ATTEMPT is the songwriting project of Trevor Tremaine. It’s unlikely, but you may know him as the drummer for noise band Hair Police, as the proprietor of the now-defunct micro-edition cassette label Rampart Tapes, as a co-founder of the surrealist Resonant Hole collective, as the conductor of avant-folk combo Eyes & Arms of Smoke, as a sideman with a strange and diverse resume (Burning Star Core, Warmer Milks, Matt Duncan, Death Unit, Silverware, and Thurston Moore’s Aktion Unit, if you can believe it), or as [himself], the author of this brief biography of him.
RECOMMENDED
If anything I’d like to be able to use this outlet as a means to cut through the bullshit, like the kind of purple praise which you’ll probably need to wipe your eyes after reading on the hype sticker affixed to the shrinkwrap (all the low hanging fruits are there: Victim Of Time a/k/a “Nothing’s Bad In Garage Rock Ever, Especially This”; Impose a/k/a “Deep Thoughts/Trying To Understand/Won’t You Explain In 150 Characters, Maybe More”; Ad Hoc, a/k/a “Who?”; Tiny Mix Tapes a/k/a “Reviews So Pointless We Can’t Even Assign Writers’ Real Names To ‘Em”). Look, if you are gonna use a quote, start from something like this. Toupee is pretty indebted to the ‘80s, and Leg Toucher looks uglier than an all-over-print Gotcha brand crewneck sweatshirt, with a sound I’d pin as “aerobic Jackonuts with occasional forays into Siouxsie territory,” but for here and now that’s enough. They sound smack in the middle of the two most common types of bands I’ve seen in Chicago so far: kinda Goth femme punk meets wild & crazy dude noise rock, but on these 11 songs they chop those two trends into a chunky mix, getting to a point at the beginning of side B that brings about over-the-edge chaos (“Come Back To Camp”), gravelly torture screams and winding, near-Jaks style dark rock slams (“Fort Knight”), and the ultimate in “School,” a great, nasty anthem that somehow missed both Hole and Babes In Toyland as their real big breakout hit, sounding like the Go-Go’s dyed blue-black with Marilyn Manson contact lenses dropped in. Toupee introduces and proves their worth within minutes, and begin to devour their competition by the end. There’s my contribution to the violet time. (http://www.moniker-records.com)
(Doug Mosurock)
Saturday, June 27th at American Turner’s Club
3125 River Road
8 PM
$5
Velvet lined steam roller tactics mean TROPICAL TRASH’s LP debut UFO Rot descends from the sky straight onto your brain stem. This is potent stuff, meant to be taken in controlled doses. Load the spoon full and heat up gradually. The band has existed for two previous 7”’s but really comes roaring out of the gate with black hat tales and some lineup changes. May very well be the album you use for whatever you do when you are not reading the internet. Instead of trace papering some shadow punks of previous dictatorships, these patriots pull the curtain back and show the emperor sporting some very exotic under carriage, and spew forth tales with cop stashes, Area 51 belly bloat, and new reconfigured mainframe math – this is the new form. Nine condensed blasts of well honed songcraft that really put them at the top of the heap of the rock heap, with paranoid punk, and an eagerness to melt it all down and make it into something bold and badass. Don’t sleep on this one comrade.
Watch the video for Tropical Trash’s “Fat Kid’s Wig,” directed by Robert Beatty, here:
FRED THOMAS is a Michigan-born songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who’s been at it forever. Starting out as a teenager in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti noise scene in the early 90’s, the guy just kinda started jamming and never stopped. Dedicating the past two decades to various projects, Fred’s output has always been wildly varied and constantly changing. Best known for work as a “brainchild” sort of bandleader with the experimental pop sounds of Saturday Looks Good To Me, Thomas has also made significant noise and traveled the world on a seemingly endless string of tours with the washed-out physche of City Center, reverby surf punkers Swimsuit and the internal gentle pop duo MIghty Clouds with former SLGTM singer Betty Barnes. Compulsively playing in bands, running small-scale labels and doing shows on a non-stop basis would make a comprehensive list of related projects a little exhausting, but it’s safe to say there’s always gonna be something homespun, beautiful and a little weird if Fred is involved. So all of this brings us to All Are Saved, technically the eighth FRED THOMAS solo album, but the first one many people will get a chance to hear. Painstakingly assembled between Detroit, Michigan and Athens, Georgia, the album features mixing assistance from Drew Vandenburg (of Montreal, Deerhunter) and guest spots from friends in bands like People Get Ready, Radiator Hospital, Known Moons and even a guest backing vocal cameo from Andrew W.K.
