Being so thoroughly useless in such a wide variety of ways, I can only watch in admiration in the video below as Hypershape Records builds, stains and brands the wood boxes that house the limited-to-100-copies reissue of U.S. Christmas‘ 2003 debut album, Prayer Meeting. The thing is so in tune with the natural order that it comes with a warning about import restrictions in case the country you’re ordering from doesn’t want you to bring things like seeds and leaves from elsewhere. To be fair, U.S. Christmas‘ music itself should probably always have that warning, since the North Carolinian psych explorers seem so able to conjure a sense of place in what they do; dug so deep into Appalachian dirt as they are, it’s easy to imagine a few seeds and roots getting in amid the organic sprawl of their songwriting. Prayer Meeting turns 15 years old this year, and to listen to the opening track “Death by Horses,” it only underscores how much out of time it existed in the first place. A band on their own wavelength and a songwriter in Nate Hall whose refusal to compromise his vision has led to an ongoing cult following despite the band’s most recent album, The Valley Path, having arrived in 2011.

Hall has of course embarked on a solo career — he released The Center of the Earth last year on Hypershape — and other members of the band have gone on to contribute to acts like Graceless, Generation of Vipers, Tasha-Yar and A Storm of Light, but U.S. Christmas‘ legacy has lingered in no small part thanks to the atmospheres brought to bear in the material. Experimentalist and organic at the same time, their stuff has never been for everyone. I panned 2010’s Run Thick in the Night when it came out and ate crow when I heard The Valley Path the next year; “duh, turns out this band’s kinda awesome.” But its resonance and the wide-open context of its creativity speak not only to the very real place from where it comes — Marion, NC, is in the western half of the state, about 40 minutes from Asheville by car and near the Lake James State Park — but a breadth of influence that’s as much ethereal as it is terrestrial. A handmade wooden box seems like a suitable container for it, and the leaves other found-on-the-trail whatnot included should be a fitting complement to the sound of Prayer Meeting itself, which only underscores how on their own plane U.S. Christmas have always been.

Prayer Meeting is released on Nov. 23 on Hypershape Records, and you’ll find the preorder link included in the info below the video, which comes courtesy of the label.

Please enjoy:

U.S. Christmas, “Death by Horses” promo video

Here comes the promotional clip for “Prayer Meeting” by the cult space rock band U.S. Christmas (ex-Neurot Recordings, now on Hypershape Records).

“Prayer Meeting” finally has been rediscovered, professionally remastered, and found its home in a ltd series of handmade and firebranded wooden boxes at Hypershape Records. Each box will be strictly unique and different from the previous one and will contain postcards and special gifts of nature like bark pieces or leaves collected by Nate Hall himself on the Appalachian mountains, other than a luxury 8-panel digipak with visuals reboot at HPS headquarter. Honest and sincere record, it represents how the USX path started back in the days.

Preorder here: https://hypershaperecords.bandcamp.com/album/prayer-meeting

IMPORTANT – boxes are 100% timber made and contains pieces of bark, seeds, leaves – BEFORE ordering be careful with natural items import restrictions in your country (Australia for example) – Hypershape Records is not responsible in case of those restrictions. Thank you.

Written, performed and recorded by U.S. Christmas
Nate Hall: guitar, vocals
Tim Greene: drums
John Presnell: bass
Matt Johnson: theremin

U.S. Christmas, Prayer Meeting (2003/2018)

U.S. Christmas on Thee Facebooks

U.S. Christmas BigCartel store

Hypershape Records on Bandcamp

Hypershape Records BigCartel store

If you want to be freaked out, go ahead and type ‘us christmas prayer meeting’ in your search bar. Because while you might be thinking of Marion, North Carolina, psych-of-the-land purveyors U.S. Christmas and their 2003 debut album, Prayer Meeting, I can guarantee you there are a whole bunch of weirdos out there with different intentions along those lines. And it turns out they want to get together! Around the holidays! Shudder.

The point, however, is that U.S. Christmas will, in fact, reissue said debut next month through Hypershape Records in remastered and limited edition form, being sold in branded wooden boxes that look more than a little bit awesome. I was always back and forth on these guys — sometimes I got it, sometimes I didn’t — but they were always massively well received, and for anyone who didn’t get the chance to hear this one when it was first issued by the band 15 years ago, seven years after their last record seems as good a time as any.

