TO THE NECK RECORDINGS

2012-02-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

Good show last night. The people have spoken.
Last drawings for the He Must Go By Another Way book are coming along.
More soon.

This is an actual preview of the new SLs record.

2012-01-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

Target "release" date = April 3rd.

February 1st at Ella St. Social Club

2012-01-19T15:25:00.003-08:00

All right...

2012-01-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

I confess: my informal deadline (the end of 2011) came and went and the new SLs record isn't quite done. But it's SO CLOSE. More updates, maybe a proper "preview" soon. Until then...

Still working.

2011-12-26T19:11:00.000-08:00

Esozone 2011

2011-11-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

For the people who missed it, The Steven Lasombras was added at the last minute to the bill at Esozone 2011, along with Cult Of Zir and Soup Purse.
The event itself was very cool (Tom Henderson's talk on Friday night was especially enjoyable), and the performances went well. I uploaded video of a few of the SLs songs here. The camera's mic was shit, especially frustrating since the two-amp setup I was trying sounded really nice in the room (if you turn the volume on the video way down, it almost sounds "really bad").
Still, it might give one the general idea of what was happening. Next time, better mics!

Summer ended.

2011-11-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is where the magic happens now. (Not pictured: "the magic".)

Hello, friends. It appears that I managed to go all Summer without posting any updates here. MY APOLOGIES. Since last post we've been working, recording, moving, painting, setting up new studio space, rehearsing, more recording... It's been a busy time.

ANYWAY. The new SLs record is almost done, still on track to finish by the end of the year (factoring in time for mastering and finalizing the drawings and layout for the book, I believe we're still looking at an early-2012 release).

ALSO, I've been painting more pedal enclosures. A handful of these are for sale now over at Old Town Music, a few more are available now through this Etsy site. These are two of them:

You should buy them, or recommend to someone else that they should buy them. The point is, they should be bought. That is all.

More updates soon! Probably.

2011-05-31T01:28:00.001-07:00

A few updates...

2011-05-31T01:13:00.000-07:00

There's now a Facebook page for The SLs and a To The Neck twitter page. You should go "Like" the former and "Follow" the latter, if you go in for that sort of thing. [I promise to try and keep both interesting.] While updating website stuff I also uploaded a few old SLs and Animal Beard videos to Vimeo (you can also refer to the VIDEOS tab on the left side of this page for links). I think these two hold up pretty well:

The Steven Lasombras "The Country/The Mist" live at Holocene, August 13, 2008 from To The Neck Recordings on Vimeo.

Animal Beard "Activity Summary" live at the Indigo District, 2004 from To The Neck Recordings on Vimeo.

Recording for the new SLs record continues. As usual, the more I get done, the more there is to do... Still, it's getting there. More updates soon!

Custom-painted pedal enclosures!

2011-04-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hello, friends. Just a quick update - if you're in the market for a new fuzz pedal, Portland-based pedal builder Devi Ever has a new system for accepting hand-painted pedals where an artist paints an enclosure, sends it to Devi, then you special-order one of Devi's two-knob pedals in the custom-painted enclosure of your choice.

I did ten of these and they're available NOW through Devi's Etsy store! I think they turned out really well. Go buy one.*

*Personally, I would recommend the 90 in a Total Recall enclosure, or the Torn's Peaker with Tommy Wiseau screaming "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, LISA." The Bit is also a winner - I use the Bit side of my Bit Mangler all the time on SLs recordings, especially with keyboards.

2011-04-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

2011-03-28T10:13:00.001-07:00

2011-03-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

DHD 10 ANIMAL BEARD - Dark And Dying Nights

2011-03-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Animal Beard is the longtime project of Chris Ryan. Since its inception in 2000, Animal Beard has existed in various forms, including a five-person band with theremin and standup bass; a guitar/bass/drums trio; and as a solo act. Despite the occasional prolific stint of playing shows, it has primarily been a recording project.

Dark And Dying Nights is Chris' first new work in years, recorded on his own over the last few months. The results are bleak and distorted - more raw than his previous solo work, but with the same familiar pop touch. It's a weirdly cathartic addition to the Animal Beard canon and -I hope- an indicator of more to come. The whole thing is available for FREE download here.

Chris Ryan: voice, guitar, keyboard, drums, drum machine

SLs update.

2011-03-04T10:24:00.000-08:00

Recording for the SLs full-length is going well - almost as well as I had dared to hope it might. Having had the thing more or less "done" in my head for so long, the process of expelling it, piece by piece, into the world has been interesting. It's challenging to reinterpret years-old songs in a way that still sounds vital (not stale or limited by the way an inexperienced youngster may have originally conceived them). But applying the current-SLs sensibility to this early-SLs material has yielded some worthwhile results so far, especially since "the vision" I'm trying to express is more or less the same. (I think I'm just better at it now.) I'll try to post regular updates here as the project continues.

