NEIGHBORHOOD CHOIR/WOOD STOVE

GIANT CLOUD

2010-03-23T17:57:00.007-04:00

Pictured here is the band Giant Cloud, hailing from New Orleans and one of my favorite groups of people ever. We met while Toy Soldiers toured the south in early January, and we headed to New Orleans to play a show at the Circle Bar. Here we were lucky enough to catch Ben & Julie (the two in front) playing an acoustic thing as we loaded in. We all had a few beers together but then sadly had to split.

Shortly after our second HUGE snowstorm here in Philadelphia, we played with them again at the Fire. They played one of the most beautiful sets I've heard in a long, long time to a room of about 15 people. I then found out that they had been in our lovely city for the previous 2 weeks, living and tracking their new album at Bill Moriarty/Dr. Dog's studio "American Diamond". It was the last day of tracking, and they had run out of time...still needing to record a few trumpet parts. Giant Cloud meet Woodstove. Good Ol' Harry Murtha from the Circadian Rhythms came over and laid down the trumpets in about 20 minutes. Everyone ended up hanging out until the wee hours of the morning before their long and arduous journey back to 'Narlins. Make sure to snatch their album, which'll be coming out on Park the Van later this summer. Good tracks on their myspace too.

TOO MUCH

2010-03-23T14:55:00.007-04:00

It's been a very, very long time since I've sat down and collected my thoughts on everything that's been going on. I moved out of the woodstove in july, passing my hut to my great bud Sean Hamilton (4000 flavors/the spooks etc.) Lived above and worked at EKTA indian cuisine, which didn't pay shit but there was always tons of free food. In this period I finished the recording and mixing for the latest installment in the neighborhood choir catalog, the Anterior Design EP. You can download the entire jawn by clicking HERE, although keep in mind there was no mastering involved. She'll get a much more proper release in the somewhat near future. The second single, "Tio Luis" is included in YVYNYL's new spring mixtape called "handstands" which also features some of my favorite new bands like Reading Rainbow, Best Coast, and those crazy longhairs from Austin, Wild Harem. Download it, burn it, BBQ to it, do it to it.

With our beloved Danny in Argentina there certainly haven't been any neighborhood choir shows, but Paul's been shredding super hard in the new garage-surf outfit The Spooks. Parker and I recorded their Sea Monster EP at Woodstove during those cold winter months and now they're poised for Fishtown superstardom. I got the chance to catch them on tour in New Orleans at the Saint, and it was THEE most face melting show I've probably ever seen. Go to their innernette sites and watch some cool videos. Oh yeah, here's Danny working real hard:

Peter Plaxa, Henry Koon (of the Major Leagues) & myself have also been playing quite a bit of jazz recently under the name Fishtown Jazz Odyssey. We did a couple Philebrity Salons at the 700 Club in Northern Liberties, but our bread and butter is our residency at the venerable El Bar. We play the first monday of every month, which up to this point have all been pretty fun events. That bar becomes quite a different place when the jukebox isn't blasting ELO or 90s party jams (although I love those in moderation.)

MANATEES

2009-06-13T15:59:00.004-04:00

This here trailer is for our good bud Minka's film called "Manatees". Parker, Dan and I provided some of the music along with Man Man's Russell Higbee. Sean Hamilton (of 4000 flavors fame and soon-to-be woodstove resident) designed the sound. All of the shots are beautiful and the film deservedly won the Temple University undergrad film award or whatever it's called.

Congratulations bros.

Manatees Trailer from pearface on Vimeo.

Get Your Chance to Dance with Buffalo Stance

2009-05-22T13:34:00.008-04:00

Big thank yous to everyone that came out to play last sunday night. The new zine looked and smelled great (good work Sean) and the bands were fantastic. Unfortunately, we started about 2 hrs. late which gave the police plenty of time to find the source of the racket and come shut us down. Headliners Buffalo Stance didn't get a chance to play and MPC partyjam masters Javelin had to cut their set short.

Unconfirmed rumors say that everyone will get their chance to dance with Buffalo Stance and Javelin once and for all at the Barbary at a soon to be determined date.

Read a nice interview with Sean Hamilton on the Phrequency website and also check out some great pictures by the all-seeing Tiffany Yoon.

THIS SUNDAY NIGHT!

2009-05-13T15:14:00.003-04:00

We're super pumped on this show celebrating the release of Sean Hamilton's infamous and relentless zine 4000 FLAVORS. It all begins at 8 PM and admission will be limited to the first 150 or so since it turns out we actually have neighbors. It features JAVELIN from the big apple, as well as a handfull of other philly electro bands with members of Man Man, Need New Body, and Icy Demons.

