Thursday, October 30, 2008

Mr. Negativland Goes To Washington; Negativland Archives Go Online As Part of Massive Website Update; Live Dates and Thoughts For Congress...

They once swore they’d never become DC lobbyists for progressive intellectual property laws, but now Negativland has. Sort of.

Founding Negativland member Mark Hosler has been invited by The Digital Freedom Campaign, a fair use advocacy group and broad-based coalition dedicated to defending the rights of artists, consumers and innovators, to travel to Washington DC as a “citizen lobbyist” to speak with various members of Congress about Negativland’s work, methodologies, and the bigger picture of a world where it seems like everyone these days is making collage. When musicians like Girl Talk can become huge pop stars, with millions of teenage fans, and yet it’s still all illegal, then something is still wrong with this picture. Negativland looks forward to this chance to present some different points of view about art, creativity and the law to some of the folks in DC who run this peculiar country of ours. See below for the introductory letter Mark will be using for his visit to Capitol Hill this October.

For questions about DigitalFreedom.org, contact Nancy Tarr at tarr.wager@gmail.com

With the recent debut of its 100% newly revised web-site, hundreds of hours of archived Negativland radio broadcasts (soon to be thousands of hours) are now on-line. Check out negativland.com/ote for all the details about the archives of its weekly “Over The Edge” radio show that has been on the air since 1981.

But there is even more - founding Negativland member The Weatherman is opening up his archive as well, putting up amazing and bizarre new things from the past and present of his real life each week for you to check out. Much of this stuff is things that the rest of Negativland didn’t even know existed. So if you enjoy the wackier side of Negativland, check out negativland.com/dumb. It’s germ free and truly....astounding! Also new on the site is WRITE ANYTHING HERE on which you can indeed write anything there.

Here’s the letter that Negativland will use while in Washington, DC. “Some Thoughts For Congress About Creativity and Copyright”:
Hello Congressman _________, and thanks for letting me visit your offices here in Washington DC. As a founding member of the group Negativland, I am here to offer some perspectives on the surprising and exciting directions that art (music, video, web sites, etc.) and technology are taking in the world today, and how this new explosion of creativity is colliding with our sometimes outdated copyright laws. It’s rare that artists get to speak to you on behalf of art, and so I want to thank you and the folks at DigitalFreedom.org for letting me visit you.

From our 28 years of being creators, observers, and consumers of music, art, and video, our group, Negativland, has witnessed incredible and wonderful shifts in the ways that the public is now able to create and distribute new work via digital technologies. We’ve also witnessed amazing changes in the way that money and corporate power has increasingly influenced policy, Congress, and the laws of our nation. At times, these changes are good. At other times, as I am sure you know, they benefit no one except the businesses lobbying you. We are concerned when this does not serve the public interest.

We believe that the healthy evolution of art and creativity has more value than simply counting how much money is lost or made. Art, science and technology have evolved because of how we all build upon the ideas and works of those who came before us. Copyright was always intended as a balancing act between giving ownership to creators so as to provide incentive to create new works, and allowing works to lapse into the public domain so that new ideas could develop. But our founding fathers could never have imagined the kind of world we live in today and the amazing new technologies that we are surrounded with - technologies that encourage and inspire us to interact with the world and create in unprecedented new ways. Protecting the author of a creative work is a good thing, but the benefits of copyright have been thrown off balance by the disproportionate influence of those with the most money. In fact, the more recent expansions of our nation’s copyright laws represent a break from our nations past and from the intentions of our own Constitution.

Did you know that copyright originally lasted only 14 years, and then all work fell into the public domain? The limit now is 70 years plus the life of the creator, meaning that nothing made in our lifetimes will fall into the public domain. This does not strike us as a very good public good. Even patents, which govern everything from industrial processes to pharmaceuticals, are given only a 20 year period before other manufacturers have access to them and this system seems to have done nothing to discourage innovation, creation, and especially remuneration in the fields of science and technology with this relatively short time span.

But art is neither science nor technology. Why make art out of things originated by others? We think that unless one is lucky enough to live on a remote island somewhere, we all live in a world surrounded by news, music, movies, ads, logos and messages. We are, quite literally, bombarded with media. It has always been a part of human nature to make art in response to and using material from the world around us. Nowadays, anyone with a small computer can easily make, remake, slice, dice, mix, and remix from any electronic media they can get their hands on. And because we can, we often do. Besides being fun, this kind of work creates a new type of cultural “conversation” that we can all have with the media around us, a conversation that we believe is healthy for a vibrant democracy that aspires to true freedom of speech.

Copying has gone on in art and music throughout the ages, from “quoting” in classical music compositions, to homage and parody. In much of the last century, these “appropriation” practices were the province of the avant-garde and the fine art world. But with the Internet, the ever-growing speed of computing, YouTube, MySpace, file-sharing, and other recent developments, they have now moved wholly and firmly into the mainstream. And yet our laws strive to criminalize all of this behavior. Ours is a world in which copyright has fallen woefully behind the curve of what the public actually wants to do with all that digital “stuff” out there. Millions world wide are creating art, music and video that incorporate elements of existing work - cutting and pasting bits and pieces of music, video, text, and pictures made by others to create new works. Millions of web pages now use various Creative Commons licenses to provide a nuanced alternative to traditionally black and white interpretations of copyright laws (one such license Negativland helped to write). The prevalence of these alternative copyright strategies is a testament to how many of your constituents are not at all happy with copyright as it stands now.

At this juncture, we feel it’s necessary to point out that we support artists and creators being paid for the work they produce. We believe copyright was correctly intended as a judicious balance between providing for the creator as well as providing for the public commons, a balance which Negativland believes has been largely forgotten by the big businesses who produce and sell most media and entertainment. And we should also mention that all this creative re-use of material rarely if ever puts new work in economic competition with its sources. It does not pose any reasonable economic threat to the original source in any marketplace that they share. In an ideal world, Negativland would like to see the notion of Fair Use expanded to accommodate, accept, and protect these new practices.

I hope that my brief presentation today can give you some new perspective on this type of art and creativity, and that the next time some restrictive intellectual property bill crosses your desk or a lobbyist from the music or movie industry comes into your office to push for even stricter copy protection and more extreme legal punishment for those who break copyright laws, you’ll keep in the mind the millions of folks out here whose creative efforts are criminalized by what has become, intentionally or not, a thoughtless and short sighted application of what were once some very well-intended laws protecting owners as well as the public commons.

Sincerely, Mark Hosler on behalf of Negativland, 10/28/08 mark@negativland.com


NEGATIVLAND LIVE:
Negativland: “It’s All in Your Head FM”:

12/02 Boulder, CO Old Main Theater 8PM FREE
12/03 Boulder, CO Old Main Theater 8PM FREE

Mark Hosler: Negativland Film Screening & Lecture
11/03 New York, NY NYU
11/06 Purchase, NY SUNY Purchase
11/12 Knoxville, TN Museum of Art

NEGATIVLAND LINKS:
www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion
www.facebook.com/pages/Fanatic-Promotion/7297716716?ref=s

More About Negativland:
Since 1980, Negativland have been creating records, CDs, video, fine art, books, radio and live performance using appropriated sound, image and text. Mixing original materials and original music with things taken from corporately owned mass culture and the world around them, Negativland re-arranges these found bits and pieces to make them say and suggest things that they never intended to. In doing this kind of cultural archaeology and “culture jamming” (a term they coined way back in 1984), Negativland have been sued twice for copyright infringement, and, in the 1990’s, emerged as a leading artistic voice in the ever growing debate about our nations copyright laws.

