Wednesday, December 19, 2012

More great footage from our new pal Nathan Ely from BIG DAY IN. This time we've got our headliners FIRE WHEN READY and CNY heros Summer People tearing it up. Check it. 



Fire When Ready Oh What a Clever Facade//Hit Just The Low Lights//Room Twenty-Four from Nathan Ely on Vimeo.



Summer People How Can You Know//Cry//Baseball Bat//Blue Scare from Nathan Ely on Vimeo.



Thanks to everyone who came out for the last IU show of 2012! BTA's epicly technical compositional shred dissonance was a mind-melting way to end the year. Footage from those three plus Sulaco, Dialysis, and the new Yakbak below.



Behold... The Arctopus

Thursday, December 13, 2012


After four years, Ithaca gets its wish!  This Sunday, December 21st, 2012 at The Haunt, BEHOLD... THE ARCTOPUS will perform their only show outside of Brooklyn this year and their first upstate NY show since 2008.

For those unfamiliar with the band, take a listen to their latest technical devastation:



The technical instrumental trio from Brooklyn play music inspired by both metal and 20th century classical with emphasis on dissonance, polyrhythms, and jazz-like elements.

Founded by Colin Marston (Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts) and Mike Lerner in 2001 and quickly became known as one of the most forward thinking and technical bands in the underground extreme metal community, being mentioned in the same breath as Cynic, Gorguts, Meshuggah, Voivod, and touring with the likes of Between The Buried and Me, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Genghis Tron.

In 2009, the legendary Weasel Walter, composer and multi-instrumentalist most well-known for his work with The Flying Luttenbachers and the ugExplode imprint, joined BTA after original drummer Charles Zeleny left he group.

Behold... The Arctopus are perhaps most well-known for Colin Marston's use of a 12-string Warr guitar - a 12 string instrument played primarily by tapping that covers the range of guitar and bass.
____________

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

BIG DAY IN: Pictues

More than 1,000 words... more to come!

Photo by Time Hunt
Photo by Time Hunt
Photo by Time Hunt

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

BIG DAY IN: Live Video

Thanks to everyone who came out to make this the biggest BIG DAY IN yet!  14 bands, over ten hours of music and a fantastic display of DIY/DIT efforts and community. Here's some proof (more to come too).



Fire When Ready with Aaron Attica "They Call Her Echo"

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Thanks to the huge turnout at CSMA on Friday, November 30th. Glad to see such a broad cross section of Ithaca in support of this special event. More to come in 2012.

Credit & thanks to Lanny Huang & Peter Korolov for the footage and CG Photography for the images.






NYS Non-For-Profit confirmation: 
Ithaca Underground now officially a New York State not-for-profit organization, Federal application is next.

On Friday, November 23rd, Ithaca Underground received written confirmation from Albany that their application for New York State not-for-profit status was approved.  This is the first major step towards the organization's ultimate goal of becoming a 501c3 not-for-profit.  The Federal application for recognition of exemption is complete, but will take some time to receive feedback. The board hopes to receive confirmation from the IRS early in the new year.

As an official non-profit organization, Ithaca Underground will have a greater ability to promote and support challenging and diverse music in an all-ages environment for years to come.

Thanks for your continuing support!

~Bubba Crumrine, President of the Board

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

NAKED NOISE: Friday, Nov 30th 2012
presented by Ithaca Underground and Angry Mom Records, 
Community School of Music & Art, 3rd Floor Auditorium
330 E State / MLK Jr St., Ithaca, NY 14850 
9PM | All AGES | $5


An evening of extended drone experiments w/ mems. of Sun Spells, Time/Being, Tzar, Underground River, BRIAN!, Soft Healer, the Cornell Avant Garde Ensemble, Hiroshima Vacation, and more.

Welcome to the third installment of NAKED NOISE. The project began last year as a three-way collaboration between local drone-lords Sun Spells, jazz-punk duo The Invisible Hand, and the genre-defying trio Time/Being. The result for each of the May and July sets was a epic ritual of drone, volume, and visuals. 

Join us once again as we transform the CSMA Auditorium into an ethereal sound garden, with a massive 16 musician, amplified ensemble. This is far more than just a show - more of a total transcendental sound experience. The performers will be set up in a ring, where the audience is encouraged to wander around the circle of musicians and experience the performance from a variety of angles. The sound will stretch and mutate based on which performers you're closest to. 

The performance will be entirely improvised with each musician dedicated to the ebb and flow of chaos and restraint. 

