new Howling Hex / Neil Hagerty brings the funk!

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Wowzers, this record is SO good. More groove / funk based than anything he's ever done, and probably the most Royal Trux-esque of his solo albums. The last legit full length is tough to top but I think I like this new one even better (despite the dearth of guitar solos!). The mysterious girl from the limited LPs is back full force - she sings just as much -if not a little more - than the 'Hag. Not to scare anyone, but some of it is very Make*Up esque - as in, repeated guitar lines and throbbing bass, while very 'in the know' vocals sermonize on top. A very consistent tone - very few songs vary much in 'feel,' which I think is very much to it's credit, and why it succeeds in ways that the last album didn't.

I'm really, really into this record (and by the way the book is brilliant too). Anyone else heard this yet?

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Sunday, 13 February 2005 21:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yep, I like it a lot, although that consistent tone you mention sort of makes it a hard record to sit through in one go. But yeah, girl vox + boogie makes this very interesting.

― Omar (Omar), Sunday, 13 February 2005 21:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

All-Night Fox is fantastic. It's the greatest rehabilitation of JJ Cale's laid-back boogie funk ever (not that there are a lot of these about, but still). And one of the female vocalists is in her 60s--bonus.

― Dave Segal (Da ve Segal), Sunday, 13 February 2005 22:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

JJ Cale is about the greatest not v recognised WHIZZ of ever but the Make Up are the shittiest bunch of dorks in likewise, so oh man I have NO IDEA about this now (except it's Neil H. so we've got 50x the use of the Make Up musically already I guess), hmmmmmm

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 14 February 2005 14:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

I like it alot. I haven't yet burned it off my computer, so I've only listened on shitty laptop speakers, but I'm actually waiting to buy the thing for real...
I heard a story a while back about how Neil was playing a solo acoustic gig somewhere and on the spur of the moment, he invited the opening band, a sheezy local 'blues funk' outfit to back him up. The immediate chemistry was so strong, Neil invited them to accompany him for the rest of his gigs on the west coast.
I'm fairly certain this was between Good Old RNR and the 1st Howling Hex record, but All Night Fox, with it's near complete lack of chord changes, variations on a riff, etc. sounds alot like I imagined this ad hoc combo. My educated guess: Neil formed this band on the spur of the moment and ran with the results. A very Royal Truxian move, yes?

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Monday, 14 February 2005 17:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

I like it more every time I hear it. I think your hypothesis is very astute, Mike - it DOES sound like an ad hoc assemblage of anonymous show-offs. It's tied for my favorite record of the year so far, easily.

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

Pitchfork gives it a 6.8, but those guys are geeks...
Also, this review I found on the Beating Hearts yahoo group reveals the identities of the ladies singing on this album. I didn't bother to find out where it's from.

The Howling Hex featuring Neil Michael Hagerty, "All Night Fox" (Drag City) -- Once upon a time, not so long ago, they were called Neil Michael Hagerty and the Howling Hex. The new incarnation of the band, however, has apparently grown up enough to stand on its own. The Howling Hex, now "featuring Neil Michael Hagerty," continues its rock 'n' roll onslaught with "All Night Fox," a welcome addition to the Drag City discography.

"All Night Fox" is a mess of sloppy sounds that are continually scooped into a listenable form by Hagerty and crew. By far the best album from the group under the Howling Hex name, "All Night Fox" sounds a little old, a little new and a whole lot awesome.

The best improvement is the addition of female vocals, supplied by Lynn Madison, who also plays drums, and July McClure, who plays bass guitar. The female vocals add a sexiness to the music that compliments Hagerty's hard-hitting, drier vocals. Peter Denton supplies a tight rhythm guitar that holds it all together. It's rock music done in the best fashion: loud, raucous and over far too soon, leaving you wanting more.

It looks like this may be a cd only release, by the way...

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 21:41 (8 years ago) Permalink

Tied for first with what, Roger?
For me it's the Om album.

