Warehouse shows

Merck Records tour!

Machine Drum (FL)
Gel-Sol (DC)
Eustachian
The Deep Element

Monday, August 23

Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th Street NW, Washington DC
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9pm

Machine Drum

Machine Drum is this guy named Travis Stewart. He launched the Merck label as stylized glitch but smacking it down to a layman's level with some venous melody. Machine Drum, to paraphrase Travis, is his party music. It's a party accentuated by mutant drum patterns, MCs freed in the digital world to slip up and double back on their rhymes, and the occasional body massage. His first release as Machine Drum, Now You Know , was a defining moment. Mr. Stewart became a competitor to the glitch-hop throne that Prefuse 73 occupies. His second release, Half The Battle , was a more focused affair, still cutting beats from jazz records, but laying down a smoother atmosphere. It includes remixes from Brothmostates, Proem, Esem, Tim "Koala Man" Koch, and others. Intelligent, but smart enough to not take himself that seriously, Half The Battle and Now You Know are intricately laced releases that you can chew on for a while before all their layers of connected musicianship come together, but theyâ??re also fun, melodic, and a little moving.

"Intricately laid IDMania from Mr. Travis from the South… A very impressive display of tag-team melody/rhythm programming (esp. given the ridiculously outmoded MOD construction environment used within; akin to carving Mount Rushmore w/a toothpick). Above average use of harmonic material; gives the tracks the illusion of 'music'. Quite good." – Hrvatski.

"With so many contenders competing for the spotlight, it's easy to overlook the smaller players. But Machine Drum, a dark horse on Miami's tiny Merck label, is where I'd place my chips. Now You Know is perhaps the most promising and accomplished album born yet from the marriage of IDM and hip-hop, and it comes from an artist with only one other song to his name, a gem called "Izzy Rael" from Merck's Squadron compilation last year." - Malcom Seymour III for
Pitchforkmedia

"It took some time, but Mr. Drumâ??s debut album Now You Know fast became a bit of a classic, overthrowing the likes of Push Button Objects and Mr. Herren from the hiphoptronica throne. This long awaited new 6 tracker features new Machine Drum material, alongside remixes from MD regulars Proem, Brothomstates, and Ilkae." - boomkat.com

RIYD: Prefuse 73, Boards of Canada, Dabyre, MF Doom, Tina Yothers


Gel-Sol

"IDM, ambient, and cut-up, freeform jazz. Gel-Sol turned in an entire album that was well conceived and cleverly put together. Nice original sounds, ice-cold pads, and lost transmission-style samples fill this disc…Damn good music, and clean well-done production. I could see this being big with the ambient IDM lovers of the world." â?? Innerloop Magazine

So how was Enon/El Guapo?

awesome. however, the doors didn't open until like 10. and i got there early on snailhook's advice. ;)

enon are really fan friendly, i noticed toko talking with several fans, and she even translated my tshirt for me

lest anyone think we're unprofessional, the doors only opened late because one of the bands arrived late and wanted to do a soundcheck. i've never seen the warehouse that full. we sold out during enon's set.

it was definitely the best el guapo set i've seen. josh blair of orthrelm was the drummer, which made them exponentially better than usual.

more psych-folk at the warehouse, plus the last white flight show in DC before jacob and daniel head to california, and the debut of horses!

Black Forest/Black Sea
The Big Huge
White Flight
Horses

Wednesday, August 25
Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th Street NW, Washington DC
$6, all ages
doors open at 8:30, show at 9pm

Black Forest/Black Sea (Providence)

Black Forest/Black Sea is the duo of Jeffrey Alexander and Miriam Goldberg. They formed the band in April of 2003 in Providence, RI where both currently live and work. Miriam primarily plays cello and sings, while Jeffrey primarily plays guitar, although both also employ various electronics, omnichord, live sampling tools, strumstick, and whatever they can get their hands on. Since forming, BF/BS have toured extensively, travelling around the US for six weeks in the summer of 2003 and in Europe for three and a half months in winter and spring of 2004.

BF/BS have toured with Fursaxa, Christiina Carter (of Scorces, Charalambides), Gravenhurst, and in Poland with the Magic Carpathian Project. They have also collaborated on recordings with Kemialliset Ystavat, Christina Carter, Glenn Donaldson (of the Jewelled Antler Collective), Gravenhurst, and German psych-folk duo Fit and Limo.

