La Société Expéditionnaire's Crystal Diggery

Autumn Favorites - Jonathan Byerley (Plates Of Cake), David Kresge (Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air), Jay Hudak (An Albatross / Mystical Wizard Business)

2011-11-23T10:25:00.001-05:00

Delaware Water Gap, PA 2011

Jonathan Byerley

Jonathan Byerley / Plates Of Cake:

Mother Hen – Mother Hen (RCA, 1971)

This is my ultimate fall album, probably because the songs on it hold my hand all through winter. Knowing nothing about this artist, I found this record in a used bin and bought it on account of the session players (Clarence White and Sneeky Pete are all over it). The first time I played it I was floored. Who the hell is this woman? I asked. Brilliant lyrics, funky voice. Songs for being away from home and coming home again. Turns out the woman is Jane Getz, a career jazz pianist who has played with the likes of Charles Mingus. But she made two country records for RCA in the seventies under the name Mother Hen. This is the first. Jane Getz on AllMusic.com

The Impressions – This is my Country (Curtom Records, 1968)

Gone Away

For reasons I can’t explain, there is a direct correlation in my mind between the Zombies’ Odyssey and Oracle and the Impressions’This is my Country. Probably it’s because for years the Zombies were my go-to when the leaves started to change, but eventually they had to make room for Curtis and co. Because despite the soul, funk, and the context of urban and civil blight present on this LP, I hear this strangely pastoral, melancholic, even autumnal vibe to these tunes. (Listen to Love’s Happening and hopefully you’ll see what I mean). I like this album so much that when I got married this fall, I begged my wife to let me play The Impressions during the recessional. She said no. Understandable. Lyrics like “Every brother is a leader/ Every sister is a breeder” just don’t go over as well today.

The Pretty Things – Emotions (Fontana, 1967)

Death Of A Socialite

Apparently, The Pretty Things hated this record. I think it’s brilliant. With orchestral arrangements that don’t spare on strings and horns, it is certainly an anomaly for this band. On the heels of their balls-out, skuzzed-out, two-chord garage rock, but before their psychedelic masterpiece S.F. Sorrow, these guys were definitely the unlikeliest bunch of hoodlums to make a chamber pop record. But here it is.

Marianne Faithfull – Go Away from my World (London, 1965)

Go Away From My World

This is pre-hip, pre-drug, pre-punk Marianne Faithfull, back when she was an aspiring starlet still under Andrew Loog Oldham’s thumb. This album doesn’t get talked about much. I think it’s generally considered unexceptional, standard sixties fare for the dollar bin, from back when every singer would crank out versions of Yesterday and Scarborough Fair. That’s a shame cause this one is a real hidden gem. For every banal cover on it, there are two more superb arrangements of folk classics – Wild Mountain Thyme, Mary Ann, Sally Free and Easy, North Country Maid, and more. Ok, it might be a little sentimental but hell, it is autumn right?

Michael Nesmith and the First National Band – Loose Salute (RCA, 1970)

Silver Moon

A lot of guys are credited with being one of the “pioneers” of country-rock, and a lot them really were. But for my money I’ll take Gene Clark and Michael Nesmith over just about any other. Loose Salute is the second in a trilogy of killer albums by Nesmith’s first post-Monkees project. The pedal steel of Red Rhodes alone is worth finding these titles at your local record store. This is what I’ve been spinning most this fall.

A Serious Game Of Jenga

Jay Hudak /

An Albatross, Mystical Wizard Business:

Pink Floyd- Darkside Of The Moon (Early Alan Parsons mix)The mere mention of Darkside' usually brings immediate reaction to music lovers and Floyd heads around the globe. Of course, the album that you have heard a million times is the number one stereotypical college stoner album that brings together the freaks and the geeks bonding alongside the athletes and science majors. On the other hand, its heralded as one of the greatest albums ever. Upon listening to the mix, (not to be confused with Alan Parson's Quad Mix also included on the 2011 DSOTM Immersion box set), the potentials of a great album become even more apparent. The nuances of a less commercially viable picture comes to the surface in all its stunning glory, tape hiss included. To hear this at its early tackle at mix of a multilayered album with no indication of its eventual legacy, is thrilling. This album allows me to work harder at creating the idea of a timeless album and warms the souls of the contemplative broken hearted on a chilly fall evening. Imagine the tree lined leaf imprinted streets and walking alone hidden under a warm hat and headphones. Us and Them. This whispered in my ear to be included in my top 5.

Comus- First Utterance 1971 Dawn RecordsI was turned on to this British progressive folk group, Comus a few years ago while on tour in England. I was crashing down in a flat after a riotus show in Coventry that ended in a full on street brawl between patrons of the show and skinheads who were ready to kill us. Around 5 am, I found my spot on the floor admist the sun up boozing going on to the tune of this dark chilling album. Immediately I wasn't tired and listened to the masterpiece that is First Utterance from start to finish. This time-warping, pagan acid taking album was given to me as a gift from my mate Rob after I suggested he give me his only scratched cdr copy. A one in a million chance that this long forgotten band would reunite, but after years of internet cult mythology, notable high praise and highly expensive sought after copies of this album, the unthinkable happened. In 2008, after nearly 40 years of inactivity, the group reformed and are currently working on new material. "The Herald" is in my top 5 of favorite songs ever and maybe my perfect fall song. I am doing my best to make sure this band finally comes to the USA, and believe it or not, they sound BETTER than before. Compare the two clips from '71 and 2008. Amen.

Cream of Grilled Vegetable Soup

Yes, other than my commitment to the music machine, I am a total foodie and I am obsessive with ingredients and the process of congealing for perfection in flavor. Allow me to share a simple hearty heart warming soup recipe for the fall. I am giving you the basics. As with anything, mix and match and go for it until its "yours", then invite me over. I make this annually with the last gasp of fresh produce before the frost comes.

Having Soup

Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash
1 small Zucchini
1 medium Eggplant
1 or 2 Red Peppers
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Jalapeno-seeded (optional)
1 Onion
3 Garlic cloves
1 Lemon
1 Can of Vegetable stock
Sunflower Oil
1 small carton of heavy cream or half and half

Spices:
Nutritional Yeast(found in health food stores, optional), Coriander, Garam Masala,Sea Salt, Pepper,Smoked Paprika,Cumin, onion powder

You will need a Grill, Food processor and a pot to cook on the stove.

Prep Time: Two hours. First, cut all vegetables with exception of garlic cloves and lemon into rounds.Remove skin of butternut squash, seeds and pulp. Leave all peppers whole and slit holes into them for roasting. Finely cut the garlic cloves with a straight razor or weapon of choice and stuff them in the slits in the peppers then roll in oil and put aside.

Secondly, get a large bowl to combine all vegetables and coat with enough sunflower oil to prepare them for the grill. An oven will be fine if no grill, but grilling will bring out the full charred wonderous flavors of the soup. Next add spices. It really is up to you to determine amounts. I would estimate at least 2 -3 teaspoons of each with the exception of Nutritional Yeast which we will get to later. I always go for more though. For the lemon, cut in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl minus seeds and stir all ingredients together.

