This project called Wrenclaw commenced over a few beers between Dan Walkner and Brian Knapp in Madison, WI. They decided to record the tracks in Brian’s in-laws’ cabin outside of Rome, WI (there are two Romes, by the way, they were in Adams County Rome). The band consisted of Dan Walkner playing all the guitars and harmonicas, Matt Crane on drums and a few strange percussion items (some kind of a cheese grater?), Dan Plourde on bass, Jacob Miller on percussion and vocals, Nate Gray on keys, and Dan’s dear ol’ daddy, Bill Walkner, on bass, vocals, and the cooking of chili to sustain us through the process. Brian set up a studio in the living room and a “booth” in the bedroom to capture the magic. All of the pre-amps and other recording apparatti (?) were made by, and on loan from, Dan Probst. They recorded it on a Friday night, drank a bunch of beer, played ping-pong, had a bonfire, slept, and recorded the rest on Saturday. Sunday they were greeted with a downpour of snow, and everyone fled except Dan, Jake, and Brian to finish the vocals with the natural reverb of the Great White North. When they got back to Madison, Anna Laube and Corey Hart joined for some vocal dubs, and that was it. Little to no effects, just rooms, instruments, and souls. The LP was mixed by Brian. They then sent it to be mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering in Brooklyn, NY. The art was created by my boyhood pal Matthew Lange in Kansas City, MO. It was colored and edited by my cousin Zack Guyette (also quite the musician himself, check out his band “Zeal of Dinosaurs“), and the layout was created byMaurice Thaler using pictures taken by Erica Krug and a typewriter owned by WORT 89.9 DJ Dave Watts.

After twelve years being known by the name “Husky”, the band returns with a brand new album and a brand new name — Watch Husky Burn.  Garnet is being released on an extremely limited run of colored wax.  The band will be playing an album release show at Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte NC on Saturday 11/16/13 with M4 Messenger.  Stay tuned to huskyrock.com for updates and additional shows!

Pre-orders from Dais Records up for the new COUM Transmissions “Home Aged & The 18 Month Hope” LP which features a compilation of various recordings and interviews spanning from 1971-1975.  COUM Transmissions was a Fluxus-inspired performance art group founded in 1969 by Genesis P-Orridge (then Neil Andrew Megson) after a stint with the Exploding Galaxy Commune and would go on for the next ten years and eventually morph itself into the industrial music pioneers, Throbbing Gristle.

Princess Music is comprised of five musicians that play with chamber orchestras of varying size. The group is fronted by Tyler Ludwick, who orchestrates playful complexities and rich harmonies with a mixture of expertise and mirth. He applies his classical finger-style to an electric guitar, composition skills to string and woodwind textures, and passion for percussion to the polyrhythmic and irregular meters of the music. Princess Music displays high emotional and intellectual IQ and expresses poignant narratives found within the arrangements, which embody subtle pop sensibilities that create a sanctuary for even the most casual listener.

Odobenidae, the band’s new album (available from Hot Congress),  is fashioned as a song-cycle of eight pieces, undulating between the dungeonesque depths of classic rock grime, and the playful heights of bantering woodwinds and strings. It is sonically sewn together to form the chimerical world of the walrus. Never lacking in drama or caprice, Princess Music has crafted an album intent on mirroring the nature of our lives.