Virtual Single #1

2009-04-22T17:09:00.004-04:00

We made this tune in Stroudsburg, PA while I was taking care of my parents' new dog. After a fair amount of lugging and tugging we got the reel-to-reel set up on an ottoman in the living room. Dan had a great set of samples saved up from working the overnight shifts at work. By the time we got to the bottom of the wine bottle this song was feeling good. You can hear the sound of Capulina wandering around and sniffing the microphone stand.

The Neighborhood Choir - When My Heart Does Beat No More

Back in the Saddle!

2009-04-22T12:26:00.003-04:00

Many sorries about the long gap between posts. The Woodstove office is back in business with a brand new macbook and a fire in our pants Ladder 15 down the street wouldn't dare try and put out.

So soon.

Ode to Peng-Li

2008-12-18T22:43:00.002-05:00

A few years ago Dan and I lived with two other fellers, Dan Papa and Steve Teare, in a big house right on the corner of 30th & Poplar. We had the dirty expanse that is Fairmount Park at the end of our block where we would play many games of 40 oz. induced basketball, plain sit in the grass, or ride bikes. We were playing in a band called "Bamshire" at the time, and there we recorded an album which I'll put up for sentimental reasons sometime in the near future.

Parker and our other good friend Phil Dahl (graphic artist and zen master) lived about a block away on Cambridge St. This house was the site of many Soul Caliber 3 tournaments and hosted the very first rehearsals of what would become the live-act that is the Neighborhood Choir.

Right around the corner from Parker's was the venerable Lee's Kitchen Chinese Restaurant. Forgoing the invisible language barrier and the quite visible bullet proof glass, we became relatively close with the owners and their little daughter Peng-Li. She had just started kindergarten and would show us her class drawings and squeak out an occasional little word of English. Below is a song for her.

Also included is a track called "She's Got a Friend". This was recorded at Bill Moriarty & Dr. Dog's studio about a year ago, with the 24-track board manned by Marc Snyder. He also did some background vocals.

Bringing in the rear is "Whale Song (Sky Beach)", the number one summertime hit of 2088.

The Neighborhood Choir - Ode to Peng-Li
The Neighborhood Choir - She's Got a Friend
The Neighborhood Choir - Whale Song (Sky Beach)

Terry Gross, Will You Marry Me?

2008-12-10T01:07:00.006-05:00

After a thoroughly hectic work week, we've all finally found the chance to load up some more tapes and keep the music flowing. Lots to catch up on.

First, an audio/visual presentation by our dear friend Rachel Playe; photographer and Jewish princess. She came over on a chilly November night and took some photos of the loft while Dan provided his thoughts on the neighborhood. Featuring our cat Miss Chaps. Check it out.......here.

The first song posted is a strange recording I made in Portland one night when everyone else had gone to see Battles and Ponytail play at the Doug Fir Lounge. I was not "of age" at the time, so left to my own devices I sat in the basement and made a rather disgustingly overdriven romp of two chords. I matched it up with some silly lyrics and "Animals" was born. Please forgive me for the sound quality.

The second track is entitled "Darker Blues" and was recorded here a few months ago. If anything it is a tribute to the Department of Eagles album "In Ear Park", which is incredible in both song-craft and recording quality. Every sound is perfect. Much like the new Walkmen album. Anyways..

The third and final track was recorded the day I borrowed my darling sister Kate's electric piano. I recorded this song with the dream of having it played as the introduction of a Fresh Air with Terry Gross/ NPR feature. She has the most seductive voice in the world. So full of wisdom.

The Neighborhood Choir - Animals
The Neighborhood Choir - Darker Blues
The Neighborhood Choir - I Felt Your Seas

Mariachi Mad-distro and La Musica de La Telvision

2008-12-09T20:22:00.010-05:00

Hey Kids,
The cold seems to be coming soon, at least I think it is. WHAT! 60 degrees tomorrow. Well anyways, the downstairs area is becoming too cold/inconsistent for electronic devices. So we are setting up the studio upstairs for the winter season. This also means that we can be warm and record music at the same time. Hooray... We have a new mixdown from the 8 track called "mariachi mad-disto." And, an old four track recording I made which was the beginning of an idea for a concept album which would incorporate television noises, channel surfing sounds, political news waves, etc... This song is the only surviving recording of that particular idea. The track is called, umm... "Television" More new mixdowns and tunes on the way!

Good luck on finals, everyone!

The Neighborhood Choir-Mariachi-Mad-disto
Moonshine Community-Television

Financial Crisis - virtual 7"

2008-11-23T22:04:00.004-05:00

The Neighborhood Choir - Financial Crisis
The Neighborhood Choir - Screaming EMTs

also, a video for the tittle track and be found here.

Purify Yourself In the Waters of Lake Minnetonka

2008-11-19T02:05:00.003-05:00

What?

