Pumice "Hey Crap Crab" semi-official video!

We're pleased to share this Pumice "fan vid" with you all, directed by Tina from The Coolies & starring a cloaked Stefan Neville and several Incredible Hulks. Love this.

The return of Pumice: PUNY out now!

After years of (mostly) silence from Stefan Neville, the world now has a brilliant new Pumice album in its grip called PUNY.

Pumice's temporary dormancy allowed Stefan to collaborate with heaps of others, including The Renderers, The Coolies, The Spunks, Olympus (with Kraus), Sunken (with Antony Milton) and more. With a new 8-track in hand & heartbreak in the distance, PUNY began to take shape. Its a chronicle of sadness & triumphs, and sees Stefan tackling Beefheart-like rhythms, doo-wop experiments, melancholic strumming & other confusing / beautiful elements. Just as ever, PUNY overs a unique vision and a unique listen...

Order your copy directly from us here.




A few samples from PUNY --

Pumice "Covered in Spiders" by Soft Abuse

Pumice "Hey Crap Crab" by Soft Abuse

Pumice "Fool Fool Fool" by Soft Abuse

Also, for a short time longer, Under the Radar in New Zealand is offering a full stream of the album complete with track-by-track comments from Stefan Neville himself.

2011 favorites at Soft Abuse HQ

Just like every year, 2011 saw a heap good records trickle out... In compiling this list of favorites I'm surely forgetting a few things that I really loved, but below is what I can recall at this moment, listed in no particular order.



Full-lengths

The UV Race - Homo (In the Red)
Blackout Beach - Fuck Death (Dead Oceans)
Stare Case - Lose Today (DeStijl)
Bill Callahan - Apocalypse (Drag City)
Cass McCombs - Wit's End (Domino)
Cass McCombs - Humor Risk (Domino)
Condominium - Warm Home (Condominium)
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)
Zomes - Earth Grid (Thrill Jockey)
Stan Hubbs - Crystal (re, Companion)
Martin Newell - Songs for a Fallow Land (re, Fixed Identity)
Destroyer - Kaputt (Merge)
Juma Sultan's Aboriginal Music Society - Father of Origin (re, Eremite)
Various - Still Going in Offices (Savoury Days)
Der Teenage Panzerkorps - German Reggae (Holidays)
Horrid Red - Celestial Joy (Holidays/Brave Mysteries)
Angus Maclise / Tony Conrad - Dreamweapon III (re, Boo-Hooray)
Vernon Wray - Wasted (re, Sebastian Speaks)
Sic Alps - Napa Asylum (Drag City)
Jerusalem & the Starbaskets - Dost (DeStijl)
Grouper - A I A (Yellow Electric)
Jakob Olausson - Morning & Sunrise (DeStijl)
Matthew De Gennaro - Adversaria (TU-134)
The Axemen - Three Virgins, Three Versions, Three Visions (Siltbreeze)
Ryan Garbes - Sweet Hassle (Hello Sunshine)
Lighted - Queendom (Lighten-Up Sounds)
Papercuts - Fading Parade (Sub Pop)
Six Organs of Admittance - Asleep on the Floodplain (Drag City)
Total Control - Henge Beat (Iron Lung)
Kitchen's Floor - Look Forward to Nothing (Siltbreeze)
Various - Krypton Ten (Unwucht)
Belong - Common Era (Kranky)
KWJAZ - KWJAZ (Not Not Fun)
The Garbage & The Flowers - Stoned Rehearsal (re, Quemada)
Steven R. Smith - Old Skete (Worstward)
Myrrh - Myrrh (Self-Released)
Tinariwen - Tassili (Anti/V2)
Larry Marshall - Queer & Wonder (re, Rare Youth)
Bobb Trimble - Crippled Dog Band (re, Yoga)
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador)
Pigeons - No Shore (Sixteen Tambourines)
Slugfuckers - Three Feet Behind Glass / Instant Classic (re, Insolito)
Suspensers - FMLOL (Self-Released)
Peaking Lights - 936 (Not Not Fun)



Singles / EPs

Real Numbers - Tear it in Two (Florida's Dying)
Lower Dens - Deer Knives (Sub Pop)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Walking in Unison (Captcha)
Mad Nanna - Mad Nanna (Eggy)
Mad Nanna - I've Been Talking (Albert's Basement)
Jonathan Halper - Puce Moment (Bootleg)
Art Museums - S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G. (Dulcitone)
Grudge - When Christine Comes Around (re, Mighty Mouth)
The UV Race - Acid Trip (Sweet Rot)
The Mantles - Raspberry Thighs (SDZ)
Muura - Untitled (Albert's Basement)
Scrotum Poles- Revelation (re, Ducitone)
Just Urbain - Everybody Loves (re, 540)
Three Legged Race - Raining Order (NNA Tapes)
Cuffs - Privilege (Ride the Snake)
Lures - New Boy (Salvaged)
The Moondogs - Heads I Win (re, Sing Sing)
Gold-Bears - Something to Think About (Cloudberry)


