Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Graham O'Brien Releases Debut Album

Graham O'Brien - Live Drums promo video from NOECHO Records on Vimeo.

Graham O'Brien's debut solo album Live Drums is now available for purchase or download through NOECHO Records. It is also available via iTunes. You may be familiar with Graham's work in No Bird Sing, Abzorbr or any number of other bands he's played in or done production for but Live Drums is some next level business. The album features appearances by Kristoff Krane, Adam Svec, Alicia Wiley as well as Eric Blair and Robert Mulrennan of No Bird Sing.

Graham's debut solo effort, Live Drums lies somewhere near the boundaries of the Instrumental Hip Hop genre. As the title suggests, each song on the album is shaped by Graham’s drum set performances - which are inventive and creatively recorded. The dark, contrasting layers of synthetic and sampled sounds make the record an engaging listen. Compositionally, this album is influenced by DJ Shadow, Portishead and The Gaslamp Killer, among others.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Opening Party For EYE Will (A Micheal "Eyedea" Larsen Benefit Art Show)

Thank you to everyone who came out to Nicademus Art and Framing and The Turf Club this past Saturday.

For those not familiar with EYE Will it is a celebration of the visual art of a young Micheal "Eyedea" Larsen and the artists he worked with later in his life. The first show this past Saturday displayed sketches and paintings done by Larsen from grade school through high school alongside collaborations, album covers, and original work from Louis LaPierre, Michael Gaughan, James Penfield and others. Larsen's visual art shows ageless poise and wisdom, traits warmly familiar to those deeply affected by his poetry and music.

Contributing Visual Artists Included: Michael Gaughan, James Penfield, Booka B, Louis N LaPierre, Jeremy Ylvisaker, Satori, and George Tompson

EYE Will opened at Nicademus Art and Framing - 225 Snelling Avenue in Saint Paul, MN on November 27th with a reception from 6-9pm. The show is FREE and open to the general public through December 10th.

Immediately following the opening night reception, the nearby Turf Club hosted "Opening Party for EYE Will" featuring live sets from Face Candy, Kill the Vultures, Kristoff Krane, No Bird Sing, Carnage, Guitar Party, Sector 7G, Mr. Dufaux.

Both EYE Will and the Opening Party are Benefit Events. All art and ticket sales go to the Micheal “Eyedea” Larsen & Family Fund. Please visit micheallarsen.com for updates on future EYE Will events.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Monday, November 22, 2010

Good Article On Taping From The BBC.

Gig-tapers take their microphones on a mission

By Nicola Stanbridge
Today programme


Excerpt...

"Next time you are at a gig, do not be surprised to find yourself standing by someone with a microphone recording the show - sound blasting from the stage, crowd noise and all.

If they have got permission from the venue and the artist, they are likely to be one of a growing online community of "tapers" recording the concert and posting the audio online.

Distinct from bootleggers, they are bound by a code of conduct that forbids them profiting from their recordings. Their hobby is all about recording shows for posterity.

Permission is required and not all bands are taper-friendly. But as the music industry tries to adapt to the many opportunities to download something for nothing, this taper community is being embraced by more and more musicians.

In the 1960s the Grateful Dead encouraged audiences to tape shows. Their followers, known as Dead Heads, documented almost all the band's performances, and the underground taping community stuck at it in to the digital age.

The band Low Anthem upholds the tradition, with a message posted on their website. "If you are a 'taper', you will find safe harbor at Low Anthem shows, so long as the venue is not cruel and unusual," it says.

All of the recordings that I make, I feel that I am recording something of historical benefit
Alex, taper

Backstage at the End of the Road festival in Dorset, Ben Knox-Miller from Low Anthem said that the band actually encouraged tapers to set up microphones at their gigs.

"They are these guys who are obsessed with music and have been obsessed for years," he said.

"You get a lot of people who follow the Dead around, who just have these huge catalogues of shows they've been to. They love music so much, it's just good to be around them.

