Monday, February 26, 2007

Thee Iran-Contras Multiply page is up!


Thee Iran-Contras now have a page on Multiply.com-- click here to get to it. The not-yet-released "Chintzy Rose" EP, recorded last weekend in Knoxville, is on there for downloading, as well as some fan-shot photos from our gig at The Pilot Light. More MP3s will be uploaded soon, so check back often!

Also, there's a new, expanding collection of Contras links on Fanpop.com that you should check out immediately.

UPDATE: The Shamblers have a Multiply page, too!

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Sunday, February 25, 2007

I need to raise $450 in four days

Someone, please, loan me $450 soon.

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eBay pick of the day: 8 string Hagstrom bass

Inflatable Boy Clams


You have to listen to this.

(via the WFMU blog)

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Friday, February 23, 2007

Video advertisement for our 3/9 show



We're playing on Friday, 3/9 at The Creek and The Cave in Long Island City with The Wowz and Creaky Boards. We're set to go on at 9pm sharp, so get there early!

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

eBay pick of the day: Angry Samoans 12"

The Angry Samoans "Inside My Brain" 12"


Looks a lot like Wolf Eyes' "Stabbed in the Face" 12", doesn't it?

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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

eBay pick of the day: Altec 201A microphone

Altec 201A


Shh... don't tell anyone! Somehow, with only a day and change left, this VG+ 201A is still an unreasonably low $80.

For more photos of the microphone, head on over to the Electrical Audio site. Albini owns two of them.

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Contras videos from Knoxville

The group recording in Ben and Tara's basement in Knoxville:



Jon Polk having his face painted before the show:



Peter Heyneman getting loose:

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Thee Iran-Contras recording







We recorded 14 new keepers over the weekend in Knoxville. Look for a new album on Colonial Recordings USA soon.

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Thee Iran-Contras in Knoxville

The Contras article

Thee Iran-Contras at the Pilot Light









This past Saturday, Thee Iran-Contras played the best show The Pilot Light has seen since Dead Moon dropped by a while back. The impossibly good Bad Animal opened.

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Great new tag idea

If you're brave enough to go into the tunnels, be smart enough to use "C.H.U.D." in your graffiti.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Poster for this weekend's Contras show

Monday, February 12, 2007

iBlinds

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Thee Iran-Contras in The Maryville Daily Times

Check out The Maryville Daily Times this Friday for a feature story on Thee Iran-Contras! No shit!

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National Library of Belarus

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Sunday, February 11, 2007

Yesterday's Battle of the Bands

What can we say about last night's Battle of the Bands at the 5th Ave. Presbyterian Church? Well, we won for one thing. More on that in a minute.



Opening the show, local church youth group organizers, "Black Guy White Guy," who nearly took the crown with their original song "Orange Pop is Good" and collection of just-learned AC/DC, Queen and Jimi Hendrix covers, sounded like the brothers of The Shaggs and covered their mistakes with constant smiling. Infectious!

We played after them and really nailed it. The audience, about 30 people in total--and a truly "all ages" one at that--tapped their toes to the sounds of our new songs "Cult Sleepover," "Brandy," etc., and also to our covers of "The Best Freak" by The Christian Pirate Puppets and "Solitary Man" by Neil Diamond.

(If you missed it, be sure to swing by our show this Thursday at Stain-- we're playing the same set again then)



Up next, a couple whose name escapes me, ate fire from sticks and shook it to the smooth, suggestive sounds of a mid-90s Michael Jackson CD being played on a small boombox at the foot of the stage. A possibly disturbed young man in a white blazer, blue camouflage pants and braces, who had found his way onto the stage during the "Black Guy" set and never really left it throughout the night, moonwalked, popped and locked throughout their performance.

Meanwhile, due to a last minute scheduling conflict of some sort, the high school punk band that was supposed to show up and play after the fire eaters never arrived, and, more importantly, neither did their bass amp. Another notable no-show, John Cottrell, stuck in Richmond on work duties, left his band, The Tender & Vulnerable, without his guitar playing chops or Lee Ving singing style.



But all was not lost, and the mighty Tender & Vulnerable, reduced to only two members and calling themselves alternately "The New England Knights" and "The Dairy Diaries," did their best and still did great. Were their songs--covers of 60s garage obscurities by the likes of The Stereo Shoestring and The Starfires--lost on the audience? Maybe.

