The Six Parts Seven

Last updated
The Six Parts Seven
SPSL.jpg
The Six Parts Seven performing live in 2006.
Background information
Origin Kent, Ohio, U.S.
Genres Post-rock
Years active1995–2008 (Hiatus)
Labels Suicide Squeeze

The Six Parts Seven is an American post-rock band formerly based in Kent, Ohio. The band was founded in 1995 by brothers Allen and Jay Karpinski (playing guitar and drums, respectively), who had earlier played with Old Hearts Club, a band of similar style including vocals. In 1998, Tim Gerak was added to the core member line-up, playing guitar and also credited with additional engineering on the band's later recordings.

Contents

Most of the group's music is instrumental, featuring multiple "clean" (undistorted) electric guitars, with electric bass and drums, as well as electric lap steel guitar, viola, and occasionally piano, vibraphone, or trumpet. Rather than relying primarily on strummed chords, songs are generally built by combining single-note melodic lines.

The band has been through a plethora of line-up changes, and minor positions in the band have proved to be a revolving chair, while retaining the core force of the Karpinski brothers and Tim Gerak. Former vibraphonist Eric Koltnow left the band after the release of Everywhere and Right Here, as well as former lap steel player Ben Vaughan after the birth of his first child. Minor positions, such as the newly-added trumpet, have been filled by members of other bands from the Akron, Ohio area.

The Six Parts Seven's name is based on a quote from Virginia Governor William Berkeley in 1676, "How miserable that man is that governs a people where six parts of seven at least are poor, indebted, discontented and armed." A recent interview with another band member claims the name derives from a childhood game between brothers Jay and Allen. [1] Although its name is similar, The Six Parts Seven should not be confused with the British band Six by Seven.

The group has toured the United States several times and performed in March 2006 at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Since the early 21st century its music has been used frequently by National Public Radio's All Things Considered news program as transition music. [2] Group leader Allen Karpinski was interviewed about the group's music on the same program in September 2004. [3]

Members

Current

Former

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Remix albums

Unofficial releases

Compilations

Related Research Articles

Minus the Bear band that plays alternative rock

Minus the Bear was an American indie rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2001, and comprising members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Sharks Keep Moving. Their sound was described as "Pele-esque guitar-taps and electronics with sophisticated time signature composition."

Unwound American post-hardcore band

Unwound was an American post-hardcore band based in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. The group was strongly associated with the label Kill Rock Stars throughout the 1990s, until their dissolution in 2002. Unwound was sharply dissonant and angular, often resorting to unusual guitar tones, and was associated with post-hardcore and noise rock. The band toured frequently, preferring "all ages" clubs and are noted for their strong DIY ethic. The group spawned numerous side projects.

Ex Models band that plays art rock

Ex Models is an American no wave-influenced post-hardcore band based in Brooklyn, New York.

Career Suicide band

Career Suicide is a Canadian hardcore punk band formed in 2001 in Toronto. The band's first live performance took place in January 2002, with first recorded output soon to follow. The band has gone on to record several full-length albums and singles on various international labels. The band has completed multiple tours of North America, Europe and Japan and continues to record and tour actively. Guitarist Jonah Falco and former bassist Mike Haliechuk also play drums and guitar, respectively, in the band Fucked Up. Career Suicide are known for having an old school 1980s hardcore sound.

Tim Kinsella is a musician, author, and film director from Chicago, Illinois. He has been a member of many bands, including Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc, Make Believe, Owls, Friend/Enemy, Everyoned, and others. His early solo material appears under the alias Tim Kinsella(s).

Spencer Seim American musician

Spencer Seim is an American musician, best known as the guitarist in the band Hella. He is also the drummer in the Nintendocore band The Advantage and has a solo project named sBACH. The sticker on the cover of the self-titled sBACH release says "a thousand times better than Hella or The Advantage".

Red Stars Theory

Red Stars Theory is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band was formed in early 1995 when James Bertram was looking for someone to play guitar with and found Tonie Palmasani (guitar/vocals), Jeremiah Green (drums/percussion/vocals) and Jason Talley . Later in 1995 the group released a 10-inch on Deluxe Records, the "Slow Curve/Castle Rock" 7-inch and the LP/CD But Sleep Came Slowly. The 7-inch and LP were released by the RX Remedy label, a division of Sub Pop Records. Seth Warren was asked to play violin on But Sleep Came Slowly and has since been a member of the group. The LP/CD Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful was the group's debut album for Touch and Go Records. But Sleep Came Slowly and Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful both featured Lois Maffeo as a guest vocalist. Sarah May Cates was a guest cellist on Life In A Bubble....

James Bertram is an American musician who has played with many indie rock bands from the Pacific Northwest.

<i>Time Without Consequence</i> 2006 studio album by Alexi Murdoch

Time Without Consequence is an album by singer-songwriter Alexi Murdoch. It was released on June 6, 2006, and was Murdoch's first full-length LP.

Greg Anderson is an American musician, a co-founder of Southern Lord Records.

<i>100% Fun</i> 1995 studio album by Matthew Sweet

100% Fun is the fifth album by alternative rock musician Matthew Sweet. It was released on Zoo Entertainment in 1995.

Sean Na Na

Sean Na Na is the guitar pop project of Sean Tillmann. The project started as a solo outlet for Tillmann's songs that did not quite fit with his noise band Calvin Krime in 1993. Since then, the project evolved into a full band with a rotating cast of characters from all over the musical map. Tillmann's debut single under the moniker of Sean Na Na was "Two of the Same Name", released in 1998. In early 2000, Kill Rock Stars released a split EP with Mary Lou Lord and his full-length debut album Dance 'Til Your Baby Is a Man. He released My Majesty in 2002. 2007's "Family Trees: Or CoPe We Must is the third full-length outing of the band.

<i>Everywhere, and Right Here</i> 2004 studio album by The Six Parts Seven

Everywhere, and Right Here is the fourth studio album from Ohio post-rock band The Six Parts Seven. It was released on August 31, 2004.

Glass Candy

Glass Candy is an American electronic music duo from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1996 by vocalist Ida No and producer and multi-instrumentalist Johnny Jewel. The band is part of the Italians Do It Better label. While the band's early work blends elements of no wave, art punk, and glam rock, their later work incorporates synth-pop and Italo disco.

The Dimes are an American folk-pop band from Portland, Oregon. While The Dimes have released four EPs under their own self-titled label, The Dimes, their album, The Silent Generation, recorded under the label Pet Marmoset, is considered their debut album. The songs on The Silent Generation were largely based on stories which singer–songwriter Johnny Clay read in Depression-era newspapers, and which guitarist Pierre Kaiser found under the floorboards of his 1908 Portland home. The album was released in December 2007 to positive critical reviews. Their song "Jersey Kid" was featured on NPR Music's Second Stage.

<i>Things Shaped in Passing</i> 2002 studio album by The Six Parts Seven

Things Shaped in Passing is the third studio album from Ohio post-rock band The Six Parts Seven. It was released August 31, 2004 and is their first release on their label, Suicide Squeeze. It includes the songs 'Spaces Between Days ' with parts 1 and 2 on their previous studio album, Silence Magnifies Sound.

Silence Magnifies Sound is the second studio album from Ohio post-rock band The Six Parts Seven. It was released November 14, 2000 and was released on Troubleman Unlimited. It includes the songs 'Spaces Between Days ' with parts 3 and 4 on the following album, Things Shaped in Passing.

Zs is a Brooklyn, New York-based experimental band. Since the band's inception, Zs has incarnated as everything from a sextet to a duo, now solidified into the quartet of Patrick Higgins, Greg Fox (percussion), Sam Hillmer and Michael Beharie (electronics). While Zs' music has been variously categorized as no-wave, noise, post-minimalist, drone, and psych, it is primarily concerned with making music that challenges the physical and mental limitations of both performer and listener. The band has been heralded by The New York Times as "one of the strongest avant-garde bands in New York."

<i>The Six Parts Seven/The Black Keys EP</i> 2003 EP by The Black Keys

The Black Keys is a split-EP by Ohio band The Black Keys. Released in 2003, it featured "A Blueprint Of Something Never Finished" by The Six Parts Seven and three live tracks from The Black Keys. The live tracks are from a performance at WMBR on 16 May 2003.

<i>Miracle of Science</i> (album) 1996 studio album by Marshall Crenshaw

Miracle of Science is the seventh studio album by singer/songwriter Marshall Crenshaw, and his first studio effort for the indie imprint Razor & Tie. Crenshaw produced the album and played most of the instruments.

References

  1. "Muse: A one-part series on Six Parts Seven - Arts & Entertainment". 2007-09-08. Archived from the original on 2007-09-08. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  2. "The Six Parts Seven". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  3. "Six Parts Seven's Harmonic Rock". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-11-14.

Reviews

Listening