Legendary songwriter Vic Chesnutt teams with Elephant 6 psychsters Elf Power for a daunting sum of a record

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 his. 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.

If you are in Europe this month, be sure to see Vic Chesnutt and Elf Power performing together live on their nine-day tour of Spain. An announcement of US dates is forthcoming.

Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, and The Amorphous Strums
Dark Developments Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 28th, 2008

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

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www.vicchesnutt.com
www.elfpower.com
www.myspace.com/vicchesnutt
www.myspace.com/elfpower
www.orangetwin.com
www.myspace.com/orangetwinrecords

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pH10 offers a nasty, noisy sound (and a marriage proposal) reminiscent of The Beastie Boys growing up on Slayer rather than Afrika Bambaataa.

“The best live Jungle in New York City, period.” – Pop Smear Magazine

“To understand pH10, start by imagining The Beastie Boys growing up on Slayer rather than Afrika Bambaataa. Then, you’ll need to figure out how records created with no electric guitars in site manage to be this damn heavy. Finally, a lesson or two in overdriven analog circuits at the community college is in order. - Alternatively you could just pop in one of their disks, start shaking your ass and it’ll all come to you naturally” – Time Out London

Brooklyn-based pH10 has been making records and playing shows for ten years. Concerts are hyped up parties with intense visual projections, a massive wall of sound and strange occurrences including strobe light helmets and dancers wrapped in vacuum hoses. Having played all over the US, Canada and Europe, pH10 has developed strong performance skills to back up their studio recordings. This is a finely tuned stage show that leaves audience members danced-out and smiling. Although the pH10 crew insists on light-hearted antics in their performances, they take their productions seriously. This is apparent by the 2005 first place finish in the Dance/Electronica Category of the International Songwriting Competition and being awarded the ‘Indie Award’ by the Independent Artist Registry 2006.

And just because they take their productions seriously, doesn’t mean pH10 is comprised of heads-down studio geeks, either. Band leader Recone Helmut states, “We are tough. We’ve played the nastiest venues and rocked the sketchiest sound systems. We’ve played in areas of the world where the electricity shows off to its friends by killing expensive samplers. We have taken airplanes to play warehouse parties that were shut down before our gear cleared airport security. We’ve recorded entire records in unfamiliar studios with no engineer and the ‘tight deadline.’ Be assured, pH10 can take it. However, there is one thing that strikes fear in our jaded hearts - wait for it - day jobs.”

So, in trying to keep Recone and crew out of ‘business casual’ for 2008, we bring you the nastiest, noisiest, scariest, loudest and by far the heaviest pH10 release to date. Well Connected will hurt feelings. Highlights include appearances by Brian Bell-Fortune, Pete Miser, Jamalski, KCutz and I-45 plus a new level of crushing production thanks to the sinister Virus Ti and a deal with the Devil they call Sherman Filter Bank.

And just because pH10 is tough doesn’t mean Recone doesn’t have a romantic side. He explains, “SyBO T, my partner in pH10 is also my girlfriend of seven years. I proposed a couple of months ago via the artwork of this new disk. If you look through the case on the back side of the spine, you will see ‘Marry Me SyBO T?’. Well, she said yes and we’re getting hitched next year.”

pH10 tracks can be found on Dr. Israel’s Inna City Pressure, Soothsayer’s Zen Turtle, the Iron Feather Journal Choonz & Warez compilation, the Systems Evolution compilation, the 12-inch single on Terraformat Records, Deffender, their full length Sci-Fidelity on Freedomzone Records, their full length Quarks and Gluons on Terraformat Records, the “Needless To Say” single on Helmutplex Records, their Helmutvision full length on Helmutplex Records, national “Truth” television ads, the XBOX game “Amped”, the Reef Surfboards movie Planet Reef, the DerDer movies Natural Selection and 2005 Tournament Roundup, the BigUp Productions movie Dosage Volume 3, the 2007 Adidas Football new media campaign, and soon to come, Well Connected on Helmutplex Records.

