Arbor Infinity

Arbor Infinity is a record label run by Mike Pollard and based in Brooklyn. The label is all about ambient drones, noises and soundscapes. It's been in business since 2005 and has released music from Emeralds, Pocahaunted, Yellow Swans, Outer Space, Zaimph, Robedoor, plus a whole lot more. Things are usually on vinyl or cassette and in limited editions of 300 to 500 for records and 150 for tapes.



I kind of found out about Arbor Infinity last summer after I saw Outer Space. I never investigated what else the label had to offer until this summer. I ordered a few records that I've been listening to a lot lately. Secret Abuse, Pale Blue Sky and Cloaked Light have all been in heavy rotation on the turntable in my living room. The three bands create the afore mentioned ambient droning soundscapes. There is a degree of warmth and accessibility to what each is doing. The descriptions of the albums on the website was probably what caused me to pick out these records. All three are dealing with a sense of space and distance, but not so much a specific, clearly defined space. It's a more abstract space with parts that disappear or are obscured. And they sound great cranked up really loud.



One little thing about Arbor Infinity that I appreciate is the consistent design on each release. I'm seeing a lot of Helvetica type in the liner notes to go with album art that borrows from either minimal color field painting or drawings that vaguely resemble Jean Dubuffet, to generalize things here briefly. There's enough variety to keep everything interesting while maintaining a visual unity from record to record.

For more information:
Arbor Infinity

Tapes

"It is an embrace of limitations and constraints, at a time when everything is available." - Hua Hsu

Who knew that in 2011 I'd still be listening to music on cassette? Yet it turns out that I am and I've even bought three new tapes in the last few weeks. My old SONY Walkman is functional. (Of course I was always one of those kids who took really good care of his toys.) A couple of months ago when I needed a new CD player for work, I saw the SONY CFDS05 on the shelf at Wal-Mart. There was no way I wasn't buying the thing. It has a radio, CD player, line in for an iPod and a cassette deck. I'm of the age where I've got a box or four full of tapes under my bed so the option to listen to them again was appealing. This new stereo changed any tape that I might pick up from being a novelty to support a touring band into something that I could listen to regularly.

"Cassette aficionados also see aesthetic possibilities in the format's constraints. While digital compression techniques ensure that songs we hear on the radio or in MP3 format are bright and loud, cassettes - particularly those dubbed en masse - slightly blunt the dynamics of a song. Perhaps it's no coincidence that many cassette labels specialize in works that are ambient, ethereal, or noisy. Fidelity is sacrificed for a different kind of listening experience." - Hua Hsu

Beyond listening to old music I haven't heard in years, I think part of my fascination with cassettes is that bands I like are releasing them. These end up being the ambient/ethereal/noisy jammers plus the occasional punk band. They are making a tape to have as a document of their music and/or to raise a little money while on tour. They are doing it for the sake of doing something. It does feel special knowing that you are buying something that was made in a limited edition, often with custom artwork. It's a tangible object when everything else is becoming a collection of ones and zeros on a server somewhere. It doesn't feel somewhat forced, like the part of the current vinyl revival where the dinosaurs of rock are having their classic albums repressed for a deluxe edition.

I'm not going to make any grand claims about the greatness of cassettes. I like 'em and they bring back a certain degree of welcomed nostalgia of when I first started buying music. The audio quality isn't always the best and they can be fragile, but for the most part everything has sounded respectable with the tapes I've bought. They are what they are and that's fine by me.

Notes:
Both quotes are from an article by Hua Hsu called "Thanks for the Memorex" that appeared in the February 2011 issue of Artforum (Volume XLIX Number 6). The writing was about the slight return of cassette culture in this current digital age.

For more information:
Artforum

Radish White Icicle doesn't fully support the idea of shopping at Wal-Mart or schilling for SONY, but if they make a good product or happen to carry a good product, than that's cool by us.

