photos by PSquared Photography, words and additional photos by Fred Pessaro

Pharmakon / Prurient / Kid Millions / Kim Gordon

Sixteen bands that deal in ambient, drone, noise and power electronics converged on Knockdown Center in Queens last night (5/2) as part of the Drone Activity in Progress show. The multi-stage event, part of a massive May NYC takeover by Red Bull Music Academy, was housed in a giant warehouse/factory building somewhat-shaped like an "F," with three stages (Red Room, Grand Hall, and West Wing) located in separate areas. Most of the sets had minimal crossover to the other stages, set time staggering was well executed, but those that did overlap were obvious in reasons why: guitar drones vs thumping bass lines, etc. Soundbleed was shockingly minimal in each individual room.

That many bands is a lot to take in general, but personal highlights all seemed to come from the "Red Room" where I caught sets by Prurient, Pharmakon, Alberich and others, who each used keys, effects pedals, vocals, patch bays, and samples to create their versions of industrial-noise terror. Other highlights from the other stages (Grand Hall and West Wing) included guitar-noise from Body/Head (with Kim Gordon), guitar/ambient from KTL (with Stephen O'Malley), guitar qizardry from Mick Barr, Noveller and the spazzy/jawdropping Jim Sauter/Kid Millions.

Tonight's Red Bull Music Academy events are: Brian Eno's "77 Million Paintings" at 45 W. 32nd (sold out); Masters At Work w/ special guest and vibraphone legend Roy Ayers at Le Bain (which is free); and Knox, QuietDust, August Rosenbaum, and Jimi Nxir at Le Poisson Rouge which is also free.

In addition to this set, check out another set of pictures at InvisibleOranges. More photos from Drone Activity are below.

Continue reading "Drone Activity in Progress, part of RBMA, took over Knockdown Center last night (pics)"

Pharmakon at Saint Vitus earlier this year(more by Fred Pessaro)

Set times for the Red Bull Music Academy's noise/drone extravaganza tonight (May 2) at the Knockdown Center in Queens have been announced. Drone Activity in Progress, which will feature sets from KTL, Vatican Shadow, Body/Head (Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, who also performed last night), Prurient, Grassmas, Mick Barr, Pharmakon, Alberich and many others, will bring the noise to this show (which appears sold out). UPDATE: Tickets BACK on sale. You can snag a shuttle bus from the Jefferson L if you don't feel like making the walk, though it promises to be a lovely evening.

Flyer and set times are below.

Continue reading "Drone Activity in Progress (Pharmakon, KTL, Prurient & more) announce set times for tonight"

Pharmakon will release Abandon, Margaret Chardiet's debut effort with Sacred Bones and first long-player overall. Look for it on May 14th via the label, but first check out the new track "Crawling On Bruised Knees" available for streaming below..

Chardiet's noisy, confrontational and abrasive live show is a must see, and you can catch her at a trio of upcoming NYC shows including, most imminently, the previously discussed April 7th date at 285 Kent with Jason Lescalleet and Spencer Yeh Trio (tickets) and at another show at 285 Kent on June 15th with Marshstepper, Body of Light, Lust For Youth and Foreplay as part of the Northside Festival. Ticketing info for that one is on the way, or get in with your Northside Festival badge.

Pharmakon also has one other NYC date, as part of the upcoming Red Bull Music Academy series of events, and it's a whopper:

On May 2, the Red Bull Music Academy will turn the spectacular Knockdown Center into a temple of thundering noise with some of today's most daring sound artists for Drone Activity In Progress. The night will see performances from sixteen solo artists and duos on three stages, where the sound bleed between stages is entirely intentional.

Joining Chardiet will be performances from Stephen O'Malley, KTL (Stephen O'Malley & Peter Rehberg), Body/Head (Kim Gordon & Bill Nace), Prurient, Hunter Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy, Oren Ambrachi, Alan Licht, Vatican Shadow, Pete Swanson, Mick Barr, Kid Millions/Jim Sauter Duo, Alberich, Noveller, grassmass and Hiram Martinez, and $8 tickets for the show, which is one night after the big "Round Robin Duet" show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, are on sale and will include shuttle bus service from the Jefferson L train.

All other dates and that stream is below.

Continue reading "Pharmakon readies 'Abandon' (stream a track), adds dates, playing big RBMA show full of experimental artists (dates)"

Dominick Fernow at Public Assembly in 2011 (more by Louis Caldarola)

NYC party The Bunker is celebrating its tenth anniversary this week on Friday (1/4) at Public Assembly, where they've been throwing their parties for the last 5+ years. The party will take place in both Public Assembly rooms with all four Bunker resident DJs (Derek Plaslaiko, Bryan Kasenic, Mike Servito, and Eric Cloutier), in addition to Reagenz aka Move D (live), Spacetime Continuum, Silent Servant, and Vatican Shadow (live). Tickets for the party are on sale now.

