BODY STUFF - Beyond Bodies

New vid, happy holidays. Body Stuff.

2013 releases

The full list of records I worked this year:

January 8 - Comadre - Comadre - Vitriol Records
February 26 - Old Wounds - From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest - Glory Kid Ltd.
February 26 - Pristina - Hopeless•Godless - The Path Less Traveled Records
April 23 - Globe and Beast - Grandfather's Axe - Melotov Records
July 16 - Stomach Earth - Stomach Earth - Black Market Activities
July 16 - Phantom Glue - A War of Light Cones - Black Market Activities
July 23 - Body Stuff - Body Stuff - The Path Less Traveled Records
August 13 - Old Wounds/Trenchfoot - (split 7") - Melotov Records
August 13 - No Sir - The Future Is Bright - Twelve Gauge Records
August 27 - Self Defense Family - The Corrections Officer In Me - Family Drugs
August 27 - Bone Dance - Snakecharmers (reissue) - Melotov Records
August 27 - Calculator - These Roots Grow Deep (reissue) - Melotov Records
September 24 - Nervous - Nervous - Twelve Gauge Records
October 22 - So Hideous - Last Poem/First Light - self-released
October 22 - Meek Is Murder - Everything Is Awesome Nothing Matters - Threshold of Pain Records
October 29 - Netherlands - Silicon Vapor - self-released
November 5 - Czar - No One Is Alone If No One Is Alive - Cracknation Records

And tour press for these guys:

Circle Takes The Square
Yoshiko Ohara (Bloody Panda)

CR + Steel for Brains

My 2013 year-end vibes, recorded and redistributed by the excellent Steel for Brains, along with lists by Jarboe, Mike Hill, and others: steelforbrains.com/post/70309311283/lust-lists-favorites-of-2013

CR + Justina

Justina Villanueva interviewed me about my time in Today Is The Day - forever one of my favorite bands: http://blastbeat.us/?p=3737

2013, 2014

Season's greetings, all! Another year!

2013 in review:

In January I ended Precious Metal, the weekly series of shows I booked and promoted in NY for precisely 6.66 years.

In March and April I did my final tour as drummer of Today Is The Day, six weeks across the US and Canada with KEN Mode and Fight Amp. See Justina Villanueva's new Today Is The Day feature, here.

In July I released the debut record of my new solo project, Body Stuff, and in October I performed it live for the first time (at The Acheron in Brooklyn, with Psalm Zero and Vain Warr).

In PR this year I represented another slew of crucial bands outta the underground depths, including the brilliant Circle Takes The Square, Stomach Earth, Comadre, Old Wounds, Self Defense Family, Nervous, Meek Is Murder, So Hideous, Netherlands, Czar, and many more. As the year-end lists start to roll in, we are seeing the love, including Stomach Earth on Rolling Stone's Top 20 Metal Albums list!

Check out my complete list of 2013 releases, here. 

Check out my own personal best-of list, here on Steel for Brains.

Now, on to 2014:

The PR machine is revved and we kick things off in 2014 with the debut album by High Water on Vitriol Records, the outstanding LA label owned by Justin Smith of Graf Orlock and Ghostlimb. High Water is fronted by Neal Sharma of Ghostlimb. The self-titled debut was recorded by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Loma Prieta, Nervous). These guys are from deep in the Bay Area hardcore scene but you wouldn't know it. The vibe is earnest and wise - Replacements, Neil Young - and it sounds like a million bucks.

And coming soon, new releases by Tiger Flowers, Old Wounds, Vices, Jar'd Loose, and more! Also, more Body Stuff.

L'chaim!

2013 recap

January 8 - Comadre - Comadre - Vitriol Records

February 26 - Old Wounds - From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest - Glory Kid Ltd.

February 26 - Pristina - Hopeless•Godless - The Path Less Traveled Records

April 23 - Globe and Beast - Grandfather's Axe - Melotov Records

July 16 - Stomach Earth - Stomach Earth - Black Market Activities
July 16 - Phantom Glue - A War of Light Cones - Black Market Activities
July 23 - Body Stuff - Body Stuff - The Path Less Traveled Records
August 13 - Old Wounds/Trenchfoot - (split 7") - Melotov Records
August 13 - No Sir - The Future Is Bright - Twelve Gauge Records
August 27 - Self Defense Family - The Corrections Officer In Me - Family Drugs
August 27 - Bone Dance - Snakecharmers (reissue) - Melotov Records
August 27 - Calculator - These Roots Grow Deep (reissue) - Melotov Records
September 24 - Nervous - Nervous - Twelve Gauge Records

October 22 - So Hideous - Last Poem/First Light - self-released

October 22 - Meek Is Murder - Everything Is Awesome Nothing Matters - Threshold of Pain Records

October 29 - Netherlands - Silicon Vapor - self-released

November 5 - Czar - No One Is Alone If No One Is Alive - Cracknation Records

BODY STUFF live vid

October 30, The Acheron, Brooklyn, NY

BODY STUFF first show

October 30, 2013
The Acheron, Brooklyn, NY
Photos by Justina Villanueva

B.S.

Curran Reynolds, vocals

Greg Kramer, guitar

Ryan Jones, bass

Matt Kepler, drums

 

 

BODY STUFF live

BODY STUFF Wanted Man

Stream the record.

Watch the videos.

Buy the vinyl.

Buy the mp3s.

Connect.

Fall '13

Cheers to the end of summer and to all the new noise coming up next.

New releases

Recap of all the good stuff that's coming up:

August 27 - SELF DEFENSE FAMILY - The Corrections Officer In Me - Family Drugs

"When he's not playing in Drug Church, running his own comic book company, making his own comics or overseeing independent record label Harm Reduction - or more accurately, at the same time as doing all of these things - Patrick Kindlon also fronts shape-shifting post-hardcore collective Self Defense Family (formerly known as End Of A Year). This latest release - recorded in a 24-hour period back in 2011 - offers up three recordings full of paranoia, anxiety and disillusion with the state of the world... Provocative and full of tension and unease, the sound of somebody at odds with the world around him, someone who's trying to work out how to change the unchangeable... A chilling and horrific vision of humanity in the 21st century."
-Alternative Press

A post-hardcore collective, known for its nebulous lineup and its vast catalog of release on a diverse list of labels (Deathwish Inc, Run For Cover, Hex Records, Family Drugs...), S.D.F. nod to Dischord Records leaders like Fugazi and Lungfish as well as the driving, anxious vibe of Killing Joke. Frontman and DIY powerhouse Patrick Kindlon is one of the most profound wordsmiths on the scene today.

Stream a Self Defense Family song via Verbicide.

!!!

August 27 - BONE DANCE - Snakecharmers (EP reissue) - Melotov Records

"Suffocating heaviness along the lines of Botch, Coalesce, and Engineer."
-Revolver

"Bone Dance sets the bar high for all newer bands playing chaotic metal/hardcore..."
-CvltNation

Reissue of out-of-print EP by Boise, Idaho's finest nihilists, originally released in 2010. Sludgy riffs spiral downward, drums strike and recoil, and vocalist Morgan Mechling spits pure disgust as if preemptively delivering mankind's eulogy. Features new art and packaging.

Watch a Bone Dance video via Revolver.

!!!

August 27 - CALCULATOR - These Roots Grow Deep (LP reissue) - Melotov Records

"LA's Calculator make a similar kind of post-hardcore/screamo to fellow Cali bands Touche Amore or the now-defunct Comadre; raw, honest, and uncompromising."
-BrooklynVegan

Reissue of out-of-print collection of Calculator's early material, originally released in 2010. Los Angeles post-hardcore, descended from Rites Of Spring, using emotion and dynamics to the fullest. Recorded at various locations including The Earth Capital in LA with producer Alex Estrada (Nails, Touche Amore, Xibalba). Features new art and packaging.

Watch a Calculator video via BrooklynVegan.

!!!

September 24 - NERVOUS - Nervous - Twelve Gauge Records

Fronted by Jake Spek of Lewd Acts, this Bay Area crew take the hooks and quirks of Jesus Lizard/Pixies/Nirvana and twist them into anxiety-ridden California punk anthems. Awesome debut album! Recorded and mixed by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Loma Prieta), mastered by Alan Douches (Converge and so many more...)

Stream a Nervous song via CvltNation.

!!!

Next:

Fall '13 - NETHERLANDS
Fall '13 - MEEK IS MURDER
Fall '13 - SO HIDEOUS
Fall '13 - CZAR
Fall '13 - TIGER FLOWERS
Fall '13 - PYRRHON

BODY STUFF out now

My first solo record, Body Stuff, is out now on The Path Less Traveled Records.

