Years End

Isabel & Burger, Haley, Ka in North Philly at the Bardo Pond compound, 11/17/17.

Circuit Des Yeux has returned from our first leg of touring in support of the new Drag City full-length, Reaching For Indigo, which was, simply stated, a superlative experience. It is always a great joy to find myself in these scenarios, creating music with immensely talented and wonderful people, enjoying each other’s company along the way. I would like to highlight Ka Baird as being an absolutely inspirational figure on this outing who routinely blew our minds with her singular, empowering solo work. If you haven’t given her 2017 LP Sapropelic Pycnic a spin, go check it out now! Lastly, thanks to everyone who made it out – we’ll see the rest of you in 2018 in the US, Europe and beyond…below are the CDY dates for the first quarter of 2018…more to come:

01.19.18 – Los Angeles, CA – Resident
01.20.18 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
01.21.18 – Santa Rosa, CA – Atlas Coffee Company
01.23.18 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
01.24.18 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
01.25.18 – Boise, ID – The Olympic
01.26.18 – Salt Lake City, UT – Diabolical Records
01.27.18 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
01.28.18 – Phoenix, AZ – LBX
02.06.18 – Geneva, CH – Festival Antigel
02.07.18 – Baden, CH – One of a Million Festival
02.08.18 – Heidelberg, DE – Karlstorbahnhof
02.09.18 – Berlin, DE – Kantine am Berghain
02.10.18 – Copenhagen, DK – Vinterjazz
02.12.18 – Eupen, BE – Galerie Vorn und Oben
02.13.18 – Brighton, UK – ACCA
02.14.18 – London, UK – The Lexington
02.15.18 – Gent, BE – Vooruit
02.16.18 – Paris, FR – Espace B
02.17.18 – Rotterdam, NL – Worm
02.19.18 – Amsterdam, NL – Muziekgebouw
02.20.18 – Koln, DE – Gewolbe
02.21.18 – Luxembourg, LU – Rotondes

Speaking of shows, I have two more in the calendar year in Bloomington, including a killer hit with deep homies Bitchin’ Bajas (touring in support of their righteous new double platter, Bajas Fresh), as well as the FINAL Magnetic South Revue at the house December 22nd:

– Saturday, December 2nd – Open Sex w/ Bitchin’ Bajas @ The Blockhouse (201 S. College Ave.), Bloomington, IN

– Friday, December 22nd – Open Sex w/ Circuit Des Yeux, The Bills @ Final Magnetic South Revue @ Magnetic South (1305 S. Madison St.), Bloomington, IN

On an unrelated note, Bill Meyer penned a nice lil review of Manas – III (Dorji/Nguyen/Damon out earlier this year on Feeding Tube) over at Still Single for the uninitiated:

Forthcoming releases on the horizon:

Tashi Dorji & Tyler Damon – Leave No Trace: Live In St. Louis LP (Family Vineyard)
Tashi Dorji & Tyler Damon – TBA cassette (Magnetic South)
Thee Open Sex – White Horses LP (Magnetic South / Sophomore Lounge)
Kuzu (Dorji / Damon / Rempis) – Hiljaisuus LP (Astral Spirits)

See you next year…

November 25, 2017   [permalink]   Bill Meyer, Circuit Des Yeux, Discography, Drag City, Duo, Family Vineyard, Feeding Tube, Ka Baird, Live, Magnetic South, Manas, Manas Trio, Review, Sophomore Lounge, Tashi Dorji, Thee Open Sex, Thom Nguyen, tour, Trio

Home from tour and looking forward w/ Circuit des Yeux…

Circuit des Yeux – Reaching For Indigo out October 20th, 2017.

Greetings all,

I’m back home after one of the finest outings I’ve taken with my guitar-wielding comrade Tashi Dorji. As usual I cannot thank everyone enough for the immense generosity and support we received along the way – thank you all so much.

Unfortunately, we did not receive our new trio CD Release on Austria’s Trost w/ Danish-via-Norway saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, To the Animal Kingdom, in time for our tour but they have finally touched down in the US and I will have copies in-person and on Bandcamp in due time. Stewart Smith wrote of our new disc in Wire Magazine recently, noting that:

“Head-shaking and fist-pumping opportunities abound with this bodacious live set […] that’s not to say To The Animal Kingdom is some dumb slab of noise-bro skronk; this trio balance free jazz dynamism and industrial clatter with textural soundwork and a keen sense of space.”

