Expel Records

2011-11-26T16:07:00.000-08:00

(((FolkYEAH!))) Presents

The Drift 'Blue Hour' Record Release

Sunday, December 4, 2011

8pm / $5 at door

Live sets from:

The Drift, North America, Brookhaven

Guest DJ:

Colm O'Ciosoig (MBV, the Warm Inventions)

For more information visit

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=181092778650802

2011-09-09T01:51:00.000-07:00

BROOKHAVEN / 'at Two Platforms'

AVAILABLE NOW!

The first proper release since 'When the Chorus Walks' in 2010, this record is a collection of recent improvisations recorded live at Two Platforms Studio in Oakland, CA. throughout the first half of 2011. With the exception of 'Palma', all selections were recorded straight to stereo hard disc as they were being realized in the moment. They may never be improved upon or revisited. 'Palma' was tracked at Two Platforms as a demo, with the intention of being re-recorded later. This album can now be downloaded for free from the groups bandcamp page, or heard on soundcloud.

2011-05-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

R. TASADAY
'TIODHLAC' EP

'Be Gone Dull Care'[MP3]

They seek them here they seek them there, but who can really say who the real R Tasaday are. We know very little about them. They record in their bathroom, an internal bathroom in a rented house. They have very little sense of direction and even less ambition. The combination of these two factors means that we will probably not know anything more. In the meantime, let us enjoy these simple tunes channeled to us through the miracle of the internet, knowing that in previous times we would not have heard them, unless we had the misfortune to be in the company of the band whilst they were drunk and in the mood to whack a c90 in.
-NME June 1747

The avant-pop stylings of Scotlands R. Tasaday are
AVAILABLE NOW from EXPEL RECORDS MAILORDER

2010-10-17T16:33:00.001-07:00

RECORD RELEASE PARTY
Brookhaven 'When the Chorus Walks'

AMNESIA

853 Valencia St. San Francisco

amnesiathebar.com

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9

9:00pm / live set 10:00

With Special Guest

Bookworm

DJ James Severance

2010-09-13T00:04:00.001-07:00

New Expel Label Sampler II - Various Catalog Releases and Singles (2006-2011)

[Click Here to Download (.zip 38MB)]

Track Listing:

01 Continental - 'Dirty Hump' [MP3] From the U-Dot Singles Series

02 R. Tasaday - 'Around' [MP3] Unreleased

03 Bookworm - 'Miriam' [MP3] From the album 'Mandarin Hits' (2006 Expel Records)

04 Moniker2 - 'Follow Us to Certain Doom' [MP3] Unreleased

05 Roche - '99 Ways' [MP3] From the album 'Hilltop Songs' (2007 Expel Records)

06 R. Tasaday - 'Late Again' [MP3] From the album 'Tiodhlac' (2010 Expel Records)

07 Brookhaven - 'When the Chorus Walks' (reprise) [MP3] From the album 'When the Chorus Walks' (2010 Expel Records)

08 Bookworm - 'Course Live' (Excerpt) [MP3] Unreleased

09 Clay Payton - 'Recalls Eric' [MP3] From the album 'Hear Tic' EP (2006 Expel Records)

10 Good Advices - 'Untruly Unhurt' [MP3] From the U-Dot Singles Series (U-Dot Music)

...

2010-08-14T15:35:00.001-07:00

Interview with R. Tasaday

This month we talk to the reclusive R. Tasaday, bedroom-pop auteur and occasional filmmaker, to celebrate the news of his forthcoming release 'Tiodhlac' on Expel Records.

By Sonny James

R Tasaday - 'Be Gone Dull Care'[MP3]

SJ / So what is music really about for you?

RT / For me its a little side room off real life, which is about the unrelenting grind of existence; its like that pub in cheers, or when mork talked to orc; you have to find your own room, leave your coat at the door. For me as a suburban kid growing up in a cultural wasteland it was like a map out of certain situations, but a map containing its own place. I don’t think people find things in such odd ways anymore but maybe they do. I don’t. I discovered the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed through Andy Warhol’s popism book! I liked to listen to the radio under my pillow as a teenager and liked John Peel, but I also loved short wave and the west coast of Scotland had wonderful reception for english language shows on Radio Tirana and the like. Here you could hear all sorts of music that wasn’t going to worry the charts.

SJ / Do you have any formal training in music, and if so, has it helped or hurt you as a musician?