Before forming this new project, both Jeffrey and Miriam were members of the acid-folk group Iditarod. The Iditarod (BlueSanct / Secretly Canadian, Elsie and Jack, Time-Lag, and Camera Obscura labels) toured extensively in the USA, Canada, and Europe over the past six years and have been featured repeatedly in magazines like the Wire, Broken Face, Mojo, Rockerilla, Copper Press, Magnet, Dream Magazine, Ptolemaic Terrascope, and Rolling Stone. They performed at the 5th Terrastock Festival in Boston, where a 5x7" box set was released featuring the Iditarod, Sonic Youth, Bardo Pond, Stone Breath, and Charalambides. Jeffrey also operated the Magic Eye Singles record label and he currently runs the Secret Eye record label.

The Big Huge (Baltimore)

Brought up on American folk and British psychedelic pop music, The Big Huge wears its influence on its sleeve, while being sure not to recreate the past. After the split of Sonna, a Baltimore-based ambient instrumental group, The Big Huge (Drew Nelson) decided to revert back to his love of acoustic instrumentation. After a few solo shows, he decided to recruit a fellow Baltimore-based musician, Michael Lambright, to help with accordion, ukelele, glockenspiel, and banjo. After a year of shows in Baltimore and the east coast, Drew and Michael began recording their first LP, Crown Your Head With Flowers, Crown Your Heart With Joy. Recorded by Chris Freeland and Drew in Chrisâ?? parentsâ?? living room, the record has a summer vibe with lyrics harking back to a time of Welsh communes during the summer of love.

Recommended for fans of The Incredible String Band, Donovan, Vashti Bunyan, etc.

White Flight (DC)

Daniel Martin-McCormick and Jacob Long from Black Eyes doing improvised experimental noise, this will be their last show on the east coast for quite some time

Horses (DC)

The debut of Hugh, Mike, and Dan of Black Eyes, with Fiona from Et At It

Okay, so The Big Huge were excellent. Two guys, one on accordion and ukelele and the other on vocals, guitar, banjo, and other stringed instruments. I caught some hints of Nick Drake.

Unfortunately, I had to leave before Black Sea. I caught the tail end of White Flight and thought they sucked, hard. What I saw and heard were two guys stroking their egos and being "experimental." Fuck that.

Originally posted by snailhook:
more psych-folk at the warehouse, plus the last white flight show in DC before jacob and daniel head to california, and the debut of horses!

shit I meant to go for Horses…how were they?

I missed Horses, they were on first. I got their near the end of the set for White Flight, who were on second.

What I saw and heard were two guys stroking their egos and being "experimental." Fuck that.

what you call "stroking ego," i call "exploring sound." i know that this type of music isn't for everybody, but i thought daniel and jacob did an admirable job of creating new sounds and textures. they certainly aren't free jazz masters, but they are taking the influence of derek bailey, AMM, and han bennink and filtering it through a post-punk, post-modern approach. i enjoyed their set.

horses played four songs, for 10 minutes. they sounded exactly like what you think they would: like the black eyes with et at it-style staccato melodies. hugh screamed, and mike and dan played two drum kits simultaneously. it was good but not much of a digression from black eyes.

the big huge were great and played one of my favorite folk ballads, "willie o' winsbury." black forest/black sea were also phenomenal, alternating between abstract psychedelic noise and pretty folk songs with female vocals. william schaff, who did the artwork for GYBE's "lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven," was on tour with them and projected slides of his artwork while they played. his artwork is stunning and melancholy.

all the hipsters who came out to see the black eyes side projects and left before the last two bands were fools. so much for being open-minded.

august 28th: internal void/king valley/wretched/the larrys

i don't have time to write lengthy descriptions or find reviews and press to post for these bands, because all you need to know is that internal void are one of the best doom metal bands in the country, and this is their record release party.

dave sherman of spirit caravan and earthride will be making his debut on bass for king valley, and wretched are another long-running maryland doom band. the larrys are a punk band from frederick in the vein of black flag and early '80s hardcore.

it's $8 and all ages.
doors are at 8:30, and the show is at 9.

12pm: internal void
11pm: king valley
10pm: wretched
9pm: the larrys

Agreed, that place cleared out didn't it! White Flight just didn't do it for me.

Originally posted by snailhook:
all the hipsters who came out to see the black eyes side projects and left before the last two bands were fools. so much for being open-minded.

i can see you not digging white flight…i don't think most people can really get into that kind of stuff. i'm glad you stayed for the big huge.

i know staying up late on weekdays is tough, and i don't mind so much if people leave because they have to get up for that 9 to 5. it's the people who come only to see the "hip" band(s) and then leave without giving the unknowns a fair chance. this happens at the black cat, too.

it seems as if people's attention spans are shorter than ever.

Also, I've noticed lately that the new 'hip' thing in DC to do is to hit a couple different venues in one night.

I just don't get that. Sure, there are times when you really want to see 2 different bands and you have to choose between venues and watch that if the clock moves just right, you can sometimes squeeze both in. And then there are always cool barrooms and DJs to support before, after, or instead of a show. It just seems to me that there are too many people lately who have a thing about cramming shows in on one night. That's just way too maddening for me. Besides, generally I want to see all of the bands, not just some of one. In my mind, it's even crazier when driving or metroing is involved. The 9:30 Club, DC9 and The Velvet Lounge are a whole lot more navigable in a night. It's all of those others plus trying to find a freaking parking space that really get me.

Reminds me of all those people who think it's cool to hit as many New Year's parties as possible and end up spending more time, including the stroke of midnight, on the road. Pick one or two and settle in and enjoy it for all it has to offer.

I noticed that a lot of people missed Alcian Blue last weekend. What was confussing about that night was that the entire crowd seemed to really enjoy the later bands yet half vacated before or during Alcian Blue. Fools. The only logical thing that really made a lot of sense to me was that they wanted to squeeze in another venue for the night. Maybe a few were there for Drone Dimension instead of Alcian Blue but I can't help but think that most knew of Alcian Blue a whole lot more than Drone Dimension. Odd but good night.

You know, I think the trend that I was just noting above, in most cases, portrays the real difference between a 'scenester' and someone who is truly there for the music.

<Gets ready for poseur attack.>

Clavius Productions presents:

Black Ox Orkestar (Montreal)
(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope (DC)
Relay (Philly)

Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th Street NW
Washington, DC
$8, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9

Black Ox Orkestar
featuring Thierry Amar from Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion

Black Ox Orkestar is a Montreal-based quartet that formed in 1999 to play European Jewish folk music. Filtering traditional klezmer tunes through a sensibility shaped by indie rock and free jazz, Black Ox infuses these pieces with a highly original approach to arrangement, freely borrowing from Turkish, Balkan, and Greek folk idioms along the way. The band strikes a perfect balance between faithfulness to sources and extrapolation from contemporary influences, offering a challenge (both musically and lyrically) to modern Jewish poltical orthodoxies along the way.

The first time I ever heard Klezmer music was courtesy of the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars, one of the more interesting of the unexpected ethnic and cultural combinations that make that city so unexpected and interesting. The All Stars played rollicking, clarinet-heavy tunes that incorporated New Orleans-style brass-band and hip-hoppish rhythms into the (to my ears) exotic and exciting minor key exhortations of traditional Jewish music. They were also one hell of a party band.

Black Ox Orkestar are nobody's idea of a party group. Ver Tanzt offers a few uptempo tracks, like "Kalarash", to put a spring in your step, but most of them play out like a particularly serious GY!BE-offshoot band doing their level best to reexamine a classic musical form in a respectful, yet questioning and ever-so-slightly po-mo light. (And if you take a look at Black Ox Orkestar's membership roster, you'll see that that's a fairly accurate assessment.)

Given all of that baggage, Ver Tanzt offers much that is enjoyable. Most of the best moments come during its instrumentals, like "Skocne", which might as well be the soundtrack to an unrealized film about a young boy creeping expectantly through darkening, fairy-tale woods. "Cretan Song", too, is highly evocative: a swirling thing composed of equal parts hypnotic bows and plucked-string dervishes, it's a life-filled dance. -Splendid E-zine

(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope

The debut release by DC '60s power trio featuring two former members of The Ropers. The fellows are getting a new sound out of that '60s-influenced groovy guitar-pop thing. These are (the sounds of) kaleidoscope: guitars in red, bass in blue, bleeding into purple, drums in black and white, together they paint a tale the way a lonely schizophrenic tells stories to his friends. Songs jut like trees out of the soundscape - not simply trees, but treehouses, inhabitable space. Vocals meander in and out of the spectrum giving clues to a proper interpretation. Still, none is forthcoming; the songs flee. Catchy numbers can be caught but slyly avoid adding up, preferring to attend a giddy picnic beyond the grasp of consciousnes, where 1+1+1 equals something inexplicable, a glimpse of beautiful form: kaleidoscope. These are their sounds. With a wink to the past and a nod to the future, these sounds are now. Close your eyes and have a look. -Tonevendor

