ARBITRARY SIGNS

United Waters Pitchforked by Six Organs Chaz

2012-01-05T16:57:00.001-05:00

Ben Chasny

Top Albums

Jessika Kenney & Eyvind Kang:Aestuarium [Editions Mego/Ideologic Organ]: Polyphony is overrated. All you need is an incredibly beautiful voice singing with a majestically in tune viola, playing the same notes, melting into each other-- that can sustain you through a whole sitting. This is a reissue of a CD originally released in 2005 by two of the more higher minded musicians living in America today. Aestuarium is the most beautiful record I heard in 2011.

United Waters: Your First Ever River[Arbitrary Signs]: Brian from Mouthus goes solo with the densest pop record of the year. Maybe it doesn't sound so pop on first listen but dig in a little further. In fact, the titles of the songs themselves invite the act of digging-- "My Geology I-IV", "Platetectonics", etc. Listen to those drums. That is some straight up Tusk-era Mac rhythm going on. The only thing is the whole record sounds like it's gurgling and bubbling from a newly dug well in a lost valley.

Jakob Olausson: Morning & Sunrise [De Stijl]: Our loner psych-folk hero returns after the masterful Moonlight Farm record that was released a few years ago. It's the morning now and Jacob has had a little coffee. He's waking up with a few rockin' tracks. He still can't help drinking a whole bottle of Robo before he sits down to record, though. These are rural cough syrup jams where you feel stoned-to-the-bone just listening to them-- the kind of music that makes you wish you were in a hospital bed with a drip of codeine just so could properly get into the mood. There's something about the way Jakob constructs vocal melodies over a soup of melting instruments that blows everyone else out of the water. Total fist in the air positivity, if only you had the strength to raise your arm.

Kourosh Yaghmaei: Back From the Brink [Now-Again]: Heavy and soulful Iranian psych from the 70s. Insanely gorgeous booklet and 3 Lps of jams that range from piano tinged ethereal numbers to more electric guitar scorchers. KIller jams, killer 'stache.

William Tyler: Behold the Spirit [Tompkins Square]: This kid has the moves. The melodies are fluid, the compositions have energy, the playing is varied. This gives me hope for the future of acoustic guitar music. Go see him live if you have the chance. He's a top rate performer of the old school variety.

Originally from Pitchfork

happy halloween

2011-12-26T00:18:00.000-05:00

big snow

2011-12-08T23:14:00.000-05:00

United Waters at Shea on THursday

2011-12-07T22:57:00.004-05:00

hey... Seems the awesome United Waters band will play this Thursday at Shea Stadium. Don't miss it! Details below.

Apologies for the sudden unavailability of the Devin, Gary, and Ross record. And so soon after the sweet review on the Siltblog! Seems I'm moving to Massachusetts. Nothing against Brooklyn or anything... it's just too crowded for me and my giant baby. Anyway... all outstanding orders are on the way ... and the DGR will be back on the Market in the next month or so..

hey all -

New Monuments
United Waters
Zaimph
Decimus

Thursday Dec. 8th
Shea Stadium
20 Meadow St. Brooklyn, NY
9pm | $8 | All Ages

Spectre Folk Band ...

2011-11-15T23:27:00.012-05:00

Spectre Folk is Pete Nolan, Peter Meehan, Steve Shelley, with Aaron Rosenbloom on tapes and keys and a special guest bass player Bentley Anderson for the Saturday gig at Big Snow and ? for the Monday gig at Death by Audio. Spectre Folk are a good psych rock band from New York. Jammers. Check kem out at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge on 89 Varet St. this Saturday night (the 19th) in good old Brooklyn and again on Monday at Death by Audio in Williamsburg, BK along with a host of other awesome bands... see the flyers for more details.

Spectre Folk is Pete Nolan, Peter Meehan, Steve Shelley, with Aaron Rosenbloom on tapes and keys and a special guest bass player for each of these 2 gigs. Spectre Folk are a good psych rock band from New York. Jammers. Check kem out at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge on 89 Varet St. in good old Brooklyn and again on Monday at Death by Audio in Williamsburg, BK along with a host of other awesome bands... see the flyers for more details.

United Waters Zebulon October 6

2011-11-03T23:28:00.004-04:00

Hello,

just got word from the United Waters camp that a rare appearance is happening this sunday at Brooklyn's Zebulon "jazz" club. Don't miss out. Here's the official press release:

hey all

Please join us this Sunday at Zebulon for a special night of music celebrating Barge's new release entitled Loop Current / Raft, to be performed by percussionist Mike Weis. Live sets by United Waters and Koen Holtkamp, as well as DJ sets by the Barge fellas, should make for a pretty fun night. Details below.

Thanks for reading!

-Barge

Sunday, November 6th, 9pm

Mike Weis (Barge Recordings)

Koen Holtkamp (Thrill Jockey / Type)

United Waters (Arbitrary Signs)

DJ sets by Ian & Dave from Barge

Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn

About the artists:

Mike Weis is no stranger to the American indie / experimental music scene. He's been the percussionist and drummer for the highly respected Chicago outfit Zelienople for the better part of the last decade, and has collaborated with such esteemed underground luminaries as Scott Tuma, The North Sea, Xela (John Twells), and Jasper TX. The compositions on his first solo LP on Barge Recordings entitled Loop Current / Raft breathe a singular vision of percussion as centerpiece to a multi-layered aural canvas. Mike's drums are shrouded in billowy clouds of ambient sound and muted synthetic drones. Tribal rhythms glean in and out of focus as sheets of bells, claves, bowed cymbals, and rattles dance over a hazy backdrop of manipulated field recordings, short wave radio samples, and found sounds.

Listen here.

After several years of focusing predominantly on film and video, Koen Holtkamp (b. 1978 NL) began working with sound in 1997. He co-founded the apestaartje collective / label in 1998 while studying at The Art Institute of Chicago. Holtkamp has released five albums as Mountains (Apestaartje, Catsup Plate, Thrill Jockey), a duo project with Brendon Anderegg as well as several albums under his own name (Type, Thrill Jockey). Holtkamp has shared bills with Fennesz, Loren Connors, James Blackshaw, Tape, Tim Hecker, Oval, Tony Conrad, Supersilent etc., and collaborated with Ben Vida and Chris Forsyth amongst others. His current solo performances utilizes a customized analog / digital performance system which integrates guitar, synthesizer and modular electronics via various strands of processing that communicate via control voltage to create an extremely gradual and hypnotic listening experience. He’s currently finishing a new solo album based on video footage of rivers he shot in upstate New York titled Liquid Light Forms.

Listen here.

United Waters is the solo project from Mouthus guitarist / vocalist Brian Sullivan. The live performance of the material from his debut recording entitledYour First Ever River on the Arbitrary Signs label will include accompaniment by Patrick Cole (Scumbags / Francis) on guitar and Robert Mayson (ex-Grey Daturas) on electronic percussion. Tiny Mix Tapes accurately reviews Your First Ever River: "The album is loaded with this kind of otherworldly flotsam — gurgling vocal manipulations, wooly acoustic guitars, fingerdrumming loops, synthy syringes — barely cohering into songs, but how Sullivan manages to make the stuff so warm and inviting despite everything is a little harder to point at."

Listen here.

2 Magik Markers Gigs in Western Mass Friday

2011-10-27T20:46:00.002-04:00

Magik Markers will be playing 2 gigs Friday October 28th... One early one at Hampshire Halloween and a later one (after 10) at Feeding tube Records in Northampton.

United Waters review from Tinymixtapes.com

2011-10-05T22:01:00.001-04:00

United Waters
Your First Ever River

[Arbitrary Signs; 2011]
by COLLIN ANDERSON

STYLES: lo-fi, lock-groove lullaby, noise-removal-noise
OTHERS: Mouthus, Eskimo King, Pink Reason, Pumice, Waggers Over the Station

00:00

Your First Ever River, the debut album from Mouthus guitarist/vocalist Brian Sullivan’s United Waters, sure is… quiet?

Let me explain why this is better than it may sound. "Quiet," in this case, is two-pronged: first and fairly obviously, the whole project is pretty far removed from the cuspily-seminal noise rock of Mouthus; whatever in hell United Waters is, it sure evokes quieter paradigms. But "quiet" is also a misnomer that gets tossed around a lot in the so-called Loudness Wars, of which some readers may have heard. Nick Southall’s several-year-old article“Imperfect Sound Forever” remains the best primer on the topic, but in short: over especially the last 15 years or so, competitive producers have mixed albums at increasingly ‘loud’ levels, which actually means that they’re being compressed into a far narrower dB range. Consequently, turning up the music with an actual volume knob (the absolute power of which renders "quiet" a misnomer) yields a more cluttered, distorted sound — even with records most would agree are produced with finesse, like Cosmogramma. Southall convincingly argues that this trend corresponds with the ubiquity of contemporary music and the restlessness of contemporary listeners; music that only utilizes the top 5% of a CD’s dynamic range is designed for maximal initial impact and eventual background throb, rather than close listening and investment.

What United Waters’ somewhat antiquated mastering means for Your First Ever River as a whole is that, while it doesn’t fare particularly well on shuffle/playlists/mixtapes, it demands to be as dynamically immersive as it is sonically. This clutch is also where it diverges from Sullivan’s scattered and almost coincidentally pretty work as Eskimo King. When, halfway through the 11-minute opener “My Geology” (which begins/began as an EK song), some seismic-ass low-end throttles the song, spilling through pores of a permeability we just don’t hear much these days, no one’s gonna even whisper “Bassnectar” — because well, there’s no beat, no law, no tension/release, but moreover, your ears don’t feel pushed back by any such nauseating certainty; they feel welcomed, if more than a little confused. You don’t know from which direction the blackened-in waveform came. You don’t know where Sullivan’s going with it. It’s not even entirely clear that every listener would agree that the song is no longer "quiet."

