Posted in Whathaveyou on July 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Bands change configuration all the time. Four-pieces lose a member to become a trio. A double-guitar five-piece wants Hammond. Whatever. What makes Breath bringing synthesist Lauren Hatch (also Greenseeker) on board as a full-time bandmate remarkable is how pointedly they were a duo before. Bassist/vocalist Steven O’Kelly and drummer/percussionist Ian Caton had flown the two-piece flag pretty high, but thinking back, even their 2021 debut, Primeval Transmissions (discussed here) tapped third-party participation, namely from guitarist Rob Wrong (Witch Mountain), who also recorded it. Last year’s reworking Primeval Transmissions (Remixed and Remastered) (review here) fostered an even richer sound, so maybe this isn’t actually so outlandish an expansion. Sometimes a band grows and wants something else. It’s not like they’re breaking up with you; they’re breaking up with being a duo.
Hatch plays her first show with the band tonight, July 11, and will play on their second record. Wrong will also reportedly feature on Breath‘s next LP as well, again on guitar, though I’ve no idea when such a thing might be coming. Hey man, I’m doing my best, alright?
I hit up O’Kelly and Hatch for comment and they offered the following to go with the original social post. Dig:
Greetings to you! Our flame burns brighter now with our new mate on Keys. We found kindred vision through collaboration and the steps ahead are now illuminated. Please welcome Lauren to Breath!
Says Steve O’Kelly: “Contemplative walks lead me to hear a third voice in Breath. In the throes of erratic thought when we were deep in the creative phase,, doors swung open to a new path that we gladly stride. Lauren brings thoughtful collaboration and energy to our music. We’re grateful to have her adept hand of Synthesizers pull us up into a new area.”
Says Lauren: “I started out as a fan of Breath. When Steven asked me to play on a song, I was surprised because the band is so strong as a two-piece. One song turned into three songs, which turned into live performances, and here we are. I’ve been having a blast coming up with synth parts to add a new element to these songs and am so excited to explore more sounds with these guys.”
Come see the new incarnation Live! 7 / 11 The Midnight Portland 7 / 14 M & J Tavern Bend 7 / 15 The WOW Hall Eugene
[Click play above to stream Primeval Transmissions (Remixed & Remastered) by Breath. Album is out Friday on Desert Records.]
A do-over? Sort of. Based in Portland, Oregon, bassist/vocalist Steven O’Kelly (also some guitar) and drummer/percussionist Ian Caton released their debut album, Primeval Transmissions (discussed here) in Feb. 2021 through Desert Records, having recorded on March 20, 2020, tracking the five songs that make up the album live at Rob Wrong of Witch Mountain‘s Wrong Way Recording. In trying to think of what might have been the impetus for the two-piece to go back and have Wrong completely remix (and subsequently to have Justin Weis at Trackworx remaster) Primeval Transmissions, the prospect inherently carries some dismissal of the original edition of the record. Like, what was wrong with it the first time around?
Not much, the way I heard it. Basking in a meditative doom style heavily influenced by Al Cisneros and the first and second albums he and Chris Hakius did together as Om, the original Primeval Transmissions was certainly raw, but that was an essential facet of its sound. It’s right there in the title! As Breath‘s first release — not just their first full-length; their first anything — it left space open in the mix as if to allow the listener a place to put themselves within it, and despite its rawness, it still offered headphone-worthy atmospherics and a palpable sense of mood. This, fortunately, is something Primeval Transmissions (Remixed and Remastered) maintains.
At the same time, the changes in the mix are palpable as the sample of waves — could also be cars on a road, but waves are more soothing so that’s the assumption given the surrounding context — at the outset of opener “Evocation” is more forward, and the wah-bass jam that moves into the second half before the crashout at 9:10 into the 14-minute “Dwarka,” which follows, feels more vibrant in much the same way the cover art by Tyler Wintermute has had its coloring enhanced, while remaining very much dedicated to earth-tones, but brighter and more vivid. The ethic would seem to apply across the entire 45-minute span.
