep, Robert promised to be Ga’an’s Roger Dean.
(Robert Beatty’s cover art for the first Ga’an LP. His art for the second LP is forthcoming………)
In Richmond, VA, we played a venue not suited to our sound nor size - Sprout, a vegetarian restaurant. Before our set, as I worked the merch table, a man named Dave wearing a shirt proclaiming himself “BEER-NEVOLENT” struck up a conversation. When I mentioned Chicago, he asked if I knew Bruce Lamont, mentioning that they had played on an album together called East West Blast Test. My ears perked upward, and I said, what did you say your name was? He said, “Dave Witte” and I said, “Holy shit! We were just listening to Human Remains yesterday!” A part of me reverted to the 1996-Tyson, when Ryan and I would sit around listening to the Human Remains 7” on Happy Days and freak out over the drumming. That part of me stayed alive for the next day, as Dave took us back to his house on the park and showed us his Beer-nevolence by sharing some highly-alcoholic drinks and allowing us to crash at his house. The next afternoon, he took us to The Black Sheep, home of the infamous Battleships - 18-inch submarine sandwiches as delicious as they were large. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture, but I can share this awesome Human Remains video! (Dave has also played in other metal bands I like: Discordance Axis, Melt Banana, Burnt By The Sun, Black Army Jacket, Exit 13 and Circle Of Animals.)
In Baltimore, we played at Emerald City, which is on the same block as about 100 other artist/musician/weirdo spaces. Perhaps you’ve heard about the weird Baltimore scene in the past few years? Emerald City was notable for being quite clean, friendly and well-run. We were happy to play with our friends and fellow Chicagoans, Deep Earth. Tony, the synth player, and I go a ways back to when my other band Magical Beautiful played a couple of shows with his former band Tirra Lirra on the East Coast a few years ago. Deep Earth specialize in a repeative, dark groove with floating guitar melody and synth oscillation.
(Deep Earth in Baltimore. L-R Tony, Otto, James.)
The Ga’an set on this night was probably my favorite of the whole tour. We certainly played tighter later in the tour, but I was flying pretty high during this set. Out music hit me in waves that overtook my body and made my brain feel electric.
Also on the bill were Deep Earth’s tourmates, Food Pyramid, from Minneapolis. Very kind gentleman, I did not really get Food Pyramid on this night, but a few nights later in Brooklyn with a proper sound system behind them, they made a lot of sense. Mysteriously dance-able grooves rearrange themselves in unexpected ways.
(Food Pyramid live in Baltimore.)
Baltimore, in case you haven’t been, is a unique city on the American landscape. I’ve been there a total of 6 days over the past 6 years, so I cannot pretend to know much of anything about it, but I do know that operates in a different rhythm and law-system than most of the country. Down the street from the weirdo art district is a beautiful, old cemetery, which we toured in the morning:
(Baltimore, in a cynical nutshell.)
(Seth Sher of Ga’an.)
(Facing the facts: no matter how much I love metal, I will never look evil.)
(Don’t know if I’ve taken a better photo - Lindsay Powell of Ga’an, Festival & Fielded doing stand-up comedy in front of a comedy club-looking tomb.)
In Philadelphia, I hung out with my friend Yianni of the Hermit Thrushes. We played a poorly-promoted show in a basement record store, though of course there were some great people there. We drove that night to Lindsay’s parents’ home in the forests of New Jersey. Lindsay’s gracious mother left out a meal of lasagna, salad and bread. There’s no better place to sleep on tour than a bandmate’s parent’s home. I woke in the morning only to eat, watch a portion of Terminator 2, shower, then go back to sleep. When I woke up, it was early evening, and I took a walk in the drizzling rain. Within a few steps, the rain cleared, and I caught the following pictures:
(Ga’an va’an.)
(Half a mile from Lindsay’s childhood home, I was reminded of the Head Of Femur’s Vietnam song, “Jack and the Water Buffalo” with the lyric, “Oh-woah, twenty shades of green / The most beautiful country that he had ever seen.”)
We then headed to New York City for our first of three shows in Brooklyn. I want to give a shout out to the dudes from Vibes Management for managing some serious vibes at our first show at Shea Stadium. While I am a big fan of Chicago’s underground and all the people that work to make it work, Brooklyn’s DIY spaces, (at least the ones that last), really outshine spaces in any other city I’ve seen. Things are generally run professionally, with a large crew of people hustling to make things happen, and an environment which encourages show-goers not to turn the venue into a garbage can. The night at Shea Stadium was part of a Midwest Showcase that featured our friends Deep Earth and Food Pyramid (remember them), Bones, and a great set by Radio People. Ga’an did not go on until 3AM, but when we did, it was great and sloppy:
Afterward, we danced to songs I cannot remember and slept at my most gracious and wonderful friends’ Ted and Kim’s apartment in my favorite Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint.
The next day, loading out of Shea Stadium, we overlapped with a Dan Deacon rehearsal. He was playing with Liturgy’s drummer Greg and some other dudes. FUN FACTS.
I only mention that because the rest of the night was a bit of a dud. We played the Charleston with Wizardry and Brooklyn Raga Association. Wizardry is a super burly metal band that I greatly enjoyed, and I snapped this pretty cool picture of Brooklyn Raga Association, who had their own crystal-manipulating light-and-incense dude:
I felt a bit weird spending three days in the hipper sections of Brooklyn, so I got lost on the trains making my way to Manhattan. There are worse places to get lost, however, and I heard some incredible music in the subway stations. You will be able to hear some of that music on a forthcoming episode of I Hear A New Radio. I was hoping to meet a High School friend (what’s up Sivan?), but communication logistics kept that from happening. Instead, I did the honestly awesome tourist run of Central Park and the super rich areas of Midtown Manhattan.
(Chicago’s parks are one of my favorite things in the city, and I know everyone is like “Oh, Central Park - whatever. I’ve seen New York movies before”, but Central Park is the best.)
That night we played at the longest-running DIY space in Brooklyn (as far as I know), Death By Audio. I had played there a few years earlier with Magical Beautiful and loved it, but since then, the neighborhood has changed, and so has the artwork:
(Each wall of Death By Audio features a mural from a different artist. This one is by the lady from Screaming Females; former Magical Beautiful cover artist and Antimagic main-man Ted McGrath is currently doing the opposite wall.)
(One-time Ga’an tourmates La Otracina also performed that night with a new line-up that wonderfully highlighted the classic prog elements of their sound.)
Goodbye New York. Thank you for providing so much stimulation over my brief visits that I will never have to move there and pay your ridiculous rent.
Where to next? Ahh…Providence. I already talked about you. Then Boston. Did I talk about Boston? No? Well, Boston is the first city outside of Southern California and Utah which I was allowed to explore on my own. This was back in early 1995, when I was a gangly, greasy-haired straight-edge dude in training. Good thing my discovery of Converge and Cave-In (two fantastic Boston-area hardcore bands of the era) was a few months away, otherwise, I would have gone crazy scouring the streets for a glimpse of Jacob Bannon and Steve Brodsky.
Last time I was in Boston, my dad came to see Magical Beautiful play at the Middle East. Boy, am I glad that he wasn’t in Boston for this show, for we played a totally disgusting basement. No offense to the denizens of the Problem House, for you were wonderful hosts whose excellence is duly noted, but the actual basement that acted as showspace was a hellhole. I left my keyboard setup out over night (in a corner I scouted as safe from drippings), and my synths still smell of ungodly sewage pipe drippings. Again - Problem House - I am not complaining - I had a great time; I’m just painting a mental picture. Skimask played, and we all LOVE Skimask.
Next was Northhampton, Ithaca and Pittsburgh, and I already talked about those places, too, which leaves the three midwestern C’s - Cleveland, Cincinnati and Chicago.
In Cleveland I met Frank Sinatra, the cat, and was served wonderful food by John from Clan Of The Cave Bear’s partner, whom I owe much more than a mere remembrance of her name (I’m sorry, the food and hospitality really was first class, I just can’t remember anyone’s name).
In the morning, we planned to swim Lake Eerie. After descending the trail to the main beach, we were greeted by an insanely huge sewer drain. Thereafter, the area became known as Sewage Beach, and we came up with an album name for fictional in-joke tour band Gutter Helmet: “Mental Sewage”. With knowledge of the sewer drain coupled with several dead animals along the shoreline, we avoided the water and made our way to Cincinnati.
