BARN OWL

the differences between East and West as exemplified by their Barn Owls

SF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOri-MpyNT4

WMass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtEdX-GRQs4

In barn owls there is no East or West:

http://www.shawcreekbirdsupply.com/barn_owl.jpg

TS: Barn Owl vs. actual barn owls.

BURROW OWL BURROW OWL

vs. Owl Jolson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiXX--zLtHI

(You can thank Jody Rosen at EMP for bringing that to our collective attention.)

new EP Shadowland comes out in June... full-length in fall 2011

http://www.thrilljockey.com/assets/covers/105310.jpg

details: http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=105310

i fuckin love these guys btw

Ancestral Star was one of my favourites of last year.

Always friendly folks and great performers each time I see 'em.

still curious why they are named after a barn owl??? but hey whatever

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/2/10/barnowlisn128471765963125000.jpg

I myself have often wondered why Barn Owl (SF) was named after Barn Owl (WMass) ...

I'll tell you something, the Evan Caminiti album from last year was really good. Think I actually preferred it to Ancestral Star.

Yeah, really liked that as well -- might have reviewed it? I can never keep track these days...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYsRKa1QFA8

Caminiti's got a new LP out in a couple weeks too... forget the label.

ah, here we go: Handmade Birds, new solo LP, limited to 500, $15 -- enjoy

http://www.handmadebirds.com/store/HB-006.php

These guys are playing here next month, so maybe some of these ltd things will be available. Touring with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, who I'm guessing Ned knows all about. Read lots of good things about his last album.

This lot are on rare form of late. Both Jon Porras' Undercurrent (http://rootstrata.com/release/RS83) and Caminiti's When California Falls Into The Sea were excellent, though Higuma's Pacific Fog Dreams was perhaps the pick of the side/solo projects for me: http://higuma.bandcamp.com/album/pacific-fog-dreams

Nice to see From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light get a second pressing too as I missed that one first time around.

And while we're on the subject, Elm's Nemcatacoa is next up for a vinyl release... http://sweatlodgeguru.com/

I still need to pick up Shadowland.

new album out, Lost in the Glare. good stuff.

thinking about starting a Barn Owl vs. Earth poll

(new album not out yet sorry. 9/13)

Very good stuff, yes. Keep bringing in more variety while still being themselves.

thinking about starting a Barn Owl vs. Earth poll

I don't know about on record, but BO are way better live.

Agree.

love herb albert's opening post in this thread, because when i first heard the west coast barn owl i was very, very conrfused. cuz i heard a record, ya see, after seeing the MA barn owl live several years prior (like 2002 vs 2009?) anyway, i still think the live performance by the western mass barn owl is one of the most confounding and awesome things i'd ever seen. i talked to one of the dudes after and he sold me the angst hase pfeffer nase LP on menlo park that he made--crude tape & electronic music, still love that rekkerd.

What about these guys?

http://www.barnowlband.com/images/BarnOwlBand11.jpg

a nonsensical review i wrote for decibel magazine ended up being mean to polite space rock bands. i didn't mean for it to be. sometimes things just come out like that. i don't think i can easily articulate the frustration i feel when i hear some of these newer stoner bands. but i think my frustration is based on the same *groan* *shrug* feelings i have for most modern indie rock. too...something. tame. generic. samey. something like that. my review is even more unfair than that, because i don't actually believe what i say in it about vital music and danger and tension and risk. its a cliche that i don't actually believe. so why did i write it? because i make things up as i go along and i'm often intellectually dishonest or disengenuous. i'm working on that though. this will be the last review that i write like this. and on top of THAT, i don't even remember what the servile sect album that i was supposedly reviewing sounds like. i only heard it once on a soundcloud page. my apologies to all involved. barn owl of western mass, on the other hand, are awesome... here's that thing:

Servile Sect – TRVTH (Handmade Birds)

