Empty Cellar Releases Now Available at Origami Records

All current Empty Cellar releases are now available at a rad all vinyl record store, Origami Records, in Echo Park (Los Angeles). Support your local record store Angelinos!

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Mark Trecka & Beth Remis on tour now with Elephant Micah

In case you missed our first post about this tour, we would like to remind all of our East Coast friends that Mark and Beth from Pillars and Tongues are now officially on tour with Elephant Micah, who we love. Check here for dates. …and pick up the Pillars and Tongues record, “Lay of Pilgrim Park” at our store.

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Sonny Smith and the most ambitious project of all time…

(covers top-left to bottom-right by: Kyle Field (Little Wings), Chris Johanson, Scott Hewicker, Kyle Ranson)

SONNY SMITH: 100 RECORDS
April 9th – May 31, 2010
Opening reception Friday, April 9, 6 – 9pm
Gallery 16
501 3rd St
San Francisco

Live music by
Sonny and The Sunsets
and
The Sandwitches

In Gallery 16’s words:

Gallery 16 is pleased to welcome San Francisco based artist, musician and playwright Sonny Smith to his first solo show with the gallery. 100 Records is a dauntingly ambitious project that bridges his interest in art, music and dramatic form. Smith invited 100 artists to produce artwork for the record covers of fictional bands. Smith concocted the personas of each 100 fictitious bands, then wrote and recorded two hundred songs (the A side and B side) for each. All of the original artwork will be on display as well as a jukebox that plays all two hundred songs recorded by Sonny Smith and other notable musicians. Artists include, William T. Wiley, Mingering Mike, Chris Johanson, Reed Anderson, Jo Jackson, Harrell Fletcher, Chris Duncan, Tucker Nichols, Paul Wackers and 91 others!

…and in Sonny’s words:

This is a year long project that began at the Headlands residency last march. I’ve written 100 songs for 100 record jackets hand made by a shitload of artists. Also there will be a handmade jukebox to play all the songs. there’s gonna be a Volume 1 limited edition box set put out by Gallery 16 available for sale with some limited edition reproductions signed by some of the artists. This thing is a sight to be seen. Later in the year there will be a volume 2, 3, 4 etc.. Which is exciting and I will tell you more about
that soon enough.

100 records, 100 artists, 100 songs, 1 year, 1 opening, 1 jukebox, 1 you, 1 me, 1 gallery. My birth year adds up to 1 btw.

This project incorporates all that i’ve ever been working on all these years: literature, visual, music, collaboration, fictional characters.

It is my year of Individuation: those processes through which differentiated components become integrated into stable wholes. Coincidentally I couldn’t have completed this oneness without lots of people’s help.

So don’t be afraid to celebrate this oneness of one-of-a-kind togetherness/oneness with five or six glasses of (free) wine.!!!

…and in the immortal words of Endless Nest:

THIS RULES!

Keep your ear to the ground for beautiful limited edition 100 Records releases from Turn Up! and Empty Cellar records.

Read This Article or visit the Turn Up! 100 Records Blog for more information.

DON’T BE AFRAID

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Empty Cellar and Secret Seven guest DJ on KUSF today!

If you live in the Bay Area, then tune in to KUSF 90.3 today (Tuesday) at 5:00 pm (PST). Arvel from Empty Cellar and Greg from Secret Seven will be spinning our releases on the Air. We will be playing some unreleased jams from The Sandwitches, Sonny & The Sunsets, Joseph Childress, Wymond Miles, and Sword & Sandals! Tune in early (starting at 3:00) to catch the beginning of our Host’s (DJ Mashi Mashi’s) weekly show.

Listen to a live stream HERE

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Praise for Pillars & Tongues – Lay of Pilgrim Park

“With just three members, Pillars and Tongues manages to craft powerful folk abstractions and interwoven, trance-inducing vocal dynamics. Both composed and improvisational, these shifting forms evoke spiritual vibes in their soulful essence, heavenly harmonies, and repeated patterns.”
– Alarm Magazine, “This Weeks Best Albums”

“Recording much of their material live, their antecedents are as modern as drone and as old as early American folk, though with the latter they’re often stretching the definition of the genre. . . . it’s hard to believe Lay of Pilgrim Park is the work of just three people in the same room, and their roles are so fluid it’s hard to pick out where one member’s contributions start and another ends. The album’s abrupt changes, deliberate silences, and movements rather than verses and choruses feel almost more classical than folk (or jazz, or indie, or anything else they might be considered). . . . a tightly focused album-length piece”
– Jason Crock, Pitchfork

“The energy that emanates from this album, is enormous. Not massive, huge, but magnificent and powerful, brilliant and wise.”
– Das Klienicum

“Is it too early to name an album the best of the year? Ok, I’ll slow down, but the new album from Pillars and Tongues is something special.”
– The Deli Magazine (Chicago)

“Filled with lush strings, improvised vocals, and a chamber-folk core, the latest album from Chicago’s Pillars and Tongues, Lay of Pilgrim Park is impressively beautiful.”
– This Zine Will Change Your Life

“This is definitely for Dead Can Dance fans. Very interesting listen all together. While listening to this you can actually picture the singing moment on Brendan Perry from DCD. “The Center of” and “Park Saint and Folly” really lift up this whole title. Give it go…”
– The Sirens Sound

“With the magic that I thought their Daytrotter session was, as well as the album Protection . . . , I had pretty high expectations for the new release, and I most certainly wasn’t disappointed. Pillars and Tongues have their craft finely tuned, and Lay of Pilgrim Park is the perfect evidence for it.”
– Satellite for Entropy

“Lay of Pilgrim Park is one kickass album. Beautiful packaging”
– BabySue

Purchase at the Endless Nest Store

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