phosphorescent has had their current us tour thrown into jeopardy recently. their tour was stolen with all their equipment and merchandise in brooklyn last week (8th July). i’ve nicked the following straight from the press release; it’s black and white, really. let’s help get it back.
the loss totals $40, 000 and will seriously impede the band’s ability to take their current album here’s to taking it easy on the road. several items of equipment are irreplaceable, such as phosphorescent main man matthew houck’s 1955 Gibson ES-125 – please see below for the full equipment list.
phosphorescent’s label have made a plea as below for anyone to help try and recover the stolen goods, or alternatively to make a donation to the band:
“we are devastated to report that phosphorescent’s van was stolen last night following their fantastic show on pier 54 in new york city. you can read the following message below detailing the incident. please help out if you can. good vibes are needed right now.
“last night [8th July], after an amazing show at pier 54 in new york city, phosphorescent’s rental van – along with all of their equipment – was stolen from outside a residence in greenpoint, brooklyn. last night’s show was the first night of their scheduled six-weeks us tour. among the stolen items was matthew houck’s custom, irreplaceable 1955 gibson es-125 guitar, vintage amplifiers, and a vintage pedal steel with losses totaling around $40,000. If anyone has ANY information or leads on what might have happened, or if you see any of this gear in pawn shops, on Craigslist, etc, please call the NY Police Department, Vector Management, or anyone you think might be able to help recover this gear. The van rental company is insured – they are covered for their van and are therefore not greatly concerned with recovering it. phosphorescent does care though, greatly, about recovering any of this gear possible, and about right now figuring out how to rally up and make this us tour happen. anything anyone can do to help would be simply amazing. we have set up a paypal account for anyone wishing to donate funds to help replace gear – anything helps. we will be sending updates about the upcoming tour dates asap. thanks in advance for any goodwill and assistance and thank you for your support over the years.
nick stern, vector management
p: 212.317.2323
e: nick@vectormgmt.com”
a full list of stolen items is below..
STOLEN EQUIPMENT LIST:
MOST OF THIS GEAR IS IN STANDARD BLACK ROADCASES
STENCILED WITH “PHOSPHORESCENT” OR “PHOS”
IN LARGE WHITE LETTERS
GUITARS:
1955 Gibson ES-125 Hollow-body Electric
1968 Gibson EB-3 Bass with slotted headstock (brown)
197? Fender Stratocaster – Custom, Blonde wood finish. No brand names or markings anywhere.
197? Emmons Pedal Steel Guitar – Push-Pull Model
AMPS:
1973 Fender Twin Reverb (Silverface) w/ Indian Sun Worshipper Tapestry affixed to grillplate
1978 Music Man 112 RD500 Custom Amp w/ 10? Speaker
SWR Workingman’s Bass Amp
196? Fender Deluxe Reverb
PEDALS:
(1) Line 6 DL4 Delay Pedal
(2) Fulltone Full-Drive 2 Mosfet
(1) Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Plus
(1) Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff
(2) Electro Harmonix 80’s Memory Man Deluxe
(1) MXR Power Amp Pedal
(2) Boss TU-2 Tuner
(1) MXR Phase 90, CSP-026
(1) Fender Tuning Pedal
DRUMS:
DW “Collectors Series” Drum Kit – Black Matte finish
22? kick drum
16? floor tom
12? rack tom
14? Yamaha, Anton Fig snare drum, with maple hoops
(1) Ludwig boom cymbal stand
(2) yamaha boom cymbal stands
(1) DW9000 Hi-Hat pedal, DW7000 kick pedal
(1) Yamaha, double braced snare stand
(1) Ludwig double braced snare stand
(1) Ludwig drum throne/stool.