Last but not least, a recap of all things Soft Abuse from 2011, listed chronologically --

Horrid Red - Pink Flowers EP
Primitive Motion - Certain Materials EP
Brute Heart - Lonely Hunter
Horrid Red - Silent Party EP
Julian Lynch - Music for How Mata Hari Lost Her Head and Found Her Body
Pumice - Pebbles (remastered LP)
Primitive Motion - By Arc or Chord
Pigeons - They Sweetheartstammers
Ulaan Khol - La Catacomb

& the above list, in playlist form -

Soft Abuse 2011 by Soft Abuse

Pumice "Pebbles" LP launch gig photos

Auckland photographer Petra Jane took a few photographs at the recent Pumice "Pebbles" LP launch gig at The Wine Cellar, and was kind enough to allow us to post a few of them here. Stefan Neville was joined by Rosy Parlane for the gig, which featured the two performing "Pebbles" in sequence. More photos can be found at Petras' site - check 'em out. We'll hopefully have video to share before too long...

Pumice "Pebbles" LP release gig, 15 October

Stefan Neville, AKA Pumice, has planned a launch gig for the newly-released LP reissue of his 2007 opus Pebbles on 15 October at the Wine Cellar in Auckland. He's recruited the peerless Rosy Parlane to assist in playing the album front-to-back.

Here's a word from Stefan himself about the proceedings --

I recorded Pebbles in 2006 at home in Kingsland with a precarious pile of instruments on a weary 8 track tape machine. I was in a downstairs room & much of it was recorded as quietly as possible so as not to disturb flatmates upstairs.

Pebbles originally came out on CD in 2007 on Soft Abuse Records (Minneapolis,USA) and the same label has now had it remastered & re-released on LP in a limited edition of 300 which also comes with a download code.

To celebrate I have decided to play the whole album live. To do this I've enlisted Rosy Parlane to play piano, bass, ukelele & keyboards while I handle drums, guitar, reed organ, vocals & tapes. We will play three short sets consisting of Side One, Side Two & some extras at the end.

Look for photos & video from the gig as soon as we get 'em. Order your copy of Pebbles (on CD, CS or LP) here.

Pumice NZ tour with Eat Skull

Fresh off his performance at the Lines of Flight Fest in Dunedin, the mighty Pumice is set to rear up yet again, over the course of three nights in support of the always-great Eat Skull.

20 April - Wellington - Eat Skull, Pumice, Full Fuckn Moon @ Mighty Mighty
21 April - Whanganui - Eat Skull, Pumice @ Arc Theatre
23 April - Auckland - Eat Skull, Pumice (Borderline Music Fest) @ Whammy Bar

And here's a few short clips of Pumice's performance from Lines of Flight, a stellar three day festival that also included sets from The Futurians, Dead C, Alastair Galbraith, Seht, and heaps more. These snippets will appear in longer form on the upcoming Pumice full-length, due later in the year.

Stefan Neville & Matt De Gennaro "Women" CS

We scored a few of these limited edition cassettes (100 made) created by Matthew De Gennaro and Stefan Neville. The press release says it all, beautifully:

Two men that lead interesting lives share ennui from unanimous confusion via Women. A blurred vision ensued. Symmetrical recording and echoic blues. Yes. Recorded in a one room schoolhouse, summer (northern hemisphere) 2009. Joe Jones music machine guest stars on The Mess Knowing You Has Made of Me. Artwork by Stefan Neville.

A wonderful, solemn session. We highly recommend grabbing one - perhaps from our distributed section (?) - while they last...

Free live Pumice download

Papaiti Records just released a live Pumice set as part of their bootleg series of live recordings. The set was recorded at Happy in Wellington in support of Grouper, and includes not only a cover of a Privacy song, but also a few songs from the forthcoming Pumice LP, due in 2011 on Soft Abuse (tentatively titled PUNY).

Grab the free download here.

Pumice "World With Worms" video

Gfrenzy created this animated video for Pumice's tune "World With Worms" (from the album Quo), based on "old EC and Warren horror comics based on my 6 year old child memory." It's perfect.