Outer Space

Outer Space is the solo synthesizer endeavor of John Elliott. Elliott is a member of Emeralds with Mark McGuire and Steve Hauschildt. He plays a variety of analog synthesizers and keyboards. He also has a number of collaborations floating around out there. This includes Medecine Rocks with Alex Moskos of AIDS Wolf and Drainolith, plus Inner Spaced with Telecult Powers. Like most noise jammers, the man is prolific at putting out tapes and CDRs.



I caught Outer Space last summer on a tour with Drainolith at Soundlab in Buffalo. My friend Kyle was doing the sound and running a video projector for the show. He had these nature films of undersea life/scenes that fit exactly with the deep and bubbly sounds that Elliot was cranking out. It's weird how outer space and under the ocean match up sometimes. When the show was over, I bought the self titled Outer Space LP. It was a toss up between that and the newest Emeralds' album. I figured I could get the Emeralds someplace else and had better grab the record by the band I just saw. I made the right decision because Elliott made an album full of six glorious sci-fi synth excursions. It's my record of choice for breakfast on pleasant summer mornings.



For more info:
Emeralds at Last FM
www.arborinfinity.com
shesellsrecords.blogspot.com
deception-island.com

Chinook

Chinook is a four piece band from Michigan. I was first introduced to them on tour when we stopped in Kalamazoo and played the Strutt. We never really said much to each other besides the usual band banter or whatever, but I think it was because I was a bit nervous to follow them. They played so tightly and every instrument sounded so pivotal and perfect, what band wouldn't be intimidated? I know I was inebriated, maybe it was the August heat too, but this band carried me like a river.

Their four song EP Me All Night Long was recorded by Matt Ten Clay of Skull Studios and has some great moments on it. The band manages to mix their 1990's angular guitar driven sound with a lot of shoegaze effects to pull you in, but never have you lost in an effect or drone. 1:28 into "Poison Peanuts" for example, where the band's guitar players demonstrate some spot on guitar work as they pick a harmonizing lead, leads to some great delay and effects to close it out (3:22). If you're a fan of Castor, Piglet, Shiner, My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver or American Football, show this band some support. In a sea of 1990's "revival" bands, this is one that deserves more attention.

Here's a video we took of them playing the end of "Poison Peanuts" and "Jencon", both from their EP Me All Night Long. The band is also looking for a singer, so contact them if you're interested:

cameron.chinook@gmail.com

Sneeze

photo cred: John McCarthy / http://baddhabits.blogspot.com/

The guys in the band Coping turned me on to this Boston band called Sneeze. The band features members of L'antietam, Genders and Ape Up.

The 7" entitled "Grandma in the Trenches", which by the way has 8 tracks on it, was recorded at Dead Air Studios in MA and the album artwork was done by John McCarthy who also happens to have some fucking great shirts he did for them posted at his blog: http://baddhabits.blogspot.com/

I really have no good solid info on this band, but the 7" rips so hard. Grungy, dirty, fuzzed out garage punk that also manages to pull off a pop ish sound. I feel like I did in middle school when I found my dad's live Nirvana album. I can't put this one down, pick it up here:

http://dyinghorse.com/distro/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=656

And stream it here: http://sneezeus.bandcamp.com/

Aaaand be sure to check them out in late July and a good chunk of August when they go on tour with The Clippers.

July
28- Boston, MA -wacky castle w/ EARTHQUAKE PARTY & ARVID NOE
29- Syracuse NY- TBA
30- Akron, OH- its a kling thing w/tba
31- IN- TBA w/ Pen Pals
AUGUST
1- Chicago- TBA w/Coping
2- Lincoln ,NE - TBA
3- Denver/Boulder, CO Denver :TBA
4- DAY OFF IN VEGAS FOR TANNING
5- Las Vegas, NV Yayo taco w/ CARAVELS
6- San Francisco, CA-TBA
7- Oakland, CA- hive house w/tba
8- Fresno, CA- house w/TBA
9- Los Angeles, CA -TBA
10- San Diego, CA- che cafe w/tba
11- Grand Canyon
12- Albuquerqe, NM-TBA
13- Oklahoma City, OK- Bad Granny’s w/ TBA
14- Fort Worth, TX 1919 w/ TBA
15- Austin, TX- Skinny ballroom w/TBA
16- Houston, TX - TBA w/ Football Etc.
17- Birmingham, AL - God’s Butt w/ ollie the bum
18- Louisville, KY- house w/ lay down and die
19- Richmond, VA DAY OFF FOR TANNING
20- Washington DC -michael vick ballroom w/Good Offices / Bandname / Shat Shorts
21- Baltimore, MD Charm City Art Space w/MONUMENT & Bandname
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184086124978292
22- Philadelphia, PA - BookSpace w/Band Name
23- New Brunswick, New Jersey -TBA w/Bandname
24- Brooklyn, NY- Silent Barn w/ Tba
25- Amherst, ma - Dad City w/ The Living City
26-CT- TBA w/when the world disses you