Negativland’s music, video, visual work, and live performances have used the art and technique of collage to pose both serious and humorous questions about the nature of sound, media, control, ownership, propaganda and perception. Their work is now referenced and taught in many college courses in the US, has been written about or cited in over 150 books, and they often lecture about their work here and in Europe. In 1995 they released a 270 page book with 72 minute CD entitled Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2, that documented their infamous four-year long legal battle over their 1991 release of an audio piece entitled U2. They were the subjects of Craig Baldwin’s feature documentary Sonic Outlaws, and created the soundtrack and sound design for Harold Boihem’s documentary film The Ad and The Ego, an excellent in-depth look into the ways that we are affected by advertising.

Negativland is now on the advisory board of a Washington DC based intellectual property lobbying group called DigitalFreedom.org, and in 2004 Negativland worked closely with Creative Commons to write the “Creative Commons Sampling Plus License,” an alternative to existing copyrights that is now in widespread use by many artists, writers, musicians, film makers, and on literally millions of websites.

What The Media Says About Negativland:
“Declared heroic by their peers for refashioning culture into what the group considers to be more honest statements, Negativland suggests that refusing to be original, in the traditional sense, is the only way to make art that has any depth within commodity capitalism...” – New York Times

“It’s an often ignored request, but you may pay more attention to the phrase ‘Please remember to take all your belongings’ after seeing Negativland’s eerily mesmerizing new project…” – Newsweek

Negativland argues persuasively that creators should be able to appropriate bits and pieces of anything and incorporate then into their work without fear of legal action.” – Utne Reader

Negativland isn’t just some group of merry pranksters; its art is about tearing apart and reassembling found images to create new ones, in an attempt to make social, political and artistic statements. Hilarious and chilling.” – The Onion

Negativland, longtime advocates of fair use allowances for pop media collage, are perhaps America’s most skilled plunderers from the detritus of 20th century commercial culture...the band’s latest project is razor sharp, microscopically focused, terribly fun and a bit psychotic.” – Wired

“For more than 20 years, Negativland has earned renown for manipulation of both tape and media.” – Los Angeles Times

“Collage pioneers.....genre-defying, densely layered, strangely accessible...” – Washington Post

Negativland…known for their media pranks...” – Time Magazine

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Austin’s Future Clouds and Radar follows-up it’s critically lauded double CD debut with Peoria...

... a cinematic narrative about the illusory nature of mortality. Download the lead single “The Epcot View” now.

Austin-based Future Clouds and Radar, the eclectic art-pop ensemble headed by Robert Harrison, released their ambitious self-titled double-disc debut last year. A growing critical consensus says the album ranks among 2007’s best. Harp Magazine named Future Clouds and Radar “Debut Artist of the Year” and called the release fourth best record of overall.

It seems musical vision continues to emanate from the group who is set to release its sophomore recording, Peoria, on November 4th, 2008. Where the first album showed Harrison as the central figure in a large musical cast, Future Clouds and Radar’s latest offering finds the core band focusing their kaleidoscopic vision into a single cinematic narrative about the illusory nature of mortality. Throughout, Harrison stays true to his genre-hopping eclecticism, leading the journey through a maze of fuzz-box vocals and ethereal keys.

Here’s what smart people said about Future Clouds and Radar’s debut release:

“A triumph of schizophrenic musical vision... a beautiful and brilliant mess... magnificent double disc collection of pop gems. 4 stars.” – Paste Magazine

“Whether Future Clouds and Radar is essaying dreamy, electronicaized psychedelia, blue-eyed soul anthemry, Latin-flecked jangle-pop, or full-guns a-blazing, fuzzed-out garage, the material is executed with a jazzlike precision and suffused with a deeply emotional, spontaneous vibe.” – Winner 2007’s “Debut Artist of The Year,” Harp Magazine

Future Clouds and Radar remind you why God made double CD packages: to experiment wildly while creating pop that glistens.” – Philadelphia Inquirer

“Audacious? Sure. But undeniably impressive.” – NPR

Future Clouds and Radar have enough bright, catchy pop songs that could easily turn heads one song at a time, but their debut album, two CDs and 27 tracks worth of enchantment, shows that the long-form statement isn’t done yet. Robert Harrison was the singer and songwriter in Cotton Mather, a somewhat more straightforward pop-rock band that released three albums before disappearing in 2001. With a new assortment of collaborators devoted to fulfilling his wildest visions, Harrison is back with a record distilling even more influences than The Beatles/Guided By Voices styles of his previous band. The songs are richly melodic, ranging from short but powerful bare-bones hooks to thickly arranged, fully developed compositions featuring horns, keyboard, and other additions to the basic rock band format.” – No Depression

“Sprawling orchestral art rock.” – New Yorker

“A debut double album in itself is ambitious, but the range of style Future Clouds and Radar tackle on theirs is almost ludicrous. The Austin group’s self-titled release takes a wide-angle approach, it seems there’s nothing these guys won’t try.” – Time Out New York

Future Clouds and Radar Live:
11/06 Austin, TX Saxon Pub
11/12 Chicago, IL The Empty Bottle
11/13 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway
11/14 Louisville, KY Gerstle’s

Peoria Tracklisting:
Release Date: November 4th, 2008

01. The Epcot View (MP3)
02. Old Edmund Ruffin
03. Feet on Grass
04. Mummified
05. 18 Months
06. The Mortal
07. Mortal 926
08. Follow the Crane

Tools & Hi–Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=1426

On The Web:
www.myspace.com/futurecloudsandradartx
www.starapplekingdom.com
starapplekingdom.blogspot.com

Subscribe To Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com
www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion
www.facebook.com/pages/Fanatic-Promotion/7297716716?ref=s

Even more comments from smart people:

“Sprawls like Tolstoy over two CDs...an impressive achievement.” – Austin Chronicle

Harrison’s song writing keeps getting better and better; full of hooks, with beautiful melodies and strong lyrics (that are sometimes cryptic, but always evocative and effective). Best of all, the lengthy gestation time of this album has given them time to add hundreds of brilliant little arrangement flourishes that enhance and reward repeated spins. and unlike many double albums, this one could easily have been at least a triple; there simply aren’t any crap songs. Give it 10 plays, and you’ll likely be a fan for life.” – Pop Culture Press

“Having kept his head low since 2001’s The Big Picture, Robert Harrison was obviously keen to make up for lost time. His latest venture is a whopping 27-track extravaganza of snappy power pop, ‘60’s-soaked psychedelia, ELO-styled orchestrations and more, performed with all the glee of a five-year-old in a sweet shop. Stuffed with proper tunes and vibrantly arranged - check ‘Hurricane Judy’’s chirpy brass or ‘You Will Be Loved’’s pizzicato strings - it seems vociferous supporter Noel Gallagher was right about Harrison all along. 4 stars.” – Q

