Digital/CDr release from PureFinder!

New release from Andrew Palmer's Stroma Sound Project!

Upcoming shows!

Two shows later this week!
Details:

Thu., 10/6
Cartoon Justice with Meg Pontecorvo/ebolabuddha
Octopus Literary Salon
2101 Webster St.
Oakland 94612
7PM
$
Also on the bill will be my pal Andrew Joron!

Fri., 10/7
ebolabuddha
NoiseHaus 10
Metro Silicon Valley
380 S. 1st St.
San Jose 95113
7:30 PM
$

Hope to see some pals at one of these! I'll play, regardless! 

Failure Cock, Cafe Colonial, Nor Cal Noisefest XX, Sacramento CA; 10/2/16

At a certain point during last night's Nor Cal Noisefest program (incredible!), my old pal Charlie leaned in and asked me, "...how can you tell what's good or bad...?" Fair question, my friend, and I've been reflecting upon it. Noise is inherently something NOT liked, even to the point of repulsion. It strikes me that these kinds of considerations are very subjective: a Noise act that one likes may not be liked by someone else. Ultimately, it's good if you like it or love it, and bad if you don't, I guess.
All that said, I certainly like a lot of the Noise/Experimental acts that I see in Sacramento for Nor Cal Noisefest, and obviously like playing with Failure Cock. If others do or don't, I can't say that I really care. That's their choice.
Eli Pontecorvo continues to add his low end bass vibes to our sound, this time playing two basses simultaneously. This start was according to a loose "set list" that we had cooked up in the preceding months, practicing whenever we could. He created a cool loop to start out, after which horns, looped guitar from Scarp (very cool pachinko sounds!), and dry waterphone and electronics were added.  We carried on with this for about ten minutes before some taiko-style drum jamming commenced. That part seemed to be the most emotionally heavy and pure, at least according to Eli. From there, we brought things down and ended as we started, with Eli strumming along to his low end loops. I sweated enough to feel somewhat drained.
Again, I have no idea if people liked our Noise or not. I just know that I enjoyed making all of that racket with Scarp and Eli, as usual.

Below: "set list" and Failure Cock dudes

Many thanks to Lob, the Nor Cal Noise Fest Crew, Das and Ninah, and all those that paid attention.

ebolabuddha-Gennie Jamz: Part V; Baker Beach, SF CA, 10/1/16

I guess that it was the week for me to hang out at holder haunts within SF. After Monday's El Rio event with Surplus 1980, I got to hit Baker Beach, the really lovely waterfront at the end of the Sea Cliff district.
The Gennie Jamz shows are generator shows, semi-legal ones, held at these old bunkers that are located right above the strand. We had no interference from park rangers, aside from one request to turn things down a bit.
ebolobuddha featured Eli, Jason, Steve, Tom, and myself for this one. Guitar, alto sax, bass, keys, and drums. We mostly performed a graphic piece that I've been working, Saturations with Jumps; its title comes from a sentence within an essay by Nick Land, whose somewhat darkened work has fascinated me lately. The sound was to have been divided by heavy "standing" moments, punctuated by "jumps", which were to have been made up of interactive harmonic passages. I'm not sure how that turned out, as I really couldn't hear the instrumental separation very well. After a bit, I decided to just play fiery and balls out. Seems like the other dudes may have done so as well! No worries.
We also got into some group reading passages: I read Ovid, as usual. Someday I'll find a new author for ebolabuddha readings!
Definitely a noisy and out of control set from ebolabuddha. More of an improvised Metal type of day for us.
A bit later in the day, I was asked to sit in with an ad hoc Psych group, and that was hella fun, too. As a bonus, I drove home via the Golden Gate Bridge, and the view was stunning.
Fun in the sun, SF Indian Summer style!

Above: ebolabuddha members and their pals, shot from atop a bunker!

Our set was recorded. Hopefully at some point it will be available for listening.

Two shows this weekend!

First up:
Saturday, 10/1, ebolabuddha will be playing at the all-day Gennie Jamz V event.
This event seems like a pretty loose affair, but Eli tells me that it's lots of fun, and basically occurs underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Details:

ebolabuddha
Sat., 10/1, 12 PM
Baker Beach
1504 Pershing Dr.
San Francisco, 94129
Show starts at 11 AM. 

Next, on Sunday 10/2, Failure Cock will be playing Norcal Noisefest XX! We're rehearsed and ready, as far as I can tell. This show is jam packed with Noise/Harsh Noise/Experimental music, and is highly recommended!

Failure Cock
Sun., 10/2 5:40 PM
Cafe Colonial
3520 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento 95820

Perhaps I'll see a few pals at one of these shows! It's going to be a ruckus weekend.......

Surplus 1980-El Rio, San Francisco CA; 9/26/16

After seeing the bustling nightlife on display at El Rio, I can say with certainty that San Francisco is most definitely not losing ALL of its youthful exuberance. Tons of young people were enjoying this venerable joint's cool patio and funky interior.
I can also say with certainty that the live music portion of their evening was largely unimportant to them: most stayed away from the stage area. Having stayed and participated in that movement, I know that I had a fun time.
Watching and listening to Smokers with their tight two guitar Punk Rock and Apogee Sound Club's cool weird and funky Punk was awesome.
As for Surplus 1980, I felt like the set was pretty darn good. The arc of the set order had a really good feel to me: starting with a somewhat challenging number (Morale Is High, an old Mute Socialite tune), then proceeding to the more upbeat stuff and ending on a slamming note with the fast ending of A Motivated Song About Procrastination was nice. It felt really nicely ordered. After lengthy conversations about sound separation and dynamics, I chose to play most of the set with a pair of those weird rod drum sticks. Actually found a pair that feature somewhat thicker rods; I seriously hope that I didn't sound like a Jam Band drummer, as that is absolutely NOT what Surplus 1980 needs. A conversation with a guy out front of El Rio at the end of the night confirmed that, at least as regards the separation, that was good tactic. He mentioned that he was able to hear the somewhat intricate guitar interplay. Victory there, for sure.
This being a 2016 Surplus set, I did make a pretty large gaff on Failure of Commitment. I'm not sure WTF is going on with me and that one, but I am starting to feel like the Peanuts character that's always lifting the football before Charlie gets his kick in. Sorry Moe!
All in all, a fun, rockin' evening in the Mission. I'm glad to see that that sort of thing is possible.

Below: drums, lights,  guitars, and guitarists

Surplus 1980 plays this Monday night in SF!

Surplus 1980 will play San Francisco's venerable El Rio this Monday night! It's been ages since I played there.
Details here:
Mon., 9/26
El Rio
3158 Mission St.
SF CA 94110
9PM
Apogee Sound Club
Surplus 1980
Smokers
DJ Paul Costuros
$3 with password/$5 without password

SF pals, come on out!