"I've never taped a show myself. My friend Dan Lefkowitz used to play in the band. He left us three years ago and I wish I had that memory. I wish that somebody had captured that."

On a neighbouring stage Mark Hamilton, a former taper turned singer-guitarist in the band Woodpigeon, divulged the secrets of his hobby.

"I joined a tape trading mailing list and we traded tapes through the mail with all these people who were around the world.
Ben Knox-Miller
Ben Knox-Miller, of The Low Anthem, embraces his taper fans

"That was 18 years ago now - we were trading lots of grunge."

Hamilton was mainly involved in the mailing list of tapers who recorded the band The Smashing Pumpkins. The people who set up the mailing list, he said, ended up working for the band.

"If you talk about it in a philosophical way, you are dealing with the people that are most interested in what you are doing," he said.

But not all bands are so friendly. One taper's equipment was destroyed by a security guard at a Bob Dylan concert in the 1970s.

A few well-known names in the music industry are avowedly anti-taping, but such an attitude might not be in their favour, according to music industry consultant Keith Jopling.

Smashing Pumpkins on stage
The Smashing Pumpkins hired those who started their taper mailing list

"Bands need to look at communities like this and say 'these are super-fans. They are really real enthusiasts, even obsessed about our music - maybe there's a way in which we can collaborate with them'.

"This is essentially a ring-fenced community, so we're talking about hundreds, maybe into the thousands of enthusiasts.

"Not multi-millions of people who are cynically file-sharing tracks just because they are free."

He said some bands were making the most of their super-fans.

In one example, the band Radiohead used mobile phone video footage of a concert in Prague, edited it together with a recording of the music, and made it available for download.

Indeed, the record industry does not appear to be acting punitively against the majority of tapers.

"If you look at these sites, you can see some of them are very respectful to artists' needs," Jopling said.
The Astoria
Moments on stage at the Astoria have been saved by the tapers

"They have a list of artists who have set down what their policy is - the kind of concerts that you can tape, those that you can't and there are some bands that obviously say no taping at all."

Forty-year-old Alex, who goes under the online name Humbug, has been taping for eight years without any problems from record companies.

He uploads his recordings to sites such as bt.etree and The Archive.

"All of the recordings that I make, I feel that I am recording something of historical benefit," he said.

"They're unique events. The atmosphere in some of these little clubs in central London is absolutely amazing.

"It is a real shame that some of them have closed recently - The Astoria, the Mean Fiddler, the Metro and also that one of the most historic, the 100 Club, is now under threat.

"It'd be a real shame to see it go."

You can hear Nicola Stanbridge's report on tapers on Radio 4's Today programme on Monday morning, between 6 and 9am."

- news.bbc.co.uk

Check out Nick & Eddie tonight...


Monday November 22nd starting at 9 pm in the big room $3 suggested:

Heat Death
Visions of Christ
Vasarely Igloo

V.I.: Philip Mann, Rick Ness, and Ryan Reber, Jesse Petersen, Sean Smuda, Bader Boutagga

Heat Death: Andrew Broder and Tim Glenn

Visions of Christ: John Jerry and Casey Deming

Nick & Eddie Restaurant
1612 Harmon Place
Minneapolis, MN 55403-1916
(612) 486-5800

Hibernation: Franklin & Hennepin Edition.

I haven't been near a computer since Friday afternoon and it's been lovely.

Missed dredg and Codeseven at the Cabooze last Wednesday. Just wasn't in the mood to head down there. dredg will be releasing a new album at the end of March though. Perish03 featuring CLAPS, Aaron and the Sea, DJ TRL, Compound and DJ Ghoul Talk was well worth the trip to Dinkytown.

