December 9, 2014
Brassland takes Éire, The Gloaming snare year-end honors
Brassland has landed in Ireland! No awkward puns or repetitive use of verbs intended! For a thorough round up of what's going on, take a listen to this hourlong podcast prepared by Dublin's National Concert Hall. It also serves as a great capsule history of the label.
Alternatively, if you try to observe the "pod-" in podcasting, you may download part one and part two from Soundcloud (or, if you're a real traditionalist, via iTunes). They were produced by the most-excellent Ben Eshmade in honor of NCH's just-as-excellent Perspectives series which launched this year with our Brassland weekend as its flagship presentation.
*blush*
*false modesty...
November 10, 2014
The Gloaming tour the west coast, the world & Ireland; meet Sting
Cool thing alert: immediately after we released The Gloaming's self-titled debut, it began popping up on "top 10 records of 2014...so far" lists: Mojo said it all the way back in March. The Irish Times newspaper placed it at #1 in June. (Hip Irish blog Nialler9 has it at #6 because, well, blogs.) And just this week Mashable placed it at #2 in their "visually stunning album covers of 2014" list.
And now that we've gotten the cool/cool stuff out of the way, lets get to the weird/cool stuff: Why yes, that is The Gloamings Martin Hayes standing next between Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson and Sting. Isn't that weird? But also kinda cool? Here's the story: A month ago Hayes...
September 23, 2014
Jherek Bischoff launches Kickstarter, tours OZ with Missy Higgins
UPDATE NOVEMBER 4, 2014: The Kickstarter surpassed its goal by 50% reaching over $23,000, and triggering the release of an exclusive digital EP just for backers! Yay Jherek! Yay backers!
It's been over a year since we've brought you any Jherek Bischoff news. Which is not to say there hasn't been any. This versatile composer/producer/sideman/arranger is just so prolific he's hard to keep up with. We couldn't report on everything unless we turned www.brassland.org into a 24-7 Jherek Bischoff news service. (Come to think of it, for something like that experience you should check out his Twitter feed, or ours.)
Anyhoo, there are two pieces of particularly B...
August 29, 2014
Buke and Gase offer new song, USA, Irish & UK tour date(s)
Let's get the most fun part out of the way first: Buke and Gase have just posted their new song "Seam Esteem" to Bandcamp for free download. Grab it:
"Seam Esteem" (Free download) by Buke and Gase
"Seam Esteem" premiered on All Songs Considered. You can also stream it on their Soundcloud.
I know what you're thinking: These announcements came out of the blue. What gives? Well, hopefully you're already one of the lucky internet browsers who caught wind of the their Soundcloud postings from March to June of this year, during which the duo shared aural snapshots & snippets of recent improvs, recording experiments & works-in-process. As the band put it: "The...
August 20, 2014
Brassland @ National Concert Hall of Ireland this December
Dia dhaoibh! We have some news for you and it's completely craic for anyone in the general vicinity of Éire. If you haven't given up on this post already due to confusion, or offense at our half-assed use of Celtic greetings & Irish slang, please read on: Brassland has plotted an event at the National Concert Hall of Ireland (NCH) this December. It's going to be awesome.
The location is Dublin; the dates are December 13 and December 14. On Saturday we'll present a marathon of individually ticketed shows. It kicks off at 3pm with three intimate gigs in their Engineering Library and finishs up that evening with our headliner in the main room:
- 3pm: Crash Ensemble performing t...
June 15, 2014
Call For Interns
Brassland is always looking for qualified interns with a strong interest in the music industry. Our interns gain first hand experience in the label side of things with the possibility of experience in publishing and management.
All positions are unpaid.
REQUIREMENTS
Must live in the greater New York area for the duration of internship.
Must be available for at least two full days a week
Must be in at least junior year of college
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Submit resume AND cover letter to this contact form with the subject line: I WANT TO BE AN INTERN OR HELPER PERSON!
PLEASE INCLUDE:
- Your top 5 all time favorite re...