The album is loaded with this kind of otherworldly flotsam — gurgling vocal manipulations, wooly acoustic guitars, fingerdrumming loops, synthy syringes — barely cohering into songs, but how Sullivan manages to make the stuff so warm and inviting despite everything is a little harder to point at. I once tried recording a folky/Sebadoh-ish song with a broken-beyond-repair microphone held together with a paperclip and a rubber band. The result sounded like flat white noise to me, but just for kicks, I decided to run it through Audacity’s “noise removal” filter. What was left was a smattering of barely-there audio fragments sanded off at the edges, remarkable in its own way but frustratingly far from my vision for the song. I dumped the recording (and the mic), which was stupid, but a response I think most musicians would have had when faced with oblivion. Yet United Waters sounds like the cool mastery of this stumbled-upon noise-removal-noise, subtractive occasionally to the point of stomach cramps but so consistently and densely ‘out there’ that, at its best, it feels like a blueprint for an absolutely fresh direction. And if 'Unique' weren't such a bratty empiric, I’d be serious: it’s been a long time (The Glow Pt. 2, maybe, at my croniest) since I’ve heard such a compelling case for obfuscation-as-form-as-horizon in pop music.

And yes, somewhere in there, this is pop music. The context of Mouthus had to be a pretty hellish foundry to develop one’s songwriting skills — and the duo’s excursions into ‘accessible’ territory were often such heaving shrugs as to leave everyone vaguely disappointed — so the biggest surprise of United Waters is that Sullivan comes off not only as a fully-formed texturalist, but also as a fully-formed melodicist. It’s doubly impressive that he’s working with such crudely shaped tools, up to and including his own gutter-scraping baritone. But the tools are a crucial part of the hypnosis he has going here: he’ll build structures out of apparent silence just to create a line for something else to ooze over, like the clammy, pitch-shifting worm that both diagnoses and derails “Statuary.”

Such collisions no longer feel like coincidental, nihilist-in-a-room stuff; for a guy who has had such a stubborn one-take history, Sullivan is now stroking his wiry beard all composer-like. “Platetectonics” demonstrates some amoebic diligence — around some inaudible kernel, he spins a ribby acoustic line, a few flecks of reversed drum machine, and a keyboard attempting to vamp on a hamsterwheel. (I could bleed pointless words about anything else in there, the tempo choices in the tiniest tremolo buzz). And yet somehow “Platetectonics” emerges the closest to a blogger-pick in the whole crop, an elliptical confirmation of the other tracks’ elliptical suggestions and, for better or worse, a tad more familiar a tad sooner. When you can hear them, Sullivan’s lyrics are geometrical, geological, new-agey without the benefit of bath salts — completing circles and the like — but they work best as thematic fenceposts, or promises empty-until-colored.

While song development is gushable across the board (except perhaps for the tumbleweed-kicking "No End to Eyes"), it’s really the sustained dankness of the album, its elastic and inside-out physics, that will draw listeners back time and time again. Melody and sound converge so darn well that it’s a wonder the recordings don’t just tattoo themselves on one’s brain. Instead, calling the album to mind when it’s not playing involves the more deeply embedded neural memory of trying to peer with one’s ears. Even Sullivan’s diehard followers admit that he has spent an awful lot of time basically just fucking around with Principles of Beauty and Sound, so it’s particularly neat that now, after by my estimation his longest release gap since Mouthus’ debut in 2004, he has pulled together a capital-P Project. Whether it’s a momentary confluence, a meticulous culling, or the first in some insular whirlwind of limited releases,Your First Ever River measures up, if on a wildly different axis, with the best of Sullivan’s scraptastic past.

01. My Geology I-IV
02. Spires I
03. Platetectonics
04. Spires II
05. No End to Eyes
06. Statuary
07. Different Heavens

LINKS: Arbitrary Signs

United Waters "Your First Ever River" available now

Spectre Folk at Luchador in Barcelona

2011-09-24T06:07:00.001-04:00

Spectre Folk (Pete Nolan solo) will be playing a gig at Luchador records in Barcelona next week.

2 Petes, 1 Canada... Spectre Folk hits the Golden Road with MV and EE

2011-08-17T22:46:00.009-04:00

Spectre Folk will pay a visit to our neighbors to the north this weekend as a lean, mean, way zoned duo. They'll be hitting the streets of gold with good buddies and multiple label mates MV and EE. In spite of how they appear in the press photo below, Spectre Folk are just a couple of real friendly New York dudes who'd love to make some new friends in Canada. They won't hurt you. Come check em out in Montreal on Saturday and Toronto on Sunday.

SPECTRE FOLK & MV/EE IN MTL

Posted on August 16, 2011 by popcornsnaps| Leave a comment

For all our Montreal friends, a musical announcement...

>>Popcorn Youth presents…

SPECTRE FOLK [Brooklyn, NY]

with

MV+EE [Brattleboro, VT]

and

Les Momies de Palerme [Montreal]

La Brique / 6545 Durocher #402

9pm doors / 9:30pm start

Sliding scale $8-10

Saturday, August 20 / a night of gorgeous psychedelic folk, heavy drone jams + sudden pop exploration

We are so so excited and honored to welcome Spectre Folk to our city. Spectre Folk is led by Pete Nolan (of GHQ, Magik Markers, and Arbitrary Signs fame) and Peter Meehan (oh and their drummer is Steve Shelley – yes that Steve Shelley – of Sonic Youth!). Earlier this spring they celebrated their latest release, the EP “The Blackest Medicine, Vol. 2,” on Woodsist Records. This is going to be a really special night. PLEASE RSVP to me, natasha.pickowicz AT gmail DOT com to get your name on the guestlist as it is a private event. Thanks + hope to see you there!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in music, party, people

Tagged concert, la brique, mv/ee, psychedelia, spectre folk

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21ST @ Placebo Space (1409a Bloor St W) - 9pm - $8/$10 - All Ages

MV & EE (http://www.myspace.com/mveebummerroad)
Matt Valentine & Erika Elder return to Toronto in support of their new disc "Country Stash" and MV's solo record "What I Become". Total good vibes duo backed by Toronto's own Matt "Doc" Dunn (Transcendental Rodeo, 10,000 Watt Head) and Mike Smith (Muskox). Space psych meets americana, electric guitar textures float around languid drum beats. Real rambling folk jams get weirded out.

SPECTRE FOLK (www.myspace.com/spectreflux)
Pete Nolan of Magik Markers & GHQ brings his solo project to Toronto for the first time. Psych folk guitars crunching over waves of dissonance, a train driving forward into the atmosphere, only to slowly disintegrate as it enters. Hints of free music leanings show themselves as the psych rock freak out subsides & distant minimal sounds dot the aural landscape. Psych becomes free music drones and sweeps, the disassembly of it's elements in plane view. Don't sleep on this!

ERIC CHENAUX (http://www.myspace.com/ericchenaux)
Toronto experimental guitarists finds the beauty in sadness and the sadness in beauty. Pulling emotion out of the twang of his guitar strings, he crafts slow moving ballads, angular improvisations and bumping "blues" numbers. Lending is talents to such groups as The Reveries, Drumheller, The Allison Cameron band among others, Eric has been a mainstay in Toronto's avant-garde music scene, but has now set his sights across the Atlantic. Don't miss what is sure to be a beautiful performance & one of the last for a long while by a serious gem.

TRADITION (http://www.myspace.com/tradition)
Toronto singer/songwriter James Klassen really emotes a huge amount with his quiet spacious folk songs. Gently strummed guitar over longs droning hums, James' voice whispers & floats on top of it all effortlessly, accenting the warmth he produces with his guitar. You can feel his sincerity drifting out of his notes, a shinning example of less is more, Tradition's music is a real gem to be discovered. For fans of Wooden Wand!

United Waters in Pitchfork's Overlooked recs of 2011

2011-08-08T17:07:00.002-04:00

Here's what Pitchfork's Marc Masters had to say about the Untited Waters record in Pitchfork's "best Overlooked recs of 2011":

United Waters: Your First Ever River [Arbitrary Signs]

The debut from Brian Sullivan's solo project United Waters can be as murky and dense as his primary concern, Mouthus. But Your First Ever River is also subdued and intimate. It sounds like Sullivan crafted these tunes in some kind of ocean-floor bedroom, building rolling melodies out of small fragments-- an acoustic strum, a two-note riff, a looping beat-- and creating his warmest, most inviting record to date. (Watch the video for United Waters' "Platetectonics" here.)

Isolated Markers Cassette review on Tiny Mix Tapes

2011-08-04T14:07:00.004-04:00

Markers cassette got a rad review here:

Magik Markers
Isolated from Exterior Time 2010 a.k.a. Bonfire [CS]
[Arbitrary Signs; 2011]
http://arbitrarysigns.blogspot.com
By Squeo

As the title suggests, the Markers retreat from the Drag City limelight back into the womb, documenting the mitosis of their mind into a handful of rickety songs à la the 2007 flood of CD-Rs that paved the road to Boss. One track is indistinguishable from a Velvets bootleg; another sounds like the final beach blanket bingo party after the seas dry up; Bob Seger's "Ramblin', Gamblin' Man" isn't covered so much as prepped for alternative dental surgery; near the end of side A, the band works out a straight 90s driving anthem, yearning over the horizon on the chorus and birthing one of their best songs yet in the back room of a Stephen Chbosky-penned coming-of-age rager. All these tunes still have a ways to go, but in this age of straining neck muscles to reallyhear music like we're manning the boards at the INA-GRM, it's refreshing to hear something so rambling and janky, and it demonstrates what still seems so valuable about this band and its MO: an ever-evolving attempt to be honest and strong in the present environment, to inhabit the performance space as the same sloppy humans they were before pressing 'record' and, through the divining rod of inspiration, living their way into startling works of art.

ASCS008 Magik Markers "Isolated from Exterior Time" Cassette... get some basement clues to the Markers new direction... 60 minums long

United Waters

2011-08-03T10:29:00.006-04:00

Has everyone heard this record yet? It's really... really good... Check out this review from Dusted:

United Waters - "Platetectonics" (Your First Ever River)

As part of Mouthus, Brian Sullivan makes music that is too noisy and dense to be rock, too nimble and pulse-oriented to be noise, too primitive to get dubbed electro-acoustic or experimental. Similarly, it’s impossible to grip the seven pieces on Sullivan’s first solo LP under his United Waters moniker as anything concrete: Are they songs that spiralled out into jams, or jams that coalesced into songs?

It’s a tension he seems to relish, and it’s there from the first drop of the needle. Side A is dominated by the 11-minute suite, “My Geology I–IV,” and the title and length alone should clue you in to the polarities Sullivan is moving between. It’s intimate but maps out larger, unseen forces, a play of the personal and the primordial.

