I’m enthralled with this MASSIVE collection of art/word/sound/power being released by Penny Ante in August. (I just pre-ordered a copy this very night, so ya know I ain’t jivin’!) 320 pages of interviews, artwork, photography, comics, etc. contributed by 80 different experimental artists, mostly veteran audionauts of the DIY, punk, noise and experimental music scenes from 1980-the present. Plus the limited edition CDs that accompany the 1st 2000 copies feature a grip of unreleased tracks by well-known bands and stuff I haven’t heard yet by avant-garde noise projects.

Check it out:

Direct Link to “Three” on Penny-Ante website

DIY publishing house, Penny-Ante has compiled what will be their third anthology, dubbed a “Mag/Book” by readers, properly titled Three, which will hit streets September 15.

Three marks Penny-Ante’s largest issue yet, 320 pages (with no advertisements), with over 80 contributors ranging from New York-based artist TERENCE KOH to prolific lo-fi artist JAD FAIR (HALF JAPANESE) to garage’s godfather SEAN BONNIWELL (of 60s garage band, THE MUSIC MACHINE). A portion of book sales will be given to Chicago-based nonprofit ARTS OF LIFE, which provides art and music programs for adults with developmental disorders.

Compiling indie icons into one forum, Three’s pages feature personal art, photographs, and written submissions from the likes of Robert Pollard (GUIDED BY VOICES), Thurston Moore (SONIC YOUTH), UK’s garage god BILLY CHILDISH (Damaged Goods), New Zealand’s CHRIS KNOX (Tall Dwarfs, The Enemy, Toy Love, The Nothing), Roger Miller (MISSION OF BURMA), Martin Phillipps (THE CHILLS), Bettina Koster (from 80s German post-punk band, MALARIA!), Kill Rock Star’s riot grrrl Allison Wolfe (BRATMOBILE, PARTYLINE), influential acid-rocker Helios Creed (CHROME), Rob Roberge (of the significant art-punk band URINALS), 4-track forefather Martin Newell (CLEANERS FROM VENUS), Mick Farren (of the 60s proto-punk band THE DEVIANTS), psychedelic electronic artist Simeon Coxe of SILVER APPLES, artist Jill Emery (previously of HOLE, MAZZY STAR), New York photographer Mark C (of 80s no wave band LIVE SKULL), and many more.

Also featured:

JIM SMITH (union organizer by day, and owner of Los Angeles all-ages venue THE SMELL by night) interviews inspiring DIY force and singer/songwriter BILLY BRAGG.

Others interviewed: IAN MACKAYE (Dischord Records, Fugazi, Minor Threat), ROBERT POLLARD, John Whitson from label HOLY MOUNTAIN, music director @ WFMU: Brian Turner, George Parsons (head of DREAM MAGAZINE), Caleb Braaten: owner and operator of New York’s SACRED BONES RECORDS (BLANK DOGS, PINK NOISE, FACTUMS), New York-based artist MAYA HAYUK, Los Angeles-based performance/artist DAWN KASPER, and more.

Paired with such indie veterans are music leaders from today’s generation: Cassie Ramone (New York’s VIVIAN GIRLS), Joe DeNardo (GROWING – Social Registry), Matt Valentine (MV/EE – Ecstatic Peace Records & Tapes), John Dwyer (San Francisco’s THEE OH SEES), In The Red Records newcomers TV GHOST, Portland’s Honey Owens (VALET – Kranky), Phil Elverum (MICROPHONES, MT EERIE – K Records), Finland experimental rockers CIRCLE, Matt Maust (COLD WAR KIDS), Stephen McCarty (DEAD MEADOW – Matador Records), Sumi Ink Club (aka LUCKY DRAGONS), Wynne Greenwood (TRACY+THE PLASTICS), ROBEDOOR (Not Not Fun), ex-Phantom Limbs frontman Loto Ball (now of Chicago’s LOTO BALL SHOW), POCAHAUNTED (Not Not Fun), ARRINGTON DE DIONYSO (OLD TIME RELIJUN – K Records), Australia’s dark rockers NAKED ON THE VAGUE and much more.

Penny-Ante also “ups the ante” in the art and lit department in issue Three bringing in well-respected New York-based artists TERENCE KOH (Peres Projects), Ukranian American artist MAYA HAYUK, Swedish artist HANNA LIDEN, and MATHEW CERLETTY. From Chicago, Gregory Jacobsen (also from LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS), Los Angeles’ Julian Hoeber (Blum & Poe), Dawn Kasper (Circus Gallery), Jed Ochmanek and Portland’s Liz Haley.

Writers include the well-loved BETT WILLIAMS (Out Magazine, Flaunt Magazine, St. Martin’s Press), novelist and short story writer LARRY FONDATION (Fictional International, Harvard Business Review, Raw Dog Screaming Press), and ANDREW POGANY (poet and editor-in-chief at Flaunt Magazine) + many more.

COMPLIMENTARY CD INFO

FEATURES MUSIC BY:

JAD FAIR, ROBERT POLLARD, BILLY CHILDISH, CHRIS KNOX (THE NOTHING), ROGER MILLER, GROWING, BETTINA KOSTER, INT’L SHADES, NAKED ON THE VAGUE, ROBEDOOR, LUCKY DRAGONS, LOTO BALL SHOW, TV GHOST, PHIL ELVERUM, ARRINGTON DE DIONYSO, WARMER MILKS and ADAM PAYNE.

PLUS:

– Unreleased track from CROCK, the brand new music project from Book #2 contributor Sam Coomes (QUASI) & Spencer Seim of HELLA.
– Music from artist Maya Hayuk’s project with Andrew Deutsch, OPEN ARMS
– An unreleased track from PHIL ELVERUM paying tribute to OLD TIME RELIJUN
– An unreleased track from Book #2 contributors and guest editors to Three, THE MOON UPSTAIRS
– From the archives, a previously unreleased track from THE CHILLS, “Find Your Own Way Home”

PREORDERS FOR THREE AVAILABLE NOW: http://www.penny-ante.net (and will ship as early as August 15th). Three is a limited edition (2000) squarebound soft cover BOOK that will ship with a complimentary CD featuring music by contributors (Robert Pollard, The Chills, Billy Childish, Jad Fair, Chris Knox + more), plus a rather large poster for a wall’s enjoyment.

DIRECT LINK: http://www.penny-ante.net/three.html

“This was about saying NO, a new freedom, a positive NO. Musically it was like a new beginning; everything was based on one beat, archaic rhythm and feedback. It was for the first time that a band seemed loose and free and oriented towards the future.”
Jochen Irmler, Faust

“A banjo with a microphone in it to make it electric, a fuzz bass en ’66, and an amazing singer, not to mention the drummer and organist, both out of this galaxy with what they were doing.
Their melodies were pop destructive and must be played to your younger brother.”
The White Stripes

monks Tribute Album Will Be Released In US – June 19 2007

silver monk time – features the following 29 international artists covering Monks songs :

The Fall
Faust
Fehlfarben
Doc Schoko
Gudrun Gut
Die Goldenen Zitronen / Chicks on Speed
PTB 3 (psychic tv)
Noise Conspiracy
The Havletones
Alexander Hacke
Michaela Melian
Barbara Manning and the Go-Luckys.
Floating Di Morel
S.Y.P.H.
Alex Empire/Gary Burger
Silver Apples/Alan Vega
Mouse on Mars
The Raincoats
Jason Forrest
Singapore Sling
27/11
Nista Nije Nista
Mense Reents
The 5.6.7.8’s (the band in Kill Bill 1)
Cycle
The Gossip
Jon Spencer/Solex
Charles Wilp / The Monks

liner notes to silver monk time – 29 international artists take on the legacy of the monks