So far, musicians include all 5 members of Sun Spells, including their Purple Henry and her vocal prowess, the Ithaca return of Time/Being, Michael Stark of Tzar (etc), Hunter Davidsohn of Underground River, Will Slack and Marie Butcher of Soft Healer, Bubba Crumrine of BRIAN!/Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Taylan Cihan of Problematic and the Cornell Avant Garde Ensemble, VII of Hiroshima Vacation, and Michael Troutman. Get ready for a mountain of guitars, bass, electronics, amps, and percussion and be sure to join us for a very unique sound experience. 


Thursday, November 15, 2012


BIG DAY IN is back in a big way with 14 bands from across the Northeast U.S. including a special reunion performance of FIRE WHEN READY.  

Full list of bands below with links & more after the jump.
______________

Ithaca Underground presents: BIG DAY IN (#7)

FIRE WHEN READY (Binghamton/Brooklyn/Durham)
*special reunion appearance*

Summer People (Low Light Records : Binghamton, NY)
Shellshag (Don Giovanni Records : Brooklyn, NY)
Porches. (NY)
Cerce (Mayfly / Solidarity : Boston, MA)
Old Wounds (Glory Kid Ltd : NJ)
Girl Souts (Carucage Records : PA)
Vaura (Weird Records : Brooklyn, NY)
Black Throat Wind (Hex Records : Syracuse, NY)
Ohne-ká and the Burning River (Syracuse, NY)
BATISTA (Ithaca/Binghamton/NYC)
GypsyGetsShotgun (Ithaca, NY)
King Sized Pegasus (Angry Mom Records : Ithaca, NY)
Oscar Albis Rodriguez (Brooklyn, NY)

Saturday, December 8th

The Haunt
702 Willow Ave
Ithaca, NY 14850
12:00PM until ~11:00PM
$5 ALL AGES

Sponsored by:
McNeil Music of Ithaca
Angry Mom Records
Ithaca Guitar Works
The Enchanted Badger
The Haunt
Model Citizen Tattoo
Durland Alternatives Library
The WordPro
Don Giovanni Records
Finger Lakes ReUse Center
Hex Records


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

First IU show at JAM (Just About Music).  Solid. Hope you were there.


Tombs


-16-


The Process

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Dan Smalls brought these two well-paired groups to The Haunt last night and we snagged some footage!



Zammuto - 'The Greatest Autoharp Solo of All Time'


Lymbyc Systym

Friday, October 12, 2012

Thanks for joining us for a Wednesday evening of one of our more unique line-ups. Solid show all around for sure, but NO BABIES ran away with all of our hearts. One of the most high energy bands we've ever hand through - they even had us doing push-ups! Videos below, pics to come.

BONUS FOOTAGE: Live cut from HUME's set this past summer at the Mouth To Mouth To Mouth EP release show back in June. Expect more in Ithaca from these Baltimore/D.C. experimental popsters.



HUME


No Babies


No Babies


Temuchin


Temuchin

Problematic
Dr. Burtrum


Dr. Burtrum

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Thanks to everyone who came out on Friday and helped us welcome back our German pals Jealousy Mountain Duo and kick off the first tour for Toxic Parents.


Live footage from Friday plus hi-res footage (by Lanny) of Dan Drake Ensemble's performance last month. 



The Dan Drake Ensemble


Jealousy Mountain Duo


Toxic Parents


Graupel

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Fantastic show! Vacation are exactly what pop punk should be in this day and age. Catchy, quick, and creative. They nailed out a great set and even hit us with a Shellshag cover.  Hunted down were a relentless onslaught of sludgy hardcore. Tasty indeed.

Additionally, we're happy to report we've got two solid new punk bands here in Ithaca, each with their own flair. BATISTA absolutely own with a melodic, feedback soaked, noisy punk with washed out vocals. We Are Whaleshark take apply driving, psych influence to their tunes. Check out footage from all of 'em below. More vids after the jump.

Catch BATISTA and the aforementioned Shellshag at BIG DAY IN this December 8th down at The Haunt...



Vacation - Crashing Rockets (Shellshag Cover)

If you'd like to see this clip from a different angle, click here


Hunted Down


BATISTA


We Are Whaleshark - Pig Pen

Monday, September 10, 2012

Ithaca Underground Fall Shows Preview:

Hey kids, it's fall preview time! That time where we let you in on all the secrets we've been working for the last several months - bands from across the country (Brooklyn to L.A. and Oakland), across the world (German, UK, Australia), and covering a broad spectrum of genres from punk to jazz, sludge metal to indie hip-hop, and everything in between. We have a hell of a season of diverse shows queued up, so let's start right in. (Lots more after the jump)


Tuesday, September 19th: 
Why?, doesone, Serengeti, DJ Thanksgiving Brown 
@ The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave, Ithaca - 6PM Doors $12 ADV (Tickets)

We couldn't really be more stoked to kick the fall season off in such glorious fashion. We're incredibly please to have partnered up with Dan Smalls Presents to bring you an indie hip-hop / Anticon. Records takeover featuring Why?, doseone, and Serengeti plus DJ Thanksgiving Brown spinning to kick things off.

This stacked bill features two of arguably the best lyracists/MC's in indie hip-hop - Jonathan "Yoni" Wolf of WHY? and Adam Drucker a.k.a. doseone. The two have been clollaborating for decades and co-founded the lauded Anticon. imprint.

Where "Yoni" paints pictures with words of the lush backdrops of indie-pop and folk licks and hip-hop beats, doseone has been delivering a high-pitched lyrical assault of rapid-fire and polyrhythmic tongues twisting tales of the future and tearing down the rules of hip-hop across a multitude of projects. His solo material continues to show his prowess as a musician, expanding his pallet ever more in the psych-pop direction.

Why? have built themselves a massive cult and indie following since their breakout "Alopecia" and doseone, in addition to his solo work, has been ever prolific with such projects as Subtle, cLOUDDEAD, Themselves, 13&God and many others.

Enough talk. Heads better be at this one. Check these:







Let's have a listen to one of my personal favorites from doseone's Themselves too..


Ah... still fresh. Moving on!
______________________________

Sunday, September 16th: 
Vacation, Hunted Down, Batista, We Are Whaleshark 
@ The Space at GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St., Ithaca - 8PM $5
Nothing like a good ol' hardcore/punk show... with an IU twist of course. 


Headliners VACATION hail from Cincinnati and churn out a blasting wall of noisy, poppy punk. They have two new 7"s and a cassette on this tour in addition to the full length streaming above which hit just a year ago.

HUNTED DOWN rep the Syracuse hardcore scene, with a whirlwind of blown & fuzzed out jams. Completely furious and always on the brink of collapsing in on itself. They have a split with Herpes coming later this fall. In the meantime check out these tracks from their "Life's Womb" EP:


Rounding out the show are two new Ithaca bands with familiar faces. Phil Price (known for his killer DIY show booking a few years back in Binghamton & Ithaca), Derek Manoco (ex-A Satellite Crash), and John Barrington are kicking it in a new punk band called BATISTA and Mike Amadeo (Mike A!, Dweeb, etc) rounded up some local musicians, including his pal Tyler Rodkey, to push out some short & sweet, dissonant & trippy punk under the moniker of WE ARE WHALESHARK. Lucky for us, they just dropped a "shitty demo" for our waiting ears.



(more...)

Thursday, September 6, 2012

More live footage from BIG DAY IN #6 - 5/5/12. Thanks to Lanny Huang for that. Crushing jams from NY's Colony, tech-funk-metal weirdness of Zruda from Atlanta, and the chaotic hardcore from VA's Reckoner. Relive it now. Check out footage from Argonauts and Meek is Murder right here.


Colony


Zruda


Reckoner

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Back on May 5th, 2012 Ithaca Underground held BIG DAY IN #6.  After some delay, we're very happy to bring you more footage!  Check out more live video from past BDI events right here and be sure and keep an eye on our YouTube channel for more new vids on a weekly/monthly basis.

Argonauts and Meek Is Murder below. More to come soon...





Tuesday, August 28, 2012

WOW! Stunning performances down at The Space last week. Normal Love's clang of avant precision held everyone's attention in their grasp like few we've had before. Two new, and very different, tunes from Ithaca's trio BRIAN! and the now-on-hiatus DAADs plus more fresh instrumental heaviness from Temuchin. Lots more after the break too...


Normal Love


BRIAN! "Ixnay on the Islay"


Temuchin


DAADs (new one)

Thursday, August 23, 2012

  

Big thanks to Lanny Huang for his footage at the Maps & Atlases show from May 17th at The Haunt. They're playing again soon, so watch, listen, and come see them again.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Thanks to everyone who came out for another wildly successful birthday show for Bubba. Great turnout, great vibes, and of course - amazing bands. Check out footage below including a brand new track from Mouth To Mouth To Mouth!


Mouth To Mouth To Mouth

Wednesday, August 8, 2012


That's right folks. Legendary California grind troop PHOBIA (Deep Six / Willowtip / Relapse) will be at The Space on Tuesday, October 19th with tourmates D.I.S. and Strong Intention, plus locals Hiroshima Vacation and one more tba.  Presale tickets are up already and are just $8 right here.

Thanks to our pals Odyssey Booking for jumping on to help co-promote this one with Ithaca Underground.

Check out tracks from latest, "Remnants of Filth" issued just this past June via Deep Six and Willowtip.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Great Sabatini (Montreal) and Twin Lords (Brooklyn, featuring Andrew Hernandez of Tombs) shook the rafters of The Space Friday night for the first VII/IU collab show. Looking forward to more of these! Footage from both are below. Thanks to Hiroshima Vacation and Blunt Guts for starting things off with their blistering grind and powerviolence.


The Great Sabatini


Twin Lords

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Wow! Quite a successful weekend of shows if I do say so myself.  Friday, July 27th with Paper Mice, Our Daily Fix, Grady Stiles, King Sized Pegasus and Mouth To Mouth To Mouth was probably one of the most high-energy shows we've ever hosted at The Space.  Sunday brought us brand new material off of why+the+wires upcoming third LP "All These Dead Astronauts" and absolutely crushing noise-rock jams from The Catalyst, who performed new material by their pending "Voyager" release (hope you were at the show to grab advance copies of the LP).   Dionaea and Temuchin (congrats to Dan and Jackie on their new baby) were missed, but we were stoked on the last minute addition of Plasma 36.

Video from both Ithaca nights are below, plus clips from Living Room and Porches. are up from Mouth To Mouth To Mouth's trip to Suburbia in Brooklyn.  The best time and hospitality were had, so kudos to the whole Suburbia crew. As always, check out the IU YouTube channel for tons more video here.


why+the+wires "Hello Nurse (new song!!)

Friday, July 27, 2012


Paper Mice : Live at Ball Hall from GONZO CHICAGO on Vimeo.


That's right, we've got two stupendous IU shows for all of you Ithacans this weekend - math-rock, punk, noise-rock, post-grind and much more. 

July 27th: Paper Mice (31G), Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Our Daily Fix, Grady Stiles, King Sized Pegasus
@ The Space at GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St - 8PM $5

July 29th:  THE CATALYST (Richmond, VA : Perpetual Motion Machine), why+the+wires, Dionaea, Temuchin
@ The Space at GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St - 8PM $5

Let's have a look and listen...
____________________

Tuesday, July 24, 2012


You heard that correctly!  CNY's notorious Summer People are working on LP #3 and are giving all of us a sneak peak. Below is a demo of their new one, "Give It Up" recorded by Hunter Davidsohn of Underground River. Keep tabs on the via their blog Burn The Germs. In the meantime, catch them in Brooklyn this Saturday, July 28th at Suburbia with Porches. (with Cameron Wisch on drums), Living Room, and Ithaca's own Mouth To Mouth To Mouth. More info here.



Thanks to everyone who came out to The Space last Wednesday. We've got footage of the brand new BRIAN! piece and a clip from the new improv electronics duo known as Problematic. Check 'em out!



BRIAN!


-Problematic-

Monday, July 16, 2012


Ithaca Underground is proud to present Diamond Terrifier and Patrick Higgins on July 18th at The Space (700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY).

Diamond Terrifier is Sam Hillmer of ZS - his saxophone and electronics solo project, to be precise. Named after the English translation of the Indo-Tibetan god-name Vajrabairahva, Diamond Terrifier is concerned with the potential positive qualities of destruction as mediated by noise/drone sheets of sound music.  Check out some footage of this performance in Philly earlier this spring and last year in NYC:




Tuesday, July 10, 2012



On Saturday, January 19th, McNeil Music of Ithaca and Angry Mom Records present the first Finger Lakes Girl Bands Battle of the Bands.

What's the scoop? They're looking to catalyze a network for female musicians - all ages, styles, and personalities welcomed. Want to learn more? Check out the about page: http://fingerlakesgirlbands.org/about/

Oh, I should probably mention that the grand prize is recording time and a 7" out on Angry Mom Records. Whoa!!


Where does Ithaca Underground come in?  We too wish to foster a diverse music scene and now call on all female musicians of Ithaca to form bands and support this event.

We would love nothing more to see a female majority Ithaca-based noiserock band going ape-shit on the stage at The Haunt, or some riot grrl spit and sneers, or female cult drone duo, or get heavy with black metal, sludge, or grind.  I know you're out there, so pick up the sticks, axes, electronics and mic and let's show Ithaca what the women of our city can really do.

Ithaca Underground has always supported bringing touring female musicians and bands who support empowered women (see Marnie Stern, Kylesa, Fuck The Facts, I Object, Tinsel Teeth, Bridge & Tunnel, Shellshag, and tons of others).  We would love to put some prime Ithaca-based female DIY acts on to support these lovely bands in the future, so get into it!!!



(Bubba)

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Big thanks to Chris Knight for the killer footage from our April, 23rd show at The Haunt with Weedeater, ASG, and Cough. The Weedeater footage has been up for a bit, but in case you missed it, it's here too after the jump. Check 'em out!


Cough


ASG

Good morning all! More show footage, this time from our June 8th show with Andy the Doorbum, Vilipend, Makeshift, and Kaboosh! - great mix of folk, noisecore, and metal on that bill; plus pop-punk from The Hotel Year and State Lines which too place just this past Monday, July 2nd with Cortland's Object. For some unknown reason, the Flip did not keep the King Sized Pegasus footage...



Andy the Doorbum

Monday, July 2, 2012

Long Island's State Lines (Tiny Engine) and Massachusetts' The Hotel Year (Mightier Than Sword) make their Ithaca tour stop down at The Space @ GreenStar tonight at 8PM. The former walk the pop-punk line between melancholy and optimism while the latter craft raw, fast and scrappy melodic punk coupled with tasteful alt-country twang and patient storytelling. State Lines new EP is streaming exclusively through Punknews right now. Both bands also have material streaming via bandcamp below.






Two young, promising punk bands to say the least!  Local youth punks King Size Pegasus and Cortland via Brooklyn M/F duo Object get things started down at The Space tonight - 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850 - near Corks & More. Just $5 at the door and as always, this show is all ages. Get down on a Monday!

Friday, June 29, 2012

Rorschach Records have debuted the first track "Sold on Merit" from why+the+wires' upcoming "All These Dead Astronauts". Check it!

 

Thanks to everyone who came out and made the first Ithaca Underground stage at McNeil Music as part of this year's Ithaca Festival. Special thanks to everyone at McNeil Music, Bruce from Lofts for running stage & sound, and to our Syracuse pal Matt Jaime for running sound on Day 2 on less than 24hrs notice. Glad to see the community come together and support unique DIY music. Footage below!


Fight A Scary Dog 'Werewolf' (Attic Abasement cover)


The Wallpaper


Kaboosh!


sswampzz


DAADs


why+the+wires


Doll Eyes


King Sized Pegasus

Thursday, June 21, 2012


That's right! Ithaca's math-rock quartet Mouth To Mouth To Mouth are back at it this summer and have released their latest, "2/LIVE/RMX" on cassette via Angry Mom Records with CD on Pirate House. The album is streaming in its entirety online now and available at Angry Mom Records and all Ithaca Underground and MTMTM shows. 

Email the band if you're interested in picking one up and those scenarios aren't convenient. 




Building off their MTMTM EP debut, "2/LIVE/RMX" offers up two new pieces "That Felt Weird Coming Out Of My Mouth" and "Mouth Parade".  The former is a mostly instrumental track kicking it into high gear right out of the gate with tight kit work and melodic guitar interplay with plenty of stop one a dime tempo and time signature changes. Midway through, the piece breaks, breaths, then kicks into some of the band's heaviest riffage yet recorded in a pitch-bent breakdown. The track finishes out with a huge, post-rock esq climax with guitarist/vocalist Corey Fox Mahaney adding vocal work for added effect.

"Mouth Parade" starts in a bit more subtly with a mix of melodic guitar tapping, ambient effects and rolling bass. Bassist / vocalist Bubba Crumrine chimes in with the first lyric work. The track continues with the bands trade mark tightness, disregard for conventional structure, and full of melodic guitar tapped riffs until the piece makes a quick left turn into full-on math-punk, uptemo syncopation and Corey's blown-out whale until they slam it home with another big riff.

The two new tracks are complimented by a live cut of "Mickey Mouth", the 1st track of their debut, plus remixes of "Consensus on the Fences" by Slug A (Jon of Time/Being) and David Ezra Brown and "That's a LOT of Aardvark" by Paper Armies.

The EP was recorded and mixed by drummer Gabe Millman early in 2011.

Look for the band playing live again in Ithaca on Friday, July 27th at The Space with Paper Mice (31G), Our Daily Fix, Mylets and more; then on Sunday, August 12th for Bubba's birthday show with The Bulletproof Tiger, Summer People, Attic Abasement, and Graupel.

Photo courtesy of CG Photograph: http://www.facebook.com/grzybowskiphoto


Our upstate NY pals SIRS first full-length drops on July 2nd via the crucial Topshelf Records. Check out the  new track "Crossbows and Arrows" below while we hotly anticipating this S/T effort and additional tracks to preview.


UPDATE: Pyramid has posted a press release: http://www.pyramidsoundstudios.com/pressrelease.html
_________
If you somehow haven't been in the loop on this, here you go.

The following has been copied verbatim from City of Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick's Facebook post.

This is one site of the story, but also the final decision. Owner Alex Perialas spoke with Ithaca.com earlier in the month: http://www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca/article_00af9f6e-b4e6-11e1-bd5b-0019bb2963f4.html

____________________________


On June 19, 2012, the City of Ithaca declared unsafe Pyramid Sound’s buildings, legally requiring that they be vacated immediately, and that repair or demolition commence by January 1, 2013. Many in the community have questions and concerns about these actions. I’ve tried to answer as many as I can individually. Below are some answers to frequently asked questions..

Q: Isn’t the City declaring Pyramid’s buildings unsafe just to make construction of the Clinton St. bridge easier or cheaper?

A: No. Pyramid’s buildings are structurally unsafe and in danger of collapse, and would be so even were the Clinton St. bridge project not underway. A structural engineering analysis of Pyramid’s building concluded that:

“The cracks and displacement are clearly indicative of prior damage, settlement, and rotation. . . . [T]he settlement and movement at the load-bearing walls is significant [and] a serious concern as further movement or settlement of either of those walls could cause catastrophic failure of the building as they support the steel roof beams.”

Q: Weren’t all the cracks in Pyramid’s building caused by the bridge project?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012


Ithaca's "PunkRockWaltzStompShout" quartet why+the+wires have signed with Richmond, VA's Rorschach Records!!! The RR has been home to the likes of Capsule, Ultra Dolphins, The Catalyst, among other quality underground acts.

The band is shooting for an August release, so stay tuned! In the meantime, check out their sophmore LP via Angry Mom Records, streaming now.





Catch why+the+wires live at The Space on Sunday, July 29th at The Space @ GreenStar with The Catalyst, Dionaea, and Temuchin. 8PM $5

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

YES! Hello there, we are still alive here at "FREE!".  As some of you may have heard, I (Bubba) was in the UK visiting my first nephew for most of May, then returned home in time for Ithaca Festival and Mouth To Mouth To Mouth's EP release show and subsequent weekend on the road. It's been a busy last two months, but we'll get you all caught up right now.

We'll start off with some high quality footage from Weedeater at The Haunt from Chris Knight and Time/Being at Cornell University from the first IU/Risley collaboration via Lanny Haung.

Then it's on to the brand new Ithaca-based band Temuchin featuring ex-Iwo Jima Medkit members and touring members of Tombs.

Lots more from Young Widows, Pygmy Lush, Femme Tops, Underground River and more after the page break...


Weedeater


Time/Being


Temuchin


Young Widows

Hope you all enjoyed this latest BIG DAY IN! Here's the first crop of vids from the first half of the show. Lots more higher quality video coming your way soon...



Burn Everything


Don't Go Into The Woods


Graupel


Among Dead Men


Cheerleader Death Squad

Friday, May 4, 2012


That's right! It's time for another day of 12 bands, 10+ hours of  DIY, all ages awesomeness down at The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave.  We've got another killer line-up with some fan favorites and some first time Ithaca appearances.


09:30 Argonauts (NJ/VA)
08:30 Meek is Murder (MetalSucks : Brooklyn, NY)
07:30 Colony (Glory Kid LTD : Hudson Valley, NY)
06:30 Zruda (Atlanta, GA)
05:30 Reckoner (Virginia Beach, VA)
04:40 Ebony Sorrow (Dullest Records : Syracuse, NY)
04:00 Hiroshima Vacation
03:15 Burn Everything (Dullest Records : Rochester, NY)
02:30 Among Dead Men
01:45 Don't Go Into The Woods
01:10 Graupel
12:30 Cheerleader Death Squad

Doors at noon. All ages. $5.

Headlining are the still very new ARGONAUTS, a quartet comprised of season metal and hardcore veterans Chris Alfano (vocals), guitarist John Adubato (Burnt by the Sun), bassist Brett Bamberger (East of the Wall, ex- The Postman Syndrome), and underground drumming ledgend, Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis, Melt-Banana, etc). If you like seeing world-class musicians aiming to rewrite the lines of heavy music, unconcerned with limitation or agenda.  Demo coming soon. Check out a sneak peak here.


MEEK IS MURDER:  A maelstrom of noise through a brutal and spastic blend of grind, metal, and hardcore. "Algorithms" (recorded by Kurt Ballou of Converge), "88 MPH" concept cassette available on the road. Live footage here.


COLONY: Ultra-heavy blend of hardcore/punk/doom metal/sludge.




ZRUDA: Ex-Gaylord + Lazer/Wulf members crafting mechanical, doom-funk, synth metal shred-wraith.





RECKONER: Refreshingly atypical blend of hardcore and metal. Chaotic, ferocious, and featuring members of Fjord and The End of the Universe.





EBONY SORROW: A hybrid of black metal, gurgle blast, and punk rock poised against racism, homophobia and other forms of hatred.



HIROSHIMA VACATION: Local brothers ripping grind apart with lots of new recordings coming very soon...   Live footage available here.



BURN EVERYTHING:
Chaotic blend of grind, hardcore, mathcore, and metal who have been on everyone's unsigned hotlist for some time. Check out tracks from their 7" Dullest Records debut.



AMONG DEAD MEN: Local dual vocal metalcore/deathcore attack! Info here.




DON'T GO INTO THE WOODS: Local blacked punk metal trio.




GRAUPEL: NEW local jazzy, punky, mathy quartet. Live footage here.




CHEERLEADER DEATH SQUAD: local noise-punk trio. Live footage here.

Monday, April 30, 2012


Band Name: Argonauts

Location: Keyport, NJ and Richmond VA

Formed: Recently

Members: Dave Witte, Brett Bamberger, John Adubato, Chris Alfano

Releases: Soon...

Tell us about yourselves! 
Argonauts was formed when Dave and John, who both used to play in Burnt By The Sun, decided to get back together and start writing music again. Brett got involved shortly afterwards and Chris joined the band in late 2011, after original vocalist Dimitri Minikakis left to the group. We're all about great beer, great food, great music, great friends, and great times. We haven't released any music yet, but a demo should be online very soon, and we're hoping to record a full-length record in the near future.

Check out the first preview of Argonauts material here and don't miss their headlining set at BIG DAY IN #6, this Saturday, May 5th at The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850. 12 bands (including Meek is Murder, Burn Everything, Zruda and more), 10+ hours starting at 12 noon. $5 - all ages. 

Photo by Diana Lynn Ring

Saturday, April 28, 2012




Band Name: Ebony Sorrow

Location: Syracuse, NY

Formed: 2000, then in 2004 we were forced to go on hiatus when some asshole broke into our practice spaceand stole almost all of our equipment.  In 2009 we got back together and have been pushing the envelope forward ever since.

Members: John Bukowski, Ron Seoane, Jay Bailey, Matt Calabrese

Releases: 2001 Demo (long out of print), "The Arrival" EP (long out of print), "Narcotic Funeral" demo, "A Grimoire Of Depravity" EP (Dullest Records)

Tell us about yourselves!
We play a hybrid of black metal, gurgle blast, and punk rock. Lyrically, we take a stand not against a deity, but the assholes who claim to represent them. Taking a stand against racism, homophobia and other forms of hatred (most of which root back to religious beliefs).

Matt Calabrese, drums, also plays in a progressive sludge band called AIIA.

Jay Bailey has a million projects. He plays guitar for Architect, How To Disappear Completely, and his solo project Nothing. He also runs WAAV studios here in Syracuse.

John stresses himself out on a daily basis promoting shows and paying a mortgage on a minimum wage job.

Ron is the messiah and knows the answer to everything in life.


Catch Ebony Sorrow live at BIG DAY IN on Saturday, May 5 with Argonauts, Meek is Murder, Colony, Zruda, Reckoner, Burn Everything, and  many more.  12 bands from noon til 10PM. $5 ALL AGES at The Haunt. 

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Get ready for probably the best heavy tour we've brought through Ithaca thus far! We really could not be more stoked on this show and highly recommend you all join us for a Monday night hang. Vids from the bands below.

The Haunt, 702 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850. All ages. Doors at 7PM. $10 through Sunday night here or $14 at the door day of.



We're a bit backed up with all the amazing live footage our pal Lanny has been taking, but here's the first three hot out of the oven!  Mylets doing a sick Battles cover, Bangladeafy! ripping it, and Math The Band going wild as always. Check it.



Mylets


Bangladeafy!


Math The Band

Lots more to come...

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Thanks to everyone who came out on Sunday. You all looked great and made us very proud.  Most everyone was well behaved, though Johnny could have left the beard at home. Enough inside jokes though. Check out this mind-melter off the new Many Arms release "Beyond Territories" off their self-titled debut on Tzadik.


Apologies for needing to split the final minute into another track. Batteries were nearly dead and if it dies mid-record, the 14 mins prior disappear. Better safe. Click read more for part 2 and some acoustic bits from The Invisible Hand.



Many Arms - Beyond Territories pt1


Band Name: Contradictator

Location: Cornell, Ithaca

Formed: March, 2011

Members: 
Lanny Huang-Lead Vox, guitar
William Blessing-Backing Vox, Bass, Keys
Kyle Walsh - Drums

Releases: Not much to speak of

Tell us about yourselves!
Contradictator formed after Lanny completed the February album writing month challenge in 2011. Inundated with new material, he got together William and Kyle to start playing shows.

Fun fact, none of us like the same music. Kyle's a Phish-head, William has an affinity for some classic rock and Frank Zappa, and Lanny likes all iterations of indie-pop, and Jack White

We do however all like internet sensations Pomplamoose as well as Radiohead.

The band is exactly half asian and half white. Kyle always forgets to bring some piece of his drum set to gigs. Lanny once played a show 2 days after having an appendectomy high on pain killers. William has competed in state-level chorus competitions and sings a wicked falsetto, he cannot, however, do punk rock yelling which Lanny does almost exclusively, hearing them sing together is pretty odd.

We're all incredibly excited to be playing our first IU show with Math the Band! They're really awesome. After that we'll be taking a break for a little while as summer tends to disrupt college bands, and Lanny won't be returning to Cornell next semester. But we do look forward to releasing an EP of sorts for the record.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012


That's right! After two and a half years in the making, Phily/Queens trio MANY ARMS return to Ithaca, NY this Sunday for an all ages romp with locals Phorke and The Invisible Hand (who will be performing a special semi-acoustic set).

What have the MA three been up to since we last left them? Well, they've been some busy beavers to say the least, releasing "Ocean Of Snakes" and "Missing Time" in 2010.


Towards the end of 2011 the fruits of their touring and recording labors paid off with a thumbs up from John Zorn's Tzadik imprint and subsequent release of their latest, a self-titled effort, which just saw the first light of day in March of this fine year of 2012.  The reviews? It's a scorcher! Check out the 13 minute preview track here.

So, get ready for a solid set of loud, aggressive blend of punk and free jazz, tied together with compositions that twist and turn through angular unison melodies and complex rhythmic vamps. Yeah!



Ithaca Underground presents:
Many Arms (Tzadik : Philadelphia/NYC)
+ Phorke and The Invisible Hand (acoustic)


Sunday, April 8th


Silent City Distro / Tompkins County Workers’ Center
115 E. Martin Luther King Jr. St. / The Commons
Ithaca, NY 14850
8PM $5 ALL AGES

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Meet The Band: Arvid Noe


Band Name: Arvid Noe

Location: Straight out of Allston, MA

Formed: 2010

Members:  Alek & Luke on guitar, Zach on drums...we all sing.

Releases:  We have fairly outdated recordings on our bandcamp at: http://arvidnoe.bandcamp.com/



BUT -Hopefully, by the time you read this, we will have two new rough mixes of the recordings we've been working on to have for this tour.  They are exciting.

What else? Anything we can say Jimmy Page and William Burroughs did better: http://www.arthurmag.com/2007/12/05/willima-burroughs-onled-zeppelin/


Don't miss Arvid Noe live at The Space @ GreenStar on Thursday, March 26th with The Yeomen and StageFright.  8PM $5 ALL AGES. 700 W Buffalo St, Ithaca, NY 14850.