the band ours has been apart of my past for the last seven years. i still remember the first time i heard their music. it was a beautiful, sunny warm spring day and the song sometimes graced my car’s radio station. the echos of jimmy gnecco’s voice took a hold of my heart in a way that i had never really experienced before. it became like a reasoning, a feeling that never wanted to leave and has remained with me ever since.

ours has been through a few different changes of band members, but the one thing that has forever remained true is the loyalty of the fans and their relationship with jimmy.over the past few years, the live experiences have been full of a warmth that resurrected throughout the crowd and created a feeling that gave absolutely everyone the power to sing. familiar friends and fans would fly from all over the world to attend strings of performances in random cities and the audience would immediately react to certain special songs like meet me in the tower, as if they were religiously their own. everytime when the music would stop and cries upon harmonies continued, it sent chills all over the room. there was an important aspect of attending those shows, meeting new strangers who actually had a special love for something they found in the music and the bond that you’d immediately share. i remember leaving with such strong highs and lows due to the unknown intense understanding of when id ever feel like that again.

to many special fans, we’ve been waiting very patiently for the last four years for a new album and the time has deservingly come. my only hope for those who are being newly introduced to the music for the first time, realize that ours is not just like any other band; they are a connection to a hidden place that lies very deep within the soul.

A few years and many tears later, I’m happy to announce the upcoming release of our third record…
Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy.

We are very excited, and ready to let it go into the world. Static, Locke, Race, Pit, and myself kick off our first show in New Jersey on February 3rd.

Thank you for your support, patience, and understanding in our process.

We’ll see you soon.

-Jimmy Gnecco

saturday, jimmy shared a 25 minute interview on whrw 90.5fm binghamton university radio.

sunday, ours performed a few songs of brand new material acoustically on krock2’s domestic disturbance radio show, as the beginning of a world premiere for their new record. they will perform once again on-air, next sunday february 4. dont forget to catch the tour!

murder [live]

ran away to tell the world [studio album]

mercy [studio album]

these recordings were made available by killtheband

images. erin caruso, tamara madden

i postpone death

by living,  by suffering, by error,

by risking, by giving,

by losing.

[.anais.]

living in los angeles, michael hussar has been creating a type of alluring work, considered apart of the new dark art classification called *lowbrow*. from the beginnings of musicisart, my mind seems to have strongly catered to this interesting genre, focusing on the most weird, mysterious fixations where different imaginary colors, uncomfortable situations and sensual confrontations realistically all come to life.

also known as pop surrealism, the origination of lowbrow started during the early 60s in southern california by cartoonist robert williams and the influential graphic artist gary panter. silently discovered inside underground comics, street graffiti, hand-crafted illustrations, inspiring tattoos and psychedelic poster art, back then the *lowbrow* term seemed appropriate to unknown artists as they felt their personal work would never be considered part of the *highbrow* fine art industry.

robert williams quickly became part of the outsider movement and famously designed the original banned cover of guns & roses “appetite for destruction”, where the visual depiction of rape began a controversy that forced geffen records to change the artwork. robert knew he had to take charge and create some type of forum to portray all the wonderful, undiscovered talent of paintings, sculptures, toys and music out there. in 1994, he began juxtapoz magazine to feature this hidden *lowbrow* revolution. with this published type of presentation, artists like mark ryden, todd schorr, gary baseman and camille rose garcia began the most important steps to their deserving, successful careers.