Along the way, we stopped for lunch, and I drank my first Bud Light Lime, perhaps the greatest beer I’ve yet tasted. Don’t get me wrong - BL Lime is an awful beverage, but under these particular circumstances, I’ve not tasted anything better.
In Cincinnati we had some crazy interpersonal shit go down, which we solved by show time at this crazy-ass place:
(Cincinnati’s The Mockbee - a former brewery-cum-party place that stayed around 50 degrees without air conditioning, while it was at least 90 degrees and humid outside.)
After the show, at 12:30AM, an impromptu decision was made to immediately drive the 300 miles back to Chicago rather than risk van/equipment theft in the sketchy neighborhood in which the Mockbee was located. I took the first four hours of the trip. Items on my iPod which kept me awake: WTF With Marc Maron; Comedy Death Ray Radio; The Clash “london calling”’; Minor Threat “complete discography”; coming very close to hitting a deer in weird Indiana fog.
Seth took over for the last hour of the drive. When I woke up, we were driving down my street at dawn. The mystical early-morning light coupled with the new Spring foliage which had grown in my three-week absence filled my soul with warmth. That warmth was compounded upon entering my home and seeing a copy, (actually, 500 copies) of Magical Beautiful’s “here come the wild waves” LP for the first time.
It was also my 31st birthday, Memorial Day and new Ga’an cassette release day. I happily slept through most of it, right up until Leslie brought me some Memorial Day veggie dogs and potato salad. Ga’an played the Empty Bottle that night, and while I was happy to be around so many friendly faces, I was overwhelmed. Tour is my time to disappear into myself, my music and my bandmates, and to immediately be thrown in front of just about everyone I know in Chicago and have my birthday cake brought onto stage midset was a sudden reappearance that freaked me out a bit. That said, turning 31 was way easier than turning 30.
Ga’an leaves for tour tomorrow. We are sounding good, working real hard, and we want everyone to hear it.
THU 5/12 — IOWA CITY @ White Lightning Warehouse w/ Cocoon, LWA
FRI 5/13 — ST. LOUIS, MO @ Cranky Yellow w/ Bikini Acid, Spelling Bee
SAT 5/14 — CARBONDALE, IL @ The Skihouse w/ Alex Body
SUN 5/15 — Ga’an go camping
MON 5/16 — LEXINGTON, KY @ Cosmic Charlies w/ Merkaba & Rat King
TUE 5/17 — RICHMOND, VA @ Sprout w/ Caves Caverns
WED 5/18 — BALTIMORE, MD @ Emerald City (419 E Oliver St.) w/ Whoarfrost
THU 5/19 — PHILADELPHIA, PA @ The Marvelous Music
FRI 5/20 — NYC/BROOKLYN @ Shea Stadium w/ Radio People, Deep Earth, Food Pyramid
SAT 5/21 — NYC/ BROOKLYN @ The Charleston w/ Wizardry, Thyrombus Rex, Mortals, Brooklyn Raga Association
SUN 5/22 — NYC/BROOKLYN @ DeathByAudio w/ La Otracina, Vaura
MON 5/23 — PROVIDENCE, RI @ Soft Approach w/ Wolf Eyes, Black Pus *** note venue change
TUE 5/24 — BOSTON, MA @ Problemhouse w/ Ehnahre (mbrs. Kayo Dot), Gondoliers, Skimask
WED 5/25 — NORTHHAMPTON, MA @ Media Mansion
THU 5/26 — ITHACA, NY @ Community School of Music and Arts w/ Underground River
FRI 5/27 — PITTSBURGH, PA @ The Shop w/ Richard Pinhas (Heldon)
SAT 5/28 — CLEVELAND, OH @ Now Thats Class w/ Clan of the Cave Bear
SUN 5/29 — CINCINNATI, OH @ Mockbee (2260 Central Parkway)
MON 5/30 — CHICAGO, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ Pillars and Tongues, Axis: Sova, Ancient Ocean (Free show)
How about that? We will have copies of the s/t LP and a new t-shirt design. The second LP has been mastered and will be out in late summer or early Fall on Captcha. Hear a song from it RIGHT HERE
Really excited about this new podcast / radio thing. Limitless possibilities. Won’t have a new episode until after tour, but expect a lot in the way of collaborations over the summer.