Windy & Carl

It's been super hot outside this week because it is summer time. I've been using Windy & Carl as music to fall asleep to on these hot nights. Their blissed out ambient guitar drones are magical and send you off to slumberland perfectly. I've woken up feeling very well rested each morning. I'm not dismissing this band as only music to put you to sleep, but illustrating how good of a job they do. They even endorse the use of their music as a soundtrack for afternoon naps, so I think sleep is one intended purpose of their songs.



Windy & Carl is the husband and wife duo of Carl Hultgren and Windy Weber. Their sound is created from guitars run through massive amounts of delay and reverb. The songs are ambient soundscapes that don't sound much like normal guitars and use the instruments to create the sonic idea of a space over more traditional songwritting approaches. They use both guitars and basses, along with occasional keyboards. The songs tend to be longer in length, sometimes approaching the twenty minute mark. They explore a wide range of atmospheres in their songs from warmer tones to the ocean depths to cold tundras. The music fits in with concept of a soundtrack for an imaginary movie.

The band is primarily instrumental, although Windy does sing on some of the songs. Her voice is often buried in layers of reverb and delay as well. This gives a very dreamy quality to the vocals since you can hear a singer, but not necessarily make out what is being sung. I'm a big fan of keeping the vocals down in the mix or treating them like another instrument with good effects added, not bad effects such as Auto-Tune. It's interesting how people who aren't used to this approach are confused by it or want amazing vocal talent, like on American Idol. In all fairness, I'm confused with how mainstream pop music puts everything together. That stuff doesn't sound right at all to me. I'm a firm believer in Dave Berman's sentiment that "all my favorite singers couldn't sing."



They formed in 1991 and released their first recordings on their own Blueflea label. A few labels have helped them over the years, including Ba Da Bing and Icon Records. Chicago's Kranky Records released Depths in 1997 and they have stuck with them ever since. This is where they should be considering that Kranky was started with the purpose of putting out the first Labradford album of experimental ambient guitar songs and Windy & Carl fit in exactly with that aesthetic.

Windy and Carl also run Stormy Records in Dearborn, Michigan.

For more info:
Kranky Records band page
Brainwashed band site
Stormy Records

Rockets and Bluelights

"Go to Spiral Scratch, they've had this 10'' there forever by this band Rockets and Bluelights, you'd like it, it sounds like faster Promise Ring".

This is what my friend had said to me (or close to it...) after a band I was in a few years ago had finished a set in Buffalo. Needless to say, the recommendation was enough for me, and the next time my roommate and his girlfriend went to Buffalo, I tagged along. I remember this only because he made fun of me for going to Buffalo to seek out an obscure 10" that i wasn't even sure was there.

Well it was there. In a stack of 10" records at the old Spiral Scratch was this dusty and faded record called "A Smashed City With Flames and Music in the Air", and it was pretty cheap. Even the dude working was surprised I was buying it as he told me it had been there forever and he always wondered what it sounded like. I almost felt bad taking it. Apparently, the band was from Albany (?) and the record came out in 2003 on Redder Records (http://www.redderrecords.com/) aaand was recorded at Dead Air Studios (http://www.deadairstudios.com/). It does sound a bit like "faster Promise Ring", but there's a lot more happening in the guitars. "Andee" is my favorite track on the record. The song opens with some great sounding overdriven guitar and a massive drum fill before it explodes into distortion and a great twinkly lead just to come to a halt by a great off time bass line and buried vocals. I guess the only flaw with this band is that they were ahead of the game. I'm sure if they were still around now they'd be scooped up by Topshelf or something. I think they just lost to timing, but I honestly don't know anything about them other than what I posted. Enjoy.

