Category: Blog

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I just finished mixing the new record by Forest Fire for Fat Cat Records this weekend.  We started the initial recording two months ago in mid-September at Tree Time Studio, which was awesome.  Since then, we’ve been doing overdubs and mixing at Doctor Wu’s, with some preliminary editing and mixing at my place.  I’m really excited about this record, my first proper producer credit!  It’s a good batch of catchy songs with inventive arrangements, with some krautrock and glam flair… I really tried to channel my Inner Eno on this one.  I can’t wait for people to hear this.

A couple weeks ago, I did sound design and mixing for a short film called The Apocalypse.  It stars Martin Starr (from Party Down and Freaks and Geeks) and Ella Rae Peck (of Gossip Girl fame), and was written and directed by Andrew Zuchero.  It’s about the end of the world (duh), and was so much fun to work on.  I don’t want to spoil things, but some of the sounds I was doing Foley for were pretty unbelievable   The Apocalypse will hopefully be making the rounds on the festival circuit this spring.

I also worked with Andrew last month on a series of Intel spots, which you can view at the Intel Ultrabook site.  It’s really hard and fun to do sound design with no music!!

The new Fort Lean EP Change Your Name is out tomorrow.  I co-engineered some of the sessions (the initial drum/bass sessions and some guitar overdubs) along with Jake Aron from the band (and Doctor Wu’s).  It was produced by Patrick Wimberly from Chairlift, and mixed by Michael Brauer – pretty fucking hi-fi!  Check out a couple songs on Stereogum and MTV.

I recently had the opportunity to do another recording upstate, this time with the band Wild Leaves.  We borrowed my friend Austin’s Tascam 388 to record an EP in a quonset hut, and spent a long weekend recording and hanging out by the campfire.  It was a great camp-out style adventure, until Hurricane Sandy came and I ran back to Brooklyn!

Before that, I worked with Jeffrey Gray Somers on an EP of solo material.  We did the basic tracking at Seaside Lounge, and are wrapping up vocals and mixing at Doctor Wu’s in the next few weeks.  It was awesome to be back at Seaside Lounge (were we did Funky Was the State of Affairs), and it’ll be cool to work some Wu magic to the tracks.   You can hear some of his stuff as Jung Bulls on Last.FM

I also recently mastered the new I Ching Quartet record Birdsongs at Doctor Wu’s.  I worked on a few of their records back in Chicago, and I can say with certainty it’s their best yet.

If you haven’t heard the new Parquet Courts LP Light Up Gold yet, do it now.  We tracked it back in February on a Tascam 388 (3 days), mixed it at my place (2 days), and I mastered it after the first one got messed up (1/2 day).  I’ve been a total fan of the LP since we started working on it – it’s one of the best punk records I’ve heard in a long time – and it’s awesome to see all the attention its been getting since it came out in August.  Check out all the kind words from Pitchfork, Stereogum (it’s in their Heavy Rotation), eMusic and Aquarium Drunkard that I’ve seen recently.

Another record that’s been getting some (well-deserved) love is Field II by Wiccans.  I mixed it at Doctor Wu’s this summer, and it’s just an awesome, heavy, brainy beast of a hardcore record.  The AV Club just nominated it the second best Loud album of the month and called it “one of the most intriguing, ambitious, ass-kicking hardcore records of the year”.  They’re almost sold out of the first pressing (which will hopefully be repressed, because they’re beautiful objects), which you can buy (or download for free) here.

I’ve got lots of cool stuff on the calendar, which I’m really looking forward to.  If you ever want to check out Doctor Wu’s or just talk about sound stuff, hit me up: jonathan [dot] schenke [at] gmail [dot] com.  And thanks, as always, for taking the time to read this.

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Earlier this year, I mastered a remix album of TJ Miller‘s stuff, which is called The Extended Play EP Illegal Art Remix Tape and it’s out now!  It’s got a bunch of remixes from the Illegal Art stable – Steinski, Junk Culture, Bran Flakes, Touch People…. it’s wild.  Consequence of Sound is streaming the album in its entirety on their site, so check it out!

I’ve been mixing the new album by Austin band Sweet Talk over the last few days.  It makes me feel like I should be down on 6th Street, drinking Shiner Bock and debating Scorchy’s and El Chilito… it really does!  The songs ride that line between punk and power-pop, and there are some real gems in there… should be wrapping up today.

