hey i just wanted to update y'all

we are almost done with the dvd. all the footage and pieces have been edited together. i'm still dealing conceptually with the menus and design and a few other "Features", and we are not yet 100% certain who is going to put it out.

bits and pieces have started showing up in various film festivals and things (all in europe, for some reason...)

so far online we've got the black pope video, the "Zircle 2" piece with tamio that was linked to, and the trailer. there's one more thing i'll be putting up soon, and i'll do a post that pulls all the links together for easy smoking-crack-and-watching-videos viewing.

thanks for the enthusiasm i'm so psyched that yr psyched.

more soon

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/articl...ine-for-victor

The No-Neck Blues Band
Nine for Victor
[Soundatone/Les Disques Victo; 2007]
Rating: 7.1



The No-Neck Blues Band have made a career out of dodging expectations, with good, bad, and sometimes baffling results. So it makes odd sense that, while most improv groups release live recordings in long unedited tracks, No-Neck instead opted to trim their 70-minute set from the 2005 Victoriaville Festival into a nine-song, 45-minute album. More surprising is how they did the trimming. The group's open-ended music usually climbs and crests, but here we get short chunks cut off before they can grow, like clouds waiting for some elusive wind to push them forward. That may sound boring or frustrating on paper, but in reality it can be peculiarly hypnotic.

With most improv, the fascination lies in how unscripted sound forms compelling arcs. Here, the puzzler is how No-Neck can generate so much interesting noise without moving forward. There's no shortage of activity in the band's gurgling soundscape, so the stubborn ability to stand still is entrancing. The best example is "Lady Vengeance", which combines prickly guitar with creaky atmosphere and portentous piano, resulting in a paralyzed tension. "Dosed Cremant" follows with brief noodlings chopped into aural haiku, and the dreamy "Four Head Food" is even more narrow. Rather than opening up its sound palette to any possible event, it focuses on a thin strip of mesmerizing sounds. Like many of these cuts, it works best on headphones, as microscopic tones become sharper when heard at close range. This tactic of isolating small vignettes doesn't always work. The hammering piano of "Pylorus in Repose" is tedious, and the goofy growls grafted onto "Julius: Tainted by Ore" are more off-putting than amusing (assuming they were meant to be funny).

Ultimately, No-Neck are still at their best when they let themselves breathe. "The Cacao Grinder" is an instant classic: electronic sketches, intermittent percussion, and clipped guitar slowly coalesce into a collective tribal groove. Sly musical figures that were present from the start become more vivid once a rhythmic outline is traced around them. "Brain Soaked Hide" pulls the same trick in a more rocking context, pushing female hums, loping bass, and wandering guitars toward a stoner-rock apex reminiscent of Bardo Pond or Hawkwind. It would be wrong to expect a group as excitingly impulsive as No-Neck to stick to the proven forms those two tracks represent, and the rest of Nine For Victor is definitely an intriguing experiment. But knowing this band, it's probably the last of its kind anyway, and that may be for the best.

se on virallista - NNCK on maailman paras bändi

i'll see them after 2 weeks here in finland. just a day before the eurovision song contest...

You know, I've spun that NNCKBX 7" again and you know who it sounds like? Lambsbread. A less frenetic Lambsbread. Side b of the 7" starts out like a cassette Lambsbread did for Maim and Disfigure. It's pretty fucking decent, anyhoo. Those NNCKBX dudes should cut some more records.

NNCK did not play in Berlin during this tour, but next Tuesday "Way of the Cross" is playing here and the band consists of:

Dave Nuss (of No Neck Blues Band, NYC), Christelle Gualdi (of Stellar, Stiff River, Netherlands), Spencer Clark and James Ferraro (of The Skaters, a California drone-duo from Pacific City), Jan Anderzen (of Kemialliset Ystavat, Tomutonttu, Finland), Kuupuu (Finland), Aartu Partinen (of Avarus, Hetero Skeleton, Amon Dude, Finland) and Mik Quantius (of Embryo, Germany).

I'm feeling very lazy these days, but I think I will manage to go...

That sounds pretty interesting. Where are they playing in Berlin?

Correction:

C'est officiel - NNCK est le meilleur groupe du monde.

it is in Kreuzberg, I have never heard of that place before:

http://www.ballhausnaunyn.de/



i think this is the "more info" link:

http://www.hairentertainment.com/node/343

i do know it, i was going to play there but had to leave berlin before i could set something up. its near oranienstrasse. lot of squats round there. its a shame i will miss it but i will get another chance.

i saw them play in helsinki on friday, they were really good!

Hey, does anyone has a recording of a show "way of the cross"
i'll appreciate a lot
thanx
t

They'll be doing a radio session for VPRO. Probably for "Dwars", in which case you'll be able to listen to it afterwards here:
http://www.vpro.nl/programma/dwars/dossiers/31875646/

Saw NNCK twice this tour and both shows were some of my favourite of theirs I've seen. One with Michiko playing the grand piano, the other one sans Michiko but in a very intimite setting and probably even better, although they were very different so hard to compare. Seeing Way of the Cross in a few days.

thanx Dr pokk !!!

there it is
http://www.vpro.nl/programma/dwars/artikelen/34976583/

If I wanted to be introduced to these guys, what would y'all suggest?

I'll quickly say Qvaris before anyone else replies.

I'd suggest being polite, shaking their hands with a firm but not too firm grip, and saying "How do you do".

Knowing me, I'd get all shakey and say something stupid.

Like "Hey, you're supposed to be the best band in the world aren't you? Prove it!"? That would be somewhat embarassing. If you do do that, I recommend letting out a small but audible fart to diffuse the tension.

hey guys,
how can you save the way of the cross file on your harddisc?????