Fields of Industry - Trouble House

Trouble House is a rock 'n' roll record. It merges the competing halves of Fields of Industry that have been festering under the surface for a few years now: that of reverberated bliss and rock 'n' roll darkness. Fields goes all out, with a fuller sound, a more fervent dedication to something-or-other, and a recklessness that is at once tears and teeth-gnashing.

Watch for tour dates from Fields, briefly in late July, and then more shows in the fall. Arts vs Entertainment is proud to issue a short run of the disc, available on Fields' site. The album is also available at digital outlets including iTunes, and emusic

Have a listen!

Joshua Barton Brooklyn, NY 9/5/2009

In observation of the ongoing tradition to release something (anything) musical on my birthday, I offer here the audio & video of some backyard tunes recorded in Brooklyn in September of 2009. Though the video makes it look like I was pretty lonely out there in the dark, I was in fact joined by dozens of good friends, and hosted by the generous Gina Pensiero at her 50/50 Space (aka her basement and/or backyard). Gina gives of herself to music in many cool ways, including her band and her blog. Getting to participate in her ongoing monthly series of shows was a fantastic experience, and it was only the beginning of what turned out to be a fantastic night.

Special thanks for this release go out to Dax Monta & Graham Mason for recording it, and doubly to Dax for bringing the final recordings together as a package. I was joined on mandolin for a few tunes by Tristan Dreisbach. Matt Richman helped out with editing.

Download the audio here.

Watch the video here.

Tracks:

1. Introduction

2. I've Got Something To Say To You

3. We'll Always Have The Oasis

4. Going Home

5. Don't Stay Away (Till Love Grows Cold) [Lefty Frizzell]

6. I'll Fly Away [Albert E. Brumley]

7. Eugenia

8. Ypsilanti Is Seething

9. Sick Of America

10. Unknown Legend [Neil Young]

11. Point Of Contention

12. Pillaged Land

13. Roll Another Number (For The Road) [Neil Young]

14. I've Seen A Light

Hospital Garden - Hospital Garden

AvE has been dormant too long. Leave it to this loud Chicago-by-way-of-Dayton trio to wake us up. Remember Hospital Garden? The post-Bear Mountain Picnic solo demo project of Lucas Hollow? Well those sketches are now a full fledged reality and Hospital Garden are three rather than one.

Hospital Garden is a team. An angry, righteous squad of rock n' roll with roots of influence extending down deep into the 1980s when their ears were very young, but not unreceptive. They are blistering guitar, bass and drums led by Lucas Hollow's feverish lyrical mumble, always seeming on the verge of exploding -  the tried and true power trio, in lock-step, on a mission to blow up power chords in such effective time-tested methods that it all sounds new again.

They are a streak of pop core wrapped in the unassuming dirty frustration of an era when Reagan anguish had yielded to resigned Reagan fatigue, and something we all should have seen coming around again having just said goodbye to Bush II. Lucas, Sarah & Ian are re-exemplifying the rebellious good that was at the heart of what became labelled "alternative" before all of that rose to the braindead, cashcow top of college radio and Teen Spirit.

But Hospital Garden are not a historical reenactment of the alternative scene. They are diligent students of what has come before, but with a new vision for resistance - resisting the temptation to disintegrate into weirdness, incoherence and fake frame glasses like all your favorite Pitchforkers. Resisting the temptation to be boring and lame. These kids wear real glasses. Use real guitars. A true alternative to that which presently dominates our attention strapped ears and eyeballs.

If Guided By Voices and the Lemonheads were pop music prophets, then Hospital Garden is the new voice in the wilderness and their self titled work is the call to repentance from all your hip nonchalance in 2010. Purchase it at CD Baby or wait for it to show up on iTunes, Amazon, etc. in the coming weeks.

http://www.myspace.com/hospitalgarden

Save Me From the Gallup Poll – Kawgooshkanick & Brain Eraser

After a long pause, SMFTGP returns with two decidedly different approaches, both documented nearly a year ago.

First up is Kawgooshkanick, an electric swamp of half-rotted, eel-infested compost muck. Lurk in the bogs of a post-civilized river valley, home to mysterious tribes of telepathic warrior kings whose vengeance broods stealth beneath slime-covered waters. Get it here. 

Next comes Brain Eraser, an audio testament to the power-mantra of matter over mind. Like an awful, cheap beer buzz – no high, no motor skills. Just dull thuds followed by high frequency flares, swirling in the cavernous hole that once housed your consciousness. Download this one and move it directly to your PC’s trash bin. Get it here. 

Physical releases planned by year’s end. Pre-order yours tomorrow!