Last week, I did sound design and mixing for a new Intel Ultrabook ad campaign…

… and tomorrow I’m heading out for a short tour with Frankie Rose and her gang.  We’re hitting the midwest and northeast, so come out if you’re around!  We’ll be here:

Wed-Sep-26 Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel
Fri-Sep-28 Cincinnati, OH MidPoint Music Festival
Sat-Sep-29 Champaign, IL Pygmalion Festival
Sun-Sep-30 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
Mon-Oct-01 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
Tue-Oct-02 Buffalo, NY Soundlab
Wed-Oct-03 Albany, NY Valentine’s
Thu-Oct-04 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall

Thanks for checking this out – please write if you’d like!  jonathan.schenke [at] gmail.

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Field II, the new album by Texan hardcore misfits Wiccans, is out now on Katorga Works.  It’s available as a beautiful LP (I got a copy from them on their last tour, and it’s truly striking design) and as a completely free download.  I mixed the record at Doctor Wu’s, and it sounds huge!  Grab your copy here: http://katorgaworks.bigcartel.com/product/wiccans-field-ii-lp

I just got back from a week of tracking with the band Forest Fire at Tree Time Studio in Cornwall, NY.  It was an absolutely beautiful place to record…. trees, crickets, waterfalls, fire pits, the works…  We had some choice gear and a lot of synths to choose from, all tracked to 2″ tape.  This record is going to be a real heady groover, mark my words!  I’m really excited to pick it back up in a couple weeks.  Massive shout-outs and much love to our amazing hosts, Adam Pierce (of Mice Parade & Fat Cat) and Big Jake!!

Thanks for reading all this!  Please write me if you’d like to talk more… jonathan.schenke[at]gmail.com

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Light Up Gold, the new album by Brooklyn’s Parquet Courts, is out now on gold-colored vinyl and digital download from Dull Tools.  We tracked this on a Tascam 388 in the late-winter, and I mixed and mastered it at my personal studio…. we are all really proud of how it turned out – solid performances of cool songs, great tones and good vibes, and the sequencing and design & packaging (by the band’s A. Savage) really seal the deal.

It’s been getting lots of blog love too… always nice when things work out like that.  Brooklyn Vegan gave a great review of their record release show a few weeks back at Death By Audio, which was a total blast.  Noisey/Vice debuted “Stoned and Starving”, one of my favorite jams from the record, with a nice tangental rumination by bassist Sean Yeaton about drinking milk.  Raven Sings the Blues and The Needle Drop both raved about “Borrowed Time”, with the Needle Drop giving a positive (if somewhat rambling) review of the LP.  The Deli NYC gave Light Up Gold “two thumbs up” and Internet punk mecca Terminal Boredom had lots of love for the album, even going so far as to say “The recording by Jonathan Schenke is crystal-clear, and it suits the band perfectly.”  Aw shucks!!

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, go to their bandcamp page now, or just man up and buy an LP before they run out of the gold ones!

Austin Brown, one of the guitarists from Parquet Courts, has a new band called the Keepsies, who just released their first digital single Dumb Fun.  It’s some of the best straight-up pop/rock I’ve heard in a loooong time, inspired by classic 60’s and 70’s sounds and nailing it wholeheartedly.  The title track will totally get you going, and you’ll swoon by the end of the closer “Saturday”.

The band is a bunch of fellow Texan ex-pats: Austin, Vince McClelland and Jason Kelly (from Fergus & Geronimo and Wax Museums).  Jason recorded these songs (and others) on Austin’s Tascam 388 (same one as the Parquet Courts record, fyi), with Austin and I recording a bunch of overdubs.  I then mixed it at my place, with a final pass through at Doctor Wu’s.  It’s amazing what you can do sometimes with only 8 tracks…

The Keepsies have two more singles on deck for later this year, and hopefully some live performances sooner rather than later!  Expect to be hearing a lot more about these guys….

… and as always, thanks for stopping by and checking out my shit.  Please reach out if you wanna chat: jonathan.schenke[at]gmail.com

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I spent this past weekend working with Frankie Rose and her awesome band.  I hadn’t worked with them for almost 10 months, and it was great to be back with the gang.  We did a show at Prospect Park in Brooklyn with Little Dragon, which was recorded and rebroadcast by NPR.  It’s always a little strange to hear a board feed after the fact, but I was really pleased with how it sounded.  Check out the whole thing here on the NPR Music site.  We’re doing a short tour this September too, for those of you in the midwest and east coast!

