A killer set of funky raw soul from the early 70s Norfolk, VA scene – literally Raw Soul – as the excellent group is at the heart and soul of all the material in the set! It features tracks credited to Raw Soul plus singers & groups Lanis Guess, Shirley Johnson, Sir Guy, Josephine Jones, Lee Fields, Page One and others – all heavy burners from the Virginia scene. The tunes are raw, soulful and tightly funky – with the guitar, bass and drums of Barry Saunders, Maurice Glass and Grover Elliot nicely gritty throughout and the excellent sax work of Dorsey Brockington all over the set. It ranges from hard and heavy funk to less frenetic southern soul. Totally excellent – here's hoping more compilations are coming down the road! Titles include "How You Gonna Do It", "Leave My Beat Alone" and "The Gig" by Raw Soul, "That Beat's Got The Devil In It" by Lenis Guess, "Feels So Good" by Shirley Johnson, "Candy Man" by Josephine Jones, "Wrong Crowd" by Prince George", "Thank Goodness Gotta Good Woman" by Page One and more.

This LP was mastered here at Monkeyclaus studio, and is an amazing project to be a part of. Brent Hosier of Arcania Records is a magical music finder and always puts together a full package with lots of information and the best most rare songs from Virginia. This is a testament to his craftsmanship, quality and respect the music deserves.

Available at these online retailers :

Groove Distribution
Dusty Groove
Turntable Lab

"This is a record capturing something haunting, melancholic and all-together charming.” -Jeff Royer, Fly Magazine.
The Honey Dewdrops are headed out on the road this summer traveling west to California and playing at all points in between. They’re looking forward to joining up with Anne and Pete Sibley, winners of A Prairie Home Companion’s 2009 talent show in their great state of Wyoming for a set or two toward the end of the summer.

Listen And Download HERE :

Bluest Blue Eyes - The Honey Dew Drops

Fly Away Free - The Honey Dew Drops

If the Sun Will Shine

Tales of some guys who recorded a non-LP, one 1968 night in Baltimore. It didn't come out at the time. Four decades later (or late) it's ready. Blues yes, but they swirl. One of their songs – Hippie Queen – was released on the CD compilation Aliens Psychos & Wild Things - Volume 3 a few years back.

Now, Arcania International has partnered with Monkey Claus to offer you digital downloads direct from the original analog mono mix.

We hope you hunger for more Bosom Blues.

These two wonderful musicians majestically settled into Monkeyclaus quite comfortable. Setting up their zone in the Live Room , they began the music making process with a few home made dehydrated sour cherries picked from Peter's cherry tree outside the studio. They cut 7 tracks and then continued the session in the bus where they were interviewed in depth and out of inspiration. Soon the recordings, interview and multi media slice of the creative process for The Honey Dew Drops will be ready to enjoy online .

Join the email list to be updated about new Monkey Sessions

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Listen to Greatest Encounters with Them Against Them

The first time I experienced Them Against Them was years ago in Richmond, Virginia's "Egg" artspace down by the river overlooking the downtown skyline. They projected footage of rhinoceroses from behind a white sheet and threw down some wicked improv. Musically, they projected relaxed dabblings with things of wonder, which fit perfectly with the art, the quiet milling about, and the mustachioed man on a tribal rug brewing tea in a haze of incense smoke. I was amazed not only by their casual and nonchalant mannerisms but also by their ability to hypnotize.

Over the years I have learned that these guys belong in a league of their own which I will call "the humble heavies." Each artist has played in scores of well known and unsung projects mostly based out of Richmond. Paul Watson tells you matter-of-factly that he toured the UK with Radiohead, as part of Sparklehorse. Phil Murphy astounds you with his finger-picking which seems too fast to be possible. Occasional drum collaborator Brian Jones is known and revered by many as a "straight drum beast". He is the mastermind behind the Slang Sanctuary record label and the focal point of many of it's groups and releases.

All of their performances are pure improvisations and feature many foreign and unconventional instruments. Cornet, bass, guitar, 'ud, trapset, various hand-drums, lapsteel, tapeloops, delay pedals, samplers, fieldrecordings and "found items" are potential elements of any given Them Against Them project or show.

Monkeyclaus is proud to present our "Greatest Encounters with Them Against Them." This audio collection is culled from three special recordings Monkeyclaus created with the band. Each recording, captured with different tools in different moods and situations, reflects the diversity of Them Against Them as well as the diversity of Monkeyclaus recordings. Abel Okugawa recorded the first tracks in a studio session in our full fidelity recording studio with Brian Jones on percussion. We recorded the next piece during the Monkeyclaus Grand Opening festivities in the same live-room. A jovial audience packed the room, Dave Medina joined in on percussion and our prized Soundfield quadraphonic mic, which hung from the ceiling of the studio, recorded the sounds. The final set of tracks is from a show at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, as Them Against Them rolled into town to share a night with Grand Banks. Dave Medina once again sat in on drums. Peter Agelasto recorded onto our Sound Devices fieldrecorder/flashdrive through a Beyer Dynamic ribbon microphone. Listen for the subtleties if you wish, otherwise just relax and ENJOY!!!