The Neighborhood Choir - I Would Die 4 U (Prince cover)

Violeta Parra

2008-11-18T13:52:00.002-05:00

Dan stumbled across an album by a Chilean folk singer named Violeta Parra. She was the sister of noted modern "anti-poet" Nicanor Parra, and established some of the first community art and political activism centers in Chile during the 1960s. In 1967 she committed suicide, depressed about the break-up of her relationship with Swiss flautist Gilbert Favre.

Nevertheless her albums are hauntingly simple, and I can't stop listening to them for a second.

Here is a link to the original post with her complete discography available for download. Special thanks to Pancho over at Experimental Etc.

New Johns

2008-11-14T16:55:00.003-05:00

Here's a song i found one night listening through some old reels. The original track was only one channel; a live recording Parker made of Henry, Dan and I jamming. It was 11 minutes long and I selected a small section, then overdubbed a variety of other elements. The tape machine always compresses things in a strange way, and for some reason I believe it helped the song.

The Neighborhood Choir - To Those from Which They Came

Backlog #1

2008-11-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

"Brownfields are abandoned or under-used industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use. Expansion or redevelopment of such a facility may be complicated by real or perceived environmental contaminations.^[1] In United States city planning, brownfield land (or simply a brownfield) is land previously used for industrial purposes or certain commercial uses. The land may be contaminated by low concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution, and has the potential to be reused once it is cleaned up."

New virtual 7" later this week with two brand new songs with respective videos, featuring dancing indoor broom-hockey players, Peter Pan, a train conductor, and Frida Kahlo.

The Neighborhood Choir - Untitled

The Neighborhood Choir - General Sherman Befriend the Pine Martens

Expansion to the West

2008-11-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

Last summer we decided to take a cross-country road trip to Portland, OR. We camped (sometimes illegally) in Nat'l Parks every night and spent the days going as far as we could. I have too many stories to even begin and most of it seems like a dream (although i certainly remember the 21 hour drive from Joliet, IL all the way to the Rockies). We got pulled over in the middle-of-nowhere Utah (in the midst of deviant behavior) and were saved from arrest by a violent hail storm. We saw bison, bears, and buffalo, ran over skunks, and had to stop in the middle of the road more than once because the donkeys were in control).

Rocky Mountain National Park

From stories we heard, Portland seemed like a utopian society, a bristling mass of musicians and artists all living in perfect harmony. Although we encountered few musicians and even fewer bristling masses of them, the city was indeed beautiful. We ran out of money upon arrival and took jobs on house painting crews. Parker and Dan worked with the venerable Michael Huss of Chrysalis Co. (ex-Pat Benatar marketing director or something) while Paul and I worked with Boss John of Dreamweaver Co. (he was an ex-Marine explosives expert and devout Dokken fan). Work was work, and in the evening we would retire to the back porch and listen to "Imagination Theater" on the ol' FM radio.

Portland, OR

We set up our instruments in the basement of our house (thanks Brinn and Nastaja) and worked on new songs. In early July we aquired our beloved Tascam 388 which remains the sole unit we record with now. "Elderly Maple" was the first song recorded. Marc Snyder flew out for two weeks to do some engineering and to be our friend. I turned 21 and slightly remember not wearing a shirt inside The Blue Monk. In the end, the purpose of our voyage was the voyage itself. Some more pictures and songs:

DOWNLOAD
The Neighborhood Choir - Expansion to the West
The Neighborhood Choir- Blessed Are Thee
The Neigborhood Choir- From East to West and Back Again

Inauguration

2008-11-05T17:39:00.000-05:00

We've created this blog in order to provide a central location for the music projects of our own and those of our friends. The majority of the postings will be made from our headquarters here in Old Kensington, Philadelphia where we live above an old sheet metal manufacturing warehouse. Some background:

The neighborhood itself is rather destitute, mainly haunted by the shells of once prosperous manufacturing warehouses left to rust in the sweat of the Delaware River. Directly across from the entrance to our living space is the Drexel meat packaging plant which in the summer emits an odor so foul our street gets no foot traffic.

The Philadelphia Institute for Advanced Study (PIFAS) lies below us. It is a treasure trove of bicycle builders, visual artists, textile manufacturing, noise bands, synthesizer building, and many more strange career choices. The neighbors only refer to this rag-tag bunch as "the weird art ravers" although we are quite sure there are no raves occurring. You can watch an extremely informative video on their website.

Despite appearances, the area around us is surprisingly full of life. Gardens (with chickens and all) can be found springing from the remains of old foundations, and there is still the occasional yelp of children on bikes.

Our inaugural song posting is a one of the first completed in our new recording space; a patch-work assemblage of various samples by Daniel, drums by Parker, and vocals/bass by myself. It works best through headphones, although i certainly can't discourage using 5.1 Dolby Surround.

Download :The Neighborhood Choir - Toyland.mp3
Stream: