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.

 

RIVENER AT THE 13TH FLOOR WITH MAGIK MARKERS AND TWIN LAKES ALUM, SHOVELS

This gig was so much fun! It was so great to see and hang with my good buds, Shovels, all the way from Australia, on the final night of their US tour. I wish they didn't live so far away cuz they're some of my favorite people on the planet. Their set was amazing, and Magik Markers was next level, too...best I've seen from both bands. Plus, they don't come much nicer than those guys. Paul and I had a blast playing so it was good night all around. If you want to listen to/see all three sets, somebody at the show taped it. Just head over here. Oh, and it looks like our next show will be in September at the Elm City Noise Festival with Oneida headlining!  --Kiefer

RIVENER'S "FIRES IN REPOSE" NOW AVAILABLE ON CASSETTE/CD-R/DL

Rivener's debut release Fires in Repose is now available over at our online store. It consists of three 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. Cassettes and CD's are hand-stickered and can be yours for only 5 bucks!

FiR CD pic.JPG

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.


TTOTALS ARE BACK WITH THEIR FIRST FULL-LENGTH, TOURING WITH PSYCHIC TEENS

Nashville’s outer blues duo Ttotals are back, creating dark, brooding twisters of sound, downing power lines with leagues-deep drums and haunting vocals, scorched-earth guitars, and flashes of sampled electronics...a careening vortex performing a muddy dance stomp along the Mississippi Delta as it flings the blues up to the heavens. The band will be hitting the road on November 8th with Psychic Teens in support of their first full-length, Let Everything Come Through, which sees its official release on November 11.

Tour dates:

November 8 - Asheville, NC at the Mothlight #

November 9 - Savannah, GA at Graveface Records #

November 10 - Athens, GA at the Caledonia Lounge #

November 11 - Birmingham, AL at the Nick #

November 12 - Atlanta, GA at 529 #

November 13 - Nashville, TN at the Eastroom #

November 14/15 - Austin, TX at TBA

November 16 - Dallas, TX at Crown & Harp   

# = with Psychic Teens

Let Everything Come Through was recorded and mixed by Tate Eskew at Zero Art Studios and mastered by Carl Saff in Chicago. It will be available in both vinyl and digital formats from our website and most online stores on November 11, 2014.

Check the promo video below...

INTRODUCING: NO LINE NORTH

We are thrilled beyond words to announce the release No Line North’s, Farther Out Beyond Today, which hits the streets on CD/DL October 14th and can be pre-ordered now from the band's online store. 

No Line North’s broad influences and instrumentation work their way into a uniquely unified sound that runs the spectrum from distorted garage rock to orchestral, quiet folk. Incorporating violin, loop pedals, vibraphones, distorted guitars and a driving rhythm section, NLN cultivates sizzling, psychedelic folk rock rooted in the Americana tradition, with the occasional nod to krautrock. 

Mastering Engineer Hans DeKline (Pixies, Snoop Dogg) summed up their new collection nicely: “Love these tunes! This is very original and fondly reminiscent of a Dinosaur Jr., Camper van Beethoven, Built to Spill kind of vibe but they have definitely got their own thing going. So cool!”

The band released their eponymous debut under the moniker Closely Watched Trains on Twin Lakes in October 2009. That first collection received much critical acclaim with The New Haven Register citing it as Connecticut’s best release of the year and The Big Takeover calling it “fresh and inspired.” Since that first release, No Line North has grown to become a powerful and tightknit unit, honing their craft by playing shows and woodshedding while finishing Farther Out Beyond Today. The result is a rocking collection of songs that transcends and bends genres in the best ways possible, sounding familiar yet strikingly unique. The album, which was recorded and produced by the band and friends at various locations, and mixed by NLN bassist John Leonard at SonicBot Productions, sees its official release on October 14, 2014. Get a taste below...