Answering the inevitable question, the band has catalogued the changes and, for those who’d do a side-by-side, kept the original Primeval Transmissions — which they should maybe consider calling the “extra primeval version” or “original edition” or some such — available for listeners. Part of the explanation includes new equipment in Wrong‘s studio, which is fair enough. Wrong Way opened in late 2019, so that — as many producers do perpetually — Wrong would be bringing in different and upgraded gear over time makes sense.
This has allowed for digital versions in Dolby Atmos Surround and Apple Spatial Audio, neither of which I’ll pretend to understand beyond the assumption of higher audio resolution and richer frequency depth — they say that “anomalous noise” has been removed from the drum tracks as well, and sure enough they sound cleaner — which suits a piece like the rolling 12-minute “Battle for Harmonic Balance/Halls of Amenti,” the latter part of which also includes a new extra-bluesy guitar solo from Wrong where Caton‘s shaker percussion previously stood alone on a kind of hypnotic march into the closer “Evocation (Reprise).” Wrong also contributes a lead to centerpiece “Observer,” the jangle of his guitar surprising in its first strum at 2:27 into the song’s total 5:14 but (still) not unwelcome in complementing and filling out the trance rhythm carried over by O’Kelly and Caton.
But a new mix and a fancy hi-fi representation, and even the added solo, are just part of it. O’Kelly re-recorded vocals as well on “Evocation” and “Battle for Harmonic Balance/Halls of Amenti,” and that’s a stark change that enhances the listening experience overall, since as one might expect he’s more confident in his approach to the tracks some two-plus years after they were first put to tape. He’s somewhat less coated in echo as well, and his voice stands up to the forward position it’s now given, like he’s leading the meditation practice before his bass swells with distortion shortly before the six-minute mark, Caton‘s drums fluid and almost jazzy in their fills for the lead cut’s still-spacious crescendo.
The feeling of space — open space, particularly; not just the largesse of the bass tone or drum sounds — was crucial to Primeval Transmissions before and is too in the remix and remaster, which comes across as a purposeful decision. As enjoyable as high-volume listening is, part of the affect of Breath‘s material is its far-back sensibility, the feeling that the band are bringing their audience with them for this sojourn away from the mundane into ethereal not-quite-minimalism. And in comparing the redone vocal track on “Battle for Harmonic Balance/Halls of Amenti” to the earlier “Dwarka” — the two longest inclusions at 12 and 14 minutes, respectively — the change in sound isn’t so jarring as to remove one from the overarching flow of the material.
So perhaps not a do-over, but definitely an upgrade, making sure to keep what was working in sound, chemistry and ambience from the original while bolstering clarity and incorporating new ideas. The added guitar on “Battle for Harmonic Balance/Halls of Amenti” is smoother in its entry over the quiet stretch of shaker in the last two minutes of the song, a strummed layer that might be O’Kelly or might be Wrong backing himself on guitar behind the wistful psych-blues notes that emanate, creating a standout moment for side B in a space that was left open previously, making the turn into the back-t0-business bass and drums at the start of “Evocation (Reprise)” very much a re-grounding leading into the final instrumentalist procession outward; the cymbals brighter and more ceremonial in their impression circa 3:30 than they were, the bass that much warmer as the pair move toward the residual doppler noise that caps in mirror to the beginning of “Evocation” proper.
Ultimately, the revisit to (now somewhat less) Primeval Transmissions feels reasonable and rationalized given the changes that have been made, despite any kneejerk “why go back” reaction one might have on initial approach. It’s a fuller, more consuming sound, and one that comes across like a more complete realization of what Breath intended the record to be. To anybody who’d wonder why not move forward and make another record instead, I’ll point out that I have no idea the status of Breath‘s ‘next album’ or new material generally, and for all I know they could have songs in the works and ready to go; it doesn’t actually have to be one or the other, and more likely isn’t.