Back in September I was invited to record the last ever Military Special show that went down at The Entry on Friday night. This was an assignment that I gladly accepted. From start to finish it was a great night of live music including sets from Lucy Michelle & The Velvet Lapelles, Phantom Tails, Estate and Dada Trash Collage. In other news, P.J., being the good fellow he is was able to record Nomia, Canyons of Static, and Lynxxe at The Whole. Look for those sets in the future.

Then we had another Saturday night with 5 or 6 shows to choose from. I narrowed it down to City on the Make at The Dakota, the Every Wall Will Fall event at The Turf Club and Os Mutantes were also playing The Cedar. To be completely honest the City on the Make show had been bumped to the top when I heard about it one loud evening at Palmer's a month prior. Then the freezing rain and a general sense of laziness set in. Please tell me you recorded City on the Make's third ever Dakota Late Night installment? Please?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Roger Waters @ Xcel Energy Center

This recording is available via The Traders' Den. Please note I DID NOT make this recording. I am only linking to it for those who may be interested.

Roger Waters
October 27, 2010
Xcel Energy Center
St. Paul, MN

Source: Schoeps MK4's > actives > Nbox > Edirol R-09HR @ 24/48. Recorded from FLR L, row 35, seat 14.

Transfer: Kingston 8gb SDHC card > Dell PC > 24bit WAV > Sony Sound Forge 9.0e > 16bit WAV > CDWave Editor > FLAC16.

Recorded and transferred by perks.

Total Time (115:07)

1. Master Of Ceremonies
2. In the Flesh?
3. The Thin Ice
4. Another Brick In The Wall - Pt1
5. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
6. Another Brick In The Wall - Pt2
7. Mother
8. Goodbye Blue Sky
9. Empty Spaces
10. What Shall We Do Now?
11. Young Lust
12. One Of My Turns
13. Don't Leave Me Now
14. Another Brick In The Wall - Pt3
15. The Last Few Bricks
16. Goodbye Cruel World

17. Hey you
18. Is There Anybody out There
19. Nobody Home
20. Vera
21. Bring The Boys Back Home
22. Comfortably Numb
23. The Show Must Go On
24. In The Flesh
25. Run Like Hell
26. Waiting For The Worms > Stop
27. The Trial
28. Outside The Wall

Perish03 Tonight @ The Kitty Cat Klub

CLAPS - Minimal Synth Pop
Aaron and the Sea - Dark New Wave
DJ TRL, Compound and DJ Ghoul Talk playing music throughout the evening.

Perish is an evening of "Dark Music" taking place every third Thursday of the month at The Kitty Cat Klub.

Thursday 11/18...

Tonight sounds like a good night to see a couple of different shows. Maybe Sorry OK, The Chickadee Mountain Martyrs and Ogre Smash Death Boom at Dusty Pixels (Free, All Ages, 8pm, 2443 Hennepin Ave S) followed by Perish03 at The Kitty Cat Klub? I'm sure a trip to Mesa Pizza will be involved.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Update?

Friday November 5th: Unfortunately I did not stay for Two Cow Garage and Franz Nicolay but did record The Evening Rig and Holyoke at The Triple Rock.

Saturday November 6th: I recorded the first ever in-store performance at Yeti Records featuring Shahs. I need to get the set list from Tom so I can post the tape.

Tuesday November 9th: I attended the Larsen Family Benefit at First Avenue but chose not to record. Andrea Swensson did a really nice write up for Gimme Noise.

Thursday November 11th: I recorded Dawes, Peter Wolf Crier and The Moondoggies at First Avenue. A great time was had and I plan to get those sets posted in the near future.

Friday November 12th: Even though The Soviettes at The Triple Rock has been on my calendar for a while I decided to stay in Friday night.

Saturday November 13th: Was able to make it to The Ritz for the second night of the Gastro Non Grata benefit. Being that it was so cold and snowy I left the mics at home. The highlight will hopefully be a sbd recording of Black Audience. Unfortunately I was not able to catch Marijuana Deathsqauds or Pink Mink. Thanks to The Anchor for always being my late night NE stop.