Likewise, his arrangements throughout the album set opposing forces against each other. The opening section of “My Geology” has a clean acoustic guitar backing a trembling, distorted voice, like a slightly more wasted version of Donovan’s “Hurdy-Gurdy Man.” “Platetectonics” continues this acoustic/electric binary, with an acoustic guitar keeping the pulse for Sullivan’s massed vocals while a drum loop and back-masked cymbal strike clatter in the background, seemingly out of time, as if they were meant for some other song but leaked into the mix.

This tape-saturated, murky fidelity is on every track here, but Sullivan uses its masking properties with purpose. By subtly disguising his instrumental sources and rearranging them in the stereo field, he gives them new life and frees up our associations for the bigger effect. Both versions of “Spires” feature a muted drum track that sounds like it was recorded in a separate room. On “Statuary.” a slide guitar emerges midway through, bringing light to the minor gloom of the track’s first half.

Like a Pollock painting, your first impression of all this murk and the discordant elements is of a sloppy mess, but closer inspection reveals a tangled, intuitive intelligence at work. Order emerges not by breaking it down into its constituent parts, but when you step back and appreciate it with a wide-screen gaze. Your First Ever River is an album you could tuck into the tradition of cloistered, lysergic bedroom missives running from Skip Spence and Syd Barrett through to Twenty Six and Six Organs of Admittance, but it could just as easily get cast as something outside of that lineage. Not truly Outsider, but at least sui generis, made without a thought of really belonging anywhere or to anything.

By Matthew Wuethrich

Spectre Folk NYC

2011-08-01T22:12:00.002-04:00

Come check out the Spectre Folk band Tuesday night at Cameo Gallery... and see the solo jam this Saturday at the Stone courtesy of Carlos Giffone.

Spectre Folk ..3 gigs Wednesday 7/27, Friday 7/29 and Tuesday August 2nd

2011-07-26T22:42:00.003-04:00

Hey Hey... thanks to everybody for coming out to see the Markers at the un air conditioned Shea Stadium venue... also... what's wrong with you? Do you hate yourselves? It was 300000 degrees in there? Even the singer of the band almost passed out...

Spectre Folks got a small torrent of gigs this week starting tomorrow.. Me and Peter Meehan will play duo opening for Chicago band Disappears... Friday it's solo-Nolo at a gig in philly with MVEE and Aswara... then next Tuesday it's a full band gig at Cameo gallery back home (cough) in Williamsburg at the Cameo Gallery with Sands. Please try to contain your excitement... here's some previews from various web locations

SPECTRE FOLK WITH DISAPPEARS 7/27

Published on June 15, 2011 in current. 0 Comments

Spectre Folk duo (Pete Nolan + Peter Meehan) will open for Disappears at The Cake Shop in New York, NY on July 27.

Spectre Folk have a new 12″ EP - The Blackest Medicine, Vol.IIavailable now on the Woodsist label and at the sonicyouth webstore. Altered Zones recently interviewed Pete Nolan and Peter Meehan.

Fire Museum Presents:

MV & EE

Spectre Folk

Zillions

Aswara

Friday, July 29th 7:30PM
Highwire Gallery
2040 Frankford Ave
Philadelphia, PA
$6

MV & EE (Brattleboro, VT):

“Beaming down from the cosmos to a transmitter in some desolate place west of the Appalachian Mountains comes Liberty Rose, the new LP from Brattleboro, Vermont’s prolific duo/collective MV & EE. Noted for their ability to assemble both musicians and noises into dense, reverb-laden compositions, Matt Valentine and Erika Elder’s music describes the companionship between human-modified sound and nature’s own silence and echoes. Aptly split into two suites of equal running length, Liberty Rose, like most of the duo’s discography, hearkens back to the days of Scott Walker and Pink Floyd’s explorations into music’s atmospheric qualities... With the air of dissonance that’s common throughout their discography, MV & EE capture well the state of being lost. Rather than forging through the anxiety and helplessness that this state offers, however, the band lavishes in its adventurousness and liberation." - Jeff Roesgen/Tiny Mix Tapes

Spectre Folk (Brooklyn):

“Spectre Folk is the long-percolating solo guise of Magik Markers drummer Pete Nolan, a black sea of noise guitar, psych-jams, no-fi experiments, and other interplanetary gunk released on a never-ending waterfall of tapes, CD-Rs, vinyl, and the occasional CD. Nolan's latest, Compass, Blanket, Lantern, Mojo (released via his label, Arbitrary Signs), is the most mellow, soothing, and ethereal of his sounds that these ears have heard, channeling the dusty desert vibe of Ennio Morricone, exploring a little Six Organs churn, and finding lusher new secrets in his home-recorded murk. In short, it's dreamy, dreary, and a warm place to curl up.”- Christopher Weingarten/Village Voice

Zillions (Philadelphia):

New project by Rosali Middleman of Blood Like Mine ("Down home experimental swamp-a-delic americana to tickle your eardrum." says Fire Museum.) . - Quoting Brickbat quoting us

Aswara (Asheville, NC):

“This is the most recent release on rafi bookstaber’s azriel label, upping the stakes of his aswara duo w/ paul “p.” grimes via this blast of minimal, diffused free-electronic lacings, ranging from a righteous cymbal/gong-bath to kosugi-esque auto-filter voice & flute stratagem to some fine free-percussion & synthesizer blottage dotting the remainder ... a vision artifact of ancient future harmonies and inner cosmosis. supreme inner cranial reverberational reflections of where you are. unspoken language and incorporeal communion.” - Mimaroglu Music

Magik Markers invade Brooklyn 7-21, 7-22 Arbitrary Signs Showcase at Shea!!

2011-07-07T10:12:00.004-04:00

The Magik Markers will be playing 2 gigs in Brooklyn soon. The first will be on July 21 at the Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg with Ex-Cops and Haunted House.

93 North 6th Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 302-1180

http://cameony.blogspot.com/2010/01/thursday-july-21.html

The second will be an Arbitrary Signs Showcase gig at Shea Stadium (the bushwick venue.. not the Met's joint), featuring the first ever appearance of Arbitrary Signs recording artists United Waters! Man I'm stoked to check this out. Also playing will be the always astounding Burning Star Core... Altho Spencer's not technically an Arbitrary Signs recording artist.. he's a long time buddy.. and we're really stoked he's playing.Anyway... July 22nd at:

Shea Stadium

20 Meadow Street Brooklyn, NY 11206 | Bushwick |

Map | http://liveatsheastadium.com

Devin, Gary, and Ross Out NOW!!!

2011-06-30T13:40:00.005-04:00

best album cover of the month in Vice (click it and see)

Devin Gary & Ross is a mind melting three- man music making machine. Four Corners Bounce is their first record. The six tunes on it are full spectrum serving of psychedelia that includes washed out wanderings over well- worn terrain, bold ventures into a candy-col- ored abyss and a snappy title track that you will end up signing in the shower.

Don’t just take it from us. Here’s Father Yod himself, Byron Coley, on the record about the record:

Gary Panter is a bad penny. If he were German, the phrase might be, schlechter pfennig, which is much less euphonimous. So it’s a good thing Gary is no Kraut. But what the fuck is he? A Texan. A famous artist. A writer of songs, poetry and prose. As well as a gifted primitve musician. Thus, in this instance, bad means good, and penny means rennaisance man.

Panter first burst into the public gut in the 1970s with his Jimbo strip in Slash magazine, his design work for Ralph Records, and some really goddamn UGLY commercial art. A few people were also aware he was a musician, although many who discovered him through his first single— “Colahaus”—would deny the word actually applies to what he does.

After his next record, a collaboration with the Residents entitled “Tornader to the Tater,” people began to take his roistering a bit more seri- ously. A Japanese company even let him do a gorgeous bizarro-world country-and-acid LP called Pray for Smurph. That one was so good, people started to realize—hey, he actually is a musician!.

Moving from L.A to Brooklyn, he eventually fell in with the evil genius, Devin Flynn, who widened Panter’s aural palette and also to got him playing somwhere besides closets full of pot smoke. The duo cut a dandy album, Go Outside, then managed to corral the wildly talented Ross Gold- stein into their conspiracy. The results are this new record, and brother, it is a treat. They create miniature brain-damaged nuggets ranging from fake jazz to sloth psych with a nimble touch that’ll make your head squeal with pleasure. Marty Robbins might toss around in his velvet-lined grave

when he hears it, but screw him. All four of your corners will bounce like crazy. Guaranteed.

—Byron Coley, Victoriaville QC 2011

Side B

El Paso Peppermint Patty Meets the

Phantom of the Opera Cat Swim

Side A

4 Corners Loin Green After Donk

About the band

Devin is Devin Flynn, best known as the creator and illustrator behind the very insane Y’all So Stupid, a cartoon that once ran on Super Deluxe. In DGR, he does the drumming and a lot of the singing and more or less plays just about everything. About the same goes for Ross Goldstein—the Ross of the band—except he plays a lot more piano than percussion and in the art zone he does more photography and sign painting than crazy animation. The G in DGR is for guitar, played by Gary Panter, who also blows a little trumpet on this record. Gary’s been blowing minds with his art—paintings, album covers, illustration, comics, set design, light shows—since the late seventies.

For more information, to order records, or just chat about how awesome DGR is, contact Arbitrary honcho

Northside blogothon

2011-06-23T08:33:00.005-04:00

Click picture to hear the Markers Set at S. Cecilia's

So... played a couple of gigs at the Northside festival and it felt like a tour so I'm gonna write about it here. My folks came in for the weekend coincidentally adding to the jumble of hectic moving gear, people, vibes to different locations in search of that 20 minute blast of otherness. Brought folks from LGA for a pizza party at chez moi aka Pete's Pizzaz Pizza Parlour. Super fun usual spinach, mushroom, shallot pie and another with some fancy cured spicy meat on it too... the rain and upstairs neighbor spoiled the BBQ style but the oven worked good too. Then I brought the folks over to their holding pen aka Aaron Rosenblooms pad, just 4 blocks away. There waiting for us were the Magik Markers, fresh from their journey down offa Mt. Tom. After a hectic loud out/Violet Ray reunion, we got to St. Cecilias house of God, also 4 blocks away from chez moi. Don't know how I missed this spot, maybe cuz I never go to church, but wow! St. Cecilia's rivals some of the cathedrals of northern france... well maybe it's not that big.. but it seemed like it! We set up right in the pulpit under the very intimidating watchful eyes of Jesus and played some totally free form MM(usik). This place had some serious echo and it was a great spot to innaugurate my new drum kit, the rocket. Ed Askew was great with piano accompanyment and some cool songs about getting stoned with beautiful Tom. Totally weird scene. The woods got into some jammed out zones too and the kids lined up to buy their new cassette which looks great. The Markers did the midnight load up and money changing the Markers were off to MA.

