The Bowery Presents upcoming shows
Isis / Melvins
Totimoshi
Join Isis for their FINAL New York performance!- Venue:
-
- Date:
- Fri 6/18
- Notes:
- 18+
- Doors: 6:00 PM / Show: 7:00 PM
- $25.00 advance / $30.00 day of show
- Isis
- official website
- myspace
- Although rooted heavy metal and the punk/hardcore aesthetic, Isis' music relies just as heavily on ambience, atmosphere, and tone as it does complexity and aggression. Not so much a band per se as a musical collective, the members of the Boston-based quintet layer their compositions with feedback, power chords, quiet/loud dynamics, and vocals that are sometimes shouted, frequently screamed, and occasionally sung. The band was formed by Hydra Head Records owner Aaron Turner, who was hoping to combine the minimalism of Earth and the Melvins with the experimentalism of Godflesh, backed by the depth and power of the band's most obvious musical counterpart, Neurosis. It was the union of Turner with bassist Jeff Caxide and powerhouse drummer Aaron Harris that formed the core of the Isis project in 1997. The band recorded a demo that year with guitarist Randy Larson, garnering the attention of Escape Artist Records.
With noisemaker Chris Mereshuk on keyboards/samples and minus Larson, the band recorded the The Mosquito Control EP at God City Studios in 1998, establishing Isis as a band with artistic vision and conceptual foresight. Former Cast Iron Hike guitarist Mike Gallagher joined the lineup in time for a tour with Converge and Cavity, just as Mereshuk exited and was replaced by Agorophobic Nosebleed's Jay Randall. In 1999, Isis released an EP titled The Red Sea through Second Nature on both 8" vinyl and CD. Randall exited the group shortly thereafter and was replaced by Cliff Meyer, and Isis subsequently toured with Cave In that summer before supporting Neurosis -- who had become admirers of the group -- that winter.
In 2000, Isis produced their masterwork, the Celestial opus, which built upon the promise of the EP releases while expanding the band's scope to include more warmth and melody than its decidedly brutal predecessors. The band toured relentlessly in its support with the likes of the Dillinger Escape Plan, Candiria, and Burn It Down, releasing a follow-up of material from the Celestial sessions through Neurosis' own Neurot Recordings in 2001. Dubbed SGNL>05, the EP expanded the conceptual and musical threads of Celestial, complete with a remix by one of the band's heroes, Godflesh's electronic wizard Justin Broadrick.
Oceanic became the band's breakthrough record, receiving positive reviews upon its release in 2002. The follow-up effort, Panopticon, appeared two years later, while the two-CD remix collection Oceanic: Remixes/Reinterpretations landed in 2005. One year later, the band collaborated with the Scottish pop band Aereogramme for the 14th volume of the Konkurrent label's In the Fishtank series. Isis then released their next full-length album, In the Absence of Truth, before touring alongside Tool, whose guitarist Adam Jones opted to join Isis in the studio upon the tour's completion. Jones lent his instrumental prowess to two songs, both of which appeared on th
- Melvins
- myspace
- Melvins are a three piece right now, the current members are Buzz Osborne (King Buzzo) who plays guitar and sings his given first name is Roger so I've heard, Dale Crover who plays drums, and Kevin Rutamanis who plays bass. The Melvins formed in Aberdeen/Montesano, WA in 1984 the founding members were Buzz, Mike Dillard (drums), and Mudhoney bassist Matt Lukin. Buzz, Mike, and Matt all went to high school in Montesano. When Mike couldn't cut it, as rumor has it because the songs were getting too mathematically complex, Dale was recruited out of the Iron Maiden cover band he played in at the age of 15. Matt was replaced by Lorax (Shirley Temple's daughter) when they left Aberdeen for San Francisco. The name Melvins came from a grocery clerk at the Thriftway in Montesano where King Buzzo served as clerk and vandal. Melvin was the most hated fellow employee and they felt it to be an appropriately ridiculous name. The Melvins have had quite a few bass player changes during their tenure check out the bassist morgue to learn more. The Melvins live in Hollywood, CA right now. Check out the discography section to see the many releases the Melvins have