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 21:42 (8 years ago) Permalink

It looks like this may be a cd only release, by the way...

That it is. I saw it in two stores last week and was told that same thing, so I didn't buy it. I have four HH LPs, I'm not switching formats for another.

― Vic Funk, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 23:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

That SUCKS.

(ps Mike - the Dredd Foole album on Ecstatic Yod)

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Wednesday, 23 February 2005 01:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

don't listen to this record if you have a hangover.
maddening in its insistence///////////////
that said, not like any other record of which I can think

― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:41 (8 years ago) Permalink

why does this record, ur cd, remind me of PBS kidz educational showz?

― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:46 (8 years ago) Permalink

according to Google image search this is Haggerty's backing band:

ihttp://hometown.aol.com/hdhn2003/images/brooklynchase6.jpg

― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, Drag City now says Cd only. WellI'm not buying it then, that'll show em. Three Lp only releases then this, what a cunt Neil's turned out to be (surprise)

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Saturday, 26 February 2005 01:41 (8 years ago) Permalink

c'mon dude, don't deprive yrself of a great record (err, 'disc') because, frankly, Drag City / Hag et al probably don't care too much whether you buy it or not, and you really oughta hear it because it's great (so is Superwolf - man I just can't bring myself to file that one away since I downloaded it over a month ago - there's a vinyl release on that, right?? Cuz I'll need that soon)

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Saturday, 26 February 2005 02:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

There is a vinyl version of Superwolf. I don't know why, but I really have no interest in a CD version of HH. By not putting it on vinyl, it's just one less album for me to have to pick up.

Speaking of DC and weird practices, anybody know why they recalled the Bastro releases? DC's just reissued a shitload of Louisville/Grubbs material (the two Squirrel Bait records, a bunch of Gastr Del Sol stuff, a bunch of Dexter's Cigar stuff, the first King Kong single), but these Bastro albums which they'd been declaring for months would be reissued suddenly aren't.

― Vic Funk, Saturday, 26 February 2005 02:51 (8 years ago) Permalink

I had this dream earlier in the week that I went to go see Howling Hex, and they had three guitarists, two bassists, and two drummers, most of which were hot girls. They played one song that sounded like the album, then they went off stage and started wheeling on all this electical equipment like a Tesla coil and those things from sci-fi movies that shoot up sparks and monitors with video games on them. Then I woke up.

― n/a (Nick A.), Saturday, 26 February 2005 03:01 (8 years ago) Permalink

All-Night Fox is fucking fabulous. Hagerty plays better Magic Band guitar lines than the Magic Band did.

Also conclusively demonstrates what a flimsy piece of shit that RTX album was/is.

― Yoluka, Saturday, 26 February 2005 07:39 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Hagerty plays better Magic Band guitar lines than the Magic Band did."

I express the skepticism.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 26 February 2005 07:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

I like that Roger took Andrew seriously. Roffles.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 26 February 2005 08:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

also Tim, you don't think it's possible that Hagerty is ultimately a better, more creative guitar player than Harkleroad? seems perfectly tenable to me ... in fact I think I agree!!

(and I am a total Beefheart freek-a-zoid)

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 26 February 2005 08:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

I'm a Beefheart fanatic as well, but that doesn't preclude me from thinking that Hagerty is a better, more innovative, and more versatile player than anyone Van Vliet ever employed. Maybe you could argue that the Magic Band players were kept on a short leash by the Captain, and we never really heard the true extent of what they were capable of (probably true), but the proof is in the recordings, and I believe that Hagerty is the superior musician in every respect.

― Yoluka, Saturday, 26 February 2005 08:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

This CD makes me so happy. Track 4... yowza.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 17:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

Tightness was key to the Magic Band, though. I think of Hagerty as being more like a stoner rock version of Blood Ulmer or something.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 17:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

(xpost)
... though the recent Don-less Magic Band album was (someone correct me if I'm wrong) comprised of nothing but freshly cut instumental versions of Beefheart chestnuts. Which doesn't *prove* they can't come up with their own stuff, but it doesn't make the case otherwise, either.
I heard some of it on the radio, though, and meant to buy it, but I forgot.

