Boards
DNT Records
Hi everyone, not sure how I stumbled upon this website, but here I am. From browsing some of the other threads I think that people would be interested in my label. Check out the website for photos/etc. plus all the out of print stuff.
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DNT035 - Mudboy "MuDMuX Volume One" 7" $5.50ppd US/Canada $11ppd International
This is the first installment of a series of 7"'s to be released by various labels. Each record contains a single track on each side by a different band- produced, mixed, orchestrated, destroyed, mutilated and brought back to life by the dark dreams of Mr. mudboy. Side A of this first edition features an unearthed file by the Extreme Animals resurrected as a tribute to "Lil John Carpenter." Percussion by Jeremy Lazy "animal" Magnet Harris. Side B is a devastating whirlpool cliff walk based on a song written and sung by the DarkDarkDark band. Backup fingers by Alec K Redfearn of the Eyesores fame. Cover art is a hand made blue and gold 4 pass silkscreen by R Lyon in collaboration with Kevin Hooyman. Limited to 535.
"Eccentrics seem to gravitate to the organ. From the straightlaced dudes romping on movie house pipe organs to soul masters like Timmy Thomas to underground heroes like Quintron, the keys off an odd home. Mudboy is the name now burbling about the organ underworld. His album on Not Not Fun is a great mind blitz. Here he embarks on what is to be the beginning of a series of him screwing around with other people's songs. On Mudmux he remixes or adds to or something songs by the Extreme Animals and DarkDarkDark for one eerie ballad of sorts and a tune that resembles an outtake from a soundtrack of odd movie music." -SS (Z-Gun)
"You gotta check this Mudboy sleeve. It's all lovely and hand made and painted with lovely metallic paint and everything. It seems Mudboy have a habit of having records in wicked sleeves. 'MuDmUX' is just kicking in with its intense drums and lovely John Carpenter synth sound that does the business for me as i love John Carpenter. There's clattering moments and then gentle breakdowns with trippy electronics This is way cool and you so need a piece of it." -(norman records)
"Resuscitated remixes by organ grinder Mudboy of Extreme Animals and DarkDarkDark. To say he makes an improvement on either is modest; that he may have found the key within his own keys to make these pieces more meaningful than they’d be on their own is more like it. Doesn’t take too many left turns, but instead focuses on the inherent spookiness of the tracks themselves, and builds on their very present “circus just left town” motif. 535 copies, blue vinyl, impressive silkscreened sleeves. Other labels have committed to releasing future installments of these remixes." -dusted
"The first in an ongoing series of remixes, arrangements and demolitions of other peoples' tracks, MUDMUX was the first I'd heard of Mudboy. As far as I can tell, Mudboy's based out of the lively Providence scene, but this is hardly Lightning Bolt material. Rather, Mudboy plays the organ, whether it be old school Wurlitzer style (he hunkered down to the most epicly ornate organ I've ever seen at a free show at the Providence Performing Arts Center) or his own contraption, the "Mudboy Minnie," which is basically a small organ hooked up to a Yamaha FM synth. He'll even make you one for a cool grand if you want. Actually worth checking out his little website, it seems to give a bit of insight into his unique approach. As I said though, this is the first in a planned series, each one released by a different label with a different color scheme. I should start by saying that Tynan over at DNT did a great job with the packaging here. I mean look at that cover, it's super intricate. I guess he enlisted the apparently substantial screen printing talents of R Lyon and Kevin Hooyman so cheers to them. The blue vinyl only adds to it. As for the sounds, the first side is a remix of some Extreme Animals midi file called "RockRapPopRocks," which Mudboy claims was originally recorded onto a floppy disc! The remix is retitled "Lil John Carpenter Tribute Song." I don't know who Lil John Carpenter is, but this is some tribute. Starting off with a kind of pseudo-techno bass beat, the thing builds itself into real midi mayhem. It's pretty dancey stuff on the surface, but given that I have no idea which sounds are coming from Extreme Animals and which aren't, I don't really know who's doing what here. It's like some glitched out video game score, with the clattering and, well, muddy drums of--dig this name--Jeremy Lazy Animal Magnet Harris adding a weird sort of dementia to the whole thing. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say that all of the odd electronics in the background, lurching around like some manic circus sideshow score, are Mudboy making what once had to be a pretty grooving number a weird disfigured freak of the hipster dance party. The B side is another cover from a band I had only heard of to this point, DarkDarkDark. The original track was called "Come Home," and it seems the new one is too, though who knows why he would rename one and not the other. Consisancy is over-rated I guess. That said, this one's super weird. Odd little girl vocals a la Joanna Newsom are meshed with the accordion additions of Nona Marie Dark to create a super weird street performance diddy. The whole thing keeps slowing down and getting more and more looming, eventually warping from sun-shiny Shirley Temple stylings into a dark little sea chanty as sung by the captain's crippled daughter. The voice, despite the subtle background textures and increasingly warped accordion lines, maintains some semblance of it's cutesy delivery, cutting through the murk no matter how slow it gets until the very end, when everything is broken down to such a degree that the digital signals start to reveal themselves--a grim fade out indeed. The "backup fingers," whatever that means, are provided by Alec K Redfearn of the Eyesores. It's all very beautifully mixed and Mudboy clearly has a talent for putting his own touches on things without completely destroying the integrity of the songs themselves. Though the originals sound like they probably aren't exactly my bag, Mudboy keeps it interesting and intensely oddball--this is clearly someone with a grasp on their aesthetic. The next edition of the series will be orange and called Dub This! which sounds a little more like my style. Given what he did with this material, I'd love to see where he takes that one." -Ear Conditioned Nightmare
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DNT023 - Shepherds "Bush Babies" 7" $5ppd US/Canada $10ppd International WHITE VINYL OUT NOW!
Vinyl debut by Brooklyn's Shepherds. Originally this was going to be used for the DNT 3" series, but it was far too long to be used for a 3" split, so we decided to upgrade it to a 7"! The best way to describe them would be free-form psych-drone, with different tape effects thrown in their too. Members of Woods, Non-Horse, Wooden Wand and others. Pro-printed full-color glue pocket sleeves. Pressing of 700. 200 on Black. 100 on Gold. 400 on White.
"Ahhhh here is a record one hopes to stumble upon: A totally satisfying, even inspiring, piece of out sound. Shepards on this disk is a duo and that is a mindfuck of a revelation once the music starts. Primitive yet sonically deep free jazz which grows with each listen, "Bush Babies" is one long song split over two sides. Using tapes, Shepherds create layers of horns which fade in and out of the mix, as well as guitar squalls and random noises which puncture and build. Somewhere there is a piano or a tape of a piano slowly decomposing. On top of these sheets lurk the drums, which slowly move and churn with restlessness but never break wild ‘n loud. The drummer’s restraint and the layering of the horns so that they sound like they were recorded in a distant room is either dumb luck or shows that these guys have considerable smarts when it comes to how to make a great free jazz record. More often than not the indoid dabblers of free jazz fail to grasp subtly, sonic depth, that tension and energy can be created by restraint, and that less is more. Shepherds seem to have caught on, at least for this record. A+." -SS (Z-Gun http://z-gun.org)
"Aw man! Brooklyn’s finest group of multi-project/same band members finally debuts a 7”. This time in duo formation of just G. Lucas Crane (Non-Horse/The Vanishing Voice/Time-Life) and Jermey Earl (Woods/Meneguar) lay down something that sounds a whole lot bigger than just two dudes. Totally different from their entire body of work thus far, “Bush Babies” is a ten minute long track stretched across both sides with a fade out/fade in separation(maybe the only bummer about this jam!). Skronk sax opens the void where tribal unwavering percussion joins in. Sax is looped and a guitar is picked up free-shredding/fret-fucking ensues and the drums just keep going and going. Such a rad jam has me stuck in the groove. As I said before, Shepherds turn their murked guitar psych sludge in for a totally rocking get on your feet slab of epic percussion and glorious guitar/sax/tape undercurrent." -Mike Pollard/Foxy Digitalis