I received three new “psychedelic” rock albums in the mail by three bands I won’t mention in print (Barn Owl, Wooden Shjips, and White Hills) from a label that I respect and admire and that I won’t mention either (Thrill Jockey) and my reaction upon listening to all three was succinct and to the point: rock is so fucking dead. I’m sure all the people involved in the making of those albums are COOL people. Really nice and humble and hard-working and they probably have kick-ass record collections and I would love to know them all. I even raved about the recent solo release by Barn Owl’s Evan Caminiti in these very pages. But sometimes I have a pathological need to be honest. Advice: Truly vital music needs at least a hint of danger or tension or risk or at the very least some drooling gotta-play-this-or-I’m-gonna-DIE passion. Without these things, well, you can still make mood music. Or seemingly academic sub-genre exercises. Which is what a lot of indie “psychedelic” rock bands opt for. But even mood music benefits from space and dynamics and a wide range of studio sound trickery and magic if it is going to be made well. My advice would be to study the gamut of recordings made by RCA Victor in the 1950’s under their Living Stereo trademark and then feebly approximate 1/10 of what you hear on those records. It’s a start. For those of you who want to be active participants in the living conversation that is 21st century sound and music, well, you can start by listening to the new Servile Sect album. On a good stereo with good speakers and a decent turntable. Play it loud. Yes, black metal is a well-worn launching pad for experimentation, and so is “drone” and “ambient”. But, in the right hands, the tried and true can be manipulated into something new and wonderful. Max Martin and Britney Spears have known this for YEARS. I have to go, but I’ll leave you with this: YOU killed rock. Now what do you want to replace it with?

ian hitch a ride to my store on the 20th and come see western mass barn owl (featuring one of the coolest ilxors out there in the world) and lots of other cool folks. bunnybrains. noize nomadz. gonna be fun! you can sleep on the couch.

and ilxor herb will be playing on the 20th too! a rare appearance of his combo. he's warming up his electric sitar as we speak.

"angst hase pfeffer nase"

chris cooper. he's awesome. he played with caroliner and he plays with fat worm. he's playing tomorrow night with nautical almanac at bill nace's thursday night show series at the elevens in northampton.

xxp

thx, scott

bring yer party hat for the 20th! whoooooooooo. i am such an unconvincing party animal. its gonna be rad though...

i am going to pitch this to the new wifey, see what she thinks.

did not know tarfumes was a barn owl. i liked your band a lot, back in the old providence warehouse gig days.

xp to ian and scott: yeah, angst hase is a side project of one of the fat worm of error guys.

great review scott

xp Thanks, Ian! I think we only did one show ever in a Providence warehouse, but I remember it being a fun one.
Angst Hase/Cooper is a monster. If you can find his 2000 vinyl release on Menlo Park, it's a nice slice of brilliance.

thinking about starting a Barn Owl vs. Earth poll

this is like choosing between good wine and good cheese, it is impossible

nah dogg... good cheese, easy.

u mad doggy

mostly i drink beer

wine gives me the headachies.

That review is good, Scott.

Your maybe Massachusetts slumber party sounds fun.

facebook thing for the show:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=252908518061162

I forget which coast Barn Owl we are supposed to be talking about itt, but really liking Lost in the Glare so far.

want to echo the previous post about lost in the glare. definitely one of the stronger drone/neo-new-age records i've listened to in recent times. perfect accompaniment for spacing out in dim light, reading at night, or, in my case sadly, studying.

Drugs' and Ned's endorsement of this band on the Slow Doomy Country thread prompted me to check this group via Spotify -- been listening to nothing else all day, really great.

Glad you like! They're just remarkable live so if the chance ever arises, take it.

yeah 'lost in the glare' was one of my favorite discoveries last year - prompted me to start following the rolling psych/drone threads a bit more closely

New one's streaming

whoa, it's really good! lots of interesting dynamics and unusual sounds. i like it. (also on spotify if you are so inclined)
i like this band and also barn owls

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md0szcz3c71rtmp17o1_1280.jpg

Enjoying this one a bit more than the last couple iirc. Sounds very reminiscent of Labradford amirite, particularly the Morricone-esque bits.

(don't have a problem with that here, I miss Labradford hugely)

And I had a chance to interview Evan and Jon for the Quietus:

http://thequietus.com/articles/12110-barn-owl-interview

I was just reading that over lunch, good work Ned! Seeing them tomorrow night - appetite whetted.

Thank ya

jon porras is from barn-owl, right? new song and video are intriguing.

the SF one, yes.

That's lovely

new Evan Caminiti album on Thrill Jockey
http://thrilljockey.com/thrill/Evan-Caminiti/Meridian#.VS92LGa6AYI

And related to that post just above, my interview with him:

http://www.factmag.com/2015/06/10/barn-owl-evan-caminiti-interview-meridian-modular-synth/

Another SF ex-pat

https://dust-editions.bandcamp.com/album/toxic-city-music

new Evan Caminiti album out next month

nice