U.S. Maple | |
|---|---|
 Todd Rittmann and Al Johnson playing with U.S. Maple in 1999 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1995–2007 |
| Labels | |
| Members | Al Johnson Mark Shippy Todd Rittman Adam Vida |
| Past members | Pat Samson |
U.S. Maple was an American noise rock band. The group formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consists of Al Johnson (lead singer), Mark Shippy (guitarist), Pat Samson (drummer), and Todd Rittmann (guitarist).
U.S. Maple was formed in 1995 at DeKalb's Northern Illinois University by former members of Shorty and the Mercury Players. Two members from each band met at the corner of Grand and Western Avenues, and as the band would reveal later on their website, began discussing how the group could erase rock and roll from their collective minds. The assembled group set out to devise a working method for reorganizing Rock and Roll, keeping only what they felt were its most important core elements. Recognizing they were kindred spirits, the group decided then and there to unite in an attempt to realize some of their musical ambitions. [1]
U.S. Maple inherited vocalist Al Johnson and guitarist Mark Shippy from Shorty, while drummer Pat Samson and second guitarist Todd Rittman were transplants from the Mercury Players. The band's first recording came in the form of a two-song 7" single produced by Doug Easley and recorded in September 1995 at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee (during these sessions a cover version of AC/DC's "Sin City" was also recorded, and eventually released on Skin Graft's "Sides 1-4" 7" compilation). U.S. Maple's first single featured the songs “Stuck” and "When a Man says Ow!” The independent label Skin Graft Records took an interest in the band and signed them to the label, releasing the "Stuck" single in the fall of 1995. [2]
The band recorded their first album, Long Hair in Three Stages , late in 1995 at Illinois' Solid Sound Studios located in Hoffman Estates. The album was produced by indie music producer and future Sonic Youth guitarist Jim O'Rourke, and was fueled with jarring guitar noodling, vocal wheezes and howls, and spastic drumming — all staples of the band's elastic song structures. Skin Graft released the album in October 1995 in both vinyl and CD formats; the vinyl pressings included a bonus track and hand-made sheet metal jackets manufactured by the bandmembers themselves. [1] The band then embarked on a six-week, twelve country, European tour in support of their first album. While in England, the band recorded a Peel session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. [1]
When the band returned home from their European tour they recorded a second single featuring a cover of the 1961 Dion and the Belmonts hit "The Wanderer", as well as an original composition, "Whoa Complains." [2] In 1997, the band returned to Solid Sound Studios to record their second album, again with producer Jim O'Rourke. This session produced the album Sang Phat Editor, which was released by Skin Graft Records in June 1997. [2]
In the fall of 1998 U.S. Maple left Skin Graft, signing to Drag City the following year, due in part to the influence of Drag City labelmate Jim O'Rourke, but also due to an agreement by the label to support the band during their busy tour schedule. 1999 saw the band returning to the studio to record the followup to their Skin Graft work. Their third album, Talker, a darker, sparser record than their previous albums, was recorded at B.C. Studio in Brooklyn, New York. The album was recorded by Michael Gira, lead singer of post-industrial rock band Swans, with Martin Bisi engineering. [2]
In 2001 the band released their fourth album, Acre Thrills . The album was recorded in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, at Pachyderm Studio, and mixed a week later in Richmond, Virginia, at Sound of Music. In the summer of 2001, after the recording of Acre Thrills, drummer Pat Samson left the band, and was replaced by Adam Vida. With Vida, the band released their fifth studio album, 2003's Purple On Time , which saw a departure from the confrontational, fervent, and violent aspects of previous releases. Purple on Time contained more conventional song structures, instrumentation and singing.
Singles
Albums
Al Johnson and Mark Shippy were both previously in Shorty (1991–1994). Shippy, along with former U.S. Maple drummer Pat Samson are now in Miracle Condition. Shippy also plays in two-piece band Invisible Things with Jim Sykes. [3]
Todd Rittmann now leads Chicago-based Dead Rider, in addition to being a member of Drag City band, Singer. [4] He was formerly a guitarist in The Mercury Players and Cheer-Accident.
Johnson made appearances both live and on record with no-wave band Lake of Dracula, [5] (1995–1997) where he was billed simply as "The Manhattanite", alongside members of The Scissor Girls, The Flying Luttenbachers, and Couch.
Chicago punk/rock band Alkaline Trio's song, "Goodbye Forever", which appears on the Alkaline Trio's EP I Lied My Face Off features a line: "Remember last April when we saw U.S. Maple? / Somehow the singer showed the Fireside exactly how I feel."
In the film High Fidelity (2000), a number of scenes which take place in the record store display a U.S. Maple poster attached to the front of the counter. Frontman Al Johnson cameos in the film as an obsessive collector who is repeatedly turned away from buying a particularly rare record (the French import of Safe as Milk by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band).
Jim O'Rourke is an American musician, composer and record producer. He has released albums across varied genres, including singer-songwriter music, post-rock, ambient, noise music, and tape experiments. He was associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene when he relocated to New York City in 2000. O'Rourke is best known for his numerous solo and collaborative music projects, many of which are entirely instrumental, and for his tenure as a member of Sonic Youth from 1999 to 2005.