Lost Coast, a record by Ryan Daniel Hammer that I mastered last year, was recently pressed to vinyl.  It’s a really good ambient record, dark but also melodic… very cool.  The video for “888” is above, you can stream and download the whole record on his bandcamp, and purchase an LP directly from Positive Beat Recordings.

I recently mastered Rosenwasser, the new LP by Pittsburgh’s Psychic Boots.  It’s a weird and wooly journey of art rock and damaged psychedelia.  I’m not really sure where to begin with comparisons… just check out some rough mixes from the record on their bandcamp page, or their Junk Food EP.

I’m really psyched for this Saturday, when Parquet Courts are having a record release show for Light Up Gold at Death By Audio in Brooklyn.  I’m so proud of that record – it was a blast to make and turned out incredible – and really excited for everyone to hear it.  Andrew and Austin from the band did an interview recently on East Village Radio to hype the show, which is pretty rad.  I’ve got plenty more to say about it next week when it drops, but in the meantime you can stream and pre-order the LP on their bandcamp page, and check out the video for the title track above.

Thanks for checking all this jibberish out, hope you like some of it, and feel free to say “hey” at jonathan.schenke[at]gmail.com.

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Funky Was the State of Affairs, the new album by Fergus & Geronimo, is out now on Hardly Art!!  This record’s a total trip, full of aliens, mind-control, deep grooves, and sick riffs.  We recorded this completely analog last fall at Seaside Lounge, and it sounds incredible (if I do say so myself)!  Check out some tunes for yourself here and here, or go to Spotify to stream the whole thing (this week’s recommended record).

FWTSOA been getting some pretty rowdy reviews, with people saying shit like “the unattractive stature of guitarists Andrew Savage and Bob Jones, sax player Jef Brown and drummer Jason Kelly is just so striking that it seems pertinent somehow” (Ground Control) and “It’s an album flailing so violently for attention; the best thing to do is never even acknowledge its existence.” (Mishka NYC).  Even Pitchfork weighed in, opining that “Funky is a worthy record for this moment in time” and “it is more musically focused and muscular” but still finding plenty to bitch about… haters.

Impose ran a great feature/interview with Andrew Savage from Fergus & Geronimo (as well as Parquet Courts, and formerly of Teenage Cool Kids).   They talk a lot about drawing & painting, and there’s a nice selection of Andrew’s album covers and various pieces.

Fergus & Geronimo are playing a record release show this Friday at 285 Kent (in Brooklyn).  Arto Lindsay (from DNA), The People’s Temple (Hozac), Family Curse, and Mannequin Pussy are all on the bill, with members of Habibi DJing throughout the night.  PARTAY!!!!

Thanks for checking this out, hope you like it!  Feel free to get in touch at jonathan.schenke [at] gmail.com

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Wild Quiet, the new Junk Culture album, is out now on Illegal Art!  Main man Deepak delved deep to compose and produce these songs, and it was a treat to mix and try to bring the crazy album to its full potential. Impose Magazine called it one of the best albums from July, saying:

“Deepak Mantena presents an album born out of reflecting on age, loss, changes and new beginnings like the lead off song that reflects on decisions of moving for the sake of nostalgia, love, nostalgic love and the tape chic power keys hiss and soar.”

You can stream the full album now on Spinner.

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Spin Magazine debuted the next new song from Fergus & Geronimo‘s upcoming album Funky Was the State of Affairs last week.  This is one of my favorite jams on the record, and was really fun to record with the second drum part and freaked-out chorus.  Spin had a really nice write-up about it here, and Pitchfork picked it up today too.  Hardly Art is releasing the record August 7th, so mark your calendars!

Wild Quiet, the new Junk Culture record, is coming out next week (July 31st) on Illegal Art.  I’m really amazed at how this record turned out, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.  In preparation, Deepak put together this video for the song “Growing Pains”, which debuted last week on Consequence of Sound.  Check out what they had to say here, and/or head over to RCRDLBL to download the track.

 

The new Wiccans album, Field II, is mastered (impeccably by Josh Bonati) and at the presses.  In celebration, Katorga Works posted the track “Telepathy” to stream.  Also, Wiccans are hitting the road next week – check out their tour dates on their Facebook page.