Don't remember what happened Saturday. I think it involved sitting around, drinking coffee, and mall shopping. Went over to the gig at Europa. Another hectic settup where nothing seemed to work right.. oh man ... fret fret.. Then as the bell struck 7 the Spectre Folk band played a short electrified set for the after dinner crowd of the N'side. B Meds and 2 new tunes from our forthcoming Vampire Blues record.. super fun and easy once we got going... Also a chill break down and hang. After the gig Meehan and I rolled out for some research on an insanely killer restaurant in E. Williamsburg called Brooklyn Star for an Australian tourist magazine. When homeboy's in research mode he orders everything on the damn menu and holy moly... this was the best meal of recent memory. Super super good California oysters, Raw Kale salad, Romaine wedge, Pig Tails(!) with hush puppies, and for desert some succulent Bone Marrow on Texas Toast. The memory of that last one still sends my brain reeling into some altered zone of savory oblivion.

This ain't really northside anymore.. but on Father's Day we took the folks to the MOMO milk bar in W burg for pork buns and then off to Coney island for some real brooklyn times. Super fun new swing rides at Luna Park and a sweet stroll on the boardwalk. I just don't feel like a New York man unless I get an annual pummeling from the cyclone.. so I went for a spin on that hellride too... A super end to a really fun weekend.

Don't forget to check out the Spectre Folk band this Friday with the Sic Alps at DBA!!!!

Rich Daddy

2011-06-15T23:48:00.000-04:00

Markers Gig Friday with Woods.. Spectre Saturday

2011-06-13T22:54:00.005-04:00

DGR gig this Thursday! EP to be released V.V.Soon!!!!

2011-06-13T22:26:00.006-04:00

(Y'all so stupid vid by Devin Flynn of DGR fame!!)

Devin, Gary, and Ross, creators of the most exciting psychedelic music of our time, will be performing this Thursday at the Silent Barn in Ridgewood, Queens along with members of Smegma, C Spencer Yeh, Bill Nace and the Jooklo Duo. Their amazing record is set to release very soon on Arbitrary Signs. Stay tuned for more details.

DEVIN GARY & ROSS

Thursday June 16th

Silent Barn

915 Wyckoff Ave

Brooklyn

8 PM doors / 9 PM show

All Ages

Jooklo Duo + Bill Nace (presented by Northern Spy)

Ju Suk Reet Meate + Jackie Oblivia + C. Spencer Yeh (members of The Tenses, Smegma, BxC)

Devin, Gary, & Ross

Color Bük

Devin, Gary, and Ross "Bounce" on Altered Zones!

2011-05-20T15:19:00.002-04:00

Devin Gary & Ross: "4 Corners"

Instantly smitten with this ramshackle psych-folk number by New York's Devin Gary & Ross, the visually inclined trio of cartoon animator Devin Ross, photographer and sign painter Ross Goldstein, and illustrator, designer, and all-around Renaissance weirdo Gary Panter, perhaps best known as the art director for "Pee-wee's Playhouse." Pete Nolan of Spectre Folk is putting out their debut EP, Four Corners Bounce, on his own Arbitrary Signs imprint, and we can definitely hear the family resemblance. Think Velvet Underground-era VU meets Alexander "Skip" Spence meets the equally LSD-infused solo output of Germany's Juergen Gleue, only WAY more deadpan. --Emilie Friedlander, Altered Zones

MP3: Devin Gary & Ross: "4 Corners"

Four Corners Bounce EP is out soon on Arbitrary Signs

Tags: devin gary & ross, audio

Posted by alteredzones on 05/20/2011 at 2 p.m..

Magik Markers and Spectre Folk to play Brooklyn's Northside Festival

2011-05-16T16:02:00.014-04:00

Elisa Ambrogio of Magik Markers

Spectre Folk

Magik Markers and Spectre Folk will both be playing Northside Fest this year. On June 17th the Markers play at St. Cecilia's Church in Greenpoint with Woods and Ed Askew. The next night, June 17th Spectre Folk plays the same spot with Ida, Rebecca Gates and Eleanor Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces. We're proud to represent right here in our own neighborhood. Come on and check it out... Details are posted below from Brooklyn Vegan:

St. Cecilia's Church in Greenpoint will host Northside Festival shows

In their own words:

Northside Festival is thrilled to announce special series of shows in beautiful St. Cecilia's church in Greenpoint.
St. Cecilia's is one of the most beautiful and vital churches in Brooklyn. We are excited to be working with this community institution and proud to say that St. Cecilia's will be an important part of Northside.
There will be four shows taking place at the most spectacular venue imaginable.

And the shows are:

June 16 -- Atlas Sound, with Special Guests. Doors at 7 pm ($15 advance, $17 day of show)
June 17 -- Woods, with Magik Markers, Ed Askew. Doors at 7 pm ($12 advance, $15 day of show
June 18 -- Eleanor Friedberger, Rebecca Gates, Ida, Spectre Folk. Doors at 6:30 pm ($15 advance, $17 day of show)
June 19 -- Mount Eerie, With Nicholas Krgovich (No Kids), Wyrd Visions. Doors at 6 ($12 advance, $15 day of show)

Arbitrary Signs Interviews Brian Sullivan Creator of United Waters "Your First Ever River"

2011-05-14T20:16:00.010-04:00

Arbitrary Signs: This record was recorded and put together over a few years right? Exactly how long have you been working on this?

Brian Sullivan - hard to say.solidly,or more solid than before,about a year.there were pieces floating in the stratosphere and buried in the ground for a while.just had to wait to find them and for the right time to use them.you know how that goes,you got some ideas but not a place for them yet.i had a lot of other stuff in the works to keep my focus,so i was being patient w/ this stuff.two of the tracks are around 11 years old.they are different than their earlier forms,but same dna ,similar structure.about 2 years ago,shit started coalescing to a point where i realized it had a sound and a form that wanted to take on a more definitive shape and that i wanted to roll with.so by the time i had the "my geology" tracks,"platetectonics" and "no end to eyes" done, which was around a year ago, it was going at its own pace.

A.S: You played me a some of this stuff over a year ago and it sounded like there was different stuff... How many changes/permutations has this record undergone till arriving at the final masterpiece that it is? Is there a lot of stuff that didn't make it on the final record?

- there were a lot of permutations and mixes.by the time you heard it a year ago,things that existed were in their place,but not at their final mixes and "my geology" was def missing some layers.i had to step back from that for a while and see how it wanted to fit together and then add some final elements.over all, the pieces grew at their own pace.if something wasnt working,i would just put the song down and work on something else till i found a sound or part that worked with it.that might be a few days or months. i wasnt in a rush once i realized how it was going to come together.as for the stuff that didnt make the lp -there were 3 songs that got jettisoned pretty early on.2 were older and didnt fit the vibe.more acoustic oriented than the rest of the record.they were pretty much done,and i didnt want to fuck with them by adding layers that they didnt need to make it fit the album.the 3rd song that didnt make it was more of a tape collage that didnt flow with the rest of the pieces.just interrupted everything. sounds good,but not within the context of the lp. it takes a while to get the feel of the album or how the songs want to play themselves out.once that comes into focus,its easy to remove things that dont fit

A.S.:

This is a mellow record with all kinds of awesome sounds happening all the time. What is the best situation for listeners to check out this record?

- through a huge p.a.....it sounds pretty awesome that way.but i guess that aint too logistically realistic. i think that is up to the listener.lots of people say headphones - which is cool.there is a lot going on,but i feel you can crank up the stereo and absorb it all. the best situation is one where you can have some time and space to devote to listening to it.

A.S.:

I heard that Conrad Capistrano once said "I have no worldview." Does this record represent a philosophy or worldview that could be articulated?

- dont know why conrad said that.give him some hegel.and a beer. everyone has something of a "worldview" -they might not call it that and it might not be as articulated and developed as any philosopher or scientist you feel like inserting here.but over time,everyone develops pattern recognition and starts piecing together events and ideas that occur within their life.you kind of need that to navigate a world full of other people doing the same.or else pouring a bowl of cereal is gonna be a pretty heavy deal- way too confusing than it needs to be. so does "your first ever river" embody some philosophy?i suppose it does,since its coming from me.and in doing these things ,you are just taking in everything and filtering it through yourself. but i think its best articulated in the form that it is in. to extract the brain from it to examine would lose a lot in translation.might even be unknowable from the whole.its largely about adaptation.

A.S.:

What instrumentation was involved with the making of this record?

-tons.literally tons. obvious shit being guitars.lots of them.1st time i used pedal steel guitar to record.good thing to have.drums machines. sampled a bunch of percussion ,electronic and acoustic. keys and synth. voice.tapes.air.

A.S.:

How was it recorded/mixed?

- i recorded it mostly at home on reel to reel 8 track. spent to much time in the pit over the years,needed a break and a fresh set of walls to bounce the sound off of. also,wanted to record at a lower volume.cant do that with 4x12's and 2x18's.mixed it on reel to reel.edited some stuff on computer.used to do all the splices by hand on tape,but cutting on the computer can give you several different permutations of what you want to do and set them side by side for immediate comparison.got into this while filmmaking.instead of cutting a sequence w/ the film,viewing it and then disassembling it to reconfigure it for another option[and possibly forgetting how the 1st one made you feel].just do both through a computer and check them out consecutively.there is the lack of physicality in that process which i miss,but everything else is pretty hands on ,and the freedom of almost instant recombination through this editing process trumps the cons.

A.S.:

How is your approach to the United Waters material different from Mouthus or your solo output under the Eskimo King moniker?

-this is just a new stage or phase.thats why its under united waters.its a lot more constructed than most of the eskimo king stuff -though there are songs with the eskimo king ,but it had a different vibe,different time.as for difference btwn this mouthus,there's no nate.mouthus is the both of us working together.mouthus can be looser in execution and process.usually just hitting record and going.i do do the mixing and editing for mouthus,but its different material than my solo stuff,so i approach it differently. obvoiusly the interplay between nate and i is different than the me bouncing ideas off the past me which recorded something and i am now reacting to. motuhus is a present moment in the playing and recording.my solo jams are a little more geological or architectural in its development.got to sift and dig and build.