Third, Fire up the Grill to 450. Add the coated vegetables to the grill, turning them so they start to break down and turn black with char grilled marks. The butternut squash will take the longest to cook. Its important that the squash gets very soft. Add peppers to the grill and allow them to blister and turn black so the skin can be removed. Once all vegetables are grilled, remove and set aside. Its optional to put them in the fridge over night to solidify the tastes. If not, add all ingredients including a small handful of washed fresh cilantro and or/basil, and the skinned roasted peppers to a food processor and blend continually until smooth. When working with the mixture, add water or even a little vegetable stock slowly while processing so it doesn't get too thick.

Finally, add the mixture to a pot with a can of vegetable stock and simmer on the stove until it starts to boil and break down. Consistency is up to you if you would like a thick or thinner soup. Then whisk in carton of heavy cream, a shake of nutritional yeast, and taste. Don't allow the soup to boil after adding cream. Alter to you taste buds.

Immediately serve in bowls with homemade croutons, a hearty beer or serious Kombucha (see below), share with good friends or a lover and enjoy your fall evening.

Melt-Banana Live

I am honored to have had the pleasure to tour the USA with Melt-Banana, one of favorites from Japan. In my eyes, they do no wrong and never get old.Totally animated like living electric cartoons, completely opening the doors of their own perceptions and trailblazing years ahead of mundane hardcore. I shot this video on Halloween in Philadelphia. Highlight of the Fall of 2011 thus far. See it through my eyes.

Kombucha

It is almost impossible for me to function on dreary and cold days without this magical potion.

The company GT makes the most potent and widely available Kombucha which is a live natural energy drink made from tea and fermented mushroom cultures. Believe it or not if it works but I have no doubts. This is the perfect wake up and alert antidote for long drives, cold days and long recording sessions. After being pulled from the shelves for awhile, it's finally back and still tasty. Brew your own batch to drink after the comedown of autumns' graces of too much hard cider.

David Kresge

David Kresge / Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air

Total Control - Henge Beat (LP, Iron Lung 2011)
Real urgent young Australian post punk burners that move between various sounds, recalling Warsaw / early Joy Division, Pink Flag era Wire, Ultravox, Swell Maps, MC5, Suicide. On paper, those disparate vibes may not make too much sense until you hear the way the release is sequenced. It's hard to not listen to this record, especially in the car. Be prepared to get lost or get a speeding ticket. They're on tour now.

400 Blows - Sickness and Health (LP, Org Music 2011)
Former Big Business and a Circle Jerk move away from previous semi-ineffectual late 90's early aughts noise rock to peel off some seriously brutal jams in this latest comeback record. This is heavy metal in the best possible way, without irony, the way metal used to move me when i was a kid. No bullshit, snotty and pissed, lots of black humor, memorable song writing, and hits you like a brick. All without requiring a bass player. I can't tell you the last time i listened to a record over and over and over again. Do not miss their live show, the drummer's skills will shame you.

Battles - Gloss Drop (LP, Warp 2011)

What is there to say? They are all pretty mind-bogglingly awesome musicians (I was a devoted Don Cab and Helmet fan) but during the recording of this, they lost the hugely influential Ty Braxton. They could have said fuck it and quit or cobbled together a disjointed pile of thin tracks, but they regrouped and created one of the finest modern day prog rock records I have ever heard. Hugely expansive in sound and scope, deep and layered, this totally blows away Mirrored. But more than that, it's fun and engaging and works on a lot of different levels... if you love weed and 70's krautrock, you'll dig it. If you have a triangle tattoo and only leave your house for sweaty dance parties, you'll dig it. Totally stupid-good, boundary pushing, and forward thinking.

Kill All Redneck Pricks: A Documentary Film about a Band Called KARP (Bill Badgley, 2011)

Brand new movie that chronicles the joys and tragedies of this cult, but much loved, heavy punk band. It's a biography of three friends, just trying to escape their mundane lives. The movie is touring now and if you're in eastern PA, I've booked it at Secret Art Space, Bethlehem for this event (or email me for information).

From The Back Of The Room (Amy Oden, 2011)

Chronicling the history of women in punk and modern DIY movements, this is so much more than just Riot Grrrl. Totally inspirational and moving, the DC based film maker intersects race, gender, class, and activism in really thoughtful ways and interviews 30+ women ages 17 to 40, from all over the US. I'm showing this film at Secret Art Space as well, Dec 8th (email me for information). info

Autumn Favorites - Daniel Knox and Arc In Round

2011-11-10T20:48:00.001-05:00

For our sixth fall '11 installment, we caught up with our very own Daniel Knox, as well as Mikele Edwards & Jeff Zeigler from Philadelphia's finest progressive ensemble, Arc In Round.

Daniel Knox:

Balanesqu Quartet -
Angels & Insects Waltz
From the score to Angels & Insects. I saw this movie when I was 15. It played at the Fox Theatre which was where Keresotes dumped art films distributors forced them to play. It didnt play long and though I liked the film enough, I basically saw it evry day of it's week run so I could listen to the score, which wasn't available at any of Springfield's poor music store offerings.

Al Jolson - Blue River
This song is perfect for October but maybe just to me. That banjo line that starts it off is really dark and sets a tone. But what's important to me most about this song is how I sort of perfectly misheard it. I was sort of disappointed when I read the actual lyrics and continue to sing my version whenever I sing along.

Frank Sinatra - September Of My Years
I used to hate Sinatra and I still dislike most of his early and very late material. But this album finds him at his peak singing about loss and old age. I bought it because I'd heard "It Was A Very Good Year" at the end of a Soprano's episode and because I always admired Harold Arlen's "Last Night When We Were Young" but I quickly grew tired of the former and wasn't impressed much with the latter. This opening track made me understand why people revere Sinatra so much. His voice is starting to age and crack a little but that only elevates the material. I drove around listening to it in my employer's truck delivering calendars trying to imitate his phrasing when he gets to that second "a-aaand I find . . ." which is just perfect. It's one of those songs always I wish I could cover but then there's something distasteful about a young person singing world-weary stuff like this.

Falling / Twin Peaks Theme - Angelo Badalamenti
I think I associate this with autumn because that's probably when I became obsessed with the series. And the song version is called "Falling". There's also that sort of orange-brown hue to the opening titles that feels like October/November.

October In The Railroad Earth - Jack Kerouac and Steve Allan
I sort of outgrew Kerouac's writing when I discovered better writers later on. But I still admire his method and his turn of phrase. His line readings are really terrific and almost a kind of singing, if you're able to try and unhear all the dismal slam-poetry style readings that have come after it. I like this one because it paints a really specific picture that tells a story while leaving room for you to find your own place in it, which is what most good songs do.

Mikele Edwards / Arc In Round:

Fall is my favorite season. It's the time of year when I feel the most alive and creative, and also the time when I yearn to be inspired. There aren't too many female musicians that really inspire me and when I do find them, I become somewhat obsessed. Here's a few female-fronted groups that have inspired me over the years and recently.

Stereolab [Fluorescences]
This band is why I got into analog synths. My sister and I bought a Moog and Farfisa in the fall of '95. I woke up early to play the Moog before high school and thought all day about playing it when I got home. I love that I can still listen to their records and hear something I've never heard the previous 100 times listening to a song. My all-time favorite band.

