January will be busy: recording Glose at Tad Doyle’s Witch Ape Studios in Seattle; recording an Imperils LP and a Command/Control EP at Sharkbite; a KWC release show with Golden Void and Minot; and starting construction on a tracking/mixing room in Oakland. Awesome!
Meanwhile, over the last few months…
Kowloon Walled City – We just released our third record, Container Ships. Here are a few studio journals: part 1, part 2. Writing and recording this record was an intense, exhausting experience, but it was worth it. Listen.
Old Man Gloom – In September, I recorded OMG at a sweaty warehouse show in Chico, while Kenneth Thomas and crew filmed it. This came out awesome. Here’s video.
Satya Sena – We just finished a 3-song 7″ that’s due out soon. We tracked in one long day at Sharkbite, with a few vocals the next day at TTJ.
I mentioned a few records-in-progress last update, and they’re out:
- Tigon Infinite Teeth (listen)
- Ladder Devils Nowhere Plans (listen)
- Yowie Damning With Faint Praise (listen
Garris Shipon – My interview with Garris was in the August issue of Tape Op. Brutal Truth! CoC!
Andrew Schneider – My interview with Andrew was in the June issue of Tape Op. Since then, Andrew moved Translator Audio to a fantastic new spot, only to see it completely decimated by Hurricane Sandy. Awful news. Last I heard they’re recovering and rebuilding, and I wish them the best.
I’ve had some Tape Op gear reviews lately too. The longest is this Cubase 6.5 review; the nerdiest is this review of two computer keyboards.
(photos: Satya Sena – Shannon Corr; Garris & Andrew: me)
With Bandcamp links where appropriate. (less of those than I expected this year.)
Cellos The Accident I still listen to their Bomb Shelter EP twice a week, and I was stoked to get their LP followup. It’s really good. Canadians! RIYL the modern “noise rock” thing.
Omotai Terrestrial Grief Another band whose EP I wore out since getting it, and whose LP followup was welcome. Voivod meets Atheist? I don’t know. I love this.
El-P Cancer 4 Cure I never listen to as much hip-hop as I want to, but I probably would if I could find more records like this. Dude is brilliant.
Barkmarket L Ron I missed this in 1996 and made up for that this year. What a record. The compression!
St. Vincent Strange Mercy I didn’t hear this until this year and I couldn’t stop listening to it.
Death Grips Exmilitary A 2011 release, and they’ve put out two more since this one, but this is the one I found first this year and listened to the most. Unfortunately I heard (and saw the video for) Guillotine first, and nothing can touch that. Single of the year.
Deftones Koi No Yokan I like this more with every listen. Every time he grabs the Meshuggah string, I’m all OH YEAH.
Dog Shredder Brass Tactics Batshit awesome.
Future of the Left The Plot Against Common Sense These guys continue being great at what they do. The lyrics, where do they all come from?
Gaza No Absolutes in Human Suffering Filthy and pissed off. I actually like the slow parts as much or better than the fast parts.
Pins Of Light II Great record and great live band. Riffs and short-ish psych jams.
Golden Void s/tLoving homage to 70s psych rock. I dig the recording too.
Sore Saints 1.1 & 1.2 Short and sweet, non-heavy noise rock.
Unsane Wreck Yep.
Power Take Off Plow Share It’s one song, it’s one riff, it’s 10 minutes long, I love it.
Still working on these but digging them so far:
Zebras s/t
Killer Mike R.A.P. Music
Empty Flowers Six
Metz s/t
The Great Sabatini Matterhorn & The Royal We
Catching up on updates…
(for better or worse, I post more often on twitter – @gscottevans)
Ventid – Remember Your Audience was released last fall on vinyl. I love this record. RIYL Slint, Cursive, prog (the good kind). They have a few copies left. Listen.
Kowloon Walled City – Last spring we recorded a song for a split with Thou, as part of the Hell Comes Home singles series. Thou covered “4th Of July” by Soundgarden. We covered “July” by Low, with guest vocals by the amazing Lisa Papineau. I recorded our side at TTJ (our classy practice space). Anyway — the record is finally out and it looks great. The label is sold out of individual copies, but has some subscriptions left. We’ll have a few individual copies for sale pretty soon. Listen.
Generalissimo – Iron Heart is a 7″ with two songs from our session last fall. It contains the bass tone of a thousand forgotten proles. Listen. (this is neat: there’s another version of “Silver Skin”, recorded the following week by Tim Green at Louder, on their new LP.)
Sanford Parker – My interview with Sanford was in the Nov/Dec Tape Op. There’s some bonus content online.
Yowie – I just finished mixing a record for these guys, and it’s being mastered now. Crazy atonal prog-noise. This should be required listening for every tech metal band that talks about how their music is too weird for most people.
Ladder Devils – I just finished mixing four songs for a vinyl release that’s happening Really Soon.
Tigon – And right now, I’m working on a full-length for Tigon. We tracked at Sharkbite, with some overdubs at TTJ. These guys have been my favorite heavy Bay Area band for years. Weird, heavy, really good. I’m stoked on this record.
(photos: Ventid – me, Gmo – Shannon Corr, Sanford – me, Yowie – Dustin Winter/KDHX, LDevils – Ashley Campbell, Tigon – Bryan Proteau)
This was posted over at Brooklyn Vegan too, but who reads that old thing?
1. Total Fest
2. Yashicamat 124G
3. Sharkbite Studios, Oakland CA
4. Northern California camping
5. Finishing tour with “Hole in the Sky”, with Stavros from Atlas Moth on vox
6. Jon Howell
7. Every recording session I got to do this year
8. fastmail.fm
9. Peavey customer service
10. Ninkasi Brewing Company