A.S.:

How do you feel about comparison's to the whole Twisted Village aesthetic that this record has gotten? Does this make sense to you or would you lump it in with more of a Kanye kind of thing?

-it has? i take that as a compliment.i dig twisted village.i think wayne is great guitarist.but twisted villages stuff is more blown out rock in most of its production. kind of going for a different vibe here. definitely not the kayne vibe.unless i get to interrupt stupid acceptance speeches with equally stupid ones.

A.S.:

What's your next move for United Waters? Do you plan to do this stuff live anytime soon?

-recording new material.doing that. playing live is gonna happen,just got to figure out how to translate this stuff into a live setting.right now its occupying the world of studio and thats the way it got constructed.so i got to bring it out in a way that i am psyched about.its good at being an album i need to see how it will be being a live sound. new stuff is a little more translatable live,so maybe just roll with that and let that happen.

United Waters "Your First Ever River" available now

Spectre Folk guest post on Altered Zones

2011-05-14T20:14:00.000-04:00

Guest Post: Spectre Folk

Spectre Folk's Pete Nolan says:
So I'm gonna shoot for a couple of moods here. I had a pretty aggro day yesterday and a fairly mellow day today, so I didn't want to pigeonhole my post into one camp or the other. Here are a couple of "obscure things that I'm feeling right now":

The magnetic fuzz wah snuff film that is "Street Crime" by the Index is what I'm feeling right now (yesterday). A high school band from Grosse Pointe, MI, circa 1966. John Ford manages to infuse his guitar playing with all the violence and malevolence of Lou Reed on "Sister Ray" or Link Wray on "Switchblade," all the while wearing black motorcycle gloves. The home-fi recording is nuts, too. Listen to how blown-out the drums are at the beginning?! These guys were making up their own rules for what shit should sound like, and their first record sounds like it was recorded in a cave or something. Most retarded version of "8 Miles High" ever. And "Shock Wave"? I'd rather listen to that than Hendrix anyday. I just stumbled onto this jam though and I'm digging the immediacy of the fuzz and drum tones. The cover shot they chose for the YouTube is creepy too. Maybe it's the dreaded onset of another New York summer, or just a crowded, uptight vibe, but I'm in the mood for some violent guitar playing-- the kind you never hear anymore. It was a toss up between this and "Frustration" by The Mystic Tide (one of those holy grail records I've killed countless hours trolling for in Long Island thrift shops). I had to stick with my Michigan roots on this one though. I don't think this song ever even came out on either of the 2 O.G. LPs that they pressed 100 of, so it qualifies as obscure. And yeah, with today's headlines being "Drunk Tour Bus Driver Runs Down Tourist in Times Square," and "Woman Throws Sulferic Acid on Brooklyn Man for Unknown Reasons," I'm definitely feeling "Street Crime" right now.

Ok. Mood 2 (today) is this track from Jem Targal called "Call Your Name." Something about this guy's vibe kind of reminds me of The Godz. Maybe it's the whole, extremely-stoned-loner-trying-to-make-really-catchy-pop-songs thing. The way the tape starts with the ONE (of 2,3,4) being all low demon wind-up vox makes this sound like you're tuning in to some collective unconscious radio station: "I'm not sleeping... to have bad dreams." This dude is so far out he thinks he's gotta smooth talk the foxy chick coming at him in his dream. Damn, that drum machine sounds so good... I could listen to it all night. I love how the song doesn't wanna end; he just keeps kind of jamming out on all the instruments, one at a time, because the groove feels so good. What a fucking weird dude.

Holy crap... I just found out here that like The Index, Jem is also from Michigan. I must be feeling homesick or something. I'd only ever heard this guy before on Tony Coulter's radio showa few years back. I guess he was the principle songwriter behind The Third Power'sBelieve, which is one of the best hard rock albums of the psychedelic era. I have a feeling I know what tomorrow's mood will be...

Markers land on the Tip of the Tongue

2011-05-01T18:55:00.003-04:00

This new Magik Markers cdr has just made it to the tip of the tongue on volcanictongue.com you can get it from their website... John Shaw did all the freaky hand painting on em so maybe you can score them from him too : john@gladtree.cTIP OF THE TONGUE 01 MAY 2011

Magik Markers
Mother Was Magik: Live Free Stone Cold
Arbitrary Signs No Cat
CD-R
£9.99

As much as I dig the more ‘overground’ Markers releases, it’s the private jams on the Arbitrary Signs releases that most regularly ‘do it’ for me. Mother Was Magik is a killer live set from the Markers trio of Elisa Ambrogio, Pete Nolan and John Shaw in oversize hand-painted/printed envelopes recorded at John Zorn’s The Stone venue in NY as part of a series curated by Tom Surgal. This is Markers at their most ‘out’ and hardest jamming, with Nolan playing fast/thudding snare/cymbal work with alla the combustive force of Sunny Murray while the guitar goes through the roof, combining spurts of fuzz and wah with an approach to convoluted string dynamics that could almost be Jailbreak. There’s a primitive modal quality to the interaction that takes the most tranced psychedelic guitar – Billy TK, Television, even The Byrds circa Fifth Dimension – and pushes it through ascension after ascension before Elisa’s vocals enter like a voice from a cloud or Patti circa Radio Ethiopia. Indeed Radio Ethiopia’s Abyssinia is another key reference, pushing rock alla the way into freedom by unplugging from notions of ‘fidelity’ altogether. There are moments of mass-vocal chant that could almost be Father Yod but when they break back into song it’s “Looking At You” by The MC5 as played by frigging Kleenex. This is a great, great set, one that keeps unravelling and birthing new ideas at a head-spinning rate and one of the best showcases of the breadth and depth of Markers’ approach to instant rock form. A major release: highly recommended.

Elisa Ambrogio Rocks the Stone Solo Tonight! 4/30

2011-04-30T13:53:00.004-04:00

Elisa from the Magik Markers, 200 years, 6 Organs, etc.. will be playing her first solo gig ever at the Stone tonight! Can't wait!

The Stone
Avenue C & E 2nd St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 431-0066

in other news... for your listening pleasure:

Here's a soundcloud of the Spectre Fire Trio from a performance a couple of years ago at Cafe Oto in London.. The line up for this free jazz blow out was Ray Dickaty on Sax, John Edwards on Bass, and Pete Nolan on skins.

Spectre Fire @ Cafe Oto 2008 by Ray M Dickaty

United Waters Plate Techtonics video premier via Altered Zones

2011-04-26T10:38:00.003-04:00

p-tec from b sullivan on Vimeo.

As half of burning experimental duo Mouthus, Brooklyn noisemaker Brian Sullivan has released crushing hard-psych records since 2002 with everyone from Ecstatic Peace! and Troubleman Unlimited to Olde English Spelling Bee, Load, and No Fun. On April 15th, Peace labelmate Pete Nolan-- of Magik Markers and Spectre Folk-- released the debut LP from Sullivan’s ambient solo project United Waters on his label Arbitrary Signs. Sullivan’s work with United Waters is music for daydreams, giving clarity and breathing room to his band’s organic, experimental spirit. “Platetectonics” loops muted acoustic guitar strums and the light thunder of a distant cymbal under Sullivan’s deep, mellow verse and submerged electric guitar tones. Check out the equally gorgeous minimalism at play in the track’s video above. Headphones required. --Jenn Pelly, Altered Zones

Buy the lp here!

Spectre Folk on Altered Zones.. with Woods 4/28

2011-04-22T08:11:00.003-04:00

Spectre Folk Artist profile reposted from Alteredzones.com (read it there to get all the cool links)... also check out Spectre Folk with guest bassist Mark Ibold, playing next thursday at 285 Kent with Woods and White Fence!

By Jenn Pelly

MP3: Spectre Folk: "The Blackest Medicine"

Sonic Youth’s Hoboken pad, Echo Canyon West, is like Candyland for indie rockers. Past the warehouse’s emerald-colored door-- marked only by an Ecstatic Peace! sticker-- is a dim recording sanctuary, packed with equipment from the mid-'80s. The space has served as their studio, practice space, and storage closet for five years, but on this gray Friday in March, Thurston, Kim, and Lee are nowhere to be found.

Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, however, sits on a couch in the control room, donning tiny specs and a smart sweater over a collared shirt. Behind him, past a glass window, the studio’s live room is crowded with instruments; the walls are flecked with guitars. Shelley taps his foot to a freshly recorded take from Spectre Folk, the 16-year-old project of Magik Markers drummer Pete Nolan. The group has spent the past three hours recording at Echo Canyon, where they also tracked their recent Woodsist EP, The Blackest Medicine II-- a follow-up to Nolan's 2007 Woodsist debut, The Blackest Medicine. The new EP moves between sunny psych-pop and burning guitar solos, taste-testing the Canyon’s offerings with hypnotic gong crashes, Vibraphone drones, and melancholic piano parts.

Nolan, wearing thick black glasses and a denim jacket, speaks of “sculpting,” “clay,” and “paintings” when describing his musical textures and rhythms. He is an experimental music vet in his own right, citing influences as widely varied as Dead C, Turkish psych, free jazz, and outsider folk. Nolan releases “homemade masterpieces of epic psych” on his own label, Arbitrary Signs. And he’s also appeared on the past two Woods records, including-- you guessed it-- “September with Pete,” a nine-minute sprawl on 2009's Songs of Shame.

For the last EP and Spectre Folk's upcoming LP on Shelley’s new Vampire Blues label, Nolan has expanded the line-up to include Shelley on drums, Tall Firs guitarist/vocalist and Sonic Youth sound engineer, Aaron Mullan on bass, and cookbook author Peter Meehan, a former Times restaurant columnist, on guitar. After a listen to a mixdown of the day’s work, the dad talk commences; Nolan recently welcomed his first daughter into the world, and the group spends a few minutes comparing child bedroom decorations. Later, Meehan, Nolan and I drive to Manhattan’s East Village to talk about Spectre Folk’s history, Mark Ibold, and how the Woodsist Festival in Big Sur inspired their recent EP.

