Dropping Bombs and Driving Miles

The machine is in motion, perpetually. During the short lull between the Sex Funeral tour and the upcoming BBJr tour, Personal Archives has two new releases coming your way. PA//96 is a single-sided 7″ lathe by Serbian harsh noise artist Raven. Hand-screened records with wrap-around sleeve and insert. Numbered edition of 20.

PA//94 is the new album by Portland’s mysterious Dead Air Fresheners, Fast Radio Bursts. Field recordings by the group (which features an 8 year-old and a 2 year-old) are manipulated by Bob Bucko Jr (that’s me!). Bits of Jandek, flashes of Sonic Youth, total reconstructions and deconstructions of the hum of life. Released on pro-duplicated CD in 4-panel gatefold sleeve, edition of 100.

Personal Archives is privileged to handle the analog duties on Saturated, the new album from ARU meets Black Saturn. Dub/glitch hip-hop, experimenting in all the right places. Digital release by Alrealon Musique. Cassette edition of 25 on PA. We have a few left, so hop on it!

In further PA news, we’ve received masters for the Vernacular String Trio’s debut album, Parlance. Amazing free improvisation from three of St. Louis’ finest players. This disc should be out in the ether in October. Also, DJ DJ Tanner sent some sweet soul jams our way, so expect a tape by the end of the year.

Last week we sold out of Thollem‘s Machine In the Ghost CD. Thanks to everyone who has supported this amazing artist! Thollem has been busy in New York, working with his trio with Michael Wimberly and Nels Cline and performing with multitudes of musical monsters. He and ACVilla will be on tour through the end of the year. We still have copies of the Thollem/Kaufman disc, and plan on repressing Machine In the Ghost toward the end of the year.

In the meantime, I’m getting prepped for the next BBJr tour. Going out for a while, excited to play a few festivals with friends and meet a bunch of new people in towns I’ve yet to see. Here are the dates:

Wed 9/21 Chicago, IL @ The Burlington (Already Dead Family Reunion – playing)

Thurs 9/22 Kalamazoo, MI @ Louie’s Trophy Room (Already Dead Family Reunion – playing)

Fri 9/23 Kalamazoo (Already Dead Family Reunion – hanging out)

Sat 9/24 Kalamazoo (Already Dead Family Reunion – hanging out)

Sun 9/25 Columbus, OH @ House With No Name

Mon 9/26 Toledo, OH @ Ye Olde Durty Bird

Tues 9/27 Port Huron, MI @ Schwonk Sound Stead

Wed 9/28 tba

Thurs 9/29 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Roboto Project

Fri 9/30 tba

Sat 10/1 Athens, OH @ tba

Sun 10/2 Canton, OH @ Buzzbin Art & Music Shop

Mon 10/3 Cincinnati, OH @ The Listing Loon

Tues 10/4 Dayton, OH @ Smiles 4 Miles

Wed 10/5 Indianapolis, IN @ Playground Productions Studio

Thurs 10/6 Vincennes, IN @ The Bissot Estate

Fri 10/7 tba

Sat 10/8 St. Louis, MO @ Foam

Sun 10/9 Columbia, MO @ Hitt Records (Dismal Niche Festival)

Mon 10/10 Kansas City, MO @ Hidden Temple

Tues 10/11 Lincoln, NE @ house show

Wed 10/12 Des Moines, IA @ DMSC Basement Bar

Thurs 10/13 tba

Fri 10/14 Rock Island, IL @ Rozz-Tox  (Weirdtown Fest 3)

Sat 10/15 Dubuque, IA @ Smokestack

Mon 10/17 Moline, IL @ The Island

 

bob_absoluteendings

 

More PA, More the Time

Lots going on here at PA headquarters – aka a dumpy apt on the Mississippi River flood plain – including upcoming releases from Arvo Zylo, Dead Air Fresheners, and Raven.

Very pleased to present a project long in the making: Heavenly Sounds in Lo-Fidelity: Arvo Plays Ferrante & Teicher is the newest release from Arvo Zylo, and his first with Personal Archives. A double cassette release (one C40 and one C44), Arvo sourced all the material on this 80+ minute album from Ferrante & Teicher LPs. For those unfamiliar, F & T were a dueling piano team that parlayed their success off the ‘persuasive percussion’ and exotica crazes of the early stereo fidelity days.