 

DEBBY SCHWARTZ'S "A GARDEN OF MY OWN" OUT SEPTEMBER 23RD ON CD AND VINYL

Earlier this year, we announced our partnership with Aquanettas co-founder and P.G. Six bassist/vocalist Debby Schwartz, releasing her solo debut EP Satan, You Brought Me Down, which featured stripped down cut-to-the-soul versions of songs off her forthcoming LP A Garden of My Own. In her flawless finger-picking, we heard Bert Jansch and Nick Drake; in her songwriting, we heard Neil Young; in its terse, bobbing and circular major-minor tides, we heard Pentangle; in her voice, we heard diamonds and rust. We were addled and propelled, and it kept getting better with each listen. To our ears, it was an instant addition to the canon of American hardscrabble songbook. Aside from being incredible songs, they benefit from the expert guidance of sound engineer/producer Ivan Julian, who is also known as a founding member/guitarist of the seminal punk band Richard Hell and the Voidoids, at his N.Y. Hed Recording Studios.

 A Garden of My Own hits the streets on both CD and vinyl September 23rd and can be pre-ordered here. Stream "London", the first single off the new album, below.

TTOTALS HITTING THE ROAD WITH LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE

Nashville's Ttotals will be hitting the road once again for a string of dates from Texas up through New York, this time with their friends from Mexico, Lorelle Meets the Obsolete. Brian and Marty have been playing shows in and around their home town pretty steadily over the past few months while finishing up a new batch of songs in the studio. Now they're super psyched to try them out in front of some new crowds. The rough mixes of these new outer blues jams sound amazing, so be sure to catch them if they come to a city near you...

may 5th - crown & harp, dallas, tx *

may 6th - bear's, shreveport, la*

may 7th - the buccaneer, memphis, tn *

may 8th - the stone fox, nashville, tn *

may 9th - 529, atlanta, ga *

may 10th - static age records, asheville, nc *

may 11th - strange matter, richmond, va *

may 12th - tropicalia, washington d.c. *

may 13th - connie's ric rac, philadelphia, pa *

may 14th - death by audio, brooklyn, ny *

may 15th - bsp lounge, kingston, ny ^

may 16th - blue nile, harrisonburg, va

* with lorelle meets the obsolete

^ with woods and quilt

Dig the design for the tour t-shirts they'll have on hand...

DEBBY SCHWARTZ JOINS TWIN LAKES...NEW EP COMING THIS SPRING, LP THIS FALL

We can't tell you how thrilled we are to have Debby Schwartz be part of the Twin Lakes family. This came to be when Pat Gubler, a.k.a P.G. Six, reached out to us, asking if we might be interested in releasing a record he and the other members of P.G. Six had a hand in recording with Debby, the band's bassist and backing vocalist. I had met Debby briefly once at a P.G. Six show but didn't know anything about her solo work. Man, were we floored when we listened to the masters Pat sent us. In her flawless finger-picking, we heard Nick Drake; in her songwriting, we heard Neil Young and Bert Jansch; in its terse, bobbing and circular major-minor tides, we heard Pentangle; in her voice, we heard diamonds and rust. We were addled and propelled, and it kept getting better with each listen. To our ears, it was an instant addition to the canon of American hardscrabble songbook.

Her new EP Satan, You Brought Me Down comes out on April 18 on limited edition CD-R/DL and features stripped down cut-to-the-soul versions of songs off her forthcoming vinyl LP, A Garden of My Own, also due out on Twin Lakes this summer. Aside from being incredible songs, they benefit from the expert guidance of sound engineer/producer Ivan Julian, who is also known as a founding member/guitarist of the seminal punk band Richard Hell and the Voidoids, at his N.Y. Head Recording Studios.

A celebration of sorts will be going down at Gallery E (459 Vanderbilt Ave. Brooklyn, NY) the day the EP drops. Supporting Ms. Schwartz will be Nebraskan cellist/singer Meaner Pencil and Pentangle tribute band Sport & Play. This is also a release party for Bob Bannister (P.G. Six) & Ember Schrag’s zine, Dead Language Airport. Admission is $10 and includes a free zine...it's going to be a blast!

