RIP Rowland S Howard

"room of lights" is on spotify if you have access to that.

Thanks! Am checking it right now (why does a picture of Buddy Holly come up when you look up C&TCS?)

there was something about RSH that just talking about his unique tone doesn't cover. I never really worked out how to describe it, but he seemed to have access to something the rest of us don't.

The sudden lurch into that sprawling alien riff in the middle of 'Deep in the woods' can actually warp reality... it was even more so live, the earth did indeed move, or at least the floor would tilt in a crazy chaotic fashion because of what was coming out of his guitar.

Nice live recording from last year here: http://proskynesis.blogspot.com/2009/12/rip-rsh.html

" . . the floor would tilt in a crazy chaotic fashion because of what was coming out of his guitar." OTFM - Best description I've read!

yup, great description sandy. i've quoted it in something i wrote about rowland's passing. i have had "honeymoon in red" and "room of lights" on rotation all day. might try to squeeze in watching "wings of desire" again before i go out.

Why are so many people I care about dying this year! Between him and Asheton my two biggest guitar heroes have died and just fuckkk

RIP dude :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yeu0R73PJbQ

That pseudo-major-key-whatever-it-is guitar part that comes out of nowhere is so cool

This may just be the video to close thread with...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si85s8dvKWI

Trailer for a documentary now up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cpspS8i3mI

(And Nick Cave's look is essentially Gene Simmons with a mustache at this point.)

the hospital scenes are mad creepy

I've been digging into Howard's stuff -- mostly cause of this thread. Man, I totally took that guy for granted. It's hard to think of another artist who is as uncelebrated as he is innovative.

Curious to tap the mob brain: What are your all time fave tunes/performances?

I'm really digging the HTRK. Knew nothing about it 'til this thread.

It's good shit, for sure. Druggy and dubby, for those who like such things

Whats the string music in that doco trailer? Its so melancholy.

Shit, I put on Teenage Snuff Film today for the first time in ages, was googling Rowland and somehow totally missed that he had died! RIP a year too late

I will always cherish the memories of listening to the Birthday party for the first time at age 14 or so. It almost felt like I was hearing people break laws on a cosmic level. The Immortal Souls albums also have a special place in my heart; they pick up where the Doors left off and do it 1000 x better. Such a shame that he passed when he was still in great form; "Pop Crimes" is a blinder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ReL0oMZZP0

rowland doc is due to be out august this year apaz

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Autoluminescent-Rowland-S-Howard/180950885269740

I went on a Lydia Lunch listening spree last week and ended up playing (and researching) a lot of the '82 sessions that became Honeymoon In Red and Some Velvet Morning, I never knew the complicated twists and turns of those sessions or that parts of HIR were even FROM back then, I remember it coming out new in 87. Also never knew the SVM 4AD 12" was from the same sessions. And damn there's some of the dude's finest work tucked away in these two obscure gems, controversy over remixing/rerecording aside.

Sounds interesting, got any links? I've just been listening to Honeymoon, I had no idea there were demos like that floating around

oh sorry, I just meant the Honeymoon LP and the SVM 12", another master reel has apparently been lost forever.

more info from Discogs:

Recorded @ Game Studio in Berlin-Kreuzberg in Jun/Jul-82 and @ Cold Storage Studios in London Aug-82, except for track 2 recorded @ New York City,Brooklyn,BC studio in May-87.

Initial mix by Steve Montgomery in London in Aug-82. Personnel in 1982 (at various intervals, but never all together): Lydia Lunch, Genevieve McGuckin, Murray Mitchell [13.13], Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard and Tracy Pew.

Personnel in 1987: Lydia Lunch (voices)/ Thurston Moore (guitar/voices) and Clint Ruin (a.k.a. Jim G. Thirlwell) (loops/treatments).