“The transcendent moments make you glad you have ears.” – Popmatters

“While the utter sprawl of pop smarts, riveting hooks, mesmerizing arrangements, and alluring lyrics bring forth comparisons to Robert Pollard, there’s greater sonic variety (including judiciously deployed horns at crucial junctures) and painstakingly finessed production decisions. The songs call out for attention on first play; subsequent listens yield a world of subtle nuances and surprises. Harrison met his goal: file this next to the White Album.” – amazon.com

“If we needed any additional proof that 2007 is just a silly good year for music, this Future Clouds and Radar disc might be the clinching note. A veritable murderer’s row of songs, sonic mastery and lyrics that break your heart, find this disc and get it!” – 30Music

“Trippy, psychedelic bliss that comes from either Austin or somewhere between the 13th Floor Elevators and ELO.” – USA Today

“It’s personal and powerful, lush and loquacious. The memorable moments intersect with sheer chutzpah to render this an impressive achievement.” – Austin American-Statesman

“A magnificent double-disc collection of Flaming Lips / 13th Floor Elevators / ELO-inspired / psychedelic pop gems. Move over, Robert Pollard.” – WXPN’s Bruce Warren

Monday, October 27, 2008

Legendary songwriter Vic Chesnutt heads out on the road with Elephant 6 psychsters Elf Power in support of collaborative album Dark Developments.

Album to be released tomorrow. Download two MP3s from the record today!

Athens’ musical mainstays Vic Chesnutt and Elephant 6 originals Elf Power will hit the road this fall in support of their collaborative release, Dark Developments on Orange Twin Records. In addition to performing songs together from Dark Developments, Elf Power will open each night playing tunes from its most recent release In A Cave released earlier this year by Rykodisc.

A tuneful collision of Athens institutions finds fruition this fall when Orange Twin releases Vic Chesnutt’s collaboration with Elephant 6 psychsters Elf Power, Dark Developments. As intriguing as this combination may seem for hardcore fans of either act, the final sonic results reveal a daunting sum much greater than even the involvement of such esteemed parts would imply. The Elves’ lived-in dexterity as a live band goads Vic’s vocal delivery to a menacing new muscularity, imbuing this batch of songs with a sinister vibe not dissimilar to John Cale’s black classic Fear, the harsh, articulate sleaze of Lou Reed’s Street Hassle or the defeated low key soul-music of Nick Lowe’s last few records. As useful as these benchmark-records are in identifying Dark Developments’ own unique spirit, this record truly stands on its own as a brilliant statement, a classic addition to Athens’ legendary pantheon, and, most importantly, as an organic meeting of two separately-evolved and vital musical entities that never feels forced, flashy or false. This is an important album endemic of a natural partnership, and a great way to spend an afternoon.

Vic Chesnutt’s songwriting retains its trademark literary bent, as a tune like “Stop The Horse,” or the withered gallows-stroll of “The Mad Passion of The Stoic” flash the narrative weight, sturdy construction and lexical mystery of a long lost Raymond Carver story. And Chesnutt can still woo you with the odd, beautiful chord-change, the compelling melody and the strange sonic turn in the road. Album opener “Mystery,” moves from a desperately wordless lullaby into a torchy, fragile folk-waltz and back again in about three minutes time, all the while supporting an intuitive rumination on loss and the passage of time. There’s a reggae stutter buried in the bridges and verses of “Teddy Bear,” an oddball keyboard vamp suturing them all together, and a chorus of strange beheaded whispers orbiting just outside the elemental and poignant refrain: “He ain’t never comin’ back.” Again, this all transpires within the pop-sanctioned three-minute borderline, and the song stands as a totem for just how action-packed this record is on all levels.

Recorded over the course of a winter by Vic and Derek Almstead in Chesnutt’s own attic studio, Dark Developments revels in the intimate, home-recorded atmosphere you’d expect from an Athenian union like this. And Elf Power sounds characteristically powerful in this setting: there’s the crack rhythm section of Almstead and Josh Lott (making his final appearance as an Elf) to anchor the affair, the subtle and tremulous interplay of guitarists Andrew Reiger and Jimmy Hughes, and the esoteric whimsy supplied by Laura Carter’s improvisational Moog and accordion. Indeed, the band’s famously-honed instincts and Day-Glo pop-smarts provide the contradictory musical notions that never allow the album to sway too far in one bleak direction or another: it’s that friction extant between Chesnutt’s shadowy worldview and the inventive bounce and bray of Elf Power’s euphonious intra-band chemistry that buoys Dark Developments, provides its freshness, and makes for rewarding repeated listening.

Vic Chesnutt and Elf Power Live:
10/29 Oxford, MS Proud Larry’s
10/30 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jack’s
11/01 Dallas, TX Club Dada
11/02 Denton, TX Rubber Gloves
11/03 Austin, TX The Parish
11/05 Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Brewing Company
11/07 Tucson, AZ Club Congress
11/08 Phoenix, AZ Modified
11/09 San Diego, CA Casbah
11/10 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex
11/11 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
11/12 Sacramento, CA Blue Lamp
11/13 Eugene, OR Sam Bond’s Garage
11/16 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
11/17 Boise, ID Neurolux
11/18 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
11/19 Denver, CO Hi Dive
11/21 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Saloon

Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, and The Amorphous Strums
Dark Developments Track Listing:
Stream The Album HERE
Release Date: October 28th, 2008

01. Mystery
02. Little Fucker
03. And How (MP3)
04. Teddy Bear (MP3)
05. We Are Mean
06. Stop The Horse
07. Bilocating Dog
08. The Mad Passion of The Stoic
09. Phil The Fiddler

Tools & Hi–Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=1407

On The Web:
www.vicchesnutt.com
www.elfpower.com
www.myspace.com/vicchesnutt
www.myspace.com/elfpower
www.orangetwin.com
www.myspace.com/orangetwinrecords

Subscribe To Fanatic:
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Elizabeth Willis to tote a grand piano and string section to Blender Theater in NYC this weekend to debut songs from her soulful self-titled solo bow.

Download “One” - the tune that has Ludacris singing her praises.

From the early age of 4-years-old Elizabeth Willis was a prodigal musical talent destined for an impressive career as a classical violinist and pianist.

Onward into her teen years, she trained vigorously -- forsaking a social life and the idea of a day off -- with an impressive array of instructors and schools, including Meadowmount School of Music (famed for former student Yo-Yo Ma) and the world-renown Mannes College of Music in New York. And, then she walked away from the classical music world after a lifetime of study and performance.

Driven by her interest in composing pop music works of her own, Willis changed her entire life in order to pursue a career as a singer/songwriter. “I didn’t have a life,” she explains. “I didn’t have a weekend off since I was 5, and I always had an interest in composition. I wrote my first song at 12.” Armed with her immense skill and the knowledge she’d gained, Willis set out writing and recording what would eventually become her self-titled debut album. The 11-song disc is a powerfully emotional and musically lush outing filled with, as you might guess, elegant piano and strings underscoring her deeply moving vocals. Willis’ songs have been compared to legends like Nina Simone, Joan Armatrading, Tracy Chapman and Antony & The Johnsons for both their emotional depth and musical warmth.

