Bottomless Pit

So we've got Hammer of the Gods from 2007, and the Congress EP released the following year. Only good things were said about these records in the Silkworm thread, because they're both amazing sounding, very fulfilling rock records.

We're a few months from the release of Blood Under the Bridge in August, so I figured their own dedicated thread is probably overdue by now. Comedy Minus One is hosting an MP3 of "38 Souls," and there's three other songs available among the usual social networking suspects. They're all great. "38 Souls" in particular features maybe the best Andy Cohen wailage I've ever heard, which is saying something. No shortage of beautiful tones from that baritone guitar, too. I will also go on record saying that Tim Midgett has my favorite singing voice, and he sounds better than ever here.

I have to say, "Pitch" on the Congress EP is on par with the best of Silkworm in my opinon. Excited for the new album.

"opinion," fuck

Yeah "Pitch" and "Red Pen" are my two favorite songs by them, and I've loved all of it so far. Its the kind of melodic 90s rock sound I've been loving lately. Musically, the compositions seem more mature than anything they did as Silkworm. Love both bands.

Yeah, that EP is perfect. It's funny though, "Pitch" might be my least-favorite song on it. "Angry Swan" takes top honors for me, with that rave-up ending. So good.

As far as I know, Silkworm never stepped on a pedal that wasn't merely distortion, which is what sets them apart from The Pit (I'm gonna go ahead and call them that for short). There's some really tasteful use of delay that adds tremendous depth to a lot of the guitar parts - "Red Pen" and "Possession" in particular come to mind - and it suits the somber mood. Silkworm seemed a lot more garagey in contrast, way more balls out.

Never got the chance to see Silkworm live, so I'm pretty excited to see them in Chicago next week. Haven't anticipated a show like this in a good long while.

It's weird how similar and how different they are from Silkworm. Obviously the singing's pretty similar, though Midgett seems to be taking a softer tone on a lot of the songs he sings. Cohen's guitar-playing is pretty similar (this is a good thing). But the songwriting is so different, the songs are longer and looser but also more controlled?

also the two-guitar interplay adds a lot obviously

the new cd is pretty cool looking (for a cd)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs657.snc3/32452_423145014065_28511889065_5351981_3115143_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs617.snc3/32452_423145144065_28511889065_5351982_3997102_n.jpg

but what does it sound like?

no vinyl?????

found a song on the label's site!!1

http://www.comedyminusone.com/sounds/38souls.mp3

oh, there'll be vinyl i'm sure, that just happened to be a picture of the cd that i found

but what does it sound like?

― cutty, Thursday, June 3, 2010 6:36 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWh4VE8omTI

iiiijjjj — May 13, 2010

yeah so

just acknowledging it's from ilx user iiiijjjj, who started this thread

i didn't really need a response from you

oh, ok. i'm sorry. do you like the track?

i do!

dig that new track. I love all of their stuff.

amazing soloing on the new song

cohen is one of my fav lyricists

oh yeah

listening to the new one now

first track is straight-up spectacular

oh man. so excited.

2nd track, "Rhinelander," has a guitar solo that's like Jerry Garcia vs. Stephen Malkmus without any drums - airy heavenly twinkling sound

3rd track starts off like something from the Blueblood sessions

daaaaamