Pelt | |
---|---|
Origin | Richmond, Virginia |
Genres | Drone music |
Years active | 1993 | –present
Labels | VHF |
Members | Mike Gangloff Patrick Best Mikel Dimmick Nathan Bowles |
Past members | Jack Rose |
Pelt is a drone music group formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1993.
The band was originally formed in 1993 by violinist Mike Gangloff. [1] The rest of the early lineup left on the verge of series of live dates, and in 1995 Gangloff recruited Patrick Best and guitarist Jack Rose, both of the band Ugly Head, to replace them. [1] Inspirations came from artists in traditional American music and Indian raga along with others such as John Fahey and The Dead C. [1] [2]
After releasing Burning/Filament/Rockets in 1995 they released Brown Cyclopedia a year later on their own Radioactive Rat label. [3] [4] It was reissued by VHF Records, the label that the band stayed with until 2009. Max Meadows followed in 1997, the first of ten albums recorded for VHF, and featured homemade and modified instruments. [5]
Current members Mikel Dimmick and Nathan Bowles joined the group in 2004 and 2006 respectively. [1]
Rose left the group in 2006 to concentrate on his solo work. He died in December 2009. [1] [6]
The band has recorded in unusual locations to achieve particular sounds, including in caves and grain silos. [1] Their 2012 album Effigy was recorded in former opera house. [1]
The band make drone music using a variety of instruments. They began using electric guitars with a psychedelic rock element and influences such as La Monte Young and Sonic Youth, but have moved more towards drone and expanded to use instruments such as tabla, flute, esraj, tanpura, Tibetan bols, and lap steel guitar. [2] [7] [8]
Best said of the band's relationship with traditional music: "Folk music has always used drone as a technique for adding depth to the music. Drone is just so fundamental to all music that is good." [1]
Bowles described their music as "improvisational but not necessarily experimental", with the compositional process based around their choice of instruments for a particular piece, sometimes deciding in advance on "a specific scale, rhythm, or method of attack". [1]
Gangloff also formed the Old-time band Black Twig Pickers, with which Rose also recorded, Best played in GHQ, and Rose recorded extensively as a solo artist both while a member of the band and after leaving. [1] [9] [10] Best and Dimmick also performed as The Spiral Joy Band, which has also featured Karl Precoda of Dream Syndicate. [1] [11]
In 2003, the Rose-Gangloff-Best lineup of Pelt, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and drummer Chris Corsano, under the name of The Din, were the backing band for Dredd Foole on his album The Whys of Fire. [12] All of Dredd Foole's backing bands are known as The Din.
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New Weird America is a 21st-century style of music that primarily draws on psychedelic and folk music of the 1960s and 1970s.
Matthew Bower is a British musician, active since the early 1980s, who has done both collaborative and solo work.
Jack Rose was an American guitarist originally from Virginia and later based in Philadelphia. Rose is best known for his solo acoustic guitar work. He was also a member of the noise/drone band Pelt.
Chris Corsano is an American improviser.
Rake. was an art rock/noise rock musical ensemble from Northern Virginia, founded in 1989. Not aligned with the post-punk/hardcore bands more commonly associated with the local underground music scene, Rake. took a more experimental route and were more closely associated with fellow Virginia-based bands Pelt and Wingtip Sloat. Throughout the 1990s, a relationship cemented via their principal label, VHF Records.
VHF Records is an American record label, known for their extensive work with several major experimental artists. The label is based in the Washington, DC suburb of Fairfax, Va., and it initially focused on indie and experimental bands from that region. The label has since branched out to release innovative and offbeat music from around the world, although Northern Virginia artists are still prominently featured in the catalog. The label was founded by Bill Kellum in 1991, originally to release a single each by his own band, Rake, and that of his friends, Wingtip Sloat. After a handful of releases by both bands, Kellum acquired the US rights to the first releases by UK psychedelic group Flying Saucer Attack including the CD edition of their debut album. Following this, Kellum released an album by Matthew Bower's Skullflower, which in turn led to the release of an LP by Bower and Richard Youngs. Since then, Youngs has released a dozen collaborative albums on the label, including 6 with Simon Wickham-Smith, 3 with Alex Neilson, one from his progressive rock unit Ilk and one with Makoto Kawabata. Kawabata has also released 3 solo albums for the label. Other artists include Vibracathedral Orchestra, Roy Montgomery, Jack Rose, Pelt, and Stephen O'Malley's Æthenor. Matthew Bower released another 2 Skullflower albums on the label, one Total release and several more under his most recent solo alias, Sunroof!.
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Brown Cyclopaedia is the debut album of Pelt, released in 1995 through Radioactive Rat Records.
Burning/Filament/Rockets is the second album by Pelt, released in 1995 through Econogold Records.
Max Meadows is the third album by Pelt, released on March 24, 1997 through VHF Records.
Técheöd is the fourth studio album by drone rock band Pelt. It was released on April 1, 1998, through VHF Records.
For Michael Hannas is a compilation album by Pelt, released in 1998 through VHF Records. It contains various unreleased recordings by the band.
Empty Bell Ringing in the Sky is the fifth studio album by the rock band Pelt. It was released in 1999 through VHF Records.
Ayahuasca is the sixth album by drone rock band Pelt. It was released on June 12, 2001, through VHF Records.
Pearls from the River is the seventh album by Pelt, released on October 14, 2003, through VHF Records.
Pelt is the eighth studio album by the drone rock band Pelt. It was released on July 19, 2005 through VHF Records.
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