#anthony pirog

[jt1674]

[dustedmagazine]

Janel & Anthony — New Moon in the Evil Age (Cuneiform)

Washington DC based musicians Janel Leppin and Anthony Pirog have been working for a while, both as a duo and separately. Pirog’s part of the Messthetics and recently cut a record with James Brandon Lewis, while Leppin played with both Marissa Nadler and Oren Ambarchi, and leads the Ensemble Volcanic Ash. And together they released Where Is Home a little over a decade ago. Now they’re back with a new record: New Moon in the Evil Age. It’s split between two discrete halves: one is built around quiet moments and interplay, the other leans towards indie rock.

“New Moon” opens the first half with Leppin’s atmospheric bowed cello lines and Pirog layering guitar lines over top of each other. It builds up into a swirl of sound before quickly dissipating like a puff of smoke. It’s an approach they go back to on other pieces here: “Bells Ring In the Distance” adds a bit of echo to the mix to give them a wider sense of ambience and a slowly rising riff that’s played in unison slowly gives way to Leppin’s cello. The ideas are traded fast between them as they return to the theme for a quick ending.

Elsewhere the two play with a folksy feel. The gentle acoustic guitar on “Boom Boom” wouldn’t sound out of place on a fingerstyle record and Leppin’s cello comes in for a nice counterpart. But the piece takes a quick shift when Pirog enters with a clean, jazzy electric tone and some fluid lines up and down his fretboard. As it closes, there’s an interesting, mellotron-like sound that enters the mix, a nice wrinkle that draws back to 1970s progressive rock and gives listeners a bit of a curveball: what exactly is this record? It’s not the first such stylistic turn here.

A piano kicks off “Fog Curls Around the Cypress,” giving the piece a tonal shift from the string-led songs elsewhere. The slow riff pushes this piece forward as a guitar chimes in as the lead voice with gentle, precise playing. Leppin’s cello enters to finish off the piece and ends it on a darker feeling as her instrument buzzes and fills the space.

But the biggest chance finishes off the first half of this set: “Crystal Wish” dives full on into New Age territory. It opens with an analog-sounding synth riff and Pirog’s thin, piercing guitar tone. While the way he slides around and bends his notes harkens back to earlier on this record, the way it gives to a synth’s wide splash of sound catches one off guard. Suddenly we’re in a different ballpark. From the way his guitar pops in but has enough echo to make you think he’s playing deep in a cave somewhere to the outer space ambience of the keyboards, it feels like something Constance Demby might have whipped up, a kind of music it’s easy to imagine playing over footage of a spaceship cruising between planets. It's quite an effective way to end the first half and almost makes you wish there was more in this style before it, but then maybe it wouldn’t have the same power.   

Through the first half, the duo makes music that draws on several genres while never quite confining themselves to one. There are touches of New Age, American Primitive, Post Rock, and more, but they never quite confine themselves to just one at any given moment. Where similar duos like Mary Halvorson and Bill Frisell’s 2018 record The Maid with the Flaxen Hair kept closer to one style, this one sees Pirog and Leppin pushing at each other’s boundaries and keeps listeners off balance.

The second half, however, is a different beast completely: when “Surf the Dead” kicks off with a rock rhythm and Leppin’s singing New Moon in the Evil Age has stepped back from post rock to a quirky sort of indie. The grooves sound thin and wiry, propelled by tinny sounding drums, and the vocals give way to a squealing synth solo. Indeed, throughout the second half the group - at separate points they’re joined by bassist Dev Hoff and percussionist Dr. Ali Analouei - the group mines various styles of indie rock. Both “Sweet and Sour” and “Dream Come Alive” have slow, woozy synth patterns and an ethereal vibe that recalls dream pop; the sparse instrumentation, layered vocals and poppy rhythms on “Evil Age” sound a little like Tennis.

In some ways this second half feels like a mirror reflection of the first: where before the focus was on the instruments and the interplay, this one builds on the similar sounds and textures but instead puts the emphasis on rhythms and vocals. At the same time, it never feels like a fleshed out version of the first half, but more like a complimentary part that shows them exploring pop hooks and a shared interest in indie rock.

But its inclusion here is also a slight tell: the music on the second half feels like it couldn’t stand on its own. Constant slow tempos and heavy use of synths betray the music’s weightlessness: instead of being its own thing, it sounds like a collection of music inspired by the first half. The two halves work in conversation and show a duo that’s attempting to straddle a fine line. Still, it’s sequencing as two related but separate discs helps to play up the first side’s strengths while also showing the weaknesses of the second.

Those who enjoyed the recent Gastr del Sol compilation or the acoustic discs that Tzadik’s been releasing will find a fair amount on the first part to enjoy. And even if the second half does drag occasionally, it does showcase a different side of this duo.

Roz Milner

[donospl]

Co w jazzie piszczy [sezon 1 odcinek 17]

premierowa emisja 23 sierpnia 2023 – 18:00 Graliśmy: Henry Threadgill “Mvt III, Section 17” z albumu “The Other One” – Pi Recordings Benjamin Gisli Einarsson “For Carla” z albumu “Line of Thought” – Fjordgate Records / Reykjavík Records Shop Ferdinando Romano “The Dreamers” z albumu “Invisible Painters” Manuel Valera Quintet “Remembrance” z albumu “Vessel” – Criss Cross Jazz Áron Tálas Trio…

[brackishbrooklyn]

THURSDAY! We’re toasting j at the record shop. 17 videos streaming online so pour one out wherever you are 🥃 Brackish Brooklyn Video Fest III
a tribute to jaimie branch
Thursday March 9, 2023
8PM cst / 9PM est

Streaming online from Experimental Sound Studio Chicago
NYC watch party at The Record Shop, 360 Van Brunt St. Brooklyn

$10-20 suggested donation to Brackish and The jaimie branch Foundation via https://donorbox.org/the-jaimie-branch-foundation

Video premieres inspired by jaimie and live footage from Brackish’s 2022 season featuring:

Miriam Parker, Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez & No Land | Lester St Louis, Kim Alpert & Jason Nazary | Helado Negro & jaimie branch | Fay Victor | Nick Dunston, Isa Crespo Pardo, Joan Sue & Zekkereya El-magharbel | Angela Morris | Jason Ajemian & jaimie branch | Janel Leppin & Anthony Pirog | Neti-Neti: Matt Evans & Amirtha Kidambi | Rose Tang & jaimie branch | Atheer Yacoub | Lester St Louis | Lesley Mok & Henry Fraser | Kim Alpert & jaimie branch | Blood Luxury: Erica Dicker & Dennis Sullivan | Dustin Carlson | Wo Chan | Ryan Easter & Gregory McCallum Jr | Laura Schuler & Aaron Edgcomb Brackish – music & art is made possible by public funds from the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Statewide Community Regrants Program, as well as from a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature, both administered by Brooklyn Arts Council. (at Record Shop) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpaNBWpuiRV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[noloveforned]

no love for ned is on wlur tonight from 8pm until midnight. tune in for the new show at 8pm followed by a rebroadcast of last week's show at 10pm. you can also catch up with last week's show at your convenience below!

no love for ned on wlur – january 20th, 2023 from 8-10pm

artist // track // album // label the happy thoughts // half day // the happy thoughts // hozac dippers // mazing // looking for a sphere cassette // tenth court bettie serveert // get the bird // kid's alright ep // matador equal parts // a crisis // equal parts ep // tiny town the breeders // son of three // title tk // 4ad lenola // track this // the swerving corpse // tappersize sex hands // hairdo // pleh // faux discx jen trynin // go ahead // gun shy, trigger happy // warner bros. syndrome 81 // avenir // prisons imaginaires // destructure the casual dots // descending // sanguine truth // ixor stix personal trainer // rug busters // big love blanket // the industry bonny doon // crooked creek // let there be music // anti 2 square y? // lovebomb // the secret degree // emotional response garrett t. capps and nasa country // happen anytime // people are beautiful // spaceflight elephant micah // coming down for you // (bandcamp mp3) // (unreleased) tujiko noriko // cosmic ray // crépuscule i and ii // editions mego björk featuring ísadóra bjarkardóttir barney // her mother's house // fossora // one little independent steve reid // odyssey sweet // odyssey of the oblong square // soul jazz benji b, raven bush, theon cross, nubya garcia, tom herbert, shabaka hutchings, nikolaj torp larsen, dave okumu, nick ramm, dan see, tom skinner and martin terefe // miles chases new voodoo in the church (single edit) // london brew // concord jazz angel bat dawid featuring terence etc. // re-birthday // (bandcamp mp3) // nkonsonkonson publishing james brandon lewis trio featuring anthony pirog and nicholas ryan gant // bittersweet // no filter // bns sessions roy ayers ubiquity // he's a superstar // he's coming // polydor mckinley dixon featuring angélica garcia // sun, i rise // beloved! paradise! jazz!? // city slang b. cool-aid featuring liv.e, butcher brown, jimetta rose, v.c.r and maurice ii // cnt go back (tell me) // leather boulevard // lex stan ipcus // bust the way i flip it // foliage // (self-released) theo croker featuring ego ella may and d’leau // theo says // by the way ep // masterworks cécile mclorin salvant // wuthering heights (kassa overall remix) // wuthering heights (kassa overall remix) digital single // nonesuch billy nomates // saboteur forcefield // cacti // invada apollo ghosts // gave up the dream // gave up the dream digital single // you've changed julian never // high school // pious fiction // mt.st.mtn. dylan mondegreen // sister // sister digital single // (self-released) ivy // sleeping late // apartment life (expanded) // bar/none

[rich4a1]

Janel and Anthony New Moon in the Evil Age - Janel Leppin’s Ensemble Volcanic Ash To March is to Love

Janel and Anthony New Moon in the Evil Age Cunieform There’s a lot to unpack here as we describe three albums. The first two, Janel and Anthony – New Moon in the Evil Age, is cellist Janel Leppin and guitarist Anthony Pirog (Messthetics) delivering an instrumental and a vocal album. The third is Leppin’s Ensemble Volcanic Ash, a sextet that includes Pirog, as well as several notable musicians we…

[burlveneer-music]

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis - speaking of skronk, Fugazi's offshoot skronk unit have a new album out with a saxophonist

The Messthetics are an instrumental trio featuring Brendan Canty (drums), Joe Lally (bass), and Anthony Pirog (guitar).

[chrisryanspeaks]

HEAR: Anthony Pirog - “Inflorescence” Ft. Andy Summers (The Police)

The instructions were simple. A couple of years ago, Anthony Pirog reached out to old friends and new collaborators alike with an open-ended request: could they send him an original ambient track, between four and five minutes long, that he could then record on top of? He put “ambient” in quotes recognizing that each musician would have a different definition of the term.  “It was an exciting challenge because I had no idea what they were going to send,” the guitarist recalls. “I didn’t give any guidelines other than putting ‘ambient’ in quotes.” Pirog would then push himself to react musically to whatever sonic guideposts he was given. Anthony Pirog creates an ethereal and wondrous landscape with sound in his song “Inflorescence”. The addition of Andy Summers of the Police was a fantastic choice as he brings his legendary style to the song. We heard the rest of the album ahead of its release and we are very excited to share that with you! Check out “Inflorescence” below: Read the full article

[audiofuzz]

HEAR: Anthony Pirog - “Inflorescence” Ft. Andy Summers (The Police)