Broadcast [Ominous Cloud]

Even before the untimely passing of Trish Keenan, I was well aware of the importance and rarity of band like Broadcast. I fell in love with them after seeing them live for the first time. Trish's vocals were so powerful over the insanely well-orchestrated band. Broadcast will always remind me to push limits and expectations.

Bachelorette [Blanket]
This band is a newish discovery for me. This songs builds so well over a really simple drum machine beat and I love how Annabel's vocals feel distant yet inviting with gradually more and more layered harmonies. I can listen to this song over and over.

Anika [No One's There]
This is a band all of Arc In Round has become intrigued with recently. Dubbed out no wave with the perfect production by Geoff Barrow (Portishead/Beak>). And they killed it live!

Lush [For Love]
Sometime this past year I rediscovered Lush after not listening to them for like 15 years. I was surprised at how well their albums stood up after all these years. What can I say…classic 'shoegaze' and Miki is a badass.

Jeff Zeigler / Arc In Round:

Camberwell Now - Working Nights

My Favorite of This Heat offshoots, and one of my fave bands probably ever. I happened to find them in the fall, about 6 years ago. It's the aural equivalent of an old, intricate factory rotting in the English countryside or something to me. I'd imagine their rather limited recorded output will be the soundtrack to my falls and winters 4 eva.

Scott Walker - It's Raining Today
Paints a perfect dreary fall picture of love lost and a cold, resigned world. And the ominous string arrangement creates the perfect amount of dread.

Crescent - Sun
First track I ever heard by Crescent, and their most
abrasive (and probably least representative) but it's the one that hooked me. The guitar solo at 3:31 is a total burner.

Belle and Sebastian - Fox In The Snow
This band lost me after awhile, but "If You're Feeling Sinister" and "The Boy with the Arab Strap" are pretty perfect raggedy pop to me. I almost don't like to pick one song since the albums work so well as a whole and that's how I've always listened to them, but if I had to pick one song it'd be this one.

Beige - Folds
Great new band from NYC. Really smart contrast between the mostly vintage electronics and warm, melodic vocals. Really looking forward to seeing how they develop.

Autumn Favorites - Lewis & Clarke and The Spinto Band's Nick Krill

2011-11-10T08:49:00.000-05:00

Autumn Snow In Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania

For our fifth fall '11 installment, we caught up with producer-engineer-musician, and sound-collector extraordinaire, Nick Krill of the Spinto Band. He has also recorded and engineered a large part of the new Lewis & Clarke record, who have contributed their autumnal musings as well.

Nick Krill / The Spinto Band:

For me, a lot of autumn is about preparation for winter. The weather starts getting colder…days shorter...trees barer...and all these things get me started preparing for the winter months. I think a lot of these preparations have to do with comfort…it gets cold…people spend more time indoors…people spend time inside coats, and inside sweaters. I guess people go in. For me all that going in is trying to move towards things that are comfortable. It is interesting that people are talking about nostalgia with autumn…it seems like comfort is a key part in all those nostalgic wistful memories. Anyhow, this preparation for winter and making sure I get comfortable seems to be the key to all my favorite things about autumn.

Blankets.
Last week it started getting cold and I pulled all my blankets out of storage. Our house is an old one...and hard to heat. For the most part we just keep the heat to the point where the pipes won’t burst and get by with sweaters and space heaters. But for me…the most important thing is my blankets. I have ten blankets on my bed right now…they stack up about five or six inches total. There are so many that there is a real weight to them…when I am in bed I have this thing pushing down on me…and pushing down around the sides of me...kind of like the weight of the blankets shrink-wrap me in the bed. This to me is the perfect autumn comfort.

Chilly-Bo-Dilly.
This is a word I say when I feel cold. I made it up about a year or two ago…and now I know it is autumn when I start saying “Chilly-Bo-Dilly” more frequently. I love this word, so it is exciting
when autumn rolls around and I have more excuses to say it. You should try saying it…it is fun. I like to put a string of them together sometimes like this, “Chilly-Bo-Dilly-Oh-Chilly-Bo-Dilly-Oh-Chilly-Bo-Dilly-Oh,” or “Chilly-Bo-Dilly-Yo-Chilly-Bo-Dilly-Yo-Chilly-Bo-Dilly-Yo.”

Penguin Café Orchestra.
This is a new addition to my autumn as I was just introduced to them about a month ago. I’m listening to their second album a lot right now. A lot of the songs have a nice repetitive musical line that strings throughout them. The repetition kind of can be hypnotic…and comfortable…. it kind of lulls you into listening…good for autumn if you ask me.

The smell of fireplaces.
This is the time of year when people start putting fires in their fireplaces. The smell of a fire in a fireplace is one of my favorite smells. Case closed.

Soup.
As I said before…we keep our house on the cold side, so any excuse to turn on a source of heat is exciting. I love putting a giant pot on the stove...filling it with whatever I can find in the refrigerator and cooking a soup real slow. I just stand around the stove and listen to the radio. I throw ingredients in one at a time…with long spaces in between…this give me more of an excuse to hover around the stove.

Lou Rogai / Lewis & Clarke:

I appreciate all seasons and the subtle change that occurs as one coalesces into the next. This can be seen and felt in many ways. If you love music, it can be a rich sense-memory and soundtrack for these experiences.

Delaware Water Gap is a beautiful place to be in the fall, the hills are ablaze with color, and the drop in humidity gives the atmosphere a crystal-clear quality.

But enough about the weather, here are some songs that remind me of fall. Of course to be listened to while doing fall-type things and enjoying nature, wherever you may be.

Sandy Bull - Memphis, Tennessee

This is a track from his Inventions album. Reverb mornings of autumn days dripping echoes of reds and oranges. This LP was played in our house on Saturdays when I was a kid. Now I play it on Saturdays, as well as other days in other seasons.

Unwound - October All Over

I purchased the Leaves Turn Inside You album a decade ago on Sept 14th 2001. I remember that date because it was in Philadelphia three days after 9/11 and the vibe was tense. Mecca Normal opened the show. It was Unwound's last tour and the last album they made together. It was an important and significant album that fall (for obvious reasons) and many others to come, as leaves turn inside all of us.

Van Morrison - It's All Over Now (Baby Blue)

Van does Dylan as Jagger. You can't beat this unique kaleidoscopic arrangement. It's all mood, romance, sun flare, and falling leaves.

Rachel's - Water From The Same Source

From the Systems / Layers album. It was October and I had this on my headphones on tour in Amsterdam. We had just heard the sad news of Elliot Smith's passing and the moment burned an impression into my memory. A couple of years later I would have the great pleasure & privilege of collaborating and touring with Eve Miller (cello). This is my favorite piece of contemporary music, hands-down. Rachel's were pure.

Hot Tuna - Water Song
The 'Burgers' album is one of Jorma & Jack's finest, in my opinion. In the fall of my senior year of high school, I had an after-school job helping a friend renovate an old farm house in a beautiful area now plagued by natural gas drilling. We'd crank this album (it was one of like 5 cds we had on the job) and burn on into the gorgeous twilight of the highlands.

