Kayo Dot / Maudlin of the Well

I'm glad Chuck Stern's doing stuff, I miss Time of Orchids.

That live album from Krakow is well worth listening to if anyone's a megafan, btw, especially if you're like me and think Tartar Lamb II is one of Driver's high watermarks

I've not heard any Driver solo. Might have to change that.

I recommend this http://kayodot.bandcamp.com/album/polyimage-of-known-exits (makes a good companion piece to Coyote) and the 1st half his solo album on Tzadik but it's not what I think of as friday night music to be honest

oh I've been following your tastes quite assiduously ultros; your predilection for speed-garage has been noted

BANGIN BEATZ M8 (do people still say that? did they ever?)

more than ever, tbh

I tried to get into Time of Orchids, but they just seemed too "pleasant sounding" for my tastes, which is my standard issue with a lot of prog and prog-influenced music.

The thing with Time of Orchids for me was underneath the lush harmonies there were usually these churning jagged riffs and all sorts of stuff going on underneath. Pleasant a lot of the time but a lot more going on underneath. I don't think many people like them as much as I do to be honest which is probably why they broke up!!!

They were a good band. I booked them at my venue back in the day. I just felt like had the stuff that was going on "underneath" been more on the surface I would have liked them more.

I never heard them sound *merely* pleasant---more like lulling you, while slipping the needle in---then, yes, a lot more going on underneath(maybe it worked better in the studio?)

I am perfectly willing to be in the minority on this one. It's hard for me to articulate sometimes why some music gives me the "close but no cigar" feeling, and as far as Time of Orchids goes, I definitely had that feeling, as opposed to the more common, "no." A friend of mine once said that he liked his prog to be less "nice" and more "garlicky" -- and I feel like Time of Orchids didn't have enough garlic for me to adore.

Maybe this belongs here rather than on Rolling Metal:

I saw Zvi (Rob Zvi Varod of Kayo Dot) on Saturday night. He's doing some interesting work with solo processed guitar (+ a synth box) and vocals: more dark doom/drone-like compared to Kayo Dot. At times, it reminds me a bit of Cathedral; sometimes a bit Sunn O))) (?); sometimes he just uses subtle drones, hums, and noises to support the vocals: http://ronzvivarod.bandcamp.com/album/zvi

I've been streaming to the album since then and enjoying

it

cool, will scope out! weirdly enough kayo dot have just today previewed a song from their new album:

https://soundcloud.com/flenserrecords/kayo-dot-library-subterranean

i can't hear that right now either due to internet difficulties. you'll have to fill me in

I guess everything on the Bandcamp is guitar + voice, actually.

OK so I've listened to the new song a couple of times now and I'm somewhat impressed.

It starts like something off Coyote but prettier, with some great basslines then goes into the 'song' section which sounds like Vaura and is somewhat conventional. I don't really like the synth sounds or some of the vocal affectations much (I've already voiced my reservations about retro 80s gubbins). After that though it gets proggy as fuck, some nice polyrhythmic stuff in there. I really really like the riff that covers the last third or so of the track, but I'm a little bit disappointed that it just sort of rattles along for a few minutes before having a sax solo and ending abruptly. The drumming is fucking phenomenal, though.

But I must say for the first time to me KD sounds more like an actual 'band' than ever before than a Toby Driver project (though I know it's just that), probably because for the first time there's been two albums in a row with largely the same lineup.

...I write more about this band than any other for some reason. Well, someone has to.

Yeah I really liked it right up until that fucking saxophone clodded clumsily in, as if to remind us all why Hubardo was a signal case of 'too many cooks'. Until then, much better than almost all of Hubardo, which I mostly thought dull (sorry), the big exception (as stated) being the monolithic opener (which everyone else hated for some reason)

But yeah, the section just before the sax is kinda awesome & I'm somewhat excited. Think Driver's a precious wanker obv (it's mostly the lyrics) but an enlightened one

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/kayo-dot-coffins-on-io-stream

First two tracks are fucking awesome. They sound nothing like Kayo Dot, really - synth-led gothic excursions - as if Coyote was the blueprint for some darkwave reinvention

like, people who liked the Brendan Perry solo album from a few years back would dig this

OK so I really like this. It's very atmospheric, and it's good how it's still recognisably KD (to me anyway), though in a different form. It's kind of odd hearing them sound so 'pop'.