in 1965 the monks were looking for a new zero point in pop music and created what later turned into the milestone record “black monk time”. “black monk time” accidentally or intentionally pre-dated several genres that were to come: kraut rock, electronic music, heavy metal, punk, industrial and techno.
when the monks in january 1966 launched their “living (pop) art project” at famous reeperbahn top ten club the largest german tabloid “bild-zeitung” wrote “noise, noise and no melody – robot music!”.
in july of the same year the monks presented their black record for the first time live on the teenage tv show “beat-club”. to the surprise of many they started the show with an improvised new song, which wasn’t even on the record. you could call it commercial suicide. the song itself was archaic, one repetitive beat, three monks beating on gigantic tambourines, an organ gone mad, a guitar on the floor that fed back and at one point was shyly touched by four band members. all typical macho rock attitudes were taken out. it was pure and swinging joyfulness and seemed to have more in common with avant garde art than with regular pop music. therefore maybe it was misunderstood. to some degree though it was the end of rock music as we knew it. the monks called the song “monk chant”. rumor has it that “monk chant” was supposed to be the one and only idea for their second long player. one primitive beat spread out on two lp sides. “the rolling stones are baroque, the beatles for old grannies, you, the monks are playing the music of the future, you are supposed to play the audience into ecstasy,” demanded their two german managers. this second (never released) record was to be called “silver monk time”.
play loud! is proud to announce 29 international pop bands who continue the musical journey initiated 40 years ago by the seven monks: gary burger, larry clark, dave day, roger johnston, walther niemann, karl-heinz remy and eddie shaw.

crank it up and enjoy this brand new ecstatic monks record.

it is (finally) silver monk time.

MASTERED AT Faust Studio BY HANS-JOACHIM IRMLER (FAUST).
buy the album from the Play Loud Shop

words about monks’ sound

excerpted from the original liner notes of BLACK MONK TIME

Gary Burger plays guitar and was born in Minnesota. Roger Johnston, a Texan, gives his drums the works. Chicago boy: That is Larry Clark – crazy-fingers at the organ, for his father was no gangster, but a priest. And Dave Day has more than one banjo and more than one microphone built into each of his banjos. He claims that he was born in Washington. And Eddie Shaw, who hails from California, uses his bass guitar as he sees fit!

as part of an introduction to the monks, Spazz Chandler described their music thus :

The backbone of the Monks’ music is in Roger’s drumming. The thudding of his omnipresent toms is constantly accenting and coloring his sharp snare work and sparse use of cymbals. He is always in control. It sometimes sounds as if he is directing the band, which is a rhythmic experiment in itself, from the rear. Dave, whose banjo is exclusively rhythmic, usually takes his cues from Roger’s snare, often playing at twice the drummer’s speed. The hollow, mad clacking sound of Dave’s banjo is at times evocative of a locomotive that has dropped its cars and cargo in favor of a faster pace. Playing somewhere in between the two is Eddie’s overdriven bass seeking to put everything into some kind of harmonic perspective. Gary and larry play what might be viewed as the “melody” of the song as well as the solos. Gary’s soloing technique is to rip sheets of feedback out of his guitar, which yammers and howls in protest, before slapping it back into the framework of the, er . . . “groove.” Larry usually skitters across the keyboard allowing occasional glimpses of fat cathedral-esque tone. His infrequent chords show the kind of caterwaul his organ would actually be capable of, if he slowed down long enough. The overall effect is maddening. It is without a doubt the most uncompromising stuff ever to call itself rock ‘n’ roll.

How Minnesota musicians revived ’60s rockers the Monks

the monks accomplished a lot during their time in Germany, but it is no small detail that each musician hailed from the USofA before being relocated by the Cold War. check out this article to read about their further adventures in Minnesota, and how the Twin Cities inspired the revival of the monks 40 years after the band had disappeared.