RT / I learnt the recorder briefly as a kid, I had a nice wooden one, but I dropped it in the graveyard on my way back from school. I always felt embarrassed singing, when I was 7 my aunty suggested I try miming and after that I never sang in public again. I think that was a bit irresponsible of her. I had an electric organ with numbered keys and some push button chords, many a blissful hour was spent creating primitive dirges (and still is). My mother recounts a story of waking thinking she must have died being awoken by my mournful noodling on the bontempti. After I taught myself some chords on the guitar at age 12 or so I went to a classical guitar teacher however this meant I got no pocket money so that didn't last long...I was phased by the introduction of sharps and minors as well, much to the annoyance of Heather the guitar tutor, who was an Australian big on pictures of wave forms etc. So I continued with the guitar myself and was eventually given a rickety piano by a neighbor (on the promise that I wouldn’t tinker with their new one) which had to be moved to our house on the back of a trailer which was quite exciting and needless to say wasn't entirely in tune once it had been huckled into place. I don't think its particularly hurt me as a musician (especially if you don’t think of yourself as one), from what I understand for some people being taught an instrument can be a life long inoculation against music and certainly can stop you approaching an instrument as a creative vehicle.

SJ / What instruments do you consider yourself proficient at & what instrument would you most like to pick up?

RT / I don't think I am proficient in any instrument, I never play with others and never in public. I would most like to pick up a piano, if only to prove my superhuman strength. Other than that I would be quite keen to play one of those instruments that you hit with sticks that looks like the back of a piano I think its called a hammer dulcimer. If I could play one of those I would definitely play in public.

SJ / What's a record you like that you feel people would expect you to NOT like & what’s a record people would not expect you to like that you DO like?

RT / I don't know what people would expect me to like/not like! At the moment I am listening to Damien Jurado. However I haven't got past "sheets" and "cloudy socks". I get stuck on songs. "Foggy Mountain Dew" by Damien Dempsey is good too. I don't know what's going on with the Damien thing. Perhaps people wouldn't expect me to like "Hissing of Summer Lawns" by Joni Mitchell. But I do. I love Edith and the Kingpin. I don't really know what it's about but the images she uses in the lyrics are most evocative...the band sounds like typewriters...his left hand holds his right. All the songs on that album are like that.

SJ / How big of an effect do you think your mother has had on you as a musician?

RT / That's a good one! My initial thought on this was nothing but I have thought a bit more and remembered some odds and ends. One that sticks in my mind is watching the Eurovision song contest with my mother and she commented that she wondered how there could be new songs in the world with the limited number of notes. This sent me into an uncharacteristic rage, principally because it was something that I had privately wondered about myself; it also sent me into a bit of an existential funk (not the groovy kind, the DH Lawrence “State of Funk” kind) with a sense that here I was at the end of history...the time when no nothing new could happen, a time when we were doomed to repeat what had gone before. On a brighter, less self regarding, note...my mother (I call her Mum)..had a record of light Japanese music that she had bought in Singapore when my family were stationed there and that always filled me with a delicious feeling of melancholy with the pentatonic scale rendered Mantovani style. Another aside on Mum was that she helped me buy my first recording device, a two tape karaoke machine. I left school in a bit of a daze at 16 and spent a year moping around my parents house recording music on this machine, it had a reverb dial and a tempo control and allowed me to over tape endlessly creating what I guess would be a wall of sound or rather a wall of mush.

SJ / How many guitars would you ideally own, and what would they be?

RT / I would ideally own a guitar! I have a guitar on a long term loan from my elder brother. I do own a broken epiphone electric guitar which I bought after my first job as a kitchen porter in a flight catering unit after I left school. It was but a three week interruption to the aforementioned moping. It was a miserable place. Most of the workers had hand made tattoos on their throats of dotted lines and "cut here". The girls on the lines which made up the trays of food wood regularly run from the line crying at the sheer tedium of spooning mashed potato.

SJ / Do you think emotional trauma helps or hurts one as an artist?

RT / Emotional trauma....I would say generally yes. It certainly helps with the the fermenting process. Does it help me? I don't know. I have been traumatized, yes indeedy. In fact I spent six weeks in a psychiatric hospital in a locked ward. That was like the finishing school for the traumatized. It was over halloween, I even got to go the halloween disco! That was traumatic, but I can't squeeze a song out of it. It was the end of an attempt to run away on a high that took me on a bicycle tour of Tighnabruaich and The Kyles of Bute. I stayed in B and B's and then when my money ran out I found some rather odd shelters, one night I slept in a cottage full of poachers from the north east of England, another night I slept in the waiting room in a police station in Fort William. But these things can be like dreams, when you write it down it sounds a bit trite, and it was more traumatic for my mother!

