SKELETONS

NEW SITE / NEW BLOG / NEW YOU!

2010-03-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

We've MOVED! All the SKELETON$ photos and videos and links and (a)pathetic attempts at keeping up with the internet that you know and love can be found by typing SKELETONS.TV into your web-browser of choice (though it looks bad in Firefox to be honest...)... This page here will likely become another gravestone in the internet cemetery but may live forever in caches of giant corporations and/or the government!

GO: SKELETONS.TV

See you on the other side (of the internet), true as the average, with love and apathy,

-Matt

Little Women Video Feature

2010-03-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

If anyone actually looks at this blog (I know our mom's do!), you'll be familiar with Torsten Meyer's videos - I think it's a really important and wonderful thing he does, and a great way to see some things that are happening in Brooklyn and Queens that aren't mentioned so much by publications that use the term "Brooklyn Scene" in a way I don't understand.

Up on his site now is a feature on Little Women, and I won't write any more here because I wrote it over there:

UNARTIGNYC.COM

-Matt

Tonight You Belong to Me

2010-02-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

What's going on

2010-02-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

THIS WEEK IN PHOTOS

2010-01-07T06:06:00.000-08:00

True as the average,

-Matt

This guy...

2010-01-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

If the last one is trying your patience - at least skip ahead to the last minute or so...

With glove and symphony,

-Matt

NEW YEAR'S EVE at ZEBULON.

2009-12-31T07:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight we celebrate the END of 2009 (was everything fine?) and the BEGINNING of 2010 (where you been?) with the BIG BAND at ZEBULON.

It's free and will be special, I promise.

These are photos from our show at Death By Audio that I found on the internet. They were taken by Kate Fink, and are VERY nice. I hope she doesn't mind me posting them here...

I got a new camera yesterday. MORE digital proof of every moment soon!

With love and apathy,

-Matt

STONE

2009-12-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

A new BIG BAND track gets the UNARTIG treatment on the TUBE of YOU. The gentle side of the Big Band...

If you've never spent hours checking out Torsten's videos, I recommend doing it today if you're at work like me and need some FOOD for the music half of your brain. Right now there's a feature on the amazing EXTRA LIFE, with some words by some super rad people and a zillion videos of Extra Life playing at various spots around the city. If you're gonna go deep I suggest the March 2009 clip from Death By Audio: "See you at the show". It's one of my favorite tracks of theirs - a slow burn of all tension and a flurry of words and melody (is it a melody?), so great.

With love and semi-apathy,

-Matt

TOMORROW: SKELETON$ BIG BAND!

2009-11-19T12:01:00.000-08:00

We're bringing back the Big Band tomorrow for a show we're totally honored to be a part of:

28 HOURS OF INNOVATIVE ART
To Benefit Arts For Art
And NYC's community of innovative music and arts

PROGRAM:
Innovative Music, Dance, Art, Capoeira, Yoga, Poetry, Films, Kids Free Play & Panel Discussions

WHEN:
Friday, November 20, 6pm to Saturday, November 21, midnight

WHERE:
Clemente Solo Velez Cultural Center
107 Suffolk St. (between Rivington & Delancey)

TICKETS:
$30 per day / $50 for 28 hours - students
seniors $20 per day

Here is the schedule:

John Zorn, Milford Graves, Marshall Allen, Charles Gayle, Joe McPhee, Jim Black, Regattas, WTF!?

It's a bit pricey - but really... how rare is a concert like this?!

With love and apathy,

-MATT

Live in Amsterdam.

2009-11-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

There's a really nice quality video of our show at Melkweg in Amsterdam up on the Dutch website 3voor12... Shrek it out:

HAMSTERDAM

2009-11-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

COLOGNE

2009-11-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

FREIBURG

2009-11-03T03:53:00.000-08:00

GENT

2009-11-03T03:39:00.000-08:00

BRUXELLES

2009-11-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

NANTES

2009-11-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

DIJON

2009-10-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

MULHOUSE

2009-10-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

ROTTERDAM

2009-10-28T11:58:00.001-07:00

KOLN

2009-10-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

"Some things are so untrue that even their opposite is untrue"

PARIS

2009-10-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

VENDOME

2009-10-25T03:11:00.001-07:00

My favorite things?