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously lead vocalist of the R&B and rock band The Animals and the funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powerful blues-rock voice. Burdon is also known for his intense stage performances.
Weasel Walter is an American composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of ugEXPLODE Records. Walter's work has been informed by techniques and traditions of music including Avant-garde, experimental, no wave, free jazz, extreme metal, punk jazz, hardcore punk, noise, new music and free improvisation. He coined the term "brutal prog" to describe the aggressively dissonant strain of prog played by groups like his band The Flying Luttenbachers.
Matthew David Cameron is an American musician who is the drummer for the rock band Pearl Jam. He first gained fame as the drummer for Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986. He appeared on each of the band's studio albums until its break-up in 1997. In 1998, Cameron was invited to join Pearl Jam's U.S. Yield Tour and then became a permanent member of the band. In 2010, Cameron became simultaneously a member of Pearl Jam and the reunited Soundgarden. He remained with Soundgarden until its disbandment after the death of lead singer Chris Cornell in 2017. Cameron, along with guitarist Kim Thayil and Cornell, is one of three members to feature on every Soundgarden studio album.
Skin Graft Records is an independent record label specializing in no wave and noise rock, originally based in Chicago, Illinois. The label is largely responsible for spawning "now wave" genre, an updated version of the late 1970s/early 1980s no wave movement.
Dazzling Killmen was an American math rock band from the St. Louis, Missouri area. Formed in 1990, the group issued four singles and two full-lengths before officially ending in 1995, with a majority of it released through the independent label Skin Graft Records. Taking influence from hardcore punk and jazz music, the band has been noted by critics to have helped influence genres such as math rock and post-metal.
Savoy Brown were an English blues rock band formed in Battersea, south west London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they promoted their albums with non-stop touring. Founder, guitarist and primary songwriter Kim Simmonds was the sole constant member of the band from its formation in 1965 until his death in 2022.
Brise-Glace was a 1990s instrumental avant-rock "supergroup" composed of Jim O'Rourke, Darin Gray, Dylan Posa (guitar), and Thymme Jones (drums).
Azita Youssefi, born January 18, 1971, in St. Louis, Missouri, is an Iranian-American experimental musician, artist and music teacher based in Chicago. She was originally associated with the Chicago no wave scene, which included bands such as the Scissor Girls, U.S. Maple and Bride of No No.
Blake Fleming is an American drummer known for his involvement with several influential experimental bands.
Eric Dover is an American guitarist and singer, most notably with Jellyfish, Slash's Snakepit, Imperial Drag, and Alice Cooper.
The Flying Luttenbachers is an American instrumental unit led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser and producer, Weasel Walter. The Flying Luttenbachers have created a body of work focused on musical extremity and dissonance. Over the course of the band, the personnel has shifted numerous times around the artistic leadership of Walter. The music ranges from intense all-acoustic free improvisation, to complex and modernistic rock composition; electronic noise to punk-inspired jazz. Walter has been quoted as drawing inspiration from the fields of punk, death metal, free jazz, and no wave.
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Purple on Time is the fifth album by U.S. Maple. It was released on November 4, 2003 on Drag City.
Shorty was an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1991. The band consisted of vocalist Al Johnson, guitarist Mark Shippy, drummer Todd Lamparelli, and bassist Luke Frantom. After the group's breakup, Al Johnson and Mark Shippy would go on to form the underground art rock band U.S. Maple.
Cheer-Accident is an American progressive rock ensemble headed by Thymme Jones. Jones took the name of the band from a Hallmark Cards shopping display, and first formed the group in 1981 with singer Jim Drummond and drummer Mike Greenlees.
Shaunna Elizabeth Hall is an American composer and musician from the San Francisco Bay Area. As guitarist, she was a founding member of the band 4 Non Blondes and is currently a member of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic.
Long Hair In Three Stages is the debut studio album by the Chicago-based experimental rock quartet U.S. Maple. After recording a debut single, they recorded the album in late 1995 at the Solid Sound Studios in Illinois with producer Jim O'Rourke. It was O'Rourke's first recording session with a rock band.
Dead Rider, formerly known as D. Rider, is an American experimental rock band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was created by former U.S. Maple guitarist Todd Rittmann, including Rittmann as guitar and lead vocalist, Andrea Faught on trumpet and keyboard, Thymme Jones on keyboard, and Matt Espy on drums.
Cryptooology is the debut studio album by American experimental rock band Yowie, released by Skin Graft Records on October 5, 2004. A band of two guitarists and a drummer, Yowie recorded the album earlier that year at a studio in their hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. The trio wrote and refined the album's seven instrumental songs through four years of rehearsal, devoting close attention to every part of their music—even segments that were only a few seconds long. The resulting music represents an extreme, technically demanding vein of math rock that avoids conventions of songwriting like melody or repetition. Though the band's playing sounds chaotic or disorienting, it is not improvised.
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