Also, last month I discovered* that A Diamond Eye Shines In Failing Light made it to #47 on Not For Resale's Top 50 of 2010 List! I appreciate the recognition, especially coming from someone who I did not foist that record upon. NFR's glowing write-up of They Poisoned Us All is here: "Like an industrial TV On The Radio these two tracks grind off a parallel universe of soulful pop hooks, nimbly dodging the piston heavy stomp of martial drumming dropping around them, kicking up dust and filthy noise in their wake. The first track is a little more song-oriented, the second spreads itself into a more ambient and lopsely structured artifact. It's a nice two-sided double shot of this bands capabilities, underlines the two key features of last year's album."

I'm not sure I could have put it better myself. Nice folks, and with rarefied tastes!

More soon.

*No, I was not Google-ing myself. I stumbled across this completely by accident while looking up info on Yellow Swans.

AB

2011-03-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

At Emusication Proclamation:

Chris lost his guitar pick mid-song. Naturally, he continued playing. The results were impressive:

DHD 09 THE STEVEN LASOMBRAS - They Poisoned Us All

2011-01-27T14:50:00.001-08:00

Two new SLs tunes; one pop song, one drone jam in the Nadja/Jesu style. Many layers. Recorded in Portland, OR between June 2010 and January 2011.
Available for FREE download here!

W. Justin Landers: voice, guitars, Moog L.P., Casio SK-1, pump organ, drums, metal, effects, noise

New SLs activity.

2010-09-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

Details soon...

One of your musical heroes flashing her mastectomy scars prompts a jumble of emotions.

2010-07-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

The Need at Berbati's Pan - July 23, 2010

A thrilling, hopeful show. The Need's records (and the couple of times we got to see them back in 2000/2001) were/are a tremendous influence on my work, and seeing that they've still "got it" warmed my heart, even if they're only back for a few shows.

[Also note: Pukekos collected some Need vinyl rips for download a while ago. If you haven't already, I would highly recommend checking those out.]

DHD 08 ANIMAL BEARD - Shit Tape

2010-06-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://animalbeard.bandcamp.com/album/shit-tape"&amp;amp;gt;Shit Tape by Animal Beard&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Chris' original liner notes read as follows:

"hello friend. this is the last recording I ever do on tape. At least that's the plan as of now. the lyrics are a bit melodramatic for my tastes at times, but i guess they're more personal than past lyrics, so please excuse me for that. i'm proud of this stuff and hope it turns into fully realized, full-band animal beard material someday. Enjoy! p.s. - shit tape is very short, so feel free to fill out the rest of the tape with whatever you want. word."

We're proud to announce that this is the first of a planned series of releases taken from Chris' four-track cassette archives, the first of which should appear later this year. In the meantime, you can download Shit Tape for free here.

Chris Ryan: guitar, keyboard, voice

DHD 07 THE STEVEN LASOMBRAS - A Diamond Eye Shines in Failing Light (2010)

2010-06-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://thestevenlasombras.bandcamp.com/album/a-diamond-eye-shines-in-failing-light"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;A Diamond Eye Shines In Failing Light by The Steven Lasombras&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Taken from recordings made between June 2007 and February 2010, this EP (the second to come about while honing craft and experimenting in anticipation of the LP/book project) demonstrates a major step forward in terms of overall technique. The songs are more aggressive and densely layered than on previous releases, the stories allow the love and disgust to flow a bit more freely. Consider this the opening salvo in a new wave of SLs productivity. [And yes, the cover image format is a nod to Tzadik's New Japan releases.]

This album is available for FREE download through Bandcamp!

W. Justin Landers: voice, guitar, bass, Casio SK-1, organ, drums, metal, effects, noise

DHD 06 THE DECKERS - Shoot Straight, Conserve The Ammo, And Never Ever Cut A Deal With The Deckers. (2001)

2010-06-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

THE DECKERS - Shoot Straight, Conserve The Ammo, And Never Ever Cut A Deal With The Deckers (2001)

01 What Is Semen, What Have We Done? / I Brought A Knife To A Gun Party
02 The Battle Of Lake Oswego / Calvin Johnson Is Our Johnson
03 ...Our Johnson (Remix)
04 The Cyber Eye Wanted To Cry

"Sometimes it's gratuitous to obfuscate yourself in the shadows. Sometimes you've gotta run - you've just gotta run. You can't... BURN, can you?"

