Sunday, November 15, 2009

Brains in Danger - Memories of the Future EP



EGS005: Brains in Danger - Memories of the Future EP

*Updated link 5/26/2011*

If you read the last post, and/or downloaded the BID demo, you should have a pretty good idea of where we were coming from. We played a LOT of shows in Boston/New England (and once, MAYBE twice, in NYC) and actually developed a little bit of a fanbase. All of these live commitments sorta crippled my songwriting abilities, but somehow we managed to get by playing more-or-less the same set of songs for a while. Eventually the decision was made to do a new, better recording. This time we decided to stay comfortable, and we recorded the bulk of the Memories of the Future EP live in our practice space, with Richard from 1986 working the laptop. Lead guitar (HA!) and synthesizer overdubs were done at Richard's house in Brighton. Then he moved to Somerville and did the mixing and mastering. In my opinion it sounds great. Two of these songs were 'new' (Atlantis was actually the first song I wrote for BID and a version exists on that DFJ demo..) and two of them were remakes from the demo. Memories of the Future is my favorite song that I wrote with BID, and I think it foreshadows my work with Healing Feeling nicely. Okay, I don't know what the fuck I just wrote..looks like I might be starting to take this blog a little too seriously :) Anyways, I think it was while we were making this EP that I decided to move to Brooklyn, and we played our last show (with Universal Monster Series, Shark & Bear, and Permanent Damage) before we had a chance to release it.

Track Listing:
1. The Dream Traveller
2. Atlantis
3. Memories of the Future
4. Marijuanaut
Brains in Danger - Memories of the Future by electrickgypsyservice

download: sendspace

Friday, November 13, 2009

Brains in Danger - Demo


EGS004: Brains in Danger - Demo

*UPDATED LINK 5/26/2011*
Another long post here, please bear with me! Brains in Danger was the first serious band that I played guitar with. The band was formed in late March of 2002 in order to play a show at the Berwick Institute in Boston, MA that Chris Strunk was setting up that coincided with my 21st birthday that year. The original lineup featured Seth Olanksy on drums, A.R. Plovnick playing Seth's Wayne's World II edition Stratocaster, and DFJ on Bass. We played 3 REALLY loud instrumental-psych jams featuring a weird mix of breakbeat drumming and echo-heavy feedback guitar on a bill featuring some local hardcore bands and IO from Pittsburgh (sorry I forgot the lineup! If you remember, leave a comment!!). Our second show was a week or two later with more local hardcore bands as well as Ampere & Das Oath. After that we recorded a demo to 1/2" 8 track tape in a nameless loft in Providence, RI. I still have the 1/2" tape, but I don't know the current whereabouts of the cassette tape master, so that demo will have to wait for another posting. Anyways, shortly after that, Justin left the band to focus on his drumming with about a billion different hardcore bands (I remember showing up to practice at his house one time just as the dudes from Mental were leaving haha).
Seth and I decided to carry on with the band, and his friend Steve Lord joined on the bass. This would prove to be the 'classic' lineup, and we moved into a practice space in Allston, MA. At some point, Karen Tsiakals joined to play synthesizer, but this lineup never really gelled and after a couple gigs she moved on to form UV Protection and we were back to the trio lineup. This lineup would head into Studio B @ AI New England/Masscomm to record a demo as a project for one of my classes. This was my first project behind the board of anything bigger than 4 tracks, and it proved to be a challenge trying to engineer and perform, but with the help of my great friend Ed 'Butch' Galka, we managed to get it done. Included as a bonus track in this download is a FANTASTIC remix of 'The Drifter" done by Brendan 'B-Side' Long (of Ryker Vs. Bear) fame.

Track Listing:
1. Glass Eye
2. The Drifter
3. The Dream Traveller
4. Mushroom Heater
5. Marijuanaut
6. The Drifter (B-Side remix)*
Brains in Danger - The Drifter (B-Sides remix) by electrickgypsyservice

download: sendspace

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Burl Dushkin - Mythology '82-'89