BOOKSHELF is a band currently residing in Louisville, Kentucky, planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy… Find out more at http://www.bkshlf.net.
Cynthia Norton is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Louisville, Kentucky. Influenced by folk aesthetics and the history of her surroundings, Norton’s work employs music, video, mixed media, and performance as her country-music alter ego NINNIE, in a manner that combines feminist thought with local and vernacular imagery inspired by the cultural traditions of the rural South, specifically of her native Kentucky. While often combining these mediums, Norton uses the portrayal of the traditions, readymade sculpture, storytelling, and technology. Her works often have a “homespun” quality — from self-made musical instruments, constructed from suitcases and tennis rackets, to liquor stills that consist of buckets, copper tubing, and pressure cookers — while her music ranges across blues and country classics sung in a warbling voice, to haunting dirges that recall the mysteries of mountain culture. These makeshift elements combined with her quirky persona — complete with old-timey Southern costumes fit for the country music star — all attest to Norton’s creativity and inventiveness. Fascinated by the culture of fictional celebrity that pervades amateur Country Music contests in the South, Norton employs NINNIE as a surrogate to address the struggle for women to be seen and heard while her ingenuity transcends ordinariness and revels her to be the Everywoman of Country and Blues. Norton’s most recent solo project opened at PAFA on March 2, 2012 in the Historic Landmark Building using paintings in the collection as sounding boards for a group of four video/song works, two installations, and four prints, which reflect variously on issues like the historic portrayal of women in art, paternalism and colonialism, and the vernacular forms of folk culture. Mixing high and low art, the exhibition creates a counterpoint between PAFA and its fine art collection and the cultural and musical history of the artist’s Kentucky home. Much like her performances of altered country and blues songs, the project is not an attempt to satirize these histories but, instead, to critically-and sometimes humorously- engage with ideas about myth, power, and identity. Cynthia Norton received a BFA from the University of Kentucky and an MFA in Time Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Over the past decade, Norton has exhibited and performed extensively in the USA, Europe, and Asia. In 2005 she was included in the exhibition Nowhere during the Styrian Autumn Festival in Graz, Austria, and in 2008 her work was featured in the exhibition The Old, Weird America: Folk Themes in Contemporary Art, organized by the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston.
Watch “Ninnie Naive Documentary 1994” here:
R. KEENAN LAWLER is a guitarist who 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, Kevin Drumm, Helena Espvall, Ian Nagoski, Alan Licht, Taksuya Nakatani, Bhob Rainey, Eric Carbonara and Joseph Suchy.
Combining boundless creative imagination with a deep reverence for American folk, blues and country music, MARISA ANDERSON‘s guitar playing is fluid, emotional, dexterous and original. Signal to Noise magazine calls Anderson’s guitar work “Utterly fabulous”, TIme Out London refers to her playing as “Stunning…haunting and evocative”, Pitchfork calls her latest record, ‘Mercury’, ”Brilliant” and Wire Magazine says, “Her sound has strength in restless variety…Anderson’s playing is heartfelt and utterly American, free from grandstanding and steeped in respect for the old tradition.” Before going solo in 2009, Anderson played guitar in the Dolly Ranchers and the Evolutionary Jass Band. In the past two years, Anderson’s music has landed her festival appearances in Europe and the United States and opening slots for artists including Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Devil Makes 3 and Sharon Van Etten. In August 2013, KBOO Community Radio released a split 7″ featuring Anderson and Elizabeth Cotton. Anderson’s music has been featured on NPR and on soundtracks including ‘Smokin’ Fish’, ‘For the Love of Dolly’, ‘Girls Rock’, and ‘Gift To Winter’. Her writings on music and activism have appeared in Bitch Magazine, Leaf Litter, and in Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls, the book. Her new album, Traditional and Public Domain Songs, is now available from the Grapefruit Record Club.
