Yearly Archives: 2012

SIMON JOYNER, BRO. STEPHEN, and TENDER MERCY at QUILL’S, Sunday, November 11th

Astro Black Records, Cropped Out and The Other Side of Life are proud to present:

SIMON JOYNER (Omaha, Nebraska; on Sing, Eunuchs!)
BRO. STEPHEN (Louisville, KY; on Crossroads of America Records)
TENDER MERCY (Louisville, KY; on Dunkenstein Records)

Sunday, November 11th
at QUILL’S
930 Baxter Avenue
8 PM, $6, ALL AGES!

Love and death: these are the only themes. So it’s been in SIMON JOYNER’s twenty years of making records—from 1992’s Umbilical Chords cassette to his new double LP, Ghosts. Over the course of a thirteen-album career in which he’s produced a multitude of sounds and musical influences on a multitude of independent labels, he’s only made two other proper double-albums (1997’s Yesterday, Tomorrow and In Between and 2001’s Hotel Lives). Both are classics of his discography, and Ghosts follows in their footsteps, creating and inhabiting a world in which JOYNER’s thematic preoccupations can be explored carefully and fully.  Recorded on reel-to-reel in JOYNER’s warehouse on a sixteen-track tape machine over many months, Ghosts sounds unlike any JOYNER record. The influence of dark, ’60s and ’70s private-press psych and folk records, as well as the noisy, transcendent music of New Zealand heroes like This Kind of Punishment, Alastair Galbraith and The Dead C are highlighted on this experimental, full-band song-cycle that pays subtle as well as brazen homage to several influential double-albums (perhaps most obviously with its Exile on Main Street-inspired gatefold artwork). JOYNER’s music gathers acolytes rather than casual fans, contributing to his “songwriter’s songwriter” status and inspiring comparisons to other artists like Bill Fay, Townes Van Zandt, David Blue, and Leonard Cohen.

BRO. STEPHEN is a project of Scott Kirkpatrick who is also the force behind indie-rock band Chemic. Originally conceived as a songwriting exercise, BRO. STEPHEN has come to mean much more. Pulling from a childhood of being a preacher’s son, a deep collection of poor decisions, and a constant struggle with narcolepsy, the songs of BRO. STEPHEN are a casual dart game: the sound of ennui. Despite it’s relatively recent inception, BRO. STEPHEN headed out on the road in 2009 on a national tour playing songs off of his upcoming debut record and armed with hand-made copies of The Front Room EP which was a collection of demos Kirkpatrick had recorded on a cassette tape machine. Along the way BRO. STEPHEN has supported acts like The Fiery Furnaces, Sun Kil Moon, Anni Rossi, DM Stith, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, and Vandaveer, and released its debut album Baptist Girls, a record that was largely recorded on an old farm in Northern Indiana.

TENDER MERCY is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Mark Kramer and can best be described as contemporary minimalism with strong acoustic leanings. Debuting with a track on the infamous Dunkenstein Record’s Doctors Of Dunk Vol. 2, TENDER MERCY began playing around Louisville, opening for the likes of Jamie Barnes, Tamara Dearing, The Deloreans, Ben Traughber, The Parade Schedule, and Nerves Jr. TENDER MERCY released a 6 song EP entitled “The Road To Good Intention Is Paved With Hell” in the spring of 2012.

Check out the Facebook invite here: http://www.facebook.com/events/395344633870923.

To join our email list, send an email to hstencil@gmail.com. You can also join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/232825523444477/.

UPDATE, 11/5/2012: Folks, there’s been some confusion, and as it turns out, FRANKLIN BRUNO will not be joining us this Sunday. Sorry for the mix-up. Hope to see you there regardless!

John Tchicai, R.I.P.