My biggest criticism is that a few sections outstay their welcome, the outros to Offramp Cycle and Library Subterranean in particular. They don't seem to go anywhere, in contrast to, say, the last part Abyss Hinge pt. 2 where there are a lot of little variations over the repetitive bass riff.

Assassination of Adam is probably my favourite track, it captures the same kind of roiling chaos as many Hubardo cuts without the 'metal.'

Anyway, I'm surprised at how much I like this considering the eye-rolling disdain I have for much of the record's influences.

Wow, this sounds very nice, even though the descriptions left me a little unsure.

I love the new record. It's very similar to the David Sylvian records made w/ Robert Fripp. The Brendan Perry comparison is pretty on the nose too.

Oct 28, 2006 23:23 ET, Apparently, in addition to being KO'd, Ott injured his ankle as he fell to the ice and will be out of action for quite some time.

I don't know the Sylvian/Fripp records! I'll definitely listen to them. I mostly just know the track Sylvian did with Fennesz, which is awesome.

Note free show in Miami (like Miami needs any more gifties)

Hey folks,

Kayo Dot is headed down the U.S. East Coast this week for a string of shows in support of our latest album, "Coffins on Io." The dates are listed below, and here's a link to the Facebook event page for the whole tour– you can add yourself to the guest list to receive general updates.

https://www.facebook.com/events/778414258862658/

Hope to see you out there!

Thursday, January 8, 2015
Gallery 5
200 W Marshall St., Richmond, VA

Friday, January 9, 2015
The Milestone Club
3400 Tuckaseegee Rd., Charlotte, NC

Saturday, January 10, 2015
The Pilot Light
106 E Jackson Ave., Knoxville, TN

Sunday, January 11, 2015
The Mothlight with AHLEUCHATISTAS
701 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC

Monday, January 12, 2015
Local 506
Chapel Hill, NC

Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Conundrum
626 Meeting Street, West Columbia, SC

Wednesday, January 14, 2015
TBA in Savannah, GA

Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Orpheum
1902 Republica de Cuba Ave., Tampa, FL

Friday, January 16, 2015
Gramps Bar
176 Northwest 24th Street, Miami, FL
Free show!

Saturday, January 17, 2015
Backbooth
37 W Pine St., Orlando, FL

Sunday, January 18, 2015
TBA - Gainesville, FL or Birmingham, AL

Monday, January 19, 2015
529 Bar
529 Flat Shoals Avenue Southeast, Atlanta, GA

Tuesday, January 20, 2015
TBA - Greensboro, NC

Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The Metro Gallery
1700 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD

Thursday, January 22, 2015
Johnny Brenda's
with PLANNING FOR BURIAL and INFINIEN
1201 N Frankford Ave., Philadelphia, PA

Friday, January 23, 2015
Just Be Cause
1013 West State Street, Ithaca, NY

Saturday, January 24, 2015
The Shop with GNAW and SANGUINISTAS
234 Starr St., Brooklyn, NY

Many thanks,
Toby Driver
on behalf of Kayo Dot
http://kayodot.net
http://kayodot.bandcamp.com

West Coast dates, also note Maudlin later on:

Hello all! Just a quick message to let you know about some MASSIVE live actions this summer.

Firstly, Kayo Dot will be touring the US West Coast, beginning next week, accompanied by Seattle's DUST MOTH (ex-members of These Arms Are Snakes, Minus the Bear, Shift). It's our first West Coast tour since 2011, and will include our first Las Vegas appearance ever. Here are the dates:

Thursday, June 25, 2015
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk St., San Francisco, CA
Also Playing: Dust Moth, Kowloon Walled City

Friday, June 26, 2015
Sweet Springs Saloon
990 Los Osos Valley Road, Los Osos CA
Also Playing: Dust Moth

Saturday, June 27, 2015
The Tower Bar
4757 University Avenue, San Diego, CA
Also Playing: Dust Moth

