-Fall 2008
I remember reading somewhere about The Cure’s ‘Pornography’ that Robert Smith, during his many drug disillusions, had a skull in his room that he talked and confessed to. Well, whatever was going on between him and the skull, ‘Pornography’ I feel has always been the best Cure album and one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s pretty much what I’d imagine the sounds of the end of the world to be, or better yet, to be a ghost witnessing the aftermath of the end of the world.
RUSSIAN TSARLAG
COMMUNITY DEATH TUBE
FEB 2009
Released by NIGHT PEOPLE
Wow, words cannot express not only how good this album is, but also how stoked I am to see Carlos Gonzalez’s creative output to finally become recognized at a bigger scale. Labels have been coming up to him for awhile now asking him to record for vinyl releases, this one, Night People, being the label that the now defunct band Raccoo-oo-oon runs. He’s been brewing his lo-fi, impertinent sound for quite some time (in a number of forms since I’ve seen him in high-school in 2003), and it’s just really cool that he’s been getting some unexpected recognition for his work, because this man certainly deserves it for what he puts through.
Russian Tsarlag was in a number of bands during his youth in Tampa, Fl, some being The J.F.K.’s, VCRS for Hitler, the dark punk brood force Byron House, and up into Russian Tsarcasm which became to be the better known project of recently after moving to Providence, Rd Island. You can find some of these early works on Cephia’s Treat’s page here, also being the label that 1st saw Carlos’ work to be quite beautiful even underneath all of that dark lyricism and pop dirge. As far as how Community Death Tube sounds, I’d like to leave it to this reviewer (among many I found searching!) who pretty much nailed this baby very well. Or you can listen to it yourself. The album already sold out, but just some advice, if you hear about a new Tsarlag vinyl/tape/split, get it and get it fast!
“We’ve gotta find a way to expel these feelings, or at least come to terms with them” -RT
-AO, photo by Stephanie Sanders
Where to begin?
I found out earlier on this day
that love travels great distances
and on this coast in the company of two illuminating lovers
and the presence of someone of my own blood,
we were already on our path to travel as one sentiment moving being
as night falls across the western shores,
we returned to an inter-dimensional room
where an age old ritualistic partaking took place
the closest one can get to touching the fabric of gods
the throbbing sounds of the gang gang dance pulse us
and when the time was right, it was right to start the night
my friend, a boy, a scientist, a mystic; gathered his fly-ins
and together built up a drone to a wave
it put me in an age old daze, but before I could allow myself to drown
I was given a transcendent cue to shed off and fly from water
I was not quite prepared for the “task” I had at hand
as I approached my equipment it had vanished
I had to wrap myself together before I lost it all
and through a mess of wires and some given time
I found the light and it found me
plugged in, turned on, sound waves set,
the sounds of the shrine of infinity
both harsh and harmonious filled the room
was it me playing this machine,
or was it the machine operating me?
all I could comprehend was that a blender was in motion
as the ghost in the synth pulled me in and out
ok ok, it’s time to end it (for now)
I closed off and fell back to the floor
and the hand of a cousin picked me up
and told me how this channeling felt for him,
“it all came together, everything, the beginning and the ending have crossed each other
this is the story of our youth colliding with our coming age,
and forever always will be these paths be,
sliding side by side of memories and dreams to come”
Staring into the spores of spiraling moss,
I saw the hanging onto life to be something quite beautiful
and as the evening continued the intervals did as well
of sparkling starry skies, oceans of reflections,
finding new love and tapping into cosmic pleasure,
I found out that everything between is together after all
Every plant, planet and plane of existence
I’m not one for words today, but all I have to say is that Irene Moon from Raleigh, North Carolina, is a performance artist/musician mad scientress. She performed in Orlando one time during Greg’s/Pat’s Quarterly Noise Report last year, and I’ve heard about her several times from G-ville’s Action Research posse and my friends that have gone up north to tour. She’s truly doing something of her own. Get wicked.
(translated lyrics)
“If I was an icebear
in the cold polar regions
then I wouldn’t have to cry anymore
everything would be clear”
-Grauzone – Eisbaer
This is the last batch of the video downloads. I noticed a lot of the videos especially these last few ones all have a sense of being in a ‘music video limbo,’ often times not story based like some 90’s R&B pop singer video but moreso a more universal direction of just images to sounds and getting lost into what the song and sights have to say. And, as forever always, enjoy.
