Author: wwchurch

Brown Angel are hitting the road for a string of live aktions in March which are not to be missed, including a monstrously heavy bill here in NYC featuring Marc Edwards/Mick Barr Duo, Kevin Hufnagel(Gorguts, Sabbath Assembly), & Azonic(Khanate, Blind Idiot God)

RSVP here.

An increasingly rare opportunity for contrition as prescribed by the benevolent, if bludgeoning, Brown Angel.

DEEP RED(memb. of Uniform, York Factory Complaint) will be joining the bill alongside STERN, MYRIAID, and SKULK KITS. Be free and get nuked.

ORNAMENT live in LA February 3 w/ Flaccid Mojo(Black Dice), Warm Drag, & Grave Zone(Vaz) – new Growing tapes + Ornament 12″ers on deck for personal and professional use.

This goes down at Zebulon, which is sorely missed here in NYC, but who we are happy to see thriving in California!

A very potent cassette situation pictured here at Record Grouch in Brooklyn. SGG operatives Growing, Opening Bell, Multicult, EMS, Final Boss, Prizehog, Columboid, Monotrope on deck, along with the one who got away, Cinderella. The vinyl selection at this shop is also very impressive. There is even a section devoted to SGG. Pay Record Grouch a visit….

RIP Mark E Smith – never really got to thank you for writing liner notes to the VAZ LP “Visiting Hours” in 2013….

Sleeping Giant Glossolalia presents:

STERN – touching upon alien pop, Morricone-style scores, and the most atypical strands of heavy metal, helmed by Chuck Stern and featuring current & former members of Time of Orchids and Kayo Dot

MYRIAID – grimy electronic amplified experiments carried out by members of VAZ, Columboid, Lüb, Anasazi

I IM EYE MY – percussive hypnosis conducted by this Philadelphia duo, ex Spacin’

SKULK KITS – City of Caterpillar, Ghastly City Sleep members navigating unfamiliar zones using unorthodox methods

Friday, February 2
8 pm
The Gutter
200 N 14th Street, Williamsburg
Brooklyn
RSVP here

We’re very happy to help our friends Scupper celebrate the release of their new long-player “Some Gauls” this Saturday in Brooklyn with support from Vat of Acid and more. RSVP here.

Here’s what people are saying about Scupper’s latest ripper:

“….trio mix catchy ganged pop vocals with hard-strummed and thuggish folk-rock chordings to surprising good effect.” -Byron Coley, Wire Magazine

“Best of 2017” — Tim Hinely, Blurt

“Best of 2017” — Paul Bruno, WFMU

“Best of 2017” — Aging Baldini, Fuckin Record Reviews

“Best of 2017” — Al Crisafulli, WFDU

“Best of 2017” — Gilmore Tamny, Boston Hassle

“Best of 2017” — Doug Mosurock, CHIRP Radio

“Hi-energy garage-powerpop thrash… yeah!” — Jen Matson, Cycles Per Second

“One high-velocity earworm after another.” — Paul Lukas, Uni-Watch

Thoughtful writer Joshua Poveda gives his take on Opening Bell and asks Mr. Mike some questions.

Find it here or scroll down…

The band will be heading up to New England this weekend for the following dates:

December 29 Boston, Massachusetts @ Great Scott w/ Animal Hospital + guests
December 30 Portland, Maine @ Geno’s w/ Nycterent + guests

Opening Bell, a trio based out of New York City, creates contemplative sonic environments wherein the band addresses, in my opinion——and to their credit, with ample grace——the gracelessness of humanity. Rhythmic efficiency, impressionistic electronic melodies, mixed with black metal’s pathological aesthetic creates a sound that blossoms and persists without a single musical statement going adrift. They aren’t doom-metal tight, but have enough grease and swing to give their haunting synth tones enough puff to stand out like purple in a red sunset. If anything, they are closer to atmospheric black metal, minus the mascara, with electronic synthesizers and a keen sensibility for poetics.

It’s bands like Opening Bell that remind me of contemporary music’s potential to evolve beyond category. I’m under the impression that alchemy shouldn’t be used as some container concept for New School kids with pink hair showing the world how far they can push their ideological zeal. Alchemy should be reserved for this very real transformation of essence, in this case, sound into new structures of communication. From what I gather, Opening Bell’s music mirrors the narrative structure of our dreams. You know, that dark stuff that flirts with chaos and disaster, that headspace of infinity, where answers and questions become one and you can never anticipate what’ll happen next. There’s a reason for that. It’s because the dreaming mind is constantly shifting its attention. Not unlike google brain’s psychedelic artwork, in dreams we constantly attempt to fill in voids with rational concepts, desires, fears, and phenomena, no matter the source.