Additionally, Tashi & I’s new duo LP, Leave No Trace: Live In St. Louis, is currently being pressed and will be available December 8th – preorder it now from Family Vineyard. We’re down to the final copies of our debut, Both Will Escape, so snatch one up if you feel so inclined. Feeding Tube are also moving copies of our recent trio LP w/ Thom Nguyen, Manas – III, check ’em out…

If you were unable to catch us on tour, Deathwave TV captured a full set from our Bloomington, IN date at Magnetic South on Tashi’s birthday:

I’m very excited to hit the road in November with Circuit des Yeux in support of the new Drag City release Reaching For Indigo, out 10/20/17. Haley & I have been friends for years and I’m overjoyed to reconnect creatively and to have been invited to join CDY on tour. Two singles featuring my drum work, “Black Fly” and “Paper Bag,” have been premiered and you can check them each out below along with tour dates for the first leg of Reaching For Indigo performances (all dates supported by the inimitable Ka Baird):

– Friday, November 10th – Circuit des Yeux @ Trinosophes (1646 Gratiot Ave.), Detroit, MI

– Saturday, November 11th – Circuit des Yeux @ The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St W), Toronto, ON

– Sunday, November 12th – Circuit des Yeux @ Bar Le “Ritz” P.D.B. (179 Rue Jean-Talon-Ouest), Montréal, QC

– Monday, November 13th – Circuit des Yeux @ Great Scott (1222 Commonwealth Ave.), Allston, MA

– Tuesday, November 14th – Circuit des Yeux @ AS220 (115 Empire St.), Providence, RI

– Wednesday, November 15th – Circuit des Yeux @ Rough Trade NYC (64 N. 9th St.), Brooklyn, NY

– Thursday, November 16th – Circuit des Yeux @ Johnny Brenda’s (1201 Frankford Ave.), Philadelphia, PA

– Saturday, November 18th – Circuit des Yeux @ Schuba’s, Lincoln Hall (2424 N. Lincoln Ave.), Chicago, IL

October 2, 2017   [permalink]   Circuit Des Yeux, Deathwave TV, Discography, Drag City, Duo, Family Vineyard, Feeding Tube, Live, Manas, Manas Trio, Mette Rasmussen, Reaching For Indigo, Stewart Smith, Tashi Dorji, Thom Nguyen, tour, Trio, Trost, Video, Wire Magazine

Dorji / Damon September 2017 tour + other dates

Tour poster by Xerox the Kidd.

Tashi & I are headed out on TOUR again in September in support of 3 new recordings:

MANAS – “III” (Feeding Tube, FTR-330)
Mette Rasmussen/ Tashi Dorji/ Tyler Damon – “To The Animal Kingdom” (Trost, TR167)
Tashi Dorji & Tyler Damon – “Leave No Trace: Live in St. Louis” (Family Vineyard, FV103)

Though I’ve mentioned the trio releases in previous posts, the new duo LP, “Leave No Trace,” is a kind of sister release to last year’s “Both Will Escape” recorded live in-the-studio for an audience last November in St. Louis (coming this Autumn on Family Vineyard). Check out the DISCOGRAPHY page for more info on these releases.

This outing promises to usher in more collaborative possibilities for Tashi & I, namely the FREEZING BLACK RAIN quintet (Dorji & Damon + Heart of the Ghost a.k.a. Luke Stewart/Jarrett Gilgore/Ian McColm) & a trio with Chicago’s Dave Rempis.

Other upcoming dates:

– Friday, August 11th – solo w/ Rob Noyes (Boston), Alexander (New Haven) @ Magnetic South (1305 S. Madison St.), Bloomington, IN

– Saturday, August 12th – Open Sex w/ Honey Radar (Philadelphia), The Cowboys @ The Blockhouse (201 S. College Ave.), Bloomington, IN

– Saturday, August 19th – solo @ secret solar eclipse party, Perryville, MO

August 3, 2017   [permalink]   Discography, Duo, Family Vineyard, Feeding Tube, Freezing Black Rain, Ian McColm, Jarrett Gilgore, Live, Luke Stewart, Manas, Manas Trio, Mette Rasmussen, quintet, Tashi Dorji, Thom Nguyen, tour, Trio, Trost, Xerox the Kidd

Summer Updates

Live at Mahall’s, Cleveland, OH. Photo by Rob Galo.

Tashi Dorji & I hit the road in late-March/early-April for a string of dates leading to and from our residency at the Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City. We recorded a great deal of material during our days-long session at Flat Black Studios in Lone Tree, Iowa with engineer/proprietor Luke Tweedy at the helm. Special thanks to Luke & Chris Wiersema for their efforts in making the residency come together in such a fantastic and accommodating way. It was truly sublime and rejuvenating to spend the week at Flat Black observing the transition from Winter to Spring across the undulating flatlands, ringing in the new season daily through hours of unencumbered playing. I’m grateful for the opportunity. Many thanks also to everyone who helped our tour dates come together; as always we were humbled to be treated so well, so often, by so many golden human beings.