Sunday, June 28, 2015
Complex
Los Angeles, CA
Also Playing: Dust Moth

Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Bunkhouse Saloon
124 S 11th St., Las Vegas, NV
Also Playing: Dust Moth

Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Kilby Court
741 S Kilby Ct., Salt Lake City, UT
Also Playing: Dust Moth

Thursday, July 2, 2015
Crazy Horse
Boise, ID
Also playing: Dust Moth

Friday, July 3, 2015
The Hindenburg
Vancouver, BC
Also Playing: Dust Moth

Saturday, July 4, 2015
Highline
210 Broadway East, Seattle, WA
Also Playing: Dust Moth, Dama/Libra

Sunday, July 5, 2015
Panic Room (formerly Tonic)
Portland, OR
Also Playing: Dust Moth

--------------------------------------

Shortly after that, in late August, I'll be having a residency/retrospective at The Stone in New York City. Two concerts per night, each one different, featuring music and musicians from my entire career up until this point. The calendar is below. If you can make it to NYC in August for any of these shows, it would mean a lot to me. Please note: The capacity of the venue is about 70, and there are no advance ticket sales. So if you come from out of town, you should expect to show up a couple hours early to wait in line. The weather here should be nice and sunny, but not too humid, during that week. :) http://thestonenyc.com/

8 and 10 pm
Maudlin of the Well
Toby Driver (guitar, vocals) Greg Massi, Josh Seipp (guitars) Sam Gutterman (drums) Terran Olson (woodwinds, keys) Jason Byron (vocals, keys) Special Guests Ron Varod (bass) Mia Matsumiya (violin)
mOTW's first performances in 14 years. Two different sets, TWENTY DOLLARS each

8/26 Wednesday
8 pm
Kayo Dot plays Choirs of the Eye
Toby Driver (guitar, bass, vocals) Greg Massi, Ron Varod (guitars) Sam Gutterman (guitar, bass) Keith Abrams (drums) Dan Means (woodwinds, keys) Mia Matsumiya (violin) Tim Byrnes (brass, keys) Terran Olson (woodwinds, keys)
TWENTY DOLLARS

10 pm
Ichneumonidae, and Kayo Dot plays Stained Glass
Toby Driver (guitar, bass, vocals) Timba Harris (violin) Russell Greenberg (percussion) Terran Olson (rhodes, synth) Keith Abrams (drums) Tim Byrnes (synth) Ron Varod (guitar) Mia Matsumiya (violin) Dan Means (clarinet, sax, keys)

8/27 Thursday
8 pm
Tartar Lamb: Sixty Metonymies
Toby Driver (guitar) Mia Matsumiya (violin) Jeremiah Cymerman (clarinet, electronics) Tim Byrnes (trumpet) David Bodie (percussion)

10 pm
Toby Driver: New Chamber Works
Timba Harris (violin)
New compositions for violin.

8/28 Friday
8 pm
Toby Driver, Greg Massi, and Nick Hudson
Toby Driver (guitar, voice) Greg Massi (guitar) Nick Hudson (piano, voice)
A special collaboration between these MOTWOGs and the brilliant British songwriter and composer from Academy of Sun.

10 pm
Toby Driver: Ballads
Toby Driver (piano, guitar, voice)
For the haters.

8/29 Saturday
8 pm
Stern
Chuck Stern (vocals, composition) Toby Driver (guitar, vocals) Keith Abrams (drums) Tim Byrnes (synth)
Sinewy, through-composed pop-as-distress-signal.

10 pm
Kayo Dot plays Coyote
Toby Driver (bass, vocals) Mia Matsumiya (violin) Terran Olson (keys) Keith Abrams (drums) David Bodie (percussion) Dan Means (alto sax) Tim Byrnes (trumpet) Ron Varod (synth)

8/30 Sunday

8 pm
The Tanks
Ches Smith (drums) Brandon Seabrook (guitar) Toby Driver (bass)
Loud.

10 pm
Kayo Dot plays current material
Toby Driver (bass, synths, voice) Ron Varod (guitar) Keith Abrams (drums) Daniel Means (sax, synths)

----------------

Thanks for reading, and hope to see you at a show!

