where its at beaumont tx edition

THE WIGGINS//FISKADORO
@VICTORIA HOUSE BEAUMONT TX

SATURDAY JUNE 30 2012

where its at saturday july 16 2011

RADIO TWO

driving to houston last night to see the wiggins play at rudyards/checking the radio dial, found myself at 88.1 FM/they were broadcasting a christian talk show/sensing a train wreck i listened/the gravelly voiced (heavenly) host was speaking of judgement day/and informed those of us listening through the invisible radio waves/this shall occur on may 21st.

coincidentally, may 21 is my birthday/all i can say is: embedding disabled by request:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmPKVvxFb1c

WHERE ITS AT FRIDAY SEP 24

BRING ME THE HEAD OF JON READ

the wiggins walk b/w sick (needless records 7")

jon read = the wiggins. after seeing him perform live a couple times now i find his music owes as much to the cramps as it does to einsturzende neubauten. recorded in a tunnel of reverb its as loud and visceral as early punk and makes you think of what sort of music would be made today if an accidental nuclear war had broken out in 1984. both post-apocalyptic and beautiful, anguished and rejoiceful. its the strange pop soundtrack to a remake of threads.

where the fish don't swim..

where the eagles don't dare..

a story i've told many times is about how i used to listen to radio late at night in the winter when i was a kid in the late 1970s in hamilton ny. especially on cold clear nights the signals would bounce through the chenango valley and you'd hear multiple broadcasts intersect each other, strange space echo's and shortwave numbers stations would mix with some rural indiana radio station fading in and out of range playing crazy by patsy cline.

i've been looking for that sound ever since.

listening to this wiggins 7" reminds me of that very night.

-rich kimball

BEEN ASLEEP, NOW I'M BACK

ok, i've been away for awhile sorta.. we did our FSKD block party gig which went well.. saw twisted wires/the wiggins play an incredible show at the avant garden... on sunday 22nd i played guitar with 1000 cranes at rudz.. next thing you know i've got strep throat!

but i shall not be stopped.

FSKD booked to play SHFL jan 10th w/ GIANT BATTLE MONSTER & BUBONIC BEARS.

it may snow here on friday. i cannot wait.

-rich kimball

SHOW TONIGHT MOVED

THE WIGGINS/TWISTED WIRES/BLUES CONTROL moved to the avant garden. make note and don't miss as it will be awesome.

NEWS UPDATE

word on the street says THE WIGGINS will have a new 7" out by end of the year or perhaps early 2010. TWISTED WIRES has been added to the nov. 18th show at mango's with said wiggins and BLUES CONTROL.

we at the 423 gallery have heard that BALACLAVAS has decided against changing their name, instead they will still rock their new synth heavy sound under the name we've all gotten used to... yeah, used to is probably my favorite track on the 'chairs missing' lp by wire. oh, but i digress... the balaclavas 'roman holiday' lp promises to be some epic shit. this is maybe as close as its ever been to coming out.

the FISKADORO camp is quiet but they'll be playing a private party for a friend visiting from iowa next month, they may be playing at westfest but their name isn't on the preliminary list at the free press website so we shall see. they will be playing a festival in lake jackson in january, venue yet to be determined.

-sharpe james

RETURN OF THE WIGGINS

LIVE REVIEW: SORRY, THE BATTERY IN MY PEDAL JUST DIED

HOW I QUIT CRACK

//TENSE//

VOIDMATE

live at the mink, houston tx 9-26-09

how i quit crack formerly

houston, now austin at $220/month

liquid sky beats cribbed from the normal

(it all goes back to the normal, look them

up i say)

drones and song

song and feedback

this korg synth says freedom

the make up glows like shiva

this is how we do that dance

tense did their thing

and first just me and jon read up front

then dom then dom then d...

sin realite

if you don't get this - i mean,

why the hell houston press?

why aren't you covering this?

why some post-punk transplants

from jersey need to scoop you?

tense is awesome once again

this is how we do that dance

voidmate - apologies..

its been a tough week.

hung a bit with ralf dead roses after party

dom future somethings did don rickles bit

said hello to jon the wiggins

met people we never before knew

(the importance of living)

missed voidmate. we really

wanted to hear voidmates cover

of 'ouija board, ouija board'

but alas, drove home in mad fog

288 to the city of enchantment

signpost.

this is how we do that dance.

-sharpe james

LIVE REVIEW: DEAR GOD

MUTATING MELTDOWN

//TENSE//

COP WARMTH

HOW I QUIT CRACK

@ mangos houston tx 8-14-09

it has been said this has been the hottest summer south texas has ever seen and this was another hot night. my usual parking space was taken so i had to find another spot. i went to half-priced books and bought a copy of jack kerouac's long lost and recently issued wake up: a life of the buddha which includes an introduction by preeminent religious scholar robert a.f. thurman who is the father of the actress uma thurman. this relates to the 423 gallery as jen FSKD went to boarding school in massachusetts with uma. also, professor thurman's wife is judith thurman who writes fashion articles for the new yorker. the 423 gallery/FISKADORO prides itself on being fashion forward.

i walked over to mangos and officially met bobby from //TENSE//, a band that has been captivating our living/working space in the past couple weeks. also spent some time with jon read from THE WIGGINS who were originally scheduled to play this show until he broke his arm. i hope he gets better soon since i was really looking forward to seeing him perform.

HOW I QUIT CRACK opened the proceedings with a short, woozy, epic (yes short and epic can go together if the performance is that good) and utterly mesmerizing set. tina kneeled on the stage, sang, played a korg synth, used a guitar for feedback and a drum machine played simple beats that stayed out of the way. it was really interesting watching the audience gather around as well, it was as if tina was leading a chorus of delay pedals that drew everyone to her. it was like she was playing sigils or something. the chaos is the magick. i spoke to her afterwards and apparently she's doing a lot of recording lately (check her youtube account for evidence of this - you won't be sorry). the 423 gallery looks forward to a record from her soon.

after HIQC performed, i spent time with phil of A THOUSAND CRANES talking about australia and being shocked at his unfamiliarity with legendary australian punk bands CELIBATE RIFLES & THE SAINTS. i'll need to correct that for him one of these days (note to self). as we were talking the next band - COP WARMTH - were setting up/tuning up off of the stage and on the dance floor and we kept moving back and back.. as they were setting up they kept playing (and we marveled at the number of guitar pedals they had. kevin shields would be envious) and making all sorts of noise and walking back and forth and around marking their territory.. finally they were all set up and as the drummer kicked into their first song the rest of the band went flying into the drum kit knocking it all over the floor - the drummer chased drums and hit everything in sight - people held the drums for him and this san diego gravity records style hardcore raged for the length of the set finally ending in a long section of bass feedback and more pounding on scattered broken drums... i heard someone wonder if they buy a new drum kit for each show. the music was raw and uncompromising and i enjoyed it immensely.

next up was the mighty //TENSE// filling in for THE WIGGINS. we've been obsessing over //TENSE// lately and they did not disappoint. they took back the stage and turned it into a dance party for the last days until the end of the world. the wax traxisms seemed more apparent now that i know the songs well but they are no mere copyists either. they have their own thing going and seem to be living in their own world (and you can say the same for HOW I QUIT CRACK) which is so important if you're going to be doing art. there is that old gospel song that washington dc's BEEFEATER covered on their house burning down album that goes "i'm going to live the life that i'm singing about in my song". this really seems to apply in the songs/presentations of //TENSE// & HOW I QUIT CRACK. this is the place every artist needs to be if they take their art seriously. this is what is meant by 'not selling out'. this is punk rock.

the last band was a trio from austin called MUTATING MELTDOWN. they consisted of a boy keyboard player, and girls on bass & drums. they played a innocent sort of new wave that would fit in well on k records (back when i lived in nj we referred to this as puppycore). they were really good and had an awesome stage presence. what was most fascinating about them is their tour schedule. they played thursday in mexico, friday in houston, tomorrow in little rock arkansas and sunday in iowa city ia before continuing on in minnesota and wisconsin.. it sounds like quite the adventure.

hey jon - get well soon!

-rich kimball

STOP PRESS

//TENSE// will be pinch-hitting for an injured THE WIGGINS tonight at mangos. spread the word.

-sharpe james

WHERE'S IT AT?

the weekend starts tonight with DEAD ROSES & THUNDERBOLT SUIT at rudyards.

tomorrow we have THE WIGGINS, HOW I QUIT CRACK & MUTATING MELTDOWN at mango's.

saturday is A THOUSAND CRANES, ANARCHITEX, ROOM 101, POLICE STATE AMERICA & THE DELTA BLOCK at super happy fun land (benefit show for sedition books).

-sharpe james