And Roger, yes, Superwolf is on vinyl.
It includes a little card extolling the virtues of cannabis vs. drink by Paul Bowles:
“Cannabis sativa and its derivatives are strictly prohibited in Turkey, and the natural correlative of this prescription is that alcohol, far from being frowned upon as it is in other Moslem lands, is freely drunk; being a government monopoly it can be bought at any cigarette counter. This fact is no mere detail; it is of primary social importance, since the psychological effects of the two substances are diametrically opposed to each other. Alcohol blurs the personality by loosening inhibitions. The drinker feels, temporarily at least, a sense of participation. Cannabis abolishes no inhibitions; on the contrary, it reinforces them, pushes the individual further back into the recesses of his own isolated personality, pledging him to contemplation and inaction. It is to be expected that there should be a close relationship between the culture of a given society and the means used by its members to achieve release and euphoria. For Judaism and Christianity the means has always been alcohol; for Islam it has been hashish. The first is dynamic in its effects, the other static. If a nation wishes, however mistakenly, to Westernize itself, first let it give up hashish. The rest will follow, more or less as a matter of course. Conversely, in a Western country, if a whole segment of the population desires, for reasons of protest, to isolate itself in a radical fashion from the society around it, the quickest and surest way is for it to replace alcohol with cannabis.”

as well as a liner note dedication by Oldham to "the Sween-dog" that made me laugh out loud. The picture of Will and Matt on the back c
over rules as well.

And yes, I'll buy the all-Night Fox cd, and supplement it with the lp if it ever does surface.
(Sweet 16 was never issued on vinyl - the only other Hagerty recording given the same treatment (not counting 'Corpse Love')?)

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 17:51 (8 years ago) Permalink

ergh comparing hagerty and harkleroad, most useless thing ever.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 17:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

So...is there any word on whether or not DC is going to reissue the LPs on CD? Because I kind of ignored their existence at the time since Hagerty's solo stuff honestly didn't thrill me much. But I'm listening to All-Night Fox now and I love it a lot. And I'm kind of upset to hear that the LPs sounded more like this stuff.

Or: any chance at all of snagging the LPs on SSK?

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Friday, 1 April 2005 01:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

I have all 3 lps on slsk. codename: MkDXN.

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Thursday, 28 April 2005 09:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

From Drag City's news page:

Have you gotten your email blast from iTunes yet? If not, then let us break the news — there’s an exclusive online-only track from The Howling Hex ready for download now! “Sick and Old” is the name — but make no mistake, it’s for the young at heart as well as the sick and old. A song for everyone, could it be true? If it’s coming from The Howling Hex, anything could be true. Neil and co. are capable of anything — and they got the vision to try, too.

Speaking of The Howling Hex, this iTunes exclusive track is a precursor to the next phase — a phase involving more music, a film and even some live shows! It’s only been a few months since the release of the New Border classic, All-Night Fox, but already The Howling Hex are moving on. And why shouldn’t they? Life is short and inspiration is in ample supply. So before the end of the year, look for an all-new Howling Hex album, a DVD package and the wildest concerts you’ve attended in years. The Howling Hex is now a double-digit entity, with a full complement of musicians, actors and artists coming and going under the conductor’s wand of Neil Michael Hagerty.

We’ll have more news on the latest moves of The Howling Hex as soon as their carrier pigeon returns with the details. Stay tuned —

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Friday, 3 June 2005 14:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

Cool beans!

― Huk-L, Friday, 3 June 2005 14:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Friday, 3 June 2005 15:00 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

dude, this sucks. i signed up for stupid itunes just to buy this song, which is AWESOME by the way, and can't burn it because nero sez the format is not correct or something. anyone have this on slsk? gimma a break, willya?

― roger, Monday, 20 June 2005 09:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

I've had it on my wishlist for a month, still no dice.

THis is from the Royal Trux yah00 group:

The show: When I entered the theatre (evidently the audience was prohibited at that
time), a woman, who I assume is Neil's wife, had taken control of the staff and players in the lighting configuration, stage set-up, so forth. When the configuration was complete, she disappeared, only to re-emerge (to my knowledge) at the end of the set. She had a very hands-off, distanced approach as in "I'll take care of these social
negotiations and leave the rest to Neil." ~5'6", brunette, old-hipster vibe, drank a bit.
Her affect reminded me heavily of Kelly. "I'm free for this moment."

Watched the opening band. Recorded one song. (I did not realize the members would later back up Hagerty). Short set.

HHex: 7-piece band. Hagerty, Mike Saenz, Dan Sylvester, and four players from The Theater Fire. No female vocalists! (Is Hagerty afraid of putting his wife, if she is indeed his wife and one of the vocalists, in the public eye?) Neil performed all of the vocals, save for occasional accompaniment. He would sing, then proceed to duck and conceal himself behind a monitor that he had draped with a painted gunnysack. I thought he was quite successful in his vocal execution, though I have yet to fully grasp the meaning of this act.

The band performed as a looped video was projected behind them. (I assume this will appear on the forthcoming DVD.) The band performed all songs on ANF, 60m set.
The theatre was half full, ~60 people

I have 3m of "beautiful boy" (Allyssa) footage of images projected in sequence on Hagerty's face. The fire of a baked-bean can set ablaze.

____

Intellectually I understood that the project known of Royal Trux had reached an end (at least through the participation of N&J), but the woman's presence and the full band really cemented that fact.

More later.

(note wedding band. This photo is from the theaterfire.com site.)

― Mike Dixon, Saturday, 16 July 2005 17:08 (7 years ago) Permalink

He looks good! Roffling at his Raiders t-shirt.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 16 July 2005 17:41 (7 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

Drag City says:
Hot on the heels of their debut down in Austin, The Howling Hex (featuring Neil Michael Hagerty) are planning another couple shows this fall, in anticipation of their musical DVD release (set for November) titled You Can't Beat Tomorrow. Chicago and New York are the destinations currently being mulled, which is good news for Chicago and New York! The word on the Austin ‘Hex show was that it was “wild” and “crazy”, a bunch of people grooving together on stage too small for their size, with the man himself occasionally ducking beneath a rug for purposes unknown. They rocked ‘em in Austin — Chi-town and NYC, you’re next!
More eyewitness coverage from the Austin show:
I would describe the performance as rather comedic. It had a certain dumbness to it, a foil created through so many contending, extraneous elements. The band acted the straight role, trying hard to structure songs they had some control of. Neil seemed to leverage this misdirected(?), but well-intentioned labor to freely stand onstage, sing, sing underneath a banner/sac, and orchestrate the band from these positions.
Neil was very accepting of circumstance, not feeling the need to police the quality of playing. (Though he did make the comment, "I can't afford daycare" which was either a slight against the band and/or a preface to "What, Man? Who Are You?!"). The band performed songs 1-6, 8 from ANF in that order ("Cast Aside the False" being a bit personal?). They sang about 70% of the lyrics of each song.
Stereo(?) stage set-up:
Stage left: drummer (Sylvester), guitarist
Stage center: Neil, bassist, trumpet player
Stage right: drummer, guitarist (Saenz), pedal steel player(? - my memory)

It took about 25m to achieve a fuller sound. Neil stretched the structure/pacing of the songs very harshly through his actions/antics.

― Mike2, Sunday, 7 August 2005 16:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

So if I love Royal Trux and RTX, but didn't really like "All-Night Fox" that much (every song starts off awesome but then nothing happens and it gets boring), should I bother with any of the Neil Michael Hagerty albums? Which one? Also, is Hand of Glory really bad? They always have like 4 used copies of it at Reckless.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

the first Howling Hex double LP is all-the-way great. ANF is kinda a concept record or sumthin (I didn't like it either). Hand of Glory is only bad if you didn't like Twin Infins.

