Oneida -- You'e having a laugh

preteen weaponry was great too! part 1 of the "trilogy" that rated o is a part of as well.

Any rumours of a release date for "Absolute II? (part 3 of the trilogy; it's been in the can since at least last summer)

To answer the previous question -- out in a couple of months and I'm giving it an ear now. REALLY like the first track, it's them on the proto-ambient Kraut/space zoneout tip and it actually feels like an extension of ideas instead of a tribute to them. Which I knew they had in them, it's just great to hear it.

Some discussion on this thread, too
10 Intelligent questions for Oneida

Ah cool, missed that one.

Guess this thread will be the default Oneida thread for now. Kid just posted a link to the new album streaming at East Village Radio. As Ned said, sounding really out in Krauty/improv/space territory. Sounding really nice so far.

Very restrained, and very little noticeable guitar in the first two songs.

Hey, anyone know if a recording of the set where Oneida covers "New Day Rising" for 45 minutes (or something like that) exists? Just remembered that it happened while looking at the Husker Du poll results, and this seems like a great way to approach the weekend, if a recording of it exists.

http://www.secretprojectrobot.org/secretprojectorobot/Schedule_files/photo.jpg

omg 45min NDR cover wowowow

I never heard about that! I do remember Kid saying somewhere that they played it as an encore and then the original came on the PA after their set.
Oneida played it faster.

Huh, had always heard that this really happened (i.e., they played it as a whole set, not encore), and in Europe, gonna go explore some more.

They once joked with me that hecklers in the American South who didn't appreciate "sheets of easter" would be met with a fifteen minute cover of the Incredible String Band's "You Get Brighter" if they didn't shut up.

They are funny dudes. I deeply cherish my memories of seeing "Sheets of Easter" for the first time. They are a little fuzzy, but Oneida will always be one of my favorite live bands based on those memories alone.

thinking about it some more, they really do some of the best covers. I've seen them do "Levitation" and "Slip inside this House' by the Elevators and absolutely rip them up (in a good way, of course). Saw them do Dream Syndicate's "Halloween" (Bobby played guitar!) and totally rule it. All time favorite cover I've seen them do has to be "Radar Eyes" by the Godz, though. That fucked me up.

Whelp, here is the mention, and from this very thread to boot:

that was 'sheets of easter' off the each one teach one album, discussed above - go find it!
the secret show in london in 2003 that lauren mentions above was a careless talk night, and was amazing. 2 songs, 'sheets of easter' and a cover of husker du's 'new day rising', for about an hour. GOD HEAD.

― i am not a nugget (stevie), Thursday, June 1, 2006 12:03 PM (6 years ago)

Ha! awesome.

Have seen "Levitation" and "Slip Inside This House", not sure I have seen them do any other covers, unless they slipped them in and I didn't recognize them. They essentially rip everything up, great musicians all around. I loved the brief period (circa "C'mon Everybody Let's Rock") when Bobby doubled on guitar with Papa on multiple songs. I mean, the keyboards are/were a huge part of their sound, but the early feral garage/psych side of theirs was a lot of fun.

I think you made a similar comment right after that quote six years ago!

that was me who mention the NDR cover above. we put on the show in 2003, a secret show at the buffalo bar (they played the camden underworld the following night), and they played sheets and then NDR. i remember there being NOT MANY PEOPLE there, and i didn't tape it, so i reckon the night is lost to history. but ah what memories.

You lucky duck! Though I saw many many Oneida shows between 2000 and 2003 (often with not many people there), so I got to see a lot of great stuff. Would love to have been there for that though. Thanks for shedding some "light" on my memories though.

No real discussion on Absolute II or List of the Burning Mountains or the new People of the North record... any thoughts?

I have to admit, I'm a real fan of both the meth-kraut Oneida ("$50 Tea", "Double Lock Your Mind" and "Sheets of Easter\Antibiotics") and the offkilter stuff like "Rugaru" and "Run Through My Hair", but everything since the mind-bomb of Rated O has left me a bit cold. I like the 2 Oneida records alright (not so much the People of the North one) but find myself more thinking "I like that they're doing this" rather than "I like this", if that makes any sense.

That makes perfect sense to me, to be honest. I respect the hell out of Oneida, and am happy for them to do whatever makes sense to them right now (as they have covered a lot of ground already), but in some respects I think they are playing stuff now that doesn't flex many of their muscles, or play to past strengths, which certainly may show some cool results down the line but right now comes across as a little dry and airless (or cold as you state), and this is not what Oneida has historically been for me. Really dug the Man Forever thing when I saw it live though, so I imagine that some of this stuff translates better in a room than on record. I haven't seen Oneida live in 7 years or so though, so I am not sure what I would make of their current live sets.

Saw them live once about 4-5 years ago at the old Knitting Factory and remember liking it fine but wishing it were heavier or something. Ran into former ilxor hstencil there but I didn't talk to him after the show so don't know what he thought.

Must gave gone to the wrong show because I would have loved this

Setlist:
[Total Time 1:07:29]
01 Discipline (Throbbing Gristle)
02 The River
03 Hit It and Quit It (Funkadelic)
04 Ghost In The Room
05 She Cracked (Modern Lovers) / I Will Haunt You
06 Ballad of Vaurice

everything since the mind-bomb of Rated O has left me a bit cold

yeah pretty much. List of the Burning Mountains grabbed me more than Absolutes II but there are about 10 Oneida records I'd pull out to listen to before I revisited those.

Absolutes II just seemed kinda pointlessly wanky whereas any of their long form exploratory stuff before was AWESOMELY wanky

I think their recent records are not reflecting how insane the band is as a live unit currently. I've had the please of seeing two of their Ocropolis performances - all-day continuous jams with various musicians sitting in and they are absolutely amazing for the most part. They have apparently recorded all this stuff but haven't figured out how to release it yet. Hopefully it will emerge eventually. The last time I saw them at Asbury Park ATP James McNew from Yo La Tengo sat in on bass the entire time. Before Secret Project Robot re-located they did a weekend of performances which included Rated O in its entirety with guest musicians and a performance of Absolute II at 5 AM just when the sun was coming up - it certainly worked in that context, on record not so much. I think Rated O will remain their magnum opus/statement of purpose and I'm glad its out there but they seem to be mainly a live band currently.

p much same here, except that I hadnt heard about the People of the North album, for some reason I am kind of itching to hear it now

The first People of the North album I think I liked (must revisit), haven't made it more than 3/4 way through the new one tho.

I'd still kill for a chance to see them live. Sometimes I curse my distance from metropolis. But only for that reason.

oh hey, Fat Bobby from Oneida wrote about an old Atari game for Paste today.

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/10/oneidas-bobby-matador-on-kaboom-virtuosity-and-rep.html

Oneida w/ James McNew streaming here:

http://www.nyctaper.com/2013/10/oneida-october-4-2013-glasslands-flacmp3streaming-full-set/

Very cool so far. Apparently ends with "Sheets of Easter" too, but yeah gotta listen to the whole thing still. Saw Dump last year or so and James ripped it up on guitar, so this could be really cool.

sweet, this is sounding pretty radical so far.

Yeah, it was good. Gotta listen again when I can focus on it a little more, but the first track was especially cool. "Sheets of Easter" is maybe more powerful if you are there in the room with it (as I am sure the first song was as well), but still cool to hear it live again after all of these years. Blew my head right off the first time I saw it.

did anyone else listen to this? http://worstgigeverpodcast.tumblr.com/post/68782310428/episode-77-kid-millions-sweetheart-of-the

the story was top notch fiasco comedy and he was an amusing storyteller
my most lol part was the duration of their performance

Given the circumstances, I bet they weren't even a great 6 minutes. Thanks for that link! It was great.

The part that blew my mind, after all that build-up, was to learn that that show happened in 2010 (if I remember correctly). Funny, but man they deserve better than that.

that should have a spoiler alert! but yeah, that was the gut-sinking part.

6 minutes!

Sorry, didn't think about the spoiler aspect. It does not make it less funny, just really bizarre, but I won't expand here in case others want to check this out before hearing more of my thoughts.

My worst gig ever had a similar story-arc, but we got 15 minutes (maybe even 20) at least. You can get something out in 15 minutes, but absolutely zero in 6.

i know! that's why it's so funny. 6 minutes!

He has an essay in a recent N+1 that recounts this gig and a lot of other autobiographical details (relationship to drumming, Oneida's early days) that is worth a read.

I used to love his tour diaries, both funny and sad and very relatable. Interesting guy for sure.

hahaha this is someone from trans am talking about playing with oneida
http://thequietus.com/articles/09708-trans-am-2

Oneida: Oneida played before us one night and they wouldn't fucking shut up. They started doing the same repetitive chords and monotonic, single-syllable chant for maybe 5-10 minutes. Sort of like "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" Although it could have been some other word. Paralyzing.

Doubly so as one of them (Phil Manley I think) joined Oneida as "Double Rainbow" or something for a while. Probably played "Sheets of Easter" at some point and learned to love the chord.

I've probably mentioned this above somewhere, but we put on an Oneida show about ten years ago in London where they played an hour long set of just two numbers, Sheets Of Easter and Husker Du's New Day Rising.

Yep, and eternally I am unhappy that I cannot hear that! (or see it no less, but would settle for a good audio recording of it)

Me too. New Day Rising is one of my favorite songs ever.

third

Damnit, SOMEBODY must have a recording of that show. I have asked a bunch of different people though. I wish Oneida had tapers circa 2001-2006 (well, most eras of the band really).