For WOODEN WAND‘s new album Farmer’s Corner, James Toth decided to try something different: instead of spending a week in a studio with the same people, the same engineer, the same equipment and the same state of mind, he would record in fits and starts, whenever – and WHEREever – he felt like it, recording new songs as he wrote them. Over six sessions in four studios spanning three states, he began amassing tracks. Toth then chose his favorite ten songs for Farmer’s Corner, which is, remarkably, the very first self-produced Wooden Wand album. Toth is abetted on the majority of the tracks by electric bassist Darin Gray (On Fillmore, Jim O’Rourke, Grand Ulena, Dazzling Killmen), and guitarists William Tyler (Lambchop, Silver Jews, Yo La Tengo) and Doc Feldman. Toth also called on friends in St Louis, Nashville, and his current home in Lexington, KY to produce an album that splits the difference between the protracted psych of his work with the Vanishing Voice and the World War IV and the more lonesome, bucolic styles of his more recent albums with Michael Gira and the Briarwood Virgins. The result is the most “Wooden Wand” album in the Wooden Wand discography, reflecting Toth’s omnivorous musical and narrative obsessions. The arrangements — think Little Feat covering Neil Young’s Harvest Moon — only serve to highlight his capabilities as both a songwriter and storyteller. The collected songs form an easy entry into the ever-growing Toth output, where outlaws on the run, epic landscapes, endless travels, agitated insomniacs and ditch-digging memory-evaders lurk behind every turn.
XOX is a band from Louisville, Kentucky in which layers of synth smother a drum and bass hypno-fury while screams, grunts, and gasps desperately escape the miasma.
Crawling out of the deep, dark hole they dug for themselves on Bottom Feeder (2011) and Sweaty Hands (2012), New York City’s premier psychedelic swamp rock unit DEGREASER are set to take an unsuspecting and tepid rock scene by storm. Courtesy of NYC’s Ever/Never Records, their new record Rougher Squalor is DEGREASER 2.0. The band has evolved from their previous caveman dirges into a true power trio, heavy on the muscle and out for blood. Drawing inspiration from classic bands like Blue Cheer, The Groundhogs and Coloured Balls, to outer-limits rock deconstruction reminiscent of the finest Japanese ensembles such as Mainliner and High Rise, DEGREASER are able to satisfy the need to bang your head, and also the desire to immerse said head in glorious waves of wah-wah pedal abuse. The ‘squalor’ part of the title is no joke, as main ‘Greaser Tim Evans – formerly of noted Aussie band Bird Blobs – drenches the proceedings in a sheen of speaker-shredding noise that would make the likes of The Stooges’ James Williamson sit up and take notice. Anchored by the granite-solid rhythm section of drummer John Coates and bassist Kristian Brenchley (Woman/Ballroom), Evans is free to blast his surroundings with all manner of ear-piercing and –tickling tones.
Listen to Rougher Squalor‘s lead track “Words In Your Mouth” here:
Former singer of Brooklyn post-punk bands Family Curse and Golden Error, Erick Bradshaw H dives into the deep end of primitive electronic squall and suitably paranoid vocal manipulations with his new project, CYANIDE TOOTH. Recalling early masters of the exposed nerve — Cabaret Voltaire, Whitehouse, Sprung Aus Den Wolken — CYANIDE TOOTH reminds you that the Cold War is still raging and our destructions are all mutually assured
Hey COOL PEOPLE, COOL RECORDS! is a bi-weekly dj night at SEIDENFADEN’S CAFE hosted by our partner-in-crime DJ KIM SORISE. Every other week she invites a new guest dj to collaborate on COOL, and this Friday, January 3rd, Joel Hunt from THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE is honored to join her! I don’t know yet what we’re gonna play, but it’s definitely going to be COOL RECORDS! So don’t miss it.
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 most recent double LP, Ghosts. 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.
It’s minimal, it’s trance, it’s blues… it’s Jayle time! JAYE JAYLE play songs inspired by traveling, being disconnected, and being in love. Restlessly, yet relaxed, JAYE JAYLE rides up and down and boogies around in a vortex furnished with sandy desert dreams. Saddle up or pull up a chair, either way would be and will be just fine.
Watch the video for Jaye Jayle‘s “Pull Me Back to Hell” here:
UPDATE, 12/9/2013: Louisville, Kentucky’s finest JAYE JAYLE have been added to the show! See details above.
UPDATE, 12/14/2013: There will be DOOR SALES tonight at the show, starting at 7 PM, cash only! However, space is still limited to 40 people total, so to be sure you can attend, it is highly encouraged that you buy your ticket ONLINE to guarantee admission! If Greenhaus hits capacity, there will be NO tickets available at the door. Thanks!
It’s kinda crazy how quickly September has flown by — in a flash! Well they say time flies when you’re having fun, but we haven’t even gotten to CROPPED OUT yet! That’s right, the fourth installment of Louisville’s best DIY-n’-weird-stuff weekend is back, taking place mainly at the American Turners Club on River Road, and this year promises to be the best ever. As always, we’ve checked out the schedule (you can too, here: http://croppedoutmusic.com/cropped-out-2013-schedule/), and here’s your “Picks to Click” in bold, with some additional commentary…
FRIDAY, SEPT. 27
5 p.m. — White Reaper (Turners Tavern stage): Louisville’s latest garage rock sensation, catch them before they’re either huge and/or move to Nashville/Memphis/anyplace else.
5:25 — Spelling Bee (Goosebump Galley stage)
5:55 — Tweens (Phreedom Hall stage)
6:20 — Promised Land Sound (Turners Tavern)
6:45 — Tyvek (Turners Tavern): Detroit’s finest stop-on-a-dime-and-give-you-change rock band, in probably their millionth configuration. Who will be in the band this week? Find out!
7:15 — Spray Paint (Phreedom Hall)
7:40 — Salad Influence (Goosebump Galley): Lexington main man Mikey Turner’s side gig, when he’s not rocking in CROSS or making sweet solo tapes.
8:00 — Blues Control (Goosebump Galley): Our pals Lea and Russ, we go way back, and there ain’t nothin’ bad we could ever say about this dynamic duo!
8:35 — Juanita (Phreedom Hall): Long-running Louisville underground mavens, featuring some people that go back to first-wave Louisville punk and the 1069 House scene that spawned Babylon Dance Band, Endtables, and more.
9:00 — Hair Police (Turners Tavern): Lexington “noize dudes” in a rare Louisville performance — probably the first time in a decade!
9:25 — Shit & Shine (Goosebump Galley): One of the highlights of Cropped Out II: The Search for Curley’s Gold, S&S occasionally feature King Coffey of the Butthole Surfers, as well as bunny masks.
9:55 — The Endtables (Phreedom Hall): First-wave Louisville punk! Okay, maybe Southern Indiana. Either way, they rule, and this is the first time they’ve played here in over 35 years!
10:20 — Steve Gunn (Turners Tavern): East Coast guitar-slinger with a killer new album, Time Off, that you should check out pronto!
10:55 — Bill Orcutt & Chris Corsano (Goosebump Galley): Orcutt slayed solo at Cropped Out II, this is his first Louisville trip with drumming octopus and handsome man Chris Corsano. Hide your (fancy) bourbon!
11:40 — Endless Boogie (Phreedom Hall): The last time EB graced Louisville was over two years ago, so it’s safe to say you shouldn’t miss them this time!
2:00 p.m. — Asm A Tik (Turners Tavern): I’ve been dying to see this new Louisville trio, as supposedly they are prog-tastic. Come get progressive, early!