AZ: You started Spectre Folk in 1995, and put out your first 7-inch shortly thereafter. How has the project evolved since?

Nolan: In 1995, I got a 4-track and started to make recordings at home in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. I was doing blown-out songs with a microphone and a distortion pedal overdriven into the tape recorder-- stuff with shortwave radios and ambient sounds, sticking a mic out the window, picking up morning doves, having that be a texture. The first Blackest Medicine record was home-recorded at my crappy apartment in Bushwick. A lot was loner folky stuff. The goal was to put as much sound onto the cassette as possible, so that each part would inhabit its frequency fully. The first Spectre Folk live band was with my wife in 2007. She played keys and synth; my friend Johnny drummed. We toured England and had Mick Flower, from Vibracathedral Orchestra. That got us into some heavy noise/psych-- that ecstatic, jamming warmth.

Then [last year], I made another solo record for my label called Compass, Blanket, Lantern, Mojo. I got a digital 8-track and used a lot of tape samples. I made field recordings out on the track where I went running in Greenpoint. Peter [Meehan] started coming to my shows. I knew him through my wife, because she’s a jeweler, and worked with [Meehan’s] partner, who is also a jeweler. [Meehan] was buying up my CD-Rs, and was like, "This shit is really good. You should be making vinyl records. I’ll give you the money." I recruited Meehan to play guitar; we started jamming, and eventually got Steve Shelley and Aaron Mullan to play with us.

AZ: How did you recruit Steve?

Meehan: We had just lost our bass player and drummer. One day, Mark Ibold was over my house [in Manhattan] making hamburgers. We’ve become really good buddies. Mark bartends at the Great Jones on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, and I’ve been going there since I moved to New York. Mark actually did the food styling on a cookbook I put out. So he was over making burgers-- he makes excellent burgers-- and he was like, "You should ask Steve Shelley." And we were like, "Steve Shelley does not want to play with us." [Laughs] Pete went home and told Julie, his wife, and she beat him up for two days until he Facebook messaged Steve. That was March 2010.

AZ: Pete, you already knew Steve by that point. Right?

Nolan: Yeah. The day I got my first 4-track, I drove forty miles through some corn fields and went to this store in Michigan in the middle of fucking nowhere. And Steve was there, just shopping for drums. I was a kid, and I was like, "Holy shit! I think that’s the drummer from Sonic Youth." I made him take a picture; I still have it somewhere. Beyond that, Magik Markers did a pretty big tour with Sonic Youth, when Markers were totally free-form. I think a lot of people hated us and just wanted to see Sonic Youth.

AZ: What gave you the idea to record a follow-up to The Blackest Medicine LP?

Nolan: Peter and I played duo in Big Sur last year at the Woodsist Festival. We were like, “Oh, we’re playing the Woodsist Festival,” so we took an old song I did for Woodsist ["The Blackest Medicine"] and sped it up, so it would sound kind of like The Clean. Markers went through a long thing, where everything was power electronics. To come from that into this bright, sunshine-y psychedelic music, and play a set in the middle of the day with the sun shining through the Red Wood trees… That festival was amazing. I was really into Moon Duo and Real Estate. Jeremy was like, “I want to put out a 7-inch of that song, the sped-up version.” That’s how this record happened. I let my brain get really poppy. “Black Meds” has that New Zealand pop action, and “Keep your Teeth Clean” was inspired by a dream with a Beatles song.

AZ: Did you use any particularly sweet gear out at Echo Canyon?

Nolan: On “4thD Refs,” we flipped the two-inch reel over to reverse a guitar solo that Meehan cut. I used an old Moog synth on “Keep yr Teeth Clean.” We also used their grand piano and arsenal of gongs. We used their plate reverb unit, which is longer than this [five foot] table-- a really dense and massive reverb sound, super lush. I'm into the Vibraphone sound. I wanna tap into that for the next record, too. I think we'll throw some Vox Continental Organ in there, too. They got it off Steve Reich.

AZ: You’ve spent time in several different experimental scenes across the country. How has living in places like Massachusetts and Kentucky influenced your music?

Nolan: In 1999, I lived in Hartford, CT. An hour north, in Florence, MA, Byron Coley was putting on great shows at his and Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Yod Space, which is this mammoth warehouse of books and records. That zone was a rich, deep, nourishing river of free music and poetry. I put up a flyer at the Yod looking for dudes to jam with and [percussionist and recent Bjork collaborator] Chris Corsano answered. We used to jam free guitar-and-drums duos in my apartment in Hartford. In 2001 I lived, in Northampton, MA. Fucking amazing, inspirational time. Was jamming a ton with the Markers, solo as Spectre Folk, and with Shackamaxon. There was almost nothing to do but see shows and jam with friends.

In 2002, I moved to Louisville, KY, and joined up with a 12-20-piece free jazz freak-band called Sapat. Practices were endless, all-night party jams. I formed the duo Virgin Eye Blood Brothers [with Kris Abplanalp]. We played synths, tapes, and acoustic guitars in live happenings that sometimes worked out very well musically. I was sitting on my couch in Louisville when I got a call asking Markers to tour with Sonic Youth. The first date coincided with me moving to Bushwick, in 2004, where I lived with Carlos Giffoni, whose No Fun Fest we played the year before. I also played with a band [in Brooklyn] called GHQ, and was jamming with Vanishing Voice, who mostly turned into Woods. Russ [of Blues Control] suggested I do a record with Woodsist. I think that was the fourth LP Jeremy did.

AZ: How do you think the next record, for Steve’s label, will be different from The Blackest Medicine II?

Nolan: So far Steve has only done [Michael Rother's Neu! tribute band with Steve and Aaron "Hallogallo"] 7-inch; last summer, Steve and Aaron were playing with him. The first track we cut was “Inchin’ Worm.” I was embedded in the Keith Richards book when I wrote it, checking out YouTubes of Keith singing Merle Haggard songs. I was trying to write a song with a healthy amount of play between singing and guitaring-- a call-and-response like Chuck Berry. So far this record is more spaced-out, extended, and expanded.

AZ: How has your daughter responded to your music?

Nolan: She got into it when I sang the ice cream truck melody today. As far as my own songs go, if I play “Burning Bridge” [from Compass] when she’s sleeping, she always wakes up and starts crying. She likes to sing with me when I have the echo-y microphone turned on though. I appreciate music a lot more now, because it’s completely my own thing, you know? Whereas most of my time is spent caring for another person. It’s not like when I was in my twenties and just jamming all the time. Music becomes more of a really special thing.

Blackest Medicine II is out now on Woodsist

4/28: 285 Kent (Williamsburg) on Thursday Spectre Folk appears with guest bassist Mark Ibold, with Woods and White Fence. Tickets are $10.

United Waters Review on Dusted.com

2011-04-20T10:42:00.002-04:00

Dusted Reviews

Artist: United Waters

Album: Your First Ever River

Label: Arbitrary Signs

Review date: Apr. 20, 2011

United Waters - "Platetectonics" (Your First Ever River)

By Matthew Wuethrich

United Waters lp's out today!!

2011-04-15T10:24:00.004-04:00

The United Waters lp's have arrived! The new totally solo jam from Brian Sullivan of Mouthus fame is a quiet beautiful masterpiece of loner psych majesty. We went to great lengths to make sure these lp's maintained the pristine tones intended and have been mastered for crystal clarity. Beautiful full color sleeves with artwork by Mary Kidd and inserts with lyrics included. We're very proud of this record. Shipping is free. Get yours today!

Arbitrary Action

2011-04-04T11:44:00.003-04:00

Here's the latest news....

The United Waters record is now in production after numerous flys in the ointment regarding surface noise, mastering, blah, blah, blah... Be assured that the final product will reach your ears in the highest fidelity possible and you will be able to enjoy the record with headphones or through your public address system with nothing but pure United Waters tone. This record rules and the official release date is now set at April 15th...

Also in the news...

DGR, who killed it the other night at the Spectre Folk album release gig, have an lp currently in the hands of the mastering guru Paul Gold. This means that their hit single: 4 Corners Bounce, will soon be issuing forth from the stereo systems of tasteful folks around the globe. Official release date: May 15th.

Like to make an apology to Ben in Saskatoon and Cameron in DC for the slight delay in your orders. I'm afraid they fell victim to a tour and a deluge of Jewelry making. Rest assured they are now in the hands of the US postal service and I've included a bonus surprise as a token of appreciation for your patience.

stay mellow

Spectre Folk "Black Meds II" release at Shea Stadium

2011-03-16T22:39:00.002-04:00

The new Spectre Folk ep "Blackest Medicine II" drops this Thursday via the Woodsist label. To commemorate the event the group will perform at Brooklyn's Shea stadium. Spectre Folk (the band with Pete Nolan, Steve Shelley, Peter Meehan, and Aaron Mullan) will appear with Devin, Gary and Ross (a killer psych/rock/noise/art/damage unit featuring renowned visual artists Gary Panter and Devin Flynn) along with EP! luminaries the Tall Firs. It should be a rad night, so come out if you're in Brooklyn!

Markers 5

2011-03-13T11:36:00.004-04:00

Well I seem to have fallen off the blogosphere for a few days. Haven't had any innernet since NYC. I just found out about the earthquake yesterday and it makes this stuff seem pretty dumb to write about. I don't really know what to say about that, except that our hearts go out to everyone who's struggling to stay alive and have lost so much.

Shows that have happened: played Manhattan at the firehouse from Ghostbusters (no joke). It was a big concrete space inside. The show doubled as a celebration for the 100th issue of showpaper, so there were like 10 Todd P interns running around dolling the place up like a birthday party for a 3 year old... balloons, streamers, etc. Gary War played a cool set of alien power pop. Total Slacker was a co ed rock band. We got up and had to set up all super rushed but still seemed to take forever. I left the room for a second and when I came back Matt Hartman's PA was smoking and blown and we had to switch everything to the house system. Amidst all of the uptightness we layed into a straight and heavy set that was just 3 songs. The Alps played a great set that night. Maybe my favorite one. It was also rad to have my wife Julie at the show cause she never goes out. So we got to dance plenty. Also rad to hang with Meehan and Ibold who got reprieved from Daddy duties for the night.

