The Absolute Madman

Well, this pretty much makes it official - Thor Harris' 2020 is the equivalent of Natural Snow Buildings' 2008, at least in terms of recorded output.

Today, Thor dropped With Anni Rossi, his eighth (eighth!) record of this virus-begotten year of the plague 2020.  As your attorney, I recommend you go to his Bandcamp page immediately and buy each and every one of his records.

Thor notes that Rossi was indeed present for almost all of the sessions that went into the album, although the record is credited to Shahzad & Thor.  Shahzad Ismaily is an American bassist and accordionist born to Pakistani immigrant parents, and is best known (at least to me) as a member of Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog.  I got a chance to see and hear Shahzad perform with Ceramic Dog at Big Ears in 2018.  Anni Rossi is an American singer, songwriter and producer from Minnesota, notable for playing an electric-viola that Thor handcrafted from a tree branch for her.  

Thor writes, "This music was made as spiritual practice as opposed to entertainment. Think of it as a guided meditation or an acid trip in Prospect Park with a gentle tribe of weirdos, and it had just rained so everything is glistening. As we thru greed and mistrust of our fellow humans speed toward the abyss of extinction, it is important to remember the goodness and kindness that we are all capable of. Make connections. It matters."

The Madman Strikes Again!

Thor Harris seems to be having the prolific kind of year in 2020 that Natural Snow Buildings had in 2008. Following his solo album Doom Dub, Fields of Innards III and Drums and Drunken Circuit Bender with Rob Halverson, Thor & Friends 3 and 4, and the single Mystery Train featuring Low and Jolie Holland, today he released Is Adam Okay? by Thor Harris and the Joyful Noise Players.  Among others, the Joyful Noise Players include Sarah “Goat” Gautier (Thor & Friends), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Jad Fair (Half Japanese), and Andy Stack (Wye Oak).

Regarding the track Kindest Regards Mr Mapfumo, Thor says he was "hoping for a Steve Reich kind of 12/8 piece, but ended up with a Thomas Mapfumo kind of 12/8. A pleasant misstep. The driving instrument is an electric tongue drum that I built. I will soon put instructions for building one yourself on Instagram. I ran it thru an Old Blood chorus/delay/distortion pedal."

All the aforementioned recordings are available on Thor Harris' Bandcamp page. If you haven't already, I urge you in the strongest terms possible to go there now and purchase all of them - you can thank me later.

New Directions In MetaModern Music

One of Thor Harris' friends in Dies In Paris is Bill Callahan (Smog).  The track is off the album 4 by Thor & Friends, out now on Joyful Noise Recordings.

 

The video is an animation from drawings by Thor.

Thor 4

Thor Harris and his friends (in this case, Low, Jolie Holland, and Bill Callahan) are putting out some of the best music of this virus-begotten Year of the Plague 2020. 

Thor 3

We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world—a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just Whores for power and oil, but killer whores with hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum, and that is how history will judge us. . . . No redeeming social value. Just whores. Get out of our way, or we’ll kill you. Well, shit on that dumbness. George W. Bush does not speak for me or my son or my mother or my friends or the people I respect in this world. We didn’t vote for these cheap, greedy little killers who speak for America today—and we will not vote for them again in 2002. Or 2004. Or ever. Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads? Who among us can be happy and proud of having all this innocent blood on our hands? Who are these swine? These flag-sucking half-wits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like George Bush? They are the same ones who wanted to have Muhammad Ali locked up for refusing to kill gooks. They speak for all that is cruel and stupid and vicious in the American character. They are the racists and hate mongers among us—they are the Ku Klux Klan. I piss down the throats of these Nazis. And I am too old to worry about whether they like it or not. Fuck them. - Hunter S Thompson.

Thor & Friends

I'm going to be gone for a couple of days, but in the meantime, please enjoy these videos!

Adam Torres, Thor & Friends at Eddie's Attic, Atlanta, October 15, 2016

It's not entirely unusual for us to go to a show for the opening act rather than the headliner, and last night's show was as good an example of that as any, although as it turned out, we really liked the headliner, too.

The opener and our reason our heading out was percussionist extraordinaire Thor Harris, performing as Thor & Friends.  We've seen Thor in the past performing with Shearwater and with Swans, two very different bands, and last night Thor & Friends put on a transcendent show of what might be called new music or minimalism, in the tradition of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. 

The music primarily centered around the sound of three marimba-like mallet instruments, apparently hand-made by Mr. Harris himself.  The mesmerizing sound of th epercussion was accompanied by Adam Torres, the headliner, on guitar, Aisha Burns on violin, and Dailey Toliver on bass and Wurlitzer, with Thor Harris contributing some occasional oboe.  Of particular note was Austin's Peggy Ghorbani playing, which, as Thor helpfully pointed out, included a solo playing in two different time signatures at the same time. 

Here they are in Austin at something called The Museum of Human Achievement (but looks suspiciously like someone's garage), playing with special guest Amanda Palmer.

The compositions were highly varied in texture and tempo, and one number, Grass Fire!, stood out due to both Thor's set up and introduction and to he opportunity for audience participation. 

We hadn't heard of headliner Adam Torres before, but were duly impressed by his AllMusic profile. During some of his stage banter, THor said that he typically didn't find singer/songwriters very interesting, but when he was dragged by friends to hear Torres in Austin, he had no choice but to walk up to to him after the show and ask, "How can I be of service?" Torres is the acoustic-based singer/songwriter for those who don't particularly care for acoustic-based singer/songwriters. 

Added bonus points: his backing band was Thor on drums, Aisha on violin, and Dailey on bass and keys.

Set standout was probably the song Juniper Arms, written about a near-fatal bicycle accident and its aftermath.

The falsetto, which is not used on all songs, is startling when first heard live, and Torres used it well to dramatic effect during the set.

It was a great night of artistic and enlightening music, and one of the most intriguing shows we've seen at Eddie's Attic (and between Nils Cline, Joseph Arthur, and Family Crest, we've seen some intriguing shows there).

Thor

Thor Harris and Friends will be playing at Eddies Attic on Saturday, October 15.

Thor!

Thor Harris (background) with Swans at Terminal West, March 2015

Okay, first the bad news.  Brace yourself, because this is going to sting a little:

Percussionist extraordinaire Thor Harris is not touring with Swans, even though his playing was prominently featured on Swans' latest LP, The Glowing Man, and he will not be appearing with Swans next week (next week!) at Terminal West.

Now the good news.  Brace yourself, because this will be hard to believe:

Percussionist extraordinaire Thor Harris is touring with a post-rock, new-music chamber ensemble calling themselves "Thor Harris & Friends," and they will be playing on October 15 at, get this, Eddie's Attic.    

Reasons to go to Decatur, Part 1:  Thor Harris & Friends at Eddie's Attic.