2:25 — Neighbor (Goosebump Galley): One of Louisville’s heaviest current groups, we gotta say, these neighbors are much cooler than one of our neighbors who cut down a tree last year. Boo!
2:55 — Todays Hits (Phreedom Hall)
3:20 — Mote (Turners Tavern)
3:45 — Quail Bones (Goosebump Galley)
4:15 — Connections (Phreedom Hall): New Columbus, Ohio band features members of Times New Viking. Remember them? They were great, so these guys are probably at least half as good, right? Just kiddin’, they are pretty great!
4:40 — Tom Blacklung & the Smokestacks (Turners Tavern)
5:05 — Running (Goosebump Galley)
5:35 — Rinehart (Phreedom Hall)
6:00 — New England Patriots (Turners Tavern)
6:25 — Thee Open Sex (Goosebump Galley)
6:55 — Montag (Phreedom Hall): Rare appearance by this Louisville super-phenom! Must be seen to be believed!
7:20 — SKIMASK (Turners Tavern)
7:45 — Jaye Jayle (Turners Tavern): Mysterious Louisville folk rock funsters, JJ have been awesome every time we’ve seen ’em.
8:15 — Mayo Thompson and the Corky’s Debt Band (Phreedom Hall): YES! Corky’s Debt to His Father is one of our favorite albums of all time, and though we’ve seen Mayo kill it with his main concern, The Red Krayola, we never thought we’d see the day we’d see/hear songs from Corky live. And on our 38th birthday, no less. In our hometown. Thank you, Cropped Out!
8:55 — Kal Marks (Goosebump Galley)
9:20 — Borbetomagus (Goosebump Galley): New York trio (2 saxes, electric guitar) are an acquired taste, but what a taste it is! We’ve been long-time fans, without ever having the chance to see them live, so this is another one-in-a-lifetime experience as they rarely play off the East Coast.
10:00 — Wolf Eyes (Phreedom Hall): Quite possibly the best band Michigan’s produced since the Stooges. Really, I believe that!
10:35 — Human Eye (Turners Tavern): Second-best Michigan band after Wolf Eyes! What is it with Michigan and eyes anyway? The dang place looks like a glove!
11:05 — CAVE (Goosebump Galley): One of the highlights of Cropped Out #1, along with a chaotic drunken Oaks night two years ago, Cave brings some sorta kraut-y dance party for yo’ dome.
11:45 — Matt Sweeney & Bonnie “Prince” Billy (Phreedom Hall): We’ll be honest, we haven’t been a huge Billy fan, but Superwolf, the album these two geniuses recorded over five years ago, was a damn fine moment. Everybody rub your belly!
At midnight Saturday night, our Stop Drink Listen friends will be hosting an after-party with Endless Boogie’s Paul Major, also at Seidenfaden’s (more information here: https://www.facebook.com/events/594751607224434/).
SUNDAY, SEPT. 29
9 p.m. — Freakwater (Phreedom Hall): C’mon, do I really have to tell you anything about Freakwater? Sheesh, I’m tired already.
10:30 — Lambchop (Phreedom Hall)
If that wasn’t enough information for you, you can find out more at www.croppedoutmusic.com. And you can download a really great mix of this year’s artists there! And buy tickets, if you haven’t already. What are you waiting for?
OH YEAH! Cropped Out REALLY starts on Thursday, if you’re so inclined, with the BEER & VOODOO Wild & Woolly/Cropped Out 2013 Pre-Party with Sublime Frequenciesat the Dreamland Film Center! Filmmaker/documentarian/world traveler Hisham Mayet will be presenting two films, Vodoun Gods on the Slave Coast (at 7:30pm) and The Divine River: Ceremonial Pageantry in the Sahel (at 9:00pm). More information is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/504642746296711/.
Whew! Now I gotta go take a nap so I have enough energy for this weekend…
UPDATE, 9/27/2013: THE CORRECT SET TIMES ARE NOW UP! For some reason, we “copied” the scheduled published in the LEO Weekly, which was inaccurate. We regret the error. Always on time, peoples!
The Other Side of Life 