In our two days in NYC I made 144 pieces of jewelry, ate homemade rigatoni with marinara and sausage, some pizza, a grilled cheese, hung out with my baby and my mother, and played 2 gigs. The 2nd one was at a kind of secret spot on Kent street next to Glasslands. It was pouring rain all night. The first band was Hubble, solo electric guitar dude that slayed really loudly. Pretty impressive sound. Next was PC Worship, this brooklyn band that I really like. They were also super loud. Their band had a dude playing slide guitar and saxophone and they were super sludgy and awesome. We played probably our best set of the tour. We kind of layed waste to the room. There was a lot of ungrounded action and Elisa was getting zapped the whole time. Sic Alps played good but their equipment was wet and not staying tuned so they were kind of bumming.

The next gig was up at Bard College in Red Hook new york. We played out in a barn on campus. It was very cold but as people finally came it warmed up. 2 opening bands were cool. I can't remember the name of the second band but it had our host Eve in it. They were really great instrumental and kind of Bluesy. The show kind of erupted into a dance party as we played songs like Don't Talk in Your Sleep that it turns out are pretty good to dance too. Super, Super, Fun show. Sic Alps played a cool set that was loose and fun.

We stayed at the house of Brian from Gang Gang Dance with him and Dan Hougland from Excepter. Really fun night. Brian had a fire place and it was really nice to finally have a night hanging with the Alps and telling jokes and stuff. Brian was working on a solo art exhibition, so his house was filled up with all these rad sculptures and paintings.

Next day was a long drive down to Pittsburgh. Drive jokes included, a facebook dating status of "It's Complicated" meaning "I'm in love with a horse". The gig was really nice! Cool space filled up with people. We got to eat really good Vietnamese noodle soup around the corner at a place called Tram and hang with Mike Donovan. Scarcity of Tanks played a solid set. Alps played 3rd tonight and they got their sound just right so it was a really precise one. Very good, but shorter than usual. We played our most accurate set and I was very proud of our music, but maybe accuracy doesn't always translate to exciting and I think I'd say we did better in that regard at the dance party gig. Stayed with some nice kids. This morning as John got up he said "I have to take shower to cover tears." We might be playing last minute gig at Feeding Tube Records in Northampton tonight if we can get up there in time. Elisa has recently been featured in the guardian UK as one of J Mascis favorite guitar players. Check it out here>

Markers 4 kind of

2011-03-10T13:17:00.002-05:00

Hey... Seems I posted some misinformation in the pages of this blog. Last nights Markers show was in Manhattan at the Firehouse. It was really fun. Sorry for those of you who thought it was happening tonight (Thursday). Tonights gig is in Brooklyn at an unnamed venue. Here's the write up from a hip new webzine called the New Yorker:

GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN: NIGHT LIFE

SIC ALPS AND MAGIK MARKERS

With the success of nearby late-night haunts like Glasslands and Death by Audio, a Saturday night in this otherwise desolate corner of Brooklyn can feel like Fat Tuesday in New Orleans. This raw, as-yet-unnamed warehouse venue adds to the edgy celebration with its occasional shows. March 10: Sic Alps and Magik Markers (see the Downtown Community Television Center).

March 10

285 KENT

285 Kent Ave., Brooklyn

No phone

I'll have a more exciting post next time. I'm currently hanging with my family/slaving in the Jewelry mines of Brooklyn. Pizza Party!

Markers 3

2011-03-09T14:39:00.005-05:00

So we headed North from Durham... long drive. Had a few bad ideas on the way. One was to buy the item pictured above. It was the most strangely horrible thing I've ever tasted. I was trying to put aside my prejudice towards pork skin and msg... but fishy fried pig skin ain't my thing I guess.

Drove and drove and made it to the gig at the Rotunda in Philly. No time for a soundcheck so we drank a beer next door instead. Caught the end of the first band Purling Hiss. Dude was awesomely shredding on the guitar like some kind of Edward Van Halen meets Blue Cheer guy. Pretty cool. We set up and did what we could. No monitors and it seems like the sound guy didn't have half the mic's turned on. The mic's he did have turned on were feeding back. It was a free gig so there was about 200 people there. However there was no alcohol so everyone was just kind of looking at us. Kind of unnerving. Sic Alps did a good job.

Stayed with Willie Lane and Franny. Those guys have a rad house in Fishtown that was renovated by Grant Acker of UN fame. Beautiful little house from 1701. Got up in the morning and met up with John's family.

John's wife Anna's Grandpa was the Executive Producer of American Bandstand throughout the 1950's. He told a bunch of rad stories about the dawn of the teen age and how Dick Clark did his commercials by recording his voice into a tape recorder and reciting along to the sound of his own voice from a tiny earpiece.

Tonight we play in New York! Again!

Magik Markers tour part 2

2011-03-08T10:20:00.003-05:00

So we left hanging with Nate in Baltimore and went over to Twig and Carly's Tarantula Hill urban estate. We got lost and went to East Pratt instead of West Pratt "Boy Twig and Carly's neighborhood got fancy!" "I don't remember that Pagoda?" When we finally got there Carly showed us around. We hadn't been since the fire. It was awesome. Hilites include a beautiful sunlit orgone accumulation/meditation/hypnotism zone with an apothocary jar filled with sparkling water from the 1800's still sealed. 4th floor has a rad recording studio with a record cutting lathe. They have a patio on the roof with a "7th level" garden and beekeeper zone that brought us right back to Jafa "Love Here" on the heliport.

Motored down to Durham.. made some lp's and tapes along the way.. stopped at Wawa.. slept.. not a bad drive. Went to the show space, which it turns out was just some dude's house. "This doesn't look like a Punk House." Dude Craig was rad.. his house was filled with all kinds of ephemera. "So you have the SCTV box set huh?" He regailed us with stories of his former job as a music industry professional for yuprock records. Harrowing and dramatic. He sent us off to eat at a good bbq place, which we couldn't find. Instead we were lured by the place pictured above. It was really hard to resist actually. I only made it halfway through my sausage dog before my throat seemed to close up unwilling to accept anymore of the sausage dog topped with bacon cheese and ranch dressing french fries. It's probably for the best as the food had a distinctive gasoline flavor.

Met up with the Sic Alps at Craigs crib. Hung out drinking beers and hearing about their tour adventures to date. "We've been hittin' the boozes."

First band American's in France was cool. The guitarist had one of those black guitars with the speaker built in. I love that guitar. We played second. Didn't monkey with a setlist for this one. Just followed each other's impulses and I think wound up with a pretty good set. It was super fun anyway and rocking.

Sic Alps sounded great and I'm super stoked to be seeing them every night! They played new and old tunes and the audience was stoked. I read some Charlie Brown comics from 1950. I love Snoopy. Went to a good Mexican place after the gig and got a burrito called the Garden which was a good antidote to the gasoline dogs we had for dinner.

Now we're at a place which doesn't have live chickens unfortunately, but does have fresh eggs. Now we will eat them.

MM Tour Report

2011-03-07T10:54:00.002-05:00

So I guess day one of the tour was our gig at the Stone on the Lower East Side the other night. We set up in a circle with our amps all facing each other in the center of John Zorn's tiny performance space. We made them help us drag the grand piano out, which almost fell through a hole in the floor. I also had my pick of the cool 60's jazz dude drumsets they have piled up in the basement. Set it all up real quick and sound checked while a crowd gathered in the freezing cold outside.

After the crowd settled in we took down the lights for Aaron Rosenblum's super cool projection show. We started playing some piano based songs.. Bad Dream, Ballad of Harry A. .. and let that stuff get all free and bleed into a mix of wild jams and a few new and old songs. Super fun free wheeling set. Thanks to everyone who traveled to check us out and sorry to those who couldn't get in.. but we're playing another New York gig in like 2 days.

Chilled in the basement for a bit with my main cat Tom Surgal who, along with his partner Lynn, is curating events at the Stone for the next several months. There's about a million good gigs in their series so check out their schedule here. Six Organs of Admittance played the 10 o clock gig, and holy shit, this was some of the best guitar playing I've ever seen in my entire life! This guy has total mastery of his instrument. Truly inspiring to see someone making such complex and beautiful art right before your eyes. Dude has some hits too! He managed to weave tons of awesome acoustic guitar shredding throughout the whole thing and by the end the crowd was screaming for an encore. Awesome show.

The next night we didn't have a gig.. but Elisa and John came over and hung out with my wife and I for a pizza party. I made a kind of Margherita pizza with a bit of Spinach.. It's all I had but the second pie turned out pretty good I think. We all stayed up telling stories and jokes till like 1 in the morning.

Yesterday's gig was in Baltimore. Everyone came by my place in the morning to pack and work on a tour cdr consisting of the gig we had just played at the stone. We had a really good recording and with a few tight edits it was all set! I grabbed a Captain's Daughter sandwich from Saltie for the road. It was a strange sandwich with anchovies, hard boiled eggs, capers, onions, I can't remember what else. It was really good tho. It caused much ire with Elisa however who thought that it was just dumb and not funny at all to name a fish sandwhich after The Captain's Daughter. I thought it was also dumb but funny. I asked Elisa to come up with a better sandwich. Her idea was top bread dark rye walnut bread... bottom loaf light rye with sunflower seeds.. filled with Iberian ham, prosciutto etc. It would be called the Knut Hamsun. I think this is a better name. Not sure about the 2 types of bread.

Our gig in B more was great. Afternoon Penis ruled hard in a dreamy synthy way. Old School Nautical Almanac was confusing and very good. We played a tight but free rock set including such numbers as Taste and You Buy It. Lower Dens was very cool. Their guitarist was temporarily playing drums but their great songs still shone through the less tight sound.

Tonight we're playing with Sic Alps in Durham so come see us! Gotta go cause the battery is dying.

Come See Metal Mountains and Spectre Folk March 3rd

2011-02-18T12:47:00.002-05:00

Magik Markers "Mother was Magik" tour

2011-02-15T10:21:00.010-05:00

Very, very Excited for this tour... . playing lots of gigs with the always awesome Sic Alps! Here's the scoop:

Sunday, March 6 at 8:00pm - March 7 at

The Ottobar

2549 North Howard Street

Baltimore, MD

With Lower Dens and Nautical Almanac...

04 New York, NY The Stone
These with Sic Alps!:
07 Durham, NC The Layabout
08 Philadelphia, PA The Rotunda
09 Brooklyn, NY Monster Island Basement
10 New York, NY Old Firehouse
12 Pittsburgh, PA The Shop

These gigs all with the Sic Alps..