We’re seeing some unfortunate news today on the internet that Danish saxophonist John Tchicai has died, though so far without any official confirmation. This is terrible news, if true, as Tchicai has been long known as one of the best players, yet he was sort of weirdly unheralded outside the jazz cognoscenti. His discography is long and broad, going back to early 1960s work with Archie Shepp, the New York Art Quartet (with Roswell Rudd, Milford Graves, Lewis Worrell, and Amiri Baraka), and John Coltrane‘s classic Ascension. It should also be said that he continued to play and compose some really great stuff over the past few decades, though the last time we saw him play was in Chicago in the late 1990s. He will be greatly missed.

We’ll update when we find official (or otherwise) obituaries and tributes posted, and hopefully we’ll post some of Tchicai’s music to sample, as well.

UPDATE, 10/7/2012, 9:30 PM: One good place to start in Tchicai’s massive discography is the self-titled debut from 1964 by the New York Art Quartet, his classic group with Roswell Rudd, Milford Graves, and Lewis Worrell (and Amiri Baraka, reciting poetry on the track “Black Dada Nihilismus”). So, for a short time, you can find it here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/5cawmw.

UPDATE, 10/8/12: The Associated Press has published an obituary for Tchicai, which has been picked up by several news outlets: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gR2SgcqNtQQiD9zYUc7-67LDCYKA?docId=a95085a0576e4f50936c160ba2ff22bf.

MADAME MACHINE and SAD HORSE at ZANZABAR, Wednesday, October 10th

The Other Side of Life is proud to present:

MADAME MACHINE (Louisville, KY; on Noise Pollution)

and

SAD HORSE (Portland, OR; on Water Wing Records)

Wednesday, October 10th
at ZANZABAR
2100 S. Preston
9 PM, $5, 21-and-over

MADAME MACHINE is a Louisville trio consisting of David Cundiff (Lucky Pineapple, Bodyhammer), Salena Filichia (Julie of the Wolves), and Forrest Kuhn (Ennui, Sunspring, Black Cross). They’ve released one excellent 7″ on Louisville’s Noise Pollution label, and have played with the likes of The Teeth, Parlour, Softcheque, Hal Dolls, and other local delinquents. They’re rapidly becoming known as one of the best bands in town, so don’t miss them!

SAD HORSE is the Portland, Oregon-based duo of Elizabeth Venable (a Louisville native!) and Geoff Soule (formerly of Fuck). Their debut album, Purple on Purple Makes Purple, was released in June on Water Wing Records, and you can listen to it here: http://sadhorse.bandcamp.com/. Watch a video for their song “Mountain Lion” here:

SAD HORSE – “MOUNTAIN LION” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO from Kristina Davies on Vimeo.

Find the Facebook invite here: http://www.facebook.com/events/388007504604701.

To join our email list, send an email to hstencil@gmail.com. You can also join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/232825523444477/.

CROPPED OUT is a WEEK AWAY!

We’ve got one week until the first day of this year’s CROPPED OUT festival, beginning next Friday, September 28th (which, coincidentally, is my birthday!), so let’s take a look at this year’s lineup, schedule, and tomfoolery. Firstly, if you haven’t seen this preview video yet, what planet are you from? Well, you better get in your saucer and get here soon! Check it out:

The entire schedule, broken down by venue, is available here: http://croppedoutmusic.com/cropped-out-2012-schedule/. Let’s take a look at each day’s offerings, shall we? Our “picks to click” are in bold:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th at the TURNERS CLUB —
Turner Tavern:
SHE MIGHT BITE, MICROWAVES, THE SEDIMENT CLUB, TWIN SISTER RADIO, TV GHOST, CHAIN & THE GANG
Scully Alley: DISCO DOOM, GANGLY YOUTH, BUCK GOOTER, LANTERN, EUGENE CHADBOURNE
Phreedom Hall: THE RITCHIE WHITE ORCHESTRA, JANDEK, STREET GNAR, SLUG GUTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th at the TURNERS CLUB —
Turner Tavern:
BINARY MARKETING SHOW, CAVE BEARS, GRAY/ZERANG DUO, COOL MEMORIES, SHAVED WOMEN, DAVID LIEBE HART, R. STEVIE MOORE
Scully Alley: WET, KARK, GLOBSTERS, WHITE WALLS, NEW MOTHER NATURE, GUERILLA TOSS, NEIL HAMBURGER
Phreedom Hall: BLACK KASPAR, RAW THUG, CRYS, PC WORSHIP, MERCHANDISE, LIL B
Spooky Beach: ASHCAN ORCHESTRA

