Jim Warchol at Acme Records and Music Emporium in Milwaukee on July 8, 2019

Jim Warchol brought his guitar and effects board to Acme Records this evening in support of Derek Monypeny. Jim's solo work is always worthy of attention, but this performance was particularly notable for his addition of samples of short wave radio recordings to his "guitar cloud."

I was talking to Jim recently and we both agreed that it is very difficult to use words to describe music, especially when trying to describe it to someone who has never heard it. That's why I started to use Soundcloud to host files for people to stream the music. 

We are very fortunate to have Jim in Milwaukee. He has a wealth of talent but also a willingness to discuss music and share his candid opinions. A performance with his band Dryhouse Ruins from later in July will soon be up here for general perusal.

Check out the Superlux S502 (ORTF) stereo microphone at the stage lip in this photo. This is a Chinese-made "clone" of the Schoeps MSTC 64G ORTF stereo microphone, but at much less than one-tenth the price. Obviously it is not as impressive as the Schoeps, but it is starting to attract a cult following among some tapers. My experience is that the mic sounds very good at everything up to about 110 dB, after which the low end starts to disappear and the high end crumbles. At normal Acme Records sound pressure levels, it shines. 

The ORTF stereo configuration was invented by the engineers at the French national television and radio system. It is intended to mimic the placement of human ears and does a very good job -- listening on headphones is especially enjoyable. 

I used my Sound Devices MixPre6 to record the show. Sound Devices is a world-renowned digital recorder manufacturer located a few miles outside Madison, WI. If you've seen a Hollywood movie (or an episode of Game of Thrones) you've heard audio recorded on a Sound Devices recorder. Not my model, of course! 

https://www.discogs.com/artist/52246-James-Warchol
https://sigerecords.bandcamp.com/album/non-fiction

downloads (click on the description to download):

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (285 MB)

suitable for burning to CD

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (112 MB)

lossless copy of the wav file - can also be burned to CD or played on your iPhone

320kbps mp3 file (65 MB)

highest quality version of this lossy-but-popular audio file format

Derek Monypeny at Acme Records and Music Emporium in Milwaukee on July 8, 2019

Derek Monypeny came to Acme Records in July of this year and I must admit I went to see him on faith. Ken Chrisien, the owner of Acme, recommended the show, despite not having any LPs of Monypeny's to sell. Ken told me that there was a release on Bandcamp of Monypeny playing the oud and that it was fantastic, and that was all I needed to hear.

Derek's instrument for this show was a Shahi Baja, which is a sort of electric banjo made in India (see photo). There are 6 "playing" and 10 sympathetic strings on this instrument, although there are other versions with more sympathetic strings. One of the most interesting features of the instrument are the 30 typewriter keys which are used to bend the playing strings.

It goes without saying that the instrument played is irrelevant if the musician is not playing interesting music. Luckily, this performance was fascinating. 

Please support this superb musician by seeing his live shows, buying multiple copies of his great merchandise (your friends are starving for music -- why aren't you buying them music?), and talking to him respectfully after shows. Unless he looks tired or something.

https://derekmonypeny.bandcamp.com
https://www.derekmonypeny.com

downloads (click on the description to download):

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (412 MB)

suitable for burning to CD

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (162 MB)

lossless copy of the wav file - can also be burned to CD or played on your iPhone

320kbps mp3 file (94 MB)

highest quality version of this lossy-but-popular audio file format

Mdou Moctar at the Cooperage in Milwaukee on April 6, 2019

Please see my previous recording of Mdou Moctar at Acme Records here. In that post, I included his biographical information. He came around again this year to play a Milwaukee Psych Fest warm-up showcase at the Cooperage with three supporting acts. 

This was a lively, exciting show as Moctar toured in support of his new album.

This was recorded from atop a tripod about 10 feet in the air (to try to get above people talking -- mostly successful) using a Superlux S502 stereo ORTF microphone and fed into a Sound Devices MixPre 6. Audacity was utilized for gentle compression and EQ adjustments.

