As Tom details here, The Stumps are playing on Saturday night at Happy with Elise&Jem (from Melbourne) and Black Boned Angel.


I don't know Jem, but Elise (originally from Palmerston North) is from such notable Melburnian acts as On, and BadCopBadCop.

Labels: black boned angel, gigs, stumps

Evidence of the first Stumps excursion into the northern lands (aka Auckland, NZ). People seemed to like the show. Girls danced. It was certainly the most intense 50 min of furious noise-rock carnage that we have yet exacted upon a paying audience. Later on, that monitor at front stage right started smoking and we had to stop. Gig: Saturday night.. hearing returned to normal: Tuesday arvo.

Picture by Robyn. There's a WHOLE bunch more here.

Labels: photos, stumps

Ok so it turns out that The Stumps are doing a late-notice show tomorrow afternoon. It's at Spacething, a cool little venue/store/library place in Newtown, Wellington. We're playing at 3pm.

Also, if you're in Auckland next weekend, we're playing at the Whammy Bar on Saturday night, 26 April. More details here.....


The Stumps and White Saucer
Saturday, 26 April 2008
at Whammy Bar, 183 Karangahape Road (St. Kevins Arcade), Newton

Labels: gigs, stumps

A nice little review of the Stumps album from last year, The Black Wood, has turned up in the aQuarius Records catalogue:

In a dream, you've gotten yourself lost in an endless cavern... you've been curiously wandering in the darkness, down down into the earth, for a long long time. When you stop to rest, you realize that the silence that had surrounded you is different now. You think you can hear music... drifting from someplace deeper in the darkness. Drifting, droning, dark, dark, dark... that's this music, the reverberant, cavernous, quiet sounds of The Stumps. Sleepy and creepy at the same time. You move closer, and The Stumps get louder. Troglodytic thud and rumble begins to build. That's the beauty of this album, these tracks are part whale call mystery, part trashy crashy garage rock clangor. Ambient eeriness flows into plodding free rock chaos, with heavy distortion blanketing all. The twelve and a half minute untitled track number 5 (none have titles, as far as we can tell) is all about that drone-drift, whilst track 7, for instance, rouses itself to a spaced-out, slow-motion spasm of psychedelic guitar grind-gunk and percussive splatter-clatter.


The Stumps trio of drummer James Kirk (Sandoz Lab Technicians, Gate, With Throats As Fine As Needles), bassist Stephen Clover (Seht), and guitarist Antony Milton (Mrtyu, AM, Nether Dawn, etc.) is a New Zealand underground supergroup, by the way. No wonder they're so easily so shambolic, somnolent, and sinister sounding... Outside of their own cd-r littered island realm, we couldn't compare this to much else besides, maybe, Fushitsusha.


Welcome to the cavern, welcome to the dream.

Labels: stumps

The Stumps live at Happy, 2007:



From The Noise Machine.....

Labels: music, stumps, youtube

The Stumps Exigence C60 (Lady Garden, via Scumbag Relations, 2008).

Co-Stump Antony Milton wrote:

Label-guy Eric once wrote:

We should have copies soon but otherwise you can get it from Scumbag Tapes.

In the meantime you can listen to a couple of the tracks here.

Labels: stumps

The Stumps are playing tonight with a couple of bands from Dunedin -- Khomet and Psychic Sidekick -- as well as the Mr. Sterile Assembly.



This is a lo-fi-ish compression of a song from The Stumps' recent Palindrone LP, Split Fleet Dodge (page):

The Stumps - That with the greatest mass (Will be indicated) (7.90 MB mp3: right-click and Save As to download; play using the handy little embedded player below)

There is, however, no guarantee whatsoever that we will sound anything like that tonight.

Labels: gigs, promotions, stumps

The Stumps (myspace) latest CD The Black Wood (Last Visible Dog link) has picked up a couple more good reviews at AnimalPsi and Foxy Digitalis.

Despite the decidedly self-deprecating title (reified through the arboreal sub-title and booklet art), the work of The Stumps is rather cerebral, quite elevated psychedelia with no overt hints of humor [...] all untitled pieces populating a spectrum from pure guitar-derived drone pieces to scuzzy, austere garage-psych in classic NZ style. Tracks are a technicality, for the most part, as the dark shimmer of the opening drone transitions into a krautrock free-fall in the final third of the second, picking up to Faustian thrust in the third. [...] The ambient conversation and wayward percussion of track four contradict nicely the deep lapses of dark ambience found, for example, on the 12 minute track which follows, a subterrestrial bisection where guitars writhe and glisten in the rich soil of electronic ether. A wrenched, white-jazz bombast cuts the effect briefly, then again in earnest as the band returns gear to the guitars and kit travails of before; squealing electronics are used throughout, stabbing an additional plane of sharp static to the mix. [...] Recommended.