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Magical Beautiful LPs arrive at I Hear A New World headquarters on Friday! I will be out of town so I won’t see them until May 30, but they will start popping up in Chicago shops soon, and available to the rest of the world in June. We are playing an in-store at Saki on Saturday, June 18 and a record release show with Implodes at Pancho’s on Friday, June 24.
There is a new thing coming in the next few days - I HEAR A NEW RADIO, and it’s making me wish there was a new word for “podcast”. I was turned off to those things for years simply because of the name - like “blog”, “Governor Schwarzenegger” and “chillwave”, it hurts a bit to say “podcast” out loud. However, since getting an ipod a few months ago, I have listened almost exclusively to podcasts (WTF? With Marc Maron, Comedy Deathray, Pod F Tompcast, Word Jazz, Mad Decent, Who Charted?, etc.) and Inspirado himself has struck. Hence, I HEAR A NEW RADIO
The thing that separates my downloadable broadcast from others out there is that I am going to be collaborating with many of the artists to whom I speak. For example, in the first episode, I not only interviewed Ken Camden (of Implodes and Kranky Records solo fame), but I recorded him playing solo at Hear A New World Studios and then sat in with him on keyboards and drum machine. Think you’re going to hear that on The Best Show or Sound Opinions or whatever? PROBABLY NOT!
I will also be talking a lot in some of these episodes - show reviews, album reviews, funny stories, whatnots. Sometimes I will do a live DJ mix. Sometimes I will premier exclusive remixes. Who knows what may happen!? If you have been paying attention to the various activities at I Hear A New World over the last five years you know things will be unpredictable.
I Hear A New Radio will be available at iTunes in the next few days, until then, you can download the first episode in two parts here: IHANR #1A - Ken Camden (talking; music; improv) IHANR #1B - Ken Camden (interview; music)
Subscribe to I HEAR A NEW RADIO by going into iTunes, clicking the “advanced” tab, clicking “subscribe to podcast” and entering ” ihearanewworld.com/radio/ihanr.xml ”
ALSO, we are releasing the Magical Beautiful full-length “here come the wild waves” on LP! It will be available in the second week of May, and officially released in June! Go to magicalbeautiful.com for more info.
ALSO, Ga’an is going on tour next month! Go to GA’AN for more info.
It’s been a long time - I shouldn’t have left you without a dope entry to read to. It’s true, I’ve been afraid of writing - I think of things to write and immediately wonder, “Who cares?”. It’s a reaction to my internet past, when every thought was deemed worthy of sharing on a message board (Trustkill; Revelation; Geek America), writing group (Orange Coast College; Santiago Canyon College) or website (Double Edged Sword). At a certain point, just a bit before I decided in earnest to move to Chicago, I realized that my thoughts were only worth sharing to whom I could speak on a one-to-one basis, and it came to pass that I seldom share my opinions to internet strangers.
The impulse to share, however, has not disappeared. I thought it could be indulged through songwriting - and it could, to a degree - but certain things, (like the following show review), are ill-suited to the song format. Who wants to hear a song about a show at Reuben’s Palace? Well, me, but who else? Not so many, I imagine.
Reuben’s Palace is a DIY venue about a mile away from Hear A New World HQ in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. It’s different than most other DIY venues in Chicago in that it’s clear that it is also someone’s home. At other venues, like The Mopery (RIP), Mr. City (RIP) or Mortville, where one can’t imagine how they could be inhabited by anyone, (much less the small community that did call these places home), the audience gets out of control on BYOsubstance and makes a mess of the place. At Reuben’s Palace, people are more well-behaved, for the most part. Films are projected above the performers; Reuben, a fat tabby cat, presides over the masses, and the underground thrives mostly undisturbed by the authorities.
Tonight, Streetwalker opened. An analog, electronic duo comprised of Beau Wanzer (a solo artist, former member of Golden Birthday, and Traxx collaborator) and Elon Katz (White Car), Streetwalker play dark EBM/industrial/techno that at times might make one think of mid-1980’s Germany if it weren’t so obviously from 2011 Chicago. Streetwalker’s music is hypnotic, so much so that it threatens to become monotonous, but just then, a new beat variation is introduced, and though the bass line remains the same, the whole song is cast in a new light.