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th at the WORKHORSE BALLROOM —
PAPA M, WOODEN WAND, JOZEF van WISSEM

Wait, you want more? Well, we’ve got more for ya! How about a DOWNLOADABLE MIX of lots of this year’s CROPPED OUT performers, put together by CROPPED OUT homie James Ardery? Sound good? Well here it is! And here’s the tracklist:

1. Jozef van Wissem, “Lux Divinitatis”
2. PC Worship, “Tides”
3. Wooden Wand, “Servant to Blues”
4. CRYS, “Pass on the Third”
5. Shaved Women, “Circles”
6. Eugene Chadbourne, “Wine Me Up”
7. Globsters, “Roll You Up and Smoke You”
8. White Walls, “The Milk of a Lonely Man”
9. Microwaves, “Hammerspace”
10. Lil B, “Still Cookin'”
11. Guerilla Toss, “Breeding Snakes 4 Variety”
12. Buck Gooter, “Consider the Grackles”
13. Merchandise, “Time”
14. Wet, “Wetter than Wet Pt. 2: Pink Pearl”
15. Gangly Youth, “Jangly Youth”
16. The Ritchie White Orchestra, “Matt Says 2”
17. Chain & The Gang, “If Only I Had Your Brain”
18. R. Stevie Moore, “Schoolgirl”
19. Lantern, “Dreammine”
20. The Phantom Family Halo, “Black and White Magic”

It’ll only be up for a limited time, so grab it like it’s hot. Yeah. And enjoy.

Of course, a wealth of information, including tickets, is available at www.croppedoutmusic.com. Don’t miss what promises to be an awesome weekend! And we’ll see you there, by some bonfire, tellin’ jokes or something…

UPDATE, 9/27/2012: CROPPED OUT IS A DAY AWAY!

Some lineup changes to note: DAHM is unfortunately sick, so he will be missing this year’s CROPPED OUT. Get well, Dahm!

In his place are not one but two doozies: 90’s power-violence pioneers SUPPRESSION (from Roanoke, VA) and FAT HISTORY MONTH (from Boston, MA; on Sophomore Lounge).

Lots of food trucks and vendors and whatnot will be there too, so don’t forget the tomfoolery!

São Paulo Underground Tomorrow at Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft

LEO Weekly ran my preview today of tomorrow’s upcoming São Paulo Underground concert at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft (scroll down to Thursday’s entry):

Thursday, Sept. 13
São Paulo Underground
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
715 W. Main St.
kentuckyarts.org
$5-$10, 8:30 p.m.

Living in Chicago in the 1990s, it was nearly impossible to miss trumpeter/cornetist Rob Mazurek’s many projects. Whether he was gigging with Tortoise, workshopping at the Green Mill, or playing with drummer Chad Taylor in Chicago Underground Duo, Mazurek’s signature style (reminiscent of Dark Magus-era Miles Davis) was inescapable. After adding electronics to the mix, Mazurek’s sound got even bolder, charting a new course that wasn’t quite jazz in the traditional sense but was exciting in its boundary-crossing openness. After moving to Brazil, he started São Paulo Underground with Mauricio Takara (drums, percussion, cavaquinho, electronics), then enlisted Guilherme Granado (keyboards, electronics, samplers) and Richard Ribeiro (drums). The result is a smoothly rendered Brazilian/American melodic hybrid, held together by a fluid rhythmic sensibility. This rare performance — part of KMAC’s “Storytelling As Craft” exhibit — should not be missed. —Joel Hunt

I actually will miss the concert, due to work. Don’t be as unlucky as me. Read more about São Paulo Underground, and listen to a killer track, here: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/saopaulo.html.