"G. Lucas Crane and Jeremy Earl (participants in the Vanishing Voice, Non-Horse, Woods and Meneguar between them), after a brief warm-up, lock into tribal drumming and a ghost orchestra of reeds, drone, and delay. No vocals or anything that dicks up the purity of the concept at stake. Could have come out as some NYC-based art loft 12” (actually huffs the same Holland Tunnel fumes as imPLOG, methinks) and would qualify as really, really leftfield disco. Pretty goddamn rad l'il record. 500 copies, sold out, repress forthcoming." (Dusted)
"The cryptic disc art may designate sides, in which case what I believe to be the first of both untitled tracks descends upon a motley flock of brassy overtures and deep, hollow percussion warm-ups in a lurching psychedelic of metal and wood. With each clattery pass of an unidentifiable mercury, the bedlam becomes more rhythmic – a beaty tempo and minimalist loop of notes – the percussion, horns, and effects gathering in unison so as to subvert this with embellished, reserved freedom. An unexpected Zornism, this sentiment continues through the ecstatic tribalism of the reverse, a tom-heavy rite agreed to by gullish bursts of horn, distorted in a guttural cry; assailed by heavenly drones like sunburst, the grief subsides momentarily as the brew congeals in spots with new textures and a solemn melody wafting in sincere farewell. Second pressing on white vinyl with insert and sticker art by Earl, and in a heavy, full-color pro sleeve featuring a faux-Lomo of non-sequitur fotos. Recommended, and definitely worth the extended pressing." -Animal Psi
"...Their Ltd white wax 'Bush Babies' seven incher has some tumbling tribal drums pounding over weird electronics that sound like some mysterious drug trip ritual. There's a slight free-jazz edge. The flipside is seriously good, again the percussion is the foundation reminding me of recent Boredoms but more Lo-Fi." (norman records)
"Despite the greatness of the duo on paper I’ve always been a little on the fence about them but Bush Babies has firmly swung me to the pro-Shepherds side of aisle. I think I remember reading that this piece of primal aggression and beauty was supposed to be part of DNT’s split 3” cdr series but it was too long/awesome Tynan (DNT’s head honcho) rightly decided the world needed 700 copies of this sucker. “Side A” starts with a driving, tribal drum workout. I’m guessing this is Earl. When Crane’s contributions finally poke their heads out things go momentarily apeshit. There are friendlier smoother sounds clashing with rougher distorted ones with the drums in the eye of the storm. At one point a trumpet (99% sure) suddenly appears, I’m wondering if this is a sample from Crane’s bag of tapes or what cause it sounds live but there is definitely other manipulation and whatnot going on so I think it’s impossible. Meanwhile, Earl is just pounding the shit out of the drums and I’m loving it. Then on a dime, the drums sputter out and a morose wash of brass seeps in. The b-sides takes up “Bush Babies” where the a-side left off, seeing the brass get more active/jazzy with the drums following suit. A nice little jam ensues, particularly nice for the appearance of a backbeat in the midst of the freejammin’. The track really hits its stride here, locking the listener into its hypnotics. I’m curious to know what exactly Crane was up to here (if it’s all tapes) because there is a grinding distorted violin-type sound amongst the spurts of brass and rounder keyboard-esque tones. A impressively broad mix of sounds while keeping up such a fiery improv attitude." -auxillary out
"Shepherds, who I've heard now on a few Bored Fortress offerings offer up more jazz (?) weirdness on DNT. This might even have been released before the Not Not Fun club stuff and it's a nice change from the noise assault I wouldn't put past this duo from meneguar and vanishing voice heritage. I don't claim to know too much about free jazz, or this kind of improvised tape experimental area. It wanes in and out of my consciousness, being this whole subgenre that just seems a little daunting. I know it's a whole world in and of itself but it's the kind of thing I'm turning over and over and I'm not so alienated I can't find an entry point. I guess it could fall into a neo-psyche area...it doesn't have the pointed direction of all out drug induced, but it definitely doesn't hurt. It continues to get better after a few drinks. In fact I'm losing track of which side started what after a few listens, it's part of the same session originally destined for a 3" CDR, which, let's face it, doesn't hold a candle to the 7" format, the crackling and pops add to the timelessness. But I'm a little biased of course and it does make me wonder what had to be trimmed out of this piece or how they decided on a breaking point for the B-side. It's really controlled for seeming improvisation, the drums fade in and out of structure and the played loops or live organic horns and haunting samples keep working outside of any typical systems. It works slowly from deconstruction and chaos into a drum trance. Thankfully the speed (33) and side are etched into the gutter so I'm not playing it at the wrong speed, although this piece lends itself to your own sort of manipulation. It's a nice expansive track and rightfully pressed in a few editions by now. I got the white one and there are still copies available at DNT, who can be counted on for challenging work like this. Literally this is the new music of the 21st century composers. I don't know what David Del Tredici is doing these days, but he could learn a thing or two from this new wave of sincerly pushing genre's and boundaries." -7inches blog
"Shepherds on this are a two piece featuring Jeremy Earl (drums) from Meneguar and Gabriel Lucas Crane (tapes) from the Vanishing Voice. The tape strafing includes a forlorn trumpet soundling like a far-off mastodon stuck in a tar pit. It is more prominent on the A-side, although recurs on the B-side which is just the split of one long piece it seems. That trumpet sample really builds the pillar that this is build on. Drummer Earl keeps a pounding charge going, so he’s the contrasting stampede to the stuck mastodon. For some reason I was hoping this actually had a live trumpeteer doing the honors, not sure that it matters. For an improv approach, these two are not far off the !!! recesses of the disco thanks to Earl’s skin crumpling, It’s got a beat and it’s got a bent thanks to Crane’s cassette crumplets dropped on top. " -thurston hunger (KFJC 89.7 FM)
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DNT024 - Gay Beast "Disrobics" LP $10ppd US/Canada $18ppd International
Somebody give me some dope. (Just kidding mom) DNT has finally entered the LP realm--and all this time you thought we were only going to release cdrs and cassettes. "Disrobics" was originally self-released on CD by the band, but I felt it needed to be heard on vinyl. Gay Beast are a skronky neo-wave group of kiddos from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Silk screened covers and black vinyl. Hand numbered pressing of 500.
"Gay Beast are from Minneapolis and claim a “neo-wave” which is about a decade and a few hundred miles removed from Chicago’s now wave “explosion”, and they use that time and distance to their advantage. While I can quibble with some of the prog moments here (which come dangerously close to math rock), as a whole, Disrobics is an exciting record. At times I am reminded of Karate Party, Devo, Brianiac, Lovely Little Girls, and Lake of Dracula, but that recall comes in tiny pieces, small chunks in a bigger platter. And all that is good, and better that Gay Beast studiously avoids aural polish. There is a nice film of filth on this recording. If this is how they sound live: Wow!" -SS (Z-Gun http://z-gun.org)
"Like their first foray into vinyl for the Shearing Pinx 7” of DNT no. 3, the label saves their most definitive statements for wax debut, the latest from Gay Beast truly a statement of what may very well become the “DNT sound”. At the moment, they have left to conquer Lovepump United for this particular genre tract, an electro-heavy, integrated nor wave of the sort French Kiss would have liked to emit had they less promo bills to pay and proto-yuppies to feed. Sympathetic to labelmates HEALTH with a healthier attention-span, within the lineage ‘Disrobics’ leans decidedly toward a DNA sensibility with more macrobiotic flavor of Ex Models and Love Life (en particular their second, ‘Here is Night, Brothers’), though toward a more indulgent sing-song than the former and more reliable shine than the latter. The band denies the rigid kraftworks of electric keys with the many quivering bleats of a weak current (how much of this is due to my dying turntable motor, I cannot say), aggravating