GROUPER "Way Their Crept" --- CONTACT

i saw basinski a little while ago in london - he was great, and his fashion was extremely bold.

as for grouper, she played for about an hour, and although there wasn't any silence at any point (iirc) there were definitely 3 main arcs to it. i thought i heard elements of her released music in there, but a lot of it seemed new as well, and of course there were improvised live vocals and keyboards over the top.

it was an interesting space as well, the geodesic dome in the courtyard. i didn't think it could hold so many people, but it did. everyone just kind of naturally found their spot and sat down on the carpet upon entry, but just before grouper played the organizers told everyone to stand up, but also that they could sit down later if they wanted to. i think the reasoning behind this was to have everyone stand and move in closer to take up less space so everyone could get inside, but it confused some people into thinking they weren't allowed to sit. despite this, a movement to sit down started spreading through the crowd, beginning at the left edge and creeping toward the middle-back like a welcome contagious disease. unfortunately it didn't hit our section until just before she finished playing. then she finished, and everyone stood up again. then during the wait between sets, everyone sat down again. as soon as basinski walked on stage, all the people on the front row immediately stood up (????) but then a courageous sitter in the back yelled 'HEY! SIT DOWN! EVERYBODY SIT DOWN!' whoever that person wins the Pontiac Real Driving Excitement Attendee of the Show award, because then everyone sat down for the rest of the show and it was just blissful.

^the most detailed recounting of the sitting down and standing up at the grouper/william basinski show on the entire internet^

bonus highlight: during basinksi's set, the guy next to me was snoring incredibly loudly and rhythmically, once every 4 or 5 seconds. as 'Cascade' continued its long fade and got more and more quiet, his snores became more audible to everyone in the area. The piece concluded and there was complete silence (it was a great crowd tbh, very respectful) and then ---**SNSNOOOOOORRREEEEEGGGhhhhhghhhHHhh___ghhhhhhhhhh---. it was really, really funny. a great juxtaposition of the beauty of basinski's music along with its practical effects

I really wish I could have made it to that!!

photo from last spring's marfa myths show:

http://i.imgur.com/UzwQinS.png

nice!

that marfa myths set was one of the more devastating live shows i'd seen in a while

rad pic f. hazel
+ so cool to read about + then hear this karl malone. & yeah she plays some older things with new things, alien observer & some piano from ruins on top of a new thing, i guess it was that it is a new set not a set exclusively consistent of new songs. i am so hyped that there will maybe be more grouper. it is sorta just so intriguing that she moved into such heavy territory w/ a i a & we haven't really heard where that goes next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPQj9fF66xU

you guys, there is a new grouper 7" on spotify, and it is a MUST LISTEN

Oh damn, this is good. It's nice to hear Harris behind a guitar again.

Oh yes, this is great.

New songs are so beautiful, so glad she's back. Was worried about those retirement rumors. Grateful for Grouper

Get her some direct coin via Bandcamp, I sez:

https://grouper.bandcamp.com/album/paradise-valley

7" went really quick. Hope I made the cut...

she'd get even more direct coin if she'd press more records! oh well, hopefully they'll repress at some point.

Can't believe I missed the 7". Sold out on my way to work.

Was looking at her bandcamp and noticed that Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill has been modified: it's just listed as "Dragging a Dead Deer," and the tracklist is in reverse order:

1. We've All Gone To Sleep
2. Tidal Wave
3. Wind And Snow
4. A Cover Over
5. I'm Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
6. Invisible
7. Fishing Bird (Empty Gutted In The Evening Breeze)
8. Traveling Through a Sea
9. When We Fail
10. Stuck
11. Heavy Water / I'd Rather Be Sleeping
12. Disengaged

she'd get even more direct coin if she'd press more records! oh well, hopefully they'll repress at some point.

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, December 21, 2016 6:09 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^ this is so otm. I appreciate the control artists want to have over their output, but with more and more artists it's a shame the first presses are so small. Every Grouper release sold out today is on discogs for the amount times five tomorrow. Same with so many more (Caretaker comes to mind). They've become investments for resellers.

