Category: Blog

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My boy Daniel Francis Doyle has a new single out now on Monofonus Press.  We recorded the song “Debbie” at his place earlier this year, and I’m thrilled to see it out!  It’s a one-sided split single, also featuring music by the Dikes of Holland, and artwork by Tim Doyle on the flip side.  Check out a brief performance of the song above, followed by a stream of the single version.  You can pick up one of these lovely copies at the Monofonus store.

Also, my friends in No Fun posted two songs we recorded in their practice space early this year on their Bandcamp page.  Check it out!

I spent last week doing sound around NYC for CMJ Festival.  It was a hustle, for sure, but I’m glad to have done it.  The Cantora Labs / Smart Lounge party was pretty cool.

This week, I’m working on the master for the upcoming Unmanned Ship album on Rotted Tooth Recordings, and putting together the finishing touches on the reissue of Pterodactyl‘s Arnold’s Park album on my own SOUNGS Label.  WOOT!

Thanks for checking this out – hit me up if you want!  jonathan [dot] schenke [at] gmail [dot] com

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The tour with Frankie Rose and Dirty Beaches was totally awesome!  Everyone in both bands was a blast to be on the road with, and the sets by both bands were uniformly excellent.  Thanks so much to Frankie for having me along, and to all my new friends from the road – you guys rule.

I ended up returning to Montreal with Alex & the Dirty Beaches gang after the tour to do some recording for an upcoming EP.  If you saw any of these dates recently, then you probably have an idea of what to expect – dark, loop-based mutant funk, accented with poly-rhythmic percussion and effected sax skronk & drones.  If you didn’t get a chance to check out the set, think of the new Lone Runner single, but wilder.  We banged out 6+ songs in one marathon all-nigher session, and we’re all excited to see what comes of them.

The debut album by Natural Harbors, called The Most Vernal of Equinoxes, is available now for download on his Bandcamp page (that’s the album art above).  I mastered this album earlier this year, and am thrilled to see that it’s out in the world.  It’s a really engaging collection of electro/acoustic pop songs with wildly inventive arrangements and production.  A limited-edition lathe-cut LP will be available via Positive Beat Recordings later this year.

In other news, I’m mastering a couple records some of my favorite Chicago bands (Cacaw and Unmanned Ship), finishing a compilation for my SOUNGS Label, and scouting out studio spaces with Ben Greenberg (who operated Python Patrol Studios).  Exciting shit!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hit me up if you want to chat: jonathan[dot]schenke[at]gmail[dot]com

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I’m heading out on tour with Frankie Rose & the Outs and Dirty Beaches, doing sound over the next couple of weeks.  Everyone in both bands is supremely sweet, and the trip includes some stops in both Chicago and Cleveland, my old stompin’ grounds.  Check out these rad dates:

09/20/2011: New York, NY / Mercury Lounge 

09/21/2011: Boston, MA / Brighton Music Hall

09/23/2011: Montreal, QC / Il Motore / Pop Montreal

09/24/2011: Toronto, ON / Phoenix
with Peter Hook

09/26/2011: Indianapolis, IN / White Rabbit Cabaret

09/27/2011: Chicago, IL / Empty Bottle

09/28/2011: Chicago, IL / Empty Bottle / Adventures in Modern Music Festival
with John Maus, Liturgy, Chandeliers

09/29/2011: Cleveland, OH / Happy Dog

I recently mixed a few songs with my friends in NO FUN, which were recorded quick and dirty in their practice space last month.  They sound good and rowdy, as they should!  The songs should be online soon.

Also, check out this really nice review of Jim Elkington & Nathan Salsburg’s album Avos by Peter Margasak: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/music-selva-oscura-elkington-salsburg-cso/Content?oid=4456882

There’s lots of other stuff coming up this Fall that I’m totally psyched about, but I have to get my laundry done before soundcheck, so hang tight!!

xo, twoeyes

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Two new releases I’ve had the pleasure to work on come out today (8/23).  The first is Avos, the acoustic guitar duet record by James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg.  It’s being released on LP by Tompkins Square Records, and has already been garnering some great praise.  Check out this in depth article/review here:  http://workandworry.com/?p=3186

The other new release is the digital version of Junk Culture‘s Hang Roxy single on Illegal Art.  The A-Side features vocals by Jana Hunter (of Lower Dens and her own bad self), while “Chippewa Kids” has vocal contributions from Sarah Barthel (of Phantogram).  Altered Zone had some kind words for it, check it out: http://alteredzones.com/posts/1822/junk-culture-hang-roxy-feat-jana-hunter/

Thanks for taking a look, dudes.  Feel free to get in touch!

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I’ve been talking about this stuff for a while, and now there’s stuff to share!

“School Glue”, the first song from the new Pterodactyl album Spills Out debuted yesterday on Pitchfork.  Check it out: http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/16176-school-glue/

Spills Out will be released November 15th on Brah / Jagjaguwar.  I handled the bulk of the recording duties, spent some time on the mixing, and mastered the record.  People seem to be digging it, which rules – coz I really like it!

Avos, the album by James Elktington and Nathan Salsburg, comes out on Tompkins Square August 23rd.  It was recorded in a few sessions in my old living room, and mixed earlier this year.  My grandma heard it and loved it!  You can stream the album in its entirity on Fretboard Journal:  http://www.fretboardjournal.com/audio/album-preview-james-elkington-nathan-salsburgs-avos

Hope you guys like this stuff too!  Thanks for checking it out.