There's no way in hell I'll make it to these. Wrong side of the Atlantic and poor. I just hope some of it is recorded esp. the motW sets.

Is anyone else looking forward to their new album?

sounds glorious! " a hopeless dead and polluted world transitioning into artifice and mechanism and reacting by being self-destructive, either to the point of utter obliteration or a glorious transhuman condition."

Apparently it's out next month?

i feel bad cuz i listened to a maudlin of the well album the other day and i wasn't feeling it. i think i'm too old now. they were probably really young when they made that stuff. just the juxtapositions of emo/heavy/etc didn't grab me like when i first heard it. but i should play the other ones too. i think i played Bath. haven't played any of them in so long.

I considered bringing this up but I thought I was the only one to give a shit. I was hoping they'd leave behind the whole 80s thing this time and they certainly haven't if the new track's anything to go by but I quite like it anyway.

i maybe 70% give a shit

Kind of cringing at my posts upthread about Coffins on Io since in hindsight it's definitely my least favourite KD album.

https://soundcloud.com/flenserrecords/kayo-dot-magnetism

this sounds...ok

It's grown on me a bit tbh. There's an instrumental lineup floating around that suggests this will be a lot more detailed than the last one... on the other tracks it seems. Trying not to have expectations either way though

hey I really like it now

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/kayo-dot-plastic-house-on-base-of-sky-stream

this is p cool

Not really feeling this one too much sadly. On paper I would really dig a Kayo Dot album inspired by Japanese avant-pop but that stuff is usually quite eccentric and playful; Driver's musical sensibilities are too gloomy to pull it off that convincingly.

what was the consensus then

The consensus seems to be that this is one of the best things KD have ever done, which to me is madness since it's easily the worst. If I heard PHOBOS blind I probably would have dismissed it as 80s fetishist hipster crap... it's probably better than that though. Probably.

Youre too hard on that stuff tbh

Yeah, maybe... I'm really not a fan of those sorts of sounds though, as I can't help but make clear. But, sometimes it's taken me a few years and another couple of releases to put a KD album into context before I get into it more so there's a chance I'll warm to this down the line.

just got this e-mail:

We're heading out today for a 3-week run in the US (and Toronto), in support of our new album, PLASTIC HOUSE ON BASE OF SKY ( via http://nowflensing.com/ )! Check the dates here or at http://www.kayodot.net/ to see if there's one near you!

10/21 @ Gorham Brothers Music
Syracuse, NY

10/22 @ The Baby G -
Toronto, ON, Canada

10/23 @ Cobra Lounge -
Chicago, IL

10/24 @ Vaudeville Mews -
Des Moines, IA

10/25 @ Fubar - St Louis, MO

10/27 @ The Lost Well -
Austin, TX

10/29 @ Mammal Gallery -
Atlanta, GA

10/30 @ Upsidedown Plaza -
Birmingham, AL

10/31 @ The Milestone Club -
Charlotte, NC

11/1 @ Neptune's -
Raleigh, NC

11/2 @ Strange Matter -
Richmond, VA

11/3 @ Orion Sound Studios -
Baltimore, MD

11/4 @ Trans-Pecos -
NYC (Ridgewood), NY

11/5 @ Kung Fu Necktie
Philadelphia, PA

Thanks for reading, and hope to see you!

Toby Driver/Kayo Dot

From Toby Driver:

Just wanted to send a quick note out about a couple big dealie shows and releases happening these next two months. Thanks for your eyes and ears–

Coming in a few weeks (April 21), The Flenser will be releasing my long-awaited solo ballads album, MADONNAWHORE. The album also features members of Kayo Dot on various songs. Simultaneously, The Flenser will be releasing a repress of Kayo Dot's 2013 triple-vinyl LP, HUBARDO (on both 3xLP and CD). You can preorder both now, via http://nowflensing.com in the Americas or http://www.deathwishinc.eu/products/587443-toby-driver-madonnawhore for Europeans.