Recently, Elizabeth Willis came to the attention of rapper Ludacris, via his WeMix.com web site where musicians post their songs for others to remix and discuss. Ludacris told Rolling Stone magazine about his discovery of Willis’ music from the site, where he searches for talent to sign to his Disturbing Tha Peace label. Willis also recently won the 100% Music Award for “One” (MP3), the first single from her album. The songwriter admits that she’d never been a singer and at first had difficulty approaching the material. So, what does an artist accustomed to the finest training in her field do? She enlisted the help of renown vocal coach David Coury (who also trained Leona Lewis) and re-recorded all of her vocal tracks from the album.

“I was at first ambivalent about releasing the album,” she says. “But at the same time it was very cathartic. It’s OK that it’s very personal, because other people can identify with my experience.” Perhaps also influencing her admittedly pensive sound is her longtime love of Russian culture and composers (Willis is currently majoring in Russian Literature at Smith College). “I play generally in the lower minor keys, like Russian pieces,” Willis says. “But I also love Danny Elfman and Phillip Glass.”

Elizabeth Willis was born in Washington D.C., but spent her formative years in St Louis, MO where she started training on piano at 4-years-old, then soon went on to add violin. The violin she played on the album is the same one she had since high school, which was made by a luthier using classical renditions who only crafts 3-4 instruments per year. Early on, however, she wasn’t afforded such a special instrument. As a child she was trained using a cardboard macaroni box! At 15, she was accepted to the prestigious Mannes College and moved to New Jersey to study full time. “Even back then I had a couple of songs,” she says. “I wrote ‘Remember You’ when I was really young.” And, just as disposable as the macaroni box instrument proved, she soon disposed of the classical music world in favor of her own ambitions. She admits an interest in writing film scores or commissioning an opera and has not fully abandoned the classical music scene in New York. “The classical music scene is just like the punk scene or rock scene,” Willis explains. “People all know each other... but it’s also very competitive.”

To that end, Willis continues to follow the strict discipline of her education, constantly working on new projects and ideas, as well as performing live several times per month with a three piece backing band consisting of drummer Ira Grable, cellist Robin Pfoutz and electric bassist Jenny Hersch.

Elizabeth Willis Live:
10/25 New York, NY Blender Theater (Fanatic CMJ Showcase w/ Yo! Majesty, The Octopus Project, Die! Die! Die!, Monotonix, and The Happy Hollows)

Elizabeth Willis Tracklisting:

01. Overture
02. In Your Eyes
03. One (MP3 VIDEO)
04. Thoughts
05. (In) Love
06. Don’t Worry
07. 4am
08. Remember You
09. Stars
10. Blackbird
11. Move On

Tools and Hi-Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=1361

On The Web:
www.elizabethwillis.com
www.youtube.com/elizabethwillismusic
www.myspace.com/lizwillis
www.littleblackbirdmusic.com

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Acoustic alchemists The Loom weave lush tapestries on debut disc reminiscent of Fairport Convention, Arcade Fire and The Waterboys.

The Loom kick out glow-in-the-dark folk wailers that flirt with the anthemic, but never abandon the quiet spaces they were born in.” -- David Bevan, RCRD LBL

“With banjos, accordions, and considerable melodrama—their word, not mine—the Brooklyn band harks back to the early days, when big beards and plaid shirts symbolized austere living, not outer-borough bohemianism.” -- Kenneth Partridge, The Deli Magazine

Brooklyn acoustic folk sextet The Loom has harnessed the emotional power and beauty of ensemble vocals and chiming instruments since 2006, drawing large crowds to their many live shows throughout the NY-area (including three sets during the CMJ Music Marathon this month.) Now, with the release of its debut EP, the rest of the world can enjoy the group’s rich amalgam of folk and alt-country influenced indie rock featuring male and female vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, French horn, trumpet, piano, pedal steel, bass, drums, ukulele, accordion, and banjo. The EP, At Last Light boasts soaring and lilting songs ranging from gentle to anthemic and built around subtle, affecting lyrics. The Loom’s sound has often been compared to affecting artists like Smog, Arcade Fire, Fairport Convention and The Waterboys. Check out this affecting in-home performance of “Song For The Winter Sun” (LINK) featuring the band and its neighbors.

In celebration of this release, the band is playing a series of live shows this Fall throughout the NY boroughs, as well as one in Michigan. Please see below for complete dates.

Thus far in its short history, The Loom has also been fortunate to share bills with bands such as Rock Plaza Central, The Impossible Shapes, Headlights, Evangelicals, Julie Doiron, Hoots and Hellmouth, Dead Confederate, Kaiser Cartel, Old Time Relijun, The Antlers, Faces On Film, Rosewood Thieves, O’Death and many more, and has played the 2007 After the Jump CMJ Showcase, two Jezebel Music showcases, the Liberated Matter Cross-Pollination series, and NYC Taper’s anniversary showcase.

Three songs from At Last Light will appear, along with music by Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, and others, in The Youngest Candidate, a documentary about young Americans running for political office directed by Brooklyn filmmaker Jason Pollock (former assistant to Michael Moore) and produced by Lawrence Bender (An Inconvenient Truth) and David Letterman’s production company World Wide Pants. The film will debut in advance of the election this fall. Currently, The Loom has completed writing and is at work on recording their follow-up full length album.

The Loom Live:
10/22 Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House w/ La Strada!
10/23 New York, NY @ Cake Shop
10/24 New York, NY @ Original Sessions Art House La Di Da Di Rock Da Party
11/01 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge w/ Neva Dinova and McCarthy Trenching
11/02 East Lansing, MI @ Michigan State
11/21 New York, NY @ Cake Shop w/ Rafter

At Last Light Tracklisting:

01. Patience For Books
02. True Believers All
03. Of Vegas and Vanity
04. All Your Famous Friends
05. Song For The Winter Sun (MP3 VIDEO)

Tools and Hi-Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=1420

On The Web:
www.theloommusic.com
www.myspace.com/theloommusic

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com

Monday, October 20, 2008

Pitchfork debuts The Octopus Project’s latest video by Spoon, Sufjan collaborator Divya Srinivasan as the band ventures out on tour yet again.

See a clip of the band performing with the Austin High School marching band at the Austin City Limits festival and feel the intensity for yourself at this year’s CMJ Music Marathon.

“Austin’s The Octopus Project have released what is possibly the best animated video I’ve seen this year.” – Gorilla Vs. Bear

“Sci-fi-flick synthesizer squeals, power-riff guitars, hellbent drumming... an outtake of the Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations' with Mogwai as the studio band.” – Rolling Stone

Continuing to promote the 2007 release of its third full-length album Hello, Avalanche, The Octopus Project’s recently completed video for the album’s latest single “I Saw The Bright Shinies” debuted exclusively on Pitchfork last week. The clip is the work of Austin illustrator Divya Srinivasan, who previously animated videos for Spoon and They Might Be Giants, worked on Richard Linklater’s Waking Life feature film and won the PLUG Independent Music Awards 2006 “Album Art/Packaging of The Year” nod for Sufjan StevensIllinois.

