James Fella
RECENT | SCHEDULE | DISCOGRAPHY | ETC
08/29/22
Soft Shoulder 'A Quarter Of A Twelve's On One Half Of Ten'
10" single sided stereo lathe (Deliberate Indifference).
The most recent edition in a series of low-quantity /
high-quality releases serving as singles from a LP to be released
sometime in 2023 (following the two in queue at the plant
currently). 6 songs on a single sided 10", it's got some
soon-to-be-added-to-the-set-list-if-I-can-pull-them-off-live
tracks, without a doubt. Please see the below post from 03/15/22
and get in touch to reserve if interested! Available on Bandcamp.
07/01/22
Soft Shoulder 'CMYK' 5" stereo lathe (Deliberate
Indifference).
Another in a series of low-quantity / high-quality
releases serving as singles from a LP to be released sometime in
2023 (following the two in queue at the plant currently). CMYK is
an homage to the practice of making physical goods in a very
analog context (and nothing much more than that). SEE THE VIDEO FOR 'CMYK' = HERE! Please see the below post from 03/15/22
and get in touch to reserve if interested! Available on Bandcamp.
06/09/22
Soft Shoulder 'World Of Arambula' 5" stereo lathe (Alien
Summer).
Another in a series of low-quantity / high-quality
releases serving as singles from a LP to be released sometime in
2023 (following the two in queue at the plant currently). This
one is an homage to long-time friend and bandmate Paul Arambula,
who is currently living in Berlin. Please see the below post from
03/15/22 and get in touch to reserve if interested! Available
on Bandcamp.
05/23/22
Soft Shoulder 'Decaying Path b/w Now Wait For Next Year' 5"
stereo lathe (Alien Summer).
The second in series of low-quantity / high-quality
releases serving as singles, though unlike the rest, this
features an additional player (Nevada Nieves from No Babies) and
will likely be part of a slowly-in-the-works series of
long-distance collaborations for a subsequent LP. Available
on Bandcamp.
04/22/22
Caleb Dailey 'Warm Evenings, Pale Mornings: Beside You Then' LP
(Alien Transistor / Moone).
I had the honor of contributing to about half of the
tracks on this amazing LP, the debut from my good friend,
band-mate and sister-label (Moone Records) co-operator, Caleb
Dailey. It is a beautiful record!
Label description: "Growing up in the Californian
sprawl and the vast suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, Caleb Dailey
largely dismissed the country and western music that surrounded
him. Instead, he was drawn to independent rock, experimental
zones, and other genre-defying forms, which led him to create
skewed rock music with Bear State and establish the 'minimal art
label' Moone Records with his brother Micah Dailey in 2013. But
in the early half of the 2010s, Dailey began to hear things
differently. Drawn into the left-of-center works of artists like
Gram Parsons and Blaze Foley, a more idiosyncratic take on
country, folk, and roots music began to swirl in his imagination.
Wandering into the form's cowboy chords and lonesome scenes,
Dailey found himself wondering what his own country album might
sound like. The result is his debut solo album, a collection of
covers called Warm Evenings, Pale Mornings: Beside You Then.
Produced by John Dieterich of Deerhoof, Keiko Beers, and Dailey
himself, it's a melancholy charmer, rooted in traditional ideas
but free roaming in its scope. Laced with synths, pedal steel,
acoustic guitars, and commanded by Dailey's full and woozy voice,
it owes as much to the busted waltzes of Lambchop and the
homespun lo-fi folk of Little Wings (whose Kyle Field appears on
the album via a spoken intermission) as it does to the
songwriters and performers who provide its source material, which
include Parsons, Foley, Elvis Presley associate Chips Moman,
steel guitarist Buddy Emmons, and others . . . The hands of
Dailey and his collaborators, which includes a wide roster of DIY
experimentalists like James Fella of art punks Soft Shoulder, Jay
Hufman (Gene Tripp), Lonna Kelley of Giant Sand, Japanese DIY
hero's Koji Shibuya and Tori Kudo, Nicholas Krgovich, Markus
Acher of The Notwist, and more, that strangeness is accentuated.
Dailey doesn't aspire to retro Nashville fetishism or sanctioned
notions of 'realness' so much as a genuine outsider authenticity.
