Shellac

the e-mail that was sent out about it mentioned something or other about the shows being a test to see if todd's back is up to par. guess that must mean he had some sort of back troubles... the southern records page doesn't mention anything of either the back troubles or the shows, though, so who knows?

according to southern records, blonde redhead will be playing some shows around california/vancouver/seattle/portland around the end of the month.

"Membership:
Steven Frank Albini - electric guitar
Todd Stanford Trainer - drum set
Robert Spurr Weston IV - electric bass guitar

Band information:
While there is no specific coordination between Shellac's record
releases and touring schedules, you can expect the band to tour at
its usual sporadic and relaxed pace.

Current:
Shellac will have a new LP anytime between now and 2007."

The new record will be an edition of one, packaged inside a car a la Merzbow. The delay comes from designing a system of gyros so the vinyl won't skip while the car is in motion, because it'll be vinyl-only, of course.

I'm sure the new record will be worth the wait when it is finally released

Damn. I was hit hard when i heard the news of Loder, and now I'm still getting hit. :(

2009 tour dates

05/13/09 - Vera, Groningen, Netherlands
05/14/09 - Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
05/16/09 - Butlins Holiday Center, Minehead, United Kingdom - with ATP Festival
05/17/09 - Butlins Holiday Center, Minehead, United Kingdom - with ATP Festival
05/29/09 - Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain
06/11/09 - Vera Project, Seattle, WA
06/13/09 - Berbati's Pan, Portland, OR
06/14/09 - Berbati's Pan, Portland, OR
06/15/09 - W.O.W Hall, Eugene, OR
06/17/09 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
06/18/09 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
06/20/09 - Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA
06/21/09 - Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA
06/25/09 - Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN

(note: shellac are playing Vera on the 6/12 as well. Arcwelder is opening. I am really really excited.)

Go forth and rock.

why on earth do they wanna play the W.O.W. hall, good Lord

once again (as i believe you posted on their previous stop in seattle) ,thanks for the advance notice. making plans to catch the vera show again.

Yay, W1ll! I know a lot of folks from Vancouver are already planning this out. (I think most of the audience at the last stop were from BC. When Bob asked for bills, I forget the joke that prompted that, most everyone held up $CDNs)

BTW, The Vera has moved since 2005. It's actually in the Seattle Center now, just blocks away from Easy Street Records in Lower QA, right next to where the QFC used to be. 1st Ave N and Republican St. are the nearest cross streets. It's also a much bigger and kinda weirder space.

"why on earth do they wanna play the W.O.W. hall, good Lord"

Some of the most classic concerts of my life, I saw at WOW Hall.

Fugazi on the Repeater tour with Beat Happening and Calamity Jane.
Melvins on Eggnog tour (Joe Preston on bass). Also again for Lysol (Lorax on bass).
Jesus Lizard on the Liar tour with Jon Spencer opening.
Alice Donut on Untidy Suicides tour.
Thinkin Fellers with Mudwimmin.
Nomeansno on the Wrong tour with Victim's Family.

And more recently, Isis with Mogwai.

I kick myself now for not going to Sleep on Holy Mountain tour supporting Hawkwind.

got my ticket for the june 11 show,,,,trying to wangle a way to see bat for lashes the night before at the crocodile.

btw,shellac has added a june 12 vera show.

Yeah, I got a ticket for both. ^_^

todd trainer on animal planet o_O and awesome

:)

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

Amazing!

OMG that was awesome. though todd trainer seems like a truly weird dude.

That's amazing. It's good to see that Albini can drop the cynicism, misanthropy and sarcasm when it counts. On a dog owner's program.

yeah in the spring and summer sometimes i would look out my office window and see todd, all vampirish in black, walking his lil' doggie around, so cute.

i don't know him but i've found that everyone i know who has actually dealt with or knows albini IRL says he is super nice and awesome...people that say "oh he's such a dick" tend to not know him irl.

I was joking. I've heard that Albini is actually a pretty nice guy if you meet him. It was more how he usually comes across in interviews that I was talking about.

awesome video!! wonder if uffizi tours with 'em.

This will be messy:
http://www.atpfestival.com/events/shellacny.php

Noon! I can see lots of people buying tickets for that and not making it.

