dead c live -- reactions, reviews ?

The band seemed to be pretty disappointed, and one guy I talked to who had seen them several times thought it was dire (and was frustrated that Michael's guitar couldn't be heard - frankly, I couldn't tell what was what), but I enjoyed it. I was surprised at how strongly the music pulsed, how it wasn't just an agglutination of noise but actually really wrapped around a rhythmic center - I was tapping my toe, go figure. No vocals, nothing in particular that I recognized song-wise. It just felt like a wash, pleasurably so.

Wasn't quite sure what function Morley's powerbook had to play in all of it, though, and wish I could have seen precisely what Bruce Russell was playing with on that tabletop.

2+ hours plus of broken chords and a blurred and hazy balance of structure versus chaos. Very filling, both the short (45 min.) and the extended sets took much energy/thought/physical strength out of me. I'd use the word "punishing" but only in a positive manner.

US TOUR THIS FALL!!! Also new album!

http://undertheradar.co.nz/utr/more/NID/962/The_Dead_C_embark_on_US_tour_with_new_album.utr

holee shit

Their new album, Secret Earth, will be released again by Ba Da Bing, but on a special note Ba Da Bing will also team up with Jagjaguwar to release past Flying Nun classics on vinyl.

Nice. Be good to see 'em again.

tix already on sale for Chicago . ..

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=290407

looks like we get Wolf Eyes instead of Thurston, boo hoo ..

Hahah, I admit I was wondering if that set of openers was going to be for the whole tour, cause then I'd be all "Good GOD, tour of the year."

I will be a "Dead Head" for this tour if I can get the time off work.

I think their show is going to be my first 21+ concert! Whoa!

If the dates on brooklynvegan are the final dates, looks like I won't be able to see 'em. (if the SF show was on a Saturday night, I'd come down.)

Hey, guess what, they added a Seattle date on October 15th at the Nectar Lounge (Fremont).

Six Organs Of Admittance and Kinski are opening.

Tickets are apparently selling quickly and hence selling out. (just got mine.)

My ticket for NYC should be coming in the mail...

So are the only dates Philly, NY, Seattle, SF, and Chicago? It's hard to find any information.

One website had them playing in Washington DC (not Washington state) on the 15th and I almost shit myself.

Any rumors of a LA show yet?

Reatards, Elvis, yeah. Those seem to be it. Although you never know if L.A. or D.C. will just pop up in the schedule. Seattle wasn't on the original schedule either.

From the BaDaBing site - http://www.badabingrecords.com/tour.php (the Kinski addition in Seattle just came through the pike the other day):

10/12/2008 The Dead C Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia, PA USA 8:00
with Blues Control and Pink Reason

10/13/2008 The Dead C Bowery Ballroom NYC, NY USA 8:00
with Northampton Wools (Thurston Moore and Bill Nace of Vampire Belt) and Sightings

10/15/2008 The Dead C The Nectar Lounge Seattle, WA USA 8:00
with Six Organs of Admittance!

10/16/2008 The Dead C Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA USA 8:00
with Six Organs of Admittance

10/19/2008 The Dead C Empty Bottle Chicago, IL USA 8:00
with Wolf Eyes

...

Come to think of it, L.A. might be trying to be worked out for the 17th in theory. Likewise for D.C. after the Chicago show.

(or you can build a venue and they will come?)

A shame we don't get Blues Control! And I'd heard King Darves was opening the Bowery show; instead we get yet another thurston snore noise guitarofest. Sightings rule though.

Show I saw earlier this year in Auckland was fucking great.

No guarantees about future shows obviously. Bruce solo a month or so ago was a bit boring...

HOW did I LOSE my DEAD C TICKET???

― ian, Saturday, October 11, 2008 4:54 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

while we're here though we can talk about how exciting the new album is, and also how exciting the reissues are gonna be of the early, nearly impossible to find flying nun stuff.

― ian, Saturday, October 11, 2008 4:56 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

shit i thought this was on ILM.

― ian, Saturday, October 11, 2008 5:00 PM (0 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I am TWO MONTHS away from being 21! Why do they come with Sightings NOW?!?! I am so angry. Fuck you, Bowery Ballroom.

get yourself a fake ID down on macdougal street.

how exciting the reissues are gonna be of the early, nearly impossible to find flying nun stuff.

Come to think of it, L.A. might be trying to be worked out for the 17th in theory.

yes pls?

THE DEAD C
DR503 / The Sun Stabbed EP 2XLP (JAG143, released: 11/04/08)
This is the first in a series of DEAD C REISSUES being released collaboratively with Ba Da Bing Records.

With a catalogue spanning from the subversion of traditional song structure to stomping out and obliterating the very notion, New Zealand's The Dead C (Michael Morley, Bruce Russell and Robbie Yeats) have continually made the most crushing, expansive and intelligent rock noise ever to be heard. Just a glance at their peers who are fans (Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Comets On Fire, Black Dice) shows the league in which they play.

The Dead C's DR503, released in 1987 (and not to be confused with the releases DR503b or DR503c, which are completely different recordings), sounded like nothing before it – a furious pastiche of unrelenting drones, noise and menace. It didn't fit in with the other bands New Zealand's venerable Flying Nun was releasing, and it immediately staked a fork in the road, dividing the "New Zealand Pop Sound" from it's black sheep brother, "New Zealand Noise." Today, the record still sounds as vicious and vital as when it first went to vinyl, except now perhaps there will be more people ready to appreciate the innovative approach the band took some 21 years ago.

This reissue also contains a bonus record of the rare Sun Stabbed EP from the same recording period. With bonus tracks not on the original seven inch, the recordings from the Sun Stabbed sessions are being released for the first time in their entirety.

(PLEASE NOTE: This Jagjaguwar/Ba Da Bing vinyl-only release, unlike other Jagjaguwar releases, is being distributed exclusively through Revolver Distribution and on the respective mail order sites of Jagjaguwar and Ba Da Bing.)

THE DEAD C
Eusa Kills / Helen Said This 2XLP (JAG144, released: 11/04/08)
This is the first in a series of DEAD C REISSUES being released collaboratively with Ba Da Bing Records.

With a catalogue spanning from the subversion of traditional song structure to stomping out and obliterating the very notion, New Zealand's The Dead C (Michael Morley, Bruce Russell and Robbie Yeats) have continually made the most crushing, expansive and intelligent rock noise ever to be heard. Just a glance at their peers who are fans (Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Comets On Fire, Black Dice) shows the league in which they play.

Eusa Kills is The Dead C's second album from 1989, released by Flying Nun, the arbiter of the time for all that mattered in New Zealand rock. Considered by many to be their "songs" record, the band took the abstract sounds of their time -- those being created by such luminaries as Dustdevils, This Kind Of Punishment and Dadamah, and added their own dose of ominous aggression. Sneering vocals drift over improvised melodies and unstructured rock songs. One can hear the direct influence The Dead C had on Sonic Youth at the time -- mining deep into the underbelly of music to yield a truly intense and unparalleled sound.

This reissue also contains a bonus record of the rare Helen Said This 12" from the same recording period. Originally released as 33rpm, this is the first vinyl reprint, and will display improved sound quality at 45rpm.

(PLEASE NOTE: This Jagjaguwar/Ba Da Bing vinyl-only release, unlike other Jagjaguwar releases, is being distributed exclusively through Revolver Distribution and on the respective mail order sites of Jagjaguwar and Ba Da Bing.)

i will totally be buying these reissues for the bonus tracks, even though i have the originals. i do not have the sun stabbed EP, and only have the helen said this 12" on the trapdoor fucking exit CD (which is awesome.)

Cool thanks. I already have Eusa Kills but I do not have the DR503/Sun Stabbed stuff, so I'll be looking out for that one.

Haven't found Eusa Kills anywhere, this is good news. Ba Da Bing is pretty cool. So the new album is ace as well? Or has this been discussed elsewhere

New album, which I haven't heard actually (I just assert its excellence because this band has never failed me), is supposedly at least a slight return to the detuned jangle/drone/mumble-rock of the early LPs.

Why am I not in NYC seeing them tonight!!! sigh :( Hopefully they'll get Jandekitis and play 20-30 shows this year.

Bowery Ballroom = The Dude C

Can't wait for tomorrow night

They were great.
Best encore ever.

lol

i fell asleep

Seattle show was frickin' amazing. never heard an electrical guitar sound like it was dying that painfully before. Kinski and Six Organs Of Admittance were both great too.

I think half the crowd were from Portland.

i'm really a big fan of the no-gap-between-songs style of mind destruction. heavy jam into free noise into heavy ham is a good recipe. with a beautiful droner for an encore.

mmmm heavy ham

Noise into heavy ham is always a winner.
Jealous of the folks who got to see this.

if economy was not in meltdown I would've considered a roadtrip to philly cuz that bill = A+++

still no word on LA show?

There was a woman screaming "NEW. ZEALAND. ROCKS!" and demanding high fives from Bruce Russell the first half of the set. Bruce shyly laughed and gave her two of them mid set while the guitar was squalling. The crowd was totally nuts, given how non-nutsy the Dead C's music is. (I think the show sold out, but I could be wrong.). This show is all on video tape, btw. I think they're recording every show on the tour.

Also, the Dead C merch booth is heavy ham. Lots of ham.

There's a tour-only 12" LP called the Golden Canine, btw, so if you're a Dead C completist who can make the show, then ur MAKE THE SHOW.

I am listening to the Golden Canine 12" now. It is on clear wax and plays from the inside out. Siiccccck.

ian, your review of the show upthread (along with tramp steamer's) made it on to brooklyn vegan, btw.

ha yeah my roommate sent me that link in my e-mail this morning.
shameful.

lol "The Dude C"

there were a lot of women there actually. people i work with now and used to work with when i worked @ matador, as well as a fair handful of hipstery/art student types.

really liked the nyc show but, embarrassingly, I left early bc I had to be at work early the next day. I'm lame. bummed that I missed the (apparently great) encore. what was it, anyway?

oh yeah - can anyone id what was playing between, uh, thurston's super-boring guitar duo thing and sightings and then again before dead c? it kinda sounded like a pretty heavy, extra mathy, instrumental drive like jehu.

I only own white house. gonna dig deeper sometime soon.