Video Listing
Lightning Bolt – 13 Monsters
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Cities in Dust
Wizardzz – Chasing Our Shadows
Uh Oh Spades – Dingo Ate the Lady
Madvillian – Heavy Math
Whodini – Magic’s Wand
J Dilla – Twocanwin
Plaid – Tak 4
Boards of Canada – ROYGBV
Chris Clark – Ted
Grabba Grabba tape
Ben Jones – Pacman Jam
The Screamers – Vertigo
Grauzone – Eisbear
My Bloody Valentine – To Here Knows When
-Plaid - Tak 4
on a side note… Don’t forget to look up at the sky for the Leonid Meteor Shower tonight!
-Afrika Bambaataa – Looking for the Perfect Beat
Here’s part 2 of the video post. If anyone is wondering, I used a program called keepvid that is able to save audio and video from most sites. I’d like to put together some sort of shoegazering/dreamscape video mix sometime, but for now, here’s this! Good variety of soft movements and some intense flashing ones, both head inducing in their own way.
Video List:
Afrika Baambaataa – Looking For the Perfect Beat
Dam-Funk – Toeachizown
Dam-Funk x Outrun
Crash Course in Science – Cardboard Lamb
Lightning Bolt – Monster’s Choice
Jacob Ciocci – Peace Tape
Broadcast – America’s Boy
Machinedrum – Fresh Kids
Curve – Horror Head
Gang Gang Dance – Vacuum
Computer Vision
Salvo Beta/Melt Banana – Alpha Boost Mix
Problem Solvers – Dewey’s Bike Ride
Jonzun Crew – Old School Poppin
Lightning Bolt nerds
The Normals – TVOD
-Salvo Beta/Melt-Banana (<<<I’m seeing them tomorrow!) – Alpha Boost
-Takagi Masakatsu – Bloomy Girls
I had a request over a month ago to post a download file for the videos I arranged and projected on the October 9th electronic show. These were mostly played between sets to kill silence and fill the room with visuals, and some were actually used as backdrops for a couple of the bands such as the hypnotic ‘Outerspace’ video for Ant Parade’s set. I’m limited to the amount I can post through divshare, so I’ll be posting two other zip files throughout this week. Once you have the file, pick the videos you like, put it on a dvd-r and enjoy the moving image.
Video list:
Screaming Seagull Kiss Her Kiss Her – Evolution
Siobhan – Ghosts
Brian Eno – St. Elmo’s Fire
Liars – Drum Gets A Glimpse
Haves and Thirds – The Craziest of Pipers
Hikashu – At the End of the 20th Century
Peter Tscherkassky – Outer Space
Takeshi Murata – Monster Movie
Aphex Twin – On
Problem Solvers – D.O.G.’s Song
Takagi Masakatsu – Bloomy Girls
-Aphex Twin – On
For S2K:
Be sure to full screen this, watch late at night, and with every light turned off! If this meat grinded film is a little too much for some, there will be a video post tomorrow of something a bit more lighthearted.
SCB: So Brigid, tell me a little about yourself and your music project Ant Parade:
AP: I substitute teach and play music, so I feel like I’m living two lives some of the time. If my students saw me playing, it would be incredibly weird. And funny. Especially if I was in costume.
I am collaborating long distance with my friend Eric in Arizona, but I don’t know what we will end up doing. He remixed one of my existing recordings, and we might try to do original tunes in the future.
Mostly I use tapes, loops, drum machines and the like to make sounds that come out as songs sometimes. I usually sing live over tapes, so a lot of the instruments are invisible.
SCB: You’ve been doing music for a few years now; what motivated you recently to go solo or have you had a previous solo recording/live project before?
AP: It took me a long time to unlearn how to approach music. I always thought, if I couldn’t get things to sound the way I wanted them to, I would give up. Eventually, I kept at it long enough that I started to like what I was getting down on tape, and that was a huge relief.
SCB: That’s always a good feeling! So explain the process you use to record these reliefs:
AP: I have one big room to myself, so it can be a mess of wires if I need it to be, and I basically do most of my recording and practicing at home. I practice for fun, but it can get sort of lonely sometimes since now I’m the only one there. I miss jamming in bands with my friends. But writing alone for me is simpler, out of necessity.
SCB: I feel your music has a very dimension bending/celestial sound to it that immediately throws me out into space then slowly find contact with orbs of light that exchange hidden secrets with me. Is this the kind of floaty sound you approach towards or does Ant Parade just naturally come off that way?
AP: Well, as far as the secrets go, I feel like writing words for music is kind of like telling a secret, or saying something to the clearest of your ability to someone, whether or not they’re even listening. I try to create ambient sounds because some can take you out of time and into a meditative feeling or place.