13th... Bethlehem PA.. location TBA

check out Sic Alps new vid... it rules

be scared

2011-02-13T00:04:00.003-05:00

art by Ben Chasny of Badgerlore

United Waters "Platetectonics", Devin, Gary, and Ross Show

2011-02-10T10:08:00.002-05:00

Production is underway for Brian Sullivan's home made masterpiece under the United Waters moniker. Lp's will be out March 1st. For now, here's the first single off the record entitled "Platetectonics".. which premiered earlier this week at Tiny Mix Tapes.

Also..

Arbitrary Signs recording artists Devin, Gary, and Ross will be playing an awesome gig at Issue Project Room in Brooklyn on Thursday February 17th with a professional light show by the world renowned Joshua Light Show.

Their Arbitrary Signs EP is slated for release on April 1st.

here's the word from GaryPanter.com

GARY PANTER BLOG

January 27, 2011

DEVIN GARY & ROSS playin’ out in Feb

Filed under: Blog — Gary Panter @ 1:56 pm

http://www.issueprojectroom.org/film/artist-music-journal-presents-seriously-ecstatic-joshua-white-at-the-fillmore-east-1968–70/

As you can see by way of the link, we are playing to honor our friend Joshua White, genius light show artist, on the occasion of the publication of a limited edition history of the art of Joshua and the Joshua Light Show, house light show for the Filmore East when it mattered most. The really nice survey was written by friendly Dan Nadel of Picturebox books. The calendar info neglects mention of Ross and i hope that they will amend that mistake before our show at ISSUE PROJECT ROOM on the 17th of Feb, 2011. We will appear with a light show conducted by Seth Kirby and crew. When I learn more specifically who is working on the light show, i will endeavor to make myself post that info.

Plus, we have finished our vinyl record EP. More about that soon.

Magik Markers head to J Mascis attic to record

2011-02-04T08:21:00.005-05:00

The Markers are planning to lay down a few tracks for an upcoming lp at J's this weekend... keep your ears peeled for more....

New Spectre Folk "Black Meds 2" coming out on Woodsist March 29

2011-01-31T22:57:00.005-05:00

Pete Nolan has been Spectre Folk since before drumming and strumming in Magik Markers was his main gig, and will be Spectre Folk long after he shuffles off this mortal coil. The main benefit of ghost folk is, you can play it way after you’re dead, and while you’re alive the Spectre can haunt any decent willing body with a gift for the unreal. This time around fellow Michigander Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) ran drums, Peter Meehan (The Grey Lady) glued guitar and Aaron Mullan (Tall Firs) slithered bass in the Folk, creating an alchemy the Spectre hasn’t floated since the days of basement wig wearing, in the short-lived Norman Bates-era.

The band entered Echo Canyon West with the intention of recording a 7″ of the “up-tempo” version of “Blackest Medicine,” the title cut from the 2007 home-fi Woodsist debut. After several sessions, they emerged with a four song studio collage monster that won’t fit in your locker and smells like smoked banana peels and undies blowing down an alleyway. A vibraphone, piano, and a plate reverb unit the size of a brooklyn apartment were all employed by the Spectre like Uri Gellar used spoons, inappropriately, desperate and bent. They physically turned the 2 inch reel of tape over so Peter Meehan could put subliminal backwards masking under his Erkin Koray worthy guitar solo on “4th Dimension Refs”and Nolan put the Temple Screamer to good use on tracks one and two, using samples of Shirley Temple Black’s ‘Good Ship Lollipop’ as vocoder harmonies on choruses. As far as we know, this record also features the first gong solo by legendary skinsman Steve Shelley, since the gong heavy debut Crucifucks LP.

Oh yeah, it’s full of burning psych-pop jammers too! Earmarking Nolan’s long standing but unspoken obsession with personal hygiene, “Keep Your Teeth Clean!” is a krauty suite that betrays Shelley and Mullan’s recent stint as the rhythm section for Neu! Their teutonic influence has the effect of putting the dreamy psych-fuzz that Nolan exhibited on last year’sCompass lp through a blender.. with a frog… that spills out into a wide open milky wayhead zone. You can’t snuggle with this record, so strap yourself in and feel the G’s! Fearless as a lemming, Nolan has created a private universe here, a Society of the Spectre-cal if you will, and his gift is his freedom. Let’s have a drift.

- Elisa Ambrogio (Magik Markers)

Spectre Folk

The Blackest Medicine, Vol. II - 12″ EP
(Woodsist)
Street date: Mar. 29, 2011

Side A:
1. The Blackest Medicine
2. Keep Your Teeth Clean

Side B:
3. Sold Your Eyes to the Moon
4. Fourth Dimension Refs

SPECTRE FOLK LINKS:

Spring Releases for the ol Arbitrary Signs

2011-01-26T11:16:00.005-05:00

Arbitrary Signs is proud to announce the upcoming release of 2 new lp's this spring....

1st off on March 1st... United Waters "Your 1st Ever River"

Solo lp by Brian Sullivan of Mouthus fame under the moniker "United Waters". The name of the lp is "Your First Ever River" It's kind of a loner home recorded exegesis that he's been working on for like 2 and a half years or something...some Fleetwood murk. Below are some words by food and hardcore heads.

The new lp by United Waters rises and falls, slowly and organically - if you're

half listening, it's a pleasant stream of organic electronics with the

occasional acoustic guitar sound cutting through, perfectly lovely

stuff, you could put it on anytime for anybody. but when the

headphones go on and lights get dimmed, the evidence of the

painstaking work that went into the composition and creation of these

tracks is apparent, beautiful and stunning.

the image that ran through my mind was Sullivan as a kid, late at

night, staring at the black and white snow of the television in the

dark - but he's seeing the secret patterns embedded in it, digital

sparrows flying to nowhere through psychedelic vectors that no one

else can see - or maybe listening to the radio long after the

broadcast dropped off and the station stopped broadcasting, and he's

able to hear the secret songs that the machines sing to one another in

the night.

Peter Meehan

If you know the man behind United Waters (B.K.A Brian Sullivan) from anything, you ll know him as the guitar thudder in Brooklyn s densest duo, Mouthus.

And if you were really listening to all those ninety million releases they did in the past few years, you d notice that Mr. Sullivan is a deconstructionist of the highest order.

Molten riffs that would cream the face off of both Nocturno Culto and Dave Murray combined dismantled themselves to reveal rock as a gas and thin air to be nothing but a

petrified turd left over in a backstage buffet platter by Michael Angelo Batio.

On his debut release under the United Waters moniker entitled Your First Ever River , Sullivan continues to expose the contradiction of sound for what it is, but there s not

so much discombobulated shrailing this time round to drive the point home. Brian s vision on Your First Ever River sucks in the sound and vibe of mid-nineties basement dwellers,

early seventies robe donning prog rockers and present day turtle necked Germans to continue his pursuit for the never knowing sound. Let s hope your there enough to bask in the

revelatory glow of it s sound.

Tony Rettman

Then on April 1st.. the new lp from the awesomest band in a really long time.. Devin, Gary, and Ross called "4 Corners Bounce"

This record features renowned visual artists Gary Panter and Devin Flynn with multi-instrumentalist Ross.. doing what they love best... jammin'... Totally zoned songs and jams that fit in great with the Arbitrary Signs aesthetic that you've come to appreciate over the decades...

ARBITRARY SIGNS

United Waters Pitchforked by Six Organs Chaz

happy halloween

big snow

United Waters at Shea on THursday

Spectre Folk Band ...

United Waters Zebulon October 6

2 Magik Markers Gigs in Western Mass Friday

United Waters review from Tinymixtapes.com

United Waters Your First Ever River

Spectre Folk at Luchador in Barcelona

2 Petes, 1 Canada... Spectre Folk hits the Golden Road with MV and EE

SPECTRE FOLK & MV/EE IN MTL

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21ST @ Placebo Space (1409a Bloor St W) - 9pm - $8/$10 - All Ages

United Waters in Pitchfork's Overlooked recs of 2011

Isolated Markers Cassette review on Tiny Mix Tapes

United Waters

Spectre Folk NYC

Spectre Folk ..3 gigs Wednesday 7/27, Friday 7/29 and Tuesday August 2nd

SPECTRE FOLK WITH DISAPPEARS 7/27

Magik Markers invade Brooklyn 7-21, 7-22 Arbitrary Signs Showcase at Shea!!

Shea Stadium

Devin, Gary, and Ross Out NOW!!!

Northside blogothon

Rich Daddy

Markers Gig Friday with Woods.. Spectre Saturday

DGR gig this Thursday! EP to be released V.V.Soon!!!!

Devin, Gary, and Ross "Bounce" on Altered Zones!

Devin Gary & Ross: "4 Corners"

Magik Markers and Spectre Folk to play Brooklyn's Northside Festival

St. Cecilia's Church in Greenpoint will host Northside Festival shows

Arbitrary Signs Interviews Brian Sullivan Creator of United Waters "Your First Ever River"

Spectre Folk guest post on Altered Zones

Guest Post: Spectre Folk

Markers land on the Tip of the Tongue

This new Magik Markers cdr has just made it to the tip of the tongue on volcanictongue.com you can get it from their website... John Shaw did all the freaky hand painting on em so maybe you can score them from him too : john@gladtree.cTIP OF THE TONGUE 01 MAY 2011

Elisa Ambrogio Rocks the Stone Solo Tonight! 4/30

United Waters Plate Techtonics video premier via Altered Zones

Spectre Folk on Altered Zones.. with Woods 4/28

United Waters Review on Dusted.com

Dusted Reviews

United Waters lp's out today!!

Arbitrary Action

Spectre Folk "Black Meds II" release at Shea Stadium

Markers 5

Markers 4 kind of

GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN: NIGHT LIFE

SIC ALPS AND MAGIK MARKERS

Markers 3

Magik Markers tour part 2

MM Tour Report

Come See Metal Mountains and Spectre Folk March 3rd

Magik Markers "Mother was Magik" tour

be scared

United Waters "Platetectonics", Devin, Gary, and Ross Show

January 27, 2011

DEVIN GARY & ROSS playin’ out in Feb

Magik Markers head to J Mascis attic to record

New Spectre Folk "Black Meds 2" coming out on Woodsist March 29

Spring Releases for the ol Arbitrary Signs

United Waters
Your First Ever River