"Curran Reynolds is a fucking creep... Hermetically perverted, [Body Stuff] exists in a sick reality all its own, one in which Prurient's Dominick Fernow has been committing industrial espionage for a syphilitic Michael Gira... There's an analytical passion to the songs, like Killing Joke scoring a David Cronenberg flick."
-Decibel

"Unlike so much metal where lyrics take a back seat or are unintelligible, Reynolds's lyrics are a focal point and tell snippets of stories in a hundred words or less that are as haunting as they are evocative - listen to them and tell me these are the thoughts of a sane person. Add to that an otherworldly blend of drone, metal, post-rock, and more that endlessly loops, rises, and falls over a metronomic beat, and we're looking at something glorious."
-Stereogum

"NYC musician Curran Reynolds is known for many things: being drummer of noisecore act Today Is The Day and eclectic metallers Wetnurse, as well as a publicist and founder of the now defunct, but nevertheless influential, Precious Metal concert series. [Body Stuff] is a departure from his other bands, unexpectedly sounding more like a mix of industrial, alternative rock and experimental drone... Body Stuff is an extremely personal ode to NYC , with haunting yet alluring, deep vocals - a cross between Justin Broadrick and Michael Gira... A stunning debut, Body Stuff is simple and pure, showcasing immense attention to detail..."
-Exclaim

"An urgent and uncomfortable record, it straddles the line between exploratory sludge, experimental noise, and even a weird bit of pop, like someone stuck Faith No More, Joy Division and Torche into a Magic Bullet... Reynolds' vocals, an authoritative and clear warble, often seems like the most solid thing in Body Stuff's musical landscape. Somewhere between heat haze and full-on hallucination, Body Stuff is a great record for when the edges of your world start melting."
-About

Stream the record.

Watch the videos.

Buy the vinyl.

Buy the mp3s.

Connect.

THANK YOU, ALL!

BODY STUFF Year-Ends

Pre-order the debut 7" here for $5.

Saxophone on "Year-Ends" by Matt McAuley of A.R.E. Weapons & T.V. Baby.

BODY STUFF on MetalSucks

"Hey fans of Torche, Faith No More, and Jesu..."

BODY STUFF New York Story

Body Stuff - "New York Story"
Music & lyrics by Curran Reynolds
Video by Curran Reynolds
Body Stuff debut EP out July 23, 2013 on The Path Less Traveled Records
http://facebook.com/bodystuffpunk

New releases

Out now - Yoshiko Ohara - Ringing In Our Wrists - Ice Level Music
July 16 - Stomach Earth - Stomach Earth - Black Market Activities
July 16 - Phantom Glue - A War of Light Cones - Black Market Activities
July 23 - Body Stuff - Body Stuff (EP) - The Path Less Traveled Records
August 13 - Old Wounds/Trenchfoot - (split 7") - Melotov Records
August 13 - No Sir - The Future Is Bright - Twelve Gauge Records
August 27 - Self Defense Family - The Corrections Officer In Me (EP) - Family Drugs
August 27 - Bone Dance - Snakecharmers (EP reissue) - Melotov Records
August 27 - Calculator - These Roots Grow Deep (reissue) - Melotov Records
Fall '13 - Nervous - title tba - Twelve Gauge Records
Fall '13 - Tiger Flowers - title tba - label tba
Fall '13 - Meek Is Murder - title tba - label tba
Fall '13 - Czar - title tba - label tba
Fall '13 - Pyrrhon - title tba - Selfmadegod Records

Out now - YOSHIKO OHARA - Ringing In Our Wrists - Ice Level Music

Bloody Panda frontwoman Yoshiko Ohara has been compared to “Diamanda Galas and PJ Harvey” by The Village Voice. A Japanese-born vocalist and painter, Ohara’s new solo album was released this spring on Ice Level Music, the label owned by Kayo Dot frontman/composer Toby Driver. Her latest performances are ultra intense one-woman shows, often set to visual projections. She's a powerhouse and one of a kind. Look out for news of her next live appearances, coming soon.

July 16 - STOMACH EARTH - Stomach Earth - Black Market Activities

Transfixing debut album from the solo project of The Red Chord guitarist Mike “Gunface” McKenzie. Massive, creeping death-doom of the underworld, recalling the vast void of early Godflesh and the morbid grandeur of early Cathedral.

July 16 - PHANTOM GLUE - A War of Light Cones - Black Market Activities

Boston crushers, equally versed in sludge, doom, and noise rock, churn it out with nods to Neurosis, Trouble, and The Jesus Lizard, plus a heavy H.P. Lovecraft vibe throughout the lyrics and art. Recorded by Converge’s Kurt Ballou. Frontman Matt Oates was a bandmate of Ballou’s in the pre-Converge band The Huguenots!

