Posted in: GNAW
Archive for the ‘GNAW’ Category
SLUDGE MATCH
Metal in a meatgrinder
By CHRISTOPHER WEINGARTEN Wednesday, Apr 6 2011
Crossing the fertile soil between heavy metal, ambient noise, and weird, disgusting bullshit, this four-band bill at Europa is like an expressionistic rendering of a thunderstorm or slaughterhouse. Leading the pack is Chicago’s wildly prolific Locrian, whose ritualistic, smoke-soaked live show is rooted in metal’s brooding overcast skies, but has a sound that leans more toward meditative drones, spectral hums, ghost rattles, and slow-moving foglike drifts of sludge. Similarly, openers Gnaw have metal’s glass-gargling screeches, and monster drumming, but lean more toward sprawling, smeary sound pieces that mix traditional doom with a colorful slurry of deafening static, back masked horror, and homemade noisemakers.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-04-06/voice-choices/sludge-match/
Europa – Sunday April 17th in Greenpoint with Locrian, Martial Canterel and Blacklist. $10, 7pm. Sunday show. Our set should be 9pm. This show is hosted and promoted by Stereogum, Pitchfork, Slate etc contributor Brandon “Show No Mercy” Stosuy.
The Studio at Webster Hall – Saturday April 23rd with Kayo Dot & Retro Grave (featuring original Trouble drummer Oly Olson) $10, 8pm show and Webster Hall clears by 10:30 so that people can get their dance on afterwards. Be there on time.
http://www.websterhall.com/events/show_event_sub.php?id=1334&size=small&cdate=2011-04-23
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Gnaw is an experimental drone / noise band from New York City, New York, United States formed in 2006 by Alan Dubin. Gnaw is the sawblade-wrapped-in-razorwire brainchild of Alan Dubin (Khanate, OLD), Carter Thornton (Enos Slaughter), Jun Mizumachi (Ike Yard), and Jamie Sykes (Thorr’s Hammer, Burning Witch). Their 2009 debut for Conspiracy Records “This Face” was further infected and finally delivered by engineer Brian Beatrice before being wrought for stage deployment with additional drummer Eric Neuser.
Locrian is an experimental / drone three-piece band from Chicago, Illinois, United States formed in late 2005. The band’s music was described by Allmusic as an “eclectic mixture of black metal, electronics, drone, and noise rock”. Allmusic writer Ned Raggett also identified progressive rock influences on The Crystal World. The band have identified krautrock and 1990s death metal as influences.
In 2006, Olson formed Retro Grave while still playing drums for Trouble. The debut, self-titled EP was released on June 5, 2007 and was written, recorded, and performed in its entirety by Olson with lyricist Paull Goodchild. The following year Mike Schermuly and J Cortes were recruited by Olson to participate in the debut full length, “Again”. The album was initially released in December 2008 as a digital release only via the band’s website.
Kayo Dot is an avant-garde group originally from Boston, Massachusetts, United States (now based in Brooklyn, New York) that was formed in 2003 by Toby Driver after the disband of maudlin of the Well. They released their debut album Choirs of the Eye on John Zorn’s Tzadik label that year.
With the exception of the Blackout Effectors Musket Fuzz, this is my current working setup. It is a “Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 plus” powered Pedal Train 1. Signal flow is as follows;
Sonic Research Turbo Tuner ST-200> Analogman Bi-Comprossor > Analogman Sunface, modded with new old stock Red Dot NKT275 Germanium transistors, sun dial and On/Off pot, NO Power or LED > Devi Ever Soda Meiser > MXR Phase 90 > Line 6 DL4 > Boss FV-500L Volume Pedal > Line 6 Verbzilla. Also on the board is the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier channel switcher.
