SA news 08/09 : The Deadnotes LP + Pigeons 7" + Pumice tour + more!
Soft Abuse
August 29, 2008
Soft Abuse email friends:
It’s already September, which means another year has nearly blurred past. Thanks again for the continued support of the label, I’d be lyin’ if I said we didn’t rely on it. Before it’s all through we’ve got a few more records to eke out, the latest of which is one we’re really excited for, the debut LP from Brisbane’s own The Deadnotes. The Deadnotes are Eugene Carchesio, Stuart Busby and Leighton Craig, all of whom have made records as solo acts & with other bands (including Carchesio’s classic DNE releases). The band has existed for a few years and are criminally under-documented, having released only a few CDRs via Leighton Craig’s Kindling label. Like Maher Shalal Hash Baz before them, The Deadnotes have arrived with their magum opus in tow : Orange Trumpet boats 30 tracks (even more in the digital version, coming soon) that touch upon the band’s earliest days. The LP is released officially in a few weeks (look for it at yr favorite shop / distro then), but is now ready for purchase via softabuse.com.
Up next is a brilliant new 7” single from Pigeons, which is limited to 400 copies. We're now taking pre-orders for this one & plan to start shipping in a week or two. Their next Black Dirt LP is due in the coming months as well & it’s mindblowing. Soon thereafter is the final installment of the Ceremony Series from Steven R. Smith's Ulaan Khol project (the art is being assembled now...) & the debut full-length from Sonny & The Sunsets (a split release with the Secret Seven label). Then more SA in ’10…
Be in touch with questions, etc about anything below. As always, let us know if you want off this list, too.
for to the update -
NOW AVAILABLE
(click on the artist/title to purchase, obtain more info, hear a sample, etc)
THE DEADNOTES Orange Trumpet LP
"What attracted me to this band on first sight – trained in the “school of error” as practised by Maher Shalal Hash Baz and all those other naive orchestral delights, accomplished keyboards man Leighton Craig of the firm belief that where drummers went wrong was when they first started crossing their arms over – is what still attracts me to them: belief, brevity, melody, resonance, a fondness (acquired from having lived through it) for the early 80s post-Go-Betweens/early Fall mannerisms of derelict Brisbane nightclubs. Stuart Busby not only wields a trumpet like Brighton’s own Alistair Strachan (Hamilton Yarns, Crayola Lectern) but understands the absolute necessity of controlling (or not controlling) the sound. Guitarist/drummer Eugene Carchesio – an accomplished, exhibited visual artist in his own right – much favours the “play once, move on” approach to creating and inventing new songs that can’t help attract simple me. One of Eugene’s favourite musicians is Jad Fair. How can I argue with that?
I’m reminded of Monks, Moondog, 4 Gods, Flipper.
Too often noise musicians deliberately eschew melody – as if to admit for a fondness for such is a weakness. The Deadnotes are as unreconstructed and wilfully abstract as the most experimental among us, but at the heart of the music is (usually) a melody, a structure, a beating heart." – Everett True
$15.00 ppd USA
$17.00 ppd Canada / Mexico
$25.00 ppd elsewhere
STILL NEW
Following a mammoth tour of Europe, Japan & the US in 2007-2008, Stefan Geoffrey Neville took a sabbatical from Pumice. After a silence of several months, Stefan slowly began to re-emerge in New Zealand, playing (the drums) with a few bands in Auckland. Slowly, a few proper Pumice gigs were played & soon thereafter, in January 2009, Neville started work on a new batch of recordings. One of those found a home on the split single with Grouper, while the others, appear on Persevere; a befitting title for Neville's first new grip of songs following his hiatus. Three songs comprise Persevere: 'The Dawn Chorus of Kina,' an ode to (alleged) singing sea urchin, and covers from two vision-sharing kindred spirits: The Axemen ('Pacific Ocean') and Michael Hurley ('Open Up'). Persevere is released in an edition of 500 copies, housed in textured paper sleeves adorned with Neville's signature dog drawings.
$6.00 ppd USA
$7.00 ppd Canada / Mexico
$9.00 ppd elsewhere
BLACKOUT BEACH Skin of Evil CD / LP
“Maybe it's about a girl, about salvation's undoing through romantic love, wreckage of this kind…No matter, the important thing is that this is the first time I've REALLY heard theatrics AND atmospherics in a record, and such an abundance of both. One exception is Roxy Music’s Avalon, which this record reminds me of if only for how incredibly well you can (thankfully) hear every last thing. And though Bryan Ferry’s version of control and release are slightly different than Carey’s, Skin of Evil is more just different lyrical concerns, which we’ll here call 'worldview.'