Streetwalker is a relatively new act, with little (if any) in the way of physical releases. This is the third time which I have seen them perform. The other two times I was bored, which may have been due to outside factors, but tonight their set built steadily, and their sound, which I had previously thought of as redundant, revealed itself as inspired. I know there’s a small, but intense international crowd hungry for the dark, subterranean sound of Streetwalker, and someone should put out a series of 12”s by them post haste. Their sound is increasingly strong, and for those that care, Streetwalker do not use computers, MIDI or samplers in their live set. All sounds are controlled live via analog equipment and CV controllers.
Streetwalker - “ooze”:
Alex Barnett followed Streetwalker with a slowed-down, more melodic take on subterranean electronics. I did not catch all his set, as Tip Top Liquors called my name, but what I did hear of Mr. Barnett was confident and relaxed, like a swarthy, leather-clad and mustachioed man leading a femme fatale through labyrinthine sewers in 1970’s Venice. I’ve previously seen Mr. Barnett perform, and while I’ve appreciated his interpretation of epic prog horror soundtracks, the overall execution has sometimes felt rushed. If tonight’s performance is any indication, some shit has been figured out, and some minds will soon be blown.
Alex Barnett: “try harder”:
Mi Ami is a band I’ve followed since their first tour and African Rhythms 12” a few years ago. Back then, (and on several other 12”s and two LPs), they were a three-piece playing dubbed-out punk rock heavily influenced by disco and dancehall. I was first attracted to the band via their lineage: the bassist and singer/guitarist were members of Dischord’s last truly exciting band, BLACK EYES.
Black Eyes were a quintet: two drummers; bass/vocals and guitar/vocals. On the first album, they played a breathless interpretation of post-hardcore punk disco. Due to its release year of 2003, it was often lumped in with boring, star-gazing acts like Radio 4 and Moving Units and other like-minded, though far less frantic bands like The Rapture and GoGoGo Airheart.
Black Eyes pre-jazz:
As if Daniel Martin-McCormick’s vocals Mike D-meets-hissyfit-baby vocals weren’t alienating enough on the first album, the Black Eyes explored free jazz on their second album, Cough, which was released, (again by Dischord), a couple of months after they had given up. It’s a brilliant, nearly unlistenable record that will continue to gain fans for many years to come.
Black Eyes post-jazz:
Anyway, Mi Ami has helped keep Black Eyes dream of post-modern disco punk dub alive for the past few years, which has made me happy. Their bass player (formerly of Black Eyes) recently quit the band, and rather than change their name, Mi Ami has thankfully soldiered on in a near-unrecognizable (were it not for Martin-McCormick’s inimatable vocals) as an entirely electronic two-piece. Their new LP for Thrill Jockey, Dolphins was made with this lineup (apparently live with no overdubs), I have yet to hear this album, and word on the street is that it’s good, but their performance at Reuben’s Palace tonight was lacking.
Some of the blame in the lackluster vibe during Mi Ami’s performance could be laid at the feet of their spontaneous, uncalculated emotional spasms - compared to the cool, Euro techno-geek control of the two opening acts, Mi Ami’s minimal, spontaneous live setup failed to move the sound-system in a compelling way. Substituting a good live drummer with electronics, no matter how creatively those machines are manipulated, can never equal the energy or spontaneity of a free-thinking, emotionally-engaged human being, and no audience, sound-system or opening act can change that. I love me some drum machines - I use one every day - but Mi Ami’s natural energy is far too ecstatic for a machinated backdrop. I commend their ingenuity in recasting their sound and keeping it together, and I hope they make many more records, but Daniel Marin-McCormick either needs to relax into the space-disco he envisions his band making, or Damon Palermo needs to move back to a drumkit.
Mi Ami as a three piece:
Mi Ami as a two piece. (Couldn’t find any live footage of the new lineup - this recording is super awesome, but compare it to the live footage above):
Sick new Gatekeeper video
As much as I want to hate on Gatekeeper for moving to Brooklyn, I will not deny their absolute bad-assery. I’ve been a believer since the first time I saw them live, and this jam furthers their current dominance over the horror-themed electronic body music scene. The video, by Thunder Horse, is hi-def cut-and-paste from the Wesley Snipes vampire jam, Blade, and while I’m usually against such lazy video making, Blade is badass, and Gatekeeper is badass.