Take his version of Gordon Lightfoot's 'If You Could Read My
Mind' for example: a highlight of the record, it pairs familiar
genre signifiers like pedal steel and guitar strums with warbled
synths. Then there's his read of 'Dreaming My Dreams,' originally
made famous by Waylon Jennings (who also did time in the Arizona
desert), which morphs from a mournful ballad into a wash of
far-off sonic noise. The attention here is on the songcraft
itself, with Dailey inhabiting these songs and turning them
inside out to reveal unexpected tenderness and playfulness.
Recorded at home with an acoustic guitar and 4-track, Dailey
began open correspondences with his collaborators, who fleshed
out ideas and added touches, often working with skeletal frames
before Dieterich and Dailey shaped it into a cohesive whole . . .
Deeply allergic to insincerity, Dailey avoids any trace of irony.
He's created a cohesive gem out of disparate parts, uniting
Americana songcraft with experimental disassemblage. From this
bric-à-brac, he's made something touching and beautifully
strange."
04/08/22
Soft Shoulder 'Left Over, Table Top' 5" stereo lathe (Alien
Summer).
The first in a series of low-quantity / high-quality
releases serving as singles from a LP to be released sometime in
2023 (following the two in queue at the plant currently). This
one is an homage to the two dogs who are constantly playing an
important role in the day-to-day operations at Gilgongo HQ. SEE THE VIDEO FOR 'LEFT OVER, TABLE TOP' =
HERE! Please see the below
post from 03/15/22 and get in touch to reserve if interested! Available
on Bandcamp.
03/15/22
Soft Shoulder - a series of upcoming limited releases = please
get in touch to reserve!
While records are currently being subjected to
unbelievably long turn times at pressing plants, the process of
making lathe cuts is not suffering in as extreme of a way. With
two LPs already in queue at the plant (Smile Building's Exit and
It's All A Small World After), and a third one also now complete
- this batch, while still set to be a proper LP, will be released
as a series of lathe cuts over the next 6 months or so. Not your
standard mono, lofi cuts - these will be high quality stereo cuts
that are in all fairness, difficult to distinguish from a
regularly pressed record as far as fidelity. Some of these will
be 5"s (with about 1:30 per side), some 7"s and maybe
one or two 10"s as well. They are to be treated as
"singles" from the eventual LP. Please get in
touch if you are interested in getting copies!
10/21/21
James Fella & Gabriella Isaac 'CCTK Music' LP (Gilgongo).
CCTK Music combines Gabriella Isaac's exploitative use
of laptop as feedback loop / sound source / physical device and
James Fella's electro-acoustic / tape as instrument approach. The
duo incorporates each other's material in real time (on Side A),
cutting the content onto 6 singles-sided reference lacquers. The
lacquers were used to assemble a collage in a performance setting
in late 2019, and again in a studio setting for Side B. The
result is a record that is both scathing but at times harmonious,
scattered, and dense but with enough air for the individual
contributions to still have room to breathe. Mastered by John
Wiese. Available now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp).
07/21/21
John Wiese 'Magnetic Stencil/ 3' CD (Helicopter / Troniks).
Thrilled to be involved with another edition from this
new series from John Wiese. An eclectic group, curated and
assembled by one of the most talented artists in sound work. I'll
have some copies available via Gilgongo. Release description: The
third installment in an ongoing series of albums produced by John
Wiese using an expanded ensemble of recorded sound contributions.
Audio collage and experimental sonics featuring input from
Mitchell Brown, James Fella, Nathan Howdeshell, Tim Kinsella,
John Collins McCormick, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson, Howard
Stelzer, Dennis Tyfus, Katie Vonderheide, and C. Spencer Yeh.
Bandcamp.
07/08/21
Soft Shoulder 'Formerly On Fluorescent Paper' LP (Gilgongo).
Formerly on Fluorescent Paper delivers 14 jaunts culled
from the artists tape soup collage of several
generations worth of punk and no-wave adjacent music. Be it
jagged, angular, short tracks
atonal layers in otherwise
listener-friendly settings
repetitive string clang aside
gurgling synth and flailing reed-bite
Soft Shoulder
continues to be the primary vehicle for Fellas take on
songwriting, in whatever the loosely defined genre(s) may be.
