MONDAY AUG 07, 2017
529 & Speakeasy Promotions Presents:
The Veldt
Deantoni Parks
Shepherds (LP Release Show!) | Holders
The Veldt
Formed by identical twin brothers singer/guitarist Daniel and guitarist Danny Chavis, and rounded out by drummer Marvin Levi on drums and bassist joesph (hue) boyle, later David Burris, The Veldt quickly became the "must see attraction" of the quirky art-rock scene in Chapel Hill, NC (which also held bands like Superchunk, Polvo and Dillon Fence in its ranks). The Veldt released their first proper record, Marigold's, on Stardog/Mercury, in 1992. Marigold's was received well enough to earn the band a much more lucrative contract with Polygram Records. The result was the cult classic Afrodisiac recorded and produced in London, England with Ray Shulman (The Sugarcubes,The Sundays, etc.) at the helm. Afrodisiac's under current rumblings eventually rose to cause a storm as the band soon found themselves sharing stages with likes of Oasis, The Cocteau Twins, The Pixies, Fishbone, Corrosion Of Conformity and a host of other seminal alternative bands. After two more records, Universe Boat on Yesha Recordings and Love At First Hate on their own imprint, End Of The World Technologies, Danny left the band preceded by Burris who left the music business for a career in film in 1994 (he is currently the producer for CBS's hit show Survivor). The Veldt continued on in various incarnations until it was put to bed in 1998. After relocating to New York City, Danny and Daniel focused on their new band Apollo Heights. This time around, The Chavis brothers pushed their musical boundaries with more electronica and trip hop influenced back drops to create texture with Daniel's soulful falsetto croon. Their last recording, White Music For Black People, featured the twins and special guests Mos Def and Lady Miss Kier from Delite fame. TV On The Radio's David Sitek handled some of the production with Danny and Daniel doing the rest.
Formed by identical twin brothers singer/guitarist Daniel and guitarist Danny Chavis, and rounded out by drummer Marvin Levi on drums and bassist joesph (hue) boyle, later David Burris, The Veldt quickly became the "must see attraction" of the quirky art-rock scene in Chapel Hill, NC (which also held bands like Superchunk, Polvo and Dillon Fence in its ranks). The Veldt released their first proper record, Marigold's, on Stardog/Mercury, in 1992. Marigold's was received well enough to earn the band a much more lucrative contract with Polygram Records. The result was the cult classic Afrodisiac recorded and produced in London, England with Ray Shulman (The Sugarcubes,The Sundays, etc.) at the helm. Afrodisiac's under current rumblings eventually rose to cause a storm as the band soon found themselves sharing stages with likes of Oasis, The Cocteau Twins, The Pixies, Fishbone, Corrosion Of Conformity and a host of other seminal alternative bands. After two more records, Universe Boat on Yesha Recordings and Love At First Hate on their own imprint, End Of The World Technologies, Danny left the band preceded by Burris who left the music business for a career in film in 1994 (he is currently the producer for CBS's hit show Survivor). The Veldt continued on in various incarnations until it was put to bed in 1998. After relocating to New York City, Danny and Daniel focused on their new band Apollo Heights. This time around, The Chavis brothers pushed their musical boundaries with more electronica and trip hop influenced back drops to create texture with Daniel's soulful falsetto croon. Their last recording, White Music For Black People, featured the twins and special guests Mos Def and Lady Miss Kier from Delite fame. TV On The Radio's David Sitek handled some of the production with Danny and Daniel doing the rest.
Deantoni Parks
***Deantoni Parks is Technoself***
The relationship between music and technology is always evolving ... but true music can not exist without a soul. Some extraordinary musicians augment their natural talents with technology, adopting its benefits to fuel their own singular vision, and that is the basis of Deantoni Parks' debut album Technoself.
Parks is one of the finest drummers working today, displaying a sleek and intuitive balance between raw rhythmic physicality and machine-like precision. He can play on one hand what many great drummers could not achieve with two – which he does frequently. His skills have seen him perform with artists such as John Cale, Sade, The Mars Volta, Flying Lotus and his own boundary-pushing group KUDU, among others. Notable collaborations aside, Parks is an artist in his own right, constantly in motion and expanding towards something new.
On Technoself, you hear Parks totally in control. Three of the tracks were recorded live in a session at Dub Lab, the others in a studio. In his own words, "The sound result of Technoself is a digestion of sounds being refined, filtered, and re-arranged in the time period of the average thought." There are no overdubs or loops on this record. The sound is that of "segmented, split-second curated soundscapes atop a highway of refined, war-drum rhythms." The album plays out like a percussive crash course winding through Parks' diverse influences and moods, where the only constant is Deantoni's unmistakable sense of movement. In this case, the most important piece of technology turns out to be the human body.
***Deantoni Parks is Technoself***
The relationship between music and technology is always evolving ... but true music can not exist without a soul. Some extraordinary musicians augment their natural talents with technology, adopting its benefits to fuel their own singular vision, and that is the basis of Deantoni Parks' debut album Technoself.
