12 March 2010

Sonny & the Sunsets encroach upon SXSW


[photo swiped from headphonerecord's flickr]

Look out music industry: Sonny & the Sunsets are headed to SXSW in Austin! After getting the initial invite from WFMU, the band said "fuck it," & pawned some gear to pay for flights to the Live Music Capitol of the World™.

If you're planning to attend the festival, we urge you to see them; if for no other reason, to seek respite from the overwhelming chaos & ridiculousness of (most of) the rest of it.

Their plans in Austin, TX (times are close to accurate) -

03/18 - Beauty Bar (Bay Bridged showcase); 11 AM
03/19 - Encore (WFMU / Aquarius showcase); 11 PM
03/20 - Spiderhouse (Panache/Cake Shop showcase); 1 PM
03/20 - City Hall (Sneak Attack showcase); 2 PM
03/20 - Domy Books (KVRX showcase); 4 PM
03/20 - Beerland; 6 PM


The band should have some records with them, including recently unearthed copies of the heretofore out-of-print Love & Death 7".

In other news, Tomorrow is Alright, the band's debut LP, is possibly sold out from anywhere you might look to find it. I'm sure there are copies lurking in shops & mailorders. It's worth tracking down; it looks like this -



There may soon be an LP repress available, but in the meantime it's out there on iTunes, Other Music Digital, et al as a DL. The CD version is forthcoming, shouldn't be much longer now...

05 March 2010

Ulaan Khol "III" & limited 'Ceremony' series box now available!



At times recalling Neil Young's score for Jarmusch's Dead Man, III is Steven R. Smith's (Hala Strana, Thuja, etc) masterstroke. Not only does this work tie together all three Ulaan Khol releases into a cohesive whole (the 'Ceremony' series), it also stands alone as a groundbreaking, breathtaking amalgam of heavy Komische & basement psychedelic madness.

"'III' is as immediate as a truck with failed brakes crashing through your living room wall. The third and final installment of a trilogy entitled Ceremony, its opening moments rage and wail, with distorted guitars pulling out in front of the drums like hellhounds that have slipped their master's leesh. But this isn't a mono-dimensional freak-out. Smith paces himself, pulling back into brooding drones and pensive picking before lashing out once more. As befits a journey that's taken three discs to unfold, it ends with a grand gesture; the final melody is as epic as Roy Montgomery's mid-'90s work, and it unfurls over a landscape of blasted wah-wah licks and feeback that somehow reconcile The Stooges and Popul Vuh." - Bill Meyer, Signal to Noise

As an added bonus to fans of the Ulaan Khol releases, we're pleased to offer - while they last - a limited edition handmade birch box that nimbly fits all three volumes of the Ceremony series. An edition of 75 printed / stamped boxes, built by Andie Mazarol (Mother of Fire, Myrrh, etc) & Marshall LaCourt (Dark Dark Dark) in Minneapolis; these will only be available direct from Soft Abuse or from Steven R. Smith via his Worstward web site.

Shoddy photo aside, here's the box -




Ulaan Khol's "III" as well as the limited Ceremony box may be purchased here.
Ulaan Khol I and II are still available, too.