Download this here. Recommended for fans of early Residents, Smegma, Haus Arafna, and of course Bruce Springsteen.

DHD 05 ANIMAL BEARD - I Don't Have Time To Bleed / Now It's Dark (2003/2005)

2010-06-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://animalbeard.bandcamp.com/album/i-dont-have-time-to-bleed-now-its-dark"&amp;amp;gt;I Don't Have Time To Bleed / Now It's Dark by Animal Beard&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Twelve achingly weird pop gems. These two EPs (combined here in tasty full-length form) represent the climax of Animal Beard's original three-man lineup. This was "the Beard" at its leanest and most charming. [Note: I Don't Have Time To Bleed was originally released in 2003 by Publisher's Clearinghaus.] You can now download this album for free via Bandcamp.

Chris Ryan: guitar, voice
Justin Landers: bass, guitar, keyboard, voice
James Edwards: drums, keyboard, guitar

Alex Landers: piano on 3

DHD 04 THE STEVEN LASOMBRAS - The Antique Crime Scene (2004)

2010-06-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://thestevenlasombras.bandcamp.com/album/the-antique-crime-scene"&amp;amp;gt;The Antique Crime Scene by The Steven Lasombras&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Originally intended as the fourth installment in Brian Mumford's short-lived 3"-CDR label Publisher's Clearinghaus in 2004, this record wasn't properly "released" by To The Neck until now. The 2010 version is available for free via Bandcamp - it includes revised mixes and newly cleaned-up artwork.

Justin Landers: guitar, bass, keyboard, organ, drums, metal, noise, voice
Chris Ryan: guitar on 3.

DHD 03 SUNDAY GENTLEMEN'S CLUB - Sunday Sounds (2004)

2010-06-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY GENTLEMEN'S CLUB - Sunday Sounds (2004)

1. Point Of No Return Address
2. Deathbed Confessions Of A Heroin Addict
3. Bows And Arrows
4. Next Big Thing
5. Oh, Muse!
6. Sunday Sounds
7. Merchant Of Two Cities
8. Waltz
9. (SS decking)
10. Hole In The Universe (Instrumental)

A collision of early-2000's indie-rock sensibilities. Stabs at K Records earnestness, Pulp-esque songwriting savvy, with Ben's vocal flare and charmingly ragged guitars... A pleasing package! There's no Bandcamp site for SGC at the moment, but you can download the album for free here.

Benjamin Blanding: voice, guitar
James Edwards: drums, guitar, keyboards
Justin Landers: bass, keyboard, guitar

DHD 02 THE STEVEN LASOMBRAS - The Country: Early Dance Recordings (2003)

2010-06-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://thestevenlasombras.bandcamp.com/album/the-country-early-dance-recordings"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;The Country - Early Dance Recordings by The Steven Lasombras&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

The first presentable SLs recordings. A lot of the early bits were pretty rough, but this is where we established some of the themes that would drive the project. ["Interesting" note: the metal noise on 2 was recorded after-hours at the Round Table Pizza in West Linn, OR.]
This album is now available for free via Bandcamp.

Justin Landers: bass, guitar, metal, voice
James Edwards: drums, Korg, guitar, saxophone
Chris Ryan: Casio on 2

DHD 01 ANIMAL BEARD - Animal Beard (2003)

2010-06-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

ANIMAL BEARD - Animal Beard (2003)
1. Is It Poisonous*
2. Two To Ten*
3. Statewide
4. Light On The Stairs*
5. Reflex Bets
6. Freight Train
7. Have a Pact*
8. Where Else To Go

The first full-band Animal Beard release. Admittedly pretty messy, but not devoid of charm. CD-R copies are said to still be circulating in Salem-area thrift stores. Sadly, the remaining copies are of insufficient audio quality to make available here (and considering the quality of some of our releases, that's saying something).

Chris Ryan: guitar, voice, keyboard
Justin Landers: bass, voice, keyboard
James Edwards: drums, guitar, keyboard

This is our message.

2010-06-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

James Ensor - Les Musiciens Terribles (1891)

TO THE NECK RECORDINGS is a Portland, Oregon music collective and sometime CD-R label organized by William Justin Landers, more or less "founded" in 2003 when we first pasted the words onto photocopied sleeves for the first full-band Animal Beard release. All releases are available as downloads through this site, some are available on CD at shows. In time we aim to expand our output to include little books, comics, and original artwork.

Creative awareness is squandered if one does not attempt to bring something challenging and new into the world. Always remember, kids: This world might reveal unimagined new layers of shittiness every single day, but in certain important ways it's still very much an exciting time to be alive.