Riverbed & Distort Lather:Angel of Pot/Bob Heavens

Boduf Songs December 2, 2008 The Cinemat Bloomington, IN Recorded by Ben Myers Stream/Download I snuck in somewhere around the first or second song and caught most of Boduf Songs.  I had to share it.  Apache Dropout and When We Might also played but I missed them both as I was closing Bloomingfoods dish pit that winter.  There might have been color, but my memory reproduces mostly black and white.

Devil's Night A*****e: Children of Scare-Midget/Angels of Pot October 30, 2007 Recorded at The Cinemat Angels of Pot: Last Tokes January 29, 2008 Recorded at the Werehouse Lather: Wash All the Time/Being Watched February 8, 2008 Recorded at the Werehouse Last Tokes Band: Last Tokes Release Prty September 29, 2008 Recorded at TD's CDs & LPs thx mkl All sounds recorded by Ben Myers CoSM=John Hardwick AoP on Devil's Night=nearly everyone at the Cinemat AoP's Last Tokes=Kray+Ben Lather=Ben LTB=Ben+Chris I've Been a Body by Jandek I Fall by The Damned Stream/Download Devil's Night, for me, marked the defined and impending end of the Angels of Pot.  I didn't want it to end; it was a bad relationship of broken promises and half-hearted attempts at working together but my hopes were attached to my perspective, so to speak, and the project ran on like a well meaning and rather informative, though annoying, sentence.  Children of Scare-Midget captivated the house and let me be honest it was fucking amazing.  Angels came forth...and the only word which has ever come to mind was clusterfuck.  It got to the point where I stood silently and watched the chaos and questioned the necessity of my colleagues' actions.  At one point the Baron raised his own keyboard to his chest and dropped it, but I didn't hear it then and I won't hear it on the recording, because the sound in that room was piercing and pipe-smashing.  Some things got destroyed or assisted along on their paths towards imminent death.  I walked outside and listed to the sounds beyond the wall and was sad.  When it was over Justin, a supporter throughout, accidentally said it best... The Last Tokes tape is something I forgot about, found, and decided to release as it was the last recorded work from the Angels of Pot.  I also find it enjoyable, which is odd that our final moments would be pleasant. I nearly walked out or stopped practices or performances before.  I did walk out once, but returned.  The mob was too large for me to even approach without an outburst, the thought of which made me uncomfortable.  I released these on recycled cassettes wrapped in butcher's paper covered in art by myself and some accidental help by Oliver.  The artwork was a drawing I did, printed then painted by hand.  The cassette box is blinding, and the cassette enclosed has been scaled and painted and is sure to remind you of kind bud.  The sounds enclosed will hold you static like the hardest resin hit that lasts eternity.  Each tape is slightly different in artwork, extraneous sounds and price which of course was $42.00/lb. This Lather track is most closely related to the artwork for the Last Tokes cassette, thus included. Paranoid, indeed. For the "Release Prty" for the tape, Chris, Janice and I prepared snacks and crap including some sort of "pan-meat" (as in "all/any") dip...that tasted good.  We had deviled eggs with olive halos as well.  We listened to the tape and Chris and I performed two cover songs "which the Angels of Pot would have written if they had the capacity to write songs."  It was certainly an intimate event.

Jenny is a Boy Dust From 1000 Yrs May 23, 2008 Mike's House Bloomington, IN Recorded by Ben Myers Stream/Download This was the party which was Mike's first party as full host, and from what I remember it went well.  There was an odd little alcove in the basement with an anti-stage and I think a fireplace where Ben stood on a stage above the pit, as it were.  The quality of this recording (as well as the excellent setlist) is rather swell, and other than the fact that Tony Lowry sat close to the microphone (giving us a very clear recording of his opinionated voice), this recording is probably perfect.  A great example of a frontman telling his audience to "shut the fuck up" and pay attention.  There was an upstairs if you didn't give a shit, but if you didn't you must be a dick. Speaking of dicks, I got really drunk and somehow managed to make it home safely, but only recorded one full song and two halves of Jenny's.  I got a sweet field recording of outside the party, though.  Probably on my way out. Also, Hot Fighter #1 were supposed to perform.  Listen to the show to find out why they did not.

Smut June 11, 2009 The Sauce Box Bloomington, IN Recorded by Ben Myers Stream/Download This show marked the tenth of Smut: Justin Rhody and Keith Wright, of Friends & Relatives Records. This was a huge show and if you want to know about the rest of it you can check it out on Facebook but I'm only going to talk about Smut because I really showed up, they played, and I then left.  I shared a rare cigarette with perhaps Nathan Warrick and talked about being a dad.  I had worked that day and wanted to catch at least Smut.  I was pleased to find that they were next, and I meandered the odd party for a few minutes then planted myself close enough to feel the drums and inserted my earplugs.  Even those were not enough.  If you listen to this you will find yourself turning the volume down repeatedly and still having pain in your ears.  Justin, in an attempt fix some reverb issue I couldn't even hear (due to the massive sound spikes reaching in every pore), left his strings to sit and sing in and out of themselves.  The duo touched a softer side of Smut rarely seen, which in this case means they play in a moderate tempo with a plodding, stoned pulse.  Overall the experience was great fun, and I'm glad I have this to share for the 11th year in Smut.  There's another show since then I have to dig out eventually at Dylan's place with Liturgy, Hail and OS.  Sweet.  I hope you're excited.

drekka OS lather. December 2, 2007 The Waldron Firebay Bloomington, IN Recorded by Ben Myers Stream/Download Sweet show.  I opened up with snares a blaring placed spectacularly in front of the huge Peavey cabinet.  The focus was on resonating the snare and then the entire room.  Did I mention I also like dynamic changes?  OS was fairly subdued for the evening, a slow study on guitar strings with a sliding pitch mass much like some of Ligeti's works.  I think Hien was in the group back then, and I was always slightly mystified in terms of what sound he produced.  I'm pretty positive the high frequencies which sound like feedback are him.  They do a nice rolling thundercloud interpretation towards the end.  drekka pulled out the piano kept in the Firebay and put a mic in it through his trademarked drekka pedal, also playing a recording done previously.  His performance was a slow reflection on David Bowie's Subterraneans (off Low) which I am not familiar with even after 2.5 years.  I found they have it at MCPL so I'll be changing that.  If you like what you hear then you might be interested to know that you can purchase a remixed (with the prerecorded portion) Subterraneans 3" CD-R over at RC Legacy, home of the incredible Ben & Bruno.  If you missed A Hard History you should be sore at yourself.

OS Nux Vomica Hail Architeuthis! September 29, 2009 The Bishop Bloomington, IN Recorded by Ben Myers Stream/Download I recall this show being tons of fun.  That is, except for those dicks who kept talking loudly (but luckily not during a band's set) about some joke band they were going to start called Butt Piss.  I bet they'd blow if any of them even played instruments.  Wait they're playing in a thunderstorm today at the skate park.  Totally going. Hail opened up and ripped through "Herald the Harbinger...", interrupted slightly when a member of Nux Vomica tripped on a cable and unplugged Bruce's gear.  Nux Vomica owned the night, though.  They played three epic thrashy black metal songs before breaking a bass string and realizing they didn't have a spare and that neither Hail nor OS currently had a bassist. OS clawed a void open in the room and sucked the light to a point. Ryan and Adam plus tapes for that evening. Highly recommended.