July 23 - BODY STUFF - Body Stuff (EP) - The Path Less Traveled Records

The debut solo recording by me, Curran Reynolds! Ghostly little New York City street anthems. Me on vocals, programmed drums, and hooks galore. Maybe some Justin Broadrick, maybe some Walter Schreifels. To me, it’s all Billy Idol. Ryan Jones (Today Is The Day, Mutilation Rites, Wetnurse) helped me make the record, Colin Marston (Gorguts, Krallice) mastered it. Check out a song/video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8IO38WERTg

August 13 - OLD WOUNDS/TRENCHFOOT - (split 7”) - Melotov Records

O.W. are a killer young metallic hardcore band from Jersey, reviving the spirit of bands like Turmoil and Buried Alive for the next generation. They’ve been keeping busy since the release of their acclaimed debut album in February, touring back and forth across the US with Full Of Hell and others, and they’re playing the coveted Power Of The Riff Festival in August in LA. Trenchfoot are a like-minded bunch from upstate New York who have recorded with Converge’s Kurt Ballou, and the two set out to tour the nation today!

August 13 - NO SIR - The Future Is Bright - Twelve Gauge Records

A Bay Area hardcore punk band, coming out of the current California scene of poetic, artistic types keeping it raw and DIY - bands like Ghostlimb, Loma Prieta, and Trash Talk. No Sir balance gloomy introspection, forward-charging aggression, and a perfect use of rock hooks, reflecting influences like Negative Approach, Dead And Gone, and Nirvana. Recorded by Comadre's Jack Shirley (Graf Orlock, Deafheaven).

August 27 - SELF DEFENSE FAMILY - The Corrections Officer In Me (EP) - Family Drugs

A post-hardcore collective, formerly known as End Of A Year, among other names, known for its evolving lineup and its vast catalog of releases on a diverse list of labels (new album coming soon on Deathwish Inc, after this EP on the Family Drugs label, a collaboration between Twelve Gauge Records boss Jihad Rabah and producer Sam Pura). S.D.F. nod to the world-weary storytelling vibe of Lungfish as well as the driving tension of Killing Joke. This is a band of intelligent people doing their own thing by their own rules.

August 27 - BONE DANCE - Snakecharmers (EP reissue) - Melotov Records

Reissue of out-of-print EP by Boise, Idaho's finest nihilists, originally released in 2010. For fans of Botch, Gaza, Tiger Flowers. Features new art and packaging.

August 27 - CALCULATOR - These Roots Grow Deep (reissue) - Melotov Records

Reissue of out-of-print collection of early material, originally released in 2010. Bay Area hardcore punk with heart, for fans of Comadre, Hot Cross, Rites of Spring. Features new art and packaging.

Fall ’13 - NERVOUS - title tba - Twelve Gauge Records

With members of Loma Prieta, this Bay Area crew bang it out like a punker Nirvana on their awesome debut!

Fall ’13 - TIGER FLOWERS - title tba - label tba

In the studio now! Tiger Flowers build upon the darkest metallic hardcore vibes of bands like Deadguy and Kiss It Goodbye, and frontman Jesse Madre's intensity and sincerity are unmatched... and all this is oddly-yet-perfectly balanced by the fact that Madre riffs like a stand-up comedian and that the band cite early 80's Motley Crue as a key inspiration. They were a staple of my Precious Metal shows and they're now a standout of the New York scene at large. The debut full-length is being recorded and mixed by Elliot Geller (Malignancy, Dim Mak) and mastered by Shane Frisby (Turmoil, Revocation). 

Fall ’13 - MEEK IS MURDER - title tba - label tba

Recording this summer! Violent bursts of royal shred from this awesome Brooklyn band, possessing soul like Botch and chops like Yngwie. Features ex-The Red Chord guitarist Mike Keller and Metal Injection boss Frank Godla on drums. This is their second full length - and second to be produced by Converge's Kurt Ballou and mastered by Alan Douches (Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan, so many more...)

Fall ’13 - CZAR - title tba - label tba

Recording this summer! Direct support for Killing Joke on a full US tour this spring, Chicago’s Czar prepare to record their second full-length with Hum frontman Matt Talbott producing. Ominous atmospheres, machine-like metal and colossal hooks are the trademark. Glowing comparisons to Gojira and Mastodon abound.

Fall ’13 - PYRRHON - title tba - Selfmadegod Records

Recording this summer! A band I’ve called “NYC's best death metal band” for years will probably transcend that tag entirely with their new album, moving beyond any such simple description. The technical meets the visceral: these young virtuosos rip out dazzling, twisted, extreme metal yet without the stink of showboating. As sick as the playing is, this is music from the gut, perhaps inspired by Swans as much as by Gorguts, and intensified by a sincerely unhinged vocal delivery conveying true urban despair. Ryan Jones (Today Is The Day, Mutilation Rites, Wetnurse) produces.

BODY STUFF video

Body Stuff - "I Will Be He"
Music & lyrics by Curran Reynolds
Video by Curran Reynolds
Body Stuff debut EP out July 23, 2013 on The Path Less Traveled Records
http://facebook.com/bodystuffpunk

BODY STUFF

"Body Stuff is the new project of New York musician Curran Reynolds, known for his work with Today Is The Day and Wetnurse. 

Body Stuff's self-titled debut recording will be released July 23, 2013 on The Path Less Traveled Records as a limited edition, white vinyl 7" and digital download.

Points of reference: Justin Broadrick, Michael Gira, Walter Schreifels"

Body Stuff on Facebook

Body Stuff on Bandcamp

One afternoon in our little apartment, my friend Mick Barr said to me: "Everyone should make a solo record." That statement stuck with me for some years and now here we are.

There have always been words and melodies flitting in and out of reach but this was my first attempt at harnessing these things and calling them songs, untouched by the democratic processes of bands. I reached back in time, into my own history, before bands, before drums. I went back to childhood to reconnect with my earliest encounters with popular music, to recall the lightning strikes I felt when certain songs of the day first hit me via radios and TVs. "Beat It", "Axel F", "Home Sweet Home", and so on. I sought not to recreate these sounds but to recall their initial impact on me and revel in the purity, the immediacy, of that cause and effect, the raw power electrifying the innocent mind. I took that and let it guide the making of this record.

I wrote every song while walking the streets of New York at night. The record is grounded in the wonder and grime of this city, the tension created by so much imminent pleasure and imminent doom. You'll hear it in the music, I think, or in certain lyrics. "Street Walker", for example, is about sizing up the strangers we pass by and ultimately choosing to love them. "Wanted Man" is about being misunderstood by these strangers despite our best efforts. "New York Story" is an ode to reckless summers past, and to a friend who fell to his death from a fire escape at the end of one such summer.

From me to you. Body Stuff. A personal account, dedicated to all. 

My right hand man through this was Ryan Jones, whom you've known as bassist in Today Is The Day, Mutilation Rites, and Wetnurse, or as live sound man at my Precious Metal shows, or as producer of Star Fucking Hipsters, Flourishing, and Pyrrhon. Thanks also to Greg Kramer (Wetnurse), Matt McAuley (A.R.E. Weapons, TV Baby), Colin Marston (Gorguts, Krallice), artist Mike Wohlberg, and label man Sean Crook for their contributions. And Mick!

Greetings from Maine

TODAY IS THE DAY live vid

A full live set from Cleveland, Beachland Ballroom, April 11, 2013.

1) Death Curse
2) Mother's Ruin
3) I.E.D.
4) In the Eyes of God
5) Going to Hell
6) Spotting a Unicorn
7) Possession
8) The Color of Psychic Power
9) Temple of the Morning Star
10) Expectations Exceed Reality
11) Free at Last
12) Axis of Eden
13) If You Want Peace, Prepare for War
14) Pinnacle
15) Willpower
16) The Kick Inside
17) 6 Dementia Satyr
18) The Man Who Loves to Hurt Himself

TODAY IS THE DAY tour

Today Is the Day's North American tour ended this week in Canada. 38 shows played, over 15,000 miles driven. Cheers to our tourmates in Black Tusk, KEN mode, Fight Amp, Ringworm, and Keelhaul, and to all friends and fans. A live clip.

TODAY IS THE DAY at SXSW

Greetings from the road! I'm a week into Today Is The Day's headlining North American tour with Black Tusk, KEN Mode, and Fight Amp. Those of you in Austin this week, come over and see me at one of the following shows.

March 15 - Austin, TX - Invisible Oranges (day show) @ Old Emo's
TITD, Pallbearer, KEN Mode, Royal Thunder, Inter Arma, Batillus, Baptists

March 15 - Austin, TX - Tone Deaf Touring SXSW Showcase @ Red 7
Orange Goblin, Mondo Generator, TITD, Young Widows, KEN Mode, The Gates of Slumber

March 16 - Austin, TX @ Gypsy
TITD + tba

For the full list of Today Is The Day tour dates, see here!

And our new song, "Sick of Your Mouth", here!

TODAY IS THE DAY video

David Hall's video for our new song "Sick of Your Mouth" is here!

Download the song.

TODAY IS THE DAY Sick of Your Mouth

Our new song is here! 

CR on Invisible Oranges

Precious Metal ends tonight! Read about it here.

PRECIOUS METAL 6.66

The Grand Finale! Monday, January 21 at Lit!