(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope excel at producing that whirling, swirling D.C. (okay, mid-Atlantic, maybe even all the way up to Boston) indie sound. With ex-members of The Ropers and The Still joining founder Damien Taylor, and Lilys Kurt Heasley lending a helping hand, how could they not? Your toes are gonna be tapping in no time. I guarantee it. -3hive

TOMORROW! SATURDAY! SEPT 4th!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SHOPLIFTING (kill rock stars, x-chromatics)
HOTT BEAT
NAVIES
HITS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
8:30 at the Warehouse Nextdoor!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Somewhere in a New York City pawnshop, recently stolen instruments belonging to Shoplifting are collecting dust, completely unaware of the irony of their situation. Best-case scenario: The band's equipment spends a little time sharing shelf space with the similarly missing gear of Engine Down, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and Xiu Xiu before being returned to its rightful owners. Worst-case scenario: Michelle Nolan's white-on-purple Fender Jazz Bass winds up in the slap-popping hands of a white-boy funk ensemble, and Devin Welch's prized '60s Hagstrom becomes the lead guitar for a suburban high-school nü-metal band. Either way, the Seattle quartet keeps touring, performing its West Coast version of clanging, no-wave-revival rock on whatever instruments the members can to borrow for the evening. Show some compassion by bringing your vintage Stratocaster (and leaving your Ibanez at home) when Shoplifting plays with Hott
Beat, Navies, and Hits at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door. 1017 7th St. NW. $7. (202) 783-3933. (Matt Borlik-Wash City Paper)

tonight at the warehouse:

11pm: thee snuff project (DC)
10pm: the gris gris (LA, birdman records)
9pm: the cuts (LA, birdman records)

$8, doors at 8:30pm, all ages

the gris gris

The place is Oakland-ish, California and the medicine-fueled dream has ended. The waking moments of young Greg Ashley find the psychedelic troubadour and guitar hero creating a new, exciting sound quartet:

The Gris Gris have arrived. A child is born, created out of the embers of all the distortion blissed-out feedback the devil birthed in Texas circa 1967. Roller coasting from the surreal goodness of Ashley's Medicine Fuck Dream to Can-flavored head-bobbing environments, to that particular corner of garage rock that testified to the Detroit losers in the guise of BACK FROM THE GRAVE and NUGGETS compilations…the Gris Gris' debut on Birmdan is a rock and roll ride that will save some and rattle the rest. The live show is breathtaking as Ashley screams with his guitar over one of the most solid, undulating rhythm sections ever put together.

With his solo debut album on Birdman, Medicine Fuck Dream, the world of Houston-turned-Oakland psych master Greg Ashley was entered and the seeds were planted. Like fellow Texan-bred Roky Erickson and Mayo Thompson, infused with a little Syd Barret and Skip Spence (and maybe even a little Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel), Ashley creates atmospheric pop meanderings that are filled with sentimental purpose and dark fuzzy edges. On par with the workings of the mightily enigmatic Brother JT, Ashley recorded his solo album all himself, played it all himself, and sang it all himself, except for one song by his friend John.

Now with a full band, Greg Ashley's world explodes and curious vacationers everywhere can take the trip directly into the center of his mind this summer with THE GRIS GRIS – 40 minutes and 16 seconds of truly organic psychedelic BLISS.

Greg Ashley's quartet, THE GRIS GRIS, debut with their first self-titled full-length on Birdman Records August 9th, 2004.

