Thursday, November 29, 2018

Almost Live Volume 3: Stop Making Cents (Playing catch up part 6)



Here we are, finally all caught up! As with the other two volumes this is a practice session for a live set we played, so there's not too much that can be said about it. There are new versions of several tracks originally from our album Hash Not Hash, https://thebrownchristmas.bandcamp.com/album/hash-not-hash

The one unique thing with this volume is that it opens with some actually live, and completely new recordings. We were setting up to play the show and were just planning to do a quick sound check. Well that sound check started sounding so good that we just kept going, next thing you know we have almost 15 minutes of new music. The soundcheck was not recorded on video, but the main performance can be seen here.
https://youtu.be/IyptQVJUYgA

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Too Christmases (Playing catch up part 5)



This is a first for The Brown Christmas; a split album with fellow experimental synth weirdos Too Dogs. Our half is pulled from two practice session for live shows, where we went off script and wound up with a few new tracks. These make heavy use of Joemazing's guitar mangling skills and the percussive synth patches of the Korg Wavestation. They tend to start as dreamy phantasms that build to triumphant climaxes. There wasn't quite enough material here to make a proper album, so the obvious solution was to round things out with fresh songs from the hottest dogs in town.

Too Dogs' half was recorded and edited by yours truly, and provides the first (somewhat) polished presentation of these crazed canines who have until now, been doing mostly zany live sets. Buoyant synths and twangy guitars pour through pedals, taking the listener on a whimsically psychedelic voyage. Frenetic percussion programming is punctuated by a booming live drum kit, acting as the wiggling spine that supports the wash of sound.

Enjoy these two distinct flavors or experimental improvisation!

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Some Kind of Birthday Party (Playing catch up part 4)



Party animals rejoice, it's Some Kind of Birthday Party! There is indeed good reason to celebrate; this is my favorite album we've released this year, and probably a new high water mark for The Brown Christmas. You know you're in for something truly special as Al Santillo introduces the album with the words; "Every slice got something different on it..." Each track is a different experience, with different flavors of synth patches spread across the whole album.

Seamlessly we slip from the electronica infused melodies and shattering grooves of "Neon Glass," to the gritty lo-fi sizzle of "Crystal Shards," and  the silly chaotic panic of "Hyper Train Rail Workers." Dreamy guitar ambiences and soothing synth sax playing on "Lunar March," contrast the harsh walls of noise on "Storms of Jupiter." Deep rumbles of feedback attempt to smother the listener; occasionally allowing a pensive breath of fresh air before attempting to suffocate you again. There are absolutely no lulls on this album, it constantly pushes forward with the purposeful energy of a charging rhinoceros.

What really sets this album apart however, is that it rocks. It rocks earnestly, it rocks hard, and it rocks the full way through. The shredding solo on "Hard Nights, Harder Dreams" has no business being so hard hitting and emotionally charged. Revel in Joemazings ability to take his synth from sounding like it's on it's last breath short circuiting, to then emerge with a victorious crisp lead line. Feel the high energy orchestra hits of "Get Fucked or Die Frying" and prepare for a head to head battle in a cloud of synth drones. Wrap things up with the forceful growls of "The Last White Rhino" with it's weeping marimba-like solo, and you've got an album that's good to the last slice.

The art work on this album is also my favorite of everything we've released this year. A fun combination of several techniques that have been used on previous covers. Bright and welcoming, while also surreal and disconcerting; Michael Burke knocks it out of the park again.

This album is also available on KRXMA Records, be sure to check it out there as well. https://krxmarecords.bandcamp.com/album/some-kind-of-birthday-party

Monday, November 26, 2018

The Brown Christmas Vs. The Bored of Education (Playing Catch up part 3)



The Brown Christmas is the perfect cure for your boredom; with ten tracks covering everything from ambient, synth-pop, to sludge rock, you're sure to be entertained. Enjoy the loosely held together chaos that you've come to expect from The Brown Christmas. You'll find plenty of composed build ups and steep energetic slopes on this short rollercoaster ride.

The opening track "Raven's Talons" grabs the listener with piercing synthy claws, cascades through hazy drones, and drops you into a nest where you're devoured by abrasive chattering. As the anxiety of the first track fades away the tone shifts on "Leisure Speed" to a kind of triumphant yearning. This track is one of those catchy, almost pop tunes that seems to occasionally emerge from out murky slurry. A simple melody punctuated by a bouncy bass line, and gently fading away with a piano solo.

