Our man Geoff from Pizza! and Big Whup now has a second solo release, this time an EP of cover songs!

There’s everything from Mariah Carey to Michael Stipe on here (oh, and a cameo with Michael Nhat), so download it before he gets famous and Warner Brothers makes him remove the link!

Here comes a genre-crossing playful solo effort from Geoff Geis, frontman behind Pizza! and Big Whup (as well as various experimental incarnations of said bands, including the Avant-Garde Volkpenis). The album brings you in with a simple yet cinematic synth track that evokes a Morricone flute intro, yet removes itself from being taken too seriously with its sarcasm-laced title: “Very Important Stuff.” Geis displays great range on this charming, eclectic album. Mostly relying on simple synthesized beats to communicate a story, he moves into full instrumentation on “Superbowl B4 De-lete,” which is perhaps more recognizable stylistically, but pulls back with the simple heartfelt ballad “Where Have You Been (All My Life)?,” covering fellow Alabama statesman country-soul singer Arthur Alexander. Country elements continue on “The Lonesome Part,” and again on the lighthearted closer, “All These Ways That I Divide My Time,” which feels as though it might be right at home amongst the bluegrass stylings of Bill Monroe or the Foggy Mountain Boys. The interspersing of brief, enchanting instrumentals, some of which place the listener in a futuristic adventure setting, work to give the album the feel of a film soundtrack. Geis also manages to transform a political commentary on Saddam Hussein’s career as a dictator into a catchy party jam. His ability to inspire dancing to a chorus line of  “and they won’t count the bodies” in reference to Hussein’s genocidal massacre of the Kurds is hilariously ingenious.

—Walt! Gorecki

-Dan Collins

Here’s a 15 minute Volkpenis experience.

MP3: the Avant-Garde Volkpenis “VolkpenisVolkpenis”

Celebrate Cinco De Mayo with the Avant-Garde Volkpenis, Fatty Dearest, and Bloody Death Skull at Echo Country Outpost tonight.

Picture Con Secuencia: A Show of Exquisite Corpses

Presented by walt! productions and Eraser Zine

Free opening reception November 12th, 2010 8pm
with DJ sets from KXLU DJ Molly
Echo Curio
1519 Sunset Blvd. Echo Park, CA 90026

Featuring a (not so) silent auction to benefit Echo Curio.

Missed Connections cassette presented by No Girls Allowed Records
featuring music by the following artists (and members of):
Moses Campbell, XBXRX, kit, No Babies. Charlyne Yi, Michael Nhat, Magick Orchids, Lola Loshkey, Big Whup, Pizza!, Heller Keller, Sugar Frosted Light Bulbs, Tusk, Peter Pants and more!

New video and animation collaborations from:
walt!, Eri Hawkins, Sean Solomon, Chloe Mandel, Steven Sanchez, champoyhate, Sam Yurick, Joan Zamora, Andrew Lush, Dave Sirus, Jordan Santos, Joe Holliday, Michael Reyder, Julie Orlick, Rachel Cole, Craig Miller, Anthony Anzalone, Steven Andrew Garcia, Carla Orendorff, Vim Crony, Lillie West, Austin Wolf-Sothern

Featuring new work in drawing, painting, collage, writing, installation, music, video, animation, and more!

what’s an exquisite corpse? see here
questions? e-mail
corpseshow@gmail.com

http://www.echocurio.com/
http://www.waltproductions.com/ec.html
http://www.eraserzine.com/
http://www.nogirlsallowedrecords.com/

Michael Nhat’s record release show for his Swimming to Cambodia album at the Echo Curio was set to start at 8pm. I didn’t arrive until closer to 9pm, but much to my luck the show hadn’t started yet. A few people awkwardly stood around the front of the art gallery located on Sunset Blvd when suddenly more people started pouring in including a lot of the local music scene’s mainstays, such as Andrew Felix, Walter Gross, Kid Infinity and more. Then the man of the hour, Michael Nhat, showed up in am all black fitted suit which paid tribute to his side project, We Dress Good.  I couldn’t stop thinking that his suit resembled what you’d be buried in when you die.  To me, this also paid homage to the dark nature of his new record.