“there is a very dark and painful side to life, but that is natural. people in our culture think they shouldn’t ever be unhappy. they think being unhappy is unnatural. they try and make it go away. they take pills or they go to therapy to “fix” themselves. they blame themselves or others for their suffering. we need to understand that sadness is as much a part of this life as joy. it would be easy to just get bitter and cold while focusing on the dark side, but there is also an amazing, wonderful side of life. if you look for it, there is true magic all around us. maybe that sounds trite to the hardened self-protective modern ego, but there is magic in this miraculous life. if you open yourself, you do make yourself vulnerable to pain but the deeper pain you experience, the deeper joy you can have.”

mark ryden

“the earth is older than humans and will rebound, but the fate of our species seems to be precarious at best. i try to be positive and use humor in my work, even while knowing this.”

camille rose garcia

“i wish i had perspective to realize that each job wasn’t life or death. i used to think, ‘if i get a time magazine piece, it’ll make me,’ then it would happen and i’d be like, ‘now i have to get another one to keep up.’ it never ended. i was also never satisfied to do just good work, i wanted to do great work. and i failed a lot.”

gary baseman

“truly engaging art always strikes directly with one’s innate human curiosity. its in our genetic makeup to pick the different, the odd, the unusual. certain symbols are universal, a skull for instance, but mixed with reference points from a person’s own popular culture, especially when its foreign to others, it enhances the mystery surrounding the artwork. when a thing, such as a painting, is imbued with an element of mystery, that becomes much of it’s fascination. as a mystery becomes solved that fascination tends to diminish quickly.”

todd schorr

the documentary *the treasures of long gone john* was made to showcase a fan’s obsession with the above different contributors of the lowbrow art movement joined along with indie musicians such as the white stripes, hole, scarling, holly golightly and the (international) noise conspiracy who began their success as part of the diy label “sympathy for the record industry“. known as an evil lowbrow genius, long gone john is the man behind the entire madness. taking all his hardships and turning them into a true love of art, he single-handedly promoted recordings of over 700 bands without ever signing a contract and shared undiscovered visual artists for different bands’ cover artwork worldwide.

courtney love, the wife of nirvana’s kurt cobain, truly was a loyal celebrity friend of long gone john’s and released hole’s debut alternative single in the early nineties through sympathy records.

retard girl
[the first session 1990]

jennifer’s body
[live through this 1994]

detroit’s white stripes are sympathy’s most notable artists as the boy/girl duo’s album “white blood cells” was proudly released in 2001.

hardest button to button
black math

[elephant 2003]

after immediately breaking up from sweden’s hardcore band refused, vocalist dennis lyxzen created his own political music project international noise conspiracy and released the amazing, organ driven 2002 ep “up for sale“.

up for sale
bigger cages, longer chains

[a new morning, changing weather 2001]

holly golightly’s music was refreshingly used in the film “broken flowers” with bill murray. sounding like a reincarnation of the 1960s, holly mixed glimpses of acoustic country, soulful r&b and pure rock n’roll.

tell me now so i know
there is an end

[broken flowers sndtrk 2005]

from los angeles, scarling features the shoegazing vocals of jessicka fodera formerly of jack off jill. in 2003, jessica met long gone john through her artist friend, mark ryden and scarling was immediately connected. they made two albums, featuring cover art especially designed by ryden.

bummer
city noise

[so long, scarecrow 2005]

a warm thankyou to charlie at nerdlitter
for inviting me for his feature :: behind the blog

it doesn’t hurt me
you want to feel how it feels?

running up that hill

original kate bush
cover placebo

you made me forget myself
i thought i was someone else
someone good

perfect day

original lou reed
cover duran duran
cover antony & the johnsons

art by edward recife

Joshua Petker’s solo artwork exhibit “neon black” may be seen at the shooting gallery in san francisco, california and runs through february 3rd, 2007.

images. joshua petker

today is my birthday… i still cant believe ive already lived a quarter of my life and that i possibly may live another. my body at times feels like its going into a state of shock. maybe its these strange warm winter days now turning into snow. i feel really tired and all the codeine cough syrup in the world cant seem to keep me asleep but im slowly recovering, thanks to a few things.

mahogany
my bed is my castle
[connectivity! 2006]

benoit pioulard
exit leslie park
[precis 2006]

bonobo
recurring
[days to come 2006]

a hawk and a hacksaw
god bless the ottoman empire
[the way the wind blows 2006]

grails
erosion blues
[black tar prophecies vol's 1, 2 & 3, 2006]

psychic ills
january rain
[dins 2006]

fujiya & miyagi
transparent things
[transparent things 2006]

solvent
wish
[elevators and oscillators 2006]

art by claudia drake

instantaneously, when im listening to the label morr music,
i always love what im listening to.