this by the all-to-human spontaneity of overanxious percussion. The sound is of regular irregularity such that, on the indiscriminate plane of the vinyl side (the gaps inter-song are no match for the intra-song), the songs flow into a homogeneous party like a house band, or better yet, a house record of skittled beats (particularly true of my second side, unfortunately warped to a thousand single grooves); the tracks only significantly differentiated when, at uneven intervals, new verses emerge to express an altered melodic pattern. In this sense, the instrumentation doesn’t always agree with the verses, and in fact more often crowds out the singer’s voice – my biggest gripe – though he manages to hold his own within the sirocco, the charming croon of damaged vocals emerging at odd signature. We meet in earnest on third track and ‘NOW That’s What I Call Music!’-worthy “Mama, Wrap My Coffin in the AIDS Quilt Cuz It’s Cold in Hell”, the devastating hook coming on like the waft of a pie on a sill following a non-committal build-up of channel surfing bleepbloop and Devo scat-lines, the chorus accompanied by interchange of rattled percussion and electrified guitar rubbings. The bratty exchange of “Good Government” recalls the Monorchid, and through the intense, full-band pummeling appears as the closest coalescence of players thusfar. “Cry” continues this evolution as the band continually tightens, brightening notes and inserting a more regular vocal presence to narrate the dance party, bleeding into the most overtly-hostile track, the title-track and closer “Disrobics”, a final call to bare arms. I know nothing of the band, but given the explicit-enough subtext of the band, I desire the lead at least to embody the gay beast – and here I picture a queer Zen Guerilla or a seven foot no wave Mukilteo Fairies. I want head-dresses and a sexually-aggressive stage presence. Make it so. Sleeve has two, three-color screen-jobs on fancy paper, with a sharp looking insert printed on gold stock. Black vinyl, limited to 500 moveable units. Get one!" (Animalpsi.com)
"There are too many bands out there futzing around with progressive rock, with “no wave”/”now wave” tropes, with neon-colored wackiness; bands that aren't putting the music out front; bands that have slid down the slope of being “off” (a slope which descends into Mike Patton's open mouth). Gay Beast, a guitar/synth/drums trio from Minneapolis, is not one of these bands, yet they play with all those parts in full swing, a real platespinning act of dynamics, abrasion, and genuine melodic innovation. All mistakes are studiously avoided and pratfalls are timed for maximum effect. All comedic qualities of the band are insular and intrinsic. Their attack is vicious and weird, processing their robotic fortunes under sheets of electronic duress, but their balance is impeccable. Bands like Gay Beast used to get me excited, but none have had such a gloriously bent and creative batch of songs to match up with the innovation. If handled correctly, Gay beast should tap into, then later usurp, the whacking off of outfits like Hella or Lightning Bolt or Deerhoof, or at least play in the same league. Very, very exciting stuff here, which hides its hand with masterful skill, and which plays down that which could easily wreck a less-capable band. Vinyl edition of 500 numbered copies in a silkscreened sleeve." (Dusted)
"Gay Beast is a trio of guitar, synthesizer, drums of Minneapolis. Music therefore gay. But to play the mad service, unsure whether the ideal soundtrack. Or very big crazy neurotic. Top meaning of abstraction. It would end 70 in New York, it is taxed no-wave. However, the wave, there a. From broken, the spray. It is hysterical, anti-melodic, it'll happen over by cutting slices is not far from having neither head nor tail. A packed for a music tapette. Each gives the impression of playing his score alone in his corner. It becomes almost trash the Flying Luttenbachers on Pairs of eye. But singing tampered not change the situation poorly, referring to a nonsense continued to Devo or Brainiac while Danimal Mal (the nickname of the singer) randomly its poor keyboard. It is vicious, strange, with a red wire not obvious to follow. Gay beast loves péter between your hands, elusive, thirty-six neon lighting in a torrid fireworks. Prepare your high heels and your postiches, it will be your birthday tonight." (translated from french..poor translation probably) (http://www.perteetfracas.org/zine/kros2007/kros_g/gaybeast.htm)