The new Octopus Project video depicts three sleepy ghost kids following a heterochromic fox through a snowy twilight to an impromptu critter disco in a forest clearing. The spirits and strays dance in harmony until a cranky babushka bemoans the noise and breaks up the party. Thus, the spectral youths return to the astral plane... but not without a final farewell to their new found animal friends. See the “I Saw The Bright Shines Video” on You Tube HERE, Vimeo HERE, Pitchfork HERE or visit the official “Bright Shinies” site at Peek-a-Boo Records HERE.

Additionally, The Octopus Project is heading out on yet another leg of its seemingly endless tour making its way to the east coast with a stop at New York’s CMJ Music Marathon at the Blender Theater on October 25th (buy tickets HERE) and wrapping up at Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest. The enthusiasm for the live Octopus Project experience comes as no surprise. It’s something the band’s fans have known about for a long while and the pictures above don’t lie. The group recently finished up appearances at Lollapalooza and attendees of the band’s performance at the Austin City Limits festival were astounded when 20-plus members of the Austin High School marching band hit the stage with the group. Check out a clip of it HERE.

In other Octopus Project video news, the band’s previous video for the Hello, Avalanche track “An Evening with Rthrtha” (LINK) was recently recognized by two prominent graphics publications: Stash (LINK) and IDN (LINK). The video is the second collaboration between Brooklyn artist Phillip Niemeyer of Double Triple (LINK) and San Francisco-based media artist Ryan Junell following their hand-animated stop-motion video for Spoon’s “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb” (LINK). Niemeyer and Junell were also recently asked to speak at the After Effects Society of New York regarding this particular artistic achievement.

With ragged, furious distorted guitars at one end of the spectrum and the pure, luminescent tones of the Theremin at the other, the members of The Octopus Project mine a staggering variety of sounds in between (via strings, synthesizers, drums, glockenspiel, trombones, etc.), filling their songs with brilliant contrasting colors and cascading waves of sonic bliss. Although Josh Lambert, Yvonne Lambert, Ryan Figg and Toto Miranda each have their instrumental specialties, they spread ideas out on as many instruments as possible, each writing for and performing on any sound-maker they can find. Stay tuned for news of a new EP to be released in early 2009 and the recording of the band’s fourth album!

The Octopus Project Live:
10/20 Knoxville, TN The Pilot Light
10/21 Baltimore, MD Talking Head
10/22 Washington, DC The Black Cat
10/23 Philadelphia, PA The M Room
10/24 New York, NY TBA CMJ Music Marathon
10/25 New York, NY Blender Theater (Fanatic Promotion CMJ Showcase)
10/26 Cambridge, MA TT the Bears
10/27 Montreal, QC, Canada Club Lambi
10/28 Toronto, ON, Canada The Drake Hotel
10/29 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
10/30 St. Louis, MO The Bluebird
11/08 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Festival

Hello, Avalanche Tracklisting:
Stream The Album HERE
Release Date: October 16th, 2007

01. Snow Tip Cap Mountain
02. Truck (MP3 VIDEO)
03. Bees Bein’ Strugglin’ (MP3)
04. An Evening With Rthrtha (MP3 VIDEO)
05. Black Blizzard/Red Umbrella
06. Upmann
07. Mmaj
08. I Saw The Bright Shinies (MP3 VIDEO)
09. Ghost Moves
10. Vanishing Lessons
11. Exploding Snowhorse
12. Loud Murmuring
13. Queen

The Octopus Project In The Press:
“...surprisingly irresistible.” – Nylon

“The result is a combination of electronic and analog acoustic elements that, on paper, should go together as well as a Daft Punk/Godspeed You! Black Emperor cocktail. Sequenced beats stutter alongside pounding drums.” – Magnet

“The songs are better than ever, and it’s exciting to hear the band hitting its stride.” – XLR8R

“…insanely catchy instrumental jam” – SPIN

“The lovely Theremin lead... suggests that technology just might save us after all.” – Pitchfork

“…eschews mathematical arrangement for impish spirit, creating a sound able to please hipsters and kindergarteners alike.” – CMJ

“If one has little to no lingering attachment to song form, The Octopus Project could be one of the best bands in the world. The musicianship is impressive” – Exclaim!

“Their live shows are high voltage affairs- great visual and audio assaults.” – Closer

“For an instrumental record, Hello, Avalanche keeps things impressively interesting the whole way through.” – PopMatters

”… amazing instrumental indie album that keeps your attention without making you work at it.” – Yahoo!

Tools & Hi–Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=53

On The Web:
www.octopusproject.com
www.myspace.com/theoctopusproject
www.peekaboorecords.com
www.myspace.com/peekaboorecords

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La Di Da Di Rock Da Party presents five nights of music during CMJ at the Original Sessions Art House.

Featured performers include Shunda K of Yo! Majesty, James Jackson Toth, Starfucker, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, The Terrordactyls, Tracy Shedd, Hey Willpower, a faulty chromosome, CAW! CAW!, Team Genius, St. Mannequins, Sister Suvi, Jared Mees & The Grown Children, Super XX Man, Boy Eats Drum Machine, Finn Riggins, Strangers Die Every Day, Pomegranates, Festival, The Loom, Setting Sun, Quitzow, Mr. Meeble, Altruisms, The Ritz, Kosha Dillz, Hot Tub and more! CLICK! TO PRINT OUT THIS FLYER!

We’ve been partying it up at the Original Sessions Art House for La Di Da Di Rock Da Party (take a look at the photos from last week’s “Coming Out Day” with Boy Crisis, Bunny Rabbit & Black Cracker, Black Peter Group, Tha Pumpsta, Leif, and Living Days along with DJs Stay High and Leb Laze HERE to see what we mean!)

And now, CMJ 2008 will be celebrated hardcore at the Original Sessions Art House starting on October 21st and continuing through the 25th as part of the La Di Da Di Rock Da Party series of club nights hosted and presented by Shunda K of Yo! Majesty.

Each night will be hosted by Shunda K herself. The UK and US press is exploding with coverage of Shunda K and her group Yo! Majesty (who will headline the Fanatic Promotion CMJ showcase at Blender Theater on October 25th) and while the group continues to gain a higher and higher profile for its groundbreaking sound and attitude, band leader Shunda K continues to keep it realer than real, moving from Tampa to NYC to continue the club night she launched in late September, La Di Da Di Rock Da Party (MYSPACE) at the Original Sessions Art House on John Street in the Wall Street district of lower Manhattan (MAP). Just some of the recent press for Yo! Majesty that sheds light on how damn different they actually are includes features in SPIN (tinyurl.com/yomajesty-SPIN), the NME (tinyurl.com/yomajesty-NME) and NYLON (tinyurl.com/yomajesty-NYLON).

In keeping with the philosophies that permeate Shunda K’s work as an artist, La Di Da Di Rock Da Party is meant to act as a venue for artists of different genres to come together and rock the people with the common cause of breaking down preconceived notions and ideas about ourselves and our world around us. And, of course, to get down on the floor while doing it! Shunda K has big plans and doesn’t consider the night anything short of the first step towards a worldwide ministry. “I have such a long ways to go,” she says. “That’s what keeps me humble -- knowing what I have to go through. This is my ministry and ain’t nobody gonna hold me back from building the people up. I’m going to establish ministries across the world and this is just the beginning.”

Directions (LINK):
From Uptown Manhattan - take the A,C,E or 4,5 or 2,3 downtown. For the E, get off at the last stop: World Trade Center station. Walk East of Dey St. for one block. Pass over Broadway and continue East on John St. For the 4 & 5, get off at the Fulton St. station, head South one block on Broadway, turn East onto John St. For the A, C, 2 & 3 trains, get off at the Broadway/Nassau Station, head South on Nassau St. one block, turn west onto John St.

Schedule:

October 21st, 2008 featuring: EQ (Equilibrium) (myspace.com/eq360), a faulty chromosome (myspace.com/afaultychromosome), CAW! CAW! (myspace.com/cawcawmusic), Team Genius (myspace.com/teamgeniusmusic), St. Manniquins (myspace.com/stmannequins), The Terrordactyls (myspace.com/theterrordactyls), Tracy Shedd (myspace.com/tracyshedd).

October 22nd, 2008 featuring: Josh Bloom (myspace.com/joshbloomsongs), James Jackson Toth (myspace.com/jamesjacksontoth), Hey Willpower (myspace.com/heywillpower), Sister Suvi (myspace.com/sistersuvi), Starfucker (myspace.com/starfuckerss), Shunda K of Yo! Majesty (myspace.com/shundak).

October 23rd, 2008 featuring: BAMA (myspace.com/matthewjordantardinohemerlein), Jared Mees & The Grown Children (myspace.com/jaredmees), Super XX Man (myspace.com/superxxman), Boy Eats Drum Machine (myspace.com/boyeatsdrummachine), Finn Riggins (myspace.com/finnriggins), Strangers Die Every Day (myspace.com/strangersdieeveryday), Pomegranates (myspace.com/pomegranatesart).

October 24th, 2008 featuring: Festival (myspace.com/linzyandl), The Loom (myspace.com/theloommusic), Sean Boyd (seanboyd.com), Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (myspace.com/milesbenjaminanthonyrobinson), Setting Sun (myspace.com/settingsun), Quitzow (myspace.com/quitzow). DJ: Nouveau Riche (nouveaurichedc.com).

October 25th, 2008 featuring: Shunda K of Yo! Majesty (myspace.com/shundak) w/ Kotchy (myspace.com/kotchy89) & Jerzy, Kosha Dillz (myspace.com/koshadillz4life), Mr. Meeble (myspace.com/mrmeeble), Altruisms (myspace.com/alltrubombs), The Ritz (myspace.com/apocmusic), Hot Tub (myspace.com/hottub94608).

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Friday, October 17, 2008

If You’re Not Here You Weren’t There: Fanatic Promotion Presents at CMJ 2008.

This year’s ultra high-intensity Fanatic showcase at Blender Theater features Yo! Majesty, The Octopus Project, Die! Die! Die!, Monotonix, The Happy Hollows and Elizabeth Willis.

Day and After Party features Saxon Shore, James Jackson Toth, Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Tha Pumpsta, Black Peter Group, Bunny Rabbit & Black Cracker and many more!

CLICK! TO PRINT OUT THESE FLYERS!

The music marketing company of choice, Fanatic Promotion, is pleased to announce its yearly day party, showcase, and after party taking place at this year's CMJ Music Festival. See below for more info and links to music from our showcase and party performers.

FANATIC | CMJ 2008 | OFFICIAL SHOWCASE | FACEBOOK

Tampa’s Yo! Majesty (MYSPACE) will headline the company’s showcase at the Blender Theater (127 E. 23rd St. [MAP]) on Saturday, October 25th in support of their debut album for Domino Records Futuristically Speaking… Never Be Afraid. The Fanatic showcase could be one of the last times that anyone will get to see this controversial rap duo on stage together as all of the recent press on the band (see in SPIN, the NME, NYLON, and all over the UK press – read it HERE and HERE!) smacks of inner band strife. Don’t miss the unexpected!

Also on the showcase bill is one of Fanatic’s favorites: The Octopus Project from Austin, TX. The band is known for its high-intensity live shows, and on an already high-intensity bill, the group will surely take it over the top. The group just got back from playing Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits festival and today Pitchfork debuted the video for the band’s latest single “I Saw The Bright Shinies.” Watch it HERE.

Coming in from around the globe is Tel Aviv’s Monotonix (MYSPACE) and New Zealand’s Die! Die! Die! (MYSPACE), two acts that share a common proclivity for not remembering to perform on the stage! Monotonix set up on the floor, in the crowd and Die! Die! Die! doesn’t take long once their set has started to end up in the audience as well. If you haven’t seen either of these bands in a big room before – be there!

Opening the night is the Los Angeles trio The Happy Hollows (MYSPACE) and Boston’s Elizabeth Willis (MYSPACE). The LA Times says of the The Happy Hollows, “….imagine that somebody rewired the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, or squeezed the Pixies into a compact-car parking space.” Not a bad way to describe this band that is about to own 2009 with its upcoming album. Elizabeth Willis will be toting a grand piano and a string section to present the songs from her upcoming debut album as the opening act on the Fanatic night. Willis has already been the subject of much industry talk about her exquisite playing, vocals and earthy, touching songs. Ludacris recently name dropped Liz in Rolling Stone Magazine (LINK) and he’s surely not going to be the last to do so. See her before everyone else does!

This event is FREE with your CMJ badge. You may also purchase tickets online HERE.

FANATIC | CMJ 2008 | SHOWCASE AFTER PARTY | FACEBOOK

The Official Fanatic Showcase will be immediately followed by an after party of epic proportions. This FREE event at one of the best Lower East Side nightclubs The Annex (152 Orchard St., NYC [MAP]) will feature some of NYC’s best DJ’s and party artists including Stay High, Black Peter Group, Leb Laze, Living Days, Tha Pumpsta, Lucas Walters, Bunny Rabbit & Black Cracker, Orion and Shunda K of Yo! Majesty featuring Jerzy. Get there early for drink specials and stay late, late, late ‘cause we’ll be going until the cops come. See below for links to more info about the participating artists.

FANATIC | CMJ 2008 | OFFICIAL DAY PARTY | FACEBOOK

Fanatic will also present its yearly FREE day party on Thursday, October 23rd at the world-famous Knitting Factory (74 Leonard St. [MAP]). The event is co-presented by Redeye Distribution (LINK) and Panache Booking (LINK). The event will occupy all three of the venues stages and will feature 18 acts including Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, James Jackson Toth, Saxon Shore, mr. Gnome, The Shondes, Faunts, Gary Lucas, Wet Secrets, Alexandra Hope, Zs, The Terrordactyls, The Vandelles, The Pharmacy, Brass Bed, Boo and Boo Too, Capstan Shafts, Team Genius and Lady Dottie & The Diamonds. See below for links to more info about the participating artists.