Listen, using headphones or external computer speakers:

Thanks very much to Chris Kirkley, the owner of Sahel Sounds, for helping me acquire the permission to tape, and to Max for doing great room sound.

Please support these superb musicians by seeing their live shows, buying multiple copies of their great merchandise (your friends are starving for great music -- why aren't you buying them music?), and talking to them respectfully after shows. Unless they look tired or something.

https://sahelsounds.com/artists/mdou-moctar/

https://mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com

downloads (click on the description to download):

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (635 MB)

suitable for burning to CD

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (368 MB)

lossless copy of the wav file - can also be burned to CD or played on your iPhone

320kbps mp3 file (144 MB)

highest quality version of this lossy-but-popular audio file format

Garcia Peoples at the Milwaukee Psych Fest April 13, 2019

Garcia Peoples is a New Jersey-based band who came to the 7th Milwaukee Psych Fest touring on the strength of their recently-released LP on Beyond Is Beyond Records, "Natural Facts." 

In the meantime they have released another LP, "One Step Behind" -- which makes three full-length LPs in the past year and a half.

They will be touring the midwest again in mid-January 2020 with stops including Grand Rapids, MI, Milwaukee, and Chicago.

I don't have any photos from their set (which conflicted with either the Elkhorn or Dire Wolves set outside in the tent). So here are some random shots of the light show by the crazy wizards at Mad Alchemy.

Setlist:
01 Track One
02 Track Two
03 Track Three
04 Track Four
05 Track Five

Danny Arakaki - guitar
Tom Malach - guitar
Derek Spaldo - bass
Cesar Arakaki - drums

microphones: stereo pair of Audio-technica AT853c
preamp: Church UBB
recorder: Roland R-07 at 16/44 
software: Audacity, xAct

https://garciapeoples.bandcamp.com/album/natural-facts
https://garciapeoples.bandcamp.com
https://beyondbeyondisbeyond.com/garcia-peoples

downloads

click on file description to download the audio file.

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (454 MB)

(suitable for burning to CDs)

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (303 MB)

(lossless compression audio file playable on iPhones and computers)

320kbps mp3 file (109 MB)

(highest quality mp3 possible)

Elkhorn at the Milwaukee Psych Fest on April 13, 2019

So here we have one of several posts that I thought I had already posted. My sincere apologies to Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner over the delay in posting these audio files which I had finished working on several months ago. 

Elkhorn was one of several highlights of this year's MPF for me -- both their afternoon performance at Acme Records as well as this evening performance at the outdoor tent were peak psychedelic-folk masterpieces that will stay with me a long time.

The pair said they enjoyed coming to the fest and "doing the Wisconsin thing" -- their generosity with thanking people and just being good guys in general made me hope they do the Wisconsin thing every year.

psychedelic lightshow level 10

how the lightshow was made

I utilized my Beyerdynamic MC930 (cardioid) microphones in an ORTF stereo configuration at the back of the tent on a pole about 10 feet in the air. There was a soundboard feed provided by Max, a local sound guy who does great sound. I failed to "arm" channels 3 and 4 on my Sound Devices MixPre-6 recorder, so even though the levels showed up on the screen, the soundboard signals weren't recorded. One lives, one learns. The 930s are fantastic microphones however, and despite a tiny amount of audience chatter at times, the recording is excellent.

The files were mixed, trimmed and gentle compression and careful EQ were applied using Audacity. The files were extracted to ALAC (lossless compression) and mp3 format using xAct.

