HEX MACHINE - Cave Painting

Hex Machine announces Cave Painting – the Richmond, Virginia band's third full-length album and first new music since 2012. 

Cave Painting will be released June 21st on Hex Machine frontman Trevere Thomas' label, Minimum Underdrive.

Founded by Thomas in 2004, and with drummer Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Human Remains) on board in the early days, Hex Machine made waves through the underground for a good eight years. Across two EPs and two full-lengths, the band crafted and refined its own unique strain of heavy noise-rock, and toured hard with the likes of Clutch and Melt-Banana. The sound had roots in the realms of The Jesus Lizard, The Melvins, and the Dischord Records scene, but from there it reached toward something new.

The last the world heard of Hex Machine was 2012's Fixator album. Fixator wowed, laying down a superior brand of noise-rock that flirted with big choruses, metallic drumming, and a range of guitar sounds that would foreshadow things to come. Thomas' snarling vocals and dynamic playing elevated the music to a unique place. Decibel weighed in thusly: "A careening, seething monster of a record – squalls, hooks, and powerhouse riffs galore."

Following Fixator's release, Thomas and newest Hex drummer Douglas Andrae joined Today Is The Day, proceeding to play hundreds of shows across the world as the rhythm section behind mercurial cult hero Steve Austin. Kicking off that experience was a devastating van crash. Thomas recounts: 

"I'd done about 40 shows as Today Is The Day's merch guy. It was just Steve and I in that accident. The fact we lived brought us that much closer. From there, Douglas and I joined the band and we went on to tour North America and Europe over the next couple years, nearly 200 shows in 20 countries. That unto itself is its own chapter. After six tours, a much-needed break turned into the beginning of the writing of the songs that are now presented here as Cave Painting."

With new album Cave Painting in hand, Hex Machine returns now, a new beast. Thanks in part to the intensity of the Today Is The Day stint, Hex Machine emerges reborn and sailing forward, entirely free of conventions. Cave Painting sees a new layer of moody, early-'80s drama creep in to Hex Machine's sound. On top of sludgy, lurching rhythms that nod to Richmond elders like Sliang Laos and Breadwinner, Thomas' guitar radiates post-punk tones of the XTC, The Police, and Killing Joke variety – "Evil Andy Summers" was a description once assigned to Duane Denison's style and it applies nicely to Thomas' as well. Track 3, a cover of The Psychedelic Furs' "President Gas," fits in seamlessly. Thomas gives this statement:

"I'm an MTV Baby and that '120 Minutes' sound is something that always speaks to me when I hear any semblance of it: dark, atmospheric, studious, memorable, with varying degrees of sexual energy and aggression. Thus, my style has become something that comes from romantically putting the 'heavy' in front of just about anything you may not think of as heavy, like, say, The Police or Cocteau Twins."

Thomas' vocals veer from a drunken mumble to a crooning tenor, delivering existential lyrics that are abstractly poetic. His words address the human condition as he sees it – a state of isolation, pettiness, and cruelty, made better by art:

"We are ultimately these very small entities that exist in our own worlds and yet excel at fucking each other up with the trivial. At times this strange journey makes one feel like they are truly in their own world. Our thickened skins grow and must be shed regularly in order to survive. The album title initially came from what I feel we do when we play live – in these caves, if you will. We come in and spray a very colorful coat of paint comprising all our fear, drive, sweat, desire, dread, and joy. We expel the demons through art – for us it is a necessity."

The progression shown on Cave Painting is inspiring. Seven years have passed and Hex Machine has evolved into what it is – a new and unclassifiable thing, expelling its demons in its own way, saturating the noisy and metallic with melody and ambience.

Cave Painting was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Kyle Spence (Kurt Vile, Harvey Milk, Whores.) in Athens, Georgia at Ronnie Jones Sound Studio.