R.I.P. Byard Lancaster and Tom Bruno

Inexplicably, the music world lost two great jazz musicians yesterday. Byard Lancaster, a multi-reedist — who would be revered if the only cool thing he did was appear on Sunny Murray‘s self-titled ESP-Disk album, but managed to also lead and collaborate on some great titles including his own It’s Not Up to Us — died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70.

Additionally, Tom Bruno, a drummer best known for his work in the quartet Test with Matthew Heyner, Sabir Mateen, and Daniel Carter, died yesterday.


(Photograph of Test by Michael Galinsky — from left to right: Daniel Carter, Tom Bruno, Matthew Heyner, Sabir Mateen.)

They will both be missed.

Jason Noble, R.I.P.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jasonnoble

The Louisville musician, artist, collaborator, and all-around fantastic human being Jason Noble died today. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.

UPDATE, 8/5/2012: A number of tributes and obituaries for Jason have been appearing across Facebook and in other parts of the internet. One of the most moving ones we’ve read is by Louisvillian Syd Bishop, over at the Never Nervous blog. Thanks, Syd.

Official obituaries have been published by Billboard and Pitchfork. A number of YouTube clips from Jason’s various musical projects over the years are available at each.

Also, the web site actualblood.com compiles a number of Jason’s works. And a few of Jason’s columns for LEO Weekly are available at http://publicnoise.blogspot.com.

CROPPED OUT 2012 ANNOUNCED!

Hey people! Most everybody’s favorite completely-DIY, underground-ish music festival for Louisville’s weirdos is back and… hey… wait a minute… DOES THAT SAY JANDEK IS PLAYING IN LOUISVILLE?!? HOLY SHIT!!!

SEPTEMBER 28-30, 2012 IN LOUISVILLE, KY, USA.

You read it right, folks! The time is yet again upon us. Cropped Out’s annual extravaganza is back for 2012. This Fall (September 28th-29th), we will be taking over the American Turners Club — our home for year one, as a few (literally, a few) of you might remember. Last year at the Crummy Den was not only a blast but also a milestone for us as an organization. However, as fun as it was watching Scratch Acid play in a crowded warehouse shortly after cops accosted them at gunpoint, having mistaken them as armed robbers, we decided it was time to take our festival back to more…”welcoming” grounds of operation.

As always, we’ve carefully chosen a solid stash of local, national, and international performing artists to spotlight in our hometown of Louisville, KY. There will also be a familiar face or two from festivals past, along with the usual “tricks up our sleeve.”FRIDAY + SATURDAY: Our third year kicks off at over 30 bands spread across 3 days (two main days with an unforgettable closing party on Sunday, 9/30). A short list of attractions lined up for Friday (9/28) and Saturday (9/29) include the proto-doo-wop sass of Chain & The Gang led by DC legend Ian Svenonius (The Make-Up/Nation of Ulysses), a very rare performance from elusive Texan blues/folk outsider Jandek, the silky lo-fi New Wave croon of Tampa, Florida’s Merchandise (ft. members of the late great Cult Ritual), the bitingly sour, self-deprecrating social stabs of “World’s Funnyman” Neil Hamburger, live music by David Liebe Hart of Adult Swim’s “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job,” and as always, plenty of organically grown, freshly picked, fairly traded locals like Twin Sister Radio, Gangly Youth, and Kark, just to name a few…
FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY:
Ashcan Orchestra (Brooklyn, NY)
Binary Marketing Show (Little Rock, AR)
Buck Gooter (Harrisonburg, VA)
Black Kaspar (Louisville, KY)
Cave Bears (Providence, RI)
Chain & The Gang (Washington, DC)
Cool Memories (Chicago, IL)
Crys (Indianapolis, IN)
Dahm of Phantom Family Halo (Brooklyn, NY)
David Liebe Hart Band (Los Angeles, CA)
Disco Doom (Zurich, Switzerland)
Eugene Chadbourne (Greensboro, NC)
Gangly Youth (Louisville, KY)
Globsters (Hazard, KY)
Guerilla Toss (Boston, MA)
Jandek (Houston, TX)
Kark (Louisville, KY)
Lantern (Philadelphia, PA)
Merchandise (Tampa, FL)
Michael Zerang/Darin Gray Duo (Chicago, IL/St. Louis, MO)
Microwaves (Pittsburgh, PA)
Neil Hamburger (Los Angeles, CA)
PC Worship (Brooklyn, NY)
R. Stevie Moore (Nashville, TN)
The Ritchie White Orchestra (Louisville, KY)
The Sediment Club (Brooklyn, NY)
Shaved Women (St. Louis, MO)
Slug Guts (Brisbane, Australia)
Street Gnar (Lexington, KY)
TV Ghost (Lafayette, IN)
White Walls (Cincinnati, OH)
& others to be announced!
FIND OUT MORE: Stay tuned for all sorts of exciting updates to come at http://croppedoutmusic.com/.

Holy CRAP! I could not possibly be any more excited! Never in my life did I think I’d get to see THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM CORWOOD in my hometown, on my birthday weekend to boot! The rest of the artists and bands booked, at least the ones we know, are pretty awesome in their own right, too. And with lots of names I haven’t heard of, it’ll be another great opportunity to hear some new sounds as well.

Last-Minute Show TONIGHT: JASON AJEMIAN and the HIGH LIFE at the Nach Bar, 10 PM, FREE!

JASON AJEMIAN and THE HIGH LIFE play at the Nach Bar in Germantown tonight. What are they like? Well, check out their site for some free tunes, and this description:

Formed at the Harold Arts Residency in Ohio, Jason Ajemian pulls all of his previous conceptual musics together under a solid roof with the HighLife.
Ajemian creates scores for the band in the architectural drafting program AutoCAD.  Titled Motion Maps, these scores guide the musicians through spaces and hallways of musical structures. His blueprints dictate the flow and motion of a musical set, opening the performers up to visual and descriptive influences, while leading them through a diverse musical landscape consisting of Ajemian’s orchestrated poems, American folk forms, Native American chants, Canadian sea shanties, Orbison, jazz expressive motion and balladry — all filtered through the creative/improvised process in a unique communication of the moment.

There’s a Facebook invite here, too: http://www.facebook.com/events/366962806710107/. Did I mention it’s FREE?

A BENEFIT FOR TOM CARTER with SAPAT, TROPICAL TRASH, SHEDDING, and KEENAN LAWLER at Zanzabar, Thursday, August 16th

Cropped Out and The Other Side of Life are proud to present:

A BENEFIT FOR TOM CARTER


(photo of Tom Carter by Stephan Laackman)

with

SAPAT (on Siltbreeze; from Louisville, KY)
TROPICAL TRASH (Louisville, KY; on Loin Seepage/Sophomore Lounge)
SHEDDING (from Louisville, Kentucky)
R. KEENAN LAWLER (from Louisville, Kentucky)

Thursday, August 16th
at ZANZABAR
2100 S. Preston
9 PM, 21-and-over
$5 entry fee; additional donations encouraged
100% of all proceeds will be donated to The Robert Thomas Carter Irrevocable Trust.