The instructions were simple. A couple of years ago, Anthony Pirog reached out to old friends and new collaborators alike with an open-ended request: could they send him an original ambient track, between four and five minutes long, that he could then record on top of? He put “ambient” in quotes recognizing that each musician would have a different definition of the term.  “It was an exciting challenge because I had no idea what they were going to send,” the guitarist recalls. “I didn’t give any guidelines other than putting ‘ambient’ in quotes.” Pirog would then push himself to react musically to whatever sonic guideposts he was given. Anthony Pirog creates an ethereal and wondrous landscape with sound in his song “Inflorescence”. The addition of Andy Summers of the Police was a fantastic choice as he brings his legendary style to the song. We heard the rest of the album ahead of its release and we are very excited to share that with you! Check out “Inflorescence” below: Read the full article

[americanahighways]

REVIEW: Joel Harrison, Anthony Pirog, Stephan Crump & Allison Miller "The Great Mirage"

REVIEW: Joel Harrison, Anthony Pirog, Stephan Crump & Allison Miller "The Great Mirage" @joelharrisongtr @anthonypirog @crumbletones #allisonmiller #JohnApice #americanahighways #thegreatmirage

Joel Harrison, Anthony Pirog, Stephan Crump & Allison Miller – The Great Mirage These Washington, D.C. musicians have a common ancestral line musically. They enjoy in equal measure jazz, rock, fusion, avant-garde, folk, funk & country genres — but not separately. They take a needle & thread them into one fabric for quite a unique blended showcase. A true collaboration between Mr. Harrison…

[radiophd]

anthony pirog -- deetjen

[noiseneverends]

The Messthetics Genre: Jazz Fusion/Experimental Rock/Post-Hardcore Origin: Washington, D.C.   Years active: 2016-present

[dustedmagazine]

The Messthetics — Anthropocosmic Nest (Dischord)

Anthropocosmic Nest by The Messthetics

This second album from the Messthetics dials up the proggy, guitar-hero element of their sound, letting Anthony Pirog dominate the mix and the overall aesthetic. When I reviewed the self-titled debut a couple of years ago for Dusted, I said, “The nervy aggression of post-punk joins with jazz-rock’s virtuosity here, and it’s good stuff all the way through,” but this time around it’s even more jazz fusion-y than before. If you like guitar solos, belly up to the bar. If you dropped by because of a lingering fondness for taut, no-compromises Fugazi, caveat emptor.

The Messthetics, if you’re just coming in, bring together Fugazi’s rhythm section of Joe Lally and Brendan Canty with D.C.-area jazz guitarist Anthony Pirog. They’ve been playing live for a few years now, and the current album seems more homogenous and cohesive than the first, though it lacks the highs. There’s nothing like the monumental chug of “Mythomania” or the battering assault of “Serpent’s Tongue.” This time around, it is noticeably harder to hear anything but guitar especially in the louder tracks. For example, “Better Wings” opens in an aching, long haul, note-scrambling scree, underpinned by the most deferential of bass lines, the most workman-like drumming. It’s more like atmospheric post-rock — Explosions in the Sky and the Fucking Champs comes to mind — than punk, and if “two former members of Fugazi” is your lead, consider it buried.

“Drop Foot,” coming immediately after, is gnarlier and more propulsive, a hard push of bass driving its furious forward motion. Canty is unrulier, too, slamming all over the kit – drum heads, cymbals, cow bell — in intricate, geometrical fury.  This is the best of the loud, fast stuff.

A great deal of the album, though, runs at cooler temperatures, reining in the speed and friction in liquid atmospherics (“Section 9”) or constructing minimalist syncopated jazz architectures in which to showcase rapid guitar runs (“Pay Dust”). “Pacifica” is very nearly ambient music, its giant washes of tone animated by walking bass and steady, very disciplined drumming. These quieter cuts allow space and room for interplay between the three instruments; there are still a lot of notes, but it’s not wall to wall.  The final cut, “Touch Earth Touch Sky” is codeine slow but rather lovely, a series of long haunting textures battered by fractious drumming.