April 23, 2014
People Get Ready announce new album, NYC gigs
When is a band more than a band? People Get Ready has inspired that question since their self-titled debut was released a year and a half ago. The shows in support of the record blew many people away, and took place everywhere from DIY clubs around Brooklyn, to a cross-country opening slot for Deerhoof, to "high art" performance spaces like BAM, LA's Skirball Center and Duke University. The group frequently adds auxiliary performers and homemade instruments (i.e. a "circumstantial guitar" strapped to its wearer's back and dragged on the ground by its headstock), but sometimes they simply attack their songs as a ferocious (in a joyful way!) four-piece. NPRs Bob Boilen has ranked thei...
March 3, 2014
This is the Kit record with Aaron Dessner, release EP, tour Europe
This is the Kit are gigging again in Europe, revisiting many of the same cities they hit while opening The Nationals autumn 2013 tour of the continent. Stops include capitals such as Paris, Berlin and a sold out date in London. (They've also added a May follow-up gig due to the demand.) Here are the dates:
MARCH
15 Reutlinger, Germany - Burning Eagle Festival Warm-Up
17 Metz, France - La Chaouée
18 Beauvais France - La Maladrerie Saint-lazare (w/ Melissa Laveaux)
21 London, UK - The Lexington SOLD OUT
22 Manchester, UK - Gullivers
24 Rees-Haldern, Germany - Haldern Pop Bar
25 Hamburg, Germany - Nachtasyl
26 Berlin, Germany - Berghain Kantin...
February 14, 2014
Buke and Gase debut video(s), play gigs in Asia, Tenn & NY
Happy Valentine's Day! There's good reason to open with that cheerily romantic greeting: We hear some people really love them some Buke and Gase. Take this news brief as a kind of rose bouquet to you, the B&G loving audience.
But...psyche! Anyone expecting lovely smells or great new sounds will be sorely disappointed. The main sense that will be stimulated by this post is your eyes as we introduce two new viewing experiences, starting with this video for "Metazoa"or perhaps we should call it a "video"?
The band requested the only text accompanying the premiere of said video be what follows:
Arone's dream of Jan15 with Unadulterated Tour...
December 16, 2013
Introducing The Gloaming & other Irish announcements
The holidays & another year's end always brings to mind fresh beginnings. Our latest signing, The Gloaming, recalls Brassland's own beginnings while plotting some new paths. Without further adieu enjoy a free introduction to the group by way of this Bandcamp download of one of their first live shows.
If that's enough to convince you to help this music make its way in the world, go ahead & pre-order the album right now:
- ITUNES (download)
- BANDCAMP (download)
- BRASSLAND STORE (compact disc)
Digital copies will be delivered on or before January 21 and physical copies by February 11.
Still on the fence? Initially introduced to us by one of our c...
November 6, 2013
1942-2013 = Lou Reed = ∞
It always bothers me to see people writing RIP when a person dies. It just feels so insincere and like a cop-out. To me, RIP is the microwave dinner of posthumous honors. Lou Reed
There's this moment at the end of Lou Reed's Berlin concert film when his face changes from a sphinx-like scowl into a gracious glow. It's after Antony sings a cover version of the Velvets' "Candy Says." Transformed in the hands of his protege, Lou rewards Antony with a warm smile all the more precious for its rarity.
I'm not big into mourning celebrity deaths. There was a day in 1990 when Jim Henson died (almost simultaneous with Sammy Davis!). That was memorable...
November 5, 2013
Bryce Dessner records with Kronos Quartet, plays Carnegie Hall
The Nationals Bryce Dessner is a man of a million projects, constantly generating material for his various musical identities, the latest of which is a new record, entitled Aheym for the Anti- label. Here, we actually see him sidestepping the guitar in favor of a string quartet and when we say STRING QUARTET we mean for it to be in all caps. Bryce has "gone big" and composed these pieces for one of the most widely-acclaimed contemporary classical ensembles out there, Kronos Quartet.
Also a Brassland co-founder and member of Clogs, Bryce has been an indie rock star by day and contemporary classical composer by night for a long time now. Well, actually, maybe we should say that he&#...