-- AnimalPsi (read the full review)

Upon entering into “The Black Wood” one will initially find navigation hard to manage, as sounds appear from long distances, erupt and dissipate back into the dark abyss from which they sprang. Imagine echoing reverberations bouncing off the burnt out husks of trees tease the mind conjures images of what may or may not be laying in wait for you… then suddenly the dark feelings dissipate as a gentle rain begins to fall. But as the last rays of light leave and complete darkness takes over, the sounds shift their tone, implicating a rising danger moving closer towards you. Finally, when the drumming begins you know you must find your way out of this place … and when your pace quickens, everything erupts into a head-on chase, accompanied by heavy drum and bass interplay through which a reverb-drenched guitar weaves chaos in and out of the mix..

Essentially the first three tracks of this recording would make quite a memorable soundtrack to some form of horror film or ghost tale. In many ways, this suite offers similar feelings that arise while listening to Tetsuya Ohashi’s soundtrack to Kaneto Shindo’s “Onibaba.” The sense of juxtaposition of very spatially oriented arrangements with very structured interludes, presents a high level of tension that manages to find its way to a wonderful and very satisfying resolution with the close of the third movement. [...] 8/10

-- Cory Card, Foxy Digitalis (read the full review)

Thank you to our reviewers, we're glad you like the record.

PS. Though Cory Card and I both write for Foxy Digitalis, he is not under any compulsion to write nice things about my band.

Labels: stumps

The Stumps (myspace) are very pleased to have received a reasonably jolly review for their The Black Wood in the latest issue of flash British music magazine The Wire:

The Stumps The Black Wood
LAST VISIBLE DOG link CD

After a series of releases in various formats (from their 2003 EP If I Gave You Some Concrete Slippers, Would You Wear Them When You Jump Off The Pier? link to their more recent LP Split Fleet Dodge link), The Black Wood is New Zealand trio The Stumps' first full length CD, a culmination of all the energy and ideas packed into their back catalogue.

Comprising guitarist Antony Milton, bass guitarist Stephen Clover and former Black Boned Angel drummer James Kirk, The Stumps have still managed to build up a subterranean reputation that has compared them to Acid Mothers Temple, Fushitsusha, Les Rallizes Dénudés and The Velvet Underground, Guru Guru and even Sun Ra -- despite rarely appearing outside their homeland. Although comparisons to such dissimilar sounding artists can make one suspicious, The Black Wood reveals trace elements of all the groups mentioned (with the notable exception of Sun Ra), only slowed down, with a deliberately dirty and distant psychedelic garage band sound revving up in places. Sections also suggest the live portion of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma link, where vast amplified constellations suddenly take the listener into the heart of some decaying sun, a sonic hallucination incorporated into The Stumps' crackling cosmos of fragmented, beat enhanced drone and eclipsing electric guitar interludes.

-- EDWIN POUNCEY link, The Wire September 2007

This somewhat trumps the previous review by a guy called Dave link -- which wasn't particularly positive.

The mark-up is all mine -- the bits in strikeout are factual errors; and noone's quite sure where the Sun Ra reference came from, either.

Labels: stumps

I'm doing a solo gig as Seht on Sunday night. I'm playing in support of Jason Kahn, from Switzerland.

Jason Kahn is a sound and visual artist based in Zürich whose work includes drawing, sound installation, performance and composition. He was born in New York, grew up in Los Angeles and relocated to Europe in 1990. Kahn has been exhibiting his sound and visual works since the late 1990's, and has had solo and group exhibitions in museums, galleries and arts spaces pretty much everywhere in the damn world.

Originally a percussionist, Kahn later began integrating live electronics into his playing. He currently performs with different combinations of percussion, analogue synthesizer or computer. As a composer, Kahn's work addresses the entity of sound as both a physical and psychological factor shaping our consciousness; his sound installations seek to enhance spatial awareness through sonic intervention, focusing on expanding our perception to other dimensions of seeing, hearing and feeling a space.

(For more information about Jason and his work, see his site.)