However, compared to Not The New One (an eclectic collection of
various incarnations), Contextual Depreciation (performance and
practice tapes from the current group) and the recent Copy
Machine Fall Down 7 (an abstract,
long-distance-collaboration)
Formerly On Fluorescent Paper
finds Fella alone. Written and recorded in the fever-dream of
late 2020. Mastered by John Dieterich. Available now:
(see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp)
03/20/21:
New, short, video - released as part of the film
'Experimental Arizona', to be streamed on 3/31/21:
"Experimental Arizona is a film exploring the states
current experimental art scene, with contributions from over 20
unique artists, featuring sound art, video art and
interdisciplinary installations. It is a document of a time and a
place and showcases the variety of interesting work currently
being produced around the Grand Canyon State. The
event is curated by Jimmy Peggie and co-produced by
IKLECTIK". http://iklectikoffsite.org/experimental-arizona/
03/12/21:
Soft Shoulder 'Copy Machine Fall Down' 7" (Gilgongo).
Compiled by James Fella in late 2020 using remotely
recorded components: Side A features the current Phoenix-based
line-up (Caleb Dailey, Josh Rodriguez) of the long running
junk-kraut post-NO group offering a constructed and dubbed out
single while the flip finds a much more far-our
free/faux-improvised medley with members old and new, near and
far: Paul Arambula (Chandails, Vegetable Berlin), John
Dieterich (Deerhoof Albuquerque), Hiromi Inada (Nicfit,
Free City Noise Nagoya) Seth Kasselman (Warn Climate
Phoenix). Upcoming LP, Formerly On Fluorescent
Paper due May / June. Available now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp)
02/01/21:
Filthy Grin 'NOHI' LP single-sided, stereo lathe (Gilgongo)
Gerald Biggs (Filthy Grin) and James Fella have a long
history of intersection and collaboration. Biggs recorded much of
Soft Shoulders output after their initial line-up dissolved
(sometimes this would mean just James, other times new
versions of the group). Biggs appears in countless Soft Shoulder
as lyric references, but every now and then pops up as a member
(see: two tracks on the most recent LP, Not The New
One). When Biggs first started releasing work as Filthy
Grin, Fella would push the releases on anyone he could think to
(see: Mouth Feeling). For a brief time, both played
in live versions of infamous Arizona group Pigeon Religion. The
duo released a 7" together in 2015 (a musique concrete
approach to music made with metal objects, packaging tape and
drum pieces clattering on actual concrete). Fella finally forced
an incredible LP from Filthy Grin, Saturn in the
Mirror, in 2018, carving out a document which included
Fellas favorite material from Biggs from over the years.
especially since leaving Arizona, many times a check-in
through e-mail includes an audio track, field recording,
something / anything. NOHI is a Fella edit / assemble of
miscellaneous pieces from Filthy Grin, originally traded amidst
long distance correspondence. Although perhaps not technically
limited, NOHI is a high quality, singled sided stereo lathe-cut
LP. This is not the standard snap, crackle and pop of lathes both
modern and ancient, but an item that would easily be
misclassified as a proper, pressed LP. The initial run is of just
10 copies, but as Biggs approves, subsequent batches are planned
to follow. The price is high, but so is the cost Biggs and
Fella are walking away from this one at a break-even point.
Please feel free to inquire on availability and reserving future
copies!
10/23/20:
SOFT SHOULDER 'Not The New One' LP (Gilgongo).
Not The New One delivers a dose of Soft
Shoulder which is similar to 2017s Song and
Intermissions LP: sharp bursts which reference no wave,
free improvisation, abstract electronics and riot grrrl from
various configurations of the group: this time around with
members of Oaklands NO BABIES, Montreals FILTHY GRIN,
GAY KISS from Phoenix, Berlins PAUL ARAMBULA (Chandails,
Vegetable), etc. Sandwiched between a new 7 and LP from
early 2020, and a forthcoming 7 and LP in early 2021,
Not The New One ties up loose ends from the second
half of the 2010s. Recorded sporadically between 2015
2019 in various warehouses, practice spaces and bedrooms
in the Phoenix area. Available now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp)
10/02/20:
John Wiese 'Magnetic Stencil/ 1' CD (Helicopter / Troniks).
Released along side 'Magnetic Stencil/ 2', this is the first in a
series of new large ensemble works, curated and assembled buy
John Wiese. I'll have some copies available through Gilgongo.
Release description: This is the first installment in a series of
albums produced by John Wiese using an expanded ensemble of
recorded sound contributions. Composed and mixed by John Wiese.
Cleveland, Ohio19 March 2020. Additional sounds on this
album contributed by Aaron Dilloway, James Fella, Hair
Stylistics, Aaron Hemphill, C. Lavender, Charmaine Lee, Lasse
Marhaug, Katsura Mouri, C. Spencer Yeh. Hear it on Bandcamp.
