Reviews:
LA WEEKLY: MONDAY, JANUARY 26 2009
VOICE ON TAPE, WHITMAN AT PEHRSPACE
For those about to rock: Weasels loot you. That’s why the avant-garde remains your greatest entertainment value — well, ever since you thought “golden parachute” meant you should turn your assets into an actual parachute made of gold for recreation. Sean Carnage showcases Beaumont label Folktale Records and their Sun, Smog and Hate compilation — five bands from Phoenix, five from Los Angeles, all bitching creatively about the sun, smog and hate. Whitman, on an extended tour of Arizona and California, plies his trade in whispery/shouty/mumbly free-folk, while Ontario’s Voice on Tape creates captivating, echoey no-fi passages of abstract folkish guitar with voices both diaphanous and assured. It’s as though the mistakes and reversals made during the ’60s folk revival are laid bare and revivified because these young captains of the guitar are also in love with noise, the opposite number of melody that, when embraced, makes one surprisingly freer. Also: Clark 8, Foot Ox, John Thill, Bri White.
(David Cotner)
"Voice On Tape's hauntingly ethereal voice is like a howl to the moon, raising the hairs on the back of your neck with its otherworldly beauty. "Marry You When Yr Sleeping" will wash over you, fantastically blurring the line between nightmarish and heavenly."
-Put On Your Ear Goggles - Dec 2008
“Ethereal full-moon howler” -Flavorpill.com 2008
"Not a performer, a wizard-captivator. Voice On Tape magnetizes you toward his midnight-world where you can’t help but relate to every word. Seeping from his lips like warm honey are lyrics of passion, obsession & admiration- with charm. He’s a storyteller telling tales of lost loves, wars between brothers & betrayal; all from the perspective of the gentle soul. Silky reverberating guitar notes form in the air and absorb his audiences in sincerely dark & haunting, yet delicate, tender songs. Live, he entices you to form unities, to clap along to the progressive rhythms, to sing along to the chorus’ with your heavy hearts. Though he finds himself playing the Los Angeles area often, Voice On Tape hails from the Inland Empire, hub of many new and promising rising artists. Quite a talent to behold."
-Sea Urchin Magazine 2008
"I got the chance to see Voice On Tape perform the other day at The Smell... FUCKING GREAT! Watching him perform is like day-dreaming about all the things that make you feel good. I must say he's got a real presence about him as he's performing. Standing in the room as he plays is pretty paralyzing, I mean it's hard not to pay attention to his music. If you haven't seen Voice On Tape live yet, I encourage you to go out and see him, It's really worth whatever the cover charge might be."
-Ports O' Call - Food & Water zine (Issue 10) 2008
....FRIZZ RECORDS is proud to announce our fourth LP release...
LEILA ADU has been described as 'A Nina Simone for the Noughties', and her two acclaimed albums infuse a broadly 'art-rock' approach with elements of torch song, speakeasy blues, avant garde jazz, gamelan, post-rock textures, and a David Lynch style dreamlike b-movie melodrama. As her website has it, exploring the "dissonant edges of familiar forms", but with that kind of 'dissonance' that they once accused Thelonious Monk or Debussy of, the kind that soon betrays it's own compelling melodic and harmonic logic to the attentive listener...
'Dark Joan', Leila's third album as a solo artist, was recorded in Chicago with the legendary Steve Albini (PJ Harvey, Joanna Newsome, Nirvana, Pixies), and Albini's genius has been to strip her sound back to it's essence, and hold it's most distinctive qualities up to the light. It doesn't hurt that this is by far Leila's most powerful set of songs to date, and if anything we are lead even deeper into her world by the pictures painted with just piano (or in some cases harpsichord or a grime-encrusted electric piano) and that voice...
Capable of anything from delicate heartbreaking purity to a fearsome dramatic power, her powers are seemingly limitless, yet unlike most other singers of her calibre, never does she resort to melodrama or show-boating, or any kind of pastiche, instead she employs her resources fully in the expression of her distinctive musical vision and the deep well-spring of her imagination. Nothing ever sounds as though it could have not been sung...
Hey! Listen in to Arboles on KSUN this Sunday at 4pm! I'll be playing some new songs off the upcoming EP. Just go to ksunradio.com and click at the top of the page!
Hi- Just wanted to say I love your music and I especially love "It's Harder Than You Think". I wanted to send it to my friend but can't find it on youtube or anything. Do you have any live video singing it? -Jenny
Being the Third Part to be collected in the film, TIME OUT OF MIND.
Starring: Isaac Takeuchi, Elizabeth Alvarado, Andrew Clarkson, and Lora Tortora w/ Brandi Hollandsworth.
“You hear one note of a Bach sonata, and it hangs there, glittering,
pulsating, for an endless length of time, while you slowly orbit around
it. Then hundreds of years later, comes the second note of the sonata,
and again, for hundreds of years, you slowly drift around the two
notes, observing the harmony and the discords, and reflecting on the
history of music.” Tim Leary.
Want to set up a show at The Relax Bar or the Blue Café? Send me a message and lets set something up or even better, bring out a demo to one of the shows
HMS Pharaohs Den Free Jazz Night Live Elliott Levin& Friends
November 18th, 2009 HMS Pharaohs Den Presents Free Jazz Night... Live Elliott Levin and Friends Conscious Summary, H.M.S. Collective,PEA and Seesaw Ensemble. 8pm Special Guest DJ ESP Inifiniti
Have you seen this man walking the streets of Philly? His signature single dread emits musical spores over sidewalks, music halls, and coffeehouses. Elliott is the ubiquitous Philadelphia musician. He has played with everyone.....reading his poetry into his flute, literally, improvising with Charles Cohen, Rick Iannacone, and New Ghost, the list is long. A discography appears below. Elliott studied music and creative writing at the University of Oregon. He also studied extensively with Michael Guera (former saxophonist with thePhiladelphia.. Orchestra), Cecil Taylor (..pianist/..composer/..improvisor), and Claire Polin (..flutist/..composer). Elliott has performed with groups including Cecil Taylor's Ensemble, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Odeon Popes' Sax Choir, Scram!, New Ghost, Atzilut (Fourth World), and Talking Free Bebop. He has collaborated in performance with poets Miguel Algarin, Gloria Tropp, Mbali Umoja, Marty Watt, and Frank Messina & Spoken Motion among many others. Venues have included Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The United Nations, The U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Ya
We just thought we'd send you a message to alert you about our video for our debut single Prism. We released the track from our upcoming album "To The Rest of The World" last month. It is now available via iTunes, Amazon and via SMS in the UK. Text "Track 3852" to 83262 and a reply will tell you how to download to your computer. We are obviously working hard to get up as high as possible in the charts so any help will be very much appreciated!
Also, we have our new youtube video! If you have a youtube account please comment the page as to what you think :)
Thanks again for your continued support for our music and MySpace friendship!
Out now on Domovoi Records DOM001 Mike Bruno - In Memory CDr
Twenty three tracks of raw, emotional, and deeply cathartic acoustic songs, seemingly wrenched from the deepest, darkest corners a guitar can go whilst being plucked and strummed this gently. Mike's voice truly transcends the barrier between 'barely there' and absolutely destructive. All live tracks recorded over the span of five years, all over New Jersey. A true gem from a great friend, and my personal favourite underground acoustic album of the year.
Limited to 43 copies. Housed in completely handmade paper jackets with original artwork, enclosed with yarn.
To order a copy, visit heofthehouse.com $8 US $10 Kanada&Mexico Get in touch for International orders Trades are welcome, and we also have many other great distro items on the site
He Of The House's very first (of many) compilation. Nineteen tracks from twenty artists, the end result of which is possibly one of the most diverse compilations I've ever heard. From soft spoken acoustic folk to raving, churning dirge tunes; from a noisy, industrial cover of a Sonic Youth song to oldschool punk from when it was still raw, fast, and unforgiving. Powerviolence peppers the grounds where spooked whispers whinny along, and the caustic words of a madman festering in his own mind play out over perpetually plucked guitar strings. A true honour it is to work with these amazing artists, and I do hope we can keep them coming back for years.
Featuring: Zombie Battle Axe, xHaroldShitmanx, Kro & Jason "EVIL" Covelli, Nemesism, Ginny Greenteeth, Don't Move, Spiral Vertigo, Chachi On Acid, Mike Bruno, Autopia, Dead Kid Harvester, Jason "EVIL" Covelli, Karmakumulator, Chelsea Wolfe, RedSK vs. teh soup rebellion, Torturing Nurse, Sleepers, Flea McGruff
Housed in handmade & handpainted paper jackets with individually original black tissue cutouts, enclosed with a button. Featuring full page insert artwork by Jason "EVIL" Covelli and a blurb about each band/artist from myself. Limited to 45 handnumbered copies.
For more information, tracklisting, artwork, and information on future compilations, as well as a wealth of other fun tidbits, visit heofthehouse.com heofthehouse.com/compilation
To order this compilation for only $8 (prices vary for out of country shipping), visit heofthehouse.com/recordshoppe
Hey!!, come sit down Under the willow tree Rest on this low mound Let the time pass with me.
So here we all are again Back down by the railroud track Don't feel so long since we were here before Same old tents and little more.
More,more each dawn Nowhere to go and hide Nothing to sell or pawn Victims of broken dreams.
Now you gotta learn From what you seen Never were no saints In the American Dream Work all day To make ends meet Then one day Out on the street Can't pay the bills Can't afford the rent End up here In a government tent
Here comes Godot Here comes Godot Here comes Godot Here comes Godot! Help, Help, Help, Help, Help, Help, Help, Help!