SCB: Exactly. I think all Brian Eno and other ambient musicians wanted was for people to just ‘listen’ to your surroundings more and tune in to the songs of the universe. Or at least be inspired by the sheer beauty of simplicity. What musical period and/or era of time that you feel your music relates with the most?
AP: I’m not really sure. Listening to music from all different decades growing up has shaped me, and probably influences the way I do things. But I think of different songs as coming from different places in time and music. So recordings of monks chanting, and lo-fi, 3-piece rock bands? I guess that could be pretty contemporary.
SCB: Also if Ant Parade was a painting, what piece or style would it be?
AP: I think it might turn out like a kid’s drawing. Knowing it was done by a child would change the way people saw it, but they could still wonder what was meant by it.
SCB: Oh yeah, I love children drawings! I wish I had any trace of my old childhood art… simplistically surreal. Regarding shows, how do you feel about some people automatically dismissing the quality of an event because of reasons such as location or the show being free?
AP: I haven’t encountered that actually. Usually people are glad that shows are free, and then they show up. Or at least ask how it went. I think having shows outside the traditional bar scene is a good step in getting an attentive audience.
SCB: For real. I’m sick of asshole drunks at bars. Tell me something about your first couple releases including ‘Love Machine.’
AP: The band I used to play in, Dead Horse Detective Agency, did a lot of practicing and played a bunch of shows, before as a 3 piece, and once I joined as a 4 piece. We did record a full-length album, but never had it mixed down and/or mastered.
I also played with Sean Halpin (CrAow and M[L]U) and Shane from DHDA in a band called Violence or Violins. Yet again, songs were written, but we never finished recording.
It took a long time for me to start releasing music solo for a number of reasons. I’m just glad to be getting stuff done now though, and finding opportunities to play shows. Cephia’s Treat is releasing a split record with Body Rot and Ant Parade. They are also releasing the mini CD ‘Love Machine’ soon of songs I recorded at the end of this summer, which is going to be out soon.
SCB: Yeah! I’ve been to one DHDA and two VOV shows and they were both really amazing. Definitely had artistic energy. ONE LAST QUESTION: Who’s playing the solo tour with you this winter and at what destinations?
AP: Alright, I think the ratio is 7 bands, one van. Russian Tsarlag, Haves&Thirds, S2K, J. Zagers, Father Finger, Moondust Plus, and myself. We’re going to be playing shows up Florida, through Georgia, South and North Carolina, Tennessee, and back through different cities. It starts this winter in Tampa on Christmas, and ends back here again (or maybe in Sarasota) on the 4th of January. Things are mostly solidified.
SCB: Ah man, that sounds like a lot of fun! I’ll be catching the Tampa show on Christmas after family dinner for a real present. Thanks a lot Brigid for taking the time to talk about Ant Parade with me, and I can’t wait to hear those releases coming out around the corner!
AP: Thank you, Scott!
GLOBULAR
S/T
Summer 2009
All living things have a direction in life. We are simply the ‘moving observer.’ Simultaneously, we may sometimes be aware of the sense of being stared at. It is at times when we feel thrown out into a formless channel that we are in a morphic field of shape shifting amoebas that are constantly sending out projections of itself into the surrounding world that we all feed off of. These proteus bodies around us and our own concept of self are sentient beings within the realm of the cosmological pool. The propagation of biological life, ideas, sounds, science and art bring together (or ‘more out there,’ however you like to see it) a universal harmonizing pathway where every planet, star, and galaxy cluster align together onto one plane. No space or time here. Now sit back, fill in that bubble of consciousness, and feel your mind expand out towards its true location of existence and back to concentrating onto its physically engaging form.
Globular is Fuji and Andy Hess, the operators of Sarasota label Warded Halls. I had a great time touring with them last summer and getting spaced out during their sets, which brought to mind some kind of resurrection of electronic kraut rock (Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Temple, Cluster) with other hypnotic driven styles such as the minimal synthwavers of the 80’s. This is probably because of the use of earlier synthesizers and also the timeless sound of space-rock music in general. My favorite moments off this album (headphones being the key to it all on this listen): The shining stellar introduction, the part where drums start kicking in like a dieing pulsar on the 3rd track, and Andy’s nonchalant singing at the event horizon. There’s even a moment of mom interruption within this space voyage that calls upon afternoon chores that doesn’t stop this duo from still recording during a brutal removal of floor tiles. Einstürzende Neubauten and moms alike would be proud.
