The history of Thrill Jockey

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According to Richards, writer Simon Reynolds coined the term "post-rock" to describe artists drawing from non-traditional sources for inspiration to make music that isn't like traditional "rock." These were primarily artists who happened to be signed to Thrill Jockey, including Tortoise. The term was first used in an article Reynolds wrote in the early '90s for the Village Voice, and, said Richards, "I think for that article it certainly worked. He [Reynolds] was trying to say that these were a number of musicians that really were trained mostly in the rock community, and now their music was being sourced from musical sources inspired by music that was definitely not of their own personal origins, outside of rock." In other words, Reynolds was not attempting to describe the sound of a music genre, but of a trend among a new wave of musicians formerly known as rockers.

um, no. first of all, as far as i know, the article was first published in the wire. reynolds makes no reference to any artist signed to thrill jockey (at least then, i'm not sure if he mentions mouse on mars or not), and has since tried to distance himself from both the term and the chicago-axis (who were decidedly different from what he was describing in the article via bands like seefeel, bark psychosis, disco inferno, et al.) as to whether or not he was coining a new genre name i can't say for certain, but knowing his distrust with writers who shy away from coining new (when needed) designations, i'd put money on it that he was.

besides that: "their music was being sourced from musical sources inspired by music that was definitely not of their own personal origins, outside of rock" sits ill with me, for mostly reasons of phrasing, I think. but still...

Dig the Kirby love, and poo on that wanky jazz stuff. Um, that OTHER wanky jazz stuff, I mean.

If that article doesn't mention Sue Garner, I'm gonna be plenty miffed.

Rome - S/T

Read a glowing review of this on AMG 4 years ago, never actually heard any of it, saw it used today. Do I buy?

or you could...

or I could have just gotten off it soulseek just as well, doesn't change things for me.

So who is good on Thrill Jockey these days?

D. Charles Speer & The Helix.

they've got a ton of Baltimore acts on their roster these days and most of them are pretty good (Arbouretum, Pontiak, Daniel Higgs, Double Dagger, Secret Mountains, The Coil Sea, Jason Urick, among others). also i really liked the latest Trans Am album.

pretty into the new eternal tapestry.

Thrill Jockey has been quietly killing it lately. White Hills and Barn Owl to name a couple super favorites.

Arbouretum

some1 (mb on ilx?) had a lot of good things 2 say abt this band

last years barn owl releases were great, yeah

Arbouretum and Pontiak are both good and also sort of complement each other. And also I have played shows with both and stayed at the Arbouretum guy's house. He was a very nice guy.

Those White Hills albums are really good.

Has anyone had any experience with Thrill Jockey's online ordering? Does it normally take a long time for the order to be shipped? I ordered the new Wooden Shjips and Barn Own over a week ago and instantly received the confirmation email, but I'm still waiting for the follow-up email about the order being shipped. When I log in through their site, it still says the order status is "received", so after a week it hasn't even shipped. Is that a typical timeframe?

I bought a Driphouse cassette from em and it came p fast

does anyone have any idea when thrill jockey might reissue the old awesome sea and cake albums on vinyl?

Has anyone heard this LP "Big Bells and Dime Songs" by Luke Roberts? It's a mostly average 'Americana' kind of thing produced by one of the guys in Harvey Milk, but the opening line on the song that just started ("Just Do It Blues") seems to be "heavens to Betsy / a nigger knocking at the door." I guess all I'm getting at is, well, WTF?

Thrill Jockey 20th Anniversary shows.

The Shows:
Sept 13 - Baltimore, MD at Ram's Head Live - 7pm - LINK
Future Islands
Tortoise
Matmos
Dan Friel
Arbouretum
Pontiak
Special Guest Host: Ed Schrader

Sept 14 - Brooklyn, NY at Death by Audio - 8pm - LINK

White Hills

Guardian Alien
Man Forever

Dan Friel

Rhyton

Sept 15 - New York, NY - Webster Hall - 5:30pm - LINK
Tortoise
Future Islands
Matmos
Liturgy
D. Charles Speer
Special Guests: The Black Twig Pickers

Nov 9 - Portland, OR at Mississippi Studios - 7pm - LINK
Trans Am
Liturgy
Eternal tapestry
Barn Owl
Golden Retreiver
Mike Scheidt
Jason Urick

**Additional Shows To Be Announced**

Glad they added that 'Additional Shows To Be Announced' because I was going to be annoyed about a Chicago based label not holding one of these in their hometown.

yeah they HAVE to be doing one in Chicago. cool that one's in Baltimore considering all the bands they've signed here, though, gonna try to see that show

I would love the Chicago one to be Tortoise, Trans Am, Liturgy, Matmos, Eternal Tapestry, Barn Own, White Hills, and Man Forever. Basically just a sort of "best of" combo of those others shows.

12/20 is the Chicago show -- RSVP free

Tortoise
The Sea and Cake
Man Forever

All playing weird sets for the hometown weirdos. Plus DJs and Dancing, and complimentary beverages from 8pm to 9pm courtesy of Goose Island and Virtue Cider.

Free with RSVP at
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3201524

although i know thrill jockey is on jvc's shitlist at the moment ;)

Thanks for the heads up. Just realized I saw this same show (minus Man Forever, obv) at Lounge Axe. 1994? Yikes!

although i know thrill jockey is on jvc's shitlist at the moment ;)

lol, but absolutely not actually. they've been super responsive and helpful throughout. its just the USPS that has been on my shitlist for fucking up the delivery of a package from Chicago to, er, Chicago somehow.

That could be fun, I wonder what they mean by "weird sets".

I can't keep track of your shitlist apparently! Anyway I'll totes be there, everyone should go. It's free!!

Man, thanks for that link! I just yesterday got all nostalgic and posted something on Facebook about how mid-to-late-'90s Thrill Jockey/Drag City stuff with McIntire/O'Rourke production was always gonna be the closest thing to an official Chicago soundtrack for me. Now I just have to see if any of my friends feel likewise.

Or, hey, maybe this could be an opportunity to meet some ILXors after eight years on the site!

Maybe! Geez.

TBF, I know some ex-ILXors of old. I just haven't restocked in a while.

san diego show is going to be trans am, high places, man forever and life coach

life coach just played the same on friday, and i was not impressed.

has anyone seen man forever live? high places?

This might be a dumb question, but Life Coach is a Phil Manley thing, no? I liked his album, but I'm not sure how that would go over live.

yeah, it's phil manley. he was playing with dave elitch on friday.

it went over rather boring imo. kind of reminded me of hisham bharoocha's soft circle at their weakest.

Thanks, I assumed it was him.

hmmmm maybe this should be the Chicago show I should catch

This is Thursday. Prepare for 100% chance of rain/snow :-/

Oh wow, thanks for the reminder, I'd have totally spaced.

This Guardian Alien video is pretty O_O eh?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5YF6BlUIiA

Do you think that man takes drugs?

xp Glad I erred on the side of reminding!

He's just sittin in a van reading books about UFOs

I was on board until the part with the green throw up, and then I just had to stop watching.

I think that was just pond weed, but I think they definitely have kind of a green throw-up approach to life in general afaict

Did you miss the rasta alien btw?

Yeah, I saw no rasta alien -- seriously it was making me feel sick! Not visually so much as sonically.

The combination of the two + pond barf is what did it.

Hah awesome i saw Guardian Alien months ago they were pretty rad

i know right? I got pot sweats watching it xp

Best band name of 2012 for sure.

That and the record cover made me think they were maybe too good to be true when it came out, so I've only just got around to them now after seeing them on a couple of EOY lists. A little more psychedelic than the likes of Tame Impala I think.

Ha, yeah Guardian Alien is more like late period Boredoms than song-based psychedelic shit, though I haven't listened to Tame Impala so I don't really want to compare. Pretty heavy though, seems like they would be good live. Greg Fox (old Liturgy drummer) is fun to listen to regardless, and I definitely dig the shaaji baja (the instrument doing a lot of the shredding).

Speaking of, I am looking forward to seeing Man Forever tonight, but I am wondering if they are going on first or what -- if it's MF, Tortoise, and Sea and Cake, I can't imagine that they're going to put MF last, so first makes sense, right? I don't want to miss it and I am going to be somewhere else beforehand.

I also can't imagine pummelling noise sandwiched in the middle. Then again, who knows?

I have no idea who or what Man Forever is. I guess I assume they'd be first b/c ... who are they?

It'd be nice to be able to arrive late and skip "pummeling noise," but this is a "RSVP does not guarantee admittance" event, isn't it?

http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/Man-Forever/

http://johncolpitts.bandcamp.com/

aka kid millions, drummer from oneida

he's inspired by steve reich -- i think you'll like it maybe?

it's layered rhythmic chaos -- it made me kinda uncomf at first, but he seems like a smart guy and i trust him not to suck

he's inspired by steve reich -- i think you'll like it maybe?

Ha, the magic words.

why do you think i chose them?

decent interview here www.thestranger.com/seattle/eternal-drummer/Content?oid=15565503

Man Forever music is overwhelming in a minimalist way—it makes you want to charge headlong into the future and do good, meaningful stuff. "The Man Forever idea was meant to be this positive guy, a persona I created for Oneida a few years ago," Colpitts says. "It was about being positive about humanity. Because everybody thinks there's no hope, no way we can come together, we're going to destroy everything. Man Forever is a guy who believes that human beings can actually solve the problems we've created for ourselves." He chuckles. "Now it feels even more naive than it did six years ago."

also - this is a "RSVP does not guarantee admittance" event, isn't it?
yes

So do you think that means it behooves us to get there early?

I emailed u

replied

FYI, when I saw Man Forever it was not that chaotic, loud, or noisy in any substantial ways. There are dissonances and strange beating patterns and certainly no melodies or riffs to latch onto, but it is more meditative and immersive than in-your-face. It may have changed since I saw them about 6 months ago, but he does rule-based pieces in which the musicians have to stick to a set approach, so again, it isn't wild and pummeling for the most part, just insistently somewhat intense due to the nature of the performance.

That sounds goooooood. I only know the recording, and I like immersive experiences so I am expecting nothing but the most enjoyable performance.

I think a few of the CAVE guys will be part of Man Forever for this set.
The thing about MF is that Kid just recruits people blindly for the performances and sometimes the players get what he is going for and sometimes they don't. The sets used to be all drummers, too, and I think that those performances edged into the "pummeling" zone a lot more than the ensemble thing he's doing now.

But Cooper and Dan and Rex have performed with him multiple times, so if they are in the lineup it will be rehearsed.

Oh man, I knew that there was a rotating cast but I did not know that it might rotate in that direction. What good news!

Yeah, when I saw them it was members of Pelt and a bass player that has played with Kid/MF a number of times. They TOTALLY got it and it was a joy to behold (it would shift from vaguely menacing to euphoric to heavy just by the shifting of a couple notes by the non-drummers).

Here's something like an orientation video for possible members of Man Forever, which gives a pretty good sense of what he's going for. It's a little long but I found it fascinating/entertaining.

So...did anyone get in? I sure didn't. I was super disappointed/pissy at first, but it faded.

btw i was there before 8, but still no luck
O WELL

Yuck, I kinda wondered about that. Seemed like too good a show to be both free and easy to get into. Guess I made a solid call on a number of levels.