My record-collecting friend Jake told me recently that he's boycotting one of his favorite New York City record stores. The store and Jake had a deep love affair—the owner even kept a cache of records behind the counter just for Jake, nerd love letters waiting to be unwrapped. But lately this stockpile, containing mostly new garage rock, had burned him too many times, and now it was just easier to walk right by the store than to tell the owner, "Dude, I'm over reverb-damaged college kids with bangs." This sad story is made sadder still by the existence of the Gris Gris—the finest example of psych-rock since psych-rock entered a Texas mental hospital. Sure, the Bay Area band's new self-titled album delivers the sort of late-'60s ventriloquism the genre's nostalgists demand—all hazy atmospherics and sonic dive bombs—but it adds indelible melodies you won't forget. Think of Galaxie 500 blotter paper when the Gris Gris plays with the Cuts and Thee Snuff Project at 8:30 p.m. at the Warehouse Next Door, 1017 7th St. NW. $8. (202) 783-3933. (Jason Cherkis)

the cuts

Modern day psychedelia — coming right at you with lightning speed. The Cuts' self-titled LP is finally available on everyone's favorite digital format! Several years ago rock scribe and all around tastemaker Mark Murman released this album on vinyl on his superb Rock'n'Roll Blitzkrieg label. The Cuts had already released a single for Lookout Records that displayed a straight-ahead punk/garage/rock'n'roll style ala DMZ or the Real Kids (and no one currently alive on Earth does not absolutely adore DMZ and the Real Kids), but by the time they recorded their first full length they had already moved on to a more psychedelic sound (by way of late '70s NYC). Did someone say "13th Floor Elevators meets Television"? The Cuts stand apart from any contemporary garage rock purveyors. Tough as nails, neurotic, simplistic, big, deep, catchy and devastating all at the same time. Genuine decathlon scorch.

"Set free after one EP and left to their own devices, The Cuts retreated to a muddy woods where they stumbled across Sky Saxon declaring himself as their own personal Yoda. Taking what they needed and ignoring his cosmic declarations they wandered back to the bright streets.… This ain't the fake 'look at my white belt” garage rock. It's dirty fuzz invented the day before psychedelic rock (the war and LSD terror, not the flowers-and-weed scene). Even when they sound like they wannna have a good time, you're waiting for someone to sneak up from behind and stick a knife in your back.” - Smashin' Transistors

thee snuff project

"…This DC-based crew has one goal: to make rock and roll. All other things be damned, The Snuff Project has too much attitude to care about anything else, but not enough to make this fact painfully obvious. It's this attitude that drives their debut as well as their live show. With plenty of swagger and noise, Dyin' Ain't Much of A Livin' refuses to be ignored… Every Snuff Project song rages at an exhausting one hundred and ten percent, and after a full serving you'll either find yourself ready to strip, drink, fight or pass out. And that's what rock is all about isn't it? Their heroes would be proud, but this band probably wouldn't give a fuck."
—— SUP

"It's been quite awhile since we've heard a blast of rock with as much force and presence as this DC quartet. You could say these guys know how to be sloppy inside the lines - meaning that they know how to be tight and loose at the same time, and in the best of ways… ferocity and swagger in equal measure."
—— Time Out New York

"This four-piece throws their influences like The Stooges, The MC5, even a bit of 'Nuggets' style garage rock - into a trash barrel and lights it up with a blowtorch. When singer Scott Taylor screams 'don’t forget the cocaine' in 'A Little Strange' - you know better not to show up empty-handed at the next house party."
—— EarCandy

"…Opening for Rocket From the Tombs was the seriously seedy Thee Snuff Project. The local outfit smashed through a set of ragged bursts of noise, taking the traditional guitar-bass-drums-vocalist and injecting it with a bad attitude, some intoxication and smart songs. Fifteen years ago, the band would have been on the AmRep label. In the decidedly un-rock District, it stands out as unaffected by trends and content to make a racket."
—— The Washington Times

Saturday, September 11
Warehouse Next Door
$7, all ages
doors at 9pm, show at 10pm

10pm: the plums (NoVA instrumental psych-pop)
11pm: nitroseed (mem. of earthride, ex-spirit caravan, from MD)
12am: darediablo (southern records, from NYC)

Darediablo

In some ways, the generational disfiguration of rock and roll was inevitable – since its murky birth, rock has borrowed, appropriated, subverted, and redispatched tiny bits and pieces of a million different (and varied) subcultures. The sloppy-but-beautiful result of all this mashing is sorta impossible to define with any degree of authority or clarity (really, watch VH1 for five minutes and see) but rock's intangible, ass-kicking essence still rambles on in the eternally damned souls and pointed index/pinky fingers of contemporary outfits like NYC's blaring, 70s-inspired Darediablo. Even if you've been shamelessly devil-horning to How the West Was Won all summer, Feeding Frenzy, Darediablo's oozing Southern Records debut, is a thick enough slab of instrumental rock to earn some vigorous head-thrashing and volume-topping of its own.

