Steve Schmitt - guitar
Dave Abramson - drums
Simon Henneman - electricity bass
Sam Wambach - saxophones
Apparitions:
Matt Rosoff
Tyler Johnson
Influences
Angelo Badalamenti, Phillipe Sarde, The Moontrekkers, Ennio Morricone, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Barry Adamson, Prince Far-I, King Tubby, Sergio Leone, Lee Perry, Scientist, Joe Meek, Augustus Pablo, Omar Khorshid, Yabba You, The Mofos, Link Wray, Ethiopiques, David Lynch, Secret Chiefs 3, The Cramps, The Tornados, The Shadows, The Pyramids, Tyler Johnson, Hokum tunes, Masaki Kobayashi, Roman Polanski, Kihachi Okamoto, Akira Kurosawa, Russ Meyer, Adrian Belew, reverb, Jimmy Page
2009/NEW ALBUM:
**If current instrumental music was always as majestic and as compelling
as this, I'd hang up my Retro-Italian Soundtrack collector's boots for
good. What we have here is the first definitive document from Seattle's
Diminished Men. From the explosive drum rolls of the opening track, the only cover on the record, "L'appel du Vere", from Roman Polanski's "The Tenant" (composed by Phillipe Sarde) to the darkly exotic finale "A Housewife's Dram", this record is a superbly crafted mosaic of whip-cracking vengeance, speakeasy hallucinations, and haunted geography. Besides the Italian western overtones, carnivalesque freak show backdrops, Khorshid Egyptian guitar passages, and flipped-out electronic space psych, are perhaps the best surf-inspired tracks I've heard in years. A thick damp fog must have been rolling in from the creek behind Randall Dunn's West Seattle studio when these recordings were made. Its spine-chilling how Dunn managed to make this record sound like the ultimate mid-60's Surf-Vampire-Western revival soundtrack. Elements of Joe Meek's best Moontrekkers productions cross with a dash of Badalamentian murder blues drama setting the stage for Steve Schmitt's cobra-twilight guitar work and Dave Abramson's drum kit outlaw splatter to leave their indelible stains across this 41-minute epic journey.
...............................-ALAN BISHOP
**The NEW ALBUM, which will be released on ABDUCTION Records SEPT 2009, is produced & recorded by RANDALL DUNN, who has worked with Secret Chiefs 3, Sun City Girls, Eyvind Kang, Sunn, Earth, Jesse Sykes, Wayne Horvitz...etc. exploding drums, sinister organs and horns, face melting saturation and Tsunamic Compression. when was this thing recorded??? 1968? 1979? 2020? STEVE MOORE of Earth provides the vital Farfisa organ and Mellotron and trombone. Randall Dunn-analog synthesizers.
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Diminished Men are grand theater, psychedelic, spaghetti-eastern music, presented under the tonalities of surf rock. Explodo-free jazz-groove drumming, deceivingly insane electric guitar, and swanky sax from your wildest Reeperbahn dreams. -Jared Nelson, NORTHWEST MUSIC BLOG
Diminished Men are mainly known for casting surf-rock into starkly noirish shadows and infusing it with kitsch-free drama. But they also veer off the reverbed, twangy path into more abstract, chilling territory ripe for scoring classic giallo films, fusing Goblin with Ennio Morricone.
.......................................... -Dave Segal, THE STRANGER
NAMES OF THE DEAD(cd)
This is a stunningly original disc. It blends horror and surf nightmare sound, bending to create serious images and moods. Very well written and arranged.
4 stars........ -Phil Dirt, REVERB CENTRAL
Diminished Men plow a distinctive, reverb-laden groove in Seattle's bustling music scene. Southpaw guitarist Steve Schmitt pulls off mercurial, twanging leads that corkscrew with Django Reinhardt meets Ry Cooder dexterity while the rest of the group help create eerie and exhilirating spaghetti-western themes --with a peyote chaser. Is that cactus talking to me?
..................................-THE STRANGER (Big Shot nomination)
"AMERICAN VOLUME SWELLS Vol.2" 2008(Cass) Bowels of Lunacy -BOL003
"AMERICAN VOLUME SWELLS" 2007(Cass) Bowels of Lunacy -BOL002
"NAMES OF THE DEAD" 2006(CD) Hector Stentor -HS003
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Limited edition cassettes available at Wall of Sound records, through mailorder (at diminishedmen.com) and at shows.
"Names of the Dead"(CD)available in most Seattle record shops, through mailorder and at shows. ..
Hey, I've got a new acoustic demo up of my song "Snapshot Chronicles" up now. Feel free to listen, comment, and if you like it tell your friends. If not, that's cool too.
Saturday May 16 ELDRIDGE GRAVY & THE COURT SUPREME ALTERED STATES OF FUNK ORKESTAR ZIRKONIUM Our CD release party, at last! Snap up your own shiny copy of US IS WHAT TIME IT IS, our debut release! With Altered States of Funk (Seattle's venerable P-Funk torch carriers) and Orkestar Zirkonium (a massive, joyous Balkan style marching band who forecast a 95% chance of partying in the streets) Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave NW, 9PM, 21+, $10
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Tickets are available from your helpful clerk at Sonic Boom records or online at TicketWeb .
Online Now!
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