EGS003: Burl Dushkin - Mythology '82-'89

*LINK UPDATED 5/26/2011*
I've got a long story today, but it's worth the read, I promise! On the first gorgeous day of the spring of 2003, I went for a walk around Chandler Pond in Brighton, MA with my girlfriend at the time. On our way back to Foster Terrace, we passed a house with a cardboard box on the curb with FREE STUFF written on the side in permanent marker. My curiousity got the better of me, and I decided to take a peak inside. The first thing I saw was a factory-sealed cassette tape of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young's greatest hits compilation, So Far. I never could figure out why somebody would have that tape and not open it, but I was happy to take it. But this was not the greatest treasure in the box...there was also a cassette tape and two CDs featuring the music of a mysterious cat named Burl Dushkin. Well, I have a soft spot for found letters/art/etc, so I was pretty excited about listening to some found music. And the music was good! The cassette was comprised of three instrumental songs. According to the scribbles on the J-card, ol' Burl played all the instruments (electric guitar, drum machine program, and an impressive array of now-vintage analog synthesizers) and it was recorded at his home studio in Arlington, MA in the fall of 1982. Although there were song titles and credits scribbled on the insert, there was no cover art. Maybe it was a demo intended for record labels, but I can't find any information online. The first CD was labeled 'A Light Interruption E.P.' but otherwise also lacking in artwork. These four songs were recorded in Arlington during 1987, it seems by this time Dushkin had abandoned the guitars altogether in favor of digital keyboards and sound effects. It's all sequenced as one track and this stuff is A LOT weirder than the tape, but some of it is pretty accessible, and overall the quality of the production seems to have increased since he made the tape in '82. The final CD only has one song on it, and its pretty much more of the same as the Light Interruption EP...digital synths, programmed drums, stereo effects and more weirdness. Although this doesnt appear to be an official release (the credits were handwritten again), this one finally had some artwork (which I reused for the cover of this compiltion). Recorded in 1989, it seems Dushkin had moved to Newton by this point (which may explain why I found the box in Brighton) but otherwise it was business as usual. Ironically, I grew up in Newton and I was probably playing with Go-Bots nearby while this song was being recorded. While it's not surprising that Burl never found any mainstream success, I am a little bit perplexed that I cannot find ANY information about him beyond what was in the box. Burl -- if you're out there, please get in touch!

Track Listing:
1. Dushkin Sound
2. A Song for Cyrus
3. One Scenario (Love Synth)
4. A Light Interruption E.P.
-A Light Interruption (pt. 1)
-Effervescent Bloodbath
-Here Comes the Downpour
-A Light Interruption (pt. 2)
5. Anxier Malk (Section 1A)
Burl Dushkin - Song for Cyrus Faryar by electrickgypsyservice

download: sendspace

Monday, November 9, 2009

Healing Feeling - 2007 Demo + Rehearsal tracks

EGS002: Healing Feeling - s/t

*UPDATED LINK 6/30/10*
Healing Feeling formed in the summer of 2006 with six members and broke up in the summer of 2007 with four members. We made this demo in Boston and I think we made 100 copies or so. Features the classics of our set at the time pretty much. Members went on to play with D.B.C.R., Maar, Naam, Set & Setting, and others. Heavy instrumentals with a bit of synth experimentation thrown in for good measure.


Track Listing:
1. Invocation
2. Off the Coast
3. Concious Evolution
Healing Feeling - Conscious Evolution by electrickgypsyservice

download: sendspace

EGS0002.5: Healing Feeling - Rehearsal Tape (02/07)

It's kinda funny to have bonus tracks for a demo but Adam found a rehearsal tape of the songs from the demo plus a couple unreleased tunes and the sound quality doesn't totally suck and the performances kinda smoke, so we used a little scribble that Mike made for a cover. Dig it.

Track Listing:
1. Invocation/Off the Coast
2. Smells Like Victory/Sea of Tranquility
3. Concious Evolution

download: sendspace

Sunday, November 8, 2009

A.R. Plovnick - Stuck Behind a Bus 2008 tour ep

EGS001: A.R. Plovnick - Stuck Behind a Bus (summer tour promo 2008)

In the summer of 2008, I booked a few weekend getaways around the east coast to play some music. Not wanting to go out empty-handed (and still waiting for my DVD to be released on Insect Fields), I decided to put together a little promo cd-r to hand out. The cover was drawn by my good friend Zazz, inspired partly by my live show, and partly from an experience we shared together. Female Finger also appears on the DVD (and below), the other two songs are exclusive to this release. While cleaning my room the other day, I found that I still have a few copies left. If you would like a physical copy, please get in touch.

Track Listing:
1. Black Cloud Meets the Rainbow Man
2. Female Finger
3. Stuck Behind a Bus on the Road to God



download: sendspace