"HIRROR ENNIFFER" & "HOLLYWOOD SQUALLS" & "CATALYST" 1

see post below for info & more images

"HIRROR ENNIFFER" & "HOLLYWOOD SQUALLS" & "CATALYST" 2

pictures (from top to bottom - cont. from post above):

1. mamiffer "hirror enniffer" - a new hydra head release coming out 9/23 (tuesday). masterminded by faith coloccia (former participant of everlovely lightningheart, current participant in pyramids, and collaborator for upcoming house of low culture recordings), with contributions from chris common, brian cook and ryan frederiksen (these arms are snakes), myself, and annie and ben from helms alee (who also just released a new album on HHR). the album can be preordered from HHR here and sampled in its entirety here .

2 & 3. house of low culture "hollywood squalls" cassettes. 2 tracks, roughly 30 minutes, culled from a live recording from 2007, mixed and mastered by james plotkin. handmade cassettes produced in in conjunction with the most recent HOLC shows. edition of 50, the remaining copies of which made available through the hydra head webstore, and possibly live HOLC or isis shows if any are left by the time those actually roll around.

4, 5 & 6. snapshots of my installation in the "catalyst" group exhibition at the fifty24sf gallery in san francisco (more info/pics here ). consists of wall painting with 40 framed drawings from the old man gloom "christmas" album artwork. the gallery will continue the exhibition through october, so if you are in the area go check it out. there are prints and posters available at the gallery from myself (see past post for print image), as well as many of the other participants (seldon hunt, aaron horkey, justin bartlett, stephen kasner, etc). there is talk of bringing this show to LA in 2009, an event which would be pleasing to all involved.

7. seldon hunt licking a cookie in front of his piece at the "catalyst" exhibition. alluring.

8. "catalyst" group shot (from left to right): exhibition curator brett aronson, florian bertmer, a.t., justin bartlett, seldon hunt, stephen kasner. 5 out of 6 wearing t shirts with skulls on them and/or unreadable logos.

nourishing supplements: carcass - live in los angeles, like a kind of matador "halfway to dangerous", bergraven "til makabert väsen", are mokelbost "omni 4" (collage 2007), the wire - season 1, carl jung "dreams", "secret invasion" #5 & 6, empire auriga "auriga dying", irr. app. (ext) "perekluchenie", modern jazz quartet "pyramids", boris w/merzbow "rock dream", etc.

HOUSE OF LOW CULTURE/MAMIFFER/HEMINGWAY live in the northwest!

*

this coming weekend house of low culture will be doing 2 (possibly 3), live performances in the northwest along side mamiffer and hemingway, and in portland with trees as part of their record release show. here are the specifics:

9/12 Portland OR @ Someday Lounge w/ Hemingway, Mamiffer, Trees
9/14 Seattle, WA @ Rendevous w/ Hemingway, Mamiffer

house of low culture will be performing unreleased material, and to the best of my knowledge mamiffer will as well, and possibly hemingway too. i'm hoping to have a new HOLC cassette release ready in time for the shows, but we'll see if those come into being before the deadline. mamiffer will have the new "hirror eniffer" album available to the "public" for the first time to coincide with these shows - record release performances of sorts, even though it may be an unintentional coincidence. more on/from mamiffer here . more on/from hemingway here


this comment was left in response to my last post:

"...until we are all ready to make real sacrifices I just see us spiraling downward.

I mean, are we ready to curb oil consumption in everything we do?

Touring bands burn a lot of fuel, so does shipping records around the world. Know what I mean? We're all implicated to an extent, myself included.

And then let's say I make drastic changes and sacrifices and stop buying glorious colored vinyl, and get rid of my car, will everyone else? Or is it all for naught."

in response to that chain of thought i would say this: i am certainly implicated in the problems i addressed in that posting, and i didn't mean to imply otherwise when i chose to quote the info that comprised the bulk of the content therein. in order for change to occur we must make sacrifices, including in regards to the things we hold dear, and it seems crucial to me that we should do so regardless of whether or not everyone else is going to do the same. it's unlikely that we are going to collectively make drastic changes that will halt these ever expanding problems, but if we can individually make steps towards lessening the current rate of damage it certainly seems worth doing so. whether that means trying to drive less, consuming fewer commercial goods, voting for a candidate with more sensible energy policies, remembering to turn the lights off when we leave the house, or committing to studies in the realm of alternative energy sources, every choice and action we make in this direction (seemingly insignificant though they may be), is a step towards a future of greater promise.... though as someone else alluded to in reaction to the same post, the world may be better off if we wipe ourselves out sooner rather than later. it is worth considering that humans are only temporary blip in the grand scheme of things and that our time may be drawing to a close. that said, my (possibly) selfish wish is to be able to continue on, with the belief that we can and will better our current situation by stepping forward conscientiously, rather than downward thoughtlessly into oblivion. i don't know whether this makes me an idealistic optimist, a human-centric narcissist, or just utterly naive, but i feel increasingly compelled to contribute (albeit in a very minor way), towards the struggle to be a less destructive presence on this planet...