2009-10-22T02:37:00.001-07:00

Joce sent this. Wow! Circular breathing with one sax is wild enough. My man! McCoy killing it too. Somebaddy name that drummer? This is one of those clips that you can show to people who don't like jazz. Watching again now, man! As if they had five minutes to fight for their lives in front of Gawd or the Devil or some other heavy cat. But actually that cat was TV.

Check the bewildered Chick Corea cameo at the very end too!

Spider pill

2009-10-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

"Italian researchers have invented a “spider pill” that can be swallowed like a normal pill, but which later crawls through the intestines to check for signs of colon cancer."

A video.

2009-10-14T11:46:00.000-07:00

Is Stevie Wonder better than the Beatles?

2009-10-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B aka I had no IDEA that Lately was not a Jodeci Original aka the way I've been feeling:

Hierarchy of Digital Distractions

2009-10-09T07:04:00.002-07:00

Commercials by Roy Andersson

2009-10-09T07:04:00.001-07:00

Hell Planet

2009-10-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

"Computer models of COROT-7b, a planet orbiting an orange dwarf star in the constellation Monoceros, 490 light years away, suggest that the world has a surface temperature hot enough to boil rock.

The research, by scientists at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, conjures up a vision of hell."

Flirting with Magic

2009-10-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

2009-09-25T12:36:00.001-07:00

3 pancakes

2009-09-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

three insomnia suns

2009-09-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

JUNG's Red Book.

2009-09-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Whoa.

Skeletons Big Band

2009-09-12T12:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who witnessed one of these four great performances! And thanks to Adrian C. for the crazy pic above!

9.9.09!

2009-09-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

It's 9.9.09 and your last chance to witness the BIG BAND at Roulette!

20 Greene St. BTW Canal and Grand in Soho
roulette.org
doors at 8, show 8:30!

A photo from last night...

4th of July

2009-09-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

Matt's roof, Earl tried Nicky's indigo color therapy glasses:

BIG BAND START$ TONIGHT!

2009-09-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

See you tonight at ROULETTE and happy Labor Day...

Here's the full lineup!

Matt Mehlan: guitar, alto sax, singing
Jason McMahon: guitar
Tony Lowe: guitar
Jonathan Leland: percussion
Sam Kulik: trombone
Ryan Snow: trombone
Darius Jones: alto sax
Travis Laplante: tenor sax
Matt Nelson: tenor sax
Johnny Butler: tenor and baritone sax
Mike Gallope: piano, farfisa
Caley Monahan-Ward: violin
Mike Pride: percussion
Erica Dicker: violin
Keith Parker: percussion
Dan Peck: tuba
Justin Frye: contrabass, electric bass
Jake Sanders: bari sax

OH MAN! Rehearsal last night... burning...

There must be a better way...

2009-09-04T06:40:00.001-07:00

SKELETON$ BIG BAND at ROULETE! Sept. 7, 8, 9!

2009-08-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

On the 7th, 8th, and 9th of September we're going to be playing at Roulette with a huge (huge) band...! We'll be performing almost all completely new material and ideas... Stretching out beyond the usual.

Here's the line up right now:

Matt Mehlan: guitar, alto sax, singing
Jason McMahon: guitar
Tony Lowe: guitar
Jonathan Leland: percussion
Sam Kulik: trombone
Ryan Snow: trombone
Darius Jones: alto sax
Travis Laplante: tenor sax
Matt Nelson: tenor sax
Johnny Butler: tenor and baritone sax
Mike Gallope: piano, farfisa
Caley Monahan-Ward: violin

With more being confirmed as I type...

It should be a particularly rare 3 nights... Don't miss it!

Barbara Lynn

2009-08-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

She's at the Brooklyn Soul Festival this weekend if you're in the hood.

Ben Jones

2009-08-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

An interview we laughed, cried, and thought at.

How People Spend Their Days

2009-08-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

CHECK IT: OUT

-MATT

nous aimons les sud de la France!

2009-07-31T06:02:00.000-07:00

Amazing video of the Midi Festival by the Blogotheque: http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Midi_Festival_Jour_2___Skeletons__Arto_Lindsay__Telepathe____/

Merci Fred et Bea et Midi (!!), Andreas, Marie Pierre, Chryde, Nora, Nat, et Jean-Baptiste, White Williams, Mikey, Mahjonng, Arto Lindsay, Telepathe, Francois Virot, Eglantine, MORGAN, toutes les personnes qui ont joué la musique!, Joce et Jef et Bea et Charlie, et plus et plus et plus!