There are arguments to be made for the original’s barebones, live feel, but to be frank, that they sound better doesn’t hurt these songs, and in the redone vocals, the adjusted balance of the mix, the added guitar and the fine attention to detail throughout, Primeval Transmissions (Remixed and Remastered) still offers a sense of progression on the part of the band, and listeners who didn’t encounter it the first time around are given that much more depth to dig into as they travel along with Caton and O’Kelly (and Wrong) on this peripatetic exploration. Can’t really call it anything but a win.
The shamanic, Rickenbacker-shaped elephant in the room when Breath‘s Primeval Transmissions begins to unfold with “Evocation” (7:38) is Om‘s 2005 debut, Variations on a Theme (discussed here). Part of that is aesthetic, sure, as the Portland, Oregon outfit dig into heady vibes and spiritual exploration through “Evocation” and “Dwarka” (14:08), but part of it is also owed to the basic construction of the band as a bass-and-drums two-piece, which, well, if you’re going to be a meditative doom band with bass and drums, there’s a decent chance some schmo on the internet is going to come along and tell you you sound like Om.
Breath is the we’ve-been-friends-much-longer-than-we’ve-been-a-band duo of bassist/vocalist Steven O’Kelly and drummer Ian Caton (also of The Misery Men), and the Desert Records-issued Primeval Transmissions runs five tracks and 44 minutes of open-spaced hypnotic realization, but the other thing you need to know about that Om comparison is that it dissipates by the time they’re halfway through “Dwarka” as that song builds gradually from the suitably patient end of “Evocation” and rumble-lumbers into its own slow groove. The repetitions are on purpose, of course, and all part of the craft, Caton more on the bell of his ride than the crash for time-keeping, punctuating the roll with subtly vital fills as the bass tone surges in “Evocation” and comparatively mellow in the beginning of the subsequent track, though as O’Kelly‘s vocals find their way toward a rougher, more individual delivery, Caton complements that march well, captured and mixed with a due sense of open space by Witch Mountain guitarist Rob Wrong at his Wrong Way Recording studio.
Recorded, by the way, in a day. Specifically on March 20, 2020. It would not see release until Feb. 2021 — being mastered by Tad Doyle and topped by Tyler Wintermute artwork in between — but the date tells you a lot. Primarily, I have to think that some portion was tracked live. If not, kudos to the band on rolling into a studio, setting up their gear, getting drum sounds — which in many cases is a day unto itself — bass sounds, vocal sounds, then pushing through all their material one piece at a time, a process that most likely would be drums first, bass, then vocals, then other percussion like the shaker at the end of the 12-minute penultimate cut “Battle for Harmonic Balance/Halls of Amenti” (the latter portion of which is not to be confused with the Cephalic Carnage doom-minded EP of the same name). No. The fluidity throughout Primeval Transmissions, even as Wrong steps in to donate guitar to the centerpiece “Observer” (that may well have been added later) or the drums seem to be searching for the path forward around the three-minute mark’s pickup in closer “Evocation (Reprise)” is such that if it wasn’t recorded live at least in the basic tracks, that would have been one long-ass day.
And what a day it was. Oregon was already in a state of emergency for the covid-19 pandemic, and three days later, the full stay-at-home order would be issued. Kudos to Breath for sneaking in under the wire, not that they necessarily knew that order was coming at the time. Listening to it now, it’s tempting to read some kind of restlessness or anxiety into Primeval Transmissions, like somehow the nod in “Battle for Harmonic Balance/Halls of Amenti” know that the next two years were going to be an unprecedented, multi-tiered shitshow with ramifications that will likely define a generation of humans worldwide, never mind just current bands or artists in general. But it’s not really there. And even if you wanted to call “Evocation” rushed — you’d be incorrect, but people say incorrect crap all the time — wouldn’t that more likely be traced to that whole recorded-in-a-day thing?