Live with Gnaw, I omit the Bi-Comp. The Bi-Comp is not ideal with the Les Paul through the Mesa Boogie. I’m in no need of added sustain (!) and the comp really raises the noise floor quite significantly at huge gain levels. In this photo, the MXR Phase 90 is not actively in the chain, as I did not bring it along on the European tour. The Volume pedal exists post DL4 because I actively use the guitar’s pot for volume adjustments and this allows me to silently build loops live, then bring them in after several layers are constructed.
The Pedal Train 1 is a tad small in surface area, but for me, the best solution in size vs. weight vs. cost. While it’s nice to have access to my pedal collection all in one place, I never need them all at the same time and the PT2 would not have afforded me that anyway. The Pedal Train 2 is arguably a slightly better alternative but realistically only has 2 addition inches of surface area on the board. So, the added weight and added cost aren’t really justifiable for me. The PT2 Hard Case is far superior and a much more substantial flight case, however at 17 lbs vs. the 9 lb. PT1 case, you really pay for it in weight. The hard case for the PT1 is not too well constructed, yet far lighter. While in transit, I strap a durable luggage strap through the handle and around it for added security, as well as some added foam inside to ensure that nothing in that case will budge. On paper it sounds like a ridiculous compromise when discussing some of my hand built pedals, but I’m completely satisfied with this solution. With airlines currently charging you for every pound, it would cost me an additional $50 (each way!) to check the PT2 on a plane. I am able to stow the PT1 inside my luggage for no extra cost. Some day, “the label” will pay for overages (yeah right) and then I’ll upgrade.
Moving forward; I think ideally, with proper time and resources, I would get the DL4 space hog off this board, put the volume pedal earlier in the chain and add the Musket Fuzz and a RMC2 Wah. Then perhaps create another board with an additional volume pedal, the DL4 and an additional looping pedal. Just a thought, though.
GNAW headlines the tonesofdeath.com night at Fontanas on Eldridge Street on May 6th. Sponsored by Revolver Magazine with free PBR while supplies last.
Thursday, May 6, Doors at 8 PM, 21+
Tonesofdeath.com Night!
Sponsored by Scion, Revolver, and MetalSucks
Free show. Free PBR ‘til we run out
Live bands downstairs starting at 9
9 – Sin of Angels
10 – Ocean
11 – Gnaw
www.tonesofdeath.com, www.facebook.com/tonesofdeath, www.twitter.com/tonesofdeath, www.myspace.com/tonesofdeath
Fontana ‘s
105 Eldridge St .
New York , NY 10002
Phone: 212-334-6740
Including, album of the year…
http://www.terrorizer.com/content/jos%C3%A9-carlos-santos-albums-2009-big-finale
Posted in: GNAW, Gnaw Reviews
Gnaw headlines an early show at Europa alongside Earthen Grave and Trouble on Saturday, December 5th. Gnaw will be onstage by 9pm.
http://eyeforear.com/blog/2009/11/10/gnaw-europa-saturday-120509/
Gnaw performs live on Brian Turner’s WMFU Radio show on Tuesday, December 8th.
http://eyeforear.com/blog/2009/11/10/gnaw-live-on-wfmu/
On December 8th, Brian Turner will host Gnaw for an in-studio live performance on his weekly WFMU radio program. Brian describes his show as “Order and disorder in a freeform haze of terribly played guitars, shorted-out electronics, found audio detritus, strange sounds from strange lands all around.” Gnaw should fit right in.
WFMU-FM is a listener-supported, non-commercial radio station broadcasting at 91.1 Mhz FM in Jersey City, NJ, right across the Hudson from lower Manhattan. It is currently the longest running freeform radio station in the United States. Besides all that, it’s one of the best stations in the world.
Gnaw, Earthen Grave – featuring Ron Holzner from doom legends TROUBLE and virtuoso violinist Rachel Barton Pine , and Iron Man, Saturday, December 05th, 2009, Europa. It’s a fairly early show as they clear the club promptly at 10pm to get the dance party underway. Expect Gnaw onstage at 9PM.