More pictures to come, we had so much fun!

In the 'hood

2009-07-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

MJacko's Patent For "Smooth Criminal" Lean Shoes

2009-07-22T13:59:00.001-07:00

Check out the whole patent here!

Our two favorite 7/8 horn lines from the late 1970s

2009-07-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Losing that 8th beat is really inspiring on the dance floor - don't be shy! - here's some ideas!

from Hooyman's comic, here

Relatively new interviews

2009-07-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

Porch Of the Mystics

Deli

WHOA

2009-06-30T08:55:00.001-07:00

Zs video!

2009-06-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

I made a live video for Zs - a performance of MMW II (Part 2) - from their new record "Music of the Modern White" out now on the great Social Registry. Check it!

-Matt

RIP

2009-06-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcY1f9ja6NQ

Some rare recordings from Sudan

2009-06-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here's an out-of-print LP of Sudanese music, digitized just in time for the hot weather. Featured on this platter are two tribes from the Blue Nile province: the Ingessana and the Berta. Both are located near the Ethiopian border, and thus are similarly Arabized. Especially noteworthy are the polyrhythmic mono-flute ensemble jams on Side B, which appear to be 9/16 over 4/8 (example below)!

DOWNLOAD THE LP
MUSIC OF AFRICA, SUDAN II, Barenreiter Musicaphon

Strange, new words in Beckett's Murphy

2009-06-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

ausculate - to listen to the organs, with a stethoscope
tetraktys - a Pythagorean figure formed by fire - spec. a equilateral triangle of ten points, arranged in lines of 1, 2, 3 and 4, thus combining, in perfect form, all the mystical numbers
dross - worthless, rubbish, the dregs
conarium - the pineal gland
indemnified - to compensate for harm, loss
caecum - pouch at the junction of small/large intestines
mew - cry, mid. eng 'imitative'
suspiration - breathing
neap - tide related
naevus - raised birthmark
gehenna - hell (new test)
poleaxed - hit, kill, shock, knock down
pudenda - exterior genitals, esp. female
torpor - state of physical or mental lethargy
triorchous - three testicled
peristalis - involving flexing f intestinal muscles
amnion - innermost membrane of animal embryo
maieutic - socratic inquiry, latent, consciousness
aeruginous - bluish green, patina-esque
caul - fetal membrane
austral - relating of/to the south
cozened - tricked, deceived
genustuprations - produced through insensibility
seneschalesque - major domo of great house
emetic - nauseate, cause vomit
rutting - male deer head-butting battle, when female in heat
cur - mangy dog
acathisia - motor restlessness
tantalus - a greek god, also a cabinet in which liquors are kept/locked
whinge - complain constantly, irritatingly
vermigrade - to have the quality of worms
craw - pouch in bird gullet, also an infant's stomach
evert(ed) - turn an organ inside out
clonic - repeated musc. spasm
pillory - public torture device, akin to stock
cyanosis - bluish discoloration of skin
garret - top floor of house, small, dismal attic
bijou - small elegant jewel
aery - ethereal (irish)
masard - ?
aposiopesis - a literary device, sudden breaking off speech
ampelopsis - woody vines of the grape family
yew - coniferous tree, poisonous, object of superstition in some cultures
tallow - animal fat, as was used in candles
oakum - loose fiber, untwisted rope
viridescent - greenish, or becoming green
fug - warm, stuffy atmosphere in a room
gyves - fester, shackle
immure - confine against will
fillip - stimulus, boost to activity, talk
bowers - pleasant, shady place, under a tree
monad - single unit, #1
apnoea - cessation of breathing
canution - temperance? refers to king of england?
byssus - silk, fine
chary - cautious, wary
emendate - correct, improve text
palliation - to ameliorate one's disease pains/symtpons, without curing
abolla - woolen cloak of ancient rome
halma - ancient greek game
crispate - having a wavy, curvy edge
doxy - lover, mistress, prosty
uric - insoluble acid, used by body for excretion
jackeen - drunken, dissolute
obole - greek coin?
canaille - common folk, masses
simper - gesture of affected, coy manner
lee -sheltered from wind, weather
pique - irritation, resentment, from slighting comment
cruse - clay pot or jar
caryatid - stone carving of female, in column form, often supporting entablatures
asperities - harsh qualities, conditions
postern - back or side entrance
ectropion - old age, eyelid turned outward
lanugo - fine soft hair, covering fetus
pellucid - translucent, clear
hypermetropic - farsightedness
scud - fast moving in straight line, often because of wind