The San Diego post-hardcore/kosmiche band Tristeza released the Mania Phase 12” on Gravity Records in 2002. Previously, I had seen the band perform, and owned their second LP, the snoozy Dream Signals in Full Circle, (Tiger Style, 2001), but from the first listen, it was clear that Mania Phase was their most exciting work to date. While their previous records had utilized repetition as a numbing agent, causing listeners to feel simultaneously tired and edgy, the music on this EP grooved in a constantly shifting, dreamy pulse.
On the record, the musicians display a mastery over digital delay, and lock in on dub-motorik grooves that feel like a more punk, more American Stereolab. The recording, by Matt Anderson (the proprietor of the ultimate I Hear A New World inspiration Gravity Records, (who, continue to stock this record and many of their other classics)), is sympathetic and clearly live.
Gravity released a VHS tape around the same time as Mania Phase that featured Tristeza playing “Stop Grass” live in a garage somewhere, (presumably San Diego). Before I understood the intricacies of recording, I was under the impression that this video was filmed during the sessions that actually yielded Mania Phase, but upon recent re-viewing, it has become clear that it’s either from a separate session, or the EP version has some extra post-production tricks tacked on, like the classy dub effects on the snare drum. The film features a subtle overlaying of ocean footage in a way that updates the Gravity Records aesthetic from mid-90’s emotional-aggression to mid-00’s placidity.
(Mid-90’s emotional-aggression as embodied by Matt Anderson’s artwork for the second 7” from his excellent punk band Heroin)
(Tristeza performing “Some Grass” for a Gravity Records VHS tape):
The videotape also featured an excellent performance of the song “notes from the underground” from the first Rapture 12”, also released on Gravity Records:
I mean: shit, right? Raw as hell. The Rapture seems to be an incredibly elastic band: if Matt Anderson wants to bring out their punk sensibilities, they’re there; when James Murphy plays them Liquid Liquid, Chic & Giorgio Moroder records, they respond accordingly; and when Danger Mouse wants them to play like dulled-down would-be hitmakers, they sign on the dotted line. I do hold out hope for The Rapture, as I’m sure they’ve lost their contract and therefore have had ample time to look in the razor-ed Mirror to remember what made them so powerful prior to releasing a song called “Whoo, Yeah, Alright, Uh Huh!”. May I be the first to submit the above video as evidence? I also recommend their single, Chair That Squeaks (a 7” I purchased in 1998 simply because of the clear vinyl); portions of their Sub Pop 12” Out Of The Races…; and their major label debut Echoes.
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Anyway, I was talking about Tristeza, not those other guys. Here’s a good example of how great the Mania Phase EP is: Tristeza - auxilo maté by ihearanewworld
Special Halloween post! Legal Coke’s producer, Scram Jones, brilliantly samples Goblin’s theme from Dario Argento’s magnificent horror film, Suspiria. If you’re spending this Halloween weekend watching horror movies, I’d highly recommend a viewing of Suspiria - the art direction (by Giuseppe Bassan) paints a surreal, red nightmare of supernatural terror perfectly accented by the Italian prog band Goblin’s brut-iful score. Goblin wrote the music before the movie was made, and Argento apparently blasted it while filming certain scenes to set the scene.
Here’s an early, particularly gory scene from the movie that shows how well Goblin’s music works with Suspiria’s surreal visuals:
I first heard Raekwon and Scram Jones’ “Legal Coke” in Owen Ashworth’s car, and while its not as strong a song as Goblin’s original, I share it here as it is far less well-known, and Jones flips the accent on the lead and adds a sick bass line. Raekwon only raps one awkwardly-edited, cinematic verse, wherein he says Halloween-appropriate things like “we pump ‘em and dump ‘em and lay ‘em right in front of the steps”.
So, thanks Owen, for introducing me to this dope beat. Owen has one of the only entertaining Twitter pages in existence, so reader, when you’re done watching Suspiria or whatever, check it out.
Prepare yourselves for a massive post, the likes of which this page will almost surely never see again.