And Starring debuted a new video for the song “Aphonia” on Ad Hoc yesterday.  This is one of my favorite songs on ABCDEFG, the main riff kills…. if you haven’t heard it yet, their new album is sooooo good!  Spin gave it 8/10 and calls it “Frothing, Brooklyn-based chamber pot of gloriously skewed neo-classical noise-prog.”  Check it out already, man!

 

I just got back to NYC from Chicago, where I was mixing at Pitchfork Music Festival (for the sixth year straight, whoa).  It’s always a pleasure to be working with my old friends and co-workers at the fest, and this year had a lot of solid talent performing.  This year I had the pleasure of mixing Dirty Beaches, Thee Oh Sees, The Men, and Liturgy – all bands that have blown me away in the past.  Other things that I hadn’t heard before but were awesome: Willis Earl Beal, Danny Brown, and the Field…. I’m sure there were others, but my brain got fried in the heat and the rain!

 

Thanks for stopping by to read this!  Please hit me up if you want to talk about stuff: jonathan.schenke [at] gmail.com

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Impose Magazine has debuted an exclusive album teaser for the new Fergus & Geronimo record Funky Was the State of Affairs.  Check it out above, or with an accompanying interview on their site.  I’m so excited for this record to drop – we recorded it all-analog last fall (at the wonderful Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn), and it’s a wild trip of a record!  It comes out August 7th on Hardly Art.

The new Starring record ABCD…. is out now on Northern Spy.  I recorded one track for the album, the epic centerpiece “…7…”, and Matt Mehlan (from Skeletons) mixed the record.  MTV (of all publications!) debuted the track recently on their blog!  I really love this record – it’s a great pop/prog experiment – and their recent live shows have been killer.  They’re playing this Saturday at 285 Kent (with another local favorite of mine, PC Worship) and taking off on tour soon with Guardian Alien.  Check out their dates here.

I just finished mixing the new record by Wiccans, Field II, coming soon on Katorga Works.  It’s a rowdy half hour thrill ride, and was a total blast to mix.  I mixed this at my home studio and over at Doctor Wu’s.  Check out the album info here and an umastered track from the album here!

We’re doing some renovations at Doctor Wu’s this weekend, as the studio is continuing to come together.  I’ve worked on a few projects there so far, and everything has come out incredible.  If you want to check it out some time, just get in touch!

Thanks, as always, for checking out this site!  Please feel free to reach out if you’re so inclined; my email is jonathan.schenke [at] gmail.com

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The first recording I’ve done at the new Doctor Wu’s Studio is now online.  It’s an EP by Bob Jones & the Golden Tones called Remainderman, and you can stream it in its entirety online.  Bob had all these beats and grooves and ideas floating around, so we holed up in the studio for a few days to record and arrange and see what took.  The result is a suite of synth ambience, krauty grooves, and driving post-punk.  I’m really proud of how it came together, both sonically (the gear at Doctor Wu’s is truly gorgeous sounding) and compositionally.  Check it out!

The companion CD for Reggie Watts’ A “Live” in Central Park also recently dropped, and received this excellent review from Consequence of Sound.  I had the good fortune to step in and mix it after the Comedy Central special, and I’m glad that other people enjoyed it as much as me!

“The album is a perfect snapshot of an artist at the top of his game. Watts may be a new generation’s Andy Kaufman and Miles Davis rolled into one hyper creative genius; as a result, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more entertaining artist out there.”

Woo!  Read the whole thing here: http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/05/album-review-reggie-watts-a-live-at-central-park/

I just wrapped up mastering the final album by Chicago’s sludge-metal heros Cacaw for Permanent Records.  Bat Skin Robes was recorded last year by Cooper Crain (of Cave and Bitchin Bajas) and is the by far my favorite of their albums.  The band is so intense and powerful live – like an even more warped and damaged Melvins – this is the closest representation I’ve heard.  I scored a cassette version of it last year from Rotted Tooth Recordings, and I’m glad that it’s finally getting a wider release.

I’m currently working on mixing a couple albums by Chicago/Brooklyn band the Keepsies (a collection of amazing Beatles-esque jams that transcend idle worship into something insanely catchy and enjoyable) and Denton-based Wiccans (wild and wooly hardcore rooted in the Germs and Black Flag).  I’m really psyched on both, and can’t wait for people to hear them!

Thanks for checking out this stuff, and I hope you like some of it!  As always, feel free to get in touch, I’d love to chat – jonathan.schenke [at] gmail.com