Cold Furnace, Dream Team, Pots & Powercells at the Dump Bucket (2012)

This show was supposed to be Under th' Bridge in Highland Park, but, because of stupid, it got moved to the Dump Bucket Pub in an undisclosed location.


If the audio fails to play, try loading at 720p. YouTube's been doing this to my videos for some reason.

First up, Cold Furnace:



Next up, we've got Dream Team:



And finally, in our last show after 3+ years of goofin' around,
Pots and Powercells.



A damn shame the battery died, we played a lot longer, getting drunker and louder as the night went on.

MV & EE and King Darves, Live at Tumulty's (2011)

After a few changes of venue and dates, this show finally happened, and damn did it rule. I'll post the reason everyone's reading this post first and go with Matt Valentine and Erika Elder, AKA MV&EE

And, of course, the king himself, King Darves killed it, electric style:





Sadly, there is no footage of the Kohoutek set, and the Pots and Powercells video is still on its way to the internets, but to make up for it, here's a minute of us goofin' off after the show in an alleyway. Also, farewell to Caitlin of Pots & Powercells, and best of luck in Texas. It won't be the same without the powerpot.

MV+EE / Kohoutek / King Darves / Pots and Powercells in NB, NJ, 7.28.11

Thursday July 28th 2011 @ 7pm

MV EE (Ecstatic Peace / Three Lobed Records)
"in fact still orbiting the earth in vermont is matt 'mv' valentine, once the brawn of the tower recordings, and erika 'ee' elder, the CEO of Heroine Celestial Agriculture/The MV & EE Medicine Show, together with their dog zuma they run the child of microtones terran library of exploratory music and sing songs with fellow avatars 'the golden road'. sometimes their own lunar blues, som...etimes fingerstyle noise/space, sometimes lonesome frontier volk...always environments. you will find many are one and they like to jam together within many guitar dimensions/amp realms...respectfully and yours as free folk." Note: Albums on Thurston Moore’s (Sonic Youth) label, Ecstatic Peace. J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr) plays lead guitar on some of their records!

King Darves (De stijl Records)
"So i would imagine that youd have one look at the photo of King Darves we have here and think "Oh brother! Another guy with a beard getting over what looks like a bad case of the clap and an acoustic guitar. Wheres my axe?" so were not gonna put it up here. (Mystique, dig?) But its really not like that, i tell you! The bedrock of King Darves New Brunswick based concoction is certainly folk based but theres no headband and hes not singing of pixies in the moss. This is somewhere between rolled cigs and the foggy vision of Big Pink from somewhere on Jersey Avenue, or maybe a one-manned Meat Puppets. This kid has really cobbled something together in his kitchen sink! ...the prettiest sound of his deep, rich voice will make you tap yr toes and nod yr head like a little Jersey Goil." - Tony Rettman.

Kohoutek (Prophase Records)
"People interested in music that defies the pop song convention, music that challenges that part of your brain that lies dormant during most aural experiences, need a band like Washington DC’s Kohoutek. This quintet began their wildly meandering journey across the more peripheral realms of free-form psych rock a few years back and from the very beginning they seemed determined to try to cross swathes of interstellar drone, guitar squall and loose, slowly evolving improvisations of drum and bass grooves and squelchy electronics with tapestries of gravitationally flowing darkness. What we get is a sonic bag that is raw, gorgeous, loud, dreamy, dissonant and mystical at the same time, somehow managing to transcend all sorts of seemingly limited genre barriers. Dedicated followers of bands such as the Spacious Mind, SubArachnoid Space and Ash Ra Tempel will for sure want to check these cats out, with a musical style that at its best rarely goes wrong in the live setting." -Mats Gustafsson

Pots & Powercells (dihd/Log Cabin Recordings)
It's hard to say whether Pots & Powercells rose out of the ashes of the dispersed members of experimental street performing act, Buckets & Batteries, or if they're merely in the same mindset; 'space adaptive music' making. Powercells started in the fall of 2009 and has played under a local NJ transit bridge with Finnish sound artist, Kuupuu and performed a set at Avant Fairfax Festival 2010 in Fairfax, VA. Powercells also has released a handful of homespun cassettes and cd-rs.
Members of the Human Adult Band, Mike Bruno and the Black Magic Family Band, Pact of Wolves, The Yets, and several other one-off New Brunswick projects regularly jam with the band, and the rotating cast of characters means you're unlikely to seem the same style jam twice.

@
Tumulty's
361 George St
New Brunswick, NJ

$7-10

Pots and Powercells, CJ Boyd, & James Christy (2011)

Here's another under the bridge show from May 26, 2011... First up, a band featured many times before, this time adding JoeMazing of The Brown Christmas to the lineup,


Pots and Powercells





Next up, the perpetually touring barefoot bassist,


CJ Boyd





and Finally, everybody's favorite, (playing with along with Sean of the Black Magic Family Band and Jaime of AOI/The Yets),


James Christy

Pots and Powercells @ Dreamcastle (2011)

Yet another weird jam, featuring members of Human Adult Band, The Brown Christmas, Jalopy, and a bunch of others...




(Recorded March 13, 2011 in Philadelphia... thanks to Mel for filming)

Pots and Powercells @ Alfa Art Gallery (2010)

I have no idea why I waited so long to post this,.. it's from November 20, 2010.

Pots and Powercells live at Alfa Art Gallery for the Omega Sound Fix Festival from PAS Music on Vimeo.

Pact of Wolves (2010, again)

I usually like to space out sets by the same band, but I couldn't help myself here... Again, here's Pact of Wolves, live at the Court Tavern:







Once again, credit goes to Mike for filming this.

Pact of Wolves (2010)

Recorded at a 4th of July party at Camp Crystal Lake in New Bruns, this, like a previous Ryanay set from the same day, is a rare afternoon show by Pact of Wolves, which is Alvin and Tony Funfetti of Pots and Powercells and Bog Body, among other bands. If you like no-wave twee, you'll love this shit:






Special thanks to Mike for filming this and posting it on the 'tubes.

Pots & Powercells on th' radio (2010)

Jaime from The Yets/AOI/Coalition of the Willing/P&P posted this a few months back... A Pots and Powercells set from March 11, 2010 on hearnewbrunswick.com's The Big Surprise (full audio of the podcast available as an mp3 here).



Jaime's description (via YouTube)
"POTS AND POWERCELLS radio excerpt - march eleventh two thousand ten - featured on 'the Big Surprise' hosted by Jon Dugan and Morgan Dowd out of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Audio extracted thusly and applied to visual documentation captured by Sean. 

(www.hearnewbrunswick.com)

POTS AND POWERCELLS is a 'junk jazz' group echoing after the early 2000's BUCKETS AND BATTERIES. This performance is featuring:

K (Guitar, Noise)
An Lally (Flute)
Alvin (Guitar)
Mike 'Burnt Marmalade' McCoskey (Guitar)
Jimmy Morren (Percussion)
Dave Roque (Percussion)
Caitlin Sulley (Percussion, Banjo)
Trevor Pennsylvania (Bass, Percussion)
James Schmidt (Noise, Guitar)
JP (Percussion)

* Kate M (Noise)* Tonio (Guitar, Noise)"

Kahdena (2007)

Kahdena is Jim, formerly of Whorl and presently a member of Pots & Powercells, playing guitar noises. This set was shot with two video cameras and recorded on cassette tape. The audio is a mix of all three. This show was on December 5, 2007, and at present, I'm not sure who else played that night.

Nativ Virus (2005)

This little gem comes from June 9, 2005 and features members of Doomsday Sleepover, Human Adult Band, Pots & Powercells, Ryanay, Bog Body, and Vehm. Recorded at Woodbridge High School in front of a crowd that clearly is not into it (watch and enjoy as groups of kids stand up and leave, some actually running), playing as loudly as possible, rolling around the stage and floor, and clearing out the room.


Luckily, this was the last set of the night, which was filled with nu-metal emo bands and Ryanay jamming out with a friend who played cello. Watch all the way through and you get the prize at the bottom of the box... a reaction video.


Apparently, this was the last time this school had a class show. Special thanks to Kate (Lifers' sister) for filming this. It would have been difficult to hold the camera with one hand on a mixer and the other punching a box of what was once a car windshield.





(at 5:36 in the video, there is a single frame of band member Mike striking a pose, perfectly illuminated by a camera flash. Check it out. It's great.)

M.R. of Preach Bitter Sermons

and Womb Bomb

M.R. again

JP of Bog Body and Vehm

action shot

(L to R) Ryanay, M.R.,

Veronica, Alex Brawler

(L to R) some dude, David,

Andrew Lifers, K, JP

(L to R) M.R., Josh,

Andrew Lifers, JP

AOI (2010)

Another atypical post, as this band hails from Brooklyn, NY, but features Jaime of The Yets and Pots & Powercells in a medieval-themed band, AOI, the name of which is supposedly an ancient word with a meaning that has been lost to the ages. Immediately, I'll link directly to their website, then Jaime's blog, kangbucket, and finally to a digital release from Jaime, here. (Be prepared, that one immediately prompts a download of the .zip file containing the recordings)


And since this is a video blog, here's a short sample of their style.




>

Also, check out what they look like.

Pots & Powercells (2010)

It's hard to say whether Pots & Powercells rose out of the ashes of the dispersal across the East coast of members of Buckets & Batteries, or if they're merely in the same mindset, but started in the fall of 2009 and with a few local shows and a breif 3-city weekend mini-tour under their belts, Pots & Powercells already has a few tape and cd-r releases out, and after nearly a year of playing shows, somebody (Mike of The Brown Christmas, actually) finally decided to film the set, send me the file, and make it possible to get out there to an audience bigger than the real world: The Internet.


Members of the Human Adult Band, Bog Body, Pact of Wolves, The Yets, Mike Bruno and the Black Magic Family Band, and several other one-off New Brunswick projects regulary jam with the band, and the rotating cast of characters means you're unlikely to seem the same style jam twice.

Here, for your viewing and listening... pleasure... Pots & Powercells live in Sewaren, NJ at a log-burning-barbecue playing on a porch to a bunch of young punks. A last-minute addition to the show, was a nice ending to a long first of two days of weird jams and punk bands. 

Tapes and CD-Rs are available from dihd and Bone Tooth Horn.