According to Arvo, he “owns about 15 albums by Ferrante & Teicher, along with several other percussive records of the 30s and 40s (Enoch Light especially). One day, listening to the peculiar sound design on “Soundproof!” (1956), he decided to explore F & T’s peculiarities more thoroughly, and became inspired to build some sound structures of his own out of them. The contents range from daffy percussion psychosis to smoothed out industrual/ambiante.”

Not only is this album alternatively jarring and meditative, oppressive and expansive – it is also housed in some exquisitely fine packaging. A white C40 and sky blue C44 are encased in a butterfly shell with one 3-panel J-card and one 4-panel U-card.

Preorder is up now, with tapes shipping on August 8. Dig!

 

Also soon to be released is the Dead Air Freshener’s new CD, Fast Radio Bursts. It will go digital on August 8, with a physical release to follow on August 23. Amazing audio collage/found footage from this shadowy Portland outfit. Glad to pitch in on this album, or, as the band puts it, “produced” the darn thing. This one is a real head charger, with some excellent video accompaniment in progress to join the sounds.

Last, but certainly not least, is a new release by Serbian anarchonoise artist Raven. A single-sided lathe cut 7″ long in the making, this puppy’s gonna get the silkscreen treatment sometime after I get back from the Sex Funeral tour. 4 minutes of noise so harsh, 2 different lathe cutters turned the project down for fear of needle damage! Big thanks to Ethan at Funky Frankenstein Records for cutting these excellent-sounding beauties.

Did I mention tour? Well yeah, Sex Funeral is hitting the road in support of their recent PA release, Eradicator, as well as upcoming releases on 5CM Recordings and Forbidden Place Records. Here are our dates:

8/7 Des Moines, IA @ DMSC Kum & Go Theater – Zeitgeist 6
https://www.facebook.com/events/1817002471860865/

8/8 Minneapolis, MN @ Licorice Beach w/Straight Panic, Hate Hate, RYKYGNYZYR, Body Carve
https://www.facebook.com/events/1110448729001403/

8/9 Viroqua, WI @ Driftless Books and Music
https://www.facebook.com/events/1203487939683572/

8/10 Duluth, MN @ Studio 15 w/Fester Clunk, Ground Water Mafia, Timmy and Lorenzo’s somethingsomething
https://www.facebook.com/events/655350231283893/

8/11 – tba

8/12 Milwaukee, WI @ Bremen Cafe w/The Smudge, Dan of Earth, Citizen 2-13, August Traeger, J&B’s Slow Syrup

8/13 La Crosse, WI @ Cavalier Theater and Lounge w/United Halusa Nations

8/15 Lincoln, NE @ The Commons w/Mighty Vitamins, Avant-Bard
https://www.facebook.com/events/1752406731644636/

8/16 Iowa City, IA @ Governor’s Mansion w/Baby Alchemy, Mustard-In-Law
https://www.facebook.com/events/521761161367734/

8/17 Moline, IL @ The Island w/Blue Movies, ARU, Joe Grove, Randall Hall

8/18 Columbia, MO @ Cafe Berlin

8/19 St. Louis, MO @ Schlafly Tap Room w/Double God, Kevin Harris/Alex Cunningham https://www.facebook.com/events/1054241168002321/

8/20 Kansas City, MO @ Records With Merritt w/Man Vs Animals, The Feel Bad Hit, sweatpantsdaze
https://www.facebook.com/events/268366836862081/

I’ll have a bunch of PA merch with me, as well as SF releases. Looking forward to friends and noise and getting fucked up.

STAY BUSY OR DIE TRYING 2016

A Fickle Sonance

Thollem has two new CDs out, and the video for “Where Belongs Who”, from Machine In the Ghost, recently received its  premiere via Live Eye TV:

“In voicing the concerns of marginalized Americans, he places himself in a long tradition of folk singers, but he pushes on the boundaries of the form through his seemingly ceaseless desire for experimentation. In addition, using a Yamaha PF10, as well as liberal helpings of effects pedals, Thollem generates a gnarly form of the blues.”

Thollem is traversing the country for the next 6 months, hitting all 48 contiguous states in support of multiple solo and group audio/visual endeavors. Check out his tour dates here: http://www.thollem.com/dates.html

Thollem also received some play on a recent episode of the excellent FFFoxy Podcast, as did the new Scammers tape on PA.