― Outsider Enter Port City (sexyDancer), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:20 (7 years ago) Permalink

that's why hagerty loves him! you listen to the new Howling Hex album and notice how he's got those guitar lines just snaking through the entirety of each song, and that sound is TOTALLY Denny Vertigo
-- gear (speed.to.roa...), August 25th, 2005 5:27 PM.

― gear (gear), Thursday, 25 August 2005 17:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

should I bother with any of the Neil Michael Hagerty albums?

I YSIed the three vinyl-only deals in the Royal Trux thread.

Neil's blog is pretty confounding: http://hhex.blogspot.com/

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Thursday, 25 August 2005 20:00 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

I bet "Howling Hex" refers to Goetia. Goetia, after all, means "howling" and "hex" goes fairly well with "damned" and "curse." Also, the triangle in the circle being the primary symbol on the first HH album, is the "triangle of art" into which the Goetia are evoked. I fully expected to count up the number of triangles on the cover and get 72, since there are 72 principle Goetia, but instead I got 64, which is still a multiple of 8 and only 8 less than 72. And Neil is clearly weird and esoteric.

― Devil Made Me Do It, Sunday, 11 September 2005 01:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

http://dragcity.com/catalog/records/dc291.html

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Saturday, 1 October 2005 14:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

Thank god!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Saturday, 1 October 2005 17:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

My most anticipated release of the year. It's gonna rule!

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Saturday, 1 October 2005 17:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

It DOES rule.

― jon dale, Saturday, 1 October 2005 23:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

Eyewitness reports from the Beating Hearts yahoo club:
Chicago show: started with Neil doing a reading on
"Van Camp's" backed by a tape of some Operatic type
music, delivered in trademark semi-indecipherable
mumble. Followed by opening act "The Ice Cream Men"
whose members later served as the bulk of the back-up
band for the HHX. HHX next. Six piece. Guitar, bass,
Sax, keyboards, drums, with Neil on guitar and lead
vocals. Painted backdrops, video collage projected
behind. Don't know the names of any members. No
girl/wife unless it was the Asian girl playing
keyboard. I believe Neil has a new guitar. I know dick
about guitars but a friend who went with me to the NYC
show said it was a Gibson Hawk or maybe Night Hawk,
but I don't remember because I don't really give a
shit. Played All Night Fox in its entirety with the
exception of "Cast Aside the False". Neil kept
changing shirts throughout the set. General beaner
aesthetic. Started out in a guayabera and and then
changed to Beans T-shirt. It was funny when he changed
into the Scarface t-shirt (is there a better symbol of
American ambition at this this point?) but it was
hilarious when he changed into the Paco jeans T-shirt.
A subtlety only discerned by being on-sight or
watching a lot of USA (network not the nation). I
guess the New Border Style incorporates wetback style.
During the NYC show he even stopped to comb back
greased up hair. I could say more but I think I
exhausted all my jokes on Sunday trying to come up
with names for the possible Mexico City NFL expansion
franchise. The music itself was top notch. Show very
poorly attended. By the end there were only a handful
of people there. Another entrepreneurial triumph for
Drag City. I thought it was maybe because of the of
the Whitesox/Indians game, but I mentioned it over
dinner with friends on Saturday night and they told me
that the Chicago music scene was not what it once was.
So there you have it. I was out socializing during the
opening part of the NYC show, but the HHX show set was
basically the same, except much better attended. Good
job NY.

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Wednesday, 12 October 2005 16:40 (7 years ago) Permalink

No girl/wife unless it was the Asian girl playing keyboard.

nope, the keyboard player did previously play with smog and bright eyes tho.

i could be wrong but i don't think anyone who played these shows (the sax player matt bauder and the bassist josh abrams are the only ones i knew) played on the albums.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 12 October 2005 19:06 (7 years ago) Permalink

The fact that HH shows are so poorly attended, as a rule - at least from what I've seen in the big cities - is evidence of how everyone is stupid and ought to be killed. In a world made up of people with tatse, there'd be lines around the block and people camped out in front of the club the day before.