Yet overall, the album has an over technical, over clean vibe. All three musicians play very well, and they’ve obviously gotten more intuitive and engaged with one another. But it’s too much skill and too little viscera for my taste. Despite a continuous onslaught of face melting solos, Anthropocosmic Nest feels a little cold.

Jennifer Kelly

[donospl]

Co w jazzie piszczy [sezon 1 odcinek 5]

premierowa emisja 29 marca 2023 – 18:00 Graliśmy: Hannah Griffin, Thomas Voyce, Norman Meehan “Homing In” z albumu  “Wahine” – Rattle Records Kerkko Koskinen, Linda Fredriksson & UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra “Anime” z albumu “Agatha 2” – We Jazz Records Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke “Walking After You” z albumu “Lean In” – Edition Records Alberto Forino “Beautiful are Those who Fall” z…

[brackishbrooklyn]

Brackish Brooklyn Video Fest III a tribute to jaimie branch Thursday March 9, 2023 8PM cst / 9PM est Streaming online from Experimental Sound Studio Chicago NYC watch party at The Record Shop, 360 Van Brunt St. Brooklyn $10-20 suggested donation to Brackish and The jaimie branch Foundation via https://donorbox.org/the-jaimie-branch-foundation Video premieres inspired by jaimie and live footage from Brackish’s 2022 season featuring: Miriam Parker, Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez & No Land | Lester St Louis, Kim Alpert & Jason Nazary | Helado Negro & jaimie branch | Fay Victor | Nick Dunston, Isa Crespo Pardo, Joan Sue & Zekkereya El-magharbel | Angela Morris | Jason Ajemian & jaimie branch | Janel Leppin & Anthony Pirog | Neti-Neti: Matt Evans & Amirtha Kidambi | Rose Tang & jaimie branch | Atheer Yacoub | Lester St Louis | Lesley Mok & Henry Fraser | Kim Alpert & jaimie branch | Blood Luxury: Erica Dicker & Dennis Sullivan | Dustin Carlson | Wo Chan | Ryan Easter & Gregory McCallum Jr | Laura Schuler & Aaron Edgcomb https://www.instagram.com/p/CpFjQdPuJvu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thnksfrthrvw]

LIVE MUSIC - The Messthetics @ Boston Music Room, London 06/02/2019

Review by Nick Jaques

Rating: 4/5

For fans of: Fugazi, Shellac, Mogwai

Boston Music Room in Tufnell Park hosted The Messthetics, who are made up of three members, with two of them, Brendan Canty (drums) and Joe Lally (bass), being the rhythm section from the seminal US post-punk discord legends Fugazi – who have been on a hiatus since 2002.

Last year they emerged with instrumentalist Anthony Pirog, from Washington D.C., and The Messthetics were formed and released their self-titled debut to very little fanfare. That doesn’t mean to say that the actual result was along the same lines too. Their album was full of craft and vision and they showed in spades on the stage.

To begin with, the support acts were impressive. First up were Dealing With Damage and their brand of Fugazi-infused emo punk was a joy to the senses. My mind was pogoing with enthusiasm whilst hearing their encouraging brand of angular, concise razor-sharp punk. They also had the time to address the crowd about Autism, and how it can affect people’s lives which gave their set a bit of heart and soul too.

The second and final support came in the shape of female drum duo Rattle. They played a trio of drum pieces which whilst captivating in parts, seemed to lack a bit depth or needed to add something more appealing to their shape and sound.

The Messthetics took to the stage and served up an awesome array of cascading riffs, and the interplay between all of them was brilliant to witness. Highlights included the monolithic rocker ‘Serpent Tongue’ whilst ‘The Inner Ocean’ showcased lighter and more contemplative side to their show. The poise and grace of the band was impressive too – with Anthony Pirog leading his bandmates with expertise in a natural fashion. I was hoping that a few Fugazi classics could have sneaked out of the bag but I knew this was wishful thinking, and the material that was played actually more than justified for them not to.

Facebook: facebook.com/themessthetics/