JASON KAHN
with SEHT and JEFF HENDERSON
HAPPY SUNDAY SEPT 23


PLUS

The Stumps are playing at the White Fungus issue #8 launch on Wednesday night. This is also at Happy. Also appearing are FERTILITY FESTIVAL. Keep an eye on the White Fungus News blog for more information.

Gwan, yknow ya wanna.

Labels: gigs, seht, stumps

The Stumps show seemed to go quite well the other night, although the recording would seem to suggest otherwise. Honestly, but -- when do they not, eh? Live recordings, man *shudders*

...

I tell you what, fucking Telecom had better get their shit sorted out pronto. Not only did they make a complete balls-up of the recent move to their new Yahoo|Xtra email system, but they have obviously fucked up their spam-trapping somewhere along the line. I am being absolutely inundated with spam now; before the changeover, I was lucky if I saw one a day in my Inbox.

It's nice of them to give us one week's free internet as compensation for the email problems, but frankly, they can keep it -- just sort out the spam, guys. On the plus side, their new webmail client is streets ahead of the previous one -- so cheers to that -- though I dread to imagine how badly it's going to not work on my cellphone, or PDA.

A Facelift parody of the Yahoo|Xtra email trouble on Michael Gregg's blog.

...

The Commonsense Nihilist has published a set of background notes on his graphic novel. These are in their own right very interesting, but in addition they shed -- in some cases, crucial -- extra illumination on the goings-on in the comic.

His working title for the work is The New World: A revenge fantasy, which I quite like.

An index to proceedings:
Here is a link to the first instalment.
Here is a link to the second instalment.

I'll probably keep doing this, mainly on the off-chance someone is interested, but not so interested as to yet have loaded his URL into a feed-reader.

...

I drew this before, on my friend Martha's wall, on Facebook. It's the avenging croco-angel of modernism.


There was some debate initially as to whether or not it was actually a bird-angel, but I cleared up any confusion when I pointed out that bird-angels don't wear all-in-one flannelette jump-suits with built-in booties -- that privilege is reserved solely for croco-angels.

...

Can you tell I'm stalling? My phone's battery died, and I can't get the photos I want/need off it.

Labels: comix, miscellany, stumps

(posted on the Wellingtonista)...

Ted Brown and Dukes of Leisure and Marineville gigs tonight, Friday 31 August 2007.

more here...

Also The Stumps are playing at Happy with the Windups and others on Saturday night.

Labels: gigs, music, promotions, stumps

Me band The Stumps is playing this Saturday at Happy.

Also appearing is Fertility Festival, Jeff Henderson's new "Sublime Frequencies-style" weirdo-'pop' band, and Sign of the Hag (a.k.a. Daniel Beban).

Here's another page about Jeff Henderson.


Bring the noise.



THE STUMPS, FERTILITY FESTIVAL AND SIGN OF THE HAG
9PM HAPPY 18th AUGUST 2007
$5

Labels: gigs, stumps

Now released, The Stumps' new album The Black Wood has started showing up on radio playlists and podcasts all over the place:

It's Too Damn Early (Southern Illinois, USA)

Sigtronica (WMBR, Cambridge MA, USA)

Fanfare for the Speeding Bullet (WEFT, Champaign IL, USA)

Tony Rettman (WFMU, New York/New Jersey, USA)

Jon Bernhardt's Breakfast of Champions (WMBR, Cambridge MA, USA)

and Avant Audio Pocket (FleetFM, Auckland NZ)

This is very pleasing. Still haven't managed to chase up any reviews yet, though.

Some of these shows are downloadable as mp3s.

Labels: stumps

For quite some time The Stumps have been waiting to announce that their new CD The Black Wood is out. The moment is not here quite yet, but it's pretty bloody close; certainly close enough for me to be able to happily say that the new Stumps CD The Black Wood has been released by Providence, RI label Last Visible Dog. It's not actually due to be officially released until August 2007, but there are already copies floating around distributors and radio stations.

(I'm not really sure why people -- myself included but not limited to -- feel compelled to preface statements with "Providence, RI" when referring to things to do with Providence, RI -- could it be New Zealand's long and heroic association with the noble sport of yacht-racing? I doubt it.)

It's far too early for reviews or anything, but if you want to read the characteristically hyperbolic text of the press release which accompanies the album, click on the artwork (top-right) and knock yerself out.

However, there's a bit of angst surrounding this release, because the printing of the cover art has been -- well, for want of a better term, cocked up. I'm still completely unsure how this came to pass, but the artwork has been printed in all wrong colours; if that wasn't enough, it's also far too dark.