― God Body, Wednesday, 12 October 2005 21:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

the show in nyc was pretty well attended.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 12 October 2005 21:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

HH is great and all, but I loved that Theatre Fire band! Austin is one show too few. Bring 'em back!

― George, Friday, 21 October 2005 06:17 (7 years ago) Permalink

New Howling Hex mp3 - "Apache Energy Plan" is up on the Drag City site now.
It sounds good.

― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Monday, 24 October 2005 14:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 42 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

rechecked You Can't Beat Tomorrow on a recent roadtrip, that one is still awesome

I like that new track okay, but am skeptical of a whole nother percussion-less album

― The Silent Extreme (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 6 January 2012 22:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

rechecked You Can't Beat Tomorrow on a recent roadtrip, that one is still awesome

i love this, i think i maybe mentioned going back to it while we were in the sandbox but it's so strong, i found myself liking a bunch of different stuff instead of the jams i usually gravitated towards. s.c. coward. it's so loose & it has such a great room sound.

dude i dont like it :(

aw man i was wondering if you'd heard it! i just; it's just so well done i think, like i am half-listening to the song & half caught up in & sustained by the constant guitar backbeat-jerk; like i do see some links to stuff on earth junk that i liked well enough without wanting more of (the sorta velvets' murder mystery-esque songs like the one called something like arsenic and poison, which is great but sorta heavy), but it's so well put together, like his singing is always cut up into these different spacy registers and places, and there's some nice synthy detail going on under some parts of the songs. obviously if you are not feeling it you are not feeling it, but i've felt good about it everytime it's been on, while i've been cooking or w/e.

is it specifically the 'no percussion = i want out' thing about it that deters you shakes? bc it's very rhythmic with or without

― quick brown fox triangle (schlump), Friday, 6 January 2012 23:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

still digging this new album -- so weird sounding, but still catchy as hell. lots of neat interlocking parts. getting a beefheart vibe occasionally. anyhoo, thinking about seeing him live next week -- anyone know what the show is like? is it a solo thing?

― tylerw, Friday, 20 January 2012 17:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

I saw him on the XI tour and they were amazing, played stuff from all over the catalog, trading instruments, just a great vibe. have no idea what his touring act is like at the moment tho.

― “How you like that, Mr. Hitler!” (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 20 January 2012 18:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

have always been on my list & i've never been in the right place; i would totally go. the last thing i heard about was a new york show, they were a three-piece & played for hours.

― quick brown fox triangle (schlump), Friday, 20 January 2012 19:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah I saw a really long set too

― “How you like that, Mr. Hitler!” (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 20 January 2012 19:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

ha, well, last night was *not* a long set -- probably only 45 minutes. and early too! he started at 930pm, which is not the norm for the venue. but fine with an old dad like me. music was awesome -- he had a very straightlaced, 50-something looking rhythm section who just oompahed away endlessly behind him as he tore out wild, fuzzy solos. only one song from the latest record, i think. apparently he lives in denver for the time being, so i think i'm gonna see him a lot in the next year. yay! maybe i can be in his band! i could definitely do what the bass player was doing last night.

― tylerw, Thursday, 26 January 2012 15:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

oh man that sounds so great. there was an auction of paintings and stuff on the hex site last year, I think prior to him leaving NM. hope you & NMH sync rhythms!

― quick brown fox triangle (schlump), Thursday, 26 January 2012 15:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

lol after the show i said to him "great show!" and he visibly recoiled. i'm in!

― tylerw, Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

also http://www.howlinghex.com/diary/1477/smokestack-lightning

xp ha ha. idk man, he seems to absorb his environs, so maybe you just have to loudly do your thing in the proximity & he will gravitate towards your sludge rock/high-pitched-voice country songs/whatever project

― quick brown fox triangle (schlump), Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

maybe!
also, just looked -- the next show in Denver he's playing with Michael Gira!!!