Cheval De Frise

I'm not exactly sure how I found this band. I've been listening to their self titled album from 2004 a lot lately. It was released by Sickroom Records in Chicago. I possibly heard them on Brave New Waves as they did have one song played on the show. I know I ordered their album from Insound so it might have been a random pick based on a preview description. I have no idea. Sometimes you just stumble upon things.



Much like I don't recall how I found out about Cheval De Frise, I don't know all that much about the band either. I think I'm fine with that. Sometimes it's better to not know things. Keeping a sense of mystery is important. What I do know about the band is that they are from France and have broken up in the years since I bought their album. They were the duo of Vincent Beysselance on drums and Thomas Bonvalet on guitar. They were strictly instrumental and played a frenetic style of math rock or post-rock, whichever you want to call it. They remind me of a more straight forward version of Hella, not that what their playing is all that simple or anything. Remember that post-rock didn't always mean that a band sounds like Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai. I know artists hate being labeled or pigeonholed at times, but sometimes a singular description is so perfect that to deny it seems wrong. It's probably easier to pick something and stick with it instead of trying to blend a little bit of everything together. And from my personal point of view, if I label a band as one particular genre that I like, take it as a complement because I meant it as one.

For more info:
Cheval De Frise at Last FM

Brave New Waves

"Hey, this is Brave New Waves." - Patti Schmidt

I used to listen to this radio show on the CBC called Brave New Waves. It was started in 1984 and was cancelled in 2007. The idea behind the show was to explore every facet of independent/underground music and the culture that went along with it. The show came on every weeknight at 12:05 AM after a brief news summary with a weather report and ran until 4:00 AM. For the first year, the show was hosted by Augusta La Paix. Brent Bambury took over for the next decade. Then in 1995, Patti Schmidt became the third and final host of Brave New Waves. This is when I started listening and who I associate as the host of the show.

Background

"You have to protect art that has no commercial, or potentially has no commercial validation. It is ideological to support that. It is art without any of the standard visions of success as culture at large would measure it to have a place, and I need to argue for it."

Here's the thing that was so amazing about Brave New Waves. It was on the CBC, which meant it was heard all across Canada and any fringe town along the border. During the rest of the day, the CBC would play safe music like classical and jazz. However, once midnight hit, they turned things over to the kids. When I say that Brave New Waves explored every facet of independent and underground music culture, I mean every facet. This meant punk, post-punk, no wave, noise, new wave, indie rock, post-rock, electronic, avant garde composers, spoken word, sound collages, electro acoustic and whatever else. Obscure things that never had a chance of being on the radio, were being played.

Since the CBC is government funded, there were no commercials. This means there were no advertisers to please, which left the show in a position to focus purely on the art. There were no rotations, no playlists and no real censorship. It was how radio can or should be. Obviously Canada's broadcasting rule of including a percentage of Canadian artists applied, but there is a lot of great underground music being made in the Great White North, so that was a moot point. The original crew that did the show even had a six month anniversary episode because they were surprised they lasted that long. They knew what they were getting away with.

The Format

"The show is really almost a reflection of how chaotic my own record collection is. It makes no sense to most people who come over. And I know lots of people who are like serious, serious record collectors. I tried for a while. I got robbed. But, it’s too obsessive. I can’t. So, it’s kind of this splatter of things that I have with no real focus or continuity to it. But I like it that way because that is how I am. That is how life is."

The general format of BNW for the years I listened, started with Patti introducing the show and playing some short, occasionally weird little song. I remember hearing "Death" by Dan Friel in the opening slot one night and thinking this happy mix of fuzzed out guitars and cheap keyboard beats was the most awesome thing ever.