Tracklist:
1) Oh You Petty Things
2) Western Mood Swing
3) President Gas (Psychedelic Furs)
4) Scimitar Blues
5) Youth Tube
6) Lemonade Stance
7) Spiral Outhouse
8) Talking Back to Heaven

Lineup:
Trevere Thomas - guitar, vocals
Alex Ricart - bass
Douglas Andrae - drums

Discography:
Cave Painting (Minimum Underdrive, 2019)
Fixator (Learning Curve Records, 2012)
Omen Mas (Minimum Underdrive, 2009)
Run to Earth EP (Molsook Records, 2007)
Hex Machine EP (Relapse Records, 2006)

Photo by Randy J. Byrd

Cover art by Adam Marx

hexmachine.bandcamp.com 

PLANET B + Self-Titled Magazine

"I was reintroduced to it in the early-to-mid ’90s and immediately became hypnotized by the patterns of the kicks and snares. These beats had me physically moving—that “head nodding shit”. To be honest, I didn’t even pay attention to the lyrics for a long while, and when I would purchase hip-hop wax, I preferred the instrumentals, over and over. I became so obsessed that when I was able to afford one, I put my guitars and bass down and purchased my first sampler, so I could make my own."
- Luke Henshaw

Read more about Luke Henshaw's top five drum kicks and snare samples and watch the new video for Planet B track "Brutal Evolution", via Self-Titled Magazine, here.

The video for “Brutal Evolution” was created by Turnstyle Films, and captures the ominous tension of Planet B's music, focusing specifically on human gluttony and thoughtless self-destruction.

Planet B is the collaboration between Justin Pearson (The Locust, Retox, Dead Cross) and producer Luke Henshaw (First Power Crew, Sonida de la Frontera). Pearson's electrifying, hardcore punk vocals combine with Henshaw's hip-hop, industrial, and film score influences – the result is a wildly new and successful example of unusual collabs, transcending genres.

Buy the new album, here:
http://smarturl.it/PlanetB

SECRET FUN CLUB + No Echo

"It's the kind of record that brings to mind the bass-crushing tones of bands like Sunn O))) and Godflesh, as well as the more experimental yet heaviest sides of Boris and Shellac."
- No Echo

Listen to the band's newest single, Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark(Throne), via No Echo, here.

San Diego‘s Secret Fun Club has been the longstanding musical outlet for drummer and engineer Sal Gallegos (Some Girls, Three One G) and bassist John Rieder. The band has been making odd, challenging, and relentlessly heavy music on its own terms since 2000.

A duo of bass and drums since 2007, Sal and John began writing, demoing, and performing brutal new arrangements for two solid years, finally recording what would become the Three One G LP Skull With Antlers during the first half of 2009. With drums that call to mind Bonham (if he had preferred meth to booze) playing sides of beef and bass tones that alternate between motorcycle rumble and insectoid modulation and filtering, the band has mastered doomy, frenetic noise with occasional forays into quiet minimalism and copy-and-paste sound sculpture. W.T. Nelson (Geronimo, Bastard Noise) has collaborated with his brood of Trogotronic outboard gear to contribute painful frequencies across the range of human hearing. The newest album, 101, enlists his assistance again, along with equally brutal noisemakers Justin Pearson (Dead Cross, The Locust, Retox, Planet B), Sam Lopez and Esteban Flores.

101 was recorded in San Diego, CA by Sal Gallegos and John Rieder. Mastered by Nathan Joyner. It will be released digitally as well as on smoke-colored vinyl through Three One G Records. Preorder, here.

BC35: Volume Two - record release show

"BC35: VOLUME TWO" COLLABORATORS GEAR UP FOR APRIL 25th RECORD RELEASE SHOW IN BROOKLYN; DECIBEL PREMIERES NEW "BC35" MUSIC VIDEO (EX-SWANS, COP SHOOT COP)

With "BC35: Volume Two" out now, honoring producer Martin Bisi and his decades of work with artists ranging from Sonic Youth and Helmet, to Brian Eno and Fab Five Freddy, Decibel Magazine has premiered the music video for EXCOP's "Tina," a song from the new album.