Coming to my hood. Still worth seeing live?

yes! (if you like shellac)

Saw the 20th anniversary show in Minneapolis over the weekend. It was great.

line-up for their ATP this December currently looking great:

Shellac Of North America
Neurosis
Wire
Mission of Burma
Oxbow
Nina Nastasia
Melt Banana
The Ex + Brass Unbound
Mono
Shannon Wright
Zeni Geva
Arcwelder
Scrawl
Uzeda
Bottomless Pit
Prinzhorn Dance School
Three Second Kiss
Pinebender
Red Fang
The Membranes
Buke and Gase
Dead Rider
Helen Money
Bear Claw
ALiX
STNNNG
+ more TBC

so did i mh! had a blast....

btw STNNNG marks the first time a participant in ILX Pre-Covers LULU makes an appearance at ATP

"Little Dog" is coming to the UK!

I wasn't quite in the right headspace for STNNNG when they were on, but I think that's more due to me than anything about the band! I was kind of thrown off by a lot of things, having just been in a car and then getting dinner having a lot to do with it.

I need to give their post-At Action Park catalogue another chance

what they need to do is release some sort of definitive amazing live album.

“Dude Incredible”
One word: “monkeys”

It’s about the group dynamics of trying to get something done with a group of people. Somebody ends up having to behave like a ringleader and then there’s debate and all of the counties have to be heard from and then, eventually, there’s a move where everybody’s suitably motivated and you go off and do something. But along the way there are circumstances and ultimately you get to a resolution where you complete your enterprise or whatever.

“Compliant”
One word: “compulsive”

The text of the song is an abstraction that Bob came up with of the things that someone who is suffering obsessive compulsive disorder has to do just to get through his day. He has to make sure certain rituals are performed in order to satisfy that obsession. It’s called “Compliant” because that’s the shorthand for “OCD compliant.”

“You Came In Me”
One word: “intercourse”

It’s a fairly straightforward song about sexual intercourse.

“Riding Bikes”
One word: “vandalism”

“Riding Bikes” is in the context of children or adolescents riding bikes, where it’s a mindset and an activity put together. Like, you and your friends go riding bikes and that implies a certain degree of intimacy or closeness with your friends. You’re not just riding bikes, you’re having adventures, you’re breaking things, you’re stealing things, you’re causing minor vandalism — all that sort of stuff.

“All the Surveyors”
One word: “survey”

We first got into a surveyor kick when, I can’t remember if it was Bob or me, we noticed that quite a few of the founding fathers of our country, the United States of America — your neighbour to the South — were in fact, surveyors. Meaning that they took a chain and a pole and paced off the physical dimensions of our new country. They physically measured the place they were living in and that was part of their definition of where they were living. How much more could the borders of that place mean to you and its identity as a nation than that you had physically measured it?

A lot of the founding fathers were surveyors, including George Washington. But if you think of the word “survey,” that means that you’re assessing something from a distance and measuring it. There are a lot of circumstances where there’s an external observer surveying what’s going on. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be a person these days. It could be a satellite or a drone or a surveillance camera.

“The People’s Microphone”
One word: “altogether”

That’s an instrumental song. The subject matter of the song doesn’t really exist, because it’s a musical motif only. But it was named after the practice that was revived during the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy other places movement. When someone wanted to address the whole of the occupation, obviously you couldn’t be heard over a large distance, so the whole assembly made a social contract that, whatever this person said from the podium, they would all repeat it in sync in a loud voice so that people behind them could hear it. That construction was called “the people’s microphone.” I think that was an ingenious invention.

I started to think also about its use as a consensus-building tool, If you hear yourself in your own voice, it forces you to consider the veracity of the thing that you’re saying because you don’t want to be repeating a lie in a loud voice. So everyone who has convinced themselves to be a conduit in that situation is, by the process of repeating the thing that they are amplifying, a kind of a filter for its veracity. And then it forces them to internalize that thought because they have to evaluate it and it could be conceived of as a rote thing but, because of the way we all behave with respect to speech and language, it isn’t. So, I was fascinated by that and I admire it as a technique to solve the problem of being heard in a crowd. And I’ll be honest, I felt like I missed something by not participating in any of these people’s microphone exchanges during the Occupy movement.

“Gary”
One word: “Indiana.”

It’s about the steel magnate for whom the town of Gary, IN, is named. Most of the lyrics for that song are taken from a book of labour and communist folk songs. It’s called The Big Red Songbook. There’s a song, the lyrics to which were written by T-Bone Slim, and they were in that book and the song is called ‘Gary’ and it’s about Gary, IN, and its namesake.