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Last year for Halloween, I was a hastily-put-together, poor imitation of Schmillson-era Harry Nilsson:
(In need of a Harry-cut)
Why mention this? Because later that night I walked into Automatic Space as Chicago’s horror/blackened prog/fusion/Zeuhl band GA’AN were playing sans bass player. (I later found out he walked off stage mid-set, only to come back and tackle their drummer.) I took note of this conspicuous absence and tried to enjoy my night.
(GA’AN before your narrator joined. Photo: Tim Lundmark)
A couple days later I wrote to a Ga’an address and asked if they needed a bass player. Along with several other people in attendance that fateful night, I tried out, and was awarded the post. Instead of only playing bass, I was also told to bring along a couple of synths. Lindsay Powell, whom previously only handled vocals, also added a couple keyboards and Ga’an became a three-piece.
Thus ensued several months of nearly all-day-long jam/writing/rehearsing sessions, which culminated in two Chicago shows (with Cacaw; White Car; Positive Shadow; and Stress Ape) and a recording session with Nick Broste at The Shape Shoppe.
(GA’AN tracking at the Shape Shoppe. Photo: Nick Broste)
Somewhere in there I also hosted the first recital for my piano and guitar students at the University Club of Chicago:
(Max and I jammin’ on Jovi/Sambora’s immortal “Livin’ On A Prayer”. Photo: Leslie D.)
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Then I went on an awesome and much needed vacation to Park City, Utah with my awesome girlfiend, Leslie, where, among other activities, we visited the incredible LDS temple and I checked out the rad organ in the tabernacle:
(Your narrator in the acoustically-perfect Mormon Tabernacle. Photo by Leslie D. This organ has 11,623 pipes, 147 voices (tone colors) and 206 ranks (rows of pipes).) The nearby LDS conference center also has a gnarly organ:
(Schoenstein organ at the Conference Center. Photo by me. This one has 7667 pipes, and the building itself seats 22,000 Latter Day Saints.)
We drove around the mountains with Bryan LeSueur, my spiritual and musical brother, recently married:
(Bryan and I chillin’ (literally!!!) in front of some lake in Utah, chewin’ mad Cacao nibs. Photo by Leslie.)
Bryan and I have known each other since our hardcore days (1994-2002) at Koos Arts Cafe, the all-ages DIY venue in Santa Ana, California. We later hooked up to form, with Dallas Gaines, a psychedelic improv band called Sutherland (aka Don Sutherland aka Karl Malone: A Tribute To Weird “Al” Yankovic), which lasted from 2004 until I moved to Chicago in May of 2005. Sutherland still exists when we’re all in the same location, and it should be known that Magical Beautiful most certainly would not exist in nearly as interesting a form as it does now were it not for my musical explorations with Bryan. (If you’re one of the few that owns “Summers Are Better Than Others” then you’ve heard a little bit of Sutherland.)
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As soon as we got back from Utah, I resumed rehearsals for Magical Beautiful and Casiotone For The Painfully Alone’s spring tour. Magical Beautiful had only toured once before (in a much different, 3-piece lineup); I had completed three previous tours with Casiotone (two 6-weekers in Europe and one 1-weeker around South By Southwest), and I had done months of touring with Head Of Femur, but, this trip was by far the most grueling. The previous Casiotone tours on which I played had been mostly Owen Ashworth playing solo sets with just 7-10 full-band songs tacked on at the end. These shows would feature Magical Beautiful (along with Nick Tamburro of the brilliant Dead Science) backing CFTPA on his full set of 15-16 songs, in addition to opening the shows with our own 30-minute set.
(Maybe the best director of all time - Andrei Tarkovsky - reps for MB and CFTPA. Drawing by Owen Ashworth)
MB was touring in support of Not Building A Wall But Making A Brick”, a full-length cassette of studio-improvised electronic improvisations that we released in December, 2009. CFTPA was touring in support of his fifth and final album, Vs Children
We’d load in all our gear, soundcheck with Casiotone, break that gear down, soundcheck with Magical Beautiful, break that gear down so the openers could play, do an MB set for 30 minutes, break down that gear, set up for Casiotone, then immediately play with CFTPA for an hour. The tour was only three weeks, but the dual band thing, coupled with unexpectedly-low turnouts in the South made it exhausting. While a good time was had and much was accomplished, I won’t be touring in both bands at the same time again unless there is a break between the two sets.