Olympus album release party!

Kraus and Neville recently hosted a soiree to celebrate the release of "Bold Mould," their debut album as the duo Olympus. The party featured a mountain-themed cake, and a bevvy of other snack options.

The two also recently shared a track-by-track commentary with the NZ webzine Under the Radar. The site is also streaming the full album for he next week. Read / hear it here.

Debut from Olympus now available!

Olympus brings together two dodgy geniuses from New Zealand's sub-underground under one banner - Stefan "Pumice" Neville & Kraus. Like their namesake Mt., Olympus assail their listeners with a rock-solid (sorry), yet varied selection of tunes that include basement kraut grooves, blasted tape manipulation, fuzzed-out homemade electronics, explosive drumming, minimal synth dervishes and melancholy pop instrumentals. Neville and Kraus met a few years back, and after drinking & playing pool together, the idea for Olympus was hatched. After a few years of sending bits & ideas back & forth through the mail, the duo are proud to share "Bold Mould," their debut, with the world.




"Bold Mould" is a Stabbies, etc / Soft Abuse co-release, pressed in an edition of 500 with a gratis DL coupon. The duo have a lathe 7" single coming soon via Epic Sweep.

Pumice cassette editions of Pebbles & Quo now available!

We just received the cassette reissues of Pumice's two most-recent full-length releases (Pebbles from 2007 and Quo from 2008) in today's mail. We feel that this music is almost tailor-made for tapes, and are pleased to provide these re-releases for fans & all others as well.

Both casettes are available for pre-order now. We'll start shipping direct mailorders in a week or so...

Some praise for Pebbles --

"...sounds like our hero has eaten the bread of Gate & drank from the cup of Alastair Galbraith. Sometimes he even breaks out like he stole Bruce Russell's Fire Engines records! The new sherriff of Xpressway County don't shoot no blanks. Great stuff." - Tom Lax, Siltblog

Some praise for Quo --

"Fans of overdrive will find their fix in 'Fort' and 'Battersby,' which sound like a bag of early SST cassettes found melting in the desert." - Exclaim Magazine

In other Stefan Neville / Pumice news, Soft Abuse (in conjunction with Neville's own Stabbies imprint) is currently prepping for release the debut from Olympus, Neville's long-running collaboration with Kraus (a former member of Futurians, The Aesthetics, etc). Bold Mould is more than two one-man bands coming together; it presents of two old friends coming together, and in the spirit of collaboration, Olympus provides the forum for each artist to expand on his own world of sound. Olympus' debut, Bold Mould, is LP-only (w/ DL) & should be available by September.

Grouper & Pumice : NZ tour / split 7"

Grouper (Liz Harris) and Pumice (Stefan Neville) are set to join forces on a tour of Neville's New Zealand homeland in March. To commemorate this event, Soft Abuse (in conjunction with the artists themselves) will release a tour 7" single, which is strictly limited to 500 copies & features exclusive new songs. Grouper's contribution, 'Rising Height,' is a gorgeous example of her elongated Kendra Smith-esque fuzzy drone craft. Pumice gives us 'Twin Neck Double Kick Bum Chin,' a new song that could've fit well on Quo. The single will be officially available on 24 March (as well as all NZ gigs), and is currently available for pre-order here.

Confirmed tour dates are as follows -

03/12 - Auckland, NZ - Whammy Bar
03/13 - Wanganui, NZ - The Stink Magnetic Record Co.
03/14 - Wellington, NZ - Happy (with Seht)
03/15 - Wellington, NZ - SpaceThing (with The Ghastlies)
03/19 - Christchurch, NZ - Saint Lukes (with Roy Montgomery)
03/21 - Port Chalmers, NZ - Chicks Hotel (with CJA & Smokehouse)

RIP small silver guitar

Stefan Neville via the Rose Quartz blog -

"When i arrived back in Auckland last week the small silver guitar got smashed in the flight. I think i can piece it back together but it wont tour again which means the end of Pumice as we know it."

Please note that Stefan hasn't decided to call it quits - he's simply not able to play live with his signature axe...

Pumice in USA '08

Stefan Neville is currently on tour in the USA; this marks only his second tour of these parts. Current tour dates are below- we expect more will fall into place in the week ahead.