Giveaway bags including products from OPI, NYC Condoms, Emergen-C, and Tom’s Shoes are available to the first 200 guests. Drink specials by Oskar Blues Brewery and FREE ring tones from performing artists provided by Myxer.

Other Fanatic artists appearing during CMJ week are listed below. Scroll down for info and links!

FANATIC | CMJ 2008 | OFFICIAL EVENTS

10.23.08 | THE KNITTING FACTORY | DAY PARTY

MAIN STAGE:
FAUNTS | myspace.com/faunts
THE SHONDES | myspace.com/theshondes
MR. GNOME | myspace.com/mrgnome
SAXON SHORE | myspace.com/saxonshore
JAMES JACKSON TOTH | myspace.com/jamesjacksontoth
TRACTENBURG FAMILY SLIDESHOW PLAYERS | myspace.com/slideshowplayers

TAP BAR STAGE:
THE VANDELLES | myspace.com/thevandelles
THE TERRORDACTYLS | myspace.com/theterrordactyls
Zs | myspace.com/zstheband
ALEXANDRA HOPE | myspace.com/alexandrahopemusic
WET SECRETS | myspace.com/wetsecrets
GARY LUCAS | myspace.com/garylucas

OLD OFFICE STAGE:
LADY DOTTIE & THE DIAMONDS | myspace.com/ladydottieandthediamonds
TEAM GENIUS | myspace.com/teamgeniusmusic
CAPSTAN SHAFTS | myspace.com/capstanshafts
BOO AND BOO TOO | myspace.com/booandbootoo
BRASS BED | myspace.com/brassbed
THE PHARMACY | myspace.com/pharmacy

10.25.08 | BLENDER THEATER | SHOWCASE

ELIZABETH WILLIS | myspace.com/lizwillis
THE HAPPY HOLLOWS | myspace.com/thehappyhollows
MONOTONIX | myspace.com/monotonix
DIE! DIE! DIE! | myspace.com/diediedienz
THE OCTOPUS PROJECT | myspace.com/theoctopusproject
YO! MAJESTY | myspace.com/yomajesty4life

10.25.08 | THE ANNEX | SHOWCASE AFTER PARTY

DJS:
STAY HIGH | myspace.com/speedwobz
LEB LAZE | myspace.com/leblaze
ORION | myspace.com/oriongarcia
LUCAS WALTERS | myspace.com/lucaswalters

AND PERFORMANCES BY:
BLACK PETER GROUP | myspace.com/blackpetergroup
LIVING DAYS | myspace.com/livingdays
THA PUMPSTA | myspace.com/thapumpsta
BUNNY RABBIT + BLACK CRACKER | myspace.com/loversandcrypts
SHUNDA K OF YO! MAJESTY FEAT. JERZY | myspace.com/shundak

FANATIC ARTISTS AND FRIENDS AT CMJ 2008

10.20.08
10:00 PM BOO AND BOO TOO @ PIANOS
11:00 PM TRACY SHEDD @ PIANOS

10.21.08
01:00 PM QUITZOW @ REHAB
03:00 PM BRIDGES AND POWERLINES @ CAKE SHOP
04:00 PM SETTING SUN @ REHAB
07:00 PM HAPPY ANARCHY @ MERCURY LOUNGE
08:00 PM BOO AND BOO TOO @ DEATH BY AUDIO
08:45 PM A FAULTY CHROMOSOME @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
09:30 PM CAW! CAW! @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
10:00 PM GANGI @ CAKE SHOP
10:00 PM TRACY SHEDD @ ACE OF CLUBS
10:15 PM TEAM GENIUS @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
11:00 PM ST. MANNEQUINS @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
11:30 PM THE MOOD @ KENNY’S CASTAWAY
11:45 PM THE TERRORDACTYLS @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
11:00 PM ST. MANNEQUINS @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
12:45 PM TRACY SHEDD @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
01:00 AM DIE! DIE! DIE! @ BLVD

10.22.08
01:00 PM LOOK MEXICO @ CRASH MANSION
07:00 PM THE TERRORDACTYLS @ CRASH MANSION
08:00 PM MR. GNOME @ FAT BABY
08:30 PM KATE TUCKER AND THE SONS OF SWEDEN @ CANAL ROOM
08:30 PM METERMAIDS @ S.O.B.’S
09:00 PM JOSH BLOOM @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
09:45 PM JAMES JACKSON TOTH @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
10:00 PM THE LOOM @ THE BELL HOUSE
10:00 PM THE POMEGRANATES @ CRASH MANSION
10:30 PM SHUNDA K OF YO! MAJESTY @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
12:00 AM YO! MAJESTY @ HIRO BALLROOM

10.23.08
04:00 PM BRIDGES AND POWERLINES @ CAKE SHOP
04:30 PM THE LOOM @ CAKE SHOP
07:00 PM HEXES AND OHS @ SPIKE HILL
07:30 PM LOOK MEXICO @ KNITTING FACTORY
08:45 PM JARED MEES & THE GROWN CHILDREN @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
09:30 PM SUPER XX MAN @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
10:15 PM BOY EATS DRUM MACHINE @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
10:30 PM FIGHT BITE @ PIANOS
11:00 PM A FAULTY CHROMOSOME @ SPIKE HILL
12:30 AM POMEGRANATES @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE

10.24.08
11:00 AM JARED MEES & THE GROWN CHILDREN @ KNITTING FACTORY
12:00 PM SUPER XX MAN @ KNITTING FACTORY
04:00 PM BOY EATS DRUM MACHINE @ KNITTING FACTORY
04:15 PM FIGHT BITE @ BELL HOUSE
08:00 PM SUPER XX MAN @ ALPHABET LOUNGE
09:00 PM JAMES JACKSON TOTH @ THE DELANCEY
09:45 PM THE LOOM @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
10:30 PM YIP-YIP @ KNITTING FACTORY
10:30 PM SEAN BOYD @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
10:45 PM THE ORION EXPERIENCE @ PUBLIC ASSEMBLY
11:00 PM BRYAN SCARY AND THE SHREDDING TEARS @ GLASSLANDS
11:00 PM JUPITER ONE @ THE DELANCEY
11:00 PM TEAM GENIUS @ CHARLESTON
11:00 PM PEOPLE NOISE @ FONTANA’S
12:00 AM SETTING SUN @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
12:45 AM QUITZOW @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE

10.25.08
12:00 PM SOUNDPOOL @ REHAB
12:30 PM FIGHT BITE @ THE YARD
08:00 PM BOO AND BOO TOO @ LESSS ARTISTS MOR CONDOS
09:00 PM SHUNDA KOF YO! MAJESTY @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
09:45 PM MR. MEEBLE @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
10:30 PM ALLTRUISMS @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE
11:00 PM THE HOOD INTERNET @ SANTO’S PARTY HOUSE
11:15 PM THE RITZ @ ORIGINAL SESSIONS ART HOUSE

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

L.A. Record stars Gangi take their eclectic aesthetic to the road, psych-garage-sampling-electronic-tribal duo’s new disc melting minds nationwide.

