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.”
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
The new Parquet Courts record, Light Up Gold, is done! We’re all really psyched on how it turned out, really groovin’ vintage-feeling riffs with plenty of feedback skronk. I’m personally amazed at how fast it came together – three days of tracking and two of mixing… I like to work fast, but this may be a new record for me (no pun intended)! Regardless, if you’re around Brooklyn go check them out live and pick up their tape American Specialties while you’re at it – it’s great!
I also wrapped up the mix and master for Junk Culture‘s new album Wild Quiet. It’s a dense pop trip of a record: melodic and inventive and fun. I’m really excited for this one to drop! It should be out sometime this summer on Illegal Art.
I recently mastered an album of remixes from TJ Miller‘s Extended Play EP, also coming out on Illegal Art this summer. I wasn’t familiar with TJ’s stuff, but turns out he’s a funny guy! The album has remixes by Junk Culture, Bran Flakes, Touch People, the Kleptones, Jesse Case, Babes, and a mega-mix by Steinski. Check out the video from his album up top.
The other thing I recently mixed was the new EP by NT. Their stuff is loud-fast rock, steeped in post-punk and grunge. I met main man Jake on tour with Frankie Rose (he was playing bass with her for a while, and played on her new album), so it was really fun to work on this together and really tap into my inner teenager (as opposed to my inner child or inner old man). It’s pretty awesome stuff, and should be out soon!
Thanks for stopping by, and please hit me up if you want! jonathan[dot]schenke[at]gmail[dot]com
I’ve been putting the finishing touches on the mix for Wild Quiet, the new album by Junk Culture. It’s continuing on the expansive pop tip that Deepak (Junk Culture’s main man) has been exploring recently, drawing from similarly widescreen influences like Animal Collective, Broken Social Scene, and Max Tundra. This album has been a blast to work on – the songs are solid and super catchy, and the production is pretty excellent. There was a lot to tinker around with, and end result is bigger/better/weirder than I think either of us expected! It should be out this summer on Illegal Art. In the meantime, check out “Hang Roxy” here: http://alteredzones.com/posts/1822/junk-culture-hang-roxy-feat-jana-hunter/
In the middle of all this, I spent three days recording the new album by Parquet Courts, Light Up Gold. They’re a Brooklyn band fronted by Andrew Savage (of Fergus & Geronimo and Teenage Cool Kids) that play scuzzy vintage style punk tunes… think of what Guided By Voices, Modern Lovers, and Woods might sound like jamming together. Andrew and I worked together on the upcoming Fergus & Geronimo record for Hardly Art, so I knew we’d have a good time. We did the full album, overdubs vocals and all, in 3 days to a Tascam 388 reel-to-reel machine (see that photo above) in their practice space. It turned out awesome! We’re getting together to mix it in a couple of weeks, which I’m really looking forward to. If you haven’t already, check out their also-awesome cassette American Specialties. You can stream a couple of tunes here: http://parquetcourts.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/she-looked-at-me-like-a-frypan-reducing/
And I recorded a demo with of my friend Bob’s bands, Sharksleep. It’s haunted acoustic folk tunes, which we recorded live in their living room. Jim from the band did overdubs and mixed it, and the demo turned out really good. Check it out: http://sharksleep.bandcamp.com/
Much more coming up, things have been good and busy! If you want to chat, send me an email: jonathan[dot]schenke[at]gmail[dot]com
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
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
Jonathan Schenke 