Further, this seems to be something Breath themselves acknowledge right up front with the title of the album. If these five songs are their ‘primeval’ stage, it leaves one wondering just what they might have in mind for future sonic expansion. There are paths forward, certainly, as Om and outfits like Zaum, Experiencia Tibetana or Centrum have found ways to own the drone and make it theirs in the wake of Om‘s stylistic innovation, though given the chemistry between O’Kelly and Caton and the nascent willingness they show to broaden the palette either with percussion, that guitar inclusion on “Observer,” or even just the emotive vocal shifts throughout, one suspects that if they’re seeking a way, they’ll seek their own. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but with the jazz that Wrong brings to “Observer” — some tambourine in there too — and the fact that they include “Evocation (Reprise)” as a trance-inducing instrumental bookend already familiar from the beginning of the album, the impression left is of a band beginning to feel out their approach and looking to grow rather than a definitive this-is-who-we-are declaration. Hence Primeval Transmissions.
And maybe the band would tell you the process is simple — write songs, show up, record, wait 11 months through don’t-breathe-in-public virus hell, release — but that doesn’t make the material on Primeval Transmissions any less engaging, though it should go without saying that not every listener is going to be able to get on board. There’s melody in O’Kelly‘s bass that can be heard in clean and distorted tones on “Dwarka,” and whether it’s the lower-register post-Cisneros vocal of later in that song or “Evocation” before it, nothing feels so staid as to say for sure this is what it is, this is what it will be. The elements are there and solid in their respective places, but there’s an overarching amorphousness as well that makes it seem like whatever their next ‘transmission’ might be, the shapes made from those elements might change. That, by making Breath a less predictable band on their first long-player release, can only be called a strength.
Whatever will come, the wanderings of Primeval Transmissions resonate like paintings on a cave wall, speaking to some universal inward and outward flow that, if it speaks to you at all, will land deep.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
Thanks for reading.
—
So, for the better part of at least the last five years, I’ve been taking 40mg of Citalopram — an SSRI; generic for Celexa — daily as a treatment for depression. For the last five days, I’ve halved that dose with a mind toward stopping the meds altogether. I still have Xanax that I take as needed — half a whatever dose the little oval pill is at a time — and I’m content to try to roll with that at least for a bit. Since it’s a pretty regular thing and has been shown to regulate mood and mental health as well, I’ll mention my end-of-day-only THC intake.
This is either a great idea or a terrible one. I do not expect much room for middle ground between those two, because that’s kind of how my brain operates anyway. I don’t know if I’ve been more irritable this week — I’m always irritable — or any more miserable than I usually am (again, pretty fucking constant), but if you can’t perform science experiments on yourself what’s the point of even being human and if I suddenly feel the urgent desire to throw myself into oncoming traffic, well, that’s pretty much every day around 2:30PM at this point anyhow, so yeah. There are “no known” longterm side effects of Citalopram, so that’s something, but neither do I really trust the company that makes money off selling pills through my insurance to tell me if there were, because contrary to what my lies-about-snitching-ice-cream-from-the-freezer son thinks, I’m not actually that fucking stupid.
I guess I’m writing this down for myself, so I can keep track of where I’m at, but it’s better to talk about mental health shit than not. I’m 40 years old. I went to therapy for the first time at 16, started meds for the first time in college, have been on and off both since. Family history of anxiety, depression, whatever the fuck combo of OCD/on-the-spectrum/traumatized-by-his-kicked-the-shit-out-of-him-mother/utterly-broken-human-being my father was. But he was never strong enough to do anything about it, to take any steps to make his life more livable for himself. And I’m not saying I don’t get it now. I do. I’ve woken up and had my first thought of the day be, “I wish I was dead,” any number of times. But the point is you keep going, you put it into perspective with the things you’re grateful for, you take your fucking pill and your march on. You remember that music sounds good. And fuck stigma, too.
