photos by Greg Cristman

Master Musicians of Bukkake @ Issue Project Room

Much like its inspiration, the Pan-devoted, beatnik-adored Master Musicians of Joujouka, the floating infinity conjured by the Master Musicians of Bukkake draws on a tradition that echoes across millennia. Around in various formations since 2003, the Seattle entity has coalesced into a seven-piece in time for its first East Coast performance, headlining a marathon tribute to avant-everything label Important Records in the Issue Project Room courtyard. MMoB's collaborative web includes psych-trance-ritual ecstatics from Earth, Sun City Girls and the free-improv world, which makes each new project a mutable feast of electronic drones, Buddhist temple bells, gamelan breakdowns, fuzz-box meditations, and innovations like "Rag-Dun Tibetan trumpet" and "leprosy synth." -[Time Out]

Despite the rain and subsequent relocation indoors, Important Records strutted like a peacock at Issue Project Room, showing off their roster with performances by headliner The Master Musicians of Bukkake, as well as Cave, Chord, Helena Espvall & Fursaxa, Kouhei Matsunaga, New Monuments, Duane Pitre, and Diane Cluck (no Ocean, unfortunately)).

More pics from the show are below...

Continue reading "Important Records showcased @ Issue Project Room - pics (Master Musicians of Bukkake, Chord, Cave & more) "

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Chord - "EbMaj9 (descent)" (MP3)

Chord (photo by Michael Rhodes)

Trevor de Brauw of Pelican will be at Issue Project Room in Brooklyn on August 15th with Chord, his "powerambient" project devoted to dissection of the riff. It's their only current tour date and part of the killer Important Records showcase that the band is now playing in support of their upcoming LP Progression. The record, due on Important in early November, is the follow-up to Flora which hit via Neurot Recordings in 2009.

For the new album three single-chord compositions were charted out, one freeform and tone driven, one long-form piece with charts dictating the players' intensity of performance, and one grid-like chart where each players' note continually shifts, though the combination of voices continue to maintain the chord... Six chords were chosen and arranged in a progression that encompasses two separate performances of each of the three compositions. Though the CD and LP share a similar internal structure and can be listened on their own, they are intended to be played concurrently, forming the full six chord arc of the total piece.

CD and LP tracklistings, as well as a video are below. Dig on the first CD track above.

Continue reading "Chord releasing 'Progression' (MP3), playing Important show"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Master Musicians of Bukkake - "Perde Kaldirma" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Master Musicians of Bukkake - "Patmos" (MP3)

Ocean at Show No Mercy (more by Justina Villanueva)

Important Records will round up a gang of bands from their roster to perform at Issue Project Room on August 15th as part of a collaborative effort between the label and venue. Master Musicians of Bukkake will headline the event, bringing along Jozef Van Wissem, Duane Pitre, Helena Espvall + Fursaxa, Arborea, Kouhei Matsunaga, Ocean, The New Monuments (C. Spencer Yeh, Ben Hall and Don Deitrich), CAVE and Diane Cluck. Tickets are on sale.

Master Musicians of Bukkake musically have very little to do with that depraved sexual act, but much more to do with the Pacific Northwest's penchant for experimentalism:

Featuring members of EARTH, ASVA, BURNING WITCH, THE DIMINISHED MEN, and special guests from Secret Chiefs 3 and the thriving Istanbul music scene... MMOB has now solidified into a 7 piece cosmic psyche force. Like a reverse dark side of the New Age sound, ...Master Musicians of Bukkake perform ritualistic electric excursions into the outer and inner reaches. Relying more on the electric power of psyched guitars, analog synth chants, and exotic heavy percussion. ...Outer spaced gamelan, dusty fuzz rock from celestial deserts, meditations of a deranged Krishna gathering, and the Blurry acoustic guitar majesty of The Cascade mountains all reveal themselves....

MMOB's latest release is Totem 2, is out now via Important. The LP was recorded, mixed and produced by Randall Dunn (Six Organs of Admitance, Sunno))), Earth ,etc). Dig on two songs from that LP above.

Meanwhile, a few of the bands playing the Important Records celebration have new releases to celebrate. Duane Pitre is celebrating the release of his new LP of guitar and string minimalism, out now via Origin via Thrill Jockey Records (stream excerpts). Fursaxa has a new-ish LP of freak folk in Mycorrhizae Realm featuring Helena Espvall on cello.

CAVE has another date on the eve of the Important Records show; look for the California psychedelics to take the stage at Cake Shop on August 14th (not The Studio at Webster Hall as originally announced). CAVE's Pure Moods 12" is out now via Drag City.

Full Cave, Arborea, and Diane Cluck dates, as well as some video are below.

Continue reading "Important Records bands playing Issue Project Room & other dates - Master Musicians of Bukkake, Ocean, CAVE & more"

by Black Bubblegum

Om, recording their new LP w/ Steve Albini @ Electrical Audio

In our interview with Emil Amos back at at ATP NY in 2008, he said, "I have four Holy Sons records... A new full-length called Drifter's Sympathy for Important Records, The Squanderer which is the next full length after the Important record, a cover record in the style of Kicking Against The Pricks, and My Only Warm Coals, a 35 song retrospective... I did a show with Damo Suzuki, Yellow Swans, White Rainbow, and Valet, but haven't ever had the time to mix it..."

When not busy playing with Om and Grails, Emil Amos spends a good bit of time cranking away at his solo project, Holy Sons, whose new album Drifter's Sympathy was released Tuesday (4/28) on Important records. Check out a few MP3 snippets, and watch the the video for the title track below.

Also due on Important, Om's new live album! "Live Conference was recorded on 24 track remote audio in Brooklyn. On this night Om performed their seminal album Conference of the Birds live in its entirety. Newly invoked energy resonates in the sound of the band. The dynamics between Emil Amos and Al Cisneros have rendered these songs, and Om's sound into a higher evolution."

I missed Om's last Brooklyn show (9/23/08), but I will vouch for the "higher evolution" of their sound at their performance at ATP three days before. It was one of my highlights for the weekend. Look for Om's Live Conference soon. A picture of the packaging is below.

Om also recently completed recording of their new studio album for Drag City. They're working with Steve Albini, as you saw in the picture above. Look for the album to drop on 9/8.

In the tail end of last year, Emil's band mate in Grails, Zak Riles, released his self-titled LP on Important. A few songs from the LP have evolved into Grails tracks, so it's an interesting trip to hear variations on that theme (pun intended). Check out MP3 snippets from that record too.

Om and Grails both played Roadburn over the weekend. Emil, Scott Kelly (solo, with Neurosis & Tribes of Neurot), Steve Von Till (solo, with Neurosis & Tribes of Neurot), and Wino (solo & with Saint Vitus) were the only people to perform more than once during the festival.

Grails and Al Cisneros's old band Sleep will play ATP The Fans Strike Back with Harvey Milk, the reformed Jesus Lizard, and many many others next week.

If you missed it, we recently interviewed Scott Kelly, Al Cisneros's band member from Shrinebuilder.

Grails' new DVD, Acid Rain, is out NOW. Full tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Holy Sons & Om releasing albums, live & studio + new video"