Ian O'Hara / Lewis & Clarke:

Phillip Glass' Fifth String Quartet (Performed by the Kronos Quartet)
The opening few measures, though not incredibly harmonically complex, are orchestrated in a way that they sound more intense. The first time I heard it I thought it was the most beautiful string harmonizations I have ever heard. The almost free introduction gives way to the arpeggiated cello figure with some haunting string harmony again on top of it in the violins. It is an exquisite piece of music and one of the most accessible pieces of classical quartet writing I have ever heard.

Brad Mehldau Trio - No Moon At All
One of my favorite jazz pianists and has been since I first heard him in the early 2000's. When I was first listening to this dude play the most striking thing initially was his technical facility. He was playing tons of shit with both hands and incorporating all sorts of styles of music including an almost classical counterpoint type of thing ( see his version of 'Martha My Dear'). However , this is one of my favorite standard tunes that doesn't get played as often as it should. This is a pretty straight version and all the technical bravado is out the door and the song and melody are served throughout with understated rhythmic support. Tasteful stuff by dudes that can shred like your favorite shirtless hair metal guitarist. The overall feeling of the tune, the minor motif etc. is very autumnal, it's catchy as well.

Bach - Partita 3 Loure (For Violin in E major)

I can't really describe why it relates to autumn but it is the most incredibly beautiful piece of music I think I have ever heard that was written for one instrument. Bach seems superhuman to me. The sadness of these piece seems to present a sort of autumnal feeling to me. Not to be all depressing but the fall seems to be the end of a life cycle.

The Beatles - Abbey Road

The first time I heard it was in a car in the fall and it is one of my favorite records ever. Almost every time I listen to it I hear something new in the recording, a tiny counter melody I never noticed, a shaker here and there. Each instrument was recorded the way I would want to record it. It's almost a perfect record. Of course the Beatles are the easy choice but they thought of everything. It is an immense work of popular music.

O'Hara Piano

The upright piano in my folks' living room was delivered to our home in Autumn when I was a high school student and my curiosity concerning music was beginning to smolder a bit. It was made by the Merrill Company of Boston, Massachusetts. The company was eventually bought out by a larger piano manufacturing company in the 1920's and the Merrill name was no longer in existence by the 1930. That dates this particular piano as being manufactured in the 45 or so year span that the Merrill name was in existence(1885-1930 or so?). The ivory on the keys is chipping of here and there and there are some wooden parts that have come loose. It has a wonderful sound that is extremely mellow and almost melancholic. It is also tuned a semitone low which may contribute to this melancholic quality. The general worn and sort of decaying nature of the sound of such an old instrument brings to mind the hollow sort of feeling that arrives with autumn. However, the piano has outlasted most of the human beings I have ever known so there is also the reminder that the falling leaves don't necessarily signify a death of any kind but a sort of dormant period before rebirth. Maybe that's too heavy, it's just a piano in my parents living room. It has provided me with a wonderful array of shocking and important musical discoveries that otherwise may have never happened.

Autumn Faves - WXPN's Fred Knittel & Judson Claiborne

2011-10-27T16:26:00.001-04:00

As the leaves turn color in Pennsylvania, we've been speaking with our friends and compadres from around the globe. We like to share what keeps them motivated, what makes them tick, what nostalgia is triggered by the changing season. Music, food, films, yoga positions, home remedies; all of the great condiments of life. For our fourth fall '11 installment, we caught up with Fred Knittel & Judson Claiborne's Chris Salveter.

Fred Knittel

As host of WXPN's Folkadelphia show and proprietor of Be Frank Records, it's an understatement to say Fred is a torch-bearer and enthusiast. He's shared the following:

For me, autumn is a time for introspection, a time to turn inward, ponder, and slow down. As the leaves turn color and fall off the trees, I find myself revisiting certain films. It's something about their pacing, their themes, their cinematography, and the difficult questions they often raise about life that keep me coming back. Here are a few top movies of my Autumn:

Autumn Sonata (dir: Ingmar Bergman, 1978)
It's Ingrid Bergman's last feature film and one of the last films directed by Ingmar Bergman. The rich earthy colors, the long shots (care of legendary cinematographer Sven Nykvist), and the musical centerpiece of Chopin's Preludes makes this a go-to Fall film for me.

Three Colors: Red (dir: Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
The final chapter of Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy (and his last film) features an amazing chemistry between the two leads Irène Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The mood of the movie just reminds me of Autumn, so I find myself watching it and thinking about it during these months.

Days of Heaven (dir: Terrence Malick, 1978)
Seriously one of the most beautifully shot movies I've ever seen. As the weather gets colder and the nights come quicker, I imagine the landscapes and scenes that play out in 'Days of Heaven'.

My Night At Maud's (dir: Eric Rohmer, 1969)
Another one with Jean-Louis Trintignant (much younger, of course)! Jean-Louis plays a character who finds his strict moral code compromised by his brief relationship with the bold Maud. In my opinion, a perfect movie to reflect on and talk about during this time of year.

In the Mood for Love (dir: Wong Kar-wai, 2000): Wong Kar-wai is a master of all things visual. You can actually physically feel the longing between the two central characters; you see it in the slowed down scenes, the drifting cigarette smoke, and the significant glances. Without fail, I watch this movie every Fall.

Relaxing in Delaware Water Gap, PA

Chris Salveter / Judson Claiborne

When he's not on the road, Mr. Salveter is in Chicago making music and teaching yoga (we've heard demos of the new Judson Claiborne record, and we're excited). He's taken some time to share with us his top five inspirations of this particular fall season:

The Music of Ted Lucas
Folk dude from the 60's & 70's...An amazing writer who will remind you of how nice it is to get stoned.

Cambodian Grrl Self Publishing in Phnom Penh
Artist & Writer Anne Elizabeth Moore's brilliant account of her zine-making workshops for teenage girls in Cambodia.

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Supported Bridge Pose)
For back pain sufferers, the supported bridge pose offers a set of challenges to the body and mind that together provide an entryway into the benefits of having a yoga practice. Like most yoga poses, the supported bridge pose involves the entire body.

The Legend of Old Gregg
WTF?

Michael Zerang
One of the finest percussionists and improvisers I've ever heard & seen. So fortunate to be in the same town with this guy.

Favorite Autumn Jams - Mako Sica and Rich Hughes

2011-10-21T08:24:00.000-04:00

Autumn in Cambridge photo: Rich Hughes

As the leaves turn color in Pennsylvania, we've been speaking with our friends and compadres from around the globe. We'd like to share what keeps them motivated, what makes them tick, what nostalgia is triggered by the changing season. Music, food, films, yoga positions, home remedies; all of the great condiments of life.

For our third Fall 2011 installment, we spoke with Brent Fuscaldo of Chicago's deep-psych exploration trio Mako Sica. We also spoke with Rich Hughes, Co-Founder of The Liminal and lover of literature and technology.

Brent Fuscaldo of Mako Sica:

Alfred Apaka - Makalapua

King Tubby & Soul Sydicate -

Freedom Sounds in Dub
Miles Davis - Get Up With It
(Double LP)

Harold Budd - Lovely Thunder

Krzysztof Komeda -Live in Copenhagen Volumes 1 & 2

Pierced Arrows - Paranoia" 7

Son House - any and all!

Rich Hughes:

Talk Talk - Ascension Day
After The Colour of Spring and Spirit Of Eden came Laughing Stock, and the album cover hints at the passing of the seasons with a leaf-sparse tree hosting some lonely looking birds. There's a rumbling darkness to Ascension Day, the hollow guitar crackling with an alien energy, as if something has passed and the future holds something new but unsure.