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Listen to Greatest Encounters with Them Against Them

Charlottesville, Virginia's Bucks And Gallants have a new CD, titled "Mark", recorded at Monkeyclaus Studios
throughout the Spring of 2006, with Abel Okugawa engineering.
A wonderful and fantastical East Coast tour of beauty
is now slated and right around the corner.

Bucks And Gallants are one of the most ascendant bands in Virginia.
They have honed angularity to science that is set to decapitate.
Bucks and Gallants are influenced by Pere Ubu, The Fall, The Monks, and ? and the Mysterians.

The new CD, on the brand new label Hey Person! Records, is composed of 7 songs --
1 “Broken Hands”, 2 “Paid Professionals”, 3 “Medea”, 4 “Interesting Chinese Cigarette”,
5 “Hey Bartleby”, 6 “Magic Caucasian”, and 7 “Cecil”

.
"Mark" is seven stories in twenty-eight minutes.

Bucks And Gallants is composed of four Charlottesville residents:
Darren Hoyt (bass keys, vocals), Josh Lowry (drums , cymbals),
D.R.Tyler Magill ( leads vocals, melody keys, melodica),
and Davis Salisbury (electric guitar and backing vocals).

The upcoming 4 city tour begins in Baltimore on Thursday August 3rd and ends in Philadelphia on Sunday August 6th. This will be the first East Coast Tour for Bucks & Gallants.
On Thursday August 31st, an Official CD-Release Party will take place in Charlottesville, Virginia
at The Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar.
This show will be with the mighty Brooklyn-based USAISAMONSTER, on Load Records.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE ON MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/ourbucksandgallants

TOUR DATES
08/03/2006 08:00 PM - Third Floor, Third Door, Copycat Building, Baltimore, MD
We love Emily Rabbit because she got us this show and she also runs Morpheus Records! Give her honey.

08/04/2006 10:00 PM - Velvet Lounge, Washington DC
DC and NoVa Represent!

08/05/2006 01:00 PM - East Williamsburg Industrial Park, Brooklyn, NY
1105 Metropolitan @ Grand St.,11201 - $10 donation
Oh hell yes! Special outdoor festival fun! We're on the "Second Stage." All hail Todd P., promoter king of NYC! With Japanther, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, Lexie Mountain Boys, many many others. What kind of fresh hell do we look like during the day? Find out!

08/05/2006 10:00 PM - Tonic, New York, NY
following Arto Lindsay
Playing with the Very Hush Hush... Alan Licht is letting us play! Hooray for Alan Licht!

08/06/2006 08:00 PM - Big Pink, Philadelphia, PA
1423 S. 4th Street, 19019
with Drums Like Machine Guns! Jeff Melkerson! And the reunion of many of the members of Ryan Miracle!
Show starts early.

08/31/2006 11:00 PM - Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar, Charlottesville, VA
CHARLOTTESVILLE, 22902 -
With USAISAMONSTER
NOTE: OFFICIAL CD-RELEASE PARTY!

Current Catalog available on Lulu Press

THE HYPOCRITE PRESS was founded in 1991 in CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA.
Its aim has ever been to promote awareness of, and a healthy critical stance toward, the underground subculture of downtown Charlottesville by printing and distributing the works of young local authors who choose to write about their lives in Charlottesville.

We have printed, with pleasure, pride and mixed reviews, the works of Gus “The Gus” Mueller, CW “Starshine” Hlad, Alex “Padati” Jost, Gabriel Check, Joel Jones, Ben “the benjones” Jones, Jamie Dyer (of Hogwaller Ramblers fame), the anonymous work “FANDANGO!”

, and others.

To date, the proceeds of the press are used to maintain the availability of previous publications and to take risks on new authors. Soon, most of the original Hypocrite Press titles will be available here on LULU. The press has also begun to expand its catalogue, and will continue to do so, to include non-Charlottesville authors, and will no longer require explicit Charlottesville content, although it will continue in its mission to guide and inform the life of small Southern ‘alternative’

towns. In 2005, by joining LULU, we have been able to guarantee our entire catalogue remains in print, available to the widest possible audience.

High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans
Film reviews from the pages of The Advocate by Alan F. Farrell. By special arrangement with the author, second edition.
Nominated for the 2006 Library of Virginia Literary Awards in Nonfiction

House of One
Definitive Generation X novel by the author of numerous very funny short, and now numerous very significant long, plays, now resident in NYC. Joel Jones

Fantasy's Kitchen
A fabulist novel of Charlottesville. Gabriel Check

Sketches of Fall
Another fabulist novel of Charlottesville. Gabriel Check

The Noble Salvage: A Song of the South
A farce and fable set in Charlottesville. Matthew S. Farrell

Laughing Friends Deride
Literary-satirical novel of Charlottesville. Matthew S. Farrell

Fandango!
An epic satire of Charlottesville restaurant culture. Anonymous, with an introduction by Joel Jones.