SJ / Would you rather play in a bar or a living room?

RT / I think I once sang in a bar, a Karaoke bar, I think I may have done "Paper Roses" by Marie Osmond. I can't remember where it was, somewhere rural and a bit scary. I must have been drunk. I will have to say I prefer to sing in a living room, with the proviso that I was the only person present. Having said that my living room is hard on the street separated by a single sheet of glass, our local hoodlums can make it feel like being in a bar, a special underage bar.

SJ / Do you think you’ll ever leave Scotland?

RT / Um, I dunno. I would like to sometimes. It rains constantly. You wouldn't believe the clouds could hold so much liquid. I have no language skills bar a smattering of Gaelic learned in a night class, which doesn't travel so well. I liked the Soviet Union, when I was there as a student. I have great hopes for Scotland, not least in that it is endlessly disappointing and full of emotional trauma. I went to the Outer Hebrides a couple of weeks ago...it was quite instructive; it is like a condensed version of Scotland - full of fear and (self) loathing. The swing parks all have signage on them "closed on sunday". I met a man involved with alcohol counseling who said the islands were rife with alcoholism of a generational variety. People will of course not drink for pleasure but purely on a medicinal basis. As an adult I lived in Bristol for a year and quite liked being a foreigner for a year and would ham that up a bit.

...

2009-12-23T10:13:00.001-08:00

brookhaven @ cafe du nord, SF 12/20/09

2009-12-10T01:08:00.000-08:00

2009-12-10T00:48:00.000-08:00

New Brookhaven LP 'When the Chorus Walks' Coming August 17, 2010!

Oakland-based ambient rock group Brookhaven return to the stage to support the release of their sophomore LP ‘When the Chorus Walks’, with a new lineup featuring Sonny James on electric guitar, Matt Holt(ex-Continental) on electric guitar, Michael Jacobs (Porch) on drum kit and Matthew Sieling on bass / keys. After 3 years of writing and recording, the proper follow-up to their critically-celebrated 2005 debut ‘Transitive Verses’ LP has been announced for an August 2010 release date. Quieter and less concerned with profuse cut-and-paste experiments than it’s predecessor, ‘When the Chorus Walks’ is no less striking of a set of avant-garde instrumental pieces, at times recalling the stark economy of the groups early EP & singles for Expel Records. Recorded by Sonny James and Brian Fraser between 2007-2009, this time the group evokes its particular vision in the context of the live band, over the course of seven entrancing new guitar-based compositions. Featuring an impressive cast of supporting players, including Mike Eul (ex-Continental, synth),Fionnuala Ni Chiosoig (violin), Nik Dawson (programming, drones) and Clay Payton (drum and synth programming), among others, the record doesn’t stray too far from the ambient-electro roots of ‘Transitive Verses’, whose collage-style arrangements and weird instrumental-pop collective mentality still informs much of the new material.

2009-11-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

JUST ANNOUNCED!

PAPA M

JASON SIMON (of Dead Meadow)

BROOKHAVEN

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2009

CAFE Du NORD - 2174 Market St. SF, CA. 94114

Tickets on Sale now at cafedunord.com

For more information vist folkYEAH.com

2009-10-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

New Brookhaven Single Available Now on ITUNES!

A. "In June" (lp version)
B. "Each Night is a Reminder" (lp out take)

Advance Digital Single from the Forthcoming Brookhaven LP/CD "When the Chorus Walks".

Two new compositions recorded by Sonny James at Two Platforms Studios in Oakland, CA. featuring performances by Matthew Holt and Mike Eul (ex-Continental), Nik Dawson (Bookworms), Michael Jacobs (Porch) & Clay Payton (Expel recording artist)

2009-06-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

New SF Show Announced

Brookhaven
Thurs, July 2
@ Eagle Tavern
398 12th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

2008-11-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

brookhaven live at rickshaw stop sf, october 2008

2008-10-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

BROOKHAVEN October Dates

SAT 10/11/08 - METAMUSIC RECORDS: 320 cedar st. santa cruz, ca. (live instore) http://www.metamusiconline.com/

WED 10/15/08 - the RICKSHAW STOP: 155 fell st. san francisco, ca. http://www.rickshawstop.com/

2008-06-01T22:55:00.001-07:00

NEW SHOW ADDED!
June 23 - Historic Brookdale Lodge
Santa Cruz, CA

Black Francis w/
Port O' Brien
Brookhaven

Advance Tickets are available
at http://www.folkyeah.com/

2008-03-17T20:38:00.001-07:00

new brookhaven lineup announced

Mike Eul - synth, rhodes
Matt Holt - electric guitar
Michael Jacobs - drum kit
Sonny James - electric guitar
Fionnuala Ni Ciosoig - violin

this same band will be performing the material on the forthcoming brookhaven lp, supported by programming work from Nik Dawson and Clay Payton.

of course you recognize the names Mike Eul and Matt Holt from the legendary Continental. we are honored and humbled to have them aboard. (myspace.com/thebandcontinental)

we are hoping to release a new single in the next few months, along w/ some remixes of the material we are working on...