Took a pill this morning, have the other half I’ll take tomorrow, then I’ll probably let that be it for a while. I still have a bunch of the Citalopram left if I find I’m in a rough spot, but I’m going to try to let it go for a couple weeks and see where I end up. If I’m really lucky, I’ll be in crisis just in time for Psycho Las Vegas. That’d make for some solid reading, I expect. Cut my ear off and mail it to the riff from Monolord’s “To Each Their Own.”
The Patient Mrs. left a bit ago — it’s after 9AM now, I woke up at 3:30 and started this post a little after four — to go see friends in Massachusetts. I’ve got a couple people up there I wouldn’t mind visiting, but it’s an up-and-back-tomorrow kind of thing and I wouldn’t ask The Pecan to make the trip. We’re going back to the Land of Make-Believe today instead to ride the rollercoaster. Last time, we did four runs in a row on the tilt-a-whirl and I thought I was gonna die after, so we’ll see how today goes. I may or may not get to shower before that happens.
But the kid’s been a jerk all morning because he knows she won’t be around today and tomorrow and that’s how he shows his feelings which is a totally healthy pattern to be in, right? He’s sad about a thing, so throwing stuff and pinching me and, indeed, running into the street without looking is where we’re at? My best hope is to wear him out and at least if he’s super-tired, he’s easier to catch. We went for a bike ride up the big hill before. Gotta get out early in the Summer of Pivot. Camp starts never, since he got kicked out.
Though he did tell me yesterday that he wanted to go back to that camp. I think now that he’s potty trained (look at me with the bold declaration of A THING accomplished) he could probably handle it, but I told him that there was no way I’d send him back to that camp because the guy who ran it was a “baddie” who said not nice things and we’d find a different camp for next year. Until then, the not-babysitter who comes most days — she’s here now, which is how I’m finishing this — and I are pretty much camp, minus the crafts, plus more Thomas the Tank Enginewhich he watches on her phone. Alas. Summer of Pivot.
New Gimme show today, 5PM Eastern. I’m pretty sure nobody listens, but if you do, golly I appreciate it. http://gimmeradio.com
Next week, Birth interview goes up on Monday — haven’t done a video interview since March; something had to give [EDIT: I looked and actually it was May, so not that bad.] — and at some point I’ll review the Dreadnought album.
By the way, heads up, the new Caustic Casanova is a serious album-of-the-year contender in my book. Everybody’s feeling Chat Pile right now, and that’s cool too in that like it’s the band that Black Flag would be if Black Flag were just happening for the first time right now, but there’s so much scope in the CC record that it’s dizzying. Just letting you know. Their past work will not prepare you for it, even though it has clearly prepared them.
Great and safe weekend. Hydrate, watch your head, stay in the shade, all that. I’m gonna go shower.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Tenth one, huh? And final? Why, I remember when the first Ceremony of Sludge was announced, put together at the ambitious behest of members of Lamprey, who played, and Captain Couch Records. Well, even with the lost year in 2021 — they got to sneak one in for March 2020 before lockdowns happened — doing anything like putting together a festival 10 times, even an intentionally small one, is an accomplishment of which to be proud. I wish them nothing but the best in February, and I hope that this is actually able to happen as scheduled.
There are no bands shared between the first and last lineups for Ceremony of Sludge — and here I should say that the usual never-say-never applies here as with most things concerning rock and/or roll — though that would be fun. There are veterans though in Witch Mountain, Glasghote, and Mane of the Cur, and I think Lord Dying might’ve played at some point too, as well as members of A//tar in other bands. And while we’re talking about it, these bands rule. I’d be well into seeing Breath and ILS and Maximum Mad. Ceremony of Sludge always knew what was good in Portland, not the least because it was a part of making it happen.
Congrats on 10 editions and a job well done. Maybe this is it, maybe not, but if it is, all the more reason to celebrate.
Lineup follows:
CEREMONY OF SLUDGE X – Feb. 25 & 26
This is the end, friends: the tenth and FINAL Ceremony Of Sludge! It’s been a blast celebrating Portland’s (and beyond) heaviest bands with you all this past decade – we hope you’ll join us one last time.