This leads to probably the highlight of this album; a slow droning version of "Cataract Jack" that is both ghostly and beautiful. What is normal a frantic, zany jig has been stretched out and melted. Deep percussive tones echo the main melody at a snails pace, while breathy textures create a sense of unease.

"Cataract Jack" is a delicate veil gently blowing in a dusty window; contrast this with bellowing heavy presence of "T-Boned Semi." Lumbering along powerfully, this track's defining feature is the sludgy distorted bass playing by Joemazing. I set a steady pace with the drums and then simply enjoy the ride as Joemazing pushes his mixer to the limit, turning it into a crunchy fuzz pedal.

From here things get kicked into high gear with the feverish "Scarab Outrun." We're skidding along barely maintaining control, kicking up plumes of dust, and quickly approaching a summit. With the toll of a bell we fall apart and gradually float to the ground with the track "Course Winds Blow Brittle Reeds."

The album ends with a short duet between the Roland D50 and it's modern recreation the D05. It's merry, light hearted, and the perfect silly goodbye.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Kings of Slop (Playing catch up part 2)



We here at The Brown Christmas pride ourselves on our sloppiness. It is only when you embrace the essence of slop, and reach deep into the viscous bubbling depths that you can find unexpected mixtures of accidental beauty. This album was recorded at the very beginning of January 2018, after not jamming for over a month we were fully ready to get sloppy again.

This isn't your average 'slop flavored fluid substitute,' this is quality pure distilled slop. Every minute of this album oozes thick, dense, textured, slop. Each track takes its time, slowly spreading and changing its texture, while also remaining concise and not overstaying its welcome. Most of the album keeps a fairly leisurely pace, allowing simple melodies to slowly reveal themselves over shifting ambiences, shining for a moment, then disappearing back into the sloppy ether. "Luck People" is a prime example of this; jovial arpeggios and Al Santillo loops provide a thin surface for mallet textures to knock on, eventually shattering the surface and dissolving.

The tempo picks up briefly as the monolithic "No Body Knows..." comes to an end and bursts into the frantic "Martini Rodeo." This is an all out assault of drums, synths, and guitar feedback; eventually falling apart, and leaving only a wiggly bass line. My favorite part of this album however, comes when the soothing lullaby of "Magic Mattress Bliss" shifts into the uneasy fever dream drones of "Starsand Hourglass." A heavy bellowing kick persuades the listener along a winding and unstable path of echoing bells, warbling ghostly howls, uneven synth pulses, and glistening rain textures.

The final track "Cyborg Vacuero" brings the tempo back to a frantic pace, closing the album with chugging guitar riffs and a squealing synth solo. This album demands several replays and deep listening; for just 30 minutes there's a vast variety of sound happening. At the time of it's release in June, Kings of Slop would have been my pick for our top album of the year. It has since been replaced by a different album, but is still a great listen. Check it out, taste the slop.


Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Walter Westinghouse (Playing catch up part 1)



I have fallen quite behind on these album write ups, but I suppose that's what happens when releasing new alums monthly, while also working on other projects, working a day job, and moving. So now let's see if I can get caught up.

With the recent passing of Hardy Fox from The Residents, it seems fitting to be starting with our  "Walter Westinghouse' cover album. The Residents have always been a favorite band of ours, they're probably the reason we started playing music together in the first place. So we jumped at a chance to be a part of their "I am A Resident" compilation contest.

We wanted to choose a song that was more of a deep cut, rather than going for something well known like 'Hello Skinny.' Walter Westinghouse was the perfect choice since the original is fairly long with a very simple skeleton that we were able to jam out on. The back and forth dialog of the original also gave both Joemazing and myself a chance to do funny voices.

As with most instances where we've tried to do something deliberate and constricted to a theme or time limit, it spiraled out of our control and out of bounds of the set parameters. What was suppose to be a recording session for one song quickly turned into a +30 minute jam session. Unfortunately we did not make the cut to the compilation album, so we took our submission and the additional jams and turned them into this short EP.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Hash Not Hash



This recording session comes after a five month unintentional break, but I often find the best way to improve is by not practicing. All our creative energy gets backed up, until the floodgates are finally opened and then the desire is to make up for lost time. Hash Not Hash is a clear example of this, being a huge leap forward from Tropical Fruits, and covering fresh sonic ground.

The album starts with the sullen, down tempo ballad "Blue City Rain Storm." This track's mixture of synthpop-esque melodies and harsh textures of noise exemplify a new direction our sound has been branching into lately. While not entirely new (we've certainly done catchy pretty sounding stuff with noisy elements previously) this is a juxtaposition that we've been delving into more deeply.

You can hear something similar on display in the track "Sleep Paralysis;" which concludes a mostly continuous, dream themed section of the album. Instead of synthpop elements we have a very delicate ambient soundscape drifting on an deep abrasive undercurrent. This combination is perfection to my ears, and definitely my top track for this release. A close second would be the closing track, which is an extremely cinematic interpretation of our classic "Cataract Jack."

For those with a discerning ear for synthesizers you'll also notice some textures previously unheard for The Brown Christmas. This was around the time I started acquiring some vintage digital synthesizers. This album marks the introduction of the Korg Wavestation and the Casio CZ101 to my set up.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Three things

Here we go, catching up on the most recent three releases. I'm going to talk about them out of order since two of our recent albums have a very similar premise. I'll start with Tropical Fruits of All Kinds, released this past February; it's The Brown Christmas' taste sensation sweeping the nation and causing constipation. I believe this was one of those times Joe and I met with the intention of rehearsing for a live performance, only to end up recording completely new stuff instead.

Often times before I even have everything set correctly to record Joe plugs in and starts pumping out synth melodies. I'm certainly not going to leave a good melody hanging, so I quickly get the recording going and start jamming along. Before long an hour has passed and we have a fresh fruit bowl of new material.

When I listen to these recordings it conjures up images of late night adventures, wondering around quiet streets under lamp lights, and being convinced there's something magical or nefarious lurking just out of sight in the shadows. Highlights of this album include the whimsically upbeat "Out Drinking with a Friendly Moth" and the blissfully cosmic, "Asleep in the Stars" The former sweeps merrily up and down, riding a sultry evening breeze in search of sources of light. While the latter is a more stationary, sedated trip within and beyond punctuated by a deep sweeping bass drone.



The albums for January and March are both practice session of live sets. These are composed of new versions of previously released material. Volume one draws tracks from New Jersey Sound Machine and Go Ahead ...Call the Cops, as well as a new version of 'Nobody Knows what it's like to Eat My Dick Tonight." All this practicing and preparation and I somehow forgot to record the actual live performance. This is the next best thing to live.


Volume two is a large chunk from the album How to Make an Egg Cream. There are two takes included on this album, the first is Joe simply winging it and me messing a few things up. The second take is closer to what our actual performance end up sounding like. This time I remember to record it. It can be viewed here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3KHFw_VeV0

Both of the takes had their interesting aspects and since the only songs we have multiple versions of are "Nobody knows..." and "Cataract Jack" I figured I might as well include both versions of everything.


Sunday, January 14, 2018

Christmas 2017



Although our name is The Brown Christmas we are not, nor have we ever been, a 'Christmas' band. That said I always look forward to putting out a new Christmas album. There's such a wealth of material to draw from, and it's always fun to 'get in the spirit' with some mangled Christmas merriment.

I have noticed that on every Christmas album we put out there's always an exceptionally abrasive song, usually with me screaming over a wall of sound. This time it's a cover of "Hey Santa," which is my personal favorite on this release. I was trying to pull up the lyrics for the Carnie and Wendy Wilson "Hey Santa," but instead got the Straight No Chaser "Hey Santa." Shortly after I started screaming I realized my error, but there was nothing to do but to continue belting out lyrics to a song I've never heard before.

The title comes from an event several years ago when I was working retail. Christmas was over, all our holiday merchandise went on sale at increasingly large discounts. Eventually items were 90% off and everything was gone; everything except a 4ft X 5ft X 18in display of candy canes. We just couldn't sell these, so I was told to throw them out.

Now my memory is a little fuzzy, but these were the typical boxes of candy canes you see for sale, I think there are a dozen or so canes in a box. I put these into larger cardboard boxes which might have fit 24 boxes of candy canes. I filled up about six boxes, put them out by the dumpster, then loaded them into my car when my shift was over. So using those numbers that's around 1728 candy canes. For the album title we used Thirty-six since in seemed like a funny, yet still plausible number.

Only a few days into having these at home did I realize that neither my family nor myself particularly enjoyed candy canes. However I think you will enjoy this album.