(1) 20? Zyldjian Constantinople ride cymbal
(1) 17in Zildjian A Custom crash cymbal
(2) Zildjian Constantinople Hi-Hats (paired)
OTHER ITEMS:
Black Arai Profile Full-face Motorcycle Helmet
Durango Boots – Brown Harness Boots
MERCHANDISE:
Approximately:
150 Vinyl (To WIlle/Pride/Here’s to Taking it Easy)
150 CD’s (To WIlle/Pride/Here’s to Taking it Easy)
100 PHOSPHORESCENT “LION” T-shirts”
paypal donations and any information on the equipment can be sent to: phosphorescentgearfund@gmail.com
two of my favourite things, art and music, combine wonderfully to form warmest chord, a new london-based label with a seemingly new take on releasing records. or not quite, as the case may be.
limited screen-print by franz vesolt (edition of 75)
warmest chord’s first release comes in the form of evertide, an ep by jack tatum’s dream-pop project wild nothing, with three songs you won’t find on his beautiful debut lp gemini.
embracing today’s digital age, the label has done away with cds and vinyl and release their first ep strictly digitally with a plan to follow this model for future releases. but, because everybody loves something physical, each release comes with a limited art print designed by an independent illustrator as a personal response to the music. it’s a lovely harmony, and they’ve clearly got a niche, with franz vesolt’s phosphorescent screen-print for wild nothing’s evertide ep selling out in less than a week. hardly out-of-touch as some begrudged vinyl fans might have it; in fact, warmest chord is run by folks from rough trade and make mine records..
it’s all very simple, really, blending the boundaries between art forms is nothing new. i mean, how many people buy vinyl for the artwork? but, when you consider all of the costs that go into a vinyl release, warmest chord’s way of doing things makes sense. many small, independent labels come and go because they’ve banked on a big vinyl release that’s flopped. far from wanting to get into an intellectual debate on the merits of different mediums, i just think it’s clever to put the music first and not what format it comes on, and if mp3s are today’s cheapest and most accessible form then why not champion them?
the soundtrack to my summer so far, wild nothing’s debut gemini and its hoard of dreamy melodies and enchanting instrumentation is one of the nicest records you’ll get into anytime soon. and, if ever there was a more apt name for a label releasing songs by jack tatum, warmest chord have made available three previously unreleased tracks. ‘your rabbit feet’, ‘golden haze’ and ‘take me in’ are as sublime as any of the songs on gemini, anything but b-sides, and you wonder why they didn’t make the album in the first place. too much of a good thing in one go, perhaps.
as planned for all their releases, warmest chord are making two of the tracks on the ep available to buy for a frightfully cheap 50p/$0.75 each, with the third track available exclusively as part of the art-print package. (mind, i’ve just bought the two track digital package, having missed out on the sold-out prints, and i found the third track in my download too. a nice surprise..)
more info on this exciting new label can be found on their website, and you can follow them on both tumblr and twitter.
it’s been two years since mystery jets‘ second album twenty one came out to define the sound of the summer for many people, myself included, and, at last, the boys are back with a new album that’s due out on rough trade in early july. i can’t wait.
serotonin, their forthcoming third album, is out on 5th july and if the new single ‘dreaming of another world’ is anything to go by then we’re in for a treat. will takes up lead vocals, as he’s done in the past on songs like ‘young love’, and it’s a song as typically catchy and lovable as any mystery jets song. having been a bit quiet over the past couple years, i think the wait’s definitely been worth it. check out the video below, directed by yoann lemoine, shot in a glorious 8mm-like style with some brilliant dancing by kapil and snazzy shirts and haircuts all round..
anyway, there’s a bit more to this post than just to shout about new mystery jets music. the band are playing a myspace secret show on next tuesday 22nd june and it’s only happening right here in leeds. lovely! aren’t we a lucky lot.
described as an intimate show in leeds for just a few hundred lucky fans, the band will play songs from soon to be released serotonin as well as a load of old classics. when i heard about this i’d just spent the past week listening to making dens and twenty one, frustratedly wondering why i’d not seen them live since leeds festival ‘08, so you can imagine how excited i was/still am about this.
to be in with a chance of being at the show head on over to myspace.com/secretshowsuk and sign-up. it took me forever to remember my myspace login details (who still uses myspace?!) but i was more than willing to make a new account if i had to.
as for the venue? well, i can’t say, but sign-up and you might find out. except to say it’s my favourite place in the country, let alone ls6.. :)
today, monday 14th, sees one of the most blogged about artists of the minute, ariel pink’s haunted graffiti plays the brudenell social club tonight and i’m a tad excited.
if you’re into ariel pink then his latest album before today probably takes your ariel pink collection into double figures. and i mean into into, because he’s one of those artists who’ve amassed a cult following over the years and like a young daniel johnston he’s recorded an apparently infinite number of songs, many of which have surfaced online on blogs and mixtapes over the years, with fans of pink fervently searching out every recording they can.
an artist and an experimentalist in every sense, his latest offering on 4AD is an infectious blend of sounds both formal and abstract that work in perfect harmony. in ‘beverly kills’, a song that sounds like something churned out by earth, wind & fire, disco bass and keys are intersected with a gorilla’s roar and a tarzan howl, and yet this doesn’t feel as weird as it might read. it feels right. you’ll probably find yourself subconsciously howling along at that point in the song. the first video from the new album, a cover of the rockin’ ramrods’ 1966 song ‘bright lit blue skies’, can be seen below..
tickets for tonight’s show are still on sale in-store at crash and jumbo until close at 5.30pm this eve, and available online at seetickets.com. doors about 8pm.
also today is the release of leeds boys pulled apart by horses first single ‘back to the fuck yeah’ off their self-titled debut album that’s due for release a week today on the mighty transgressive records.
released on digital download and limited-edition 7” vinyl, you can check out the brutal video below..
‘back to the fuck yeah’ out today 14th june
knowing these boys, i wouldn’t be surprised if the blood was real. they kick off their album tour tonight at the deaf insitute in manchester, before hitting the brudenell in leeds this saturday. more on that soon..
live at leeds 2010 has been a triumph thus far, but it’s not over yet. 13 venues, 170 bands, 3 afterparties and 2 for £5 marks and spencer salads later (couldn’t eat both, eyes bigger than belly), the party continues at the brudenell tonight from 6pm.
california’s crystal antlers released their debut album tentacles just over a year ago. it was met with generally favourable reviews and i, for one, like it. but i like them live even more. they’re going to destroy the brudenell with riffs running riot. check out the video to their title-track and single ‘tentacles’..
leeds based spectrals were set to support the drums at the cancelled friday 30th show at the cockpit. fucking volcano.
the band came out of nowhere last september, playing their first ever gig supporting grammatics at oporto, and have since gone on to firmly establish themselves as amongst the best we’ve got to offer in west yorkshire. fuzzy, lo-fi, but melodic pop that’ll have you bobbing your head. it’s good stuff, and the band’s live show has gone from good to brilliant and keeps getting better.
a once familiar bunch around ls6, bear driver have made the move from leeds to london and it feels like a bit of a rare treat seeing them at the brudenell again.
with a sold out self-released ep followed by a release on leeds-based dance to the radio in may and july ‘09, respectively, bear driver went on to play leeds and reading festivals being hand-picked for the slots by bbc introducing. a busy summer saw the bears migrate south and they’ve certainly been missed up north. i missed them at nation of shopkeepers yesterday and am super-stoked to get a second chance to see them.
oh, their song ‘no time to speak’ is one of my most favourite songs ever. if that means anything..
manchester band plank! are a lot better than their name suggests.
i can’t say i’ve heard of them before now, but that’s what i love about live at leeds. it’s as much about finding new music as it is the chance to see bands you might already know. an experimental electronic outfit, the guardian’s top new music said of them: “think fugazi crossed with slint crossed with stereolab crossed with awesome” (sat 24th april, 2010).
punk punk punk. twisted are about as punk as it gets in 2010.
collectively ex-members and members of facel vega, held by hands, state run, spectrals, wonderswan and cutting class originally dreamt up somewhere in south wales before migrating to0 leeds. they play raging garage punk/revolution summer emo with a strong diy ethic.
chicago-born jeff t. smith, aka juffage, has pretty much suprised and amazed everybody who’s seen him play in recent months.
now in leeds, studying for a master’s or something, juffage is a one man musical machine who i’m told is a bit like david thomas broughton meets lightening bolt. i’ve yet to see this man perform, but if recent reviews and hearsay are anything to go buy then i’m pretty psyched about this. i hear he’s in town on a student visa that’s not going to last forever. best catch him whilst i can..
