new Howling Hex / Neil Hagerty brings the funk!

no-one saw the howling hex recently, did they?
i'd got quite used to the album-every-six-months rhythm, i think they're overdue.

According to the Drag City news page, Earth Junk is forthcoming. A little sleuthing indicates a 9/15 release date.

woo! alright. and on vinyl again, too.
i thought with the last one being only partially hagerty-songs, and the uncustomary delay until this one, maybe they were changing things around a bit. i can't wait, though.

Album cover / track list.
I've gotta say that Royal Trux tended to have much better album art than either principal's subsequent work. The 1st NMH solo album, All Night Fox and XI all had good covers, the rest are quite ugly.

UH transmaniacon has fucking amazing art

I saw 'em about 7 months ago at thee hemlock and it was amazing. XI was a little disappointing tho.

UH transmaniacon has fucking amazing art
I disagree! The skulls are merely okay, but the AC/DC font is awful.

Earth Junk is the best Howling Hex record to date. One of the many aspects that make it so unique is that many of the bass-lines are played on an organ. One feels unearthed by the lack of drums making it a very heady record with a strange sense of pop to it. One might appreciate Hagertys familiar fuzz or reverb. So many artists get caught in a web of familiarity with their discography. Many feel that if they stray too far away from their original vision that audiences may not warm up to something completely different. Though the sound on this record is completely unique, it still contains the new border sound found on other records especially NIGHTCLUB VERSION OF THE ETERNAL. The Southern New Mexican sound on the record that is much like traditional ranchero music that is also played in waltz time. This country pop record also reminds some of Mexican Polka music. The Howling Hex continues to challenge listeners and does not acquaint them with what they will expect.

Recorded in Austin in the late winter of early 2008, EARTH JUNK is a ramble in the dappled sunlight of the American southwest, twisted metallic folk-art in the ever changing breeze. Throw EARTH JUNK in your sound trunk - and keep on rolling. The Howling Hex will be there to greet you whenever - and wherever - you arrive.

i'm SO EXCITED about this. mexican polka?, no drums?, organ basslines? it's going to be amazing.

there's some youtube stuff from their last brooklyn show amid the incessant keyboard fumbling that is their website, too.

This is one weird ass record. It most closely resembles the first solo album, but is really it's own thing.

i wannit. i wanna spoil my appetite. the recent records have kind of cut down on the total sprawl of the earlier stuff, so it's strange to hear a comparison. is it great? are there no drums?

NO drums. Not sure if it's great yet. I really like it after two spins, though.

Crazily, the 'mexican polka' reference in the bio is shockingly accurate

i've been f5-aliving this thread waiting to hear about it, so thanks. i think drums are glorified clicktracks on a lot of music, so that's nice to know. have you got a promo? i don't think it's over the internets yet.

still super excited.

so how is "earth junk"?

pretty good according to the blog, ha-ha.

i'm picking my copy up on friday, because it sold out. i never knew anyone liked the howling hex til i found ilx.

So P4K gives it 4.5.
As far as I'm concerned, I am pretty convinced after 1.5 spin that it is a "grower"

i like it. i can't wait to have it on my headphones while walking around the city; it's got that hypnotic, breathless, looping thing some of the earlier records have. blood and dust's great, too.

i'm sort of clueless when it comes to this stuff, but the new one (Wilson Semiconductors) is great. weird, bubbly basslines, wah guitar freakouts, no drums.

Can't wait for this. Pre-ordered but I guess since Drag City LPs don't come with download codes (grrrr) I'll be hitting up S0u!5eek later on tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Oxzv2uAok

have we discussed how much fun the new hex record is, i love playing it so much, it is built to bumble around an apartment to, half-bopping half-doing stuff

also Drag City LPs don't come with download codes (grrrr) x100000000, i am so bummed not to have this on my walkman

dude i dont like it :(

im bummed to feel that way, but it just expands on the last drag city record in the exact wrong way, i think. im still onboard 4 lyfe but this is not a favorite.

rechecked You Can't Beat Tomorrow on a recent roadtrip, that one is still awesome

I like that new track okay, but am skeptical of a whole nother percussion-less album

rechecked You Can't Beat Tomorrow on a recent roadtrip, that one is still awesome

i love this, i think i maybe mentioned going back to it while we were in the sandbox but it's so strong, i found myself liking a bunch of different stuff instead of the jams i usually gravitated towards. s.c. coward. it's so loose & it has such a great room sound.

dude i dont like it :(

aw man i was wondering if you'd heard it! i just; it's just so well done i think, like i am half-listening to the song & half caught up in & sustained by the constant guitar backbeat-jerk; like i do see some links to stuff on earth junk that i liked well enough without wanting more of (the sorta velvets' murder mystery-esque songs like the one called something like arsenic and poison, which is great but sorta heavy), but it's so well put together, like his singing is always cut up into these different spacy registers and places, and there's some nice synthy detail going on under some parts of the songs. obviously if you are not feeling it you are not feeling it, but i've felt good about it everytime it's been on, while i've been cooking or w/e.

is it specifically the 'no percussion = i want out' thing about it that deters you shakes? bc it's very rhythmic with or without

still digging this new album -- so weird sounding, but still catchy as hell. lots of neat interlocking parts. getting a beefheart vibe occasionally. anyhoo, thinking about seeing him live next week -- anyone know what the show is like? is it a solo thing?

I saw him on the XI tour and they were amazing, played stuff from all over the catalog, trading instruments, just a great vibe. have no idea what his touring act is like at the moment tho.

have always been on my list & i've never been in the right place; i would totally go. the last thing i heard about was a new york show, they were a three-piece & played for hours.

yeah I saw a really long set too

ha, well, last night was *not* a long set -- probably only 45 minutes. and early too! he started at 930pm, which is not the norm for the venue. but fine with an old dad like me. music was awesome -- he had a very straightlaced, 50-something looking rhythm section who just oompahed away endlessly behind him as he tore out wild, fuzzy solos. only one song from the latest record, i think. apparently he lives in denver for the time being, so i think i'm gonna see him a lot in the next year. yay! maybe i can be in his band! i could definitely do what the bass player was doing last night.

oh man that sounds so great. there was an auction of paintings and stuff on the hex site last year, I think prior to him leaving NM. hope you & NMH sync rhythms!

lol after the show i said to him "great show!" and he visibly recoiled. i'm in!

also http://www.howlinghex.com/diary/1477/smokestack-lightning

xp ha ha. idk man, he seems to absorb his environs, so maybe you just have to loudly do your thing in the proximity & he will gravitate towards your sludge rock/high-pitched-voice country songs/whatever project

maybe!
also, just looked -- the next show in Denver he's playing with Michael Gira!!!

MG solo? sounds good

think i'm going to go see the Howling Hex again tonight in Denver! Who's with me!
Sadly I missed the Gira show last month. Apparently Gira got reallllllllly mad at a chatty audience.

THURSDAY! Howling Hex June residency kicks off in Denver! Will go to at least two of them!

somewhat comically un-revealing interview w/ hagerty
http://www.heyreverb.com/2012/06/06/howling-hex-interview/

lol @ dissing albums but not record companies

rad interview

haha! i actually kinda know the guy who did it. he's a good guy, i'm sure, you know, circumstances.

i was totally sincere! though i think the build up maybe makes the interview into something of a deadpan punchline.

i'm psyched you're catching this show anyway. these are still the group i wanna catch somehow sometime, i don't really know how. report back.

yeah will do. totally psyched he's in Denver for the foreseeable future.

currently uploading a terrible video i took at last night's show! well, the sound is OK, but the venue was incredibly dark. will post! great show!