First up was experimental noise musician Tik///Tik who I had previously never seen play. Tik///Tik was just one dude with a sampler and some synthesizers who made “harsh pop” music. There was a definite emotional intensity and vulnerability to the music that I found very charming and couldn’t help but connect with.

Second on the bill was the always impressive Pizza!. As soon as they started, the crowd was dancing and moving along to the chops. What I like most about Pizza! is that the music is not only fun, but the context in which singer Geoff delivers the lyrics is intelligent with an underlining air of sarcasm and humor. After their set I could really feel the gratification throughout the entire Echo Curio.

Up next was 3 piece spaced-out synth pop group, Halloween Swim Team. Again, this is a band that also NEVER disappoints. Everyone’s heads were bobbing and feet were tapping to the heavy analog beats and bugged out vintage synth sounds. It’s impossible to not be completely captivated by the intensity of their live show.

Then finally the man himself!  Hipsters Who Heart Hip Hop favorite and avant garde rap hero, Mr. Michael Nhat, took the floor. He was in very good spirits, more so than I had ever seen him. After a humorous introduction to the packed room, Nhat went right into his new material off the Swimming to Cambodia album. Unlike his debut record, these songs weren’t as upbeat with fun keyboard, but much darker and very self confessional with songs such as “Dancing with a Girl Named Satan.”  In true Michael Nhat charm, he read the lyrics off the back of random pieces of scrap paper. What has always impressed me about Nhat is his vocal projection and, although Nhat doesn’t considers himself  traditional “hip hop,” in the spirit of the true art of MCing, he definitely knows how to control the mic. He also invited friends Liz Bomb and Barrie Rose to join him for songs and then for his last song of the evening, Andrew Felix joined him on stage. Then before Nhat had a chance to turn off his CD player, the instrumental for “Everyone knows Werewolves Kill” came on and the crowd begged for more. Michael Nhat gave it to them, then when the beat for “Heres a Mop to Clean the Floor” came on, Nhat couldn’t stop as 6 girls rushed up to him and started dancing as he rapped. But Michael Nhat wouldn’t wrap up the show until giving the crowd one last gem in the form of “Were Learning to Walk Through Walls.” By the end of Michael’s set, you became very aware that this wasn’t just a record release show, but indeed a record release P-A-R-T-Y!

—Adam Weiss (Hipsters Who Heart Hip Hop)

There is a lot going on in belles of the ball Big Whup—a lot of instruments, a lot of vocal acrobatics, a combination unicorn/Pegasus/microphone named Party!, some adorable hopping and dancing, etc. It’s ambitious, but the actualization of that ambition doesn’t always reach the ideal. Drew Denny’s voice, and the piano melody on “No Mommy” were hypnotic, but were interrupted by an instrumental break that seemed to be there just because, which is generally as valid a reason as any other—but this particular break broke the trance that the rest of the song induced, pulling us towards a crescendo that didn’t really
connect. Denny’s yell and vocalist Geoff Geis’ Gogol Bordello-reminiscent gravelly shout in “Chant” were backed by a puzzling disco beat and mournful, noodling viola that veered more toward cacophony
than chant. And yet, the same cacophonous elements existed in pleasurable symbiosis in songs like the bubbly “Yaaaay” and the horseback journey-friendly “Trim,” a challenge issued to the Nation from Geis. They have all the tools they need, but must figure out how they work best together. The less than stellar sound quality at The Smell that night didn’t do complex arrangements any favors, either.

The last set of the night began after a bit of onstage do-si-do, in which Geis and drummer Rand Voorhies remained while the 3 ladies of Whup exited the stage in exchange for the 3 remaining gentlemen of Pizza!. Pizza! retained some of the stylistic schizophrenia of Big Whup, but it’s more cohesive—perhaps attributable to the fact that they’re an older band by several years—though oddly self-conscious. Geis asked those
dancing in the crowd to dance in front of the stage to “make us feel more comfortable.” The crowd moved closer, and Pizza! seemed to draw a bit of energy from the dancers. The influence of the ‘80s on the band
was plain to hear, as well as weaved in elements of Joy Division, Remain in Light-era Talking Heads and Brian Eno with synth, layered percussion via Voorhies’ roto toms and drummer Tyler Sabbag’s kit, and Geis’s relative monotone. Pizza! was a fitting end to Big Whup’s birthday extravaganza.

—Ayse Arf