Vague Choir - Great Big Fight

The latest from Vague Choir. Vague Choir is headed up by now guitairist, and former Splayfeet drummer/frontman Mark Earnest and is at the center of the flourishing Reno, Nevada genreless genre scene. Check it out. 

Also check out Mark's cover of a couple of old AOS tracks here.

Aggressive By Nature

Our old friend Grant, from Choke, is back on the bass in a new band, Aggressive By Nature, playing around Albuquerque. Straight-ahead hard rock, but worth a listen. Check 'em out if you are in the Duke City. I'll pass along any recordings as they become available. Here's a video. 

Circle of Bears - Daylight (the next generation)

A.O.S. resident genius Raul Dorn had a kid a couple of decades ago. He's a musician.
This is his band.
I like it. -



That's his dad on the left - you can hear dad sing here

Vague Choir: Non-Ultra Joy

My old buddy Mark has a new record out.
This time with his group Vague Choir. 
Well worth your time.
 Check it out.
And here's Mark as a youngster (he's the one on drums).

 

aboombong: admixture; now on soundcloud, what you got?

I meant to get this up sooner, but life keeps me busy. The aboombong admixture e.p. is now also up on soundcloud, which is really a perfect venue for the collaborative aspects of the project. Contributions are already starting to trickle in and I have begun working on the admixs. If you are a soundcloud user, you can follow the progress of the project there and watch for the final release of the admixs over at aboombong's bandcamp page, where things will be released cc-attribution, share-alike, non-commercial.

admixture by aboombong

dustdevil & crow .​.​.​and chuang tzu dreamed that he was me

The newest release from dustdevil & crow is up at bendle's bandcamp page. For this one, .​.​.​and chuang tzu dreamed that he was me, aboombong collaborated with the boys on Blue Mountain and I am quite proud of how it turned out. Physical copies of this one will also be available. Stay tuned.



Watch for a special bonus release related to this album soon.

Mark Earnest: 25 years of Anxiety

25 years ago The Young Pros. did a cover of the A.O.S. song 667. The Young Pros were the band that launched the career of one of America's best kept secrets, Mark Earnest. Readers here at Pen & Mallet have met Mark before through his work with Dirt Communion, but Mark has had a long and active career fronting a variety of great bands and since 2003 has really come into his own releasing solo albums well deserving of their critical acclaim (available from the indie labels Slothrop and Unsmashable as "Mister Vague"). If you don't believe me, ask Alan Sparkhawk of Low who recorded and co-produced the album “Allergic To Everything” in 2007.

Today we have a special treat. Mark is just about due to release a new album called Beautiful Somewhere on Unsmashable Records (look for it in mid-April) and he has included his version of the A.O.S. song "Katchina," a song that has been part of his live set forever. I have put together a special Pen & Mallet ep. release that includes Mark's version of Katchina, as well as that The Young Pros. version of 667 from 25 years ago. It is hosted by the great Free Music Archive. Check it out.



Beautiful Somewhere features a great line up of collaborators including members of the Reno bands Cranium, Blunderbusst and Nancy Plays Nurse, as well as Mister Vague alumnus Marcus Mayhall. Mark will be collaborating with aboombong on a new release in the next year for something that should be quite different for both artists. Stay tuned.

You can hear more of Mark's music at Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/markearnest

Keep up with Mark on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Earnest-Music/157249844333406

Here is a video of Mark doing Katchina at a recent gig.

The Oil Man - Slow Mohicans (for BP)

This one from Slow Mohicans came up on the iPod while I was reading the headlines.
It sums up my feelings about BP (Bastard Petrol) pretty well.

The Oil Man - Slow Mohicans (click to listen)

Teach it to the crowd at your next march.

[redacted] - left blank

[redacted] recorded this 3 songer earlier this year with Scott Colburn (of Jabon and Sun City Girls fame). It is available (name your price) in a variety of formats over at bandcamp.com
Album: Left Blank
Players:
Will - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Trumpet
Kaley - bass
Jason - guitar (also check out Red Stars Theory)
me -trap set, toy dumbek

Friends of the show: Dirt Communion

Well, I still haven't worked out the cassette deck situation, so I will take this as a sign and post some friends of the show. Dirt Communion is one of the projects my old roommate Mark (aka. Mister Vague) is currently involved with. If there is any justice in the world, they will be hosting headbangers ball before the year is out. Act now and get a piece of the next big thing.



More from Mark to follow. And a special treat for AOS fans is in the works.

Slow Mohicans in the Family

I am in the process of going through my many minidiscs in order to put together a collection of unreleased ambient and experimental tracks. It's not ready yet, so I am doing a quick detour today.

My brother has a new release out, Slow Mohicans, so I thought I would spread the word. If you have Rhapsody, you can preview it (if you don't, you can set up an account and listen for free).

The record is available on iTunes, on Rhapsody, at CD Baby, and at other fine outlets. More information and plenty more music is available at the Skin & Barrel website.

The CD Baby page allows you to hear 30 second snippets.

Dream Smith (R.I.P.) - each kiss with a soft blanket

Dream Smith was a game programmer and musician who left us with a fairly substantial body of psych-folk songs that he released under the moniker Soft Blanket. During the later half of 2007, Dream joined a project led by my friends Will Dean and Kaley Davis called Cadabeso. Presented here today are two Soft Blanket songs recorded by Cadabeso during that too brief collaboration.

Musicians: Dream Smith with Cadabeso (2007)
Dream Smith: Guitar & Vocals
Will Dean: Keyboard & Vocals
Kaley Davis: Bass
me: Drum Kit
Style: Rock, Twee-pop, lo-fi
Album: Taken from How It Feels To Be Filled with Secret Sounds
These tracks recorded live to digital two track in Will's garage.


Tracklist: (get them here)
1) Conditions for Another Year
2) Ginger Girl Has Lived This Day Before