Scammers also have out a highly recommended new self-released cassette, Deathly Hollow, and is/are hitting the road shortly:

5/25 Denver @ Rhinoceropolis w/ Linear Downfall
5/26 Lincoln @ Tree House
5/27 Madison @ The Lagoon 
5/30 Cincinnati @ The Comet w/ Half Waif
5/31 Chicago @ Elastic w/ Seth Graham, Mukqs
6/1 Minneapolis @ Seward w/ Diva 93, Larry Wish
6/2 St. Louis @ Hobbit Hole w/ Wei zhongle
6/5 Kansas City @ East Wing
6/14 Kansas City @ The Ship w/ Daniel Wyche
6/24 Kansas City @ Brick w/ BBDDM
7/1 Kansas City @ Riot Room

Lastly, want to give a big shout to Josh at Raised By Gypsies for his entertaining and incisive – yes, Sex Funeral did name Eradicator after the Kids In the Hall sketch – reviews of Lasers In the Jungle, Eradicator, and DJ Too Slow‘s Fuck All.

The above releases, as well new tapes from Wilmoth Axel and recent releases by Mahler Haze, Dead Man’s Lifestyle, Bean Snack and Devin Dart, are all available at the PA bandcamp page. Buy some shit so we can make more shit!

– STAY BUSY OR DIE TRYING –

 

Fool Me Twice

This week brings two new releases from Portland/’Couve improv trio Wilmoth Axel. S/L is the ‘studio’ album, while MoFoCo is culled from their monthly Sunday afternoon residency at Mother Foucault’s bookstore. Both feature a solid hour of make believe magic. MoFoCo is packaged in an 8 1/2″ by 11″ xeroxed foldout. S/L comes with a recipe for Cranberry Egg Limble, cuz we should all try new things. There are still a few copies of their previous Personal Archives release floating around as well.

Here is what the guys have to say for themselves:

Q: What is Wilmoth Axel’s approach to instroprovisationalization?

Woods (drums) – I have this ideal: every snare hit should be a crisis for the listener. A catastrophe on the order of poor Alice falling out of the world. An archetype of a beat, a big attractive crisis of a single hit. That the audience comes around back to over and over again just in time. They are moving toward that beat over and over, and through it to it and to it again.

Tom (guitar) – It’s the surprise of something you’ve never heard before. And it’s best when everybody is equally surprised — us too. The ultimate in music is when nobody knows what’s coming next, the players are following lines of their own, together, and just reading each others’ minds from moment to moment. And, you know, the peak experience of the most inspired improvisation, like a solo … except Wilmoth Axel wants that from all three of us all at once, and for whole songs and whole performances to be nothing but that all the time.

Kyle (synthesizer) – To not end up playing something stale, one thing is to have random input in real time. I know a lot about what I can musically do, but I never know what I’m going to do, or even afterwards exactly what I did — because Woods and Tom are doing their thing, which becomes my random input, or semi-random, because it’s got the logic of music or rock n’ roll. And additionally I’ll try an unpredictable electronic experiment, and they’ll be trying out stuff of course too. So you don’t know what’s going to happen in any given three minutes of playing, or even on a smaller scale, because you can’t control that many variables, dude.

Woods (electronic drums) – The thing is there’s a responsibility to never bore anybody.

Tom (bass) – Yeah, fuck boring people.

Kyle (bass) – I’d say that Wilmoth Axel takes on all the burden of potential boredom and saves everybody else from it.

Woods (edits) – Yeah, it’s our demon and we’ll clean up after it.

Tom (+ material) It’s our fate.

Kyle (+ material) We tried writing songs, but it was boring.

 

Big wheel of time keep on turning

Things remain hectic here at PA HQ – after the New Year’s trifecta of Mahler Haze, Dead Man’s Lifestyle, and Bean Snack we haven’t let up one bit. Two weeks ago saw the release of DJ Too Slow’s Fuck All cassette, and today is the day for Sex Funeral and Scammers. By the end of the month we will also have TWO new Thollem CDs, both featuring song-based material from this highly regarded practitioner of free improvisation.

With Fuck All, DJ Too Slow (alter ego of C.J. Boyd) remixes albums by two friends, pulling on the tracks like taffy. The results are at once calming  and disconcerting – like DJ Screw chopping up daily invocations of meditation.