“Mayor/Surveyor”
One word: “pun.”

That’s another instrumental, based on a little guitar motif. Going back to the founding fathers and surveyor business, to qualify as a politician or statesman at the beginning of this country’s existence, you had to have a very tangible relationship with the country. And now, basically any asshole who wants to can be a politician. We thought it would be nice to revive the idea that in order to be a public servant, you would’ve had to have had some intimate relationship with the place you were trying to govern.

“Surveyor”
One word: “snappy.”

It’s a very snappy song. Quick tempo. And it has a literal relationship with the founding fathers and their work as surveyors in that the tools of the trade are mentioned by name and there’s a quotation by George Washington at the end that Bob recites where Washington describes how the lack of maps is impeding progress.

take that, bono and the edge

I just received an email from Touch & Go stating that my copy is now in the mail. STOKED.

Didn't pre-order, but kind of wish I did cuz it sounds like folks in some Midwest spots have already received it.

Odd to think that after waiting 7 yrs I can't wait a few more days!

Really do not have high hopes

they have become patchier with every album imo....which is a shame, the basic sound of the band is so good

You're probably right. I just keep hoping...

Excellent Italian Greyhound is only a slight dip, the previous three are all equally excellent. And when I saw them a few months ago they were the best they'd ever been.

He is such a rigid, miserable, boring fucker. I loved BB when I was a kid and I liked Rapeman and At Action Park, but everything he has done since leaves me cold. It is like watching a reanimated corpse from the 80's still twitching through the motions and wearing a 70's "disco sucks" badge, file next to Oasis.

Hey it's Morrissey!

He is almost that bad unfortunately!

Shellac are one of the greatest live rock bands ever. I've probably seen them more than any other rock band and never seen them do a bad show. Action Park is one of my all time favourite albums but I'm not massively partisan about anything else they've done. However, it's not about the albums is it? They've said, ad nauseum, that the albums are only a snapshot of where they're at, at a particular moment in time. The real arena to appreciate them… if you're geographically lucky enough, I guess… is live.

shellac and the grateful dead both

I mean, its ok...hes done well enough - Atomizer, SAF, Steak and Black Onions, At Action Park, the Wingwalker 7"

that's a good haul

Shellac's records are pretty consistently interesting imo

I will say that Shellac is sorta like Deerhunter for me in that their albums get better with time - even if they're never as sick as AAP.

Doran OTM, like him they along with the Fall are the bands I have seen live the most times, and like the Fall they are always interesting.

It's funny I always think Terraform is better than At Action Park and 1000 Hurts is not far behind....

EIG was a step down...I wish they'd do an odds n sods/singles comp that would be their best record

I'm such a rigid, miserable, boring fucker.
― xelab, Friday, September 12, 2014 3:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm obsessed with this version of The End of Radio since someone posted it in another thread.

worth a listen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzDQWrp5VpA

^^^this one is so, so good

The new album is fucking great btw. Too soon to call it but feels like the second best thing they've done.

behind Terraform, obv ;)

LOL. I do like Terraform but I find the opening track a bit of a slog to be honest - even though technically it's amazing.

Doran, that's my favourite Shellac song you're dissing! Consider this glare admonishing.

I used to think Didn't We Deserve....was a chore to get through but it has the effect of my appreciating the odd Trainer fill or Albini noise more than the standard 2/3 minute Shellac number

Doran I feel the inverse on Terraform. I adore "Didn't We Deserve..." but I find the rest of the album kinda forgettable.

Posting the lyrics to "Prayer To God" on my Facebook page got me fired from my job.

Despite that, total classic.

^lol

also, wait, what

Yes. I finally got a lawyer to take my case but it's an uphill battle in an At Will state. We essentially have to prove that firing me for such a lame reason is a cover-up for some other things that they legally couldn't fire me for.

One prong of attack will possibly be a PR campaign so once my lawyer and I get on the same page, I will be trying to get the local media interested in my story. I think it won't be difficult - man fired for posting song lyrics to Facebook is sexy especially since a man was arrested for posting song lyrics not too long ago. But I'll leave the details to my lawyer.

And that's why you don't friend people from work and make yr status updates public!

Second singles comp, that's what I listen to theist despite being crappy vinyl rips

Tell us here when you're going public with the story NYCNative.

Alice Donut on Untidy Suicides tour.
Nomeansno on the Wrong tour.

