TWIN LAKES & FRIENDS CELEBRATE WILLIE NELSON AT CAFE NINE, NEW HAVEN

Tomorrow night at Cafe Nine in New Haven, Twin Lakes Records and friends will celebrate the man, the myth and legend of song, Willie Nelson. On the bill are local treasures from the Greater New Haven area: Bop Tweedy, Frank Critelli, Dave Hogan, Rivener (Paul Belbusti/Michael Kiefer) & Lys Guillorn, Kelly Kancyr, No Line North, Olive Tiger (solo), The Sawtelles, and Xavier Serrano (Kindred Queer) will all be there, playing their interpretations of the classics, deep cuts and hidden gems from his extensive songbook. 

We all know the hits, but Willie's songbook goes DEEP. I didn't realize how deep and what an amazing talent he was until Jon from No Line North approached me with the idea of putting this show together. Once I started really listening, I got hooked. Willie just turned 83 last month. We've seen enough tough losses this year, so let's celebrate life and that of a living legend! This is a benefit concert with all proceeds going to the CT Food Bank. The New Haven Independent just published a story about it, and you can check the flyer for details...it's gonna be a hoot! 

THE INAUGURAL ELM CITY NOISE FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND...RIVENER IN THE HARTFORD COURANT TALKING ABOUT THE JOYS OF DISSONANCE

This weekend is the inaugural Elm City Noise Festival, and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to help curate Day 2 of the festival at Cafe Nine, which features headliners Oneida from Brooklyn, NY and a stellar bill of other seekers, innovators, and agitators from the New Haven area, like our own Rivener, Black Fluff, Watermelon, and The Mountain Movers' Dan Greene. But Thursday and Saturday night's lineups will be equally sick, featuring bands like Intercourse, Procedure Club, TOYZ, Mr. Heartbreak, Slime Mob, Tick Hive, Parlay Droner, The Forest Room, and members of Florida=Death.

Recently, Rivener's Paul Belbusti talked to The Hartford Courant's Michael Hamad about the festival and the joys of dissonant, unpredictable music.

 

INTRODUCING: RIVENER

We are beyond psyched to announce the latest addition to Twin Lakes -- Rivener, a new project started by our label co-founder Michael Kiefer and the hyper-prolific Mercy Choir mastermind Paul Belbusti. According to Kiefer, since his main musical outlet Myty Konkeror had been relatively inactive over the past year, he was itching to do something new and different:  "I was looking to do something totally free-form with no rules...something improvisational, sort of in the rockist tradition that could be noisy at times, or calm and subdued, but with less emphasis on the harshness of noise and maybe with more psychedelic or no wave elements. As these ideas were starting to percolate and I started thinking about collaborators, Paul had just put out this amazing album under his Mercy Choir moniker called Gguitar, which was mostly improvised guitar pieces. I knew right away that he was the guy."

Unbeknownst to him, right around the same time, Belbusti had placed a Craigslist ad looking for someone to form an improv duo, citing pretty much all the same influences that were inspiring Kiefer at the time. The stars had aligned, and the two began practicing almost immediately. 

Their first release, Fires in Repose, consists of three pieces captured during only their second jam session: shape-shifting explorations of no wave, noise, and psych with elements rooted in the rockist tradition. Rivener stretches, bends, and breathes new meaning into these influences, conjuring stormy, cosmic clouds of sound. It will be available on limited edition cassette and CD-R (50 each), as well as digital, just in time for their next gig, which features a killer lineup including MV & EE, The Mountain Movers, and Spectre Folk (feat. members of Magik Markers, Sonic Youth, and Pavement). Details below.