EXCOP, a band assembled specifically for the "BC35" project, consists entirely of ex-members of Cop Shoot Cop and Swans.

Watch, here: 
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2019/04/22/video-premiere-excop-tina/

Pitchfork has described "BC35" as "a sonic embodiment of risk-taking, rule-breaking, and antithesis that celebrates the endurance of a man and a space tied directly to New York’s noise, art-rock, punk, free jazz, hip-hop, and alternative movements."

New Yorkers can catch the "BC35: Volume Two" record release show, this Thursday, April 25th, at Market Hotel, featuring sets by the EXCOP members as well as the newly-reunited Live Skull, White Hills, and more:
https://www.facebook.com/events/662148167547730/

Buy "BC35: Volume Two," here:
https://bc35anniversary.bandcamp.com/album/bc35-volume-two-the-35-year-anniversary-of-bc-studio

Amidst all the "BC35: Volume Two" celebration and nostalgia, the future of BC Studio, the Brooklyn studio where Bisi has lived and worked for almost four decades, is currently unknown. A rezoning plan, put forth by the city in January, seeks to reshape the neighborhood completely – the fate of the old factory building housing BC Studio is uncertain at this time. Read more, here:
https://patch.com/new-york/gowanus/gowanus-rezoning-will-push-longstanding-arts-out-local-fears

"Notable producer Martin Bisi has compiled a second tribute to his BC Studio. On 'BC35: Volume Two,' members of Sonic Youth, Swans, White Hills, Cop Shoot Cop, Live Skull and others were organized into random groups and told to improvise, then recorded, edited and mixed by Bisi. EXCOP is one of those groups, featuring former Swans bassist Algis Kizys, plus members of noise rock group Cop Shoot Cop... Skronky, chaotic noise rock."
–Decibel

"If you have even a tangential interest in art-rock, noise, industrial, and metal music from the ’80s through today, then you’ve probably heard something Martin Bisi has worked on. The prolific producer is responsible for capturing the sounds of Sonic Youth, Swans, Helmet, White Zombie, Cop Shoot Cop, and many more – including Herbie Hancock’s GRAMMY-winning hit, Rockit – at his BC Studio recording facility in Gowanus, Brooklyn."
–Kerrang

"Last year, underground NYC music producer Martin Bisi celebrated the 35th anniversary of his BC Studio with a compilation album of music recorded at BC Studio... Bisi is now following that album with 'BC35: Volume Two,' and as the press release points out, this sequel 'comes amidst new clouds of uncertainty, as neighborhood rezoning talks commenced in February which could impact BC Studio in a number of ways.'”
–BrooklynVegan

"Martin Bisi, a record producer who has run his studio on 3rd Street for just about 40 years, fears that the rezoning's promise to bring as many as 20,000 new people to Gowanus could push his business out of the neighborhood, and maybe even New York City altogether..."
–Patch

"'BC35' is a project honoring the legacy of producer Martin Bisi and his Brooklyn studio, BC Studio... Celebrating BC Studio and the ethic it represents."
–Ghettoblaster

"This 'BC35' record does not disappoint – it will take your mind on an outergalactic Noise Rock trip to another fucking universe. "
–Cvlt Nation

Photo by Joan Hacker

Out Friday: BC35: Volume Two

"BC35: VOLUME TWO" DROPS TOMORROW; NEW TRACK STREAMING; MARTIN BISI WAXES HISTORICAL AS BC STUDIO'S FUTURE REMAINS UNCERTAIN

"If you have even a tangential interest in art-rock, noise, industrial, and metal music from the ’80s through today, then you’ve probably heard something Martin Bisi has worked on. The prolific producer is responsible for capturing the sounds of Sonic Youth, Swans, Helmet, White Zombie, Cop Shoot Cop, and many more – including Herbie Hancock’s GRAMMY-winning hit, Rockit – at his BC Studio recording facility in Gowanus, Brooklyn."
–Kerrang

"Last year, underground NYC music producer Martin Bisi celebrated the 35th anniversary of his BC Studio with a compilation album of music recorded at BC Studio... Bisi is now following that album with 'BC35: Volume Two,' and as the press release points out, this sequel 'comes amidst new clouds of uncertainty, as neighborhood rezoning talks commenced in February which could impact BC Studio in a number of ways.'”
–BrooklynVegan

"Martin Bisi, a record producer who has run his studio on 3rd Street for just about 40 years, fears that the rezoning's promise to bring as many as 20,000 new people to Gowanus could push his business out of the neighborhood, and maybe even New York City altogether..."
–Patch

"'BC35' is a project honoring the legacy of producer Martin Bisi and his Brooklyn studio, BC Studio... Celebrating BC Studio and the ethic it represents."
–Ghettoblaster

"This 'BC35' record does not disappoint – it will take your mind on an outergalactic Noise Rock trip to another fucking universe. "
–Cvlt Nation

"BC35: Volume Two" – out April 19th on Bronson Recordings – is the sequel to last year's "BC35" album. The project is a tribute to producer Martin Bisi and his Brooklyn studio, BC Studio, where he has lived and worked since the early '80s. Bisi is perhaps best known for a certain, heavy, noisy, New York sound that bridged gaps between rock and the avant-garde – bands like Sonic Youth, Swans, Live Skull, Helmet, Unsane, and Cop Shoot Cop – but in fact he has also worked with Brian Eno, Whitney Houston, Iggy Pop, Herbie Hancock, Fab Five Freddy, and The Ramones.

"BC35: Volume Two" consists of recordings of new material (some composed, some improv) from dozens of BC Studio alumni who gathered at the studio to jam out in honor of Bisi.

Stream "Save Sludgie the Whale of Gowanus," Track One from "BC35: Volume Two," here – the song features Bisi himself along with former members of Sonic Youth and Lubricated Goat:
https://www.cvltnation.com/listen-to-the-noise-rock-freak-from-bc35/

With the new album out tomorrow, Bisi has shared with the press some priceless stories from the studio's early days. In a new interview with Kerrang, Bisi goes deep into the history of BC Studio, reflecting on the chain-wielding gangs and packs of wild dogs that roamed the neighborhood streets while inside he made records with the likes of White Zombie:
https://www.kerrang.com/features/noise-rock-art-terror-and-wild-dogs-35-years-of-brooklyns-bc-studios/

A new article on Ghettoblaster has Bisi recounting ten pivotal experiences from his recording career, including the time Brian Eno filled the studio with images from the Museum of Natural History to put his musicians in the right mood:
http://ghettoblastermagazine.com/i-am-legend-martin-bisi-sonic-youth-unsane-fab-5-freddie-on-10-projects-that-scrambled-his-brain/

But amidst all the celebration and nostalgia, the future of BC Studio is currently unknown. A rezoning plan, put forth by the city in January, seeks to reshape the neighborhood completely – the fate of the old factory building housing BC Studio is uncertain at this time. Read more, here:
https://patch.com/new-york/gowanus/gowanus-rezoning-will-push-longstanding-arts-out-local-fears

A "BC35: Volume Two" album release show, with sets by Live Skull, White Hills, and more, is set for April 25th at Market Hotel:
https://www.ticketfly.com/event/1837233-bc35-volume-2-record-release-brooklyn/

Buy "BC35: Volume Two," here:
https://bc35anniversary.bandcamp.com/album/bc35-volume-two-the-35-year-anniversary-of-bc-studio

Photo by Joan Hacker

MORE PAIN + No Echo

"More Pain's forthcoming debut self-titled EP is an ugly affair, ripping with short bursts of speed, thrash riffs, and gnarly vocals... It's interesting because most people that know Nick from his work in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs probably wouldn't expect such brutality."
- No Echo

Stream all 1.5 minutes of this brutal EP in its entirety as well as read Justin Pearson's thoughts on working with Nick Zinner over the years, via No Echo, here.