“Side A is a remix of every song on Andrew Weathers’ “Fuck Everybody, you can do anything” album, all slowed down and played at the same time. Side B is a similar treatment of Casey Chisholm’s “Fuck Everything” album.” – C.J. Boyd

Available on beautiful blue cobalt cassettes with gold shell imprint. Professionally duplicated and printed by National Audio Company.

Out today (March 4th), is the new Scammers tape, Lasers In the Jungle. 14 months have passed between completion of this album and this, its first physical release. Upon hearing this album, I immediately thought it was criminal no one had thought to put it out. Over an online conversation, this was rectified (can’t remember who asked who what first).

Lasers In the Jungle goes deep. Phil Diamond’s deep baritone conjures images of a goth Scott Walker. The lyrics drip sweet with bitter wit, often at the expense of ‘us young americans’. The music is largely claustrophobic, dance beats barely distracting from sustained dissonance. Personal Archives is psyched to be working with Scammers – there will be a tape release show at the Brick in Kansas City that will also feature PA dudes Sex Funeral.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1028416907201630/1028486523861335/

Sex Funeral also has a new tape out today. Free improvisation with drone and grind leanings, Eradicator is the duo’s second release (last year’s Your Heaven Sucks CD is being repressed in time for their upcoming tour). Sex Funeral will be on the road the second half of March. Here are the dates so far:

Wed 3/16 The Brick – Kansas City, MO
https://www.facebook.com/events/1028416907201630/1028486523861335/

Thurs 3/17 – driving to Denver, hanging out with buddies, avoiding green puke

Fri 3/18 Bar Bar – Denver, CO
https://www.facebook.com/events/1537083386617426/

Sat 3/19 The Treehouse – Lincoln, NE
https://www.facebook.com/events/1029657570410678/

Sun 3/20 The Fremont – Des Moines, IA
https://www.facebook.com/events/1576672775925834/

Mon 3/21 Kitty Cat Klub – Minneapolis, MN
https://www.facebook.com/events/1737840663112720/

Tues 3/22 Trumpet Blossom – Iowa City, IA
https://www.facebook.com/events/172698873109973/

Wed 3/23 Milwaukee, WI

Thurs 3/24 Satellite Records – Kalamazoo, MI (and recording with Emergence!)

Fri 3/25 Madison, WI

Sat 3/26 Castle Caladan – Rock Island, ILhttps://www.facebook.com/events/918937734869373/

Provided timing provides, we should have two new Thollem albums available in time for his and ACVilla’s ‘Silver Ochre: Who Are US Tour’, which extends from March 31st through early November.

Always Put On Your Sincere Face is credited to Thollem/Kaufman. According to Thollem:

“These are some of the riffs Andy Kaufman and I rambled through when he visited me in my dreams 14 years ago.  The night I turned 35, not coincidentally the same age he died, he announced to me that he had been collaborating with my subconscious for years (not behind my back: my subconscious was into it with or without my conscious awareness, he said) and that he wanted to ‘hang out’ together.

“In the original dream and following dreams, we worked together just as I do with people who are presently living.  In this case, he was primarily responsible for the words, and I, the music. The dreams always started with Andy sitting on the side of the bed, his wi(l)de eyes waking me from a dream within a dream (a strategy my dog Rex used when he had to take a leak in the middle of the night).  We were like old friends from the start, laughing continuously as we talked and worked.

“Certainly you are wondering if this is all true, or if I actually believe I’ve been collaborating with Andy Kaufman. Unfortunately, those are questions that are impossible for me to answer, but I do wonder sometimes who my subconscious might be collaborating with now…”

Machine In the Ghost, which Thollem describes as his “first solo song-oriented album”, is “dedicated to (but not necessarily about) John Trudell, Black Lives Matter and Rick Bennett.” Thollem’s political activism is expressed through the abstraction of poetry – much like his occasional collaborator Mike Watt – while the music, though based in songform, stretches far outside verse-chorus-verse mundanity. Thollem’s electric keyboard and analog effects cover a ton of ground, and astutely color between the lines.

Anyway, that’s what’s been going on around these parts lately. Dig and get on it.