Details come from the PR wire:

U.S. CHRISTMAS: Appalachian mountains’ dark space rock institution to release early recordings!

Seven years following the release of their last full-length album “The Valley Path” (2011, Neurot Recordings), American pastoral psychedelic congregation U.S. CHRISTMAS return with a newly remastered version of their awe-inspiring debut studio offering “Prayer Meeting” in November.

“Prayer Meeting” was originally the very first unreleased record by U.S. CHRISTMAS, hailing from Marion NC, in the middle of the Appalachian region.

USX have a long career and several released on the mighty Neurot Recordings, published just after an ultra-limited demo batch of “Prayer Meeting” was around.

“Some bands make demos. We made a record. We didn’t do this for a label, an agent, or anyone but ourselves. It was the first step toward what would become a series of connected works. This record marks a special time in my life, and I’m sure the other dudes agree. Those days in the little trailer in Marion, NC were electric and filled with building power. Listen up, these are the sounds of our foundation.”

Nate Hall, 2018

“Prayer Meeting” finally has been rediscovered, professionally remastered, and found its home in a ltd series of handmade and firebranded wooden boxes at Hypershape Records. Each box will be strictly unique and different from the previous one and will contain postcards and special gifts of nature collected by Nate himself on the Appalachian mountains, other than a luxury 8-panel digipack with visuals reboot at HPS headquarter. Honest and sincere record, it represents how the USX path started back in the days.

U.S. CHRISTMAS, active since 2002, has released 3 full length albums on Neurot Recordings, has performed across Europe and Nate himself performed at Roadburn Festival, they toured extensively US in the past and collaborated with musicians like Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Brett Netson of Caustic Resin and later Earth, Mike Scheidt of Yob…

“Prayer Meeting” tracklist:
1. Death By Horses
2. Devil’s Flower
3. Lazarus
4. Your Soul
5. Mantis
6. Norpo
7. Under The Nails
8. Queen of the World
9. Darling Corey
10. Gengivitis
11. Out

Written, performed and recorded by U.S. CHRISTMAS

– Nate Hall: guitar, vocals
– Tim Greene: drums
– John Presnell: bass
– Matt Johnson: theremin

All tracks recorded by Tim Greene except “Devil’s Flower”, recorded by Marshall Grant.
Remastered by Alexander Lizzori in Italy, Spring 2018
Artwork by Giorgio Salmoiraghi
Hypershape Records, 2018

facebook.com/usxofficial
https://uschristmas.bigcartel.com/
hypershaperecords.bandcamp.com
hypershaperecords.bigcartel.com

U.S. Christmas, Prayer Meeting (2003)

Right now, on a stage somewhere in North Carolina, Dr. Keyboardian is in the process of getting weird. Is that true? Probably not. I mean, it’s probably not happening at this second, as you’re reading this, but I suppose it could be. Universe of infinite possibilities, folks. That’s one of ’em. And you’d be missing it.

Every now and then, I like being confused, and I’ve yet to have an encounter with the Marion-based experimentalist outfit helmed by former Tasha-Yar drummer Tim Greene that didn’t qualify. Since the end of Tasha-Yar, Greene has checked in periodically with Dr. Keyboardian updates. It doesn’t always fit with what goes on around these parts — or what goes on around any parts, for that matter — but maybe I’m a sucker for songs about fishing, and maybe Dr. Keyboardian, playing in the clip below captured at a recent show at Crooked Door Coffee as Dr. Keyboardian and the Side Effects with participation in some way or other by Matt Johnson and Mike Holstein, is solidifying around an experimentalist process that I can almost begin to wrap my head around.

Well, no. Not the latter, but again, sometimes I like being confused, so here we are, where weirdness abounds. Am I even certain this is “Dang Fish?” I’m not certain of anything today. The video itself is kind of dark to allow for the video work of Projexorcism to come through, but it’s part of a whole series under the same account that made its way to the YouTubes, so if you find yourself intrigued by the curio streaming underneath this paragraph, there’s plenty more where that came from.