Vatican Shadow (aka Dominick Fernow, formerly of Cold Cave, and also the brains behind Prurient) released the album, Ghosts of Chechnya, back in October via Hospital Productions. You can stream the track "Chechnya's Ghosts Loom Large in Death of Former Spy" from that album below.

Continue reading "The Bunker celebrating 10th Anniversary in Brooklyn"

Warthog

Christopher Hansell of Warthog (ex-The Men) has dropped off his top 10 releases of 2012, as well as other thoughts on the passing year. Check out those below.

Warthog (which also features members of Nude Beach) is scheduled to play Worcester, MA at The Beacon on 12/15 with Who Killed Spikey Jacket, in addition to their previously discussed show with Inmates at Acheron on 1/12.

Hansell is also involved in power electronics crew Foreplay who will play the West Coast later this month with the great Pharmakon and Soren (of Rosenkopf). Dates are below. Soren will also play NYC at Saint Vitus on 1/5 as part of the Dysrhythmia/Wreck & Reference show (tickets).

Speaking of The Men, check them out this Friday at Saint Vitus (12/14), part of a Hurricane Sandy benefit (tickets).

Hansell's 2012 Top 10 list is below, along with video and a list of all tour dates.

Continue reading "Christopher Hansell's favorite records of 2012; Pharmakon & Soren (Rosenkopf) add West Coast dates"

photos by Amanda Hatfield; words by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Divine Fits / Cold Cave @ Webster Hall, 10/21/2012

While many were sleeping off their CMJ hangover, musical or otherwise, Divine Fits were headlining Webster Hall on Sunday night (10/21) joined by support from Cold Cave as part of a larger string of dates. The tight supercrew ran through tracks from their Merge debut, covered Frank Ocean ("Lost") and Wipers ("Doom Town"), and even took a time out to throw fried chicken into the audience (*cough*KoolKeith*cough*).

Cold Cave, the brainchild of Wesley Eisold, was sporting a new version of Cold Cave at the NYC date, now that Dominick Fernow has flown the coop to concentrate on his project Vatican Shadow. Eisold's new band definitely leans more toward the punk end of things, employing the talents of Hunter Burgan (AFI), Cody Votolato (Blood Brothers, yes the brother of Rocky), Jessie Nelson (Head Automatica), and London May (Samhain, Dag Nasty).

More pictures and the setlists from Webster Hall are below.

Continue reading "Divine Fits played Webster Hall with Cold Cave (pics, setlists)"

Holy Other in the UK in June (via Rachael Smith)

Manchester producer Holy Other, who released the excellent debut LP, Held, back in August and was in NYC earlier this month for Warm Up at MoMA PS1, two shows with Amon Tobin as part of their ongoing tour, and a secret show at 285 Kent, will return to NYC for a FIXED show at Le Poisson Rouge on October 20. The show falls on the last night of CMJ, though it doesn't appear to be part of the festival. The bill at LPR is rounded out by a solid lineup of Vatican Shadow, Autre Ne Veut, Orthy, and FIXED regulars JDH & Dave P. Tickets for that show are on sale now. After the NYC show, Holy Other will head across the pond to support Beach House on their European tour.

Speaking of FIXED shows at Le Poisson Rouge, the previously discussed live John Talabot feat. Pional show with Blondes happens this Thursday (9/27). There are also FIXED shows at the Manhattan venue on October 6 with Tiger & Woods, Bicep, Jacques Renault, and Paul Raffale; and November 3 with The Magician and Mighty Mouse. Tickets for all of those shows are on sale now.

The Magician used to be a member of Aeroplane, which is now the solo project of Vito De Luca. Aeroplane plays a FIXED show at HIghline Ballroom on October 5 with Catz 'n Dogz. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

An updated list of Holy Other dates and a stream of Held's title track are below.

Continue reading "Holy Other playing FIXED show at LPR before European tour w/ Beach House (dates & more upcoming FIXED shows)"

Cold Cave at Guggenheim (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Cold Cave, whose last NYC show was at the Guggenheim, will return to the club circuit for their next NYC show which is at Europa on June 14th as part of the Northside Festival. Tickets for that show go on sale Thursday (5/24) at noon or you can try to get in with your Northside badge. Details on support are still TBA.

In related news, Dominick Fernow (Cold Cave, Prurient) has launched his own label, Bed of Nails, which is an imprint of Boomkat. The inaugural release for the label will September Cell (out June 18), the new EP from Fernow's industrial project Vatican Shadow. Dominick Fernow is also the owner of Hospital Productions, which closed up its NYC store late last year.

Stream Vatican Shadow's Kneel Before Religious Icons, which was recently reissued by Type Records, below.

Continue reading "Cold Cave playing Northside at Europa; Dominick Fernow starts a new label"