October 23, 2013
People Get Ready tour, work on LP #2 with Deerhoof's Greg Saunier
While you may be staring into the last dregs of 2013 and trying to distract yourself from impending seasonal depression, other people are looking forward to an amazing 2014. What kind of people you ask... Wait, before we get to that: Are you okay? We mean, really, what's wrong with you? Oh, wait a sec, our therapist recently reminded us not to judge. We apologize for being so snappy. And let us get around to a few announcements that might just lift your spirits. For starters: People Get Ready (those people!) have just announced a bunch of new tour dates including their first ever appearances in the southeast and on the west coast of the USA. And yes, this band could be your life, or chan...
September 27, 2013
This is the Kit tour with The National, reissue Wriggle Out the Restless
You may have noticed Paris- and Bristol-based band This is the Kit palling around with the Brassland roster for a few years now. They first opened for The National during their storied run of Beacon Theater shows in December 2011. They were invited to The National's All Tomorrow's Parties fest in December 2012, split some UK dates with Buke and Gase just after that, and participated in Brassland events in Adelaide, Australia and Haldern, Germany in 2013. Their 2010 album Wriggle Out the Restless has been available sporadically on Bandcamp throughout this time and we at the label have logged a few frequent flier miles over to the United Kingdom to hang out and spend some time with the...
July 26, 2013
Buke and Gase return to Europe/UK for tour
Buke and Gase had an eventful summer. (That's short for "event full," get it. Ha ha ha -- someone stop us before we kill again...with jokes.) Anyhoo, having spent most of June tearing it up across the 'States alongside Tomahawk (complete with a stop in the nations capital opening for Animal Collective), the band is now headed across the pond to spread the love in Europe and the United Kingdom this August. Maybe you wanted to check out one of their shows in April, but were distracted by something less interesting like a wedding or birthday party or a gig by a more popular band who you now realize are not as good as Buke and Gase.
The band has a bunch of festival dates lin...
July 10, 2013
Jherek Bischoff releases a video featuring David Byrne
Earlier this week, Pitchfork premiered Jherek Bischoff's new video. The song in question is Eyes. Remember it? It serves as the dynamic opening song on his 2012 album Composed and features the vocals and iconically strange lyrics of legendary pop innovator David Byrne, or DB as we like to call him. (Mostly because we feel awkward writing his name in full when we email various associates of his. It totes turns us into geeky fan boys and girls, and brings to mind that time we received an email from Caetano Veloso and were like "-----, whoa!" right before our minds exploded.)
Anyhoo, DB appears in the video alongside Bischoff amid trippy, blinking cuts of stringed instruments. So...
June 14, 2013
Brassland @ Haldern Pop Festival in Germany
Guten Tag! After our recent experience bringing most of our active roster to Australia's Adelaide Festival, the label has begun to keep an eye out for distant cities which might play host to this thing that we do. This August's Haldern Pop Festival in northwestern Germany has answered the call! Billing itself as a "small, cozy festival in the Lower Rhine area," the actually not-so-small fest has an amazing history and plays to a sold out audience of about 5,000 people every summer.
Festival organizer Stefan Reichmann came to us a few months back, asking about artists who might participate in the 2013 edition. This is the Kit, Buke and Gase and Jherek Bischoff said yes! (Bras...
June 3, 2013
People Get Ready debut video for "Zelda Maria," plays with The National
If youve seen People Get Ready live, you know it's a band who takes their visuals seriously. They've already received significant attention for their performance-based live shows that are pleasing to both the ear and the eye. To continue this watch-while-you-listen spirit, the band just debuted their new Zelda Maria dance/music video on Stereogum.
That's a "dance"-slash-"music" video not a "dance music" video we'll have you know. (Although, yes, their tunes would work pretty well as the soundtrack for your next indie dance party.) The "music" part of this equation is "Zelda Maria," the second single released from PGR's debut album. The tune is the focus of th...