Over the years you may have heard the beauty of Bobby's singing and songwriting with great local bands such as The Hackensaw Boy's and The Virginia Jihad. You can still occasionally catch a live solo performance in or around Charlottesville, but for the most part he has been spending his time in the great Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia building a house for his loving wife Emma and their two beautiful children Corin and Mia.

Box of Pine
Box of pine audio

Dead Bird on My Shoulder
audio

Mother Earth
audio
Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

In early 2006, Bobby blessed the ears and hearts of Monkeyclaus with a three day recording session. In those three days Bobby reached deep into his magic top hat and pulled out sixteen incredible songs for his up and coming solo album. In addition to his already mesmerizing guitar and vocals, Bobby also played stellar banjo and fiddle on many of the tracks.

Here is one sample from his (soon to be released) solo album.

Here is the interview:

************************************************************

1. Can you briefly discuss the history of your engineering at Inner Ear
Studios.

I started off with the control room in the porch of my home in Arlington, and recorded the bands that played in the basement. From there, built a control room in the furnace room of my basement with the band playing in the next room. With this, we moved into the large commercial space we are in right now. Bigger rooms for recording and for gear!

2. Over the years, are there any highly memorable moments in the Studios that you can recall ?

There are MANY memorable moments. So many that it would not be practical to isolate one or two (or ten or eleven). Plus, it would put undue emphasis on one session or style of music. As you know from studio experience, engineers are required to record many styles, instruments, groups, etc..I have recorded everything from a mime (no typo), to a symphony orchestra, to a zoused conductor. Dozens of ethnic styles. Many instruments I do not know the names of. So, there is no top ten, top five, or even single event that stands alone.

3. How do you feel about helping shape not only the Virginia/DC underground music scene but also the greater American underground music scene via your role at Inner Ear Studio ?

Surprised. There was never any global plan, other than record as much as possible.

4. The D.C. punk rock movement that you were an integral part of was recognized for it's intelligent and political stances as well as for fostering positive lifestyles. Do you think that you still see that same energy present in the current D.C. music scene ?

Yes.

5. Can you discuss your feelings about DigiDesign's ProTools configuration.

I have used Digtal Performer for years. Just the other day I bought a Pro Tools LE 002 system, so it's very new. The word "configuration" gives me the willies. But let's talk a little bit about resolution. At the forefront of all digital setups specs is the data pertaining to resolution. Let's even include bit depth (12, 16, 24, or 32 [or more). I have heard music and voice at 44.1 and 48 and 88.2 and 96 (192 not yet), and have come to the conclusion that the higher number is not always the best. Indeed, we can think of resolution as the "blend" factor in music - with lower #s giving better blending, and higher #s giving less blend but more detail. For it is the extreme detail that is crucial to be managed in music, especially rock music. The sound of a lot of vingage gear is appreciated for its smoothness (read: blend), and less for the detail. So, a kick drum that plays back with a little less attack, or a voice that is slightly distorted can serve the medium well. If we're talking about the benefits of ANY digital recording program, then list editing as a strong plus. And also, stored media space (providing the hard drive works the next time you play it back). Analog has a smoothness that tends to glue the song together a little better than digital.

6. From your perspective as an engineer, what are some of your favorite musical recordings and what makes them great ?

I believe that a great recording (or art, in general) pushes the viewer/listener to new places. As for my favorites.... let me think.... a good song, effective use of harmony and scales, nice interplay between the instruments. For example, I favor recordings by the Byrds, Squeeze, the Zombies, the Kinks, Rockpile, Elliott Smith, and the classical recordings of Debussy, Holst, and Copeland.

7. List what you think lends to a great recording studio experience.

From the engineer's point of view? An artist or group that has their shit together: songs organized and rehearsed, arrangements all worked out, instruments in good shape, preproduction all done, ideas fleshed out and discussed with the other members, and a sense of humor appropriate to the profession that they are in.

8. What does the future hold for your own songwriting and performing ?

More songs (getting better as they go on) and more performing. I find that it's valuable to know how an artist feels when he/she performs (or writes, for that matter!).

Joe Lally, bass player of mighty D.C. band Fugazi, played a politically charged, focused, solo set with solid electric bass, emphasizing powerful songs and earnest singing.  A few of the songs featured laptop sample loops, that augmented the texture nicely.  He sang protest style songs about war and guns, and songs about the meaning of words and suburban alienation.  During his set he covered a Grand Central Station song.  His set culminated with an acappella version of Elliot Smith's "King's Crossing".  Lally's current 4 date mini tour is the first time that he is showcasing his own solo material and he is currently working on a solo record.

Don Zientara is the chief engineer and owner of Inner Ear Studios, located in Arlington, Virginia.  Don recorded some of the more important punk rock records, namely bands in the Dischord Records catalog.  Don played a lively, uptempo, acoustic set that was engaging and honest.  His songs were introspective and unabashed.  Don, an avid surfer, performed a Beach Boys song and a Kinks song as well.  It was an auspicious treat for all to see different facets of these punk rock luminaries.