Top-right is a picture of the cover-art, sure, but it's not supposed to look like that. Below left is what it's supposed to look like. Below right is how it actually turned out. Oh dear. And the problem is not limited to the front cover; the panels on the inside and the back of the cd-case are also far to dark, rendering the type almost completely illegible.


These things happen -- sure -- but what a fucking pain. And it's already caused one DJ some considerable confusion:

I made a little mistake announcing the title of the first track, due to the black-on-black type used on the album art. In black, it says "also by The Stumps", and then proceeds to list other albums in a lightly-colored font. I didn't see the black writing until just now, so I thought the first album listed was the track title. This isn't going to kill anyone, but I thought I'd clarify it for those of you who download the show later today. This album will be available in August, so I still have time to practice, hahaha.

Sorry, Dave. Actually, it's embarrassing. And I wish I could figure out what went wrong, because I've got the artwork for a new seht CD ready to go off to the pressing/printing plant very shortly; now I'm all paranoid that it's destined to suffer a similar fate.

What am I supposed to do? We send digital files to another country, who then send them on to a printer -- which is in some cases in a third country. Who's gonna do the proofs? Who's gonna take it upon themselves to make sure that we don't have 1,000 or more CD covers and booklets printed all fucked up? How to avert disaster? The best idea I can come up with at the moment is to generate PDFs of the artwork so at least someone can look at it on the screen and say "uh, that's not right".


Sleepless nights. Premature greying. All that.

...

About the only thing that's giving me any joy out of the whole situation is doing google searches for stumps "the black wood"; it turns up ALL sorts of delightful little abstracts. Here's some examples:

... (Blera fallax) which breeds in wet pockets of decay in large pine stumps. ... and the Black Wood of Rannoch and Culbin Sands have been designated as ...

It has also been suggested that the black wood- pecker and the ... and increasing food supply (cut stumps) in afforested areas in western Europe, ...

But the black wood that leans and sighs above her; No hour can change, .... Blistered and maimed the wide stumps grinned; From the black mouth of Thèlus ...

retained stumps, high cut stumps, or stubs. Their. suggestion likely underestimates the .... Mikusiński, G. 1997: Winter foraging of the black wood- ...

The tallest of the three is suspended in a broken tree stump with his front hoof ... Gold and black fillet liner raised above the black wood crinkled frame. ...

The falling tree avoids striking other trees or hitting stumps, ... The black wood stove is positioned on top of a 4" raised platform of green 12" quarry ...

The black wood reddens, the deathwatches inside begin running out of time, ..... on the thumb stump wisps of smoke ask a ride into the emptiness. ...

Some of their strongholds are Glen Affric, the Black Wood of Rannoch, ... that a high proportion of the lichens are found on stumps and standing dead trees. ...

The group includes the black-wood tree (also called the East Indian .... The tail is docked to a stump and the eyes are brown and almond-shaped with a keen, ...

.........and that's just the first couple of pages of results.

...

NP: Ghost -- Hypnotic Underworld (Allmusic)

I get the impression that listening to Ghost is not quite the hip activity that it once was; 'tis a pity, perhaps, or perhaps I don't give a fuck. The band is great, I've been a fan for at least 10 years now, and this album is sensational.

Labels: music, stumps

A wee while ago my record label Palindrone released an LP by my band The Stumps. It's round, 30.5 cm across and pressed on black vinyl. It's called Split Fleet Dodge. (And to complete this orgy of self-referentialism, I commissioned myself to provide myself with the art for the jacket.)

I been collecting some property-prop-props for the rekkid, including big ones from FUNcrazy ol' Thurston Moore and Byron Coley:

"Cool New Zealand trio antics from Antony Milton and pals. From winsome electro-dribble, through into full-blown avant-rock splooie, this LP includes some splashy guest organ work by Campbell Kneale and great wobble-vibes galore."

"Great lurching psych/noise rock." - Apex-online 'Boa Melody Bar' website

"Burning" - Mimaroglu music


But most excitingly the album was placed #18 on Thurston Moore and Byron Coley's Bull Tongue Top 80 of 2006 list, in Forced Exposure (in an article originally intended for Vol. 1, No. 26 [March 2007] of the defunct Arthur magazine).

Ok, that's enough outta me. Follow this link if yr real keano and you wanna read some other reviews of the LP; givuz some email lurve if ya wanna get hands on same. Or go see dem boys at Smoke.

Labels: music, stumps