In the meantime, pry open your brain stem and enjoy:

Dr. Keyboardian, “Dang Fish” live in Marion, NC, Jan. 14, 2017

Do not take Dr. Keyboardian with food. No dancing while under the influence of Dr. Keyboardian. Do operate heavy machinery while taking Dr. Keyboardian. Side effects include heavy breathing and palpitations.

Dr. Keyboardian. Gluten-free, organic, locally grown and zero calories since 2013. Eat it.

Dr. Keyboardian on Thee Facebooks

Tasha-Yar on Bandcamp

Full of vague lyrical musings and intentionally languid drift, the two latest jams from North Carolina galaxy-crafters Tasha Yar (who may or may not have dropped the hyphen from their name) represent some of their most resonant work yet. Not quite ever giving in to a sun-drenched psychedelic impulse, there’s a sense of the room, of the rehearsal space, in the two live-recorded cuts, and that makes the tracks sound even more organic. Drummer Tim Greene — who also represents the “front desk” of the band when it comes to mailing out the discs that periodically show up around here — warns that either or both of these freeform jams could turn into songs down the road. Nebulous space rock. What could be more appropriate?

Listen to the guitars and you might hear nods to Neil Young, but rather than sit and pick apart the pieces — which are presumably titled for when they were recorded: “7-25-13, 8:30 PM” and the less specific and bluesier-riffed “‘Bout Nine” — both cuts are far more satisfying to put on and let go, let your mind wander with the echoes, the bits of boogie, the “what did he just say?” and the leftover summer humidity. “‘Bout Nine” is nearly twice as long as “7-25-13, 8:30 PM” and has room for some swing, but it still winds up in hard-panning swirl running from one channel to the next. The crux of what Tasha Yar have sent through the post is in the hypnotic aural meander, and it arrives not a moment too soon.

In case this is the first you’re seeing of the name, over the last couple years, Tasha-Yar have checked in a couple times with updates on their progress and audio to serve as landmarks of this or that captured moment. As they have in the past, songs arrive on CD (a band after my own heart) in a handmade paper sleeve with a note from Greene explaining some of what was going down at the time. This one also seems to have a map of the jam room.

And if you’re wondering, “F.D.T-Y” is “Front Desk, Tasha-Yar.” Click either image to enlarge:

Right on. I always, always enjoy hearing from these cats, and with the permission to share the songs granted so explicitly — he put it in writing and signed it! — there was no way I was going to keep them to myself. What were you doing on July 25? Check out “7-25-13, 8:30 PM” and “‘Bout Nine” on the player below, and please enjoy:

[mp3player width=450 height=200 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=tasha-yar-july-25.xml]

Tasha Yar on Thee Facebooks

Tasha Yar on Twitter

It’s always a thrill to get mail from North Carolinian space rockers Tasha-Yar. Last we heard from them, the amorphous psychedelic outfit were jamming out the raw bliss of “Casting Lots,” and just before the New Year hit, a package showed up from drummer Tim Greene — who handles the “front desk” as well as his kit — containing the song “Make Me Invisible,” housed in what I’ve come to think of as the band’s characteristic folded-paper sleeve.

Greene, in addition to the song itself and an extra (and much appreciated) separate Thin Lizzy mixtape, once again passed on a handwritten note on the sleeve giving some insight into the background of “Make Me Invisible,” the writing and recording with guitarist Chad Davis (also of Hour of 13 and the recently-unveiled Witchcoven). Click the image below to enlarge:

As ever, awesome. Tasha-Yar continue to charm, and it’s interesting to consider that “Make Me Invisible” is an older song, since it’s a little more structured with verses and some of the most forward vocals I’ve yet heard from the band. Could it be that they’re moving ever further into the reaches of the space jam? I look forward to finding out whenever the next package arrives, and in the meantime,Greenewas also generous enough to send along permission to host the track for streaming, so here you go:

[mp3player width=470 height=150 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=tasha-yar-make-me-invisible.xml]

Check out Tasha-Yar on Thee Facebooks here and look for more to come in 2013. “Make Me Invisible” has also been added to The Obelisk Radio.