MORE PAIN is thrash turned rotten, riding a vile wave of scum all the way in from sea. Hints of Head Wound City creep its way into the chaos, as two long time comrades, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Justin Pearson (Dead Cross, The Locust, Retox), create a scathing score meant for surfing witches and black magick in the sand. A powder keg equal parts blast beat, feedback and vocals meant to annihilate all in its path, the fuse is short, the tracks are shorter.

The project's debut self-titled EP will be released on limited edition x-ray Flexi disc, with layout by The Black Moon Design, through Three One G Records on April 19th.  Preorder, here.

More Pain s/t:
1. Hammering Tenderness
2. Life & Leisure
3. Unfaithful Disadvantage

RAVENNA WOODS + New Noise

"'Black Car' swells with intensity as the song carries on. The musicianship doubles down with tight progressions building to dignified guitar noodling with atypical drum progressions. The reflective mood of the tone gives space for listeners to breathe and think when diving through the songs spatial features."
- New Noise Magazine

Watch the video for Ravenna Woods' latest track, via New Noise, here.

Video shot by Dark Details.

Ravenna Woods' upcoming album, Disappearing Someone, will be released digitally as well as on vinyl through Rocket Heart Records on May 3rd. Preorder, here.

Ravenna Woods was formed by Chris Cunningham and Brantley Duke in late 2009, after Chris returned home to Seattle from a teaching job overseas. After fleshing out some of those songs and writing a few more, a handful of new demos circulated to drummer Matt Badger, who introduced himself to the duo. After multiple releases, around 2015, Ravenna officially became a 5 piece, adding multi-instrumentalist and composer Nic Danielson on keys and Reed LV on bass. The band features ex-members of bands such as Lotte Kestner, Neon Blonde, Delour, Seattle Rock Orchestra, and The Kindness Kind.

POUND + Invisible Oranges

POUND: "FEROCIOUSLY PRIMORDIAL MATH-GRIND DUO" REVEAL NEW MUSIC VIDEO VIA INVISIBLE ORANGES; SOPHOMORE ALBUM RELEASE APPROACHES; UPCOMING LIVE DATES INCLUDE ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON

"Seattle’s forward-thinking yet ferociously primordial math-grind duo Pound... Intertwining the raw, seething aesthetic mentality of grinding mathcore with the deft musicianship, unconventional rhythms, and unbridled creativity of djent and death metal, “x_–_+_–_x_–.+_–_x_–+_–” progresses gradually and hypnotically despite its breakneck pace."
–Invisible Oranges

Invisible Oranges has premiered the new track and music video by Pound – stream "x_–_+_–_x_–.+_–_x_–+_–" here:
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/pound-premiere/

Marrying the chaos of bands like The Locust, with the galaxy-sized grooves of Meshuggah, Pound whips up a wholly original racket that is both head-scratchingly complex and sock-you-in-the-gut heavy.

Consisting of only two members – guitarist Ryan Schutte and drummer David Stickney – the duo uses gear that is as unique as its sound. Schutte plays a baritone 9-string guitar and Stickney plays two drumkits, positioned at a 90-degree angle. 

Titled simply with two dots, Pound's upcoming second album is a tour-de-force that makes entirely new magic out of the formulas put forth on 2018's self-titled debut. Out May 31st on Silent Pendulum Records, •• was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage) at Flatline Audio in Denver, Colorado.