Please support these two superb musicians and excellent human beings by seeing their live shows, buying multiple copies of their great merchandise (your friends are starving for great music -- why aren't you buying them music?), and talking to them respectfully after shows unless they look tired or something.

https://www.elkhornmusic.com

https://elkhorn.bandcamp.com

http://feedingtuberecords.com/artists/elkhorn/

downloads (click on the description to download):

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (351 MB)

suitable for burning to CD

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (199 MB)

lossless copy of the wav file - can also be burned to CD or played on your iPhone

320kbps mp3 file (80 MB)

highest quality version of this lossy but popular audio file format

Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band live at Acme Records and Music Emporium in Milwaukee on April 13, 2019 (afternoon show)

Here is the recording from the afternoon set that the Dire Wolves performed at that eminent and enjoyable palace of recorded and live music in the Cream City -- the one and only Acme Records. I was energized and elated to be behind the band and watching them perform for a packed crowd on Record Store Day.

Please see the previous post for some of my thoughts about this wonderful band. I can summarize, however: this band is the most interesting and unpredictable rock group in the US. It takes a lot of effort to make improvised music gel into a coherent experience -- effort and a willingness to be flexible and incorporate into your performance something related to what others are doing on stage with you. It can be a painful experience watching two or three stubborn musicians perform at the same time, each one wanting to go their own way so that it sounds like two (or three) different recordings being played back simultaneously, without the wit of someone like John Cage to make the chaos sublime.

This group seems like they have been playing together every week for years (but they haven't -- that's the amazing thing) and make it look effortless -- a lot of effort is needed to make things look effortless.

I briefly mentioned in the previous Elkhorn post that there is no "sound person" per se at Acme and that I volunteered to help the band on a last-minute basis. There wasn't anybody else there to do the job, and Acme was chaotic enough with a packed crowd for record store day, bands coming in and out the back door, everyone including musicians carrying stacks of LPs they were buying, and so on.

Taralie Peterson asked me if I had a DI box (Direct Input box -- this changes the impedance of an audio signal so that a microphone-level signal can be inputted to mixer requiring a line-level signal, and vice versa) and I quite unhelpfully informed her that I did have one, but it was at home.  My apologies to her, and I am going to donate my DI box to Acme for future shows.

Much to Taralie's credit, she expressed concern to me throughout the show that Arjun's violin was buried in the PA. I went out in front of the speakers several times to make sure he was there for all to hear. Arjun provides one of the really unique audio textures for the band and often the interaction between his longer lines of melody and Taralie's abstract broken vocal sounds is the most enjoyable thing happening in the mix.

This recording was made using a 50:50 mix of the soundboard feed and a Superlux S502 stereo microphone (fixed ORTF configuration) which was placed at the stage lip, a bit stage left of center. These two sources were recorded in four channels to a Sound Devices MixPre 6 and then combined with Audacity. Some very gentle compression and minimal parametric EQ were applied using Audacity. xAct as always was used to prepare ALAC/m4a as well as mp3 files.

The SoundCloud stream is below. You should be able to stream the audio without using the SoundCloud app. Please remember that downloading the files (see the end of this post) will result in higher fidelity than the mp3 stream which SoundCloud provides. I am very happy with how the recording turned out:




Please support these fine artists and decent people by going to their shows, buying multiple copies of their merchandise (your friends need the music -- why aren't you buying music for your friends?), and talking to them like they are real human beings after shows. If they don't mind.

Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band is:
Arjun Mendiratta: Violin
Brian Lucas: electric bass
Jeffrey Alexander: guitar
Sheila Bosco: drums
Taralie Peterson: sax, vocals, percussion


dwlvs.com
https://direwolvesbbib.bandcamp.com
https://jeffreyalexander.bandcamp.com
http://www.jeffreyalexanderlovesyou.com
https://www.facebook.com/dwapbb/

https://beyondbeyondisbeyond.com
https://direwolvesbbib.bandcamp.com/album/grow-towards-the-light

downloads

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (337 MB)

(suitable for burning to CDs)

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (202 MB)

(lossless compression audio file playable on iPhones and computers)

320kbps mp3 file (76 MB)
(highest quality mp3 possible)

Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band at the Milwaukee Psych Festival on April 13, 2019 (evening show)

The only thing more amazing than Dire Wolves' music is the fact that their lineup is ever-shifting. While not quite the same thing as when Mark E Smith infamously made the point that he and only he was the sine qua non of the Fall ("If it's me and your granny playing bongos, then it's the Fall"), it's close. 

Generally there is always Jeffrey Alexander on guitar and usually Brian Lucas on bass. For the last few years or so Sheila Bosco (drums) plus Taralie Peterson of Spires That in the Sunset Rise (vocals, sax and percussion) and Arjun Mendiratta (violin) have been mainstays of touring versions of the band while vocalists Lau Nau and Georgia Carbone have appeared on studio recordings. There have been plenty of memorable one-offs such as last February's performance at NYC's Union Pool with members of Elkhorn, Bardo Pond, and the Sunwatchers -- billed as Dire Wolves (Inspiration Family Band). 

What makes each performance of Dire Wolves so special is a level of free-form improvisation which goes far beyond the category of "psychedelia" or "jam band" and dives right into "free jazz" territory (that's my favorite territory, in case anyone is keeping track at home).

However, I have yet to hear a piece by the Wolves which is not psychedelic or that wouldn't go over very well at a "jam band concert" as an opener for The Dead and Co. or Phish. Sometimes a piece will appear to just be completely improvised, but there is usually a certain sensibility which allows sections of increasingly interesting improvisation to exist within the structure of a pre-existing song.

For this show, my understanding is that the choice of a Pharaoh Sanders song ("Elevation" from Sanders 1974 live album of the same name for Impulse!/ABC records) was a last minute decision. If so it was both an inspired choice and a wakeup call for the partiers in the audience up front to stop talking to their friends and pay attention. 

Alas, some people are beyond the point of being able to be woken up. Any show in Milwaukee where alcohol has been sold to people primarily interested in meeting people and talking about the Brewers' chances to win the pennant this year will stand as evidence as to why most bands' tours hop from Detroit to Chicago to Madison and Minneapolis. Most of the time the MPF crowd is better behaved, but at this point of the evening there were more than enough socialites around -- enough that Alexander felt the need to shame them for talking during a Pharaoh Sanders song.

At the time, when the band started, I thought they were going to begin playing John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" because the Brian's bass line was reminiscent of the beginning of that jazz masterpiece. After a few moments it was off into Dire Wolves space and I eventually recognized it as a Pharaoh Sanders song, even if I couldn't identify the exact song (as it happens, "Elevate" is one of the few Sanders albums I don't own).

This set was recorded with the feed from the Soundboard (thanks to Max) fed into my Sound Devices MixPre6 recorder. For some as-yet unidentified reason, probably entirely my fault, the feed from my pair of beyerdynamic MC 930 microphones set up 10 feet in the air on a lightstand next to the mixing board did not record despite there being four channels of signal being displayed on the recorder's screen during the show.

I wound up using an audience source recorded by "Atticus Binch" on what looked to me like a Nakamichi 550 cassette recorder. My taper friend Joel tells me he thinks this might be the owner of a record store in Bloomington, IL. This has not been independently confirmed. The audience source sounded like it was recorded in the front row amidst the talkers and was also rather saturated at certain points. I mixed it at a ratio (SBD:AUD) of 60:40 and used Audacity for compression and EQ. xAct was used to prepare ALAC and mp3 versions. 

While not the transcendent audiophile masterpiece I always hope for (and rarely achieve), the final result is much better than I had dared to hope for the day after the festival when I discovered two channels of my recording missing. 

Please see below for the SoundCloud stream:



Please support these fine artists and decent people by going to their shows, buying multiple copies of their merchandise (your friends need the music), and talking to them like they are real human beings after shows. If they don't mind.

dwlvs.com
https://direwolvesbbib.bandcamp.com
https://jeffreyalexander.bandcamp.com
http://www.jeffreyalexanderlovesyou.com
https://www.facebook.com/dwapbb/

https://beyondbeyondisbeyond.com
https://direwolvesbbib.bandcamp.com/album/grow-towards-the-light


Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band for this show is:
Jeffrey Alexander: guitar
Sheila Bosco: drums
Brian Lucas: electric bass
Arjun Mendiratta: Violin
Taralie Peterson: sax, vocals, percussion
Tracy Peterson: (guest) percussion 
"Mike" (guest) - tambourine

downloads

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (427 MB)

(suitable for burning to CDs)

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (276 MB)

(lossless compression audio file playable on iPhones and computers)

320kbps mp3 file (97 MB)

(highest quality mp3 possible)

Jim Warchol at the Jazz Gallery in Milwaukee on July 29, 2018

Here we have another brilliant solo performance by Jim Warchol, this time at the Jazz Gallery in Milwaukee. Check out the Soundcloud sample below.

The somewhat hard surfaces of the room might possibly at times sound a little harsh, but I thought it lent a nice natural reverb to this performance. Jim was pushing this little tube amp so that there was a very pleasant distorted-yet-controlled sound. What would rock music be without distortion?

This performance was recorded with a pair of Beyerdynamic MC930 (cardioid) microphones in an ORTF stereo formation, on a small tripod at the stage lip. The sound was fed into a Tascam DR-70. Audacity was used for slight EQ adjustments and xAct was used to encode the WAV files into ALAC and mp3.

Thanks to the Jazz Gallery and of course the tremendously talented Jim Warchol for allowing me to record.

downloads:

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (308 MB)

suitable for burning to CD

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (143 MB)

lossless copy of the wav file - can also be burned to CD or played on your iPhone

320kbps mp3 file (70 MB)

highest quality version of this lossy but popular audio file format

Elkhorn with special guests at Acme Records and Music Emporium in Milwaukee on April 13, 2019

One of the unexpected effects of having the annual and amazing Milwaukee Psych Fest occurring this year during the same weekend which also contains the hectic shopping day known as "Record Store Day" was that we were treated to afternoon performances by two bands who would be playing at the Psych Fest proper that evening: the always dependably creative and super-psychedelic Dire Wolves, and the powerful guitar duo known as Elkhorn.

My photo from the mixing area. Note Andrew Lyon in front getting some photos for the blog.

Elkhorn has made a name for itself over the past few years for releasing fascinating albums of great music. They have a sense of humor (one CD collected seven live versions of the song "Lionfish" for those late night compare-and-contrast sessions) and a sense of timing -- two new vinyl releases the week of this mini tour which brought them to Chicago and Bloomington, IN, in addition to the true home of live music in the US (Milwaukee).

photo by Andrew Lyon. Note the guy in back looking unshaven and confused near the mixer.

How to best describe Elkhorn? I'll pull out a trick from my days as a music journalist (and don't for a second think they're not still doing this) -- I'll quote the press materials without shame: "Folk/psych-rock guitar duo featuring Jesse Sheppard on twelve-string acoustic and Drew Gardner on electric, interweaving the extended folk tradition with psychedelic improvisation, moving freely from pre-rock to post-rock, from the 1860s to the 1960s and beyond."  What's missing from the description is that Jesse and Drew have a gift for memorable melodies and a knack for complicating things up until to just before the breaking point before they return to the hook. They are an excellent example of the kind of music that pleases both the casual fan and the elitist critic. 

I did not really expect to be the "sound guy" at this show (or at the following Dire Wolves performance) but there was no one else willing or able to do it and i was not going to ask to record a band and then say, "Hey I can't help you, you'll just have to play some chords and then lean over and set the gain on the store's mixer. While I watch." 

So, I was the sound guy. I had a pair of Beyerdynamic MC930 cardioid microphones in an ORTF stereo configuration up front on stage about 18 inches in the air to capture the acoustic sound of the guitar as well as some of the players on stage during the song with special guests. I obtained a stereo feed from the mixer which was identical to what was being fed to the speakers. These were recorded with the amazing Sound Devices MixPre6 in 24bit/96kHz glory. I mixed these four channels in Audacity to form what is known (incorrectly) to tapers as a "matrix" recording. A few small moments of silence between songs were removed with care in Audacity and xAct was used to encode into ALAC and mp3 formats.