Neil Young - Old Man

Perhaps a little obvious to have a song from Harvest, but the album perfectly sums up Autumnal feelings and colours. With it's reflective nature, Old Man makes me think of the year passed so far - what have I achieved? Have I done anything of any worth so far this year?

Wilco - Poor Places

It's the finality of this song, of wrapping up of feelings, that strikes me when I play this - a quiet emptiness that comes over me, of the light slowly dimming.

Do Make Say Think - A Tender History In Rust

Another obvious track - the slow, rust like colours that my surroundings take on now, a gentleness, an interface between seasons and sounds.

Joy Division - Atmosphere

The soundtrack to evenings walking back from pubs and clubs with clear skies that are illuminated, spectacularly, with stars - a crisp and cold atmosphere that heightens the senses.

Favorite Autumn Jams - Dragon Turtle / We Have Heaven

2011-10-19T09:48:00.000-04:00

As the leaves turn color in Pennsylvania, we've been speaking with our friends and compadres from around the globe. We'd like to share what keeps them motivated, what makes them tick, what nostalgia is triggered by the changing season. Music, food, films, yoga positions, home remedies; all of the great condiments of life.

For our second Fall 2011 installment, Brian Lightbody and Tom Asselin from Dragon Turtle, along with Eric de Jesus of We Have Heaven, share their autumn favorites. They've just finished a collaborative recording that we'll be releasing in the form of a 7" piece of vinyl.

Brian Lightbody / Dragon Turtle:

Brian, Looking ahead to winter.

Frank Sinatra - The Capitol Years

As some La Soc mates know… I could easily fill a blog about my obsession with Frank Sinatra. I'll just say this is one of the only fitting soundtracks to have in your head if you are ever hastily running down to city hall to get married in the perfect autumn magic of NYC.

Sea And Cake - The Fawn
I always listen to this record in the late fall. It is completely unlike any of their other records, before or after. The songs blur together without notice, in a darkness that never feels heavy. I have this amazing memory of picking this up as well as Joyce's impossible Finnegan's Wake at the same time. Bringing them both back to the house and trying to figure them out. The two are always linked for me in that; the same way I've only ever read a handful of pages of Finnegan's Wake at a time, I've never tried to understand what Sam Prekop is singing on the Fawn — I like to think of them both occupying the same world of intangible dream.

Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Nick Drake in fall almost feels too obvious to list, but there are certain universal truths, aren't there? This record is playing at a coffee shop or used book store somewhere in a college town right now — it's a right of passage.

Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy
I can't even say how huge this record was for me in high school. Great memories of driving around the dark and lonely Pocono Mountains with this record on. The sound and emotions were raw but the words were smart and crafted, that opened me up to Bukowski and Kerouac and made some of the other records in piles on my floor feel juvenile. I owe those guys big time.

Fripp & Eno - Evening Star
I got this in the late fall in college and it was the perfect soundtrack for the leaves last triumph into the winter. At the time I was doing 4 hours a day commuting to NYC from Jersey, and then working a night shift with about 4 or 5 hours sleep. If you are that cracked out driving a desolate late-night highway - I recommend Robert Fripp's solo's and frippertronics mixed with coffee for a unique sleepy euphoria.

Tom Asselin / Dragon Turtle:

Tom @ the HQ in Delaware Water Gap, PA

Like some of my peers I am having a hard time limiting this list for fall. To make it easier on myself I am making a list of my top 6 favorite bands I saw (or have tickets to see) this fall.

Thee Silver Mount Zion

I finally saw these folks a few weeks ago with Matana Roberts. I love the V formation on stage. Horses In The Sky is a top 10 fall album for me and the songs were better live. The new song they played was also amazing.

A Winged Victory For The Sullen
I am very psyched to see this in a few weeks. I wind down almost every night listening to thier album.

Shinji Masuko
Shinji recently played in a warehouse space in Allentown. There is a link above to the show I was at. Checking it out for yourself is much better than anything I could say.

We Have Heaven
These guys opened for Shinji Masuko and killed it.

Dick Dale
I am amped to see Dick Dale. I wrote my senior research paper in high school on him. I was always so disappointed that whenever he came around it was 21+. Wikipedia tells me he is 74 years old and youtube tells me he still kicks ass.

Mystical Wizard Business
I am currently recording their debut LP. These guys are tight. The music is kind of like an instrumental version of Hawkwind but without the flute sounds. Their current set puts the posted youtube video to shame(they are now a quartet). They have some shows coming up in NY and Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Eric de Jesus / We Have Heaven:

Cheers!

THE FREE DESIGN -
butterflies are free
Reminds me of being a little kid back in school again and ruminating over how badly it sucked while staring out the window of Notre Dame Elementary at the blue mountains out of reach by the distance of a whole school year to the north.

BARCELONA, CATALUNYA, SPAIN -

I was hanging in barcelona last fall. I couldn't believe how good and warm and sunny it was. and all the longboards. I still cant believe how good that city felt. I want to go back there right now.

THE PHOTON BAND - genius
This song is totally about back to school for me. Walking across Temple campus with Art, heads down talking like young english majors and serious, in old earthen jackets from thrift stores, while never wearing socks, our pants rolled up above our ankles. in October air.

SONIC YOUTH - teenage riot
I was living in London, al wobegone and goopy, the fall this came out, on a flexi disc with art screen across it by Savage Pencil himself. Probably the best subculture video ever made.

FAREWELL POETRY - the bold jaws of bear traps
Last October I was sneaking around Paris with Beth, selling books and digging book and record shops. Upon entering Bimbo Tower, this amazing Farewell Poetry song was on the system. I asked wtf it was and then immediately bought the shop's own single copy of this compilation, on Colin Johnco's awesome Leep label. Their new LP and Jayne's DVD on Gizeh records is my current no 1 fave.

The brand new TWIN CITIES release on Future recordings, esp song 2, which is my current fave no.2. So great so emo so live and gnarly so autumnal so sad....

Favorite Autumn Jams - Columboid

2011-10-18T10:28:00.001-04:00

It's that time again, folks. Over the next few weeks as the leaves turn and fall in Pennsylvania, we're going to be speaking with our friends and compadres from around the globe. We'd like to share what keeps them motivated, what makes them tick, or what nostalgia is triggered by the changing season. Music, food, films, yoga positions, home remedies; all of the great condiments of life.

For our first installment, Ryan Hamilton and Neil Benjamin from Columboid share with us their fall favorites:

Ryan, Russell, Neil

Ryan:

While I'm bored here at work on this beautiful autumn day, I thought it might be a good time to let everyone in on my five fave fall jams. (none of them are by The Fall, unfortunately).

Autumn has always signified change in my mind, and these five are probably the ones I associate with the biggest of those:

1) As I entered Eigth grade and started shedding my sports team clothes for ripped sweaters and vans sneakers, the song that I most identified with was 'Dumb' off Nirvana's In Utero.

2) After moving to Philadelphia, qutting school and deciding to try to conquer the world with music full time (hasn't quite worked out for me yet), I can remember listening to 'Everything Is In Its Right Place' off of Kid A by Radiohead.