Concerts:

March 16: I'll be performing some of these ballads at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and will be hanging out there for the week. Check out (and add) my Facebook page for further details: http://facebook.com/tobydriverofficial

March 21: I'll be presenting the songs from MADONNAWHORE, plus an entire set of completely new, never-before-heard ballads, accompanied by a band that includes violins, grand piano, organ, and percussion, at the beautiful theatre of Roulette Intermedium in downtown Brooklyn, NY. This is very likely the only time this music will ever be presented this way, so don't miss it. Check out the event page and preorder your tickets: http://roulette.org/event/toby-driver-madonnawhore-with-string-noise/

March 23-31: Kayo Dot will be joining the awesome PALLBEARER and MARISSA NADLER for a short tour. We're the opening band (we play at 8pm), so come early! Dates are listed below, and visit http://kayodot.net for any updates as they happen. I'm also excited to announce that David Bodie, who recorded with us on our 2010 album, COYOTE, and toured with the band from 2009-2011, will be handling drum duties for this tour. In addition, I'm very happy to announce the addition of a new, second guitarist, Matthew Serra, for this tour. Some of the shows will feature two guitarists (Ron and Matt) and some will have just one. Kayo Dot hasn't had a guitar-guitar-bass-drums configuration onstage in a long time, so this will be a real heavy treat.

THU 23 MARCH
The End, Nashville, TN

SAT 25 MARCH
Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

SUN 26 MARCH (Marissa Nadler and Kayo Dot - no Pallbearer on this show)
WFMU Monty Hall, Jersey City, NJ

TUE 28 MARCH
Grog Shop, Cleveland Heights, OH

WED 29 MARCH
Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids, MI

THU 30 MARCH
The 5th Quarter Lounge, Indianapolis, IN

FRI 31 MARCH
Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL

of course that's what his album of solo ballads is called

probably the worst lyricist in the avant-garde scene, maybe the worst ever

From May of '08, here's the KD review I mentioned way upthread, for the long-gone Paper Thin Walls, where we spotlit new tracks --the ones cleared for posting were not always the best on the album, but this selection was pretty good.

Kayo Dot: “Symmetrical Arizona”
from Blue Lambency Downward (Hydra Head)
Out Now rating: 7.0

Kayo Dot, led by the versatile singer/multi-instrumentalists Toby Driver and Mia Matsumiya (who is especially evocative on violin), have a way of trailing guitars, bass, drums, sax, vibes, clarinet, gamelan, keyboards, et cetera, through traces of metal, avant jazz, and Late 20th Century-based Western takes on Eastern music, sometimes sketching out vast dayscapes of seemingly emptied beauty, along the way. Yet there’s also a furtive, sometimes tingling sense of possibilities, too, for Those Who Know: hooded figures, bowed but still standing on the verge of getting it on, one more time. So their albums are tantalizing enough, though promising passages through the vastness can knock up against too many dramatic pauses, too many creeping beats. Still, Blue Lambency Downward eventually lives up (and down) to its title, with a concluding arc of tracks, saving the best for last. “The Awkward Wind Wheel” keeps wobbling until it’s pulled through an avalanche by bass and drums, right through trees of smoke and ganglia (strings and woodwinds), on through the parting spikes of “The Useless Ladder,” into “Symmetrical Arizona,” where damn if woodwinds and maybe cellos don’t grown and press contemplation into the hollow heads of abandoned gods of vanished cliff-dwellers, as thee coalescing image of a prodigious prodigal, no bigger than a Kayo Dot, gauges and gouges a valley of personal mythology(dropping in: percussive beads, talons, wine-streaked sheet music, flapping like wings), until it’s raised from the dry undertow of his affectations, casting and rattling real-enough shadows across my virtual attention span, for quite a while.

I DO hate that title, but

probably the worst lyricist in the avant-garde scene, maybe the worst ever

― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Thursday, 16 March 2017 19:55 (fifteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...hardly, and I'm not huge on his lyrics, though tbh most of what he sings is written by Jason Byron anyway.

I quite like that new track, I have a feeling I'll probably enjoy this more than the last KD album

oh that's true re: Byron

the fact that Kayo Dot are the opening act for Pallbearer and Nadler just proves again how little justice there is in this tasteless, ridiculous world