Hell Bombs for Christmas

Hell Bombs

Invisible States | Myspace Music Videos
Hey! It's still Christmas time! I just discovered a video for the Invisible States song "Hell Bombs"! In case you're unfamiliar, this is a solo project Of Haydee Thompson's. Haydee's has sung and / or played keyboards in more bands than I can probably name off the top of my head...but here goes: Three Chicks & A Jew, Squatweiler, Angramainyu, All Astronauts, Skull & Bones Harmony Song, Tetragrammaton, and all those I'm forgetting. You can also hear her on the Golden Dawn track featured on the Krankies Winter 2010 compilation, if you're wanting to help support the local scene and get into the Christmas spirit.

Oh! And you can also watch Haydee perform the song live on the Psychic Revolution tour here:

Hell bombs

Invisible States | Myspace Music Videos

Brandon's Baltimore Four

Brandon Bigelow - Early 4 track Bigelow (1999-2000)
 
1. Nipples Like Pancakes
2. Lame Little Boy
3. Iron Maiden T-shirt
4. You Do Not Know
 
Brandon Bigelow - vocals, guitar, metronome, electric air-organ
Gaby Cardall - vocals (1)
Rand - clarinet, vocals (3)

Brandon Bigelow hails from Kernersville, but lived everywhere from Germanton to Virginia. By 1997 his parents had moved to Illinois. That year he traveled to Las Vegas, lived in the desert, checked out the Pacific Northwest, went sightseeing in California and meanered back to Illinois; breaking down in Nebraska before he got back home. Out of money, he lived in Illinois for 6 months.

Meantime, Steve and Blake Tesh, and Dave Franklin moved to Baltimore from The Wherehouse in October, and invited him to join them. Brandon moved in New Year's Eve; and stayed till September 1998. They lived at the Adler Gallery; which was a three story split row-house managed by Bill Adler; the first floor Gallery owner. Blake and Steve lived on the second floor, Dave and Brandon on the third; and their new friends James & Jasmin in the basement on the other side of the split house. At the beginning they had all day jams on Wednesdays, but over the course of the nine months these became 'whenever'. A number of tapes exist, mainly when Blake would lay down tracks on his 4-track & bring the others in to add parts. This group of recordings was eventually given the group name; The Baltimorons (which we'll get to later). In September 1998, Blake and Steve, Dave Franklin and Jeff Chapelle moved into a squat called the Laugh & Spit. Brandon moved into what has been described as, "the most depressing little two room apartment ever". It had only two windows, which both looked into the alley; and was located on the opposite side of town from everybody else. He only lived there a few months, before moving into a place in the middle of town occupied by Gaby Cardall, who he'd met at Louis' Bookstore Cafe. They stayed at this location for a little over four years, before moving to The Wherehouse at the end of 2002.

This quick history sets the stage for some 4-track tapes with a strange destiny. Although Brandon had a 4-track when he was in the Greensboro band Creamy Velour (before the whole Illinois thing); these tunes were the first solo material recorded on a 4-track in Baltimore. For this session, he had aquired a black Electronic metronome, with only four beat settings and borrowed Jeff Chappelle's portable 4-track. "Nipples Like Pancakes" is his first (and only) musical collaboration with Gaby; and features him on bass & guitar. The vocals were ad libbed with Gaby in a single take. "Lame Little Boy" features an electric air-organ and more ad libbed lyrics that he says provide; 'a scary window into my mind'. "Iron Maiden T-shirt" features a panned radio, chorus and delay pedal 'zooms & farts', Brandon's pal Rand on Gaby's clarinet and both guys on vocals. "You Do Not Know" is a quick number composed of layered guitars and vocals by Brandon.

The reason you might say this tape had a strange destiny, involves a fire at The Werehouse on April 15, 2003. A guest at the house accidentally left a candle unattended, resulting in a fire that consumed a room and severely damaged those to either side (the kitchen and Chris Leiser's room). This left the house unoccupiable for several months, while cleanup and renovating took place. Brandon and Gaby lived in such a small room at The Wherehouse, that they used another to store many of their possessions. This was the room that caught fire, and many of their things were destroyed. A few (like a block of melted cassettes) were so invaluable they remained as a heartbreaking keepsake. On the off chance that something could be salvaged, Samb and Brandon broke open an unidentifiable test tape, installed it in an empty shell, and discovered that it was a playable 4-track tape containing these four songs. To this day, Brandon continues the process of salvaging magnetic tape from the withered shells (for future release here, perhaps)! If that story doesn't make you want to listen to this stuff; I got nothing else for ya.

 http://www.4shared.com/dir/20898359/e0492da7/Brandon_Bigelow_4-tracks.html

A Milkjug moment & pre-Finks flavors

John Blackburn - Earliest Demos (1998-99)

1. Speedneck
2. Wake Up
3. Doin The Dance To Work

John Blackburn - vocals, bass
Daniel VonSeggen - bass
Andy VonSeggen - drums

What we have here is another super-rare item; the first recordings of John Blackburn. The blossoming of John's love for music. Leftover magic moments in their rawest state. He readily admits; it's music that's not near as much fun to listen to, as it was to make.


John Blackburn met what would become the Wherehouse crew, at the Morning Dew Coffeehouse when they still lived on the edge of town at 4196 Ebert Road. Though John's brother Darrell had a store right next door to 4196 called, WHERE IT'S AT, John never made it out there while the group was in residence.


Milkjug was a group that formed from Andy Von practicing his drums in a shed behind Kendall's place off Healy Drive. John and Dan would drop by, and soon were jamming together. This moved to 4196, after the guys moved into the Wherehouse, Darrell got the place for himself, and John moved in with him. Milkjug's "Doin' The Dance To Work", is one of the earliest 4-track experiments, recorded on a Tascam John bought from Darrell. The threesome jammed it out, and then John added vocals after the other guys left. This version of "Speedneck" is THE first recording he ever made. That might become obvious once you hear it, as John has noted; "Now, with extra garble." With the next track "Wake Up", we get a much better idea of where he was going, and what he was aiming for. Both feature John playing all the parts, and eventually became Finks songs (soon to be posted here).


The point of mixing these three items down to a dub tape, was to share with Chris Leiser, who had given John some of his solo Red Leader tapes. This resulted in a Milkjug performance, in what is now the Green Room at The Wherehouse, for an art opening. This room was originally part of an incinerator shaft, and had metal grates for the floor and ceiling. It barely had space for the band, so people stood above and below them to witness the performance through the grates. The group that would become the Bell Bros also played as a nameless combo, upstairs by the glass block wall. A room was set up in the other incinerator shaft (what is now the stairwell), with a coffin that's lid was wired open to serve as a table. A homemade dream machine was mounted to the makeshift table for people to gather around and interact with. This was Milkjug's only public performance.


This pic shows Andy VonSeggen and John Blackburn in a different grouping than Milkjug, jamming on Andy Von's PVC drumkit; at an entirely different art show at the Wherehouse. The completely homemade drumset was constructed of various things with unique acoustical properties, collected from a screen printing job Andy and Daniel worked at.


 http://www.4shared.com/dir/20682648/e049463f/Blackrabbit.html

From the Golden Age of the 14th Dimension They Came

Tetragrammaton - Unreleased EP (2004)

1. Black Mass
2. Werewolf
3. Glass Dagger
4. Guidance
5. Five-Sided Star
6. Glass Dagger (bonus Sambson Remix)

The Glampyre (Blake Tesh) - vocals, guitar
The Werewolf (Brandon Bigelow) - vocals, bass
The Clown From The Underground (Marty Rogers) - drums
The San Francisco Frogman (Eric Jackson) - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
The Wizard (Andy Mabe) - trumpet, backing vocals

guests from other galaxies:
Ghoul Girl (Haydee Thompson) - keyboards
The Philosopher (James Sarrsgard) - vocals, stage character
Imp Of The Perverse (Steve Tesh) - childrens turntables, vocals, stage character
The Abomination (John Blackburn) - stage character
The Blob (Gaby Tracey & Rebecca) - a white sheet sewn into a sphere that molested the audience

Pentagram originated in the Anagram Program at The Wherehouse, along with Billy Gram and Hologram (see Psychic Revolution Compilation below). Initially, it was planned as a one time project that ended up being so well received by audiences and so much enjoyed by the members, that the plans were changed. Their first show was opening for the Ground Monkeys at The Wherehouse, the week before they left for the Winter of 2002 trip to Baltimore, Maryland; where the Anagram Program was performed several times. After that trip only a few more shows were played at The Wherehouse before they changed their name. The core of the group were lifetime Heavy Metal fans, and at least for cousins Brandon and Blake; it felt like the band they should have been in when they were 15 years old. Instead, they had tried other projects together throughout the years, that never quite gelled the way this one eventually did. Blake had been in numerous bands in the area, most famously as a member of Naked Angels. Likewise, Brandon's most successful project up to this point had been as a member of Creamy Velour. Marty had come from the Prog Metal group, Japan Air; and Andy Mabe had most famously played bass in the Glamrock band, The Brothers Grimm. As a founding member of The Wherehouse itself, Eric Jackson had been in a number of groups (IQ9, Pop Equations, Bell Brothers). This key lineup, were also the majority of a sister group called Golden Dawn; which in many ways was the antithesis of Pentagram. The five core members were oft times joined at live shows by guests from other galaxies. 

Ghoul Girl manifested for several shows, as did The Philosopher and The Imp Of The Perverse for the 2004 Mystic Carnival Halloween Show in Greensboro. Then there was the infamous Abomination show at which the Abomination came for The Frogman, and The Blob made it's one and only appearance. There was also an 'in house' show one night when there was a Rave going on in the performance space at The Wherehouse, which involved the band telling all the members of the house they were having a show in the basement practice space. Though Eric eventually left the band, he was able to read a text, go into a trance and contact the 14th dimension, for several performances of channeling The San Francisco Frogman; who played drums and keyboards to pre-recorded backing loops.

The 5 songs presented here were recorded in the last week before the Psychic Revolution tour, for product to sell. Over the lifespan of Pentagram/Tetragrammaton there were a number of songs that never made it to tape. "7 Winding Spiral Stairwells To The Mystic Circle" was inspired by the occult roots of the Nazi's and the underground meeting place at Himmler's SS Fortress; of which there are said to be extant live recordings (not present here). During the Psychic Revolution tour, a trance inducing chant called "Wicken Rise" was written, as well as "24-Karat Golden Zombie" which featured a short rap based on the film, The Serpent & the Rainbow. Both of these unrecorded songs were filmed on the grease bus, and may one day appear somewhere online. There was also "The Blob" which accompanied the singular appearance of The Blob, at the finale of the Abomination show (June 1, 2003).

On a metaphysical level, these entities assembled to bring about transformation. From origins shrouded in the mysteries of the Ancient Age came The Glampyre and The Werewolf, whose history of transformation had already attained legendary. Then there was The Clown From The Underground, The San Francisco Frogman and The Wizard; whose powers were more esoteric. Taken all together, these entities formed a five-sided covenant of harrowing proportions. After 5 Pentagram performances, a transformation was commanded. At The Garage on January 30, 2003; the five creatures performed an arcane ritual and transformed into Tetragrammaton. In time, The San Francisco Frogman was called back from whence he came, on the first day of June, 2003. The Wizard used the knowledge from his earlier mystical betrayal of the Glass Dagger, to call forth the Abomination; who dispatched The Frogman's ascension to the 14th Dimension, and the the land of no responsibility. Like a two sided coin, the balance flipped to the side of Golden Dawn and eventually the remaining members of Tetragrammaton ascended back into the 14th dimension and the Golden Age. Luckily for us, we have this document of their visitation on this plane.

 http://www.4shared.com/dir/20379924/b1656bcc/Tetragrammaton.html

Bilsheeoh: where it gets Tasty!

Bilsheeoh The Redundant - Bob Barker's Charisma (1995)

1. track 1
2. track 19 (#2 in full stereo 4 track)
3. track 2
4. track 3
5. track 23 (#5 in full stereo 4 track)
6. track 26 (#6 in full stereo 4 track)
7. track 7
8. track 8
9. track 9
10. track 29 (#10 in full stereo 4 track)
11. track 31 (#11 in full stereo 4 track)
12. track 32 (#12 in full stereo 4 track)
13. track 13
14. track 33 (#14 in full stereo 4 track)
15. track 15
16. track 37 (#16 my way close to 35 with treble) (Samb's treble mix)
17. track 17
18. track 06 (extra - see #26-28 the instrumental)
19. track 27 (extra - #6 straight vocal only)
20. track 28 (extra - #6 effected vocal only)
21. track 30 (extra - #10 vocal only)
22. track 10 (extra - see #29 the instrumental)
23. track 11 (extra - see #31 - direct w-o room mics)
24. track 14 (extra - see #33 - guitars only)
25. track 34 (extra - #14 drums only)
26. track 20 (extra - #2 bass & chime elements only)
27. track 21 (extra - #2 active elements only)
28. track 24 (extra - #5 active elements only)
29. track 25 (extra - #5 low key elements only)
30. track 16 (extra)
31. track 17 (extra)
32. track 35 (extra - #16 keys & guitar panned out . bass & drums in)
33. track 36 (extra - #16 keys & guitar panned in . bass & drums out)

nonexistent song titles all


The Legend Lives On:
Bilsheeoh was a 4-track solo project by Brian Doub, begun before the Wherehouse existed as such, when the core group of what would become the Wherehouse boys lived in the 4196 house. The name Bilsheeoh comes from a lyric in a Bob Seger  song, refering to the bills a woman owes. "The Redundant" refers to his first  cassette cover, wherein a bank statement reveals that his savings account was begun with "0.00" dollars and ended with "0.00" dollars. Brian continued exploring songwriting, recording techniques and equipment, eventually leaving  Bilsheeoh behind to release his solo efforts as Ray Cathode. Consequently, Bilsheeoh has come to signify the 4-track stage of Doub's recording career; which is obviously not his best work, but it definitely has it's worthy moments. You will be amazed later, when I drop some Ray Cathode on this blog; so dig the humble origins! 

BOB BARKER'S CHARISMA is a mixture of noise experimentation, sound collage, and pop songs. It bears the catalog number 001, as it was WDYO Records first cassette release.
 
Notes on the Remastered 14th Anniversary Edition:
This file is a direct digital dub from the original 4-track, which had no titles as such. The result here, is the best 33 dubs resequenced for re-release. Tracks #1-17 are the best "master" takes available, and #18-33 are "extras" of various types; from good 2-track versions to singled out instruments from various tracks. A perfectly good explanation...but let's go further.

The actual digitizing process, without titles, became a bit confusing. This is where it gets tasty. What was originally tracks #1-33 (missing a couple of flubbed takes, ie; 2,5,12,22), have been resequenced as #1,19,3,4,23,26,7,8,9,29,31,32,13,33,25,37,18 for the major work and #6,27,28,30,10,11,14,34,20,21,24,25,16,17,35,36 as the order for the extras. These were then re-labeled to bring them back into 'order' (if such  a thing actually even exists at this point).

Bilsheeoh was always about puzzling out something new; so since we gave away the secrets of his name, this gives the listener something important to grapple with. This puzzling process is entirely necessary for proper engagement with the recording; do NOT ignore the number sequence, as your ability to appreciate the music could diminish! To fully understand this number sequence may even require psychic contact with master numerologist Eric Jackson during a nap (when his Embyonic Crusader personality is present). Don't bother him with it while he's in an awakened state, as that part of his mind is not dominate then. It wouldn't help to psychically contact Brian while he's napping, as he long ago received a hypnotic treatment to block the Bilsheeoh personality; and he needs his rest. Otherwise, enjoy the recording.

If you're a math whiz, and master the number sequence before you finish listening to the recording, please calculate the significance of their first street address (4196) in conjunction with the Remastered 14th Anniversary Edition of this rare historic recording. It might also be important to include the 33 tracks, which is a multiple of the 17 original tracks minus 1, rooted by use of a 4-track tape machine. Your Bilsheeoh pop equation should look like this: 


Turn in your solution for extra credit... and don't forget to show your work!

P.S.- There's nothing MORE redundant than a remix of a perfectly good song, and we think it high time Bilsheeoh be downloaded and remixed, so Brian can pick his favorites and add a new number sequence to even out the confusion. Then again, maybe you'd like to take one of the extra tracks and create your own collaborative composition from it. That's cool too, just have fun and send us your results!


http://www.4shared.com/dir/20303472/f034959b/Bilsheeoh.html

 

One of many 'Ground Zeroes'

Various Artists - Psychic Revolution Compilation (2003)

1. Hologram - Superficial 3:08
2. Embryonic Crusader - Fire 4:50
3. Invisible States - Still Making Music 2:51
4. Auto Pilot - Lethargy 2:17
5. Andy Freaking Mabe - She Believes In Me Now 3:01
6. Billy Gram - Stardust Mist 5:39
7. Flat Black - Tom's Got Problems 2:47
8. Tetragrammaton - Five-Sided Star 5:54
9. Praise The Beast - Leviathan Learns To Dance 1:52
10. Finks - Sentimental 3:40
11. Golden Dawn - Love Is A Giant Circle 0:28
12. J. Edgar Funeral - Live 3:18
13. Red Leader - #5 5:25
14. Ray Cathode - In The Morning 4:00
15. Odes - Angel On The Stairs 3:44
16. Moon And Star - Outro 3:18
 

This blog serves a single purpose; to make the music of the Wherehouse available. Or you might know it as The Werehouse, PS211 or even Krankies. In any case, perhaps the best place to start is several years into the whole thing. 
This is a compilation produced for the 2003 Psychic Revolution tour; wherein an old Greyhound bus was upfitted to run on discarded restaurant grease so a group of 14 people from the Wherehouse in Winston Salem, NC could tour to California and back. 

A series of events evolved from an idea born at the Wherehouse in Winston Salem, NC. Planning began on the fall equinox (September 23rd) of 2002 when the seeds of the grease bus odyssey, which became the Psychic Revolution tour were planted. The idea, known as the "Anagram Program", was based on a group of musicians who would change instruments and musical styles, along with the band name. Hologram was the Disco entity,  Billy Gram the country group, Pentagram the metal band, and so on. This concept was first executed in the Winter of 2002 during a trip to Baltimore, Maryland. The first show was at James, April & Neeley's loft andthe second show was set up by Chiara at Tarantulla Hill; the base of operations for Twig & Carly from Nautical Almanac. From the success of these events, a larger idea evolved in which the group of anagramic musicians would cross the country on the "Ronald Reagan Highschool" tour. This involved writing a musical to be set during Ronald Reagan's terms in office; with the anagram bands performing all the tunes.

Other people in the household had fully formed bands of their own with no connection to the "Anagram Program" that were soon incorporated into the grease bus tour. The Ronald Reagan Highschool musical idea was eventually dropped and replaced by a strategy of deciding which bands would play each night of the tour based on the show location, local crowd and surrounding atmosphere. A performance stage was built in the backlot of the Wherehouse where a promotional and fundraising event was held in the Summer of 2003, under the name Golgonooza. This disc was created for that event with leftover copies for selling on tour. In
September 2003 (one year from it's inception) the bus left town for a month, to return in time for the annual Wherehouse Halloween party.

Embryonic Crusader, Invisible States, Praise The Beast, Red Leader, Ray Cathode, Andy Freakin' Mabe and Moon And Star are all solo projects. Auto Pilot were new residents to the house at the time, eventually changing their lineup and name to Autopassion. Finks was comprised of two couples (at the time), one of which had a duo project named Flat Black, the other a duo called the Odes. Golden Dawn centered around yet another couple, with a rotating lineup of supporting players. J. Edgar Funeral was a project created for an art show, that intended to continue, but ended up being a one time only event.

Most of the people featured here went on the tour. Some people not featured here went instead. The 14 were: Ed Venard, Jason Mecum, Marty Rogers, Andy Mabe, Blake Tesh, Haydee Thompson, John Blackburn, Teresa Blackburn, Brian Doub, Liz Simmons, John Bryan, Brandon Bigelow, Gaby Cardal and Frank Eaton (who filmed the entire thing).


http://www.4shared.com/file/131608935/ac1def35/Various_Artists_-_Psychic_Revolution_2003__192_.html