I’ve been racking my brain to try and understand why North Carolinian psychedelic progsters US Christmas (I’ve also seen it as U.S. Christmas, with punctuation, but on the album it’s without and I prefer it that way anyhow) have such a buzz around them. Musically, the six-piece don’t really do anything that’s never been done before, adding some Appalachian ruggedness to the well-established tropes of modern psych and post-rock, but I don’t think they satisfy in either their meandering structures or most spacious moments any need that acts like Naam, Quest for Fire, Farflung, Sula Bassana, and a dozen others don’t already fulfill. Seriously, I’ve been through and through US Christmas’ fifth album, Run Thick in the Night (Neurot), and the only reason I can come up with for why US Christmas has received all this hype and these other bands haven’t is because Scott Kelly likes them. Apparently that makes all the difference in the world.

Not that I wouldn’t also seek to curry favor from the venerable Neurosis guitarist and vocalist for a musical project, and not that this is anything to be held against US Christmas in terms of their sound or the quality of Run Thick in the Night as both a whole album and collection of songs, but clearly these things matter. Since Neurot released US Christmas’ Eat the Low Dogs in 2008, I feel like a shitload of people have grasped onto the band in a big way as torchbearers for modern space-driven psychedelia, and don’t get me wrong, Run Thick in the Night has its moments — at 76 minutes long, there’d better be a couple in there — and the band has ironed out some of its kitchen-sink approach (lineup changes are also a factor), but in terms of crafting memorable songs, US Christmas seem to take more of a part-construction point of view, making tracks that flow well enough but don’t necessarily stay with you after listening.

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Speaking of bands heavily influenced by Hawkwind, the PR wire informs that North Carolina upstarts U.S. Christmas — who as I understand it are all the rage with the kids these days — will have a new album out on Neurot come September 20. I still consider myself in the “I just don’t get it” camp when it comes to these guys, but rumor has it they’ve got a whole new lineup, so maybe Run Thick in the Night is the record that’ll turn me around.

Here’s the latest:

Neurot Recordings is proud to unleash the latest full-length from psychedelic, high-volume blues rock ensemble U.S. Christmas on September 20. Titled Run Thick in the Night, the band’s fifth long player was recorded by Sanford Parker at FahrenheitStudio in Johnson City, Tennessee, mixed by Parker and USX members Nate Hall, Matt Johnson and Josh Holt at Semaphore Studios in Chicago, IL and mastered by Collin Jordan.

Run Thick in the Night track listing
1. In the Night
2. Wolf on Anareta
3. Fire is Sleeping
4. Fonta Flora
5. Ephraim in the Stars
6. The Leonids
7. Suzerain
8. Maran
9. The Quena
10. Deep Green
11. Devil’s Flower in Mother Winter
12. Mirror Glass
13. The Moon in Flesh and Bone

U.S. Christmas will kick off the weekend performing two special shows with Corrosion of Conformity before heading out on a handful of one-off performances in September throughout North Carolina including at stop at the Hopscotch Music Fest in Raleigh. The fest features countless artists from all genres including Weedeater, Harvey Milk and Public Enemy. Confirmed dates below. Further dates TBA.

U.S. Christmas live:
7/30/2010 Stella Blue – Asheville, NC w/ Corrosion of Conformity (Animosity lineup), Zoroaster, Righteous Fool
7/31/2010 The Pour House Music Hall – Raleigh, NC w/ Corrosion of Conformity (Animosity lineup) Black Tusk, Righteous Fool
9/05/2010 Static Age Records – Asheville, NC w/ Body and Enoch
9/11/2010 Hopscotch Music Fest – Raleigh NC
9/16/2010 Legitimate Business – Greensboro, NC w/ Caltrop
9/17/2010 The Milestone – Charlotte, NC w/ Caltrop

U.S. Christmas is:
Nate Hall – Guitars, Words, Vocals
Matt Johnson – Synthesizers, Guitars, Sounds
Chris Thomas – Guitars, Bass
BJ Graves – Drums
Justin Whitlow – Drums, Experimental Sounds
Josh Holt – Bass, Drones
Meghan Mulhearn – Violin