05/29/20:
JAMES FELLA + STEVE JANSEN + STEVE ZIMMERMAN "Full Names,
Alphabetical Order (Title)" LP (Alien Summer / That's Cool).
Squealing reeds, fold-over electronics, amplified
packaging tape and primitive percussion from the crowded aisles
of Revolver Records (from: co-founder Steve Zimmerman, prolific
writer and roamer Steve Jansen and Gilgongo Records' James
Fella). Outer Bounds of Sound was a recurring Sunday night
affair: in a blue moon, you might catch a few artists or groups
playing songs ...but for the most part it was a unpredictable
cast of Who's Who and who is that?,
playing their own bizarre take on free jazz, dragging in rewired
televisions repurposed as drone devices, ancient modular units or
home-grown program-based playback systems. Gibberish descriptions
for gibberish, but often times very honest performances from
people you may have never seen before and may also never see
again. Available now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp).
03/27/20:
SOFT SHOULDER "Contextual Depreciation" LP (Gilgongo).
Two months after the recent Aerosol Can Stand
7, James Fellas long-running group Soft Shoulder
returns with 10 tracks recorded throughout 2018-2019 at various
live performances, at their practice space and in some cases,
fragments of both settings collaged together at home. While not
providing definitive versions of any new songs,
Contextual Depreciation appears as a mile marker for the
groups approach in the late 2010s: jagged post punk,
slow-churning junk-kraut from the Sonoran desert. Available
now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp)
01/31/20:
JAMES FELLA "Printed Matter Issue #3 // January 2020"
CD & print set (Deliberate Indifference).
Another CD and print collection: fliers, set lists and
other printed pieces made by James Fella over the past year. Available
now: (see: Bandcamp).
01/10/20:
SOFT SHOULDER "Aerosol Can Stand" 7"
(Gilgongo).
Aerosol Can Stand finds JAMES FELLA's long running
post-punk / no-wave / junk-kraut group in a rare
moment of pop sensibility (subject to objection and critique).
Recorded spur-of-the-moment during practice, these two songs are
a snapshot of Soft Shoulder as a trio (with JOSH RODRIGUEZ
(Mallevs, Sleep Money, etc) and Moone Records CALEB DAILEY)
in late 2019.
However, the same variety of haphazard approaches and
bedroom-style recording methods which Fella is accustomed to
using when processing songs alone were utilized here with the
full band. Everything captured on the second take: microphones
taped to broken pieces of drum kit hardware and whatever else was
sitting around on the floor, overblown overdubs done with a
faulty reverb unit, synth later dropped in as an afterthought
directly before a maniacal full-volume mix-down in the same
rehearsal space later that week. Comparisons aside and credit due
as collateral: RIYL The Fall, The Homosexuals, etc. Edition of
600 (includes download and every copy comes with a unique print
made using components from the artwork). Available now:
(see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp)
02/08/19:
IS IN UNSAMBLE "Is the Belly / In the Belly" LP
(Gilgongo).
I had a great time working on the layout for this LP w/ Ju Suk
Reet Meate - a sort of mail-collaboration / put-together-a-puzzle
(that has not previously existed) type of project - truly a lot
of fun. Coming out on Gilgongo Records. Release description:
Available Friday 2/8/19! "Is the Belly / In the Belly"
LP Ju Suk Reet Meate & Oblivia (Smegma, The Tenses), Brenna
Murphy & Birch Cooper (MSHR), Chiara Giovando (Harrius),
Johannes Lund & Tobias Kirstein are the IS IN UNSAMBLE. Is
the Belly / In the Belly: an old fashioned jam
session with a deep but distant, natural room sound.
Fluttering alto sax and calm, staccato trumpet slowly find their
way: spelunking towards a center in which the organ / voice /
homemade synth / radio / percussion blend and find their way back
to the nervous outer world. They converge with strange but
riveting vocals, slide guitar and record skipsmingled with
the sounds of dinosaurs canoodling. Song forms rise and fall back
against the river-like surface tension: a roaring tale is told,
then slowly fades away to nothingness. The jacket art is a
collaboration between Ju Suks squiggly line drawings and
lines / angles / photocopy artifacts and lettering from James
Fella. Recorded September 2015 at Smegmas Studio in
Portland. Available now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs).
01/04/19:
JAMES FELLA - "Printed Matter Issue #2 // January 2019"
CD & print set (Alien Summer).
Prints: A collection of fliers made by James Fella from
2017 and 2018: Mark Hosler & Wobbly (Negativland), Thurston
Moore Group, Tashi Dorji & John Dietrich, Taiwan Housing
Project, Guerilla Toss, Preening, B Boys, Jeph Jerman and more.
CD: Incidental guitar recordings from spare moments before and
during practices with the group Soft Shoulder, Phoenix summer
2018. Released by Alien Summer via Gilgongo Records. Available
now: (see: Bandcamp).
09/28/18:
ORPHAX - "Saxophone Studies" LP (Moving Furniture).
Incredibly excited for this LP! I think it was truly
about 10 years ago that we first had chatted about collaborating.
Sietse is great, both his sound work as well as his label, Moving
Furniture. I'll have some copies available through Gilgongo.
Release description: A long time ago, Sietse van Erve has asked
some friends and peers to contribute various recordings for a
project he was working at the time. He reached back out sometime
last year because he had come across these recordings and had
been working with them on what ended up being the A-side for his
new LP, "Saxophone Studies". The side long track is a
slow moving drone that slowly layers over itself and achieves an
effect that doesn't translate as intended unless listened at a
loud volume and in an open room rather than headphones,
"non-harmonic multitones" is what I believe someone who
worked on mastering the record described it as. Released on
Amsterdam based Moving Furniture Records. Available now:
(see: Discogs)
08/19/18:
JAMES FELLA & STEVE JANSEN - "Condensed
Rupture" (Gilgongo / Unhinged).
April 2010: Repurposed cassette sputters on a reel to reel
machine, atonal saxophone ricochets off concrete, plastic drums
made for children, tone generator and feedback. Outside of the
record store, a fire pit is constructed so that Pigeon Religion
can burn copies of their recent 7" in honor of Record Store
Day. Inside, James Fella and Steve Jansen have their
"instruments" strewn throughout the middle of the room
and offer a less-conventional in-store performance than ones
which would be seen in most other shops throughout that day. A
short, hyper-edit, packaged in individualized / mixed-media
jackets in an edition of 100 (50 by each artist). The back covers
are a paste-on designed by James Fella but each copy is a
multi-lay print with minor variations. Available now:
(see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp).
02/20/18:
JAMES FELLA + STEVE JANSEN / TOM TOM THRASHER & THE
HORSETAPES "Widens the Rupture b/w Horse Race" cassette
(That's Cool)
From the office of Thee Unhinged: JAMES FELLA + STEVE JANSEN:
Mid-build improv featuring cut up noise, harsh impact
projectiles, cassette tape spaghetti, AACM-like itty bitty
sounds, FJ sax. Sunn O))) shit to the improv max. TOM TOM
THRASHER & THE HORSETAPES: Future grindcore with unhinged
spoken-word vocals, insane samples, synthesizer, drum machine,
and cyborg lightning electricity drums. released February 20,
2018. Art by Parham Daghighi and Reece McLean. Available
now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp).
07/01/17
SOFT SHOULDER - "Songs and Intermissions" LP /
iTunes(GGGR-090)
Disjointed no-wave, monotonous post-punk, a couple of songs that
come as close to pop as possible and a handful of
intermissions throughout: the new LP from Soft Shoulder collects
tracks from 2009-2015. While the group is now on its 19th
line-up, most recordings have historically been James
Fella, solo. This
continues to be the case here (with most tracking done at
Gilgongo Records HQ and defunct Phoenix warehouse, Sound
Kontrol), but there are collaborations with many regular members
of the live group(s) and also a track which builds on
a Silver Apples recording created by Simeon in 1998 while adding
synth to a percussion session from 1968. Edition of 550, includes
download and a double sided 11x17 photocopy collage insert with
track information and fliers. Available now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp)
SOFT SHOULDER - "Repeat #4 aka Desert Plants and
Scooter in Carport" LP/ iTunes (Alien Summer)
40 minutes of junk-kraut offered as two side-long tracks from
Arizonas Soft Shoulder.
Warbled Practice catches the group as a trio: working
on the basic structure of a new song in a Tempe warehouse,
recorded direct to malfunctioning cassette deck. Large
Group in Close Quarters was recorded live December 2016: a
one-time 8-piece line-up playing a scattered tape-noise,
reed-squeal, triple-bass rendition of the same song (which had
already arrived at home as a single sided test press) featuring
members of Warm Climate, Sleep Money, Sunn Trio, Humiliation,
Chandails and Waytansea Point. Available now: (see: Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp)
03/26/17:
SOFT SHOULDER - "Nitro & Smasho Sound
System" 10" lathe (Deliberate Indifference).
New 10" from line up #19 of Soft Shoulder on Gilgongo
Records sub-label, Deliberate Indifference. Members of Sleep
Money and Gay Kiss, in this case Nitro & Smasho specifically,
assist with lofi repetition, trial and error, a single side long
track of junk-kraut in anticipation of two new LPs coming this
Summer on Gilgongo and Alien Summer! Available now: (see:
Gilgongo Records online shop, Discogs, Bandcamp)
02/20/17:
Friday 03/03/17:
in acknowledgement of a new LP/CD, which
is called Inactive Parts, Friday March 3rd 2017: A two-hour set
of minimal and sporadic sound via guitar, electronics, cassette,
and percussion.
7pm 9pm (please feel free to "come and go") in
the Grace Lutheran Church sanctuary, 1124 N. 3rd Street in
Phoenix, AZ. This event is free, but donations can be made to The
Trunk Space in observance of their ongoing efforts to provide a
space that is welcoming and encouraging towards people of all
ages, color, gender, class and ETC to be creative and
included.
01/27/17:
JAMES FELLA - "Inactive Parts" LP+digital /
"Inactive Parts and Portion" CD / iTunes (Weird
Machine)
About: "Inactive Parts" was a December 2014
installation at The Trunk Space in Phoenix, AZ consisting of
paintings, screen printed xerox pieces, lathe cut 7" records
and two sets of two single-sided acetate LPs which used for a
sound installation that could also function has
"instruments" for a live performance. Two performances
occurred: 12/05/14 (the opening reception, duration: 4 hours),
12/20/14 (for the Gilgongo Records 10 year anniversary event with
Sissy Spacek, Stephen Steinbrink, Cherie Cherie and Maniac Cop
(Mallevs), duration: approx. 30 minutes). The majority of
"Inactive Parts" consists of quiet, acoustic sound
being played back at significantly amplified volumes (with some
portions of tape collage using material from various tape
recordings circa 2005-2008).
"Inactive Parts" as a title is a reference to the
standard time in which metal plates for pressing records are
discarded if the customer does not repress or make arrangements
for the plates to be shipped. The irony in this standard is that
at the time of the finalized edit of this release, the typical
turn time for an LP was more than 6 months from start to finish.
As a person who's primary role in "music" is releasing
records, this conflict in fine print and reality was mildly
amusing, though it created an environment which had become
problematic to the point that many peers who run labels were
calling it quits. Inactive Parts originally appeared
as New Material, an hour long piece which aired on
Ricardo Wangs Whats This Called? on KPSU
in Portland, OR in August 2014. The content of that program, the
acetate version and this final edition are all slightly different
from one another. Digital version of LP edition on Bandcamp.
01/01/17:
"Strong Output Near Saturation: James Fella:
Solo Recordings", a
very in-depth review and collection of thoughs from John Collins
McCormick regarding 4 long-format solo releases: Expanding Gap,
See Tall Palm, Weak Left Input and Slots (etc).
05/31/16:
James Fella - "Incident Report" C-20 (Torn Light)
About: Having skewed between imagination and jest,
Incident Report is a tepid piece of musique concrete and avant
inception. Edition of 30. C20 housed in black plastic button
& string enclosure envelopes. Order from Torn Light. Available digitally on Bandcamp.
02/01/16:
Three recent full length CDs from James Fella on various
Gilgongo sub-labels. All three are also available digitally on Bandcamp.
JAMES FELLA - "Expanding Gap" CD (Weird
Machine)
About: Edited in late 2015, "Expanding Gap" is an
extremely dense sound collage utilizing roughly 4 hours of
material originally hosted on the blog "Giveaway Pile"
(2010-2012), which featured daily writing or recordings by artist
James Fella. Some of this material was released as a boxset which
included a lathe-cut LP and two 90 minute cassette tapes (also
entitled "Giveaway Pile"). Here, this work has been
reduced and layered to a degree that in theory should be
overwhelming, but it instead flows and breathes somewhat freely.
Stream the entire release: YOUTUBE.
JAMES FELLA - "See Tall Palm" CD (Deliberate
Indifference)
About: Recorded in October 2015, "See Tall Palm" was
intended to be material which would be ideal for sleeping to when
listened to at a lower volume, while also being a more unnerving
and abrasive listen when projected at a higher volume. Listened
to quietly, "See Tall Palm" is a slow moving, swirling
low-end drone that seems somewhat sedate. In actuality, and more
apparent when shared in a forceful manner, "See Tall
Palm" is a constantly changing, pulsing, textured sort of
release whose shifting and overlapping details cascade from side
to side as time goes on. Stream the entire release: YOUTUBE.
JAMES FELLA - "Trellis" CD (Alien Summer)
About: Also recorded in October 2015, "Trellis" is
unintentionally the antithesis of "See Tall Palm".
Instead of overblown electronics and an arguably impenetrable
flow, "Trellis" is reserved and often sparse, comprised
entirely of acoustic sound: non-amplified electric guitar,
cymbals and the physical sound of contact with recording devices
to their surfaces when not restrained and limited to close
proximity. Devoid of any narrative, the listener is free to
regard (or disregard) whatever the response may be to changes in
the environment. While in "See Tall Palm" this is
gradual, in "Trellis" it is more eventual: the guitar
offers momentary fluctuation from a softer almost Shruti box
style Indian drone to a very much self-limited and
self-destructive attempt at becoming something more fierce before
returning to its initial state (again and again). It can be
difficult to try and sort out what any recorded work is trying to
tell you, and truth be told it may be not be saying at all.
Perhaps the artist just needed to get something out of their
system, and it was just entirely too late to be audible enough to
make contact with the outside world.
01/01/16:
SOFT SHOULDER - "Collection Volume One" CD (Gilgongo
Records)
Call it "no wave", "post-punk", whatever you
prefer... Soft Shoulder have recently hit the 10 year mark and
(as more eloquently put in a recent review on THE QUIETUS), the band will not be going anywhere anytime soon.
A consistently inconsistent group that will be present for a
moment and then gone a day or two later, whatever the reason may
be, yet with somewhat regular output (especially over these past
few years). "Collection Volume One" compiles the recent
"No Draw" LP with material from seven 7" records
and a couple of cassettes, 32 songs on 18 tracks in just about 80
minutes. Also available digitally on iTunes / Amazon / etc.
Stream through the entire release, here: YOUTUBE.
10/18/15:
SOFT SHOULDER - "No Draw" LP (Gilgongo Records).
About: 2016 marks 10 years of Arizonas Soft Shoulder. In
that time they have released a plethora of 7s and sporadic
cassettes, CDrs and lathe cut recordings on labels such as
Isolated Now Waves, Not Not Fun and Gilgongo. With a line-up that
frequently changes, and many recordings which are just James
Fella on all instruments, the band changes trajectory
in a very spastic nature, but usually remains on the no-wave /
post-punk axis. The A-side of No Draw is Soft
Shoulder at its most accessible, while the B-side, Repeat
#3 is very minimal and monotonous (a largely improvised
stomp with Ricky and Sean of Oaklands No Babies). Trace
ingredients (less than 1%): Mars, Frumpies, U.S. Maple, A Frames,
etc.
Hear / download / buy: https://softshoulder.bandcamp.com/album/soft-shouder-no-draw-lp-gilgongo-records-2015
06/01/15:
JAMES FELLA + FILTHY GRIN 7"
New 7", a collaboration with Filthy Grin, available
now on Gilgongo Records. About: The empty room, like the rest of the house,
had a concrete floor. Littered with miscellaneous pieces of wood,
random bicycle parts and unidentified metal objects, the room
itself was essentially the instrument of choice. Cables ran under
the door and through the air conditioning vents. Of all of the
times that I had recorded various things with Gerald Biggs at
YOBS, this was by far the most unorganized, but ultimately the
most organic and cathartic.
Looking back on this now, I see direct parallels to the
arrangement of what he captured that evening to the visual work
he has been assembling since moving away from Arizona. He is an
architect of circumstance and surrounding who is, intentionally
or otherwise, reacting and communicating. It was, perhaps, a very
strange time for both of us, manifesting in what would look like
some kind of insane ritual to the outside world, and Im
extremely grateful that this small little record exists as a
document of it. James Fella 5/1/15
Also available now, three new 7"s from Soft
Shoulder. Hear all three: https://softshoulder.bandcamp.com:
"Stair" (Weird Machine). "This is
a mess of a record... each song tumbles into the next, tossing
around mid-paced art-punk / no wave / post-punk punctuated by
basic cavernous drumming and skronky hardly tuned guitars. They
even through in a saxophone and make that shit work. There are
traces of Dog Faced Hermans, Caroliner and Sun City Girls, but
they keep it short and urgent throughout. Great Record" -
Maximum Rocknroll.