I believe Skin of Evil is the best record I will hear this year, but let’s not get into that." – Dan Bejar
CD
$11.00 ppd USA
$12.00 ppd Canada / Mexico
$14.00 ppd elsewhere
LP
$15.00 ppd USA
$17.00 ppd Canada / Mexico
HAPPENING SOON
PIGEONS Lunettes 7” (SAB036) [released September 2009] pre-order now!
Pigeons make sublimely blasted / incredibly hallucinogenic songs from their base up in Bronx, NY. The trio of Wednesday Knudsen (in disguise on the sleeve), Clark Griffin and Carter Thornton have been active for a few years, releasing miniture-run cassettes and lathe cuts for Griffin's sub-underground Moran Tape Label that dealt in skronk, warp & mystery. Their wayward song-based creations are just as ambitious, melding dissonance, crude electronics & chanson pop.
$6.00 ppd USA
$7.00 ppd Canada / Mexico
$9.00 ppd elsewhere
SONNY & THE SUNSETS Tomorrow is Alright LP (SAB039) [released October 2009]
ULAAN KHOL III CD (SAB038) [released December 2009]
ARTIST NEWS
BLACKOUT BEACH
Carey has reportedly worked out
CAR COMMERCIALS
David and Daniel are currently working on recordings for a 7”, to be released by Soft Abuse next year.
THE DEADNOTES
PUMICE
Stefan has just begun the final leg of his US tour on the west coast. Look for a new Pumice 7” on Dirty Knobby very soon.
ULAAN KHOL
Steven R. Smith basement rock blowout project have wrapped-up their final installment of the Ceremony trilogy. III will see release before the end of the year.
LIVE EVENTS
THE DEADNOTES
08/28 - Brisbane, QLD - The Step Inn (with The Legend!, Kitchen's Floor, Alps)
08/30 - Brisbane, QLD - Tidy Art Space (with The Legend!, Yout Dem)
10/02 - Brisbane, QLD - The Step Inn (with The Legend!, Vivian Girls, Nova Scotia, Feathers)
PANTS YELL!
09/26 - Boston, MA - Café 939 (with Still Flyin)
PUMICE
08/28 - San Diego, CA - Che Cafe
08/29 - Los Angeles, CA – Synchronicity
08/30 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo Curio
09/03 - Oakland, CA - Smokey's Tangle
09/08 - San Francisco, CA - Aquarius Records in-store
09/09 - San Francisco, CA - 21 Grand
09/17 - Auckland, NZ - Whammy Bar (with Pink Reason)
DISTRIBUTED RELEASES
Got a nice new massive batch of distro items in over the past week or so, including the last known copies of some 3 Acre Floor stuff (Jason Honea’s old label …). More info is available at the distributed page on our web site. The list of goods –
THE BRAVE BULLS The Brave Bulls EP 7" (3 Acre Floor)
DEAD RAVEN CHOIR Death to Dead Wolves CD (Jewelled Antler)
THE KNIT SEPERATES Maybe in Time I Could Change EP 7" (3 Acre Floor)
THE KNIT SEPERATES Memory Relaxer EP 7" (3 Acre Floor)
THE KNIT SEPERATES Swords, Then Diamonds CD (3 Acre Floor)
THE LEGEND! Everett True Connection CD (3 Acre Floor)
THE SHITTY LISTENER Crying Sweater CD (Ruralfaune)
STEVEN R. SMITH From Ashes Come CD (3 Acre Floor)
STEVEN R. SMITH Slate Branches CD (3 Acre Floor)
SONNY & THE SUNSETS Broom & Dustpan 7" (HomeSkillet)
TEENAGE PANZERKORPS Games for Slaves LP (Siltbreeze)
TEENAGE PANZERKORPS Knut Hamsun 7" (Captured Tracks)
THIS MAILING LIST
The Soft Abuse mailing list is very sporadic, and used to notify folks of new releases, tours and the like. If you'd rather not receive these sorts of updates, please write li...@softabuse.com & asked to be removed. To join the googlegroup version of this mailer, visit the contact page on our site & enter yr email address…
SEMI-CURRENT LISTENING
GALAXIE 500 Today CD (Ryko)
STELLAR OM SOURCE Rise in Planes LP (Black Dirt)
MICHAEL HURLEY Long Journey LP (Rounder)
FLIPPER Sex Bomb Baby LP (Subterranean)
DESTROYER Bay of Pigs 12” (Merge)
ZAK SALLY Fear of Song CD (La Mano) & 7” (Sub Pop)
THE SKYGREEN LEOPARDS Gorgeous Johnny LP (Jagjaguwar)
STEVEN R. SMITH Cities LP (Immune)
TIM COHEN Two Sides Of… LP (Secret Seven)
Thanks & thanks,
Chris / Soft Abuse
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SOFT ABUSE
www.softabuse.com