Bet these were amazing.

Today! Can't wait, heard some of the snippets here and there, plus heard most of these tunes live over the past 7 yrs I'm sure.

Are they my favorite band? Man, they might be

"Man Fired for Posting 'Kill Him, Fucking Kill Him' on Facebook"

Posting the lyrics to "Prayer To God" on my Facebook page got me fired from my job.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, September 13, 2014 4:53 PM

hopefully didn't coincide w/ a relationship status update

Picked this up yesterday, I like it a lot. The first song reminds me of Achilles Last Stand in places.

thought this was out next week. young(er) me would have been aghast at the idea of this band's album release passing me by. not to say I'm not eager

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

for nycnative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSL_S2qztig

We've talked about it and I think we've conceptually gotten our head around the idea of making a compilation of those early, oddball recordings and the Peel Sessions but we haven't committed to doing it yet. - http://exclaim.ca/News/steve_albini_breaks_down_shellacs_dude_incredible_track_by_track

I included my hopes for a comp at the end of my review - http://fastnbulbous.com/shellac-dude-incredible/

Shit, new album rips, what a comeback! Bass wise very Terraform-y, which is just up my street. Loving this. Shellac is such a unique constant in music.

Shellac Endless Boogie is such a unique constant in music.

After listening three times, it's not as great as Terraform for me, but it's still very, very good.

Very, very good in a "It won't get me fired but I'll certainly have to talk things over with my boss" kind of good.

Okay, I'm willing to concede that this is God-level now.

Billy Idol wearing Shellac t-shirt at his recent performance in St. Paul

http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/chrisr_1421761538_08_358253_10BILLY012115_32926143.JPG

He only likes the first two singles tho

always knew he was cool

todd's former band rifle sport doing an xmas standard

https://soundcloud.com/g-rard-boissy/ldbmix

This looks like it'll be a good read

http://thequietus.com/articles/22952-shellac-steve-albini-interview

Glad Steve's not aware of Frank Turner. If only the rest of us weren't. Pity the Quietus can't afford an editor.

Shellac shows up and really works well in the soundtrack to this weeks episode of the comedy AP Bio.

Shellac are one of the greatest live rock bands ever.

They were so good in Eugene last night, just fantastic. I spent a lot of time just zoning out on Todd's drumming, damn that dude can play.

also sometimes Steve would hit this crazy squeal/feedback effect on his guitar and the thing would just go insane, anyone know what I'm referring to?

That's the Interfax Harmonic Percolator pedal all turned up to 10.

My guess would have been harmonic percolator too.

cool, thanks!

Listening to all their albums again. It will surprise none of you to learn that Terraform and Excellent Italian Greyhound are the two that are really holding up for me

Inspired to do so by the new Daughters album being #1 on the 2018 RYM chart and it making me want to listen to Shellac instead

Terraform>1000 Hurts>At Action Park>various singles (Rude Gesture/Uranus/Bird is most Popular Finger etc)>Dude Incredible>Excellent Italian Greyhound

but they are all good and the gap between best and "worst" is not very much

search: 2004 Peel Session version of "The End Of Radio"

yeah that's amazing, I know it

Terraform is clearly the best one for me - the shorter songs are sharp and the long songs utterly gripping. House Full Of Garbage might have usurped Didn't We Deserve... as my favourite Shellac song

but fully agreed that they're all good

Terraform>1000 Hurts>At Action Park

Agreed. Terraform indeed clearly the best one, the tension of the longer ones and the short bursts works so well. I'll admit I've not heard Excellent Italian Greyhound, will correct that shortly.

I would reverse that order. Here's my list:

At Action Park > early singles > Terraform > 1000 Hurts > Excellent Italian Greyhound > Dude Incredible

oh and this live album from 1993 is really good too, not least for the awkward interactions with the largely silent Japanese crowd: https://www.discogs.com/%E3%82%B7%E3%82%A7%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC/release/1041522

both peel sessions rereleased today in super high quality. a joy to listen to!

The 1994 session is particularly welcome cuz I've only ever heard that in the terrible bootleg that's floated around for yrs, and man it really put me back to how they were when I first saw them in 96, so snarly and raw.

Always loved that 2004 version of “The End of Radio.”