Living Like a Monk by Peter S. Scholtes

monks demo tapes 1965

previously unavailable material! CD Will Be Released May 1 2007

these early monks recordings were made seven months before Black Monk Time.
play loud! and Munster Records release them now for the first time in Europe
plus 3 additional tracks by The 5 Torquays and Jason Forrest.
inner sleeve with liner notes and never-before-seen photographs!

the cd will be ready for shipping on may 1st, 2007
the 12″ vinyl can be purchased now from the Play Loud Shop

play loud! productions presents – a documentary film by Dietmar Post & Lucía Palacios

monks – the transatlantic feedback a retrospect into the evolution and devolution of UBERBEAT

the original press release [warning - pdf format] from Play Loud describes the film, monks – the transatlantic feedback :

the film (short synopsis)

The monks were 5 American GIs in cold war Germany who billed themselves as the anti-Beatles; they
were heavy on feedback, nihilism and electrical banjo. They had strange haircuts, dressed in black,
mocked the military and rocked harder than any of their mid-sixties counterparts while managing to
basically invent industrial, heavy metal, punk and techno music.
The genre-overlapping documentary film not only illustrates the pop music phenomenon in its political,
social and cultural-historic contexts, but also reveals the monks project as the first marriage of art and
popular music and this months before Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground.
The five protagonists of the film came to cold war Germany in 1961 as soldiers and left the country in 1967
as avant-garde monks. For more than thirty years they were not able to talk about their strange
experience. In the film the five original band members recount for the first time their adventure.

featuring
Gary Burger (vocals/guitar)
Larry Clark (organ)
Dave Day (banjo/guitar)
Roger Johnston (drums)
Eddie Shaw (bass)
Charles Wilp (fashion photographer, composer, Afri-Cola guru, ARTronaut and collaborator of the monks)
Jimmy Bowien (Polydor record producer of the monks)
Werner Henjes (Polydor sound engineer of the monks)
Wolfgang Gluszczewski (tour manager of the monks)
Joachim Irmler (Faust, 60’s eyewitness, fan, musician)
Jon Spencer (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, 90’s fan, musician)
Byron Coley (Spin Magazine staff writer)
Genesis P-Orridge (Psychic TV & Throbbing Gristle, 60’s fan, musician)
Peter Zaremba (Fleshtones, 90’s fan, musician)

credit list
production company : play loud! productions
produced and directed by : Dietmar Post & Lucía Palacios
edited by : Dieter Jaufmann
additional editing : Karl-W. Huelsenbeck
camera & sound by : Dietmar Post & Lucía Palacios
additional camera : Renato Falcao
script : Dietmar Post
music by : the monks

special dedication
in memory of monks drummer Roger Johnston (1939 – 2004)
monks collaborator Charles Wilp (1932 – 2005)

format DVCAM – DigiBeta | 4:3 | 100 minutes | USA, Germany, Spain 2006
original language English + German (with English subtitles)

quicktime movie trailer which you can also view on both the monks’ website as well as Play Loud’s site.

German Film Festival Showcases Monks Film In Australian Cities

Sydney
Chauvel Cinema

Palace Norton Street Cinemas
Sat 21.04. – 8.45 pm
Sun 22.04. – 1.30 pm
Mon 23.04. – 9.00 pm
Sat 21.04. – 3.30 pm

Melbourne
Palace Cinema Como

Palace Brighton Bay

Wed 25.04. – 8.45 pm
Sat 28.04. – 4.15 pm
Thu 26.04. – 7.00 pm

Brisbane
Palace Centro
Sat 28.04. – 4.15 pm

Perth
Cinema Paradiso
Sun 29.04. – 6.30 pm

Wrong Music updated their website (finallY)!!! Not only does it have news of the National Noise Day in Brighton on May 31 2007, but it also has a new release from DJ Scotch Egg!

This is what it says about the new release :

SCOTCHHAUSEN RELEASED (Without wrong music logo on it, how annoying)

13 March

adaaflap and wrong music present .. DJ SCOTCH EGG – Scotch Hausen WNG014/VINYL/10″ …
…SCOTCH HAUSEN is DJ SCOTCH EGG’s follow up to 2005’s must have gabba gameboy 7″ SCOTCH CHICKEN, in which he pays tribute to avant-garde pioneers like karlheinz stockhausen, terry riley, philip glass, johann sebastian bach and er moondog…

some may recall a previous post from mogger, Robotanist, which featured the black and white video of DJ Scotch Egg conducting the Gameboy Orchestra in a performance of “SCOTCHHAUSEN” from February 07’s full album release, “Scotch Bach”. If you missed it, click here to see the video…