made. They were on a major label Atlantic Records for three albums, although most would agree they're not the type of band that would appeal to a major label. They knew this while they were being signed and just took advantage of the hullabaloo the record companies were making out of the Seattle "grunge" sound. Dale filled in for Nirvana when they were between drummers and he appears on Incesticide and Bleach as a result of those sessions. Buzz has a side project called Fantomas with Mike Patton(Faith No More/Mr. Bungle) who is also owner of Ipecac Recordings the label the melvins are currently releasing material through. Melvins have also released music on Boner records, Alchemy Records, Amphetamine Reptile Records, and numerous others in the manner of 7"s and whatnot. Dale has a side project called Altamont. Kevin used to be in the band COWS, he also is in another Mike Patton project along with Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard called Tomahawk. I would completely recommend anything a Melvins member has released. Melvins have toured with Kiss, White Zombie, NIN, L7, Primus, Tool among others and were also on the Ozzfest tour in 98. They toured with a second guitarist at one point David Stone(a great noisician). If you ever get the chance to see them live be sure to give them gifts, they prefer Cracker Barrel gift certificates.
- Totimoshi
- official website
- myspace
- Totimoshi, the gritty and raw Bay Area band, have pointed to their Latin heritage as playing a key role in the shaping of their sound; turning the two disparate parts of the band’s personality into music that is undeniably their own. Even the band’s name is a reflection of that cultural mash-up (a name singer/guitarist Tony Aguilar’s mother often used to describe his grandmother’s broken English). That merging of backgrounds, Tony the son of migrant farm workers and bass player Meg Castellanos’ Cuban roots, gave the couple’s sound a flavor that’s unique in the world of modern heavy music.
The group’s 2006 release, Ladrón, received a 9/10 from Decibel and four star reviews from Revolver and Alternative Press (with the former commenting on the band’s distinctive sound: “Has the syncopated looseness of early Sabbath and the howl-and-hammer rumble of late Eighties grunge). After touring with compatriots Mastodon, Helmet and the Melvins, Tony and Meg began work on Milagrosa (“miracle worker” in Spanish), a transitional release for Totimoshi that finds the enigmatic and raucous band flirting with their first conceptual release.
“I wrote most of the songs as an imaginary fight between love/compassion and hate/violence. I wanted to relay the stories as one choice versus the other both in the lyrics and melody,” Tony explains. “Like on the song ‘Milagroso,’ where I say ‘the fields of hate that turn our fate the putrid stench the violence at hand/decisions towards compassion to be made by each and every hand’ and on the song ‘Sound The Horn’ I continue that theme: ‘atomically we infiltrate, with open eyes we subjugate to feed the ego’s every hungry need.’” Milagrosa also marks a number of other ‘firsts’ for the band including for the first time in the band’s career Meg and Tony have a drummer, Chris Fugitt, who is making strong contributions to Totimoshi. Meg says of Chris, “he has added precision, incredible work ethic and what Bad Brains would call PMA (positive mental attitude).”
One more key first for the band is in terms of the team they worked with to create Milagrosa. This is the first time they’ve worked with engineer Toshi Kasai, who worked in tandem with producer Page Hamilton (Helmet) on the release. “We wanted to work with Toshi after hearing the Melvins’ ‘(A) Senile Animal.’ We were really impressed by the fact that you could get that kind of sound going completely digital since we had always recorded on to tape. Toshi had a lot of great ideas in panning the sound and his mixes turned out superb.” Another addition to the production are the guest vocals of good friend Mike Kissam whose harmonies Meg describes as having, “a magical Jeff Buckley-like quality, and blending nicely with Page’s and my vocals.”
Totimoshi has matured into rock and roll heavyweights. More melodic, thoughtful, and driving than anything they’ve ever produced, Milagrosa is aptly named
OTHER UPCOMING SHOWS FROM THE BOWERY PRESENTS
© 2010