One great thing that happened, playing night after night, is Magical Beautiful got real good as a band.
(Alance tunes his drums at the attic “venue” in which we played in Syracuse, NY. Hottest/smelliest show of tour.)
(Charlie and I enjoy the rare (for the United States) artist hospitality at The Bottletree in Birmingham, AL. Two decked-out Airstream trailers all to ourselves.
(Charlie takes a load off in New York.)
(Your narrator creep-chillin’ at Niagara Falls, NY.)
(My best friend Brigid provides the post-show snacks in Durham, North Carolina.)
(We stayed on a farm in Amherst, Massachussets. Here’s Nick and Alance takin’ in that fresh Northeastern air.)
(Owen and I take out our poorly-promoted-show aggression on a cinder block in Athens, Georgia.)
(Your narrator shredding at sound-check in Memphis, Tennessee as Broste looks on. Photo by Charlie.)
(Gettin’ some crab cakes and beers in Portland, Maine. From back-to-front: Owen, Broste, Alance, Tyson. Photo: Charlie.)
(Casiotone For The Painfully Alone live in Syracuse. Nick Tamburro, Nick Broste and Owen Ashworth. Photo: Charlie.)
(Nick T and I celebrating after a good merch night in Syracuse. Ganja supplied by locals, photo by Charlie.)
(Magical Beautiful live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo: Nate Borek).
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GA’AN was on a bit of a break after I got back as Seth and Lindsay toured and recorded with their respective solo projects Psychic Steel and Fielded, so Magical Beautiful began the long process of finishing our first full-band album, “Here Come The Wild Waves”. This was a project I started back in 2007. The first time I realized it would take longer than I hoped, I released an EP called
Thankfully, it got warm again, and with the musical help and encouragement of my band-mates and peers, we finished the album, and it came out far grander than I could have ever conceived. Hear how we finally made “Flaming Home” our own:
(Note, Here Come The Wild Waves is nearly seamless, which means that when listening to individual tracks, they will cut off in unexpected ways. Guess you’ll have to get the full album to hear it as intended. Also, these streams are at a near-unacceptable 128kbps… go to the soundcloud site to hear them at a better quality.)
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Oh yeah, back in May, I turned 30, which has been both wonderful and terrifying. Leslie put together a wonderful celebration for me, which included a pinata stuffed with personalized yo-yo’s and whatnots.
(Your narrator with his slaughtered pinata on 05.30.10)
(Stumblin’ through the Mummy Smoke. Chris Schreck of the mighty Icy Demons photographs)
Also: it was Mike Elsener’s birthday, and he was in town from Omaha! Mike is one of my best friends ever and a very talented musician with whom I played many shows in the once-hyped, ambitious orchestral pop band Head Of Femur. Mike was also a very early member of Magical Beautiful (on drums, guitar and vocals) and now has his own lightly-psychedellic soft-rock project called Shipbuilding Co. Also, we briefly formed a light-prog band tentatively called Pangaea, a metal band called Texas Holocaust and collaborated on a record for Zeek Sheck. When I was debating whether or not to move from California to Chicago, I answered a Musician Wanted ad on Craigslist (for the first and only time in my life) - Head Of Femur, a band of whom I had heard, were looking for a touring keyboard player. Mike and I began speaking on the phone; I’m not sure of what we spoke, but our conversations would go into the hour-long range. I tried to send Mike and the other two lead Femurs (Matt Focht and Ben Armstrong) several mp3’s of my piano playing to prove I was worthy of the post, but they couldn’t figure out how to make them play. However, when Mike found out that we shared a birthday, he said, “It’s official - you’re in the band.” Soon thereafter, on May 28, 2005, I arrived at Midway Airport on the south side of Chicago. Matt Focht was there with his father, Gary, and two days later, in the backyard of the house in which I still live, Mike and I shared a birthday party (me: 25, Mike: 29). Before my plane landed two days earlier, I didn’t know a soul, but here I was at a party full of friendly, talented, accomplished musicians and artists celebrating my birth. Thank you, Chicago.
(Mike takes a swing.)
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And with that, readers, I’m done. The past 12 months have certainly yielded more than I could ever write about here, and though I’m tempted, I’ll never finish this post if its attempted.