l i s t e n
still in this town
statements
afraid

guther is no different. from berlin, julia and berend are a fresh duo providing hypnotic vocals, interweaving lofi guitars and fragile bass lines inside lil sounds of pop electronica production. when they began collaborating in 2002, they never thought they’d ever be selected for a label like morr, as they believed they were only experimenting with their favorite songs and intertwining it with what music really meant to them. effortlessly, they recently recorded their second album *sundet* in a swedish summerhouse, sharing an unpretentious and magical outcome.

i use to believe for years that there were cameras surrounding me. that my life felt like a movie — in the ways life could change, all those different people, tragedies, traumas, beautiful experiences were things to learn from and that the ten thousand feelings that could take over only ever meant one thing.. it wasn’t a movie, it was real.

there was always just a good soundtrack.

eluvium is all behind the main mind of composer, matthew cooper. living in portland, oregon, he has been sharing a calming and classical approach to the post rock genre for the past few years. his unfiltered ways of orchestral textures gently border the lines of true elegance, easily recognizing piano, strings, brass and keyboards as a sign of beauty. at times, overwhelmingly secret emotions streaming from soft and intimate patterns comfortably take over and certainly prove they are worth every single minute. apart of the label temporary residence, eluvium will be the opening guests to explosions in the sky for their wonderful winter 2007 tour.

matthew’s choice of artwork by friend jeannie pask has been perfectly fitting upon his last ep “when i live by the garden and the sea” and for the new upcoming album, “copia”…

l i s t e n

prelude for time feelers [copia 2007]

i will not forget that i have forgotten
[when i live by the garden and the sea 2006]

under the water it glowed
[lambent material 2003]

the cover artwork of explosions in the sky’s new album “all of the sudden, i miss everyone” designed by esteban rey creates a feeling reminiscent of van gogh’s paintings. its been fourteen hundred days since the last release but this quartet sure have made magic happen once again, fearlessly giving six songs including a thirteen minute epic, documenting a hidden feeling from those silent years. their sudden post rock instrumentals immerse experimental ranges of violent percussion acting like storms colliding as drumming stirs of wind penetrate like waves inside peaceful notes of circling guitars.l i s t e n

welcome, ghosts
[all of the sudden, i miss everyone 2007]

memorial
[the earth is not a cold dead place 2003]

a poor man’s memory
[those who tell the truth shall die,
those who tell the truth shall live forever 2001]

images. eluvium, explosions in the sky

your the meanest man ive ever seen stick to the promises man that you made me love me good

be my husband

original :: nina simone
[live. ronnie scotts. 1986]

cover :: damien rice and lisa hannigan
[live. union chapel. 2005]

cover :: antony and the johnsons
[live. knitting factory. 2001]

cover :: jeff buckley
[live. sin-e. 1993] thankyou to sand is overrated

art by lori earley

and you have no idea
no idea how it feels to be on your own
in your own home with the fucking phone
and the mother of gloom in your bedroom
standing over your head
with her hand in your head with her hand in your head
i will not pretend, i will not put on a smile
i will not say i’m all right for you
when all i wanted was to be good

born in montreal, martha wainwright is the sister to rufus wainwright, daughter of folk collaborator kate mcgarrigle and loudon wainwright III. growing up, her childhood was continuously surrounded by her family making music and it predominantly took over. years ago, her absent father wrote the song id rather be lonely about a period of time when martha was 14 and they lived together in new york. in 2005, she later released a full length self-titled debut album on the label drowned in sound sharing a song about him, depicting that time called bloody motherfucking asshole.

