Death By Audio

Thanks to the person who recorded and posted this show on April 4, 2012.
Performing a few hits with less slides and more effects including:
Positively Pleasant Planarian, Sneaky Little Sneak and Fly Me to the Blossom.

Entertaining Science at the Cornelia Street Cafe

Sunday, Mar 11 - 6:00PM at the Cornelia Street Cafe
ENTERTAINING SCIENCE: BEAUTY AND THE BEASTIES

Irene Moon and David Rothenberg sing about EO Wilson from Irene Moon on Vimeo.

Irene Moon performs My Queen and I from Irene Moon on Vimeo.

Roald Hoffmann, Dave Soldier, hosts
David Rothenberg, ; Irene Moon,

David Rothenberg, author of WHY BIRDS SING and SURVIVAL OF THE BEAUTIFUL (“ecstatic” says the Wall St Journal, “triumphant” says the Guardian) will tell us why evolution is as much about survival of the beautiful as it is of the fittest; why Charles Darwin said the peacock’s tail made him sick. Showing us bowerbird sculptures and playing animal sounds from whales to cicadas, he explains why beauty is a necessary part of nature.

Which leads most naturally to a surreal performance by Irene Moon, of the Museum of Natural History and the Begonia Society, “What is Beautiful?”. In vignettes, biological organisms act out short PowerPoint plays emerging out of the creative fascination with detail that could only come out of the intimate relationship a scientist has with his or her subject. Song and imagery will make the disgusting beautiful – believe us. Moon’s actors include internal parasites -- tapeworms, hookworms – and blood-sucking insects and their mouths -- mosquitos, fleas, and, since this is New York City, bedbugs.

$10 cover http://www.davidrothenberg.net , http://www.begoniasociety.org

Moon programs for Radio Boredcast!

Here is the list of Moon interviews for the A/V festival Radio Boredcast curated and organized by Vicki Bennett.

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-1

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-5

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-13

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-14

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-20

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-21

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-24

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-26

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-28

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2012/events-and-exhibitions/radio-boredcast-day-29

That is a lot of days folks!!

Scientific Discussions about Slowness for A/V Festival

Vicki Bennett is currently curating a 744 hour long radio station called Radio Boredcast, to run for the duration of AV Festival 12. As part of this broadcast I am conducting a series of factual interviews with scientists that deal with 'slow' issues such as: Rust, Evolution, and Sleep in Bats. You will be able to find the interviews here, through A/V festival, or later archived on WFMU.

"AV Festival 12: As Slow As Possible is a Festival in slow motion. For the first time the Festival runs for a whole month from 1-31 March 2012. It's the most adventurous edition to date including over 15 major exhibitions, more than 50 film screenings and music events, weekend walks and an online radio broadcasting for 744 hours. The programme takes place at different speeds, paces and times of day across Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, including an accelerated 24 Hour Launch. Programme highlights and our new website will be launched in November, sign up to our email list to keep in touch and follow us on facebook and twitter".

Beasts for A While Review from Gumshoe Grove

Another interesting review of Beasts for a While from Gumshoe Grove with extra plugs for Matt Minters artwork, our love for inexpensive synths, and a few extra Collection mp3s if you visit the real blog post and not just my reposting below...

"First, before you read another WORD, listen to that first MP3 up there ^^^ … this is the unintentional sequel to “April Showers” (by Grove longtimers Tonstartssbandht), a vocal smash-terpiece as intruiging as lie detector tests are faulty. If some of you have lamented this site is too weird/obscure/out-there, check out “Pitter Patter Treat” and hear the exact point where (potential) popular appeal and small-run weirdness intersect. Smashing.

Now that we have that out of the way, allow me to unveil my first 11-inch LP (and it’s red, to boot): Beasts for While, by Collection Of The Late Howell Bend (who also have a split with old warlords Warmer Milks notching their collective belt), a band with one of those names you just have to investigate (just did a Wiki search and found nada).