SKELETONS on Daytrotter

2009-06-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

FLY GIRLZ ON Fader TV!

2009-06-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

"HOUSEGUESTS"

2009-06-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

SKELETONS in "HOUSEGUESTS" aka "RIPPER aka the Pillows" from Skeletons, Inc.

Let's get into some spying.

2009-05-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Shirley Clarke

2009-04-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

Anthology is finishing up a retrospective..."Portrait of Jason" thoroughly unseated me, wow. Can't believe I missed "Ornette: Made In America" (1985), which covers a 20 year history incl. "Skies" with Houston orchestra and Prime Time footage with 8bit video EFX...but, "The Cool World" (1964, first flic ever to be shot on location in Harlem) is on YouTube in HQ:

- and some of her shorts are on UBU!

2009-04-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

End game

surfin...

2009-04-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

-MATT

FLY GIRLZ!

2009-04-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

I had the honor of mastering this record that's out now on two of my favorite new labels: True Panther (on vinyl) and Sockets (on the compact disc)...! It's the first record in a series called "Representing NYC" that our friend Sam Hillmer from Zs is now co-producing with the students from the after school program he teaches... Here's the blurb! Y'all gotta check it!

"The Fly Girlz The Fly Girlz are a group of young MCs ages 12 to 14. The group includes Tamera (aka angel), Tyshana (aka pinky), Vernice (aka Lady Millz), Sharmaine (aka rose), Ameena (aka Sophia), and Ashli (aka Princess). All of them are students at the Brownsville Middle School PS 284. The Fly Girlz was formed at a 21st century sponsored after school program facilitated by long time New York City public school supplementary arts education providers LEAP (Learning through and Expanded Arts Program). The program began with 22 students. The fly girlz were the last 6 standing. The Fly Girlz wrote and rehearsed for 6 months to author their first album “Da Bratz From Da Ville”. Overcoming social, and academic obstacles of all varieties the Fly Girlz offer us a look into their young but challenging day to day. Subject matter ranges from boyz to drive bys, from shoes to changing the conditions in which they are manufactured. “Da Bratz From Da Ville” is due out this March. The Fly Girlz continue their work at the Beacon Center for Arts and Leadership’s teen Action Program."

GET IT! TRUE PANTHER or SOCKETS

YES!

-MATT

In case you missed us

2009-04-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

NJIMEGEN

2009-03-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

LILLE

2009-03-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

LILLE

2009-03-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

LEIPZIG

2009-03-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

GLOBAL RECESSION Tour 2009 in Reverse Semi-Chronological Order

2009-03-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

COLOGNE

NJIMEGEN

GRONINGEN

AMSTERDAM

BRUSSELLS

BRIGHTON

DUBLIN

WALES

CLIFFS OF DOVER

ENGLISH B!

ORLEANS

LILLE

HAMBURG

BERLIN

LEIPZIG

MUNICH

Schorndorf Wailers

2009-03-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

German Guestbooks

2009-03-12T01:38:00.000-07:00

Jean Curly by Dot Com,
Effelbee by Tongo,
Tinseltown by Fattima,
T. Lorna Must by Riginod Chavex,
Jizor by Times

MUNICH

2009-02-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

"You see the same as always, and being you, hate every minute of it."

2009-02-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

I work at a place called Roulette, which is a wonderful place. Zeena Parkins put this in her program notes from a concert last December and I kept it. It's from a letter to Eva Hesse from Sol Lewitt:

"You see the same as always, and being you, hate every minute of it. DON'T!

LEARN TO SAY "FUCK YOU" TO THE WORLD ONCE IN A WHILE. YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO. JUST STOP THINKING, WORRYING, LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER, WONDERING, DOUBTING, FEARING, HURTING, HOPING FOR SOME EASY WAY OUT, STRUGGLING, GASPING, CONFUSING, ITCHING, SCRATCHING, MUMBLING, BUMBLING, GRUMBLING, TUMBLING, SCRUMBLING, SCRAMBLING, HITCHING, HATCHING, BITCHING, MOANING, GROANING, HONING, BONING, HORSE-SHITTING, HAIR-SPLITTING, NIT-PICKING, PISS-TRICKLING, NOSE-STICKING, ASS-GOUGING, EYEBALL-POKING, FINGER-POINTING, ALLEYWAY-SNEAKING, LONG WAITING, SMALL STEPPING, EVIL-EYEING, BACK-SCRATCHING, SEARCHING, PERCHING, BESMIRCHING, GRINDING, GRINDING, GRINDING AWAY AT YOURSELF.

STOP AND JUST DO."

See you in Europe.

26.02.2008 Muenchen (DE), Sunny Red
27.02.2008 Leipzig (DE), NaTo
28.02.2009 Schorndorf (DE), Manufaktur
01.03.2009 Koeln (DE), Tsunami
02.03.2009 Berlin (DE), NBI
03.03.2009 Hamburg (DE), Astrastube
04.03.2009 Nuernberg (DE), MUZ
05.03.2009 Offenbach (DE), Hafen 2
06.03.2009 Lille (FR), La Malterie
08.03.2009 Orleans (FR), L'Atelier
09.03.2009 Paris (FR), Flêche D'Or
10.03.2009 London (UK), The Lexington
11.03.2009 Kingston Upon Hull (UK), Adelphi
12.03.2009 Dublin (IE), Whelans
13.03.2009 Barrow-In-Furness (UK), The Canteen
14.03.2009 Coventry (UK), Taylor Johns House
15.03.2009 Brighton (UK), Freebutt
17.03.2009 Brussels (BE), La Filature
18.03.2009 Amsterdam (NL), Paradiso
19.03.2009 Groningen (NL), Vera
20.03.2009 Nijmegen (NL), Merleyn
21.03.2009 Utrecht (NL), Tivoli
04.04.2009 BROOKLYN (NY), ZEBULON
05.04.2009 NYC (NY), MERCURY LOUNGE

-Matt

"STEPPER aka Work" v. 2.0 by 7EV3

2009-02-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

From our man in the BAY Severiano... Also, not to be missed...

2006?

2009-02-21T11:15:00.001-08:00

Stepper portraits

2009-02-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

Is there anything better than this?

2009-02-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

See you in Switzerland this weekend.

Skeletons in "Stepper aka Work"

2009-01-23T14:18:00.000-08:00

Directed by Skeletons.
via Pitchfork

sew on new ears everyday

2009-01-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

right the fuck on to war-ear-ors like ian nagoski (true vine), lance ledbetter (dust-to-digital), jonathan ward (excavated shellac)....

Le silence n'existe pas!

2008-12-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

data="http://ubu.artmob.ca/video/flash/flvplayer.swf?file=Cage-John-and-Kirk-Roland_Sound_1966.flv&autostart=false">

John Cage and Raashan Roland Kirk - Sound?? - 1966

via ubuweb

A joyful noise to you from the wild west.

Will Rogers Talks to the Bankers

2008-12-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

Will Rogers TALKS TO THE BANKERS.

The Content Trap

2008-11-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

Back to the Middle

2008-11-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

We're back in the middle west, looking forward to eating the big bird and give thanks and try not to talk about small pox blankets or anything... This has been an exhausting one, but as always the PEOPLE make it amazing... More stories soon if we can muster the proper words... For now, some more cell-phone pics...

Once again, TONIGHT we drop a secret show in OBERLIN above the copy shop. Tomorrow: AKRON Tuesday: CHAMPAIGN and a super ILL show at the Empty Bottle in CHICAGO the day before the feast.

-BOYZ

ohio- daily life

2008-11-23T11:18:00.000-08:00

"Great Cleanliness appears dirty, Great Straightness appears crooked" - Triple Forgues Hand:

skylab show was outtasite as usual, thanks to aaron and all the dudes

secret oberlin show tonight above the copy shop

Funky President Everybody

2008-11-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

What a week. Halloween at the Zebulon was off the shelf, and we kicked off our tour West Baltimore style with friends Sejayno and Fakers. The WB is still ill as all, but we heard word of hyotes in the area so we blasted off through the midwest, watching our first halfrican president with patient pride and tears of pumped. Now we're really out there, beyond the dilatory magnetism of global chaos zone NYC, in Jason and Tony's hometown of Denver. WILD WILD WEST BABY.

let's all hang out c'mon

Nov 8 GLOB w/ Pictureplane, BDRMPPL, Modern Witch, Dugoutcanoe Denver, Colorado
Nov 9 Kilby Ct. w/ Danielson Salt Lake City, Utah
Nov 10 Someday Lounge Portland, Oregon
Nov 12 House of Nostromo Oakland, California
Nov 13 Eagle w/ The Mayyors San Francisco, California
Nov 14 The Smell w/ Nite Jewel, David Scott Stone, Vienna Noise Choir Los Angeles
Nov 16 Scoot Inn Austin, Texas
Nov 17 Club Dada Dallas, Texas
Nov 18 TBA New Orleans, Louisiana
Nov 19 Eyedrum Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 20 Secret Squirrel Athens, Georgia
Nov 21 Pilot Light Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 22 Skylab Columbus, Ohio
Nov 23 The Gypsy Hut Cincinatti, Ohio
Nov 24 Akron Matinee Akron, Ohio
Nov 25 Mike and Molly’s Champaign, Illinois
Nov 26 Empty Bottle w/ Elliot Bergman (NOMO), Lazer Crystal Chicago, Illinois
Dec 4 Velvet Lounge Washington DC, Washington DC
Dec 5 Fordham University Bronx, New York

Words...

2008-10-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

RCRD LBL!

" Skeletons, the Brooklyn group who’ve recorded for our bros at Ghostly in the past, are putting out a record on Tomlab called Money that’ll likely work for both dispositions. Their collapsing, Pollack-like jazz punk—kind of like The Jesus Lizard covering Loose Joints with more chromatic tones—can be full of cathartic tom fills one minute and then lull off into la-la land with horn parts that sound like they have wings attached to them the next. In other words, it's totally bi-polar but one-hundred-percent jamming."

LINK

Tower of Sleep!

"Brand-new song from the brand-new album by one of the most underhyped bands in indie rock. Abstract, big-band art-pop with a heap of electronics and a free jazz approach to jamming and freakout. They started out as a synthy dance band, then stepped up into some skinny Prince grooves before mixing in a pleasant helping of fractured tropicalia and afrobeat on last year’s Lucas. This time around it’s less dance and more abstraction. If the Dirty Projectors aren’t “difficult” enough for you, this is your band."

LINK

Pittsburgh City Paper:

"The first proper song, "The Things," is a rousing groove whose guitar rhythms suggest both Captain Beefheart and Jeff Beck's Blow By Blow, and whose sonorous horns seem to borrow a bit from the old Batman TV theme. Synths, theremin and choirs swirl impulsively in and out of the frenetic funk, as the singer asks, "Why would I want to know ... these things the children of rich men know?""

LINK

Cleveland Free Times:

"Most pop music is frustratingly pedantic. It should be possible to write a catchy song that doesn't use the same samples or effects used in every other artist's songs. It should be possible to integrate technology with traditional rock instrumentation to create nuanced compositions that reward repeat listens but can still be whistled. And it should be possible to include every sound, rhythm and melody, regardless of genre, to enhance a song without being pigeonholed as noise, electronica or world music. If you share any of these concerns, then $keleton$ is the band for you."

LINK

Baltimore City Paper:

"Skeletons-a pleasingly weird New York outfit that does well running assorted global music ideas, out-jazz, and improvised groove through a demure indie-rock"

LINK

The great music tabloid! NME:

Looks like so far this time around we have: Jackson Pollack, Jesus Lizard, Loose Joints, Prince, Dirty Projectors, Jeff Beck (!), Captain Beefheart, Psycho soundtrack by Bernard Hermann, and Modest Mouse. We'll keep a running list going...

SEE you in the BIG COUNTRY in the coming END DAYS.