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My friends and I have started a new snack stand called Dynasty Cafeteria!  It’s inside 285 Kent (in Williamsburg, next to Glasslands), where they have a DIY arcade by Babycastles and periodic live music.  Have some watermelon, grape kool-aid, or freeze pops to cool off, or snack on some summer rolls or grilled cheese waffles.  We also have daily specials – check out dynastycafeteria.tumblr.com for more info!  Open daily, 8 PM – 1 AM.

I recently mastered the upcoming ‘Hang Roxy’ single by Junk Culture for Illegal Art.  Both “Hang Roxy” and “Chippewa Kids” (the b-side) are super catchy electronic pop tunes built on glitchy hip-hop beats and irresistible melodies.  I highly recommend picking up the 7″ (or the mp3s) when it comes out this Fall!

Also of note, I recently upgraded my interface to an Apogee Ensemble!  The MOTU had served me well, but it was time to step up my game – pro gear, pro attitude.  I’m setting it up today, can’t wait to get into it…

Thanks for stopping by to read this!  Feel free to reach out: jonathan[dot]schenke[at]gmail[dot]com

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Mindreading, the long-delayed second album by Singer, is out now on Drag City.  This was recorded in 2009 after Todd Rittmann left to form D(ead) Rider (which is particularly awesome live), and the results are more synth-oriented than Unhistories, and even more abstract.  I assisted the band in the recording (setting up mics and getting sounds for the group to build upon), and it was mixed by Randall Dunn (who has previously worked on releases by Sunn 0))), Earth, and Black Mountain).

I think Drag City sums it up best: “Democracy in motion…slow motion. Drifting into and through an amoebic evolution in sound, Mindreading discerns a new form of pop music. Paranormal or supernatural – take your pick!”

In other news, the upcoming Pterodactyl record Spills Out is finished!!  It turned out amazing, we’re all super-psyched on the outcome, and the early artwork looks fantastic.  Look out for it this Fall on Brah/Jagjaguwar.

Also, I just returned from another year working at Pitchfork Music Festival.  Shabazz Palaces, Kylessa, James Blake, and OFF! were definitely the highlights on my stage.  As always, it was a marathon weekend, but my friends and co-workers on the staff made it all run well, and it was awesome to see my Chicago folk again.  Big shout out to Matt, the Ice Cream Man!

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Big OOPS for letting this go so long without updating!  But check out this amazing cover for AVOS, the new record by James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg coming out this summer on Tompkins Square.  The sleeve is from a painting by the lovely Lauren Gregory, and the album was recorded and mixed by yours truly.

I recently recorded two songs with my friend Daniel Francis Doyle in Austin, TX and am in the process of mixing them both.  One of the tracks is in his classic one-man-band style for an upcoming split 7″ on Monofonus Press, and the other is a old-school ballad for an upcoming compilation on my own SOUNGS Label.  Danny is one of my favorite performers and an all around great dude, so it was truly a pleasure to do this recording with him.  Keep an eye out for him and his new trio on tour this fall.

I also recorded basic tracking for the alterna-shoegazer/bombastic rock band Soren Well, along with their guitarist and my friend Derek Mabra.  It was a great 3 days of tracking at Derek’s Honeyland Studios in Brooklyn. We recorded solid foundations for their upcoming full-length album This Year’s Rapture and the accompanying Academy Girls EP, which they are hard at work finishing overdubs and mixing.

And most recently, I recorded an epic mega jam by the Brooklyn group Starring for their upcoming second album. The album’s being mixed by Matt Mehlan from Skeletons, and it sounds fucking rad from what I’ve heard.  Their first disc, Wife of God (on Death by Audio), is pretty damn good too!

I also had the good fortune recently to work on another project coming out on Chicago’s Positive Beat Recordings.  A few weeks ago, I mastered Lost Coast by Ryan Daniel Hammer, which I believe is coming out on cassette and MP3.  It’s a collection of ambient/drone songs, melodic and heavy but not too dark and never saccharine – really good stuff.  Check out this video experiment accompanying an earlier version of “Long Face”, one of the album’s tracks, here: http://vimeo.com/20954629

Also, check out this Impose Magazine feature on People Like Us (which was on their Best of the Month list!):  http://www.imposemagazine.com/bytes/people-like-us-happy-lost-songs

Thanks for stopping by!  And as always, please get in touch if you would like to discuss working together on an upcoming project!

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A few albums that I’ve recently worked on have upcoming release dates.  First is the People Like Us album Welcome Abroad, out May 24th on CD via Illegal Art (see the album art above).  Next is The Most Vernal of Equinoxes by Natural Harbors, a hand-cut limited-edition 10″ LP on Positive Beat Recordings this summer.  And this July, the long-in-the-works guitar duo record by James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg will be released on LP by Tompkins Square.

The Pterodactyl record is now in the final mixing stages.  I’ll be finishing mixes and mastering it in the next week or so.  It’s been a long process, but we’re all excited about the results – I can’t wait for people to hear this stuff.

And Thu, Peter, Taylor, Dan, Matt, Lauren and I have finished about an hour’s worth of animations called The Misguided Guide to the Origin of Everything.  Thu’s been posting various clips from the cartoon over the last month or so, and here are a few for your viewing pleasure:

How Did Salt and Pepper Get Together? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZxOokNVyNo

What is Dust?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pehpiFLlW_w

How Does Television Work?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEGOAj_XDeM

What is a Banana Split?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iudczbj0uM

Thanks for stopping by!  And as always, feel free to get in touch if you’d like to work on a project together.

xo,
schenke