“I always felt terribly sorry for the poor woman this was about,” says Martha. “Then one time Loudon said to the crowd: ‘I wrote this song about my daughter.’ I had no idea. He really crossed the line there.” [source]

their words, mostly noises
ghosts with just voices
your words in my memory
are like music to me

i’m miles from where you are
i lay down on the cold ground
and i pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

on snow patrol’s recent release, eyes open, singer gary lightbody wrote the song set fire to the third bar about martha wainwright and asked her to duet with him.

“It represents a beacon of warmth within a song about distance & trying to get to someone. I was so familiar with her album, I wrote to the dark angel Martha was but she turned out to be one of the sweetest people in the universe, which is always the way.” [source]

images. martha wainwright

so young [ronettes] [knitting factory 2001] :: antony & the johnsons

use me [bill withers] [boston, avalon 1998] :: fiona apple

cant exist [kexp radio 2005] :: joseph arthur

you’re the one that i want [kcrw acoustic 2004] :: beck & sia

grace [london.meltdown festival 1995] :: jeff buckley

just as i should be [wnyc spinning on air 2005] :: diane cluck

my way home [northhampton, iron music hall 2005] :: citizen cope

reitschule [bbc peel sessions 2001] :: do make say think

funny time of year [berlin 2003] :: beth gibbons & rustin man

hints [kexp radio 2006] :: jose gonzalez

shells [baltimore, fletchers 1997] :: patty griffin

shift [paris, acoustic sessions 2005] :: grizzly bear

meet ze monsta [paris, black sessions 1998] :: pj harvey

heartbeats [bbc one music session 2005] :: the knife

ghost highway [paris, black sessions 1993] :: mazzy star

third planet [seattle, breakroom 1998] :: modest mouse

golden star [planet claire session 2005] :: my brightest diamond

live again [nashville, 12th & porter 2005] :: ours

house of cards [bank boston pavillion 2006] :: radiohead

secret [paris, black sessions 2005] :: emilie simon

i didnt understand [paris, black sessions 1998] :: elliott smith

chicago [wnyc spinning on air 2003] :: sufjan stevens

undercover [iceland, poppland 2003] :: worm is green

art by ray caesar

for the past year, brand new has been something special to listen to. it was an easy introduction, being immediately seduced by jesse lacey’s screaming that maintained a familiar rawness of emotion. a present from a good friend, their third album the devil and god are raging inside of me has been taking over inside of my headphones since christmas eve. from the progression of the way their albums have followed leans almost on another wavelength. maybe its the calm tempos that connect to the melodramatic vocals or they way everything will begin to feel so empty and fragile, then an odd rush of surprise comes on and something beautiful happens. different visualizations compliment and it feels important to understand some of the hidden details that this long island band are personally undertaking. the music comes to life in an honest way that only a true listener will appreciate…

it makes your heart feel something ~*~
jesus [im not scared to die but im a lil bit scared of what comes after]

on the album the devil and god are raging inside of me, there’s a silent background story surrounding a song called limousine.

in the summer of 2005, there was a terrible car accident along long island. traveling on their way home from an elegant wedding, a flower girl and her family relaxed inside a limousine. speeding down the wrong side of the road, a heavily intoxicated 25 year old man crashed his pick up truck head-on into their limousine, immediately killing the limo driver, stan rabinowitz and 7 year old flower girl, katie flynn. as the mother brought herself into the wreckage, her decapitated daughter’s head laid in front of her. the impact was so horrible that absolutely nothing remained left of the front of limo and each surviving family member suffered serious complications.

this story became very important inside of new york and around the tri-state area. not until just a few weeks ago did a verdict get reached convicting that young man, martin heidgen, with two counts of second degree murder. easily triggering many human hearts everywhere, the sad news gave a vivid and cold impression of what drinking and driving can cause. revamped strictly enforced laws and ideas revolving around DWIs increased, making any drinking violations that seemed absolutely minor, a major big deal. truly an unforgettable tragedy that happened to both sides; a devastation of an accidental double murder and the idea to keep on surviving within the loss and memories of it all.

images. brand new, katie flynn