^^^ my single favorite thing they've done, just above Doris/Wingwalker

'94 Crow an absolute monster

oh I bet, that's my other favorite Shellac track

btw are these on Bandcamp or???

s*****y for me, sorry

nah that's cool just wondering how to listen

Is this the one "John Peel was a hellava guy..."

yes

Awesome. It's the best version. I'm buying that.

If buy the lp vers (which is a thing of beauty) in classic Shellac fashion no dl code but you do get an unmarked cd vers stuck in there

The vers of "Billiard Player Song" on their is all time as well

Oof £30. But yeah, done.

'94 Crow an absolute monster

I have a totally horseshit sounding 45 I think? of the 94 session

I forgot (or more likely didn't know) that the '94 Peel Session predates the release of "At Action Park" by a few months, if Wikipedia is right which has it coming out in Oct of that yr which seems like it could be right

they sure kept Spoke in the barrel a while

Esp cuz they played on the reg until about '98 or so, I sort of assumed they had forgotten abt it until EIG

On the 2004 set "Billiard Player Song">"Dog & Pony Show">"Il Porno Star" is absolute peak Shellac

I'd rank them At Action Park > the singles > Terraform > 1000 Hurts > Dude Incredible > Excellent Italian Greyhound, but I'd put Two Nuns & a Pack Mule above all of them

Terraform >>>>>>>>>>>>>> At Action Park > 1000 Hurts > Dude Incredible > Greyhound.

I'm aware I'm probably alone in this assessment.

oh fuck it someone start a poll already

I'm aware I'm probably alone in this assessment.

Nah that is the correct order

Oh and I saw someone point out this new set is Shellac #16 but Dude Incredible is Shellac #14...so whatever #15 is maybe that is coming "soon"? I realize in Shellac terms "soon" is 1-5 years.

http://thatrecordgotmehigh.com/2019/06/13/s2e64-shellac-at-action-park-with-jay-reeve/#comment-20

Yeah, Terraform is my favourite too. I also really like Greyhound, somewhat controversially, but Terraform stands slightly above the rest

FOR DECADES

BUILD A MONUMENT TO HIMSELF

Terraform>At Action Park>90s singles>1000 Hurts>Dude Incredible>Excellent Italian Greyhound

^^ I'd swap the singles and Action Park but yeah pretty much

It's never quite gotten better than At Action Park but I'm always willing to hang in there to see what happens.

Oh and I saw someone point out this new set is Shellac #16 but Dude Incredible is Shellac #14...so whatever #15 is maybe that is coming "soon"?

I heard an interview with Steve recently where he said they're planning on releasing a comp of all the non-album material so I'm guessing it's that.

nice! I had a shitty CDR, now long gone, with a bunch of odds and ends which included a cover of AC/DC's Jailbreak, I'd like to hear that again

it's on Youtube of course, wish fulfilled

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImNv9IgJdb4

jailbreak was on a skin graft 45

I forgot how much I like Dude Incredible

After the first two singles and Action Park, Terraform was a big WTF for me.
I just kept waiting for something to happen on "Didn't We Deserve..." but it never did. I get a bit more what they were going for now after you hear where they went, but that tune was kinda out of nowhere first time I heard the LP.

That said, the 'package' with the vintage paintings and the lush earth picutre on the interior and the record sleeves is really beautifully done.

The two singles had me hooked for a long time, they are some 7"s that I listened to a bunch. I also got the Drag City one and that Skin Graft double 7".

Earlnash - felt exact same about Terraform - but the Chesley Bonestell art was dope. They never topped At Action Park or the singles in my opinion, but certainly have never put out any kind of clunker.

I got to say that Dave Foley doomsday bunker rock-DJ sketch from the new Kids series has got some serious "The End of Radio" vibe.

I have to wonder if him or the writer knows the tune.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Csb9LEspJH4/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

🫡🫡🫡

25 years of Terraform, unfairly maligned not so long ago in this very thread!

Damn, already?

dogg, I know.... feels strange

their greatest

New album, To All Trains, out May 17.

"How I Wrote How I Wrote Elastic Man (cock & bull)" is a song title so good I am pissed I didn't think of it myself

pre-covers?

SHELLAC – TO ALL TRAINS TRACKLIST:
SIDE A
WSOD
Girl From Outside
Chick New Wave
Tattoos
Wednesday

SIDE B
Scrappers
Days Are Dogs
How I Wrote How I Wrote Elastic Man (cock & bull)
Scabby the Rat
I Don’t Fear Hell