3) The Autumn after my mother passed away i remember turning to The Smiths big time. I guess if I had to pick one song in particular it would be 'Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before' off of Strangeways, Here We Come.

4) The Fall I moved to Brooklyn I remember buying every Beach Boys album I could find as if maybe the Nazis were going to burn them all. My pick from all those is 'Til I Die' off of Surfs Up.

5) The last song isn't one that represents any real major change, but rather one that has tended to enhance my autumnal mood as of late. That song is 'The Wraith of Loving' of the self-titled album by Songs of Green Pheasant.

Neil:

Fall tends to be a very reclusive period for me. I listen to albums that nurture that state.

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I

Common - Like Water For Chocolate

Flying Lotus - L.A. EP1 X 3

Beck - Sea Change

J-Live - All Of The Above

2010-08-10T19:14:00.012-04:00

It's August and the summer is in full bore. And go figure, we are thinking about how this relates to music. Summer in the City. Summer Rain. Summertime Country. We started discussing recordings as companions, as soundtracks to experience, seasons, orbits. It's been a great summer and here's some of the music keeping us company.

Brent Fuscaldo (Mako Sica):
Tangerine Dream - Atem (1973)
unsettling, subtlety, under the surface, bubbling, toms, exploration, head space, imagination

Jessi Hector (label PR):
Best Coast. Because it makes San Francisco seem warmer than it unfortunately is this summer.

Brian Lightbody (Dragon Turtle):

new:
wild nothing - gemini
wasn't familiar with wild nothing before this summer, when I was recommended it at the mexican summer store in greenpoint. low run silk screened cover on clear vinyl. the record has only occasionally left the turntable this summer. dreamy washy pop. sounds current without sounding "of-the-moment". has been the soundtrack to waking up with coffee and charting weekend adventures.

old:
durutti column - return of the durutti column
i have been heavily into the durutti column all year long and this summer especially. this album features beautiful guitar instrumentals with classic martin hannet production and sounds. an amazing record, completely unique and an oddity considering the time and it's peers (late 70's manchester).

Tom Asselin (Dragon Turtle, Lewis & Clarke):
i think my summer jam is another green world.
me: why?
Sent at 3:24 PM on Tuesday
tom: feels good.
Sent at 3:25 PM on Tuesday
me: cool
Sent at 3:27 PM on Tuesday
tom: another green world is so good.
fripp rules

Lou Rogai (Lewis & Clarke):
Toss up between the new Lower Dens album and Hendrix's "Waterfalls" on repeat.
Both of them get me in "the mood".

Melissa Sherwood (Main St. Jukebox / La Soc):

Yeasayer "Odd Blood" keeps finding it's way onto the turntable. Great album from beginning to end.

AUTHENTICITY

2010-03-01T10:52:00.012-05:00

Authenticity: A Trap for Fools. Act One

Selling Genuineness

An essay by T. Storm Heter

One year after Andy Warhol's death in 1987 an American filmmaker Joe Simon-Whelan paid $195,000 for a Warhol silk screen, "Red Self Portrait," made in 1964. In 2001 Simon-Whelan found a buyer willing to give him $2 million--but on the condition that the work be submitted to the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board. Simon-Whelan agreed without hesitation and was shocked when he received a short letter from the Board stating that 'Red Self Portrait' was a fake. Simon-Whelan's frustration grew as he asked for a public explanation of the Board's decision and received none. In July of 2007 Simon-Whelan filed a suit against the Board, arguing that it wrongly denied the authenticity of Red Self Portrait for selfish economic reasons; the Board, Simon-Whelan said, was not a disinterested party, but in fact had close relationships with several art galleries and dealers who wanted to corner the market on Warhols.

The evidence that Red Self Portrait is an authentic Warhol is compelling, in fact overwhelming. (See Richard Dorment, "What Is an Andy Warhol?" New York Review of Books, Volume 56, Number 16 · October 22, 2009) The facts of the case are interesting in their own right, but perhaps not as interesting as the underlying assumptions about what "authenticity" means in the context of artistic production, and moreover why anyone should care about it.

Money, money, money. That's the first answer. If I own a car and someone steals it and sells it, I'm not happy. I've been robbed of my assets. So if I own a painting (whether I've painted it or not), and someone steals it and sells it, I've been snookered. Artists and intellectuals have more to worry about than just the physical books they write or the pieces of cloth they stain with paint; we also have in investment in our intellectual property. Think of sampling. Sure, I'd love for others to get inspired by my music, ideas or images and develop a work of their own, but I don't want to be ripped off. There are lots of foggy areas when it comes to separating influence from theft, but Picasso wasn't ripping of Braque, Coltrane wasn't ripping off Dolphy, and Paul Simon wasn't ripping off Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The Audry Hepburn film "How to Steal a Million" (1966) illustrates a caricatured case of the rip-off; the sleuth (Peter O'Toole) catches the master copyist who paints daring fakes in his super secret studio. As the title indicates, the stakes are monetary.

But what if we factor out the money? I still care if someone plagiarizes my writing, even if he doesn't make a dime doing so. I am insulted that someone else would fail to give credit where credit is due. I am both insulted at the lack of integrity of the other person, but mainly what I desire is recognition. I want the public response to the created object to be directed at me, not at others.

If authenticity is bound up with recognition, we must wonder about anonymous works. If authenticity means recognition directed at the right person, then it might seem that anonymity is disingenuous; but surely not. There are times with anonymity is cowardly, other times when it is a practical or legal necessity, and yet other times when it is part and parcel of the artistic gesture. Graffiti is somewhere in the middle between anonymity and recognition. The tag is a secret code used when one wants recognition from some (fellow graffiti artists) and anonymity from others (police).

The dispute over Red Self Portrait is whether Warhol created the work with his own hand. He didn't sign the work, but not all Warhols are signed by Warhol and not all works signed by Warhol are Warhols. Warhol sometimes signed actual cans of Campbell's soup; are these soup cans instantly transformed into Andy Warhols? The collectors--the people with the money--pronounce the can to be worth the signature itself and nothing more. When Warhol signs a silk screen reproduction of one of his works with "This is not an Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol" do we read it as irony or as the literal truth? It is of course literally true, but why point out this fact unless to toy with the whole authentication enterprise. Bottom line: Warhol wants to have his fun, but he isn't interested in some punk "Stealing a Million" at his expense.

Much of Warhol's work was collaborative. Those familiar with his working methods have said that it wasn't unusual for him to to swoop in at the last minute and put his finishing touches on a work or to give directions over the phone. There were even times when Warhol did nothing but sign a work that was crafted entirely by someone else.

Richard Dorment writes, "Throughout the 1960s Warhol was personally involved in choosing, mixing, and applying the paint in most of the silk-screened works. But it was also his frequent practice to delegate the manual task of silk-screening an image onto canvas to his assistants Gerard Malanga and Billy Name. Malanga has said that in the summer of 1963 he was responsible for painting several canvases, including some Electric Chairs, entirely by himself. The following year Warhol told a journalist from Glamour magazine, "I'm becoming a factory," and of course the building he worked in wasn't called the "Studio" but the "Factory.""