Friday, November 12, 2010

The Somethin' Else #6 Tonight!


The Somethin' Else #6
In The Loop
An Electronic Music Potluck

Featuring:
The Dark Lord of Rhodes
Carnage the Executioner
Aby Wolf & Josh Granowski
Mankwe Ndosi
ten72
Jeremy Ylvisaker
Visuals by Visionquest
Aural Ambiance by Slow Derek

Friday, November 12th
Cult Status Gallery
2913 Harriet Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota
8pm-12am
All Ages
$5 (free with potluck contribution)

Sponsored by the Electric Fetus and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Gastro Non Grata Nordeast Edition: A Goulash of Good Times


Gastro Non Grata Nordeast Edition: A Goulash of Good Times
Friday Nov. 12th and Saturday Nov. 13th
$10 adv/ $13 door per night. Doors at 7
A Benefit for the Ritz Theater at the Ritz Theater in NE MPLS
345 13th Avenue Northeast
(612) 436-1129


"Gastro Non Grata has been busy sowing the seeds of knowledge bombs of the best local chefs, purveyors of the finest libation and lots of dirty rock and roll into your skulls for over four years. This fall we reaped such bumper crop of good times we have to make it a two day soiree with all proceeds to benefit our friends at the beautiful Ritz Theater in NE MPLS. That’s right, two days of the finest this city has to offer in chef driven food, locally owned alcoholic beverages and uber-talented musicians.

The November 12 show features chef Philip Becht (Modern Café) and Erik Anderson (Seachange) pairing foods with Crispin Cider while DJ Pat Dwyer (Grumpy’s NE) spins the hits and makes your fingers snap. Bands in order of appearance Magic Castles, Unknown Prophets, Tyler Burkum and Me and My Arrow.

November 13 brings the flavor with Phil Becht again, flanked by and Steven Brown (chef/owner of soon to be Tilia) on vittle patrol with our friends from Fulton Beer and Grape Beginnings. Cakeeater Bakery will also have something for your sweet tooth on hand. In between sets DJ Solid Gold plays the music that keeps hope alive. Music by Black Audience, Phantom Tails, Rude Girl, Marijuana Death Squads and Pink Mink.

We’re also proud to announce we’re bringing the meat raffle back for both nights with our friends from Clancey’s Meat and Fish and a bevy of local NE establishments throwing their wares into the prize vaults, so bring extra cash for raffle tickets.

Gastro Non Grata is a labor of love co-sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon, Modern Café, Cakeeater Bakery, Fulton Beer, Crispin Cider, Grape Beginnings, Metro Magazine and Heavy Table.

Friday, November 05, 2010

I'll Be On Off The Record Again Today At 4pm.


Andrew asked if I wanted to stop back down to Off The Record and there was no hesitation. I'll be playing live tracks with him and Jake at 4pm this afternoon. The in-studio guests will be Red Pens. OTR airs on Radio K every Friday from 3pm to 5pm and it can be streamed online via their website. An iPhone app is located here.

104.5 FM Metro Area 24/7
100.7 FM St. Paul 24/7
106.5 FM Minneapolis 4:30PM-8:00AM
770 AM Minneapolis/St. Paul Daylight Hour

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Safewords @ The Kitty Cat Klub

Safewords debut performance was at Perish02 and also featured a set from Zombie Season. Perish is held at The Kitty Cat Klub (315 14th Ave SE) every third Thursday of the month.

Safewords - "Fixture" Live (10/21/10)
Safewords - "Crawling Inside" Live (10/21/10)


Jed Smentek - bass, vocals (CLAPS)
Colin Swanson-White - vocals, guitar (Formaldehyde Junkies, The Sinks)
J. Michael Ward - drum (STNNNG)

Upcoming Show:

Friday, November 12th at Gnarwhal
w/ Diet Cokeheads, Frozen Teens & Getting Even
9pm, All Ages, $6