*flyer: faith coloccia

THE LAST GRAINS OF SAND

- In a CNN/Opinion Research Poll from last month 70% of respondents said gas prices would be "extremely/very" important in their choice for President. The same poll stated that 73% of respondents backed offshore drilling, and 69% were in favor of drilling in currently protected federal lands.

-Other polls have shown that the majority of Americans believe that more drilling for oil in the US would alleviate the problem of dependency on foreign oil and rising gas prices.

-The US Department of Energy estimates that the amount of recoverable oil available from offshore drilling in the continental US would last only 7 months at the current rate of consumption.

-A D.O.E. report from last year indicates that it would take 2 decades for domestic drilling to have a noticeable impact on domestic production and the impact on overall fuel costs would be insignificant. Recently John McCain himself has admitted that offshore resources would "take years to develop". He is now running on a platform that promotes the idea of vastly increased domestic drilling, which will have little to no effect on overall fuel costs or the long term energy crisis. In addition, his overall stance on viable sources of energy is heavily reliant on our current model of oil production and use, the dire consequences of which have been predicted by such disparate sources as NASA, Al Gore, the United Nations, and the Pope (along with a continually rising number of other organizations and individuals).

-The US only accounts for 5% of the world's population but uses 25% of it's oil. The US is second only to China as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. 1 barrel of oil burned adds approximately 1000 pounds of carbon dioxide to the air.


Source: New Yorker Aug 8-11 2008.
Illustrations: A. Turner, Fall 2000.

CATALYST exhibition

the first image above: preview of a large silkscreen print based off of the agoraphobic nosebleed "pcp torpedo" 2xCD layout that i designed for hydra head a couple years back... well maybe it was as recent as 2007. anyway, the print is going to be part of my contribution to a group exhibition taking place in san francisco at the fifty24sf gallery, opening on september 4th. the show is titled "catalyst" and will feature works from a host of interesting folks including but not limited to: seldon hunt, aaron horkey, stephen kasner, justin bartlett, etc.

the second image above: another fine piece by aaron horkey, commissioned specifically to promote the previously mentioned exhibition. horkey never ceases to create wonders.

....and.... this is the stuff the days (and nights) are made of: helms alee "night terror", henry miller "tropic of cancer", m. allen thompson's matress delivery service, chris ware "acme novelty library" vols. 16-18, canine steroid abatement program, mark millar "1985", washington cabin in a future that doesn't exist, joy division "closer", a rubbed raw spine and shakey arms, tarentel "ghetto beats on the surface of the sun", brown jenkins "angel eyes", the wailing and gnashing of teeth....

....and..... below is a press release about the catalyst exhibition written by none other than mr. eugene s. robinson (for those of you who don't know, eugene is the frontman for the inimitable oxbow and author of the recently published "fight", on harper collins/audio version on hydra head):

The aural to the visual, the ears to the eyes, and the ragged run through limbic systems both animal and even vegetable, the graphicists who have made their way into carving a visual fucking identity for our soundtrack are no less compelling visionaries because they deal in imagery. It is the opposite, in fact. The lasting memories of that which is seen, emblematic of the same unspecified disaster that's framed this post-post-modern thing of ours, fiercely clings to our understanding of the place, the space and the time of our lives. Like eight shots across the bow of the lame and the same, Seldon Hunt, Josh Graham, Aaron Turner, Justin Bartlett, Aaron Horkey, Stephen Kasner, Dwid Hellion, and Florian Bertmer contest the assumption that this fine art thing, this aesthete thing, this dainty goddamned pursuit of color, lines, concepts, and meaning need be left to the pampered boulevardiers and galleristas. Far from it, this stuff is coming, not from some place nearly so prosaic as the illusory STREETS, but from the heart, balls and soul of a Promethean desire for ILLUMINATION.
In other words: they're going to SHOW YOU SOMETHING. Whether you like it or not. Whether it serves your purposes or not. Beyond irony and therefore almost outside of comfortable efforts at mockery, THIS art [yeah, I called it art] sidles up to you. It insinuates its way into you and while turning away or closing your eyes is always an option there still is that thing that marks these moments as different and that IS their aural qualities as well. Fury, sound, symbol, and the capture of it all in a flash of light and dark and everything else in between.