With Love and Empathy, true as the average, broke as a joke,

-Skeletons

HALLOWEEN

2008-10-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night we will be playing a real terror of a show at Zebulon in Brooklyn, NY with a production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Dome Theater. Also appearing: Extra Life. Come dressed as your favorite ghoulie: toilet ghoulie, dino ghoulie, tairy ghoulie, tree ghoulie. We will have vinyl and CD copies of our new record, MONEY, for sale as well as freshly printed T-SHIRTS designed by Justin Craun that frankly look amazing. We will be touring the United States of America thereafter selling and re-selling these wares so come see us play and GET SSOME.

ZEBULON ZEBULON ZEBULON ALL HAIL DIE NASTY.

Oct 31 Zebulon HALLOWEEN Brooklyn, New York
Nov 1 Golden West w/ Fakers (mems W. Williams/Ecstatic Sunshine) Baltimore, Maryland
Nov 2 Garfield Artworks Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nov 3 Beachland Tavern Cleveland, Ohio
Nov 4 Arbor Vitae Ann Arbor, Michigan
Nov 5 Av-aerie Chicago, Illinois
Nov 6 CBGB St. Louis, Missouri
Nov 8 GLOB w/ Pictureplane, BDRMPPL, Modern Witch, Dugoutcanoe Denver, Colorado
Nov 9 Kilby Ct. w/ Danielson Salt Lake City, Utah
Nov 10 Someday Lounge Portland, Oregon
Nov 12 House of Nostromo Oakland, California
Nov 13 Eagle w/ The Mayyors San Francisco, California
Nov 14 The Smell w/ Nite Jewel, David Scott Stone, Vienna Noise Choir Los Angeles
Nov 16 Scoot Inn Austin, Texas
Nov 17 Club Dada Dallas, Texas
Nov 18 TBA New Orleans, Louisiana
Nov 19 Eyedrum Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 20 Secret Squirrel Athens, Georgia
Nov 21 Pilot Light Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 22 Skylab Columbus, Ohio
Nov 23 The Gypsy Hut Cincinatti, Ohio
Nov 24 Akron Matinee Akron, Ohio
Nov 25 Mike and Molly’s Champaign, Illinois
Nov 26 Empty Bottle w/ Elliot Bergman (NOMO), Lazer Crystal Chicago, Illinois
Dec 4 Velvet Lounge Washington DC, Washington DC
Dec 5 Fordham University Bronx, New York

MONEY fun facts

2008-10-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

With MONEY less than a week away I thought I'd share this nice story about money:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Letters containing white powder that were sent to more than 50 financial institutions warned that "it's payback time," the FBI said Thursday.

Officials said most of the powder-laced letters were sent to branches of JPMorgan Chase.

"Steal tens of thousands of people's money and not expect repercussions. It's payback time. What you just breathed in will kill you within 10 days. Thank [word redacted] and the FDIC for your demise," said one letter released by the FBI on Thursday.

Most of the letters contained a powder that the FBI said is harmless.

But sending the letters is "a serious crime," even if they are a hoax, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said in a statement.

More than 50 letters were received this week at financial institutions in 11 states and the District of Columbia, the FBI said.

The letters were all sent from Amarillo, Texas, to branches of Chase Bank; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which insures bank deposits; and the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, a regulatory agency. Not all the letters contained exactly the same wording, the FBI said.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $100,000 "for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible."

"Law enforcement will continue to work to identify and arrest those responsible," Kolko said .

As of Thursday, financial institutions in New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Ohio, Illinois, Colorado, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, California and Arizona have received the letters, the FBI reported.

Kolko said that field tests on the powder included in the letters have found no sign of a hazardous material but that additional tests were being conducted.

Most of the letters have been sent to branches of JPMorgan Chase, one law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Also less than a week from now, there's something about presidents, here's two fun facts:

Sarah Palin's (rhymes with my last name) make up artist makes more money in half a month than I make in a year.

And possibly a helpful context:

Gross National Product:

Malta: $5.49 billion

Madagascar: $5.37 billion

Cambodia: $5.34 billion

Spending on Fall 2008 U.S. Elections: $5.3 billion

Burkina Faso: $5.24 billion

Mali: $5.12 billion

Nicaragua: $4.97 billion

Bahamas: $4.92 billion

NOV. 4! Vote MONEY!