Gangi is hands down one of the most exciting new bands I’ve heard all year. With a whirlwind of folk and pop music that echos the psychedelia and lyrical imagery-creating capabilities of Destroyer with the subtle playfulness of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Gangi has created something as unique as it is original – pushing beyond their influences and, instead, become influential.” – My Old Kentucky Blog

The Los Angeles based duo, Gangi has taken to the road this Fall, delivering its eclectic aesthetic to audiences nationwide, including a highly-anticipated showcase during the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City this month (see full tour dates below). Gangi was recently featured on the cover of the popular Angeleno music guide, L.A. Record, in a particularly entertaining interview (read it HERE).

Gangi’s music is influenced by a wide variety of sources: 60’s and 70’s garage and psychedelic rock, the sampling culture and beat heavy elements of electronic genres, and the lyrical style and sensibility of American folk music. Acting as DJs playing off of each other, the duo creates an entirely unique dialogue. As Matt Gangi’s dream-like vocals, guitar playing, and melodies meet Lyle Nesse’s electronic samples and intense, tribal drumming, a rich, layered, and new-textural sound is achieved.

Gangi captivates its audience in live performances with eclectic instrumentation and an array of samplers and electronics that litter the stage with cords. Often the duo performs with a mobile sculptural installation of bright hanging pieces made from painted cardboard and recycled colored paper which sparkle on stage.

In the spring of 2008, Gangi self-released its full-length debut, titled simply, A on the imprint, Office of Analogue and Digital. The album was recorded, written, performed and produced by Matt Gangi alone in an apartment in Brooklyn. During the summer of 2008 Gangi (then joined by Nesse) toured nationally, and relocated to Los Angeles from Brooklyn, NY. Since then, the duo has played extensively throughout the Los Angeles area, performing at The Troubadour, Spaceland, the Manimal festival in Joshua Tree, supporting Ariel Pink, and the Eagle Rock Music festival, co-headlining the main stage of the show with Abe Vigoda, the Crystal Antlers, and Mika Miko. The band has also contributed a cover of, “Fire in Cairo” to the upcoming benefit record, Perfect as Cats: A Tribute to The Cure alongside The Dandy Warhols and Bat For Lashes, among other notable bands.

Bios:

Matt Gangi: Matt grew up in Los Angeles. He recorded the album A alone in his mold and asbestos filled, rent stabilized apartment in Brooklyn. Matt was a film student at NYU where he met and studied with the performance artist Karen Finley who persuaded Matt to start recording his music in the DIY NY no-wave spirit that she came from. Matt was also heavily involved in the New York poetry scene, studying with and being influenced by the avant-garde writers Lytle Shaw and Rob Fitterman. Matt comes from a folk music background, but is influenced by everything from psychedelic rock to Varése to Eno to Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear to underground hip hop to emotive blog writings and corporate slogans littering the Google interface.

Lyle Nesse: Lyle grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland right outside of D.C. He began collaborating with Matt in Brooklyn during 2007, helping to actualize the sounds Matt was finishing on the first record for live shows and helping to provide protection/support against the toxic mold and asbestos of Matt’s Brooklyn apartment. Lyle brings a beat-heavy, rhythmic/drumming/beat-making approach to the music. His background and interest in African drumming and the music of West Africa is particularly evident (the highlife and hiplife music of Ghana, and Juju and Afrobeat music from Nigeria) as well as American hip-hop, particularly Bomb Squad, Boogie Down Productions, and more recently the Stones Throw roster: JDilla, Madlib, et al.

Gangi Live:
* w/ Rainbow Arabia
10/16 Poughkeepsie, NY @ Vassar College *
10/18 Providence, RI @ Firehouse No. 13 *
10/19 Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands *
10/21 New York, NY @ Cakeshop CMJ Manimal Vinyl Showcase
10/23 Baltimore, MD @ The Windup Space *
10/24 Philadelphia, PA @ Inciting HQ *
10/26 Richmond, VA @ The Triple *
10/28 Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn *
10/30 Houston, TX @ The Mink Backroom *
10/31 Austin, TX @ Rancho Relaxo *
11/02 Santa Fe, NM @ The Process *
11/03 Phoenix, AZ @ TBA *

A Tracklisting:

01. Commonplace Feathers
02. Waiting On The Line
03. Ground
04. Subject Positions
05. Shift
06. Animals (MP3)
07. Region Two
08. Region One
09. Curtains

Tools and Hi-Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=1429

On The Web:
www.myspace.com/gangimusic

Subscribe to Fanatic:
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Thursday, October 9, 2008

What do Perez Hilton, his Levi’s, and The Hills girls all have in common? An addiction to NY’s The Orion Experience. Listen to the Heartbreaker EP!

"The song is named ’Obsessed With You’ and we’re obsessed with it," writes celebrity blogger Perez Hilton HERE when describing The Orion Experience and this track from the band’s 2007 debut album Cosmicandy. Now, in 2008, The Orion Experience gives us its new EP, Heartbreaker, and Perez is at it again, including the group’s new tune “Sugar” (MP3) in his part of the new “Unbuttoned” campaign for Levis Jeans HERE. Obsession is a sentiment shared by many who have crossed the band’s path. The girls of The Hills are feeling it, too, blogging about The Orion Experience recently HERE.

Obviously, front-man Orion Simprini has been diligent in his quest to expose the world to his music. It all began in 2005 when he began collaborating with longtime vocalist, friend and schoolmate Linda Horwatt. The two spent several years on both coasts honing their craft, recording music and formulating a vision. And with the recent additions of guitarist Reef, drummer Jon Weber and bassist Chris Lucas, that vision has been fully realized.

"What we try to create," Orion says, "are very positive, high energy musical experiences." And with the band’s debut, it delivered exactly that. "The songs from Cosmicandy really drove us to where we are today," explains Orion. The rock quintet boasts a collection of musical resumes that aim to revive a bit of the past with the modern, resulting in infectiously catchy, danceable tunes. Now, heading into the fall 2008 season, The Orion Experience brings four new songs with producer Jon Kaplan (Maroon 5) that comprise the Heartbreaker EP.

”NYC’s best kept secret.” – The Deli Magazine

Cosmicandy is jaw-droppingly great, buy it. Trust me.” – SPIN

The Orion Experience has staked an interesting claim with their debut CD, Cosmicandy, combining elements of ’60s bubblegum, ’70s funk pop-a-roll, ’80s new wave and ’90s power pop with a brave –new-millennium edginess and luster.” – Amplifier Magazine

Orion Simprini leads a dream team of lite modern popsters.” – New York Press

”Their delightful self-titled, self-released EP was one of my little gems...” – LA Weekly

“It’s unashamedly upbeat, crackling from start to finish with incendiary wit, and some of the catchiest hooks this side of disco. Cosmicandy is bewitching in its fervor, and seamless from beginning to end.” – PopMatters

The Orion Experience Live:
10/17/08 Tulsa, OK Tulsa Convention Center
10/25/08 Lancaster, PA Lancaster Convention Center

Heartbreaker Tracklisting:
Release Date: Sept. 30th, 2008

01. Nice Guys Finish Last
02. Heartbreaker
03. Sugar (MP3)
04. You’re So Cool

Tools & Hi–Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=1424

On The Web:
www.theorionexperience.com
www.myspace.com/theorionexperience

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