This brings me to the first time I saw Opening Bell: I stood in a leaky sonic envelope, feeling a big push of air against my body, surrounded by buzzing frequencies as a writhing voice escaped with hot distortion. There was a foundational logic for each melodic phrase, including a rich diversity of timbre, which assisted the development of a collective harmony across fuzzed out pads and riffs, vocals, and drums. An ever-so-subtle swing in the beat cut high across all frequencies, pushing time forward with a bold foot. As the space of each song grew larger and larger, I pictured a hand slowly tearing away layers of old wallpaper, revealing the strange ruins of a past life. It was an illustration of how secrets, often passively, become the source of our inner demons. Therefore, and at least for my listening pleasure, Opening Bell’s lyrical atmospheres created a space for reconciling the ambivalence of the dream, where one can find their deepest secrets, with reality. I was at once immersed in the narrative of my own psychology, making meaning out of chaos, realizing that the sublime can be served up in many ways, and that grace is best reserved for those who consider themselves superhuman.

I’ve clearly expressed my own take on the music, so I was eager to ask Mike Thomas Reisinger from Opening Bell and founder of independent label Sleeping Giant Glossolalia a few questions.

So, during your set I got the impression of it having a narrative structure. There was cohesion, and each song seemed to flow together seamlessly whilst remaining independent. Is there conscious effort to achieve this? Does narrative play into your design of a setlist at all?

Yes, the live set functioning with a narrative structure is intentional. The songs from that set are taken from two separate EPs(one that just came out and another that will be released in the near future) recorded at different times and in different places. While the subject matter varies from song to song, I think we are able to present them live as though they belong together, at least sonically. For instance, giving some of the electronic textures similar treatments at the beginning and end of the set make it feel like one cohesive piece of music. The segues also act as a way to quickly catch some breath between songs…

And what kind of subject matter is each EP dealing with? Does each EP revolve around a theme, or do songs deal with them independently?

Now that I’m forced to really think about it, I guess there is a common theme of survival among the songs, or something like that. But each one in a different way. “Loma Atomal” for instance, is about my friend Nevada Hill, who fought incredibly hard against cancer and displayed a kind of courage and determination I couldn’t even imagine until it ultimately took his life. “Compound Eyes” is a little more broad, abstract, and paranoid, if I’m being honest.

Tell me more about Sleeping Giant Glossolalia. What is it? Where does the name come from?

Sleeping Giant Glossolalia is a record label I started several years ago in order to release whatever weird music my friends and I were making, and I suppose that’s essentially what it still is, though on a larger scale. The name comes from some lyrics from an old band of mine; something about veiled threats and potential upheaval, compulsion to behave in ways that seem counterintuitive, and speaking in tongues. Yeah, if I ever considered it was going to become an actual “business,” responsible for some of my favorite recordings, I might not have given it such a convoluted, difficult to pronounce and remember name. Luckily, “SGG Records” rolls off the tongue and is sympathetic to search engines.

I see you have post-industrial listed as a genre on your band camp. What exactly makes your sound characteristic of post-industrial?

I have no idea what “post-industrial” is supposed to be, but I guess that tag is more acceptable to people than the made-up genres like “bunkerbeat” I was using. The unconventional use of electronics ties it to industrial, maybe, and the “post” because it obviously isn’t purely that style, or any style, really.

I was impressed by the balance between Opening Bell’s sonic elements: Wet vocals, fuzz, synth-bass, and of course the live drum kit. Did this balance have to evolve over time or was it an effort from the get-go.

It did develop over time, yeah. Initially, Armando and I were making largely improvisational electronic music, but that kind of evolved into a few different projects. We added guitar and live drums to Opening Bell and started writing actual songs, and eventually Nellie joined the group as a permanent drummer and that solidified things. It has managed to retain a similar “bad feeling” from the onset, though.

If you could add any element to your live shows (I.e., architecture, video projection, performance art, etc.,) what would it be and why?

Hmm, tough one. We have used video projections to some extent but it’s kind of hard to pull off in a unique way. Without asking my bandmates to chime in, I’m going to go ahead and say it would be cool to incorporate some kind of interpretive dance, though I can’t imagine that working well. Who would dance to this stuff? Wait, no. Puppetry! My answer is puppets.

photos by Cory Goldberg

Growing “Disorder” SGG-052

Extremely limited edition of 100 copies.