05/26 - New York, NY - Cake Shop (with King Darves, Car Commercials)
05/29 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool (with Enos Slaughter, Marcia Bassett, Folk Spectre)
06/04 - Providence, RI - Looney Bin (with Goat of Arms)
06/10 - San Francisco, CA - Aquarius Records (in-store, 6 PM)
06/11 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern (with Some Dark Holler)
06/14 - Davis, CA - 1114 Cypress

To commemorate Stefan journey over here, we've printed a limited number of tour shirts. Most of these were sent to him directly, though a few are for sale via the Soft Abuse web site (while they last). Stefan made the drawing; depicted is an alternate universe Pumice roadie, caught in the act of of the rock n' sway. Beautiful.

To purchase or see a photo, merely click here.

Pumice & Chadborne on Tyfus Radio!

Dennis Tyfus recently posted two Pumice sessions from his radio show, Radio Centraal, one of which features Stefan with Eugene Chadborne & their cover of Beefheart's 'Orange Claw Hammer.' Hear it all here.

Pumice's session for VPRO should be online shortly.

And lastly, the remaining Pumice European tour dates (with some new additions) -

03/11 - Tampere, Finland - Vastavirta
03/12 - Helsinki, Finland - GALLERY MYYMÄLÄ2
03/13 - Turku, Finland - TVO (with Avarus)
03/27 - Tromsø, Norway - Kaos
03/28 - Oslo, Norway - Sofiengberg Church
03/29 - Stavanger, Norway - Tou
04/01 - Gothenborg, Sweden - Underjorden
04/05 - Mogliano Veneto, Italy - Filandia Motta
04/06 - Solighetto, Italy - Villa Brandolin

Hear Pumice in Paris

Radio WNE is hosting archived audio of the Pumice gig in Paris with Los Llamarada and Minitel. Hear all three bands here.

Pumice puffs through Europe

Good ol' Stefan Neville (AKA Pumice) is out on the road in Europe after a string of dates in Japan. The road warrior has quite a bit planned for 2008, including another visit to the USA for gigs in late summer. First things first, though, and that's his current European jaunt, which finds him zig-zagging across the continent & sharing bills with everyone from Los Llamarada to Lydia Lunch. If you're able, go & see him and fall in love, and buy him a pint while you're at it.

More dates are coming together here & there, and will be posted as confirmed. His MySpace page is another good spot to look for tour dates (and other bits of info).

Tour dates -

02/04 - Paris, France - La Miroiterie
(with Los Llamarada) (poster below)
02/08 - Hasselt, Belgium - Kunstencentrum Belgie
(with Truman's Water)
02/11 - Geneve, Switzerland - à l’Etage # 6
02/12 - Lyon, France - Sonic Lyon
(with Lydia Lunch)
02/13 - Grenoble, France - 102 Rue d'Alembert
02/14 - Bordeaux, France - La Centrale
02/15 - Nantes, France - The Barakason
(Cable Festival)
02/27 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - VPRO
02/28 - Antwerp, Netherlands - Scheldapen
(with Eugene Chadborne)
03/01 - Berlin, Germany - Madame Claude
(with The Shitty Listener)
03/11 - Tampere, Finland - Vastavirta
03/12 - Helsinki, Finland - GALLERY MYYMÄLÄ2
03/13 - Turku, Finland - TVO
(with Avarus)
03/27 - Tromsø, Norway - Kaos
03/28 - Oslo, Norway - Sofiengberg Church
03/29 - Stavanger, Norway - Tou

S.A. Friends 2007 Top Tens

Nick Forté (Felipe + Forté)

1) Portal "Outre"
2) Growing "Vision Swim"
3) Aaron Dilloway "Concealed"
4) Cloaks "A Crystal Skull in Peru"
5) Robedoor "Free Buried"
6) Spirit of The Positive Wind S/T
7) Flaskavsae "Philosophies"
8) Jabladav "Black As Pitch"
9) Hala Strana "Heave the Gambrel Roof"
10) Leslie Keffer "Feels Like Frenching"
11) Eric Copeland "Hermaphrodite"
12) Ju Suk Reet Meate "Solo 78/79"
13) Byla + Jarboe "Viscera"


Glenn Donaldson (Giant Skyflower Band, et al.)

Adam & the Ants Prince Charming
Fun Boy Three s/t
Fun Boy Three Waiting
Human League Travelogue
The Smiths s/t
Morrissey Bona Drag
Felt Poem of the River
39 Clocks Pain It Dark
English Beat Special Beat Service
English Beat I Just Can't Stop It


Andrew Churchman (Pants Yell!)