Darediablo have distilled rock and roll to an alarmingly pure state (never fretting over peripheral shit like lyrics, vocalists, or a fourth member) and they deliver their throbbing, gimmick-free sprawl without a single weepy apology or power-ballad-for-the-ladies. Hammond and Rhodes organs, guitars, and drums kick out the jams trio-style (keyboards at the front), and their muscular output sounds about as authentically rockist as possible in 2003 – although, like any group of honest rockers, Darediablo owe a few nods to their blues/jazz/funk brethren (especially groove-heavy outfits like The Meters).

And much like label-and-city mates Ui, Darediablo have nailed down blunt New York jabbing. Feeding Frenzy's thrusts are unrelenting: Jake Garcia's thick, angular riffing may evoke lots of fond (if repressed) Deep Purple memories, and all three have chops-y tendencies that could be considered sorta prog. But Feeding Frenzy is more of a beer-in-plastic-cups party than a studied meditation, and the music is jumpy enough to get anyone dancing – even if all your moves are preemptively restricted to fist-pumping and head-bobbing.

"The Hornet" shows off the band's raw, throwback power: mercilessly self-assured, the track opens with some heavy, distorted guitar play, until organs pulse in and stake claim of the melody. Chad Royce's drums push hard, Garcia solos nimbly, and keyboardist Matt Holford dutifully keeps shit in check; everywhere, kids in black t-shirts and ill-fitting jeans bite their lips and grimace happily. The big, crunchy guitar opening (and subsequent recession) happens a lot on Feeding Frenzy – "Dark Horse" sees Garcia's pounds fall away to some comparably benign organ jamming, while "Slide Rule" comfortably intertwines guitar and keyboard. Darediablo can be a little trickier than they seem on paper, though: the instrumentation here is clever enough to satiate those who regularly storm through Guitar magazine, and their approach is varied enough (from heavy to relaxed to curiously harmonious) to keep casual listeners poised and curious.

They've got kind of a ridiculous name, a semi-hilarious album title, and a photograph of a silvery fish popsicle on the red-checked cover of their record, but Darediablo still nobly transcend every other meatheaded hard rock clich̩ by consistently pushing out thick, unadorned, intellectual rock and roll Рcomplete with compelling grooves, unremitting force, and lots of opportunities for bookshelf-shaking blasts.
-Amanda Petrusich (Pitchforkmedia)

Nitroseed (instrumental stoner/math metal from MD)

Featuring Gary Isom on drums (ex-Spirit Caravan/Pentagram/Iron Man) and Rob Hampshire on bass (of Earthride, ex-Unorthodox)

Nitroseed is an all instrumental band churning out one wicked doom drenched blues groove after another…these guys consist of members of Earthride, now I know that there is a lot of different bands that these Earthride and Internal Void guys are involved in, like Pentagram and War Injun, so forgive me if I don`t know who else is in this band…

Anyhow, these guys are right along the lines of your basic trucking down the freeway riff rock band, but without vocals. Most of the songs are medium tempo rockers, with fuzzed out guitars and bass, lots of wah wah pedal on both and little riff leads. Just basic sort of progressive hard rock stuff. Reminds me of some of the Southern sludge that comes out of the south, Clearlight would be the obvious comparison, but Nitroseed isn`t quite the same as Clearlight other than the fact that they are both instrumental bands.

All the songs on this CD do have a ton of parts and without the vocals do a good job on their own keeping the mind occupied. Good riffs, good tight rhythm section and enough doom grooves to keep any individual happy.

I dig this demo, and rumours have it that eventually one of these cats will step up to the mic, until then just enjoy the heavy path that these guys plow…If you like DC area rock, you will certainly dig this. Definitely along the same lines as Spirit Caravan or Earthride. – StonerRock.com

The Plums (instrumental psych-pop from northern Virginia)

Plums are a collection of aging audio dissenters from Lord Arlington, VA. They play repetitive, instrumental rock-et-roll in the tradition of Pell
Mell, the Clean, and the Fall. Wait, do the Fall have a singer? Plums aren't sure. Comprised of drummer Many Spaceships (ex-John Howard, current
of Hat City Intuitive and SpanOrb), guitarist MWHamilton (ex-Freakbaby), multimedian PJ Brownlee (SpanOrb, Dang Gang Collective) and bassist Marc Masters (n/a), Plums are one of the few bands they know that practice once a
week in a basement. Plums are currently at work on their debut album, tenatively titled Watching Babies to Make Music to Watch Babies To (It's Now
or Later), or John from Occupied Westover.

time for some assaultive drones and challenging noise. all electronics!