As my photo below will attest, Jesse and Drew asked a couple of the members of Dire Wolves to perform on the last song. It was a great moment of controlled chaos and I thought it was incredible that they were able to produce such beauty together. 

Please support these two superb musicians and excellent human beings by seeing their live shows, buying multiple copies of their great merchandise (your friends are starving for great music -- why aren't you buying them music?), and talking to them respectfully after shows. 

https://www.elkhornmusic.com

https://elkhorn.bandcamp.com

http://feedingtuberecords.com/artists/elkhorn/

downloads:

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (410 MB)

suitable for burning to compact disc

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (216 MB)

a lossless, full resolution  file which can be used to burn a CD or to listen to on an iPhone or other Apple product

320kbps mp3 file (93 MB)

the highest quality setting for this popular lossy audio format

Jim Warchol at Acme Records and Music Emporium in Milwaukee on April 21, 2016

I have been recording and greatly admiring the work of Jim Warchol for about five years. I have been meaning to upload my recordings of his work to this blog for quite sometime. I have at least three and possibly four of his wonderful shows ready to go and will be slipping them in between the other shows I am posting this week in an effort to catch up with some of my backlog of recordings. It seems that I am either too busy recording shows to upload them, or I am sitting around moaning and complaining about there not being any shows to record. Hopefully things will get better with the blog soon.

Jim is a very unassuming and friendly person. He does not give off the common "musician vibe" where there is an implicit divide between performer and audience member. As a consequence it is always to pleasure to see him at a show or hanging at Acme buying some vinyl. 

I am not sure when I first noticed his playing around town... I know I did see him at Alverno College in 2015 playing in Jon Mueller's Death Blues group. But most likely the first time was opening up at a show at Acme Records. Ken, the owner of Acme, really enjoys Jim's work and so he has been asked quite a few times to open up for visiting artists. 

Tonight was one such show -- he opened up for guitarist Marisa Anderson and then sat down next to me in the front row to listen intently to her show. 

Jim's music over the last few years -- both with his band Dryhouse Ruins and in his solo work -- is a sort of improvisational ambient "cloud" of sound which has intricate patterns hiding inside a larger drone sound. Like many guitarists i particularly enjoy listening to, his mastery of the fretboard is self-confident enough to seem effortless. When he appears to be in the mood to show off, then he will -- in a classy way. Much of the time, however, he plays in a style which is more reserved but no less interesting. 

Let me use an analogy of a house party. There is always the person in the middle of the room performing for people, telling an outrageous story or just being "the life of the party." This is your typical guitarist and more power to them for their willingness to stand out and shine. But usually, if you go over to the corner near a bookshelf, or the kitchen, there will usually be that one party guest who effortlessly discusses whatever topic is at hand, commenting with expert opinions and information without trying to steer the conversation of the group. In the long run, it is often that type of guest who becomes the best sort of friend to have -- someone who does not repeat the same classic stories or suddenly disappears on you when you're hundreds of miles away from home on a road trip. 

I know that I have photos from the other Warchol shows I am going to upload, but all I could find to post here is a promotional picture. 

downloads:

16bit, 44.1kHz WAV file (251 MB)

suitable for burning to CD

16bit, 44.1kHz ALAC file (118 MB)

lossless copy of the wav file - can also be burned to CD or played on your iPhone

320kbps mp3 file (60 MB)

highest quality version of this lossy but popular audio file format

This was most likely recorded with a pair Church Audio CA-14 cardioid microphones, hand made by Chris Church at his workshop up in Canada, fed into a Sony PCM M-10 recorder, probably with an intervening preamp stage via the Church Audio 9200 preamp. Audacity was used as always to clean up extraneous noise and for fade ins and outs. At times I will boost signals very slightly (2-3dB) in the 6kHz range using the parametric EQ in Audacity.  xAct was used to create the ALAC and mp3 files.