Parks is one of the finest drummers working today, displaying a sleek and intuitive balance between raw rhythmic physicality and machine-like precision. He can play on one hand what many great drummers could not achieve with two – which he does frequently. His skills have seen him perform with artists such as John Cale, Sade, The Mars Volta, Flying Lotus and his own boundary-pushing group KUDU, among others. Notable collaborations aside, Parks is an artist in his own right, constantly in motion and expanding towards something new.
On Technoself, you hear Parks totally in control. Three of the tracks were recorded live in a session at Dub Lab, the others in a studio. In his own words, "The sound result of Technoself is a digestion of sounds being refined, filtered, and re-arranged in the time period of the average thought." There are no overdubs or loops on this record. The sound is that of "segmented, split-second curated soundscapes atop a highway of refined, war-drum rhythms." The album plays out like a percussive crash course winding through Parks' diverse influences and moods, where the only constant is Deantoni's unmistakable sense of movement. In this case, the most important piece of technology turns out to be the human body.
Shepherds (LP Release Show!)
The healing hand and surgeon’s scalpel are intertwined on Shepherds’ new album Insignificant Whip. The art-rock masterpiece encases the band’s vulnerable wisdom in flighty melodies that burn with intimacy and fragility as singer/lyricists Jonathan Merenivitch and Adrian Benedykt Świtoń address everything from toxic masculinity and Catholic guilt to Youtube comments and Tupac Shakur. Since their 2011 EP Holy Stain, the band have received accolades for their taut analyses of social ills and the resulting strain on body and mind, but even the skeletal no-wave that defined their early sound was bound with, in the broadest sense of the word, soul. The band’s ability to confront their deepest insecurities and doubts is more than simple catharsis, it serves to illuminate deeper questions of existence and identity, and frame them in context of systemic oppression, discrimination, and isolation.
The minimalism which guided Shepherds’ earlier work has evolved into lush, expansive compositions thanks to founding bassist Peter Cauthorn, who helped flesh out the LP’s identity as a core contributor to the album’s instrumental textures. Vocalist and drummer Świtoń also took on a central role in the recording process, contributing his voice and songwriting talents to the the album’s pensive hue, while new additions Ryan York (drums), May Tabol (guitar, keyboards), and Vinny Restivo (bass) round out the live band. Moments on Insignificant Whip recall everything from Felt to Josef K, but Shepherds have a keen ability to write post-punk which is modern and prescient rather than a simple homage to a particular era of underground music. The martial rhythms still echo with the proletariat fever of their 2015 LP Exit Youth, but now the lyrics are delivered over thrilling saxophone melodies and deliberative chords, making them all the more haunting, thanks to production from Drew Vandenburg (Toro Y Moi, Mothers, Of Montreal).
Throughout Insignificant Whip, the introspective nature of Shepherds is amplified by a holistic understanding of what it means to be human. The anxieties of adulthood, the teenage desires deferred, and the crushing weight of evil in the world are forged into vulnerable psalms. It’s precisely in these tear-stained moments that the album surpasses the encroaching anxiety as Shepherds invite the listener into a community which tempers the surrounding darkness and pushes back against oppression with resolute empathy.
The healing hand and surgeon’s scalpel are intertwined on Shepherds’ new album Insignificant Whip. The art-rock masterpiece encases the band’s vulnerable wisdom in flighty melodies that burn with intimacy and fragility as singer/lyricists Jonathan Merenivitch and Adrian Benedykt Świtoń address everything from toxic masculinity and Catholic guilt to Youtube comments and Tupac Shakur. Since their 2011 EP Holy Stain, the band have received accolades for their taut analyses of social ills and the resulting strain on body and mind, but even the skeletal no-wave that defined their early sound was bound with, in the broadest sense of the word, soul. The band’s ability to confront their deepest insecurities and doubts is more than simple catharsis, it serves to illuminate deeper questions of existence and identity, and frame them in context of systemic oppression, discrimination, and isolation.
The minimalism which guided Shepherds’ earlier work has evolved into lush, expansive compositions thanks to founding bassist Peter Cauthorn, who helped flesh out the LP’s identity as a core contributor to the album’s instrumental textures. Vocalist and drummer Świtoń also took on a central role in the recording process, contributing his voice and songwriting talents to the the album’s pensive hue, while new additions Ryan York (drums), May Tabol (guitar, keyboards), and Vinny Restivo (bass) round out the live band. Moments on Insignificant Whip recall everything from Felt to Josef K, but Shepherds have a keen ability to write post-punk which is modern and prescient rather than a simple homage to a particular era of underground music. The martial rhythms still echo with the proletariat fever of their 2015 LP Exit Youth, but now the lyrics are delivered over thrilling saxophone melodies and deliberative chords, making them all the more haunting, thanks to production from Drew Vandenburg (Toro Y Moi, Mothers, Of Montreal).
Throughout Insignificant Whip, the introspective nature of Shepherds is amplified by a holistic understanding of what it means to be human. The anxieties of adulthood, the teenage desires deferred, and the crushing weight of evil in the world are forged into vulnerable psalms. It’s precisely in these tear-stained moments that the album surpasses the encroaching anxiety as Shepherds invite the listener into a community which tempers the surrounding darkness and pushes back against oppression with resolute empathy.