Recordings with members of the Birthday Party, which were at the time deemed inferior to the "Some Velvet Morning" single recordings. This record was supposed to be released by People's Records (run by Michael Schäumer & Michael Voigt [Monogam Records]) in 1982, but the label went bankrupt and the tapes were lost for years. One of the master reels has been lost forever. The surviving tapes were remixed by Jim Thirlwell and some guitar overdubs were done by Thurston Moore @ the BC studios in Brooklyn,New York in May-87. Released in this form without the consent of Nick Cave and Mick Harvey (they are listed on the album with aliases) because of the remixing which didn't leave many of the originals intact. Only "Dead River" and "Done Dun" were left fairly untouched and are also available on Lydia Lunch's "The Crumb" 12" (UK Widowspeak -WSP 13)["Dead River"(2:19) on this release is shorter and with less overdubs].

Watched the Autoluminescent documentary last night. HFS at all the old footage!

A smallish envelope came in today's mail from a Mr H. Howard. Looking through the book I can tell you (a) the neck date of RSH's Jag is April 1969, (b) it's completely rewired, new cheap pots on the lead circuit but the originals on the rhythm circuit, and (c) RSH's Twin is a 1972 master volume (tail logo). It's a nice little book but expensive for what it is. I don't mind in the least, it's supporting Harry.
https://i.imgur.com/ZBoe3bw.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jUN78iB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rymP95p.jpg

Harry's Near Death Experience albums are late great additions/editions of the greater B Party legacy.

How much is the book?

I saw the RSH show in London a few weeks back. It was quite something and Harry was on great form.

$30 AUD plus $9 Aus / $15 ROW for shipping. At the current AUD exchange rate it's approx 2 pieces of pocket lint anywhere else in the world.

http://ledatape.net/lto/product/this-guitar-belongs-to-rowland-s-howard/

Thanks.

thanks for this

I saw a phto from the tribute concert which had JB Shilo, a guitarist playing what looked like a white fender jaguar. Was that the same actual guitar that Rowland had as his sole one?

It's in the review in Uncut. It mentions him playing Rowland 's original guitar parts but not that it's his guitar. So wondering if it was or just a lookalike.

The pic of Shilo on the Getty Images site shows a white Jag without a rose decal near the jack, so I’d say not.

i had heard it was one of Roland's guitars, though not the one he was best known to play. JP Shilo totally nailed it at that concert though.

Based mostly on my age, timing, general blind spots and where I picked up the story, I never really understood the whole Bad Seeds timeline and extended family tree. For example, I knew of the Boys Next Door and Birthday Party and their influence, but never really listened to them, and never really considered who was doing what on each album. Kind of the same for the Bad Seeds; I knew a lot of people rotated roles or went in and out (Blixa, Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson) but didn't mine the credits for exactly who was doing what on which albums. Likewise I knew of Crime & the City Solution and These Immortal Souls, and knew they were connected to the Bad Seeds in some way, but never really listened to them or knew how. I've never even seen "Wings of Desire." But I just saw the Roland S. Howard doc and it filled in a lot of gaps for me. Got some catching up to do!

I watch this live video of his "She Cried" cover about once a week. The thudding bass, his Jaguar cutting your head off, it's perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nr5DyVLiW0

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/autoluminescent

If you really want to hear what he brought to the group, start with Door Door; he isn't even on the first side, recorded before he joined, and while it's not as terrible as some say, it's unfocussed. Side 2 isn't that big a leap in quality, but Howard seems to have had more a vision pushing the band towards what they became than any of the other members. Not just his guitar playing, but his songs, his voice, even his saxophone.
I've had his vocal on "The Red Clock" from the Hee Haw EP going through my head:

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

Odds and sods These Immortal Souls album coming out, previewing with Rowland's arrangement of Alice Cooper (originally from a SubPop tribute covers EP)

https://theseimmortalsouls.bandcamp.com/album/extra

both These Immortal Souls albums getting a reissue too.

I ordered a copy of that upthread This Guitar Belongs to Roland S. Howard book, because it seems like a cool document. The exchange rate is also in my favor, lol, and I further saved a lot on shipping by just sending it to family in Sydney to be united with at a future date.

Glad it's still available, thought it had sold out! It's nice, and feels like the right memento to keep.

I don't know how many are available, to be honest. There is a music shop in Melbourne selling it, that was the only place I saw it selling. Not hyper priced or anything.