Congs for Brums is a new full-length album from Ches Smith, drummer and percussionist for Secret Chiefs 3, Treveor Dunn’s Trio-Convulsant, Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, 7 Year Rabbit Cycle and Good For Cows. Over the years Smith has performed under the direction of John Zorn, Pauline Oliveros, and Wadada Leo Smith, worked with Tom Waits, Annie Gosfield, Nels Cline, Fred Frith and Ben Goldberg and collaborated with Mr. Bungle, Carla Bozulich and Xiu Xiu. Smith brings his vast and varied experience to the table on Congs for Brums to create a fully unified collection of dark, lyrical percussion pieces. Concise themes resurface and cycle through various instruments, connecting the drum kit bombast of “Metal Vacation” and “My Last Coke,” the obsessive, cellular vibraphone melodies of “The Contra Alto Clarinet In B Flat,” and the junk percussion segues of Mental Vacation.” Mixed by producer Alex Newport (At The Drive In, The Mars Volta, The Locust, The Melvins), Congs for Brums revels in a subtlty abrasive psychedelia. In the Fall of 2006, Smith will head out on a five week U.S. tour in support of Kill Rock Stars artists Xiu Xiu.
CD $13.00
04/25/2006
MP3 $9.90
04/25/2006
We have all heard that seemingly axiomatic phrase “supergroups suck.” 7 Year Rabbit Cycle may be a super group but they don’t suck. Guitarist Rob Fisk (who gets genuinely hot under the collar when he hears the word “Bigfoot”) was a founding member of Deerhoof who not only co-wrote all of that band’s material for six years but also designed the artwork and created the group’s mythological identity. He also plays with Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) in the improv-folk project Badgerlore. Vocalist Kelly Goodefisk was also a member of Deerhoof circa Holdy Paws and exists as a not-so-shadowy presence in the Free Porcupine Society. Drummer and percussionist Ches Smith has performed with a who’s who list of alt-improv legends including John Zorn, Tom Waits, Fred Frith, Nels Cline, Wadada Leo Smith, and Mr. Bungle. This guy can go from klanging with knitting needles à la Sunny Murray to blanketing listeners in such powerful rainstorms of thud that the ceiling should be checked for damage. Also on board is past contributor turned full-fledged member Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu on vocals and guitar. Ache Horns, the band’s third full-length, was recorded over a six-month stretch of downtime in 2005 between tours. Imagine The Ex trying to break up a fight between US Maple and GodSpeed! You Black Emperor and you’ll begin to fathom what the band has achieved, thanks in large part to new members Stewart and Smith and stellar contributions from guests George Chen (K.I.T.), ambient...
CD $13.00
04/11/2006
MP3 $9.90
04/11/2006
***LAST COPIES, WHEN THEY’RE GONE, THEY’RE GONE!!! The Fag Patrol album from Oakland, California anti-pop gloomsters XIU XIU. Three excellent newer tracks performed electronics-free with voice, guitar and harmonium, along with six older tracks that have been reworked into acoustic forms, and are indicative of JAMIE STEWART's "solo" Xiu Xiu performances. Packaged with new artwork courtesy of Stumptown Printers and printed with 100% recycled soy ink.
CD $13.00
03/06/2006
MP3 $8.91
03/06/2006
***LAST COPIES, WHEN THEY’RE GONE, THEY’RE GONE!!! The second full-length release from psychedelic bread bakers and bird whisperers Badgerlore — represented on this release by beard-core ambassadors Ben Chasny (Six Organs Of Admittance, Comets On Fire), Tom Carter (Charalambides), Pete Swanson (Yellow Swans), and Rob Fisk (7 Year Rabbit Cycle, ex-Deerhoof) — Stories For Owls features six beautifully lush, organic pieces that rise and fall with the group’s broke-down, burned-up improv and the interplay of piano, vocals, and dual guitars. The music is organized around the conceptual theme of birds constructing nests, and each track explores this idea differently. Stories For Owls also showcases the talents of two newcomers; Tom Carter, whose playing seems beamed in from some entirely off-kilter universe; and Pete Swanson, who by grabbing and processing live sound, both in real time and through tape-delay, gives the already rickety skeletons of these songs an even greater fragility and tenderness. A vinyl edition will be available from Yik Yak on the same date. Beautiful and devastating.
CD $13.00
10/04/2005
MP3 $5.94
10/04/2005
***The debut effort from this star-studded collective featuring DEVIN HOFF (XIU XIU, NELS CLINE SINGERS, GOOD FOR COWS, CARLA BOZULICH), CHES SMITH (THEORY OF RUIN, SECRET CHIEFS 3, GOOD FOR COWS, XIU XIU, CARLA BOZULICH), KARLA KIHLSTEDT (SLEEPY TIME GORILLA MUSEUM, CARLA BOZULICH), and MARIKA HUGHES. Nine tracks of revolution and hope performed with violin, cello, double bass, and drums. Fans of Hanged Up, Musikas, and The Ex will be pleased as punch. Another fine Free Porcupine Society outing.
CD $13.00
08/31/2004
***A crash-and-smash goodtime of brutal improvisation mixed with stark, crushing melodies for a world ruled by giant owls and bitter rabbits from former DEERHOOF guitarist ROB FISK, along with MIYA OSAKI, STEVE GIGANTE (TINY BIRD MOUTHS, THETEETHE) and KELLY GOODEFISK (also ex-DEERHOOF). Packaged with hand painted covers.
CD $13.00
03/04/2003
***LAST COPIES, WHEN THEY’RE GONE, THEY’RE GONE!!! The sophomore album from experimental out-folk troubadours 7 YEAR RABBIT CYCLE. Led by ROB FISK (ex-DEERHOOF), and featuring current and former members of BROTHER JT, OLD TIME RELIJUN, THETEETHE, and ECONOMY, the band delivers ten tracks of super-psychedelic, no wave, beard-core, folk explosion, including two songs featuring JAMIE STEWART of XIU XIU. Packaged in silk-screened triple-gatefold sleeves with 16-page booklets with drawings by Fisk and JEFF NERKUMM of NOISE NOMADS.
CD $13.00
01/08/2001