 

Everything Is Happening Now

Lots going on in the new year already. Venereal Crush just got back from a short tour around the midwest (the above picture comes from the highly endorsed Treehouse in Lincoln, Nebraska). It was a good time, even when I spilled coffee all over our host’s apartment in Chicago, among other idiot moves. I haven’t toured with a band in years, and it was nice to spend a week traveling with friends, as well as getting to improvise some sounds in new places.

Back here at Personal Archives headquarters, the new year is off to a blistering start. The year ended with Annoying the Neighbors By Candlelight, a cut-and-paste collaboration between Milwaukee dark folkster M.M.S. Kaiser, comix artist Bald Eagles, and myself.

It’s an odd listen, but one worth giving a chance. Audio collage, boom box and 4-track recordings, reel tape manipulations, a Burt Bacharach cover… Something for everybody who’s nobody.

As for 2016, it’s starting off big with Bean Snack. Third installment in the series. Robot voices, Russian dialects, and sneaky spy stuff clash with ambient atmospheres, drones from below, and sweet noise. Made in a bakery downtown next to a Chinese takeout and a run down arcade. Available on professionally duplicated cassettes with imprinted shells. She’s a beauty!

Also fresh is the new Mahler Haze platter, Psithurism. Another masterwork of dense, pulsating ambience, Psithurism is simultaneously loud-as-fuck. Available on professionally duplicated CDs in a two-panel wraparound in a poly sleeve. Sleek and sexy, much like Mr. Mahler himself.

January will also bring a new Dead Man’s Lifestyle CD and a tape by DJ Too Slow (aka C.J. Boyd). Stuff from Scammers and Sex Funeral will close out the winter. Everything is happening now.

Do What You Can While You’ve Got the Time

Summer is – for the time – winding down a bit. It’s a blessed 65 degrees out, and the sun is setting earlier and earlier. As with everyone else I know, September means time to tour, and like everyone else, I’ll be hitting the road soon. This time I’m doing a lil’ midwest jaunt. I’ve had a few recent repairs on the van, so hopefully it’s in tank mode for the upcoming travels. Looking forward to seeing lots of old friends, making new ones, and playing with some great bands. Here’s the itinerary:

Thurs 9/10 Fairfield, IA – Arbor Bar
Fri 9/11 Kansas City, MO – Never Never Forget
Sat 9/12 Lawrence, KS – tba
Sun 9/13 St. Louis, MO – Foam w/Strong Force, Tracy Andreotti Duo
https://www.facebook.com/events/738498246272576/
Mon 9/14 Cincinnati, OH – CincinNative
Tues 9/15 Chicago, IL – Pinky Swear w/Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk, Columba Fasciata, Meester Magpie, Jackie Young
https://www.facebook.com/events/397363993800722/
Wed 9/16 Madison, WI – tba w/Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk, I Like You Go Home
Thurs 9/17 Milwaukee, WI – MKE Noise Fest @ Borg Ward 
https://www.facebook.com/events/101290296869616/
Fri 9/18 Beloit, WI – Music House
Sat 9/19 Rock Island, IL – Rozz-Tox w/Arc Numbers, Bois
Sun 9/20 Cedar Falls, IA – Octopus College Hill w/Samuel Locke Ward, TWINS, Emily Mollman
https://www.facebook.com/events/442922339223432/
Wed 9/23 Lincoln, NE – Toothblack House
Thurs 9/24 Omaha, NE – Midtown Art Supply w/Dereck Higgins, Lonnie Eugene Methe
Fri 9/25 Des Moines, IA – The Fremont w/Whiskey Janetor, Tree Branch Twig, DJ DJ Tanner, Used Alien Mind
https://www.facebook.com/events/886262681464888/
Sat 9/26 Columbia, MO – Niche Fest @ Cafe Berlin

I’ll be touring on the heels of my new Captcha Records LP, I Did What I Could With What I Had, which is officially street legal on August 24. This one’s a couple years in the making, and my first album featuring an outside engineer (the fucking stellar Matt Hohmann) and other musicians (my friends Drew Bissell, Rick Eagle, Shawn Healy, and Curt Oren).  It’s a beautiful package, with a painting by Cole Pierce gracing the cover and austere design by Ivonne Simonds Fals. Captcha head Ben Funke really went to bat for me on this one, for which I am ever grateful. Very happy with how this project turned out.

I also have a recent release on Tymbal Tapes, a fantastic new label based out of Lincoln, Nebraska. Curator/owner/operator Scott Scholz is also responsible for the most excellent Words On Sounds podcast and blog, and a vocal supporter of my cacophony for a few years now. Again, the packaging is out of this world – design by Tiny Little Hammers, printed with pewter ink on linen paper. Tymbal only has a few left, but I’ll have a small stash on tour with me.

On the Personal Archives front, my new collaborative effort with John Boyle is now available. A 3 song C21, this tape has already gotten some positive feedback. Washed out psychedelic drones, heavy on the human touch. Copies are available at the PA bandcamp. You can grab ’em direct from John as well.

Before the end of the year, I hope to have CDs out by Mahler Haze and Dead Man’s Lifestyle. There are a few other things in the works, but for now I’m going to concentrate on making through tour.

Over and way out,
BBJr

New and Old Gospel

Lots of activity around these parts – not only do we have some recent and upcoming Personal Archives releases, but there’s some new stuff brewing here in Dubuque. I am also busy booking my next solo tour for September. The left coast jaunt this spring went smashingly, and I’m champing at the bit to get back onto the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

Last month, we released the Frankgoshit / Big Fist Johnny split on pro-pressed CD-r. 5 tracks of Frank’s unique audio verite take on grindcore, and over five dozen sardonic blasts from midwest supergroup BFJ. A split release with Mortville Noise, you can find copies over there or at the PA bandcamp page.

Also fresh out of the oven is the new opus by Portland’s (formerly ‘the’) Wilmoth Axel. Sprawled across two C60 cassettes, jamming this triple album may seem a daunting task. Luckily, the lightness of the spare instrumental psych bursts that stretch across the magnetic tape makes the time slip past. I am consistently taken with the internal logic of this trio, a language the rest of us can’t speak, yet can clearly understand. Check out Wilmoth Axel on Scott Scholz’ most excellent podcast, Words on Sounds.

The PA back catalog is dwindling down (thank gawd!). We still have some copies of last winter’s Light Sensitive tape. Decoder Magazine dug it, and apparently so did plenty of you. There is more Light Sensitive material coming later this year, so prep yer ears and pick up one of the remaining copies of Enemy Smile in the meantime. On the harsh noise front, there is one copy of BOAR‘s winter tour cassette laying around yet, and a few copies each of the I Like You, Go Home / T-Buzz split and last year’s tapes by Breakdancing Ronald Reagan and Zke. Also down to the last dozen or so of Mahler Haze’s excellent Counterfactual disc.

We have a couple tapes coming your way in July. Devin Dart (The Men… FROM BEYOND!!) is releasing a ‘best of’ of sorts. Compiling sounds made after he retired his Make Believe Bombs alias, See You In Heaven gives us an hour’s worth of Devin‘s stony blend of electronics and acoustic instruments. Heavenly morning jams that sneak into your ears and blow yer brain’s mind.

Also on deck for July is a C21 collaboration between La Crosse keyboard man John Boyle and myself. I played a show with John in the Spring of 2014, and was way into his style of reflective keyboard. Windham Hill breezy, but with interesting key changes and chord patterns that set him apart from the knob-twiddler set. I recorded some digital tracks and sent them John’s way to dismantle. After adding his bits, he poured the whole thing into his reel-to-reel and applied his patented Boylephonic ® production. This tape is also a split release with John’s label, Weigh Out.

Looking to the future, we have a trio of forthcoming CDs. The ever-prolific Mahler Haze’s new album, Psithurism, will be available as a gatefold-style pro-pressed CD-r  this summer. Kosmiche-derived synth meditations and window-rattling guitars meld to produce both the calm before the storm and the deluge itself.

While Mahler Haze brings the doom to ambient, Tennessee’s Dead Man’s Lifestyle exists somewhere above the clouds. Hinterland is a collection of airy, contemplative tracks, punctuated with the occasional beat. I had the good fortune to see main man Jake on his midwest tour. Great guy who knows a thing or two about good beer! Expect a CD-r with featuring handmade art later this summer.

Lastly, the first Sex Funeral full-length is revved to go and awaiting mastering. A drum and guitar dialogue between Matthew Crowe (Cancer Lake) and myself, it’s 50 minutes of pure improv. An homage of sorts to the free music duos of the 1970s, pastoral passages are punctuated by plenty of skronk. For all the free form freaking out, an implicit melodicism keeps it from going off the rails. I am way psyched about this recording – Matt is one of my favorite people to play with, and his constant beat-fuckery is always a pleasure to navigate.