2007-12-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

BROOKHAVEN "in june" / "something must remain of us"

7-inch w/ remix cd coming soon from expel records

new LP in coming 2008

2007-01-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

2007-01-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

EXPEL RECORDS 2007
Digital EP Series featuring all new material from:

ROCHE
DRSLONE
CLAY PAYTON
BROOKHAVEN
BOOKWORM
MIO

ROCHE - 'HILLTOP SONGS' EP
COMING IN MARCH! Roche returns to the Expel camp for this digital series with 'Hilltop Songs', seven all new compositions available through most major music download sites, such as Itunes, Rhapsody, Emusic, Napster, et al. We'll do a limited CD run for each release as well, and keep you posted on that as it occurs.
we've got the single 'you never know' up on our myspace right now, as well as a preview of the upcoming DRSLONE EP >> http://myspace.com/expelrecords

"HILLTOP SONGS"

1. dont care
2. 99 ways
3. you never know
4. power of a hoody
5. beauty2fly
6. jams on
7. strip away

2006-09-21T23:00:00.003-07:00

NEW SHOW ADDED!

TUSSLE
BLACK FICTION
LEMONADE
BROOKHAVEN

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21
FERNWOOD RESORT
HWY 1, BIG SUR, CA

ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT http://www.fernwoodbigsur.com

2006-07-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

MODERATE ROCK Reviews
BROOKHAVEN 'Transitive Verses'

"There's only so many ways you can take off into spacey rock bliss. Once My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai and a few important others found their ideal orbits, anybody else was going to have to pull some really special moves to get off the ground. Well, make room for another significant satellite.

The BROOKHAVEN concept began in the mind of Californian native Sonny James (and the recording began in his home) over six years ago. 'Transitive Verses' though is the first full-length to feature a full band under the name. This new group effort is like the bastard child of the instrumental sets elite. There are recognizable moments out of the Slint and Sonic Youth books but Brookhaven take on more ideas here than some bands manage across whole careers. And they do it fearlessly. One minute '...Verses' sounds like Bjork, then Arcade Fire, then the soundtrack to the latest Manga film. 'Black Phase' is a jangly, dreamy and stuttering treat, 'You Might Have Known' sounds like The Strokes would if they were doom-rock from Boston rather than pretentious New York indie and 'Static In The Valley' feels like Warp Records went to work on jazz-club nightmares and hazy synth dreams.

In fact there's so much crammed in here that it's all a bit on-edge. The variety is actually refreshing but it's when the volume goes into the red that it can be difficult to pick out every part the band are trying to sew together. What is clear however, is how hot the fire is that burns behind Brookhaven. Because whether its the light from all those wacky genre tags going up in flames or the droning jet engines firing this band into bigger leagues, Brookhaven's future is retina-burning bright. Superb."
- Simon T. Diplock, July 16, 2006 (http://myspace.com/moderaterock)

2006-07-10T17:26:00.000-07:00

BOOKWORM - 'MANDARIN HITS' EP

NOW AVAILABLE! CD/EP pressed in support of bookworms 2006 west coast tour with brookhaven. its 5 new tracks of his unmistakable instrumental drone-pop along with what may or may not be a cover of 'dont answer me' by the alan parsons project. it goes something like this-

1. miriam 2. fake cake drone 3. a wrinkle in time [MP3] 4. untitled four 5. du nord drone 6. the edge of town

this release is available through expel mailorder and will also become available through ITunes in the coming weeks.

2006-06-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

new brookhaven shirts are in stock. a slight modification of the original series, and super limited! in black or navy blue w/ white ink. order at - http://www.expelrecords.com/. the photo on the expel mailorder page is the OLD shirt, they're gone.

2006-06-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the official Expel Records news forum.
this is the most current and accurate news regarding our organization, and will be updated constantly. we are an independent record company based in san francisco since 2001, our stable of active recording artists currently includes: brookhaven, drslone, clay payton, bookworm and roche.