The next hour of the show would be devoted to new songs from current artists. It would always be two songs in a row by two different bands. The songs were often similar to give a sense of continuity to the program. Between each song, Patti would provided a detailed explanation that included the name of the band, song, album and record label with some relevant background information. This was probably the most important thing because if you liked something, you then had the information to track the band down. Just like every other hardcore listener, I had a notepad to write down the name of anything that caught my ear. I still have a notepad where I cleaned up a bunch of notes I had taken into a manageable list. Looking over the list, it's impressive how many of these bands I eventually checked out. There's still a few I'm looking for.

After a sampling of new releases, there would be a profile or an interview with a band or artist. These were usually based on established bands with a new album out. The profiles ran through a band's entire discography and would include side projects or previous groups. For example, a Steve Albini profile had songs by Shellac, Big Black and Rapeman. Profiles would last about forty minutes to one hour.

Following a profile, the focus of the program would shift slightly to exploring multiple tracks from a couple of artists. This would include longer songs and often where the avant garde compositions were played. I got to learn about prepared guitar, musique concrète, electro acoustic and all that good stuff. Sometimes this would be difficult listening, but at no point did you ever feel like turning the radio off because it was still compelling and the unusual nature of the material kept it interesting.

The final hour was always for playing a single album/compilation or as much of it as would fit in the alloted time. Again these were usually the more experimental compositions, but not necessarily. It's nice to give the listener the experience of hearing an album in its entirety without any annoying interruptions. The final hour was also usually something that would send you off to sleep. Not always, but usually. When the show turned twenty, they set up a phone number with voice mail so you could leave a birthday wish. The message on the machine was Patti telling you to either leave a birthday greeting or yell at us for playing something disturbing that you woke up screaming to in the middle of the night.

My Listening Habits

"I recognized, when I started working there, just how crucial an outlet and vehicle the program could be, and even though it’s late at night it doesn’t matter. I love that it’s late at night."

By virtue of BNW being on late at night and focusing on obscure music, it felt like you were part of a secret club. You had to put in a little effort to find the show and then stay up listening, especially if you had a normal 9 to 5 schedule. All of this is made it more of a tangible experience.

The show almost always sounded good to me, even if I didn't necessarily like it or get it right off the bat. This was probably more true when I first started listening. Some of the more experimental stuff takes a few tries before it begins to make sense. Sometimes it never clicks, but you can start to build an appreciation so in the future when you see a band where the guitarist is jamming a file under the guitar's strings or a guy is playing a dozen guitar effects pedals and a tape recorder, you have a reference point to understand what and why that is happening.

When I was in college and grad school, I'd tune in as many nights as possible to 94.1 FM, the CBC station out of Toronto, when I was home on breaks from classes. It always sounded best in the summer, a season that lends itself late nights much better than the others. Sometimes the reception wouldn't be the greatest, but it usually got better as the night went on. I sat there drawing and/or reading skateboard magazines while listening and writing down the info for any band that sounded appealing. Occasionally I'd pop in a tape and record the show. I saved all the tapes and have been listening to them recently at the day job after I bought a new tape player. After I finished college, I worked at the local newspaper as a photographer. My schedule was a variable mix of days and nights so I never had to be in bed too early. I made it a point to at least catch the first hour of the show no matter what, often more, sometimes less.

I know I tried sharing the show with my friends. I don't think any of them really got into BNW. Usually this was on the drive home from a concert in Buffalo. I don't think a lot of them realized how incredible what they were being forced to listen to was. I know they weren't stoked on the weird stuff like I was. Wait, you mean there's something wrong with enjoying epic bouts of guitar feedback or minimal electronic soundscapes? Oh, well. Their loss.

Practical Context

"An obsessive curiosity. A need to know what other people are doing, what’s on their minds, how people are combining all of the crazy elements of life into song, and probably an unhealthy evangelical element towards playing [music] for other people. I’m kind of batty within my house. I’ve said this to my friends several times, that if they don’t tell me to stop I will narrate every single concert we ever go to. I really have to consciously stop myself from talking. But I just want people to hear it. When people come over to my house I’m usually like, “Aah – hear this song! Have you heard this song? Do you want to hear this song?” and I try to make them their own personal playlist of what I think they will like. I don’t want to scare them – “I know who you are. I think I’ve got some music that would fit into your life.”"