ABOUT TOM CARTER:

While on a tour of Europe this spring with his band Charalambides, the Brooklyn based guitarist Tom Carter was hospitalized in Berlin, Germany for serious complications of pneumonia. In mid-July, Tom was transferred to a medical rehabilitation facility in Germany, near the Baltic Sea. Tom will receive medical care, monitoring and physical rehabilitation at the facility until the end of July. His doctors are also recommending that Tom not return to employment and normal levels of pre-illness activity until January 2013. This recommendation will be periodically reevaluated, but it seems to fall in line with common recovery projections for people who have experienced pneumonia at this level of seriousness. It is still unknown whether Tom will be able to return to New York immediately after the rehabilitation, or if it will be necessary for him to, instead, reside elsewhere with his family for a time. Although his condition continues to improve, Tom is still weak and his condition must come closer to what his normal baseline health will be, in order for doctors to assess what type of further treatment he will need in the US. It does seem to be certain that Tom will require follow up care once back in the States.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:

Tom Carter is a tremendous musician, and a caring, compassionate individual who will need long-term help to recover from his illness. Cropped Out, The Other Side of Life, and the musicians playing the benefit are joining forces with a number of promoters, musicians, and concerned friends of Tom all across the South to curate benefit shows during the middle of August. This unique situation of multiple forces across an entire region presents a rare opportunity to help a friend who has given us so much over the years — his music, friendship, and encouragement.


(Photo of Sapat by Ginger Goss, from Loin Seepage.)

Spawned from the formidable Louisville, KY collective known as Black Velvet Fuckere, SAPAT resides as the centrifugal force in this Midwestern psychedelic madrigal set in the psychosexual backwaters of the mighty Ohio River. For the entirety of the ‘00 decade, members have kept busy collaborating with and/or massaging the egos of various and sundry avant-pontiffs such as Robert Fripp, Magik Markers, Dead Child and Eugene Chadbourne – when not honing the orgone energy of SAPAT.

TROPICAL TRASH have caused quite a stir with their new 7″, Fear of Suffering, on Sophomore Lounge. Still Single describes TROPICAL TRASH as an “Excellent combination of thrashing energy and solid ideas that break apart and recombine in novel, tuneful ways.” They’re just as thrilling live as on record, so don’t miss this opportunity to rock out with ’em!

SHEDDING has been a solo vehicle for Connor Bell since 2001, and has released several items over those years available at Ocio and Hometapes. SHEDDING‘s music is meditative and still, eerie and unsettling — yet with a spectacular sense of melody.

R. KEENAN LAWLER is a musician and sound artist based in Louisville Kentucky. For over 25 years his musical journey has taken him from early experiments with reverb tanks, noise and tape decks to all manner of avant-garde, “new” music, psychedelia, electro-acoustic, drone, ethnic and sampler-based work. LAWLER is best known for developing a highly personal and exploratory language for the metal bodied resonator guitar which Baltimore’s John Berdnt called “Cosmic, monolithic and deeply American.” Primarily a solo performer, he is also known for collaborative work. His guitar playing is also heard on releases by Paul K., Jack Wright, My Morning Jacket and on Matmos’ The Civil War. He has collaborated or performed with a wide range of forward-thinking musicians and mavericks including Rhys Chatham, John Butcher, Eliott Sharp, Charalambides, Ignaz Schick/Perlonex, Kaffe Matthews, Burning Star Core, Jason Kahn, Ut Gret, Thaniel Ion Lee, Ed Wilcox, Ramesh Srinivasan, Kevin Drumm, Arco Flute Foundation, Helena Espvall, Ian Nagoski, Connor Bell, Andy Willis, Alan Licht, Taksuya Nakatani, Tom Carter, Bhob Rainey, Aaron Rosenblum, Joe Dutkiewicz, Evergreen, Eric Carbonara and Joseph Suchy.

Check out helptomcarter.org to see other ways that you can help contribute to Tom’s recovery!

Find the Facebook invite here: http://www.facebook.com/events/428050753912799.

To join our email list, send an email to hstencil@gmail.com. You can also join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/232825523444477/.

UPDATE, 8/17/2012: Hey Louisville! We raised $475 last night to benefit Tom Carter and help with his recuperation from pneumonia. Thanks again to everyone who attended, played, or otherwise helped with the benefit, and thanks again to Zanzabar for hosting it.