Warhol cut his teeth as a commercial artist which taught him that relinquishing control, bureaucratizing, could create an entirely different kind of art. To judge by contemporary art criticism, it it Warhol's process that has had the lasting effect on the art world. Warhol is synonymous with 'The Factory.' His scene is his art. Warhol is a performance artist. His rejection of painting is a performance. Warhol transformed himself into one of the images that he produced and painted. He was a hollow silkscreen of himself. Warhol was himself a faker. The fakest of fakers. The least authentic. All shell, no inside.

And so now we've stumbled on further, non-economic sense of genuineness: genuineness-as-artistic-and-emotional-depth. The authentic artist is he who taps into a reservoir of inner emotions. These emotions must be his own, and not someone else's. When a white middle class kid does a heartfelt rendition of 'redemption song' what emotional sluice gate slides open? What does the line 'old pirates yesterday rob I,' mean for this performance artist? It's comical to hear a chameleonic cover artist who mimics every miniscule vocal aside, every riff, and who even goes so far as to develop a foreign accent. When semi-anonymous bloggers--like the man known only as 'brap'--write that the Beach Boy's tune Let's Have a Luau "was an Alpine heap of suck," I can only guess it is because of the fake Hawaiian accents the Boys used throughout the song. The Beach Boys are perhaps all surface, like Warhol--everything conspires against calling them genuine-in-the-sense-of-having-emotional-depth; but personally, I cannot help but hear the structure of the music (harmonies, layering, overdubs) as an emotional Alpine avalanche. If Warhol is all facade, the Beach Boys are a clown's face: behind the makeup we see facial wrinkles revealing an old soul.

It is always possible to assimilate Warhol's anti-authenticity project as just another variation of the old style of authenticity. Let's reduce authenticity to a word--uniqueness. Warhol, although trying to disrupt the classical idea of an artist who paints all his works by hand and then signs them, is nonetheless just trying to be unique. Maybe we are dealing with oldest trick in the book: the artist/intellectual claims to be radically different from his predecessors, but the narrative 'I'm radically different' is the same narrative that everyone else claims. The narrative of radicalness, newness, uniqueness is the oldest appeal to authenticity we know. To claim that what I am doing is not new, novel, unique, or different--that's unusual. But what a psychological feat it is to believe that I am not an individual, but a mass-person, an everyman, a shallow representation of my generation. I wonder if art is even possible if the artist identifies wholly with the average, the mean, the has-been-done, the copy.

New York writer Cynthia Ozick has a brilliant portrait of the borderline between authentic and inauthentic in her novel "The Puttermesser Papers." The protagonist, Ruth Puttermesser, falls in love with a man who anyone in their right mind would call a "copyist"; he reproduces paintings of the masters, photographs them, and sells them, avoiding the financial difficulties that might come with photographing and selling the originals. The copyist furiously refuses Puttermesser's labeling him a 'copyist'; he is a proud, authentic, original artist. Nobody has told him what to do; nobody is causing his action; his 'art' is the height of human freedom. All this he maintains without a shred of irony. Puttermesser thinks the copyist is a playing a cosmic joke, and when it turns out he's not, she finds that the two of them are living out a screenplay not of their own making. Their lovemaking is nothing more than hours of reading aloud from George Eliot novels. Puttermesser's fascination with the personal life of Eliot metastasizes until she and the copyist are acting out every odd detail of Eliot's personal love life. Suddenly there are no stones to throw. Uniqueness, individuality, newness--these concepts become meaningless. Our lives have already been lived before. The only thing that separates us from the past is attention to detail.

The copyist is a performance artist, and what makes him remarkable is simply a lack of irony. Is he all surface in the way I've said Warhol is all surface? Perhaps. The difference between the copyist and Warhol is the spirit of seriousness of the former and the 'f-you' that I can never escape feeling when absorbed in a Warhol performance piece. Warhol doesn't need your approval; the copyist does.

To keep myself from becoming too serious about authenticity I dream about a surrealist Authentication Board. Living artists would have to submit their own work--work that they know they have produced--to the Board. The Board copies the paintings, stamps the original with a huge, permanent 'inauthentic' mark, sells the copies as originals, burns the money, takes a polaroid of the burnt money, then sneaks into the Guggenheim and when the guard isn't looking, tacks the polaroid to the wall. That poor artist, struggling for authenticity, has got what he wanted: he's been hung in the Guggenheim, after all. The money was never the real point, was it? The superficial, capitalist notion of authenticity was not what the artist was looking for, or else he'd have gained it right away by selling his works to the highest bidder.

To me the 'readymade' was the first of a series of brilliant and hilarious countermeasures against a romantic ideal of authenticity. Modern art requires irony. Modern art requires an engagement with bureaucracy. Individualism is a modern pathology. The mass-produced, the fake, the surface, the recycled, the serial: these are the terms through which performance--the only true medium of modern art--must sell itself.

PROCESS: DRAGON TURTLE ALMANAC

2009-10-19T15:55:00.007-04:00

Dragon Turtle Almanac - LSE 015 cd/lp

Release Date: Nov. 10 2009

Stream Album/Order: Here

As with the recorded material, the artwork for Almanac was an ambitious affair. While pouring through Robert Smithson books and obsessing with art that evokes a sort of entropy, team turtle decided to create a double helix staircase made up of books, then setting the sculpture on fire, using this as the basis for the cover of the album. Results proved far greater than imagined. The process itself is central to the

art.

the sculpture

The flame-bound double helix inspired by Smithson's Piece Island of Broken Glass (also a track title on Almanac)

spiral on fire

words and ashes

Tom and Brian dropping the scanner directly into the ashes and scanning away. Another happy accident, the scans ended up producing what almost looked like topographic maps.

*you may view more photos at our flickr page.

CMJ - OCT 24 - BRUAR FALLS - BROOKLYN

2009-10-19T15:52:00.000-04:00

Being that LA-SOC HQ is under two hours from the big apple, we decided to get out off the moss and bite it. It's a call to arms, a gathering of our friendly and familial forces: Soltero, Strand of Oaks, Lewis & Clarke, Dragon Turtle, and Matt Bauer! Special thanks to Mr. Bill Orner for this amazing poster/concept.

Dragon Turtle / Spill Out the Night

2009-10-08T00:35:00.013-04:00

The original 'Spill Out the Night' track was recorded some years ago, forgotten, then brought back and merged rather organically into 'Grotto' during live performances in the Summer of '08. Recordings then continued through the fall and winter of '08. 'Spill out the Night' would find much inspiration from the above pictured journey with friends into the night along the Atlantic Ocean. through the adventures of all night campfires, boats lost at sea, skunk gods, Dunevisions, infinite numbers of stars, and the epiphanies found in the natural world with a group of total homies, Dragon Turtle had a palette of experience to draw from in articulating what exactly it is to 'spill out the night'.

Dragon Turtle / Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air Split 12": The Process Continues

2009-10-08T00:13:00.016-04:00

supersonic night sounds, december spider creature, last bus out of the city, track pile-up:

Dragon Turtle / Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air - Split 12" Recording Process

2009-10-07T23:50:00.007-04:00

Some scenes from One Forest Studio in Mountain Home, PA taken during the winter of '08...