Keep in mind that prior to the late 1990s, the internet existed in a crude form that was being developed and you couldn't just Google a band. You had to put in a degree of actual research to find things through a combination of radio and print, plus going to record stores and shows. Talking to people. Or at least listening. So when you did find something new, it mattered a lot more. It felt you accomplished something, even if in the grand scheme of things you only bought a CD. That's what made Brave New Waves so special. You got to hear a huge variety of sounds that you might never have heard otherwise and never even known to look for. Once the internet became more developed so bands and record labels were using it for promotion, it was much easier to track down the music you heard.

The End

Brave New Waves turned twenty in 2004. At that point it seemed like the show would be around in some format for forever, even factoring in the uncommercial nature of the content. However, this was not the case. With the emergence of satellite radio and the internet, the CBC started restructuring their programming schedule. Several of the more "youth oriented" programs were moved online or cancelled. Patti hosted what would be the final show on May 27, 2006. All of the songs were about the radio and the final selection of music was from William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops. BNW went into repeats for the summer. Then in the fall of 2006, a slightly different version was on the air. The first hour of the show featured a variety of hosts playing new music and then the last three hours would consist of material from the archives. Finally, it was announced in early 2007 that the last Brave New Waves would air on Friday, March 17. This was a repeat of the show from May 2006 with a thank you from Patti added at the beginning. That was it. It was about the saddest thing ever when I tuned into 94.1 on the next Monday to make sure it actually was over and Brave New Waves was gone.

Appreciation

"Things definitely change and you never get that again. I also don’t do that thing where I get a record and listen to it 30 times. In three days. I don’t do that anymore, mostly because I don’t have time. I’m not searching through music or trying to understand music that way anymore. I feel that I have listened to so much over the years that I have ... I kind of understand what is going on in a way that I didn’t when I was listening to things so thoroughly. But I still listen thoroughly."

Patti has one of the best radio voices ever. She would make little mistakes when she hosted, but it made the show much more real, especially since it was late at night. She came across as a fan first and foremost, which is what she is. I think that made a big difference because you were hearing selections of music that she felt needed to be put out in the world, instead of the popular tracks of the day. So much of my philosophy on music and even art came from Brave New Waves. The show helped shape and expand my musical preferences. It truly was one the best things ever. Even though Brave New Waves is gone, I feel I learned what I needed to from it and know that there is whole world of underground music happening out there.

Thank you, Patti Schmidt.

Notes:
1. The various quotes are from a 2004 interview with Discorder Magazine. The interview doesn't seem to be online any more.
2. In 2008, Schmidt earned her Masters in communications and art history from McGill University in Montreal. She played bass and sang with Pest 5000. She still works for the CBC on the show Inside The Music.
3. The photo of Patti is from the Paraethos' website.
4. I'm sorry I used some old photo I dug up off the internet.

A searchable archive of BNW's Playlists:
ranta.dyndns.org/BNW/

Interviews with Patti Schmidt:
Pest 5000 interview
Patti Schmidt and Jeff Waye interview

Upcoming Fredonia Shows

There's a show this Friday night at the Foxhole in Fredonia. It features Balto, along with two bands from Buffalo: Dirt Eyes and VWLS. VWLS is a late edition to the line up and didn't make the poster. Since the Foxhole is a house with a great live set up, you are just going to have to ask around for the exact location and directions. There's no need to accidentally tip the man off about this. No jerks allowed either.

Also there's a show on Wednesday night at the Spot in the Williams Center on the SUNY Fredonia campus with Before We Get Old and Campus Emergency Procedure. It starts at 8:00 PM and is free. This one is open to the general public, too. The Spot is located on the first floor of the Williams Center in the back of the building. You can probably Google it or something.

I swear we're going to get back to telling stories about bands real soon.