Love,

SKELETONS

A BAND CALLED "MONEY"

2008-10-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

AND THEY'RE OFF!

Money
The Skeletons
Tomlab

After listening to the meandering mess of the lead track "Fill My Pockets Full," it should become obvious how awful this record is going to be. Money’s sixth full-length release drowns the senses in an overwhelming flurry of unnecessary instrumentation, evidently with the sole goal to portray the band as desperately weird and different. Lead singer Matthew Mehlan’s inane warbling immediately reeks of a lifelong obsession with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, and the record quickly spirals into a cluster-fuck that sacrifices the band’s potential in favor of a lost-cause effort to be the next Zappa. The overindulgent opus "Boom! (Money!)," kicks off with a barrage of blistering bass lines and chaotic drum beats that jarringly transition from a funk-infused blowout into a free jazz session that has no place in the song. With all their varied influences and obvious signs of musicianship, it’s simply sad that Money decided to give up on any semblance of cohesion and narrative. They try way too hard to be something they’re not: interesting.

-Max Gelber
From Bay Windows

Jon's Awesome Tape

2008-10-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Jon passed along a S I C K! tape from Morocco he grabst in his time there - to the fantastic Awesome Tapes from Africa blog...

Awesome Tapes from Africa

Better check it, and pour out a l'il liquids for our man Jason - who's keeping it real in Tanzania right now... Once he's back we'll be seeing y'all across this big country...

True as the average,

-Matt

"The Things"

2008-10-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

It is now possible to download "the THINGS!" as freely as you do anything else in this life.

Option click or right click or click how you wanna click on this jazz murder mystery font.

VOTE "Money" on this very important election day: November 4th, 2008.

More to come!

True as the average,

Skeletons

Ohhhh my Illuminated One

2008-10-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

Bloods, not sure if Jojo already upped this Glory already but it deserves to be posted again, posted again, posted again. sixteen minutes and it still feels impossible

van morrison - summertime in england

and just part of what he's talkin on about

mahalia jackson - amazing grace

oh, sufferin' so high!
tones

RIP Mauricio Kagel

2008-09-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Batty in the studio?

data="http://ubu.artmob.ca/video/flash/flvplayer.swf?file=Kagel-Mauricio_Antithese_1965.flv&autostart=false">

Antithese

1965, 19 minutes

16mm

SO many amazing films by Kagel are up on UBU: HERE.

And some audio: HERE.

Here's our alma mater Oberlin's Percussion group doing "Dressur":

Dude was hilarious,

Love,

Matt

Last summer breeze

2008-09-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

CCCChilly winds abound in the Apple!

IN MEMORIAM of a deep summer, here's an 80 minute mega-mixtape of jamaican music i made... full sound system stylee...the desert island 45s...HAIL JAH

download

Love,
Professor Deejay Rainstick (Tony)

$100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-18T20:17:00.001-07:00

"We got next"

2008-09-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

There was an awesome shout out from one of our most favorite of heavy rollers, the Charlie Looker of Extra Life, in Time Out NY last week.

Czech it!

HERE

-Jojo

Not Ketchup

2008-09-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last week I woke up early, as I do every other day to move our van (in the never ending dance with street cleaning trucks and traffic cops) and found this:

Love,

Matt

Breakin' News

2008-09-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here is an mp3 stream of a current "eccentric pop" radio show from Radio DavidByrne.com on which Skeletons are featured not once but twice. it is a great honor for us to be featured in this way. David Byrne, Talking Heads, and Brian Eno (among countless others) paved the way for music like ours to be made today. Please listen it's free!

Who's got the Power?

2008-08-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

2008 Drummers

2008-08-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

"MONEY"

2008-08-01T07:58:00.001-07:00

This is the cover of our new record "MONEY". It's entering the world in October VIA the fantastic TOMLAB label: http://tomlab.com

We're touring this big U.S.A. starting on Halloween.

This is a new episode of SKELETONS TELEVISION, live from Glasgow/Amsterdam/Cologne/Brooklyn!

And in non-youtube form:HERE.

ALSO, here's an excerpt of an incredible film by HENRY HILLS that I just saw the other day at work, found a clip on youtube... Also called "MONEY":

True as the average,

Skeletons

Coming home

2008-07-17T10:20:00.001-07:00