Pre-order from the band: https://pound.bandcamp.com
Pre-order from the label: https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/

Pound, live:
Apr 20 - Vancouver, BC @ The Astoria
Apr 23 - Seattle, WA @ Club Sur
May 1 - Salem, OR @ Shotski's Eats
May 2 - Medford, OR @ King Wah's
May 3 - Sacramento, CA @ The Blue Lamp
May 5 - Las Vegas, NV @ Bunkhouse Saloon
May 6 - Los Angeles, CA @ 2200 S. Harvard
May 7 - Flagstaff, AZ @ The Green Room
May 8 - Tucson, AZ @ House of Bards
May 9 - Tempe, AZ @ Time Out Lounge
May 11 - Denver, CO @ 7th Circle Music Collective
May 12 - Ogden, UT @ Funk n' Dive
May 13 - Boise, ID @ Killer Pussy Studios
May 30 - Seattle, WA @ Northwest Terror Fest
Jul 12 - Armstrong, BC @ Armstrong Metal Fest
Aug 3 - Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre (w/ Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson)

Photo by Neil Lim Sang

GERONIMO + BrooklynVegan

"The song starts out quiet and eerie and kind of just lingers there for a while, but then (spoiler alert), it goes from 0 to 100 — or more like 0 to 1000 — real quick. Blasts of harsh noise come bulldozing in, and world-weary, pissed-off vocals enter, turning “Obsolete” into an almost post-punk/industrial song that’s more accessible than you might have guessed from the intro."

- BrooklynVegan

Listen to Geronimo's newest track, Obsolete, via BrooklynVegan, here.

Geronimo (comprised of Nelson, Ruiz, and Francoso) remains generally vague in terms of its conception, intentions, and processes, instead allowing its sonic blasts to shriek for themselves. Still, Nelson explains that, “The misanthropic sound itself is designed to question the shameful / shit-assed gilded-age state of affairs: idea being if you bang your head against the wall long enough, you start to see things.” Comprised of members from bands such as Man Is The Bastard/Bastard Noise, Sleestak, Noise Instrument, Unicorn and Slowrider, these lifelong musicians and experimentalists continue to treat their music as an exercise in carefully crafting, without compromise, raw minimalist power that will turn this deeply flawed society on its head in order to expose its rotten underbelly.

Obsolete will be released digitally as well as on "blood" colored vinyl through Three One G Records on May 31st. Preorder, here.

CULT AND CULTURE feat. Jason Hamacher + BrooklynVegan

Listen to the newest episode of Cult and Culture, this time featuring Jason Hamacher, via BrooklynVegan, here.

The concept of Cult and Culture began as a short segment created by Justin Pearson. He is best known as bassist/vocalist for bands such as Dead Cross, Head Wound City, The Locust, and Retox. Justin has come to know and work with a broad spectrum of captivating personalities and brilliant minds, many of which are key figures in the realm of popular culture and cult followings alike. In its infancy, segments were shorter, 10-20 minutes, and would be recorded while on tour. Since then, Pearson has collaborated with producer and musician Luke Henshaw (Planet B, Sonido de la Frontera) to build the idea into a proper podcast, now recorded at Penguin Studios in San Diego. The focus is not intended to be solely on people in any one realm, and because guests are friends and family, the conversations are frank, informal, well-informed and genuine.

Episode 11 features Jason Hamacher (drummer of Regents, Frodus, and Combatwoundedveteran, among other bands). Jason’s experience in music, as well as his Christian beliefs, have lead him to many unlikely adventures and research including finding himself working in Syria with the ancient Aramaic speaking Syrian Orthodox Church, and collaborating with the Smithsonian. If punk, Christian, and academic aren’t adequate enough adjectives to describe Jason, he is also a licensed massage therapist. Mix all of these unlikely backgrounds together, and you’ll find a hilarious, refreshingly open-minded conversation that somehow always finds its way back to hardcore and punk ideology.

Catch up on all episodes of Cult and Culture podcast, via iTunes, here, or through Three One G’s Soundcloud, here.