Top Ten mid-'90s indie rock re-buys from used bins in 2007:

Legendary Jim Ruiz Group - Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?
Richard Davies - Never Been a Crowd Like This (c'mon, $1?)
Silkworm - Developer
the Inbreds - Kombinator (way better than Sloan)
the Lapse - Betrayal
Hefner - Boxing Hefner (needs no explaination)
What's Up Matador? (I had the VHS companion in middle school)
Shelby Bryant - Cloud Wow Music (my 3rd time buying this album. essential)
Helium - No Guitars EP
No Alternative comp. (don't hate, that buffalo tom song is actually pretty good)


Stefan Neville (Pumice)

2007. (in no particular order)
-Devoid Of All Mercy "your children left with the stranger" CD
-CJA & Smokehouse "whiskey and freedom" cassette.
-Buffy St. Marie "Illuminations" LP
-The Troggs "mixed bag/cellaphane" CD.
-Kraus "the Facts" cassette.
-generic no name budget Doo Wop compilation CD.
-The Deadnotes self titled CDR
-Bob Dylan "Desire" LP
-Evil "a true untimely atrocity" 10"
-Napalm Death "smear campaign" CD.


Loren Chasse (Ov, The Child Readers, et al.)

panda bear 'person pitch'
tenniscoats 'tan tan therapy'
richard youngs 'autumn response'
pumice 'pebbles'
the shitty listener 'fruitless accomplishment'
forever amber 'the love cycle' reissue (especially hudson and lane's newer versions of the songs)
robert fripp 'at the end of time'
jose gonzalez 'in our nature'
daniel higgs 'atomic yggdrasil tarot'
steve roden 'drawing room with bells'
old million eye 'heights unseen'
opal 'live early recordings'
the story 'arcane rising'
tinariwen 'aman iman'

and this is the music that kept 2007 timeless for me:

margaret barry
genesis (gabriel singing)
the hidden cameras
mourning phase
graham nash
emmanuelle parrenin
rem 'murmur'
dilip roy
shiv kumar sharma
som imaginario
robert wyatt
lifetones
andrew chalk


Jason Honea (The Child Readers, et al.)

1.) Teenage Panzerkorps. - Harmful Emotions LP ( siltbreeze)
2.) Rik L Rik - The Lost Album
3.) Homage to Sherwood Anderson : Letters of Sherwood Anderson
4.) Radio Dept. - Pet Grief
5.) AKA - Liza Jane
6.) East Side Story Comps. ( all !)
7.) Punk is Dead, Punk is Everything by B.R. Trucotte
8.) Of - The Sun and The Earth Together CD
9.) Pink Skulls Meta - Fanzine # 3 -Rik L Rik, Dusty Coffins(rip)Scottish Sounds
10.) The Road by Cormac McCarthy


Chris Berry (Soft Abuse)

new & old/new

THE ABYSSINIANS Satta Massagana (Heartbeat)
ED ASKEW Little Eyes (DeStijl)
BLUES CONTROL Puff (Woodsist)
BILL CALLAHAN Woke on a Whaleheart (Drag City)
CATS ON FIRE The Province Complains (Marsh Marigold)
THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS The Cherry Blossoms (Black Velvet Fuckere)
FROG EYES Tears of the Valedictorian (Absolutely Kosher)
GLASS ORGAN Our (Students of Decay)
GROUPER Cover the Windows and the Walls (Root Strata)
HALA STRANA Heave the Gambrel Roof (Music Fellowship)
KEITH HUDSON Brand (Pressure Sounds)
JEREMY JAY Moonwalker (K)
LAZARUS Hawk Medicine (Temporary Residence)
MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ L'Autre Cap (K)
MANISHEVITZ East to East (Catbird)
CASS MCCOMBS Dropping the Writ (Domino)
PAPERCUTS Can't Go Back (Gnomonsong)
PINK REASON Cleaning the Mirror (Siltbreeze)
PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT Magic Flowers Droned (Siltbreeze)
LEE ROCKEY Lee Rockey Music (DeStijl)
SAPAT Mortoise and Tenon (Siltbreeze)
SIC ALPS Description of the Harbor (Awesome Vistas)
TINARIWEN Aman Iman (World Village)
TENNISCOATS Tan Tan Therapy (Hapna)
BOBB TRIMBLE Harvest of Dreams (Secretly Canadian)
CHRISSY ZEBBY TEMBO & NGOZI FAMILY My Ancestors (Chris Editions)
ZELIENOPLE His/Hers (Type)

Pebbles: The Illustrated Interpretation

San Francisco-based comic book artist/illustrator Mike Hales (of the Wobbly Art web site) has created a visual interpretation of Pumice's new album, Pebbles. Each panel of the strip correlates to a song on the record. Take a look here.