Dave laying down the deep space jams, while Tom discovers his spirit animal:

In Memory of Shadow 1995 - 2009

2009-10-01T15:27:00.011-04:00

(Shadow with Dave Kresge during the recording of Dragon Turtle Almanac)

Shadow was the second engineer of One Forest Studio. You can hear his work on half of the La Soc releases from both sides of the Strand of Oaks / Dragon Turtle 7" to Blasts of Holy Birth to Dragon Turtle Almanac. Below is a video of the recording of Shadow's part in "Spill Out the Night" on the DT /GSGA Split 12". It starts out raw, then effected. We are going to miss you.

Dear Lewis & Clarke Tour Journal (Northeast 2009):

2009-06-01T16:58:00.007-04:00

Just a few weeks ago, Lewis & Clarke made our maiden voyage in this current incarnation (Lou Rogai, Tom Asselin, Ian O'Hara, Shane O'Hara, and yours truly - Karen Codd)...we headed north to Toronto, then weaved our way south via the wilds of the Canadian border patrol...down through the Berkshires in Massachusetts, back up into Maine, and around to stop in Scranton and finally zig-zagged between Manhattan, Philly and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 

Lou called me only a month before this excursion to ask if I would join him on the road. [I met Lou in the Fall of 2007 during a whirlwind workshop with Moon&Moon, in the basement of Will Lemon's place...we were preparing for a La Soc CMJ Showcase and I and my cello had also just become absorbed into that family]. Traveling with Lewis & Clarke, getting to visit Maine for the first time, and taking the stages of world class venues with now world-renowned Bat For Lashes, was a set of opportunities I simply couldn't pass up. I shuffled my busy schedule around and thankfully have an employer who believes in me as an artist as well as an administrator (www.becapricious.com) and I was able to give Lou an enthusiastic, "yes!"

As I write this entry, I'm sitting at the Rogai family kitchen table in Delaware Water Gap, PA, looking out at a thick sea of trees and a Victorian home, now a bed and breakfast/jazz venue called the Deer Head Inn. Since just prior to the tour, it's become a weekly ritual for me to escape my Brooklyn digs to join Lewis & Clarke at the base of the Pocono Region for rehearsals. Because I often feel starved for the bucolic (my forearm is inked with a pine branch), I am prone to note the natural beauty here...that is why I want to tell you that when we first packed our things and shoved off from DWG, the neighborhood magnolia trees were in full bloom - pink and white explosions - the same hues as the vinyl of the just-released Light Time EP. It felt to me like we were starting on a good foot.

Our first performance took place at Toronto's Mod Club...it was intense getting through customs and a surprise rain storm but we made it unscathed and were happy to finally join forces with our friends Bat For Lashes. The following show took us out of the city and into the woods. The Montague Bookmill is a dream; "a used bookstore housed in an 1842 gristmill, set on the banks of the Sawmill River, a few miles north of Amherst and Northampton, MA." We were also lucky to be hosted for the night at the home of our new friends Michael (of Oweihops) and Britt. When we finally finished a vigorous Rockband tournament, we slept soundly there.

Then it was on to Portland, ME, which was not an originally scheduled stop, but when we got news that our Boston show with BFL was postponed, our dear friend Dylan Metrano (of Tiger Saw), rustled up a fantastic little spot for us at Slainte. He even found people to come hear us! And then(!), after an unusual and satisfying supper together and a quick stop-off at a South China performance, Dylan and his lovely wife, Mandy, put us up for the night in their very comfy home.

After Portland, we met up with South China's Jerusha Neely Robinson for lunch, some cello-nerd shop talk, and a visit to Loving Anvil (an awesome artist-run shop in Biddeford, ME), then back into the van and south to Kittery, ME. There we picked up our good buddy Matt Bauer (and his banjo) at the Greyhound Station and settled in for an evening at Buoy Gallery. In fact, we got so cozy at Buoy, that the super-accommodating staff there invited us to camp on their gallery floor that night. What can I say? We are so blessed.

Heading back through PA, our next show took place at Scranton's The Bog, a hometown venue for 40% of L&C. For me, it was an opportunity to put faces with names of folks who had coined many an inside joke, which I had since adopted as my own. Thank you, Bill, for "bunch of d***s." I also got to meet the very sweet parents of the O'Hara brothers and, thanks to The Bog's "drum cam," I was able to view Shane's fancy drumming as well as Tom's fancy suspenders...both tour staples.

After a morning of Lou's fortifying strawberry pancakes, with 4-year-old Julian (Lou's angelic son) and L&C life preserver extraordinaire, Leigh Ann Stratakos, we were on the road toward the Bowery Ballroom. Highlights of this show, aside from the obvious (playing at the Bowery Ballroom), included a delicious Whole Foods lunch and David Byrne in the audience. Lou and I also got to reunite with many of our Moon&Moon cohorts.

Philly's First Unitarian Church was our subsequent stop. We were moved from the basement to the gorgeous sanctuary(!) and the BFL crew got creative with lights & other knick knacks (fiber optic angels, Madonnas, fishnetted leg lamp, etc.), setting the tone for a magnificent show. My dear old dad was in attendance there AND I gave my first autograph to a very sweet teenage boy who insisted even after I admitted that I wasn't on the L&C album he had in hand.

The Music Hall of Williamsburg was the last stop on this adventure. Our name made it to the marquee and they even gave us our own green room, wherein we consulted the I Ching following soundcheck. That final evening was definitely charged with good energy and although I was happy to sleep in my own bed later on, it was tough to fall asleep because I was so keyed up and grateful to have taken this wild little journey with such talented performers, crew and friends...so with that, a big Thank You to everyone who made this possible. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!

...I can't wait for our summer installment...I'll report back.

xo,
Karen

Introducing DJ Megan AWESOME

2009-02-24T16:43:00.001-05:00

sole to soul mix

bohannon - save their soles (shoes edit)
the dells - no way back (mystis slot edit)
john miles - stranger in the city (pilooski edit)
ray mang - bar o' soapsupermax - african blood
kongas - tatoo woman
kat-mandu - i wanna dance
gap band - shake
professor longhair - big chief
ruby and the party gang - hey ruby (shut your mouth)
the exotic drum band - jerky rythm***
punkin machine - i need you tonight (h-track edit)
stretch - why did you do it
cymande - the message
aaron neville - hercules

(*** as spelled on record, for the record)

download here

Ice Flow

2009-01-17T11:15:00.001-05:00

Lessons from the river. Where it crooks and bends, where it changes in direction...it causes the backup of frozen conglomerates. The elbow becomes a collision of ice chunks cemented together for the winter freeze. Where the river flows straight and narrow, it flows more freely and the temperature will have to drop even more in order to stop the focused flow.

ideath spots ali hawkbar killing and eating a squirrel outside one forest studio

2009-01-14T02:19:00.001-05:00

The Black Swans - Live on Phoning It In 4/12/2007

2007-11-04T15:12:00.002-05:00

Tune in to the sound of grown men clad in undergarments and other peculiar attire as they hijack an Ohio University dorm room, acquire a shirtless music student to accompany them on "lead guitar", and perform the finest and most surreal set in the history of the program. From the belly of the beast, amongst brazen co-eds, and under the radar of campus security, The Black Swans perform live on Phoning It In.

"He's on a scholarship."

download: The Black Swans live on Phoning It In