Quotes From The Press:
“pH10 churns out some of the chunkiest, most amusing New York drum ‘n’ bass since Ming + FS debuted their Junkyard style many moons ago” – Thomas Manalo, Lotus Magazine, USA

“Fearless, free and freaky.... They had their set and sound down to an exact science, making each and every beat count.” – Paul Gangadeen, Chartattack, Canada

“How do you describe pH10 in two words? Fuckin’ ill! ...the best thing to happen to jungle music since Jane!” – Get Underground Magazine, USA

“Without any exaggeration, this album may well be among the most brilliant examples of ‘100% chemistry’ between MC and producer.” – 4elemente Magazine, Romania

“Producer Recone Helmut takes us with his mad band of genius DJs on an electronic odyssey that displays diversity, wit and an exciting sound that is all their own.” – Fly Magazine, England

“Recone Helmut, the twisted mastermind behind the behemoth known as pH10, finds himself once again surrounded by talented, jittery souls who wanna show you how it’s done… One standout track, ‘4PM’ crashes down like a spacepod on an alien planet, grows big knobby wheels and rides that rocky terrain like it ain’t no thang.” – Technocracy Magazine, USA

“Not a lot of buzz out there for the drum’n’bass these days, I know; but if buzz is all you’re after, then go take a good hard look in the mirror and ask yourself how things got so bad. While you do that, I’ll be out here dancing to this disc, and probably stealing your girlfriend and/or boyfriend. Because this is some funky stuff, and no matter what kind of notions of cool you subscribe to, you need some funk in your life.” – Stylus Magazine, USA

Well Connected Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 21st, 2008
01. Bulldozin (feat. I-45)
02. Straight From the US (feat. Brian Bell-Fortune)
03. Enter The Underground (feat. Pete Miser and Jamalski) (MP3)
04. Serious Delirium
05. 79MC
06. A Dwarf among Midgets (feat. Drop Logik)
07. BK United (Album Version – feat. Pete Miser)
08. Mr Seasoning (feat. KCutz)
09. Prospering in obscurity
10. Schedule 1
11. Space Baby
12. Yiggplant (Live at the Frying Pan, NYC)
13. Bulldozin (Radio Edit)
14. BK United (Radio Edit)

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On The Web:
www.helmutplex.com
www.myspace.com/ph10

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Boo and Boo Too puts Lawrence, Kansas on the map of guitar geniuses. Listen for the proof on the band’s much anticipated full-length debut, No Tempo.

“Sludgy, dreamy, new wave influenced wall of sound pop...” – Todd P., NYC

Noise-obsessed, dark and unmistakably poppy, Lawrence, Kansas-based band Boo and Boo Too buries its indie rock beneath shimmering layers of post-punk squall and shoegaze abandon. With the imminent release of its full-length debut No Tempo (following a much adored EP), Boo And Boo Too sets its sights on extensive touring (see the band at CMJ, 2008!), determined to spread its own brand of noise and punk and whatever everywhere. Expect busted guitars and blown-out eardrums as No Tempo stands to firmly establish Boo and Boo Too as uncompromising purveyors of charismatic and chaotic pop music.

More Quotes From The Press:
“Boo and Boo Too plays an impassioned, timeless sort of emo-punk. The Lawrence, KS, band’s yearning vocals and wistful guitars make us nostalgic for those indie-rock mix-tapes we used to put together in high school.” – Time Out New York
“Easily the most exciting EP release I heard this year, [we] haven’t stopped talking about Boo and Boo Too since we heard this. It’s really addictive loud and noisy rock, in the vein of your favorite feedback filled Sonic Youth songs.” – Omahype

“Boo And Boo Too have nailed down that manic brand of New York claustrophobia last achieved in The Walkmen’s debut—except they’re from Lawrence, Kansas.” – Paper Thin Walls

“[Boo and Boo Too] rock like they’ve spent the last five years trapped in a van on tour with Pavement, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. They squelch and squall guitar feedback like it was a fourth, unnamed member whose sole purpose was to remind everyone what indie rock used to be like, and on that count they deliver.” – Stranded in Stereo

“Like a perky bastard child of The Walkmen and Sonic Youth on Red Bull, the band batter their instruments into submission. Noise and feedback have rarely been played with such poppy purpose.” – The Devil Has the Best Tuna

“Boo and Boo Too is a thrift store for sound, for sure. Yeah, yeah: punk-pop squawk uneasily buttressed by f(r)actious guitar noise, chaos contained by a thin membrane of control and a tiny salute to no wave. But also that elusive, near-impossible to articulate quality - charisma.” – Shake Your Fist

“Unwitting anglophiles, this Kansas band take all the best bits of early Wire and Wedding Present, and wrap them up in a neat little bundle of more modern references like Liars and Broken Social Scene.” – Subba Cultcha

No Tempo Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 14th, 2008

01. I Know Nothing’s All Right
02. I’ll Be Your Whore (MP3)
03. Obviously
04. Bottom Of The Lake
05. No Tempo
06. Black Buggy
07. Sometimes At Night
08. KGB
09. White Light, Dark Sheets
10. Alleys In Whitechapel

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On The Web:
www.booandbootoo.com
www.myspace.com/booandbootoo
www.ironpawrecords.com
www.myspace.com/ironpawrecords

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