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Dave Rempis and I also got together in late-April for some duo action at the one-and-only Spot Tavern in Lafayette. Indiana. Here’s a clip from one of our two sets captured by Tom Burris:

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Poster by Aaron Denton.

Additionally, (Thee) Open Sex has a short tour on the horizon (several of which include our Asheville psychedelic-compatriots, Acid Reign) for the first time in years. Here are the confirmed hits:

– Tuesday, June 13th – Open Sex w/ Lather Sommer Duo, Amy O, Rays (Oakland) @ Magnetic South (1305 S. Madison St.), Bloomington, IN

– Thursday, June 15th – Open Sex @ Terrapin Station (920 S. 12th St.), Murray, KY

– Friday, June 16th – Open Sex @ Far Out Nashville @ The East Room (2412 Gallatin Ave.), Nashville, TN

– Saturday, June 17th – Open Sex, duo w/ Thom Nguyen w/ Acid Reign @ All Go West Festival, West Asheville, NC

– Sunday, June 18th – Open Sex w/ Psychic Baos @ The Pilot Light (106 E. Jackson Ave.), Knoxville, TN

– Monday, June 19th – Open Sex w/ Jason Lescalleet (Berwick, ME), Acid Reign @ The Lazy Diamond (98-A Lexington Ave.), Asheville, NC

– Tuesday, June 20th – Open Sex w/ Acid Reign @ Neptune’s Parlour (14 W. Martin St.), Raleigh, NC

See you out there…

Open Sex also recently released a split cassette with Bloomington’s Lather Sommer Duo in a limited 100-tape run. Tony Conrad is an inspiration to us all and the tape is, loosely speaking, a tribute to Tony. Listen and download/order the cassette HERE. The tape is also available in Bloomington at Landlocked Music and TDs CDs and LPs. As a side note, if you haven’t yet had the chance to view the stunning documentary “Tony Conrad: Completely In The Present,” I highly recommend it. Tyler Hubby did an excellent job in presenting the legacy and spirit of this still-underrated giant.

Collage by Alex Cunningham. Original photo by Frederick Eberstadt.

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Next up, Yoke has its first new release of 2017, YO-05. This time around we have an untitled one-off trio of NYC’s Daniel Carter on reeds & trumpet with Muyassar Kurdi on vocals, movements & electronics joined by yours truly on drums & percussion. Recorded with a handheld at a cavernous dance cooperative in Ridgewood, Queens one afternoon last Summer, this is a raw document unlike much else in my catalog. My intention was to have this one out sooner but it looks like I should have copies in hand by June. More to come…

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Keeping in line with the tape theme, Tashi & I’s cassette on Astral Spirits, 2016’s “Live At The Spot +1,” was recently reviewed by one of my favorite shops in the country, Deep Thoughts in Jamaica Plain, Boston on their Cassette Gods blog. Check it out HERE. I sincerely appreciate reading that my playing is “beatifically disorienting and hypnotic and evocative of animal rutting and fighting and writhing…” Thanks Cassette Gods! This tape is now out-of-print but I’ll bet you can find one if you look hard enough…

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Manas “III” artwork by Bill Nace.

Tashi & I also have another LP on the horizon, this time as MANAS w/ drummer-and-homie-extraordinaire Thom Nguyen. To be fair and accurate, I’m actually the guest on this one as Thom & Tashi have been ripping it up in duo style as MANAS for many years now. The new LP, entitled III, is the follow-up to 2015’s self-titled LP on Florence, Mass’ Feeding Tube Records. Test presses have been approved and this one should see the light of day soon, also via Feeding Tube…

Lastly, Tashi & I will be going on tour again this September in support of the aforementioned releases (and some still unmentioned), concluding with 2017’s Cropped Out Festival, arguably my favorite fest anywhere. Dates and details coming soon…but in the meantime, GET STOKED on that Cropped Out lineup! – T

May 28, 2017   [permalink]   Acid Reign, Cassette Gods, Cropped Out, Cropped Out Festival, Daniel Carter, Dave Rempis, Discography, Duo, Feeding Tube, Live, Manas, MIssion Creek Festival, Muyassar Kurdi, Open Sex, Recording, Residency, Review, Tashi Dorji, Thee Open Sex, Thom Nguyen, tour, Trio, Video, Yoke