SECRET FUN CLUB + Revolver

“With touches of math rock, drone, noise and influence from everyone from the Birthday Party to Gluey Porch Treatments–era Melvins and beyond, "Black Metal to English Dictionary" is nothing if not nihilistic, anti-social and just plain hateful ... in the best way possible. At 11-plus minutes it's a steady descent into the darkness, and one hell of a hypnotic fun ride.”
- Revolver Magazine

Listen to the newest track from Secret Fun Club, "Black Metal to English Dictionary", described by Revolver as "challenging, confrontational, and experimental," here.

San Diego‘s Secret Fun Club has been the longstanding musical outlet for drummer and engineer Sal Gallegos (Some Girls, Three One G) and bassist John Rieder. The band has been making odd, challenging, and relentlessly heavy music on its own terms since 2000.
In the past, W.T. Nelson (Geronimo, Bastard Noise) has collaborated with his brood of Trogotronic outboard gear to contribute painful frequencies across the range of human hearing. The newest album, 101, enlists his assistance again, along with equally brutal noisemakers Justin Pearson (Dead Cross, The Locust, Retox, Planet B), Sam Lopez and Esteban Flores.

The band's newest album, 101, will be released digitally as well as on smoke-colored vinyl through Three One G Records. Preorder, here.

BC35 + Live Skull

Reunited NYC noise-rock royalty Live Skull have revealed new song "Up Against the Wall" – the song was written and recorded under the alias New Old Skull, as part of the "BC35" project honoring the legacy of producer Martin Bisi and his Brooklyn studio, BC Studio.

Stream the song, here:
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/live-skull-prep-first-lp-in-30-years-new-old-skull-have-a-song-on-martin-bisi-comp/

"Up Against the Wall" appears on "BC35: Volume Two," the second installment in the "BC35" series, due out April 19th on Bronson Recordings. In addition to New Old Skull (Live Skull), the album contains live performances of songs (some written, some improvised) by current and former members of Sonic Youth, Swans, Cop Shoot Cop, Blind Idiot God, Alice Donut, Lubricated Goat, and more.

Pre-order:
https://bc35anniversary.bandcamp.com/album/bc35-volume-two-the-35-year-anniversary-of-bc-studio

Of the first "BC35" album, released last year, Pitchfork wrote: "The credits read like a who’s who of New York’s experimental underground... It’s a sonic embodiment of risk-taking, rule-breaking, and antithesis that celebrates the endurance of a man and a space tied directly to New York’s noise, art-rock, punk, free jazz, hip-hop, and alternative movements..."

With the release of "BC35: Volume Two" coming up, celebrating BC Studio and the ethic it represents, the future of the studio where Bisi has operated since the early 1980's is unknown. A new rezoning proposal seeks to reshape the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, incentivizing residential development and tall buildings. Meanwhile, a grassroots push to landmark certain historic buildings, including the former factory where BC Studio is located, is in motion.

Bisi gave this statement to BrooklynVegan: "The looming rezoning feels like floodgates are about to burst. The City estimates 18,000 new residents, 8,200 new units. Their premise goes beyond the need for affordable housing, it’s based on the expectation of tens of thousands of jobs coming to NYC, and those people needing housing. It’s a vision similar to when the City wooed Amazon. Gentrification begets more gentrification. So the net shift will be grossly unaffordable. In carving out space for the arts in Gowanus, the rezoning encourages my building to expand, potentially up to 17 stories, to accommodate about 1,000 artists. My space was established at a time when I could utilize a large space, and I do, and depend on it. My fear is that I’m in the way of all this – that I could be sacrificed in the interest of a higher number of incoming artists, likely fairly affluent – and the character of the arts themselves gentrifying."

A record release show is booked for April 25th at Market Hotel in Brooklyn, featuring Live Skull, White Hills, and more "BC35" contributors:
https://www.ticketfly.com/event/1837233-bc35-volume-2-record-release-brooklyn/

Photo of Martin Bisi, by Joan Hacker
Photo of Live Skull's Mark C, by Jen Jaffe