If you made it this far, you’re a real mensch. End transmission.

The Light, The Sound, The Rhythm, The Noise

 

 

 

Well, it was bound to happen. Brown Betty, my faithful steed, was laid out to pasture last week. She was quite the workhorse, her meager 4 cylinders carrying me across the country on two tours last year.

Despite this sad ol’ setback, I am going on tour again in April. Still booking, but looking for me on the West Coast throughout the month. I should have some new releases on hand by then, including my new LP on Captcha Records, I Did What I Could With What I Had, and a new tape on Warm Gospel, You, Before the War. Keep on truckin’, motherfuckers!

As for Personal Archives, the new BOAR tape is fresh and ready to be held. Catch Alex on tour right now with Justin Marc Lloyd and Mass Comm, and in February with I Like You, Go Home.

Speaking of I Like You, Go Home, Patrick just sent me the tracks for his upcoming split with mysterious Peruvian rap master T Buzz. Pat slashes up pop culture, yells ’til he’s hoarse, and brings the noise in typical cathartic fashion. Featuring the usual mind-altering cover art from Dubuque’s dirtball extraordinaire, Victor Cayro. You, Me, and T Buzz will be available February 10, in time for the aforementioned BOAR/I Like You, Go Home West Coast jaunt.

2/11-Dubuque IA@Monks
2/12-Des Moines IA@The Fremont https://www.facebook.com/events/393180194193714
2/13-kansas city MO NEED HELP
2/14-Wichita KS w/God Hat +more tba
2/15- Norman Ok@ the dope house https://www.facebook.com/events/475040075967429/
2/16-Houston TX@Sound Exchange https://www.facebook.com/events/423571314486021
2/17-austin TX @ The annex https://www.facebook.com/events/942075009154168/945212235507112
2/18-el paso TX TBA
2/19- tempe AZ TBA
2/20-los angelesCA @ Mata noise gallery w/ the pig lady, endometrium cuntplow
2/21-oakland CA @LCM https://www.facebook.com/events/1527207384228624
2/22-driving
2/23-vegas
2/24-driving
2/25-denver CO @Rhinocerpolis https://www.facebook.com/events/1569640699914628

 

 

Also on the way in February is the new Wilmoth Axel opus. Three albums spread across two tapes, Mining a Vein of Pure Electrum//Pizza Leveling Piano Party// Mining Annex is 120 minutes of pure joy. Instrumental psych improv jams, culled from endless hours of tape and edited to sweet perfection.

More stuff on the horizon, as well, though, with insurance and vehicle issues some releases may be pushed back a bit farther than I had hoped. If this wretched month has taught me anything, though, it’s STAY BUSY OR DIE TRYING.

STAY BUSY OR DIE TRYING 2015

It was a busy year at the PA encampment. A dozen tapes and two CDs were squeezed into the cold, cold world, and they were all pretty damned good (because I love all my children equally, duh). Personally, I logged over 7000 miles on solo BBJr tours in my dumpy lil’ S10 pickup. Can’t appreciate enough all the great people who supported both ventures, and all the artists that allowed me to be part of their thing.

As for the new year, well, it’s looking pretty fancy already. Starting 2015 off with a new BOAR tape. It’s a 4-part C10 called Bad Grammar. Brutal and brief as always, much like Alex’s live sets. Speaking of which, BOAR will be touring the shit out of winter, first with Justin Marc Lloyd and Mass Com in January, then a month later with the pride of Dubuque, I Like You Go Home.

Bad Grammar will be available in physical form on January 1. You can stream or download now. Or, hey, support touring musicians, and buy one from BOAR on tour.

As for other things coming in the new future, alongside the previously mentioned Sex Funeral CD-r and Raven 7″ lathe, the new year will bring the sprawling double C60 psychedelic mirth of Portland’s Wilmoth Axel. Sure it’s two hours long, but so are books on tape, and these guys can say a whole lot more without using any words.

There’s also a Big Fist Johnny / Goshit split CD-r in the works with Mortville Noise and a split cassette with I Like You Go Home and a special mystery guest. Once these babies are all put to bed, I’ll be loading up the S10 and heading out west for a spell.

Stay busy or die trying, 2015.