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2013 HONORS FOR TTOTALS AND MICHAEL BEACH

Happy New Year! Man, what a year 2013 was. While it wasn’t our busiest in terms of the number of releases we put out, it was definitely one of our most exciting. I had the pleasure of watching Ttotals perform at this year’s Austin Psych Fest and meeting in the flesh excited fans who had just placed orders online for their critically acclaimed Spectrums of Light 7-inch that we released days before. Another highlight was meeting the man who had a hand in making this record sound so damn good hours before he blew us all away on stage…Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom. While Tate Eskew expertly handled recording and engineering duties, Sonic mastered this A/B slab of outer blues. Expect more doses of brooding psych sure to set your soul ablaze from these guys in 2014 in the form of a new LP. 

Ttotals at Cake Shop, NYC

August saw the release of Michael Beach’s sophomore LP, Golden Theft, a real genre-bending stunner. I got to tour the East Coast with Beach, backing him on drums, while his regular bandmates waited for him to return home to San Francisco for some West Coast dates. That week saw us share the stage with Matt Valentine (MV&EE) and John Moloney's (Chelsea Light Moving) new project, Home Comfort, as well as Chris Forsyth and other great bands, like the Estrogen Highs, Fatal Film, and Margaret Mead. We managed to wrangle a gig in an old church on the stunningly beautiful Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. What a blast!

Beach at The Elevens, Northampton, MA

Both of the aforementioned additions to our catalog turned many heads this year and earned end-of-year honors. Ttotals appeared on The Styrofoam Drone’s Top 7” Records of 2013 list, while Beach broke the top 5 on both The Vinyl District and SF Weekly’s Top Albums of 2013 lists.

Twin Lakes has never been about the sheer volume of output…it has been and always will be about turning people on to the music we carefully curate because we love it. We’re looking forward to continuing to do so in 2014 with more from Ttotals, long-awaited releases from Closely Watched Trains and Myty Konkeror, and who knows what else? In the meantime, head on over to our Bandcamp page where you can download for free a Twin Lakes compilation.

MYTY KONKEROR IS BACK... BEACH BACK IN OZ WITH SHOVELS

Just wanted to get everyone up to speed on some key happenings in the Twin Lakes family. For starters, after taking about a year off from shows, Myty Konkeror is back in action. This coming Sunday the 17th, they will be helping heavy psych jammers Eidetic Seeing release their new LP at Brooklyn's Death By Audio.  The new record, Against Nature, features some serious stoner riffage amidst doses of improvisation, prog explorations, and some of the sweetest melodies we've heard from a band this heavy. I hear they put on a killer live show, too. And if you haven't seen Myty Konkeror in a while, you won't want to miss them either, as their live set continues to evolve and explore uncharted waters. They've been working on some new sounds for the follow-up to their highly-acclaimed 2011 LP "I miss the future." so come see what they've been up to. Check the full lineup here.

As always, Michael Beach remains active. Quick on the heels of his summer dusk tour around both US coasts, he's back in Australia for a long string of both solo shows and plenty of gigs with his mates from Electric Jellyfish, who have recently undergone a name change to mark the release of their new cassette--the eponymously titled SHOVELS. Same awesome riffs and intensity from these dudes who've mastered the art of unhinged Gothic blues-punk. 

Beach also continues to tour in support of Golden Theft, the genre-bending stunner of an LP that we put out in late August. One show in particular you will not want to miss if you're in "Brizzy" is this Thursday at the Beetle Bar. Our favorite music blogger from Brisbane, Sonic Masala, has curated a killer lineup with Beach as the headliner. Click here for details.

TTOTALS FALL EAST COAST TOUR

This past spring we turned a lot of heads with the release of Ttotals’ Spectrums of Light 7-inch. This Nashville duo’s dark, brooding twisters of sound down power lines with leagues-deep drums and haunting vocals, scorched-earth guitars, and flashes of sampled electronics...a careening vortex performing a muddy dance stomp along the Mississippi Delta as it flings the blues up to the heavens.

After a spring tour that saw Brian (guitars/vocals) and Marty (drums/electronics) make their first appearance at the always awesome Austin Psych Fest, they are ready to hit the road again, this time touring the Eastern Seaboard. Check the dates below to see when they'll be in/near your town.




TOUR DATES:


10/9 - Asheville, NC at Apothocary

10/10 - Richmond, VA at The Well with The Diamond Center

10/11 - Washington D.C. at Velvet Lounge with Dangerosa and More Humans

10/12 - Kingsport, NY at O+ Festival

10/13 - NYC at Cake Shop with Lead Stones, No Kill and Rudy Stoned Band

10/14 - Philadelphia, PA at Kung Fu Necktie with Creepoid and Harsh Vibes

10/15 - Harrisonburg, VA



Recently The Wire’s Byron Coley called Spectrums of Light “Boss...some kind of stripped down Bardo Pond psych crossed with early 1980s Liverpool mope action.” They were also mentioned recently in this piece in The Guardian UK about the modern psych movement and "the new generation of psychedelic adventurers." Check out Spectrums of Light and other sounds from Ttotals here.


EARLY PRAISE FOR MICHAEL BEACH'S "GOLDEN THEFT" ... TOUR UPDATE

Just a quick reminder that Michael Beach's Golden Theft has hit the streets. The physical pressings are extremely limited and will go quickly.  So far early reviews have been glowing. IMPOSE called it "...the grand theft surprise of the summer...an album that picks and chooses the best parts plucked out of the modern golden era that sound better than anything before," and The Vinyl District referred to it as a masterpiece. For more coverage, click here.

 

 

Choose your format before they're gone...

Gatefold LP (w/ poster and download card), Digipak CD, Digital Download (iTunes or Bandcamp) 

US Tour West Coast Dates
Beach and Kiefer had a blast on the East Coast leg of his Golden Theft US Tour, but he is now back on the West Coast with Utrillo Kushner (drums) and Muslim Delgado (bass) for the remaining dates...

9.13 - SEATTLE, WA - Bogarts w/ F-Holes, Pynnacles, The Dumps
9.14 - OLYMPIA, WA - The Northern w/ Arrington de Dionyso
9.15 - PORTLAND, OR - Valentines w/ Ruby Pins
9.21 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Hemlock w/ MV & EE, Herbcraft
9.26 - OAKLAND, CA - 1234Go! Records w/ Permanent Collection, Dead River (AU)
9.28 - DAVIS, CA - Third Space 

For those of you out that way, don't miss out on catching one of the most compelling performers you'll ever see. Watch him at a recent East Coast show playing "Static" off the new record at St. Vitus in Brooklyn, NY.

MICHAEL BEACH CONTINUES TO EXPLORE, BEND GENRES ON HIS NEW LP, AVAILABLE AUGUST 20th ON TWIN LAKES

We are beyond psyched to announce the latest addition to our catalog...a new album by San Francisco's Michael Beach. On Golden Theft, Beach again teamed up with drummer Utrillo Kushner (Comets On Fire, Colossal Yes) and engineer Phil Manley (Wooden Shjips, Barn Owl) at Manley’s Lucky Cat Studios in San Francisco.  Featuring mostly brand new material and a few remastered songs from previous EPs, this long-player was mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac) and continues with the musical intensity for which Beach is known.  On this record, we also see a gifted songwriter continue to hone his craft, exploring and bending genres, and cementing his place as a vital artist in today’s sonic landscape. Golden Theft comes out on vinyl in a gorgeous gatefold jacket (free poster and download code inside) on August 20 on Twin Lakes, the day Beach kicks off a US East/West Coast tour to support the record. You can listen to some of the new songs and order the album through this Bandcamp pre-order link. 