Head to the STORE for a package deal containing both Ornament “A Lion is a Lion” 12″ and the Disorder cassette.

“Disorder marks a few milestones for the band Growing; it is their ninth full length release, in the fifteenth year of their band as well as their first record in almost six years. Though this is their first record in quite some time, this by no means a reunion record. When asked, Joe DeNardo stated “We never ‘stopped’ doing Growing, it’s just that it was tough living on two different coasts. We work kinda slow so I think it just took us a while to adjust to how to make it work with the distances. As Kevin kind of built up his home studio in Olympia over the years, it got to a place where we couldn’t NOT use it for Growing – it’s such a great isolated spot to hunker down and chisel out some tunes. ”

With an entire country between the them, Kevin Doria has been focusing his energy on his Total Life project, releasing a handful of releases and touring with Fuck Buttons, GodSpeed You Black Emperor and a host of others. DeNardo has spent the last few years making various music-themed films and performing under the Ornament moniker.

At first listen one may be tempted to refer to this as “return to form” for the band: sonically heavy side-long pastoral excursions being a hallmark of their earlier recordings. But Disorder stands more as a refinement of Growing’s evolving sonic palette, employing dissonance as liberally as harmony, delivering the listener’s ear to a rather unsettling ‘comfort zone’. The effect could be stated as one of submerssion. “Kevin’s TOTAL LIFE records and live set really inspired me to take a look at a much simpler setup.” DeNardo went on to suggest: “I don’t think I succeeded necessarily, but the way he maximizes his sound sources really blew me away. And I think it affected what I was recording for Ornament, and so when we got to jamming for the record, it sort of evolved from that. We recorded to 4 track reel-to-reel, it was a pretty minimal setup. It seems like a heavy record to me, these slow, subtle shifts that feel like a bad trip sometimes.”

Disorder is neither revival nor bookend for Growing. Over their fifteen year career they’ve issued records on Kranky, Troubleman Unlimited, The Social Registry and Animal Disguise; they’ve touring with the likes of Sunn O)))), Boris, Fuck Buttons, Thrones, Animal Collective, Comets on Fire & Gang Gang Dance and have played on five of the seven continents. Disorder is another mile marker on the long open road, both figuratively and literally, Growing have been traversing for years.”

Sleeping Giant Glossolalia presents:

TRIPPING LANDLOCKED INFIDELS – absurdist percussion duo (Kevin Shea & Fritz Welch)

CHRIS COCHRANE & STUART POPEJOY – electrified guitar/bass from Bassoon, Harvey Milk, Collapsible Shoulder contributors

AMI YAMASAKI – (Tokyo) experimental vocalist explores spatial reflections and pure sound/listening

NERVE (Hong Kong) blasts of fragmented and shattered electronics/beats from Steve Hui

Doors Open – 8:00, Music Starts – 9:00
GUTTER BAR, 200 N. 14th St, Brooklyn (Williamsburg)

Chris Cochrane (guitar) has been active in the New York music scene since 1983. He has worked with a vast array of great artists, including John Zorn, Zeena Parkins, Billy Martin, Brian Chase, Andrea Parkins, Andrea Centazzo, T Bone Burnett, Marc Ribot, Fred Frith, Thurston Moore, Richard Buckner, Fast Forward, Gelsey Bell, Matthew Ostrowski, Kramer, Eszter Balint, Derek Bailey, Jim Pugliese, Annie Gosfield, Gordon Beeferman, Anthony Coleman, Ikue Mori, Richard Carrick, Jill Burton, Gino Robair, Michael Evans, Tom Cora, Ron Anderson and Bob Ostertag. He has composed music for dance and theater productions by Ishmael Houston-Jones and Dennis Cooper, John Jasperse, Nayland Blake, Circus Amok, and others. He is currently the band Collapsible Shoulder with Brian Chase, Kato Hideki and Kevin Bud Jones, and BEE LINE with Billy Martin and Kato Hideki.
http://thechriscochrane.com

Stuart Popejoy is a bassist, keyboardist, composer and software developer, leader of the avant-riffmetal trio Bassoon, and collaborator in highly original projects such as Sugarlife , the Sarah Bernstein Quartet , and the electric improvisation trio Iron Dog . 2017 sees the release of the CD “Pleonid” on Leo Records. Stuart composed for and toured with Harvey Milk on their Special Wishes release, and works with stellar NYC musicians including Mick Barr, Kid Millions, Chris Cochrane, Brandon Seabrook, Kevin Shea, Ron Anderson, and Brian Chase. A native of Albuquerque New Mexico, Stuart lives in Brooklyn, NY.
http://www.popejoy.org

Fritz Welch is a drummer, percussionist and vocalist determined to stretch the escalator of possibilities into the bloodshot eye of results. He currently plays in EGO DEPLETION (with Adam Campbell), Lambs Gamble (with Eric Boros and George Cremaschi), and has a duo with Olivier Di Placido. He is a former member of Peeesseye and Asparagus Piss Raindrop, collaborates with choreographer Louise Ahl and performs in Maarten Seghers/Needcompany’s theatre piece ‘O’. A longtime Brooklynite of Texas origins, he is now based in Glasgow Scotland….http://humansacrifice.net/ https://vimeo.com/user3131827 https://fritzwelch.bandcamp.com/

Kevin Shea (drums) has been featured on 160 albums and has performed in 45 countries. He maintains a relentlessly prolific and polarizing presence with Talibam! (with Matt Mottel), Mostly Other People Do The Killing (with Ron Stabinsky and Moppa Elliott), People (with Mary Halvorson), Rhys Chatham, David Taylor, and countless other projects in the Avant-Garde, Jazz, Contemporary Music, and less superlative genres.

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Ami YAMASAKI is a vocalist and cross-media artist from Tokyo.
Yamasaki creates installations, performance pieces and directs films. With primal vocals and movement, she explores the possibilities of a deeper understanding towards the mechanism of the world. In 2017 she was invited to New York by the Asian Cultural Council as a grantee. Her main solo shows include “Signs of voices” (2016, Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto), and group shows include “Tokyo Experimental Festival vol.09 ” (2014, Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo) “Exchange-planting a seed” (2013, Aomori Contemporary Art center, Aomori) and “Sonic City 2013 Liquid Architecture” (2013, RMIT, Melbourne). Her work is diverse and prolific; ranging from the collaborations with Keiji Haino, Yasunori Ikunishi, Akira Sakata, and Dairo Suga, workshops at The National Museum of Art Osaka, Arts Maebashi, and Sapporo City Kojo elementary school, as well as television appearances as a narrator and vocalist for drama.
http://amingerz.wixsite.com/ami-yamasaki

Steve Hui (“Nerve”) is an electronic musician from Hong Kong, presently in New York on a 4 month grant from the Asian Cultural Council. He recently performed in Lausanne Switzerland at the 2017 LUFF (Lausanne Underground Film Festival). “With a background in classical composition and ’90s rave culture, Hong Kong’s experimentalist Nerve explores the extreme sound experience by mixing electroacoustic, beat, bass, fx and rave samples into a new form of free improvisation performance. His high-speed finger triggering and knob twisting style generates a harsh yet danceable noise that can’t be categorized and moves beyond our imaginations.” (LUFF)
https://www.lo4nerve.com

RSVP here.

Abasement 32
Live (no particular order)
– Keikouen
– Charnel Ground (Chris Brokaw, Kid Millions, and co.)
– Marcia Bassett & Samara Lubelski
– Contours (P Holmes, A. Lafkas, N Jozwaik, B Wolff)

DJ Mr Mike (Sleeping Giant Glossolalia)

Monday December 11, 2017
Doors at 7pm
Basement of Max Fish, 120 Orchard Street L.E.S. / N.Y.C.

RSVP here.

Gaute Granli(Norway) and Macho Blush(Texas) share a bill with Child Abuse, Final Boss, and Rodenticide at The Footlight in Ridgewood, Queens this Thursday.

RSVP here.

Monotrope record release party at Park Church Co-op in Brooklyn, with support provided by Unnatural Ways(SGG debut forthcoming), Marc Edwards/Mick Barr Duo(also with a release in the works), and Mitch Cheney(Sweep the Leg Johnny) & Kevin Shea(Storm and Stress) November 3. LP, cassette, digital out November 10.

We are thrilled to be bringing Brown Angel back to NYC for a rare live appearance. With support provided by Stern(who have a new album coming soon on SGG), Opening Bell, and Skryptor(which features members of craw, Dazzling Killmen, and STATS), this show is not to be missed.

Saturday, October 28 7pm
The Gateway
1272 Broadway, Brooklyn

RSVP HERE.

Brown Angel’s “Shutout” LP has been the subject of ongoing critical acclaim since its release and is available in our shop.