After The T&V set, the audience voted and, wouldn't you know it, they voted for The Shamblers! We were given a gift bag of Superbowl party favors as well as a $50 American Express gift card for some reason, which I imagine we'll end up spending on private press hobo LPs.

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Friday, February 09, 2007

Hard to Read



The New York Times published an interesting article this week about the British Library hosting the diaries of Saad Eskander, the director of the Iraq National Library and Archives in Baghdad. The diary itself is a harrowing portrait of the lives of ordinary people in the midst of the chaos and violence that is Baghdad today. In one entry, Dr. Eskander describes his drive from the airport to Baghdad City after a trip to Italy, and the six bombings that happened that day alone, as "a very nice welcome and back to reality." Be sure to check out the chart he created in January tracking the impact of sectarian violence on the Library staff in December.

On a related note, the University of Chicago has posted a page with images of Iraqi Library Stamps so that book dealers, Interpol agents and others can keep their eyes peeled for any books or documents that were looted from Iraqi libraries in March and April of 2003, when many of the libraries were burned and ransacked. The project is part of efforts coordinated by Middle East Librarians Association's Committee on Iraqi Libraries.

Also of note is Dr. Eskander's keynote speech given at the Internet Librarian International 2004 Conference in London.

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Thursday, February 08, 2007

eBay pick of the day: pair of Realistic MC-1000s

Two Realistic MC-1000 microphones


Why hasn't anyone bid on this yet? It's a pair of MC-1000s. These will distort the midrange of anything you put in frot of them. Think of them as harp mics for vocals. For cheap.

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Yowza

These photos are from this guy's current eBay auctions. Unreal.




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Flier for our 2/15 show


From Brandon

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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Can it be?

eBay pick of the day: pair of Fairchild 663s

Two Fairchild 663 compressors


Something tells me that this auction won't stay at $255 for very long.

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Monday, February 05, 2007

Thee Iran-Contras in Knoxville


Thee Iran-Contras, the longest running and most prolific band on the Colonial roster, are meeting up in Knoxville over President's Day Weekend to record a new album (tentatively titled "Free the Milage") and play a show at the bunker-like Pilot Light club. Local art school sensation Bad Animal supports.

I'll post more information as it becomes available, but here's a link to the McGhee Tyson Airport, which is where you'll want to fly into.

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Sunday, February 04, 2007

We're playing two shows soon!


On Saturday, February 10th, we're playing in an old fashioned Battle of the Bands at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (7 West 55th St., New York City), with fellow Colonial Recordings USA recording artists, The Tender & Vulnerable.

Here's the schedule:

7-7:10 Intro and laughs by Seth Pickens
7:10-7:40 Black Guy, White Guy (their first show)
7:50-8:20 The Shamblers
8-25-8:40 Fire Eating (this isn't a band)
8:45-9:15 Cedric Obando (a local high school group-- yes!)
9:25-9:55 The Tender and the Vulnerable (video)
10PM Battle of the Bands winner announcement

Then, on Thursday, February 15th, we're playing at a fancy lounge called Stain in Williamsburg (766 Grand Street) with Dark Horses and Patrick Elkins, who I'm told will be performing some sort of puppet show during his set. Should be interesting!

The Battle of the Bands costs $5 with student ID, $10 without, but it's a fundraiser. I don't know if the Stain show costs anything.

Hope to see you there!

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Photos from before today's practice




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Birds Jess got at The Swap

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Friday, February 02, 2007

eBay pick of the day: Lomo shotgun mic

Lomo KMC 19-05


We've been thinking about doing some field recordings of late, and have been looking into shotgun microphones (AKG 451 CK-8s and CK-9s, especially) to capture bird's eye sounds from the roof. Today's "pick" is a happy accident- I was trolling around for 19A19 gear porn and found a 19-05 instead!

I'm confused as to why this, a Russian listing, would use an American dollar bill as reference-- did they go to a currency exchange for the prop?

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Thursday, February 01, 2007

eBay pick of the day: Manley Mono

Manley Mono Microphone Preamplifier


If you're buying something from Manley, chances are someone has, at one point or another, called you a snob. Go to their website, look around, see what I mean. Nady they ain't.

Still, I didn't expect this level of haughtiness from a seller of a used Manley mono pre:

Attention bidders: if you have no idea of the quality of MANLEY products then please don't bid. This item is meant for professional recording individuals who know quality products and know that this is worth every penny.

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