Where to begin? Side A of Beasts is executed perfectly. This is music you didn’t know you needed to hear, but did. Launching with an Andy Ortmann, science-lab feel, the marble slab of psych sprawls out like bushy-blonde hair from there. Soft-lens, post-Cocorosie, pre-Espers, micro-Spires That From The Sunset Rise, Lou Reed-style ghost-folk with cheapo synths scratched out from a cave studio?

YES, more please! Spreading this one, super-specific idea over an entire LP side might seem like a stretch, literally, but it’s more than enough to diddle your dreams. It’s like 39 Clocks hijacked a sinking ship and started shooting off guns and letting Wesley Willis play synths.

Side B is almost as ripe. Nimble, tip-toeing strings dance about as — you didn’t forget! — SYNTHS yip and yap, lapping up the open spaces of the composition and contrasting interestingly with the rhythmic bow swipes. Some more of those dead-mouth vocals slip out of the mix like the squeak of a balloon emptying or a dolphin “a-gha-gha-gha”-ing, and those will determine the extent of your enjoyment of Side Deaux.

That AND a last-minute change-up into repetitive, murky drone-synth territory that only helps Beasts for While make its case for your time and space. Very different from the rest of the LP; a drifting glacier makes its way through salty waters ever so slowly, staying cool even as the rest of the earth heats. Oneohtrix Point Never, Mudboy, Editions Mego alumni et al; you get the drill before I even tell you any more, right?

Don’t let life, or good limited-run records, pass-ass-ass you by, brother."

Women Are Magic

Nine Fingered Thug has a new tape out. The Indy Weekly describe it as

"From the nasty rattle of the opening bass riff to the tortured, lethargic keyboards that close "Birthday Deer," Nine Fingered Thug's debut cassette is a purposefully abrasive outing. About as far removed from modern, joy-buzzing noise pop as possible, these songs quake with the low-end dumpster rock of the keys, drums and bass instrumentation and snarl with Samuel Mintu's demented, rabid yap."

A fantastic description of a review. No doubt. However, I would choose different language. For me, words like 'beautiful' and 'pretty' come to mind. Nine Fingered Thug as metal, noisy, and full of minor chords as it might be, follows many interesting modes. Many of the song structures actually follow the principles of ballroom dancing and easy listening...including waltzes, marches, and a fox trot. Polka is definitely in the future. Sure there is lots of low end with the instrumentation being bass, drums and a hacked organ. But to whales, elephants, lions, or many other power forces from the animal kingdom low end is sexy. High end is reserved for screams of panic and terror emitted by prey animals.

I would say we are in the genre of folk metal or ballad metal if there is one. The best folk songs tend to be tragic including teachings of fables and folklore for the young ones just entering the world. Metal because of the overdrive.

They are tapes, get them while they are hot.

Collection of the Late Howell Bend Review

Beasts for a While was reviewed by Brandon at Olive Music. This is a re-posting of that review.

"When I was first mailed this disc, I couldn't have been more excited to put it on, based entirely on the artwork. I was expecting something maniacal, evil, and disgusting. And while some may argue that is exactly what I got, I was definitely surprised when the needle dropped. What I soon found out is that The Collection Of The Late Howell Bend is not a black metal band, a wall noise project, or even some type of witch house act, but some type of next-level piano/synth/vocals post-neofolk meandering. AWESOME.

While I was initially intrigued by the strings, pianos, and vocals, I do want to use this opportunity to call out the cheese factor on some of the tracks. The synth lines often sound (and feel) like they were pulled out of a discarded Legend Of Zelda game for the Super Nintendo, which, although not entirely un-enjoyable, almost don't fit in with the feel of Beasts For A While. However, as much as that synth doesn't fit in with the album, it also fits perfectly. Along with the piano and cello, you are transported to a screened in porch, cramped tight with good friends, warmed by cheap wine, and the smells of summer are fresh in your breath. At least, that's what I got out of my first few listens.

Perhaps the more I listen to this album, the more places I will be transported to. Perhaps not, but that's not going to stop me from trying because the moment you lift the needle from the silent locked groove, you'll just want to flip the record and start it all over again. Oh, and if that's not enough to get you to buy this, tell me how many 11" records you have ever seen."

Beasts for A While is still available from Ownness Records!