Sunday, September 19
Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th St NW
Washington DC
$7, all ages
doors at 8:30, show at 9

As part of the Sonic Circuits Festival:

Nautical Almanac (Baltimore)
VV (NYC)
Ting Ting Jahe (Richmond)
Caution Curves (DC)

Nautical Almanac

"Spliced from the same mutant gene pool as soundscrape engineers Wolf Eyes and even sharing the occasional member in James "Twig" Harper, Nautical Almanac traffic a weirder psychedelic extremity via even more abstract gadgets. Recently transplanted from the midwest to Baltimore, Harper and partner Carly Ptak have set up their own private alternate dimension in the city where Poe died. From their base at the self-named Tarantula Hill, the pair helms the HereSee record label, hosts gigs by fellow traveling fuzzniks and, of course, commits their own cracked frequencies to tape. Rooting for the Microbes (Load) is the latest report on the duoâ??s DIY voltage tests." (Dusted)

This is what they have to say about themselves:

"The future is a vast apoorcalyspe turning the earth into a beautiful wasteland of rewired ideolgys, hacked and reconstituted technologys tword a nomadic existance. Either your with us or against us. Don't fight with the reformers, it just prolongs the cycle of human evolution, you are here+now for a reason, feed the flames so the melting pots will boil and the shit will rise to the top. Now scrape the scum off and look at it closely, shove wires in it and listen to how it sounds. This is what Nautical Alamanac brings to the table at the mostly blindfolded bofoon dinner party called 'modern culture'. Armed, with, piles, of, wires, cables, homemade, electronixs, 1,000, filtering, oscillators, runing, thru, metal, detectors, pumped, fists, of, pure, psychic, abilty…. they are crawling into your crummy city and connecting those cultural dots and then smashign them in one herky-jerky swoop."

VV

I want to make something real. I want to give something huge (for selfish reasons). The process goes a little something like this: one simple concept begets a list, which begets a new relationship between the elements of the list::: as individual components converse and resonate (through input, contemplation, connect-the-dots), they move beyond a solitary (isolated) position. The list grows bigger, more dense. It begins to take on different form : I use elements of time, environment, light, motion, sound in order to lay the foundation for something to occur. Many of these elements are given to me, either in the archetecture of the spaces I work in, or in library research tangents , talks with heather, wandering â?¦ A visceral conversation results, as does new visceral knowledge (the knowledge of physically experiencing something). I create points of re-orientation (as to recognize moments in time, this moment, awkward as it may be, as beautiful as it may beâ?¦). For me, some of the most incredible moments I've had have been when I've been able to stop and let myself experience the present ( I try to remember I'm alive: stop now to breath in carbon stained air deep, lovely twitching eye-lid muscle, ground floor) Down to the nitty-gritty: my work exists now (some conclusions sound ridiculously simple). I often find myself coming full circle (spiral) in my endeavors: starting with a simple (common, plain) element, I investigate, learn, create and find connections, then wind up back with the simple element again, but this time with so much more than I initially imagined (vast layers, roots and teeth). I see creation as a natural part of the communication process. I build or inhabit environments with the use of sound, movement, human interactions, and found objects (natural and manufactured) as an active participant in a communication cycle between myself and the world.

Hey, snailhook. Do you have any info on Saturday's show (9/18)? I am probably going with a friend. She said the bands are good but I would like to know a little more. You working that night?

kurosawa, i'll be going to baltimore for the hampden fest and then to the talking head to see mono and fly pan am. i didn't book saturday's show, but i can tell you about a couple of the bands.

ahleuchatistas are a leftist trio from north carolina who play instrumental math-rock. think don caballero but not as good. i saw them a few months ago at the warehouse, and they were decent, but a bit too proggy, even for me. the drummer plays with rototoms, which is generally bad news.

rue the day is basically post-hardcore, kind of screamo. they aren't bad, either, but nothing too special.

i am not familiar with the other two bands. the show will probably cost $5 or $6.

the two best shows on the 18th are in baltimore: the one i mentioned above, and dead meadow and oneida at the ottobar.