― tylerw, Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

MG solo? sounds good

― quick brown fox triangle (schlump), Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

think i'm going to go see the Howling Hex again tonight in Denver! Who's with me!
Sadly I missed the Gira show last month. Apparently Gira got reallllllllly mad at a chatty audience.

― tylerw, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

THURSDAY! Howling Hex June residency kicks off in Denver! Will go to at least two of them!

― tylerw, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 02:02 (11 months ago) Permalink

somewhat comically un-revealing interview w/ hagerty
http://www.heyreverb.com/2012/06/06/howling-hex-interview/

― tylerw, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 19:34 (11 months ago) Permalink

lol @ dissing albums but not record companies

― retro-shittified (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 6 June 2012 19:46 (11 months ago) Permalink

rad interview

― blossom smulch (schlump), Wednesday, 6 June 2012 20:20 (11 months ago) Permalink

haha! i actually kinda know the guy who did it. he's a good guy, i'm sure, you know, circumstances.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 20:21 (11 months ago) Permalink

i was totally sincere! though i think the build up maybe makes the interview into something of a deadpan punchline.

i'm psyched you're catching this show anyway. these are still the group i wanna catch somehow sometime, i don't really know how. report back.

― blossom smulch (schlump), Wednesday, 6 June 2012 20:31 (11 months ago) Permalink

yeah will do. totally psyched he's in Denver for the foreseeable future.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 20:33 (11 months ago) Permalink

currently uploading a terrible video i took at last night's show! well, the sound is OK, but the venue was incredibly dark. will post! great show!

― tylerw, Friday, 8 June 2012 15:30 (11 months ago) Permalink

what was the format? how many folks in the band?

― Stormy Davis, Friday, 8 June 2012 16:14 (11 months ago) Permalink

same band as a few months ago, just a bassist/drummer.

― tylerw, Friday, 8 June 2012 16:16 (11 months ago) Permalink

man. I was actually toying with the idea of coming out there in a couple of weeks to catch the Hag on Thursday and then Wilco on Fri/Sat at Red Rocks. probably not gonna happen tho

― Stormy Davis, Friday, 8 June 2012 16:29 (11 months ago) Permalink

DO IT. I'm definitely going to at least one more of these.

behold my superior videographer skills. the sound is OK anyway.

― tylerw, Friday, 8 June 2012 16:30 (11 months ago) Permalink

thanks tyler! i actually skipped through mid-solo because fuzz & youtube don't totally fit, but it sounds great. the set-up suits NMH pretty well, i think. i'd love to have seen the theater-fire lineup, but there's something neat about the minimal, repetitive thing they have going.

― blossom smulch (schlump), Friday, 8 June 2012 18:09 (11 months ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

totally going back tonight! woooo.

― tylerw, Thursday, 28 June 2012 18:29 (10 months ago) Permalink

wooo. this rocked! pretty much the same deal as before, tho he actually played some shorter, punchier numbers. highlight is the epic march he closed out both shows with. forgot to take the camera.

― tylerw, Friday, 29 June 2012 17:06 (10 months ago) Permalink

only just remembered to check in w/this. sounds good. what'd you mean march? can't figure out if you mean an arkestral troop outta the venue or a shuffly norteno number.

― blossom smulch (schlump), Sunday, 1 July 2012 23:22 (10 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

guy's blog is both amusing & coherent right now. weird rountable w/commenters going on about romance.

― , Blogger (schlump), Thursday, 9 August 2012 19:14 (9 months ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

new album in feb. called "the best of the howling hex" but is indeed new material -- seems to be the stuff he was playing this year in Denver. sounds amazing.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:45 (5 months ago) Permalink

hope it's better than wilson semis FWIW

― 69, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:53 (5 months ago) Permalink

awesome awesome awesome
& great title. it was kinda longer, dirgier jams, right?

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:53 (5 months ago) Permalink

aww. i don't have my copy of WS with me so i can't spin it, but i have affection for it.

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:53 (5 months ago) Permalink

i really like wilson semis, but i think this one is better. last track is 24 minutes! so yeah longer, dirgier.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:55 (5 months ago) Permalink

i really loved earth junk, but WS kind of was just a blah retread imo

― 69, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:56 (5 months ago) Permalink

this is p cool, incidentally:
http://www.howlinghex.com/diary/1625/rehearsals-are-ongoing

whoa, tyler you have charmed NMH & gained access to his stack of tapes. i think i speak on behalf of everyone outside of your state when i ask if you can quietly post this to your blog.

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:56 (5 months ago) Permalink

ha, i just posted that & was like don't antagonise 69 about hating on wilson semiconductors again, let it lie. it's cool. some of earth junk i still love, other parts of it just aren't super enjoyable listening for me, including some of the best stuff on there. it reminds me of murder mystery by the velvets a little, like that. all this makes me wanna listen to WS, though, so. btw 69 i am for real missin your radio show, i hope you are on air again sometime.

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:58 (5 months ago) Permalink

xp haha, no, drag city just sent me the promo...

― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:59 (5 months ago) Permalink

oh whoa & there's this too:

Navajo Rag: long form psychedelic mixing by Neil Hagerty and the Howling Hex,
with mixing by Harpoon Forever & artwork by RAFTAR. 44 minutes
listen to the first couple minutes at soundcloud

http://soundcloud.com/osrtapes/the-howling-hex-navajo-rag

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:59 (5 months ago) Permalink

ha, okay. keep working toward that anyway. you're into it? i thought it was interesting the thing neil said about not really caring about records so just sending stuff to DC & letting them decide what to do with it.

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 23:00 (5 months ago) Permalink

first jam on the record for those not sitting around in smoking jackets supping cognac & talking pedals with NMH every week:

http://www.rockdelux.com/noticias/p/the-howling-hex.html

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 23:03 (5 months ago) Permalink

ha, i just posted that & was like don't antagonise 69 about hating on wilson semiconductors again, let it lie. it's cool. some of earth junk i still love, other parts of it just aren't super enjoyable listening for me, including some of the best stuff on there. it reminds me of murder mystery by the velvets a little, like that. all this makes me wanna listen to WS, though, so. btw 69 i am for real missin your radio show, i hope you are on air again sometime.

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:58 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

awww u can antagonise me anytime. and thanks for the nice words about the show -- too busy with work stuff this week to do it today, and there's definitely been a lag in putting the links up on the archive page. did you see the link to the show ian and i did the other week when i was in NY? it was really fun!

― 69, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 23:07 (5 months ago) Permalink

aw no! i didn't, i am missing stuff, i'll go check it out. you guys are a dream team. the last thing i heard was you co-presenting with my buddy BN, i had no idea you guys knew one another, it was so lovely. on another note, i bumped this thread in yr direction a while ago: THE PIANO CHOIR

will keep lookin out anyway.

this new hex jam is good. not a zillion miles away from the last record.

― absurdly pro-D (schlump), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 23:12 (5 months ago) Permalink

should be noted that the final track is about 10 minutes long (with an unlisted bonus track tagged on there).

― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 23:19 (5 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

how is this? it's kinda expensive at the store & i can't jump right in right now.

― schlump, Wednesday, 27 February 2013 22:59 (2 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

"traschan bahamas" song of the year so far imho

― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 9 April 2013 14:00 (1 month ago) Permalink

http://osr-tapes.com/

Navajo Rag: long form psychedelic mixing by Neil Hagerty and the Howling Hex, with mixing by Harpoon Forever & artwork by RAFTAR. 44 minutes
[free download]

― tylerw, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 14:53 (1 month ago) Permalink

tyler you rule. thanks

― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 9 April 2013 18:09 (1 month ago) Permalink

haha, you're welcome. it's basically like an extension of the weirdo remix thing at the end of the new album.

― tylerw, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 18:17 (1 month ago) Permalink

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