May 22, 2013
Jherek Bischoff featured on Fresh Air, adds fresh tour dates & tours his home
If Jherek Bischoffs life were a movie, it would start out as the rock band version of "Life of Pi" and morph, through a process of musical inspiration and intense perseverance, into a love story between a ukulele and a string orchestra.
Intrigued? You should be.
Chances are theres a lot you dont know about this composer, producer, songwriter, and all around musical powerhouse. The details of his unusual biography were recently aired in an interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, where Bischoff gave an enlightening look into his surreal personal history (including a childhood spent on a sailboat playing an uncomfortable amount of Jimmy Buffett covers), the evo...
April 9, 2013
Buke and Gase headline, open for Tomahawk and Animal Collective
Have you ever caught yourself awkwardly fist-pumping and shredding air guitar to General Dome? Dont stop now. Alt-metal supergroup Tomahawk (featuring Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, Trevor Dunn, also of Mr. Bungle, Duane Denison of The Jesus Lizard, and John Stanier of Helmet and Battles) has asked Buke and Gase to join them for a series of shows in June. And to further demonstrate the genre-spanning power of Buke and Gases music, the band has also been asked to open for psychedelic indie heroes Animal Collective in Washington, DC. (DC is in for quite a treat that week.)
The action actually starts a bit earlier though. There's a gig this Friday at Bryce's Mus...
February 22, 2013
Brassland @ Adelaide Festival, the label curates a festival Down Under
Hi Australia! Here's a cool thing! A half-dozen artists on Brassland's roster (along with a handful of our peers, mentors and friends) are heading Down Under in the first week of March, under the aegis of the Adelaide Festival. The shows are an outgrowth of a long-running conversation between David Sefton, Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival, and Alec Hanley Bemis, co-founder of Brassland. Blurring the lines between composed music, art-rock, and the indie scene, the boundary-crossing program we've created is in the tradition of the LA Phils upcoming Brooklyn Festival (2013), BAMs second annual Crossing Brooklyn Ferry event curated by Bryce and Aaron Dessner, and Les Nuits de...
February 5, 2013
The Return of Clogs
Been wondering what Clogs are up to these days? Most days we wonder the same thing. But today we have actual news for you. The group has just released The Sundown Song EP, an intimate, three-song collection that captures group leader Padma Newsome in his current home base, Mallacoota, one of the most isolated towns in the Australian state of Victoria. The songs explore mortality and bittersweet endings, a theme well-captured in the music video for the title track, "The Sundown Song." Check it out:
Stereogum premiered it earlier today and says "the video is equally as soothing as the track, a collage of real life clips, sepia-toned and almost like living photojournalism." Pitchf...
February 1, 2013
People, get ready to see People Get Ready
Bob Boilen of NPR saw 462 shows last year. (That's not a typo. He's just ambitious.) Anyway, Mr. Bob made a list of his favorite 243 performances of 2012 and he put People Get Ready at number one.
Like, whoa! Anyway this isn't just a numbers game. They did not get a 10.0 or a 7.5 or an 8.9. (Damn that Romanian judge!) Nope he wrote about them, and here's what he said:
No single show took my breath away the way this one did part rock concert, part performance art, part dance, all perfectly melded together. Having seen so many dudes with guitars during the CMJ Music Marathon, it was incredibly refreshing to find a group challenging and changing the norm. It...
January 29, 2013
New Year, New Gear, New Buke and Gase
Holidays = done. Ready to kickstart the year with renewed resolve? (And not interested in doing a Kickstarter campaign?) Well, here's an idea: how about some awesome new music from Buke & Gase? The duo's new album, "General Dome" came out in North American today, January 29th (Europe & ROW gets it February 22nd). Get some now:
BUY LPs or CDs
BUY FROM AMAZON / iTUNES / ETC.
BUY FROM INSOUND
BUY FROM BANDCAMP
Note that digital downloads from Bandcamp will not be delivered until the February 22nd date!
Enough with the commerce! What is this album all about?
