Universal Monster Series - UMS Demo (2005)

EGS013: Universal Monster Series - UMS Demo (2005)

Universal Monster Series, from Worcester, MA played grim stoney riff-metal in the vein of High on Fire/Sleep, Black Sabbath, et al. Mike Guercio (later of Healing Feeling) was the drummer, along with Jesse Tully (guitar, vocals) and "Deuce" (bass). I lived with Mike's brother Paul (LA Drugs, Life Partners) from 2001 until 2003 or 2004 or something, and he introduced us. Brains in Danger and UMS started booking a lot of shows together around New England, and me and Mike jammed informally a few times (including one time when Adam Watt was in town, sowing the seeds for the later formation of HF). Mike now plays in a progressive metal group called MAAR, and I'll releasing a limited edition cassette of their EP with some exclusive tweaks in January, so keep an eye out for that.
*special thanks to Andy Tefft for sending me the audio for this one, I lost my copy years ago*

Track Listing:
1. Flight of the Jabberwocky
2. Devil's Net
3. Bone Ride
4. Fire Eyes

Universal Monster Series - Bone Ride by electrickgypsyservice

download: sendspace

Happy Holidays from Andy & Zeus

Happy Holidays from Andy & Zeus from Andy & Zeus on Vimeo.

pass in comments

Andy & Zeus - The Stranger File (collected releases 2010)

EGS012: Andy & Zeus - The Stranger File

The Stranger File collects all of the Andy & Zeus material released in 2010 with a few unreleased nuggets on one 70 minute cassette. Includes an alternate mix of Humid Hang, as well as an outtake from the sessions from our forthcoming LP and live excerpts recorded from a six hour set in Brooklyn on 10/30/2010.
Limited edition of 30 tapes/Unlimited digital edition.

Program A:
1. Mystery Cells
2. Cristal Manor
3. Basement Wizard
4. Panama Tunnel
5. The Wine Song (excerpted from the chill zone: 10/30/2010 Brooklyn NY)

Program B:
1. Luna Sea (Riding a Moonbeam)
2. Humid Hang (alternate mix)
3. Here We All Are
4. Sanitary Unfolding

Andy & Zeus - Sanitary Unfolding

Andy & Zeus - Sanitary Unfolding from Andy & Zeus on Vimeo.

Zachary Wilson - Slight Return

EGS011: Zachary Wilson - Slight Return EP

Here's a 4-pack of tunes that Zack from Andy & Zeus made in early 2004, shortly after moving back to his home state of Maine from Boston (where I had first met/known him). The death of a laptop in 2006 erased most of his recordings from that period, but he had these songs safely burned onto a CD-r. There are some pretty cool sounds spread across these tracks, with artists like King Crimson, Suicide, Ariel Pink, and even Black Flag popping up in my head while I was listening to this. Zack says he was also "starting to dip my toes into the Detroit techno classics" at the time. It's pretty raw and it kinda sounds like it could have come out now. Which I suppose is why I'm putting it out now.

Track Listing:
1. Surveillance Feed
2. Slight Return/In the Box
3. Expectations
4. Tunnel Vision (edit)

download: sendspace *UPDATED LINK 5/26/2011*

Double Entendre - Found in Cell

EGS010: Double Entendre - Found in Cell

Chances are probably pretty good that you've already heard of Ryan Daniels/Double Entendre via Friendship Bracelet or Altered Zones or something. Or maybe you've heard of him because he has played, both live and on recordings, with Andy & Zeus. Or maybe you've never heard of him. In any event, this 'mysterious' fella is in fact a good friend of mine, and I was honored when he asked me if it was okay to release his EP under the EGS banner. There's not too much to say about this release that hasn't already been said.. it's lush, chill, and ethereal. In other words: right up my alley. Ryan is selling this release on his bandcamp page, so head on over (link below) and buy it. And now that Ryan is officially part of the EGS family, it probably won't be too long before I get him into Electrick Gypsyland to work on new material. To tide you over until then, here's some footage of the one and only show our short lived band, The Wakefuls, played together. Kind of a departure from what most of us are doing now, but enjoyable just the same (I hope).



Track Listing:
1. found in cell
2. sea ride
3. thanks

buy: bandcamp

Andy & Zeus - Live in Boston

Andy & Zeus - Live at O'Briens 8/24/10 from Andy & Zeus on Vimeo.

Here's a live video from our show on 8/24/2010 @ O'Briens Pub in Allston. Kris Thompson was kind enough to sit in with us on theremin and synthesizer, and he sounds great.

In other news, I'll be putting up some "new" releases from Universal Monster Series and Leopio, as well as a new chilled out single from Double Awake so check back soon.

Andy & Zeus - Here We All Are video

Andy & Zeus - Here We All Are from Andy & Zeus on Vimeo.

Here's another music video for Andy & Zeus, with slightly higher production values than the video for Luna Sea. The song is Here We All Are and it's on the EP available in an earlier post. Das Münz! helped to conceptualize, shoot, and edit it (in addition to appearing in the video), and the other supporting roles are played by our good friends Scot Oxholm and Wassaic. Shot on Hi-8 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. No promoters were hurt in the making of this video. Enjoy!
*UPDATE 9/7/2010 - moved to Vimeo and replaced with a higer quality file.