Long Tones - Christ In The New World

Long Tones is the amateur-clarinet and drone project of Joshua Barton that provided the screech and squawk in the soul-grinding Instant Headache collaboration with Save Me From The Gallup Poll. LT's solo short player establishes an entirely different sound of ambient delirium. Christ In The New World is based on a half-realized concept of Jesus Christ visiting the State of Michigan in a mashup of The Grand Inquisitor and Mad Max. But of course you wouldn't know that unless we told you. LT drops two blurry, live-tracked pieces of shifting headspace; the first centered on clarinet and voice, the second consisting of manipulated vinyl.
Download it.
Art by Graham.

Joshua Barton - Thanks, I Missed You, Too

One year ago yesterday, Fields of Industry dropped Two Dogs, A Television and held a release show in Ann Arbor the following evening in conjunction with FoI singer/songwriter Joshua Barton's birthday. Joshua turns another year older today and thanks the world for another successful year of staying alive with a solo record, Thanks, I Missed You, Too. Operating under his own name, Joshua allows himself to endulge in playful combinations of ambient sample assemblage, country gospel, new folk and the buzzy shoegaze sound that FoI has occasionally employed. In other words, Joshua gets to do all the stuff he's done before, but this time he does it all at once. Thanks... is an effort to reach an empathetic hand to Michigan with the hard-times resignation often employed by FoI, but here it's with a strangely up-key touch. Drawing upon recordings from 2005 to 2009, this was edited and compiled in 48 hours under the intense urge to get something done, an urge that Joshua hopes is contagious.
Get it here. Or over at the JB Bandcamp site.

Tracks 8 & 9 excluded from CC License.

Product

Straight outta the 20th century, AvE jumps into the material realm with physical releases to collect dust, scratch and get chewed by yr tape deck.

The first is "Swat Team Extractions (There Goes the Neighborhood)," a brand new set from the AvE Ensemble on the Bare Wire Technologies label, home to such AvE favorites as Confusion Reactor, Flussig and Psyhcoptic Occlusion.

Label description: "Swat Team Extractions puts the fear into everyday living. Hear the police scanners emitting sirens and the 80s horror flick suburban neighborhood sounds scraping through to fill your head with paranoia. Reminds a bit of PKD future world where things seem normal on the thin surface until the weirdness creeps into your central nervous system. But that's just one interpretation of this amazing album of out there sounds. Make your own! Edition of 20."

Order it from Bare Wire Technologies

Second is a cassette release of AvE 018 - Save Me From the Gallup Poll's debut recording. 40+ minutes of wandering electronics previously available only as a digital download. Edition of 10. $6 includes postage in the U.S. Email artsvsentertainment@gmail.com to order.

More to come, and soon.

AvE punks Coldplay

As anyone who spent their Sunday evening waiting to find out if the Arts Vs. Entertainment Ensemble won a grammy for Best Album in a Drone/Noise/or Improvisational Motif already knows, we totally tagged Chris Martin's piano right before he hit the stage with Hova. Maybe next year he'll accept our invitation for a collab. What we wouldn't give to remix one of those arpeggiated major chords.

Save Me From the Gallup Poll + Long Tones - Instant Headache

AvE's resident eardrum-destruction rookie and freshman reed shredder/live-action sample scrambler collab for a batch of free trial-size concussions.
Get it here.

Guyz Nyte - Incensed

The Guyz' are paid a visit by the ghost of shamans' past during this sickening spirit dream of atmospheric wonk and loungey noise. Tone generator/feedback wrangler JB was out of action for close to a week after hot-boxing these infernal fumes, and string mangler EG swears he never played half the notes on this record. A spooky mix of lusty aimlessness and wrathful burn fit for adult contemporary radio in the first few circles of hell.
Get it here.

Guyz Nyte - Awesome Blocked

Two dudes take a giant piss into the abyss after a day of missed connections and endless fragmentation. First up, a womb re-entry primer of trancing pulses and embryonic drone with J.B. on guitar and E.G. on EQ knobs. Next, a fake jazz demolition hymn with E.G. on guitar and J.B. spinning skronk into gold. Guyz 1, Universe 0. To be continued …

Get it here.

AvE New Year's Live Megablitz 2009

Starting the year out right with sets from Save Me From The Gallup Poll and Long Tones.

Save Me From The Gallup Poll (Eric)


Long Tones (Joshua)

Fields of Industry at Mittenfest III

Dec. 26-28 at the Elbow Room in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
See the full schedule here.

Guyz Nyte ft. Oscilabot - Domino's Effect

In preparation of the transcendent freedom jazz experience of live
Flatlands Collective, the Guyz order a pie and invite reclusive
synth-smasher Oscilabot over for a pre-game of hot mozzarella and
cold-war tension soundscaping. Liberation guitar marches, electronic
missile commands and mixing console standoffs ripple through this
live-to-tape-deck sizzler. Says one hard-to-impress collaborator on
the playback en route to the main event, "This is actually pretty
good."
Get it here.