Inspired (in part) by a recent Sol Lewitt exhibition at the Dia Beacon museum in B...
December 14, 2012
Jherek Bischoff invades NYC, Seattle, the Internet
It's been a big year for Mr. Jherek Bischoff, climaxing in a ton of high-profile activity this fall and winter. Let us count off some of the recent ways he has been rockin' his hometown, New York City and the world (wide web). (Speaking of rockin', is classicalin' a word? Maybe it should be?)
So, to recount all the ways Jherek has been classicalin'.
Maybe you caught Jherek in Amanda Palmer's "Do It Like A Rockstar" music video this past November? (Definitely rocking!) The video was filmed in Oklahoma City and you may have picked up on the psychedelic vibes contributed by Flaming Lips' frontman, Wayne Coyne who co-directed the clip with George Sal...
December 10, 2012
The National do All Tomorrow's Parties festival
The National curated (and decidedly sold out) All Tomorrow's Parties festival came and went this past weekend at Pontin's Holiday Camp in Camber Sands, England. It was bone-chillingly cold, it got dark very very early, and the sands at Camber Sands were only braved by the very very brave. (Count among the brave the dudes of The National who went out there for a photo shoot one morning.)
The long and excellent list of featured musicians included Kurt Vile, Bear in Heaven, Deerhoof, Menomena, Hauschka, Richard Reed Parry (three sets!), Sharon Van Etten -- and that's just the musicians who haven't made an appearance on Brassland discs. The Brassland family was well repr...
November 5, 2012
Buke & Gase donate song proceeds to hurricane relief in Red Hook, Brooklyn
There are times where our wacky and/or witty and/or world-weary and/or just plain sarcastic viewpoint, does not do a situation justice. So first things first, we'll let Buke & Gase speak plain here:
We used to call Red Hook, Brooklyn home, a neighborhood that's been greatly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. To help support the recovery process, we are donating a song from our upcoming album. All proceeds from the purchase of this song over the next week will go directly to http://www.rhicenter.org
We wish the best to all who have been affected by the storm, and sending gratitude to those who are helping in any way they can.
- Arone and Aron of Buke and Gase
<...
October 19, 2012
Bischoff tours, releases instrumentals, writes about "volunteer" musicians
Well folks, Jherek Bischoff is headed back on the road again, manning the bass rig & music director duties for Amanda Palmer & the Grand Theft Orchestra. (He'll also provide lovely opening sets to most shows.) The tour kicks off in London on October 23, traverses Europe until November 4th and then returns to America for awhile. Next his own jams will take the spotlight in a pair of December shows in Seattle & New York. Do you want us to cut to the chase with details? Well, uh, okay then: look here.
If you're feeling leisurely, though, we're happy to explain more in a narrative-oriented, hype-laden, multi-media format. Oooh, exciting...
Well, first the hype: Sinc...
September 21, 2012
October is People Get Ready month
Many of you probably just think of October as "Adopt a Shelter Dog Month," but we at Brassland will humbly submit you should update your calender to reflect that it is also "Adopt People Get Ready Month." If you aren't familiar with People Get Ready, rest assured close followers of Brassland (i.e. you) will soon be inundated with their infectious melodies, relentless high-energy rhythms and genre-bending live performances by the end of said month. With a number of releases, premieres and parties slated to take place, you people should get ready to start autumn by riding the groundswell of PGR output and activities.
For those of you who want to get an early start of things, the...
September 4, 2012
This Is The Kit tours Germany (mostly)
Hey Europeans! Do you folks celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday in September like us? We couldn't figure it out even after extensive Googling of Wikpedia.
Anyway, apparently This is the Kit are celebrating the passing of American Labor Day by touring the heck out of Europe, mostly Germany. They'll will be traveling with fellow musicians Rozi Plain and Jamie Harrison, and we assume they'll be playing together & apart and a good time will be had by all.
Be sure to also note that This Is The Kit are not excluding their British friends. They play Bestival on the Isle of Wight, before the Germany dates kick off, as well as The National-curated All Tomorrow's...