Beach has earned high praise for his previous work, most notably for his cassette-only Mountains + Valleys EP. Terminal Boredom made Greg Cartwright (Oblivions) comparisons, and Aquarius Records had this to say: “Hooky and a little bit heavy, driving and catchy like crazy, and that tempo shift just kills us every time, so unexpected, but so cool…..drifting from crunchy post punk, to woozy psychedelic drift, to countrified rust belt songsmithery, and several other stops in between... Gorgeous stuff for sure."  

Austin Psych Fest 2013 in Pictures

What an incredible weekend! I had the pleasure of spending the weekend of April 26 with Dwight Smith and the latest addition to our roster, Ttotals, at this year's Austin Psych Fest. Dwight provided stellar food, shelter, and companionship, while Ttotals was selected to play this year's festival and subsequently rocked the riverside Elevation Ampitheatre, turning many heads in the process. 

After their set was over, we took our time meeting lots of awesome people and taking in as much of this year's incredible lineup as we could. It was so great to be able to meet Lee all the way from the UK, who days before had ordered the new Ttotals 7" online. And seeing Spectrum, Black Mountain, Deerhunter, Woodsman, White Fence, Boris, Black Angels, and Goat, to name a few....pretty mind-blowing to say the least. Hope to be back there soon. Enjoy the pictures.

SONIC BOOM AUSTIN PSYCH FEST MIXTAPE FEATURING TTOTALS

Psych rock legend Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom, has put together this mixtape featuring some of the bands playing this year's Austin Psych Fest, and one of the songs from Ttotals new 7-inch (available April 26th) made the cut. Tune in to 75 minutes of aural bliss below...

SOURCE OF YELLOW, COLIN L ORCHESTRA, OLNEYVILLE SOUND SYSTEM AND MORE PLAY THE SILENT BARN THIS SATURDAY

This Saturday Source of Yellow will be playing what some are calling one of the best shows going on in NYC this weekend. The Silent Barn is know for killer shows featuring some of the most compelling acts around, and this one is no different. SOY joins The Colin L Orchestra (mem. USAISAMONSTER), Providence's Olneyville Sound System, Russian Tsarlag, and Bernard Herman. Plus DJ Greg Fox (Guardian Alien, Zs) will also be there spinning tunes throughout the night. Check the poster below...

NASHVILLE'S OUTER BLUES DUO TTOTALS JOINS TWIN LAKES

We are beyond psyched to announce the latest addition to our catalog...a new 7-inch by Nashville’s outer blues duo Ttotals. These guys reached out to us about a year ago, and we were immediately sucked into their dark, brooding twisters of sound, featuring leagues-deep drums and haunting vocals, scorched-earth guitars, and flashes of sampled electronics...a careening vortex performing a muddy dance stomp along the Mississippi Delta as it flings the blues up to the heavens. So we invited them to play our showcase at the STPP Music Fest a few months later, and they were even better live! The band will be hitting the road in support of Spectrums of Light on April 19, which sees its official release on April 26, the day Brian (guitars/vocals) and Marty (drums/electronics) arrive in Austin, TX to make their first appearance at the always awesome Austin Psych Fest.

Tour dates:

April 19th - Kansas City, KS, Art Closet
April 20th - Denver, CO, Sidewinder
April 21st - Denver, CO, In-store at Wax Trax Records
April 24th - Albuquerque, NM, Gold House
April 25th - Lubbock, TX, TBA
April 26th,27th & 28th - Austin Psych Fest
April 29th - New Orleans, LA, TBA
April 30th - Memphis, TN, Murphy's  

 

Spectrums of Light was recorded and mixed by Tate Eskew at Zero Art Studios and mastered by Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, Spectrum) at Atlantis Sound in Rugby, England. It will be available in both vinyl (limited to 300) and digital formats from our website and most online stores on April 26, 2013. But you can listen to it and pre-order it right now over here. Then check out their previous releases over on the Ttotals Bandcamp page. Here they are perfoming a song off their 2012 self-released Silver on Black 10".