"Fabric" (Alien Summer). Originally
released on a cassette compilation from Phoenix label Tagobella,
Yellow Green Red says Fabric is "chugging along like Black
Time or Tyvek trying out for a Troubleman Unlimited
contract", with the flip-side sounding like "a
paper-thin A Frames". Add a dose of early Chromatics or
Monorchid for good measure, with hints of tape collage and free
jazz simmering in the mix. Active to various degrees and in
different capacities since 2006, this is one of three new Soft
Shoulder 7"s in 2015, with an LP on Gilgongo to follow.
"Von Guts" (Deliberate Indifference). The
A-side of "Von Guts" was originally released in July
2011 as a C-5 cassette on Effeminate by Anna Nasty (Olivia
Neutron-John, Chain & the Gang). Raw and junky no-wave punk
with lyrics borrowed from the late Kurt Vonnegut, with the
flip-side featuring radical remixes of the entire release.
Damaged music on both sides. Tiny Mix-Tapes: "When SS mash
that Von Guts-proper riff into the ground like fish
brains its like a pendant going back and forth in front of
your eyes, hypnotizing you, leaving you ready to perform whatever
task Fella asks of you. Dont drink that Kool-Aid,
friend."
04/18/15:
New LP from Detached Objects, available now from Gilgongo Records. About: Debut recordings from this guitar heavy
Arizona group. Featuring members of RUMSPRINGER, AVON LADIES,
SOFT SHOULDER and GAY KISS, Detached Objects play a loud style of
punk that is both melodic and scathing, simple and complex, with
nods to bands such as Wipers and Drive Like Jehu.
04/01/15:
2 newsprint zines available later this week (locally at
the Phoenix Zine Fair 4/3/15 @ Trunkspace // online - send an
e-mail). "Printed Matter Issue #1 // April 2015"
compiles fliers from the past year (and includes a CDr w/ solo
audio material). "Selector Gill Gone Go" features scans
of some of my favorite reggae singles and includes a CDr w/
almost 5 hours of audio rips from "the Selector"'s
collection of 60's and 70's reggae 7"s, with most emphasis
being put on dubs and versions.
12/01/14:
LP reissue of "Weak Left Input" available now
on Gilgongo Records. About: Meandering / overlapping electronics,
guitar and tape noise. Over an hour of material ranging from
regurgitated drone to shimmering ambiance recorded directly to
tape. Recorded and released on cassette in 2009, and as a CD in
early 2014. RIYL: Total, early Growing or Emeralds, Dead C, etc.
Edition of 200, heavy black vinyl and screen-printed covers.
11/24/14:
For the month of December, I have installation at The
Trunkspace called "Inactive Parts" featuring paintings,
lathe-cuts, canvas prints of photo-copy work and a sound
installation (on 12/5 from 6-9pm for the Phoenix First Friday art
walk and from about 7:15-8pm on 12/20/14, opening up the Gilgongo
10 year anniversary show with Sissy Spacek, Stephen Steinbrink,
Cherie Cherie and Mallevs). Information on the opening, here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1545186035694661/
08/12/14:
I'll be at KPSU (Portland) on 8/30/14, broadcasting an
hour of new material on Ricardo Wang's "What's This
Called?" and then playing various records on Miss Rikki's
"Closet Radio".
02/17/14:
"Giveaway Pile", a onesided lathe cut LP
packaged with 2 C90 cassettes, zine and poster - available now
from Gilgongo Records. Over 3 hours of material from a now defunt
blog which consisted of daily writing or recording entries.
Edition of 24.
01/01/14:
CD reissue of "Weak Left Input" C-62 cassette,
available now on Gilgongo Records.
06/01/13:
Cassette reissue of Repeat #2 7" lathe (with
"dub" mix on the b-side), available now on Holy Page.
04/22/13:
Extremely limited Soft Shoulder 7" lathe out now on Gilgongo
Records.
01/22/13:
Playing a solo show this Saturday 01/26/13 in Portland,
OR at Little Axe Records. Details: here.