This is alright. This is goddamned OK.

And if you leave here unaffected it will be, in all likelihood, because you left here dead.

Enjoy.

--Eugene S. Robinson

FIFTY24SF Gallery Proudly Presents the Group Show “Catalyst”
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 4, 2008 from 7 – 9:30 p.m.

BERGRAVEN art, MELVINS comic, etc...

above, from top to bottom:

1. front cover for the forthcoming bergraven album "till makabert väsen". photo is black and metallic gold duotone, with the framed picture in full color. mini-frame with band name and album title will be a sticker affixed to jewel case. basic ideas and photos supplied by bergraven - i've been creating additional elements and assembling this thing, with help from faith coloccia once again...

2. back cover for the same bergraven album. text and frame printed in metallic gold. all artwork will be printed on uncoated stock for that "ole tyme" feel. listen to bergraven.

3. front cover of the newly completed "your disease spread quick", a comic inspired by the music of the melvins. written and drawn by tom neely , published by robotic boot, a hydra head industries subdivision. available at san diego comic con this weekend at tom neely's booth, and at the merch table on the current melvins tour. later to be made available as part of the melvins "senile animal" 4xlp box set, and individually on the HHR webstore. melvins = awesome. tom neely = awesome.

4. back cover of the aforementioned comic. also recommended: tom neely's "the blot".

in other news: mixing of the grey machine album (new project from justin broadrick, with contributions from myself and other affiliates), is finally underway. completion imminent and samples available soon. isis "live IV" and "holy tears" vinyl now available . new isis album still in the writing process, currently on hold due to upcoming shows in chicago and oslo. new lustmord album "other" now available, with guitar contributions from adam (tool), buzz (the melvins), and myself. new house of low culture releases in the works. the band with james plotkin, tim wyskida, and myself is no longer going to be called "vessl", since apparently there is already a band with that name. we're trying to think of something else and having a hard time... really hard. all the good names seem to be taken.

improving the quality of life: wold "stratification", gridlink "amber gray", "batman: the dark knight" (though not quite as good as i was hoping), "bill moyers journal", ghostface killah "supreme clientele", evoken "a caress of the void", helms alee - live in los angeles, orange and robot: excellent (but disobedient) italian greyhounds, organum "omega", carne asada burritos from yuccas too....

ZOZOBRA art pt 2

above are some preview images from the completed zozobra "bird of prey" layout. peices shown are the front of the o-card, the back cover/outer tray card, and an interior spread from the booklet. the final layout will consist of an embossed o-card/slipcase, regular cd face and tray card, and a 12 page booklet. the color displayed on screen as a sort of tan/dirty yellow will print as metallic gold. aside from the music of zozobra and the notes they gave me, inspiration for this layout came from the black flag "family man" 12" cover. the connection may not seem readily apparent, but i just couldn't get that cover out of my mind once i began work on the assembly of this project. i would hardly classify that as one of my favorite black flag releases, but i've always found that particular sleeve fascinating.

aside from work on the zozobra i've completed the drawings for the forthcoming pelican/these arms are snakes split 10" (formely a 7", upgraded to the larger format to accomodate the track lengths). the layout is now in the hands of the very capable ryan frederiksen, and i'll hopefully be able to post some previews of that stuff in the coming weeks. next up will be the layout for the forthcoming bergraven album for hydra head, which i might add is a motherfucker. while i thought "dödsvisioner" was a pretty remarkable piece of work, its successor is superior in every respect - i'm truly excited for other people to hear this thing, and they will come october of this year. in the mean time you can find a small and inadequate sample of bergraven here

in the aural realm, the previously untitled collaboration between james plotkin, tim wyskida, and myself, finally has a name: vessl. the debut album has finally been completed and hopefully samples will be made available in the near future - most likely through james' website . it also looks like there's going to be some house of low culture live performances this fall, specifically in the northwestern US. the only confirmed date as of this moment is seattle, wa, on september 14. HOLC wil have the distinct pleasure of sharing the stage with mamiffer and hemingway . more info on those shows as things get firmed up. hopefully i'll get my ass in gear to put together a new HOLC release in time for those shows - but that remains to be seen...

pretty, pretty, pretty good: daughters - live at the troubadour, torche and clouds - live at the relax bar, hellblazer vol. 2 "the devil you know", twin peaks: fire walk with me, pierrot le fou, ashpool "the world turns on its hinge", leviathan "massive conspiracy against all life", wu-tang "8 diagrams", boris "smile" japanese version (a totally different mix/version than the US version - well worth seeking out), further visitations from astral traveller of the 4th dimension, and animal companions (even the whiny one jacked up on steroids)....