FYA - Demo

EGS009: FYA - Demo
*DOWNLOAD LINK UPDATED 7-18-2011*

FYA was probably the last band I was in that would be considered "hardcore," and was definitely the last band I sang in. Formed within a year or two of Outlast's dissolution by Chris Raymond (at the time also playing with Down But Not Out and formerly in Outlast with me), DFJ (of Mind Eraser, Mental, every HC band in Boston, I think), and myself as an outlet to explore Infest-inspired HC. Listening to the demo now it seems like we missed the mark, though we probably came a bit closer with our MKII lineup. The original lineup recorded this demo (with Chris playing both bass and guitar parts) with the guy from Japanese Torture Comedy Hour in a barn in Central Massachusetts somewhere (Littleton maybe?). We played a couple shows in CT but we were never a really serious band and we eventually drifted apart. A couple years later DFJ and I reactivated the band with Zac Davis (FFG, Hassan i Sabbah, Lambsbread) and Zack Wilson (AN, Chas. Mtn, Andy & Zeus) on guitars, and Rob Burnett playing bass. We played a lot of shows (including a micro-tour with Think I Care, and the last 97a show) but we never recorded. Which is too bad, because this is the era most people seem to remember. The original demo included a 'dub' taunting Chris Morgado, but we left it off the MKII reissue. Pat Whittle had the MKII demo, so that's what you're getting. If anybody has the original demo, or knows how to get in touch with Chris Raymond, drop me a line!



Track Listing:
1. Scenery/Leader
2. Holemate
3. Human (dis)Grace

download: sendspace

Outlast - Demo 1997

EGS008: Outlast Demo 1997

Outlast was the first hardcore band that I was in. As I remember it, we stayed up practically all night before our first show (at the Rat, in Boston) making these demo tapes. Everything was done on a 4 track and the guitars were plugged straight in with no amps or anything. Pretty raw. One of the guitar players (I won't say who) wasn't present at the session, so the other one played both parts. My bandmates went on to be in FYA (coming soon), Squaw, The Trust/Down But Not Out, Suicide Nation, Chas. Mtn, Gary War, and probably some other projects. I don't remember much about that first show except that Hands Tied were supposed to play, but didn't show up. Luckily, Pat Whittle did show and he bought one of our tapes. And he kept it. And a couple weeks ago he came over to my apartment and we plugged a walkman into my computer and ripped it. Not much else to say about this, I'll let it speak for itself.

Track Listing:
1. Intro/Sets Me Apart
2. Respect
3. Bros Before Hoes
4. Committed

*LINK UPDATED 7-18-2011*
download: sendspace

Andy & Zeus - Luna Sea (Riding a Moonbeam) video

Here's a music video for Luna Sea that I made yesterday while trying to beat the heat. Those are my cute cats, Emma & Piper. Keep an eye out this week for some 'new' releases. Next up: the OUTLAST and FYA demos. Recommended for all fans of angry teenagers playing hardcore.

now accepting submissions/new releases

Hello to all my faithful friends, followers, and fans.
In the interest of keeping things interesting around here, I've decided to add a Soundcloud dropbox to the page for submissions. It's that little box on the right side of your screen that says 'send me your track.' You can also check out some samples from all of our releases on our Soundcloud page. The future is here, and its pretty cool. I'd like to start showcasing and releasing more projects that I like, but may not have as much (if anything) to do with me, so don't be afraid to send stuff to me if we've never met. To celebrate this development, I've got some new reissues in the works for the next couple weeks, and I fixed the dead links for almost all of the past releases as well.
Thanks for reading and for listening!
-A.R. Plovnick
The Electrick Gypsy Service

Andy & Zeus - EP

EGS007: Andy & Zeus - EP

The second release from Andy & Zeus is here. And once again we have CDs and MP3s. With tighter structures, stronger melodies, and more textural variety, I like to think these three songs show a vast improvement over the first single. Sung melodies intermingle with guitar/synth harmonies over a radioactive pulse, then a dark stranger shows up and the party gets a little weird. The last song, Here We All Are is a tribute to both Baba Rama Dass and Steve Hillage, and features guest vocals from Mieke Van Halsema of Wassaic.

Track Listing:
1. Luna Sea (Riding a Moonbeam)
2. Humid Hang
3. Here We All Are
Andy & Zeus - Humid Hang by electrickgypsyservice

download: sendspace
buy: bandcamp

Andy & Zeus - Cristal Manor b/w Basement Wizard

EGS006: Andy & Zeus - Cristal Manor b/w Basement Wizard

This is the debut release from Andy & Zeus, as well as the first 'official' physical release from EGS! Check out the link below if you'd like to buy a CD single (and pay what you want). A.R. Plovnick & Zachary Wilson dump layers of synthesizer and keyboards over tastefully played electric guitar, acoustic percussion and tape hiss to create some skewed pop tunes with help from good friend Ryan Daniels on the A-side. A taste of more to come.

Track Listing:
1. Cristal Manor
2. Basement Wizard

download: sendspace
buy: band camp

5/28/10 - MMOSS/NEEDY VISIONS/ANDY & ZEUS/+ MORE

FRIDAY MAY 21, 2010 9PM:
THE ELECTRICK GYPSY SERVICE PRESENTS:

MMOSS
THE NEEDY VISIONS
ANDY & ZEUS
+ MORE TBA

KINETIC AND DIGITAL LIGHT SHOW BY EGS

@ PARTY EXPO
929 BROADWAY (BROOKLYN)
JMZ TO MYRTLE
ALL AGES