(Yeah, I missed out on the 7" too..)

I don't really understand the motivation for artists to do this. It looks like eventually most things get re-pressed, but its just this fake, tiny weird market bubble for some of these artists...does it really enhance their overall mystique/desirability/bookability as artists?

pressing records is really expensive. i doubt Harris expected to sell 300 copies before noon. it might not have been possible for her to press anymore than that anyway. the logistics of pressing vinyl independently are so fucked, there are so few pressing plants and they're all backed up with major label releases and Pink Floyd reissues.

While the latter is certainly true, the former though.. Quite sure Harris is aware of the fact that her albums are being sold well over $100 a piece. It's simply a demand issue: way more people want her physical releases than the number she releases them in.

new goal: get someone to loan me $10 million, use 100K of that to hire someone who knows what they're doing and use the rest of the money to open a new record pressing plant, profit

seems like they're putting vinyl up on bandcamp right now?

https://grouper.bandcamp.com/album/ruins

xps You're right, I'm sure she's aware of discogs gouging. But I wouldn't be surprised if she's simply pressing as many as she can due to the plants being clogged and prohibitively expensive for someone doing it herself.

That's a 2014 LP, not the new single in question

still, i am shocked that the 7" sold out so quickly. was sure i'd be able to get it. bummed bc i'm definitely not getting it second hand from discogs.

xp yeah she's been selling self-releases of most of her records through the yellowelectric site for a while now, that Ruins pressing isn't new.

no i get that, i'm just saying that afaict that 2014 vinyl reissue was literally just this second posted

Are you talking about the "special edition" version of Ruins on there though because that certainly looks new.

She sold an identical artist's edition of Ruins when it was released in 2014. Not sure if this is a new run or she is just selling her stuff through bandcamp exclusively now.

https://www.discogs.com/Grouper-Ruins/release/6237251

yeah the special edition went up today afaict. it said "ships dec 21" earlier today, and now says "ships in 7 days" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

important information about new grouper release

GROUPER RULES

Maybe that should have been on the t-shirt that came with the 7"

it might be time for a custom t

i am not emotionally prepared to experience new grouper material, i'll need to take a few days

Same. I need to be in the right headspace and environment

I am there.
I am in the grouper zone, reporting out live

i've listened to "headache" way too many times in a row in the past 24 hours but how could i possibly stray away from something so unspeakably transcendent

finally listening to this at night, it really does sound warmer and more present than any of the AIA. the Water People single is probably the most obvious precedent. there's a lot less reverb and the guitars & her voice sounds a lot closer.

For those that missed it, perhaps this'll work as a back up option:

https://boomkat.com/products/paradise-valley-d8ee21d6-5329-41f7-bb54-8411eaa412ab

that works for me

btw Discogs lists it as a pressing of 1000, see similar debate in the comments re: availability

https://www.discogs.com/Grouper-Paradise-Valley/release/9539659

Thanks Evan!

yeah thanks for the heads up, glad I got this!

You're welcome!

Gorgeous video for "Headache"

https://vimeo.com/195999938

hey floks, if anybody is hip 2 remaining copies of this (generally not supra optimistic abt boomkat), pls honk @ me xxx

i'm so psyched that that video finally came out, she projected it when I saw her play 2 years ago, w/o new song though.

Fantastic video. Been listening to this single pretty much non stop for the last 24 hours. Transcendental.

@schlump, '7" (sold out) BC copies --- distros and stores will have it: Forced Exposure, Reckless, Boomkat, Mississippi, Little Axe, Exiled.'

rough shot at the lyrics to 'Headache'

My mother once told me,
'She walks into the ocean'
Didn't want it, just kidding 'til we're rising well
Wanted to the heaven closer to love
Why's this costume weighing me down?

And my head hurts
And their sails turn

Fire in me enormous
Try my best when I'm alone lock it
I realize it won't
Walking in the deep end
Flying lights on the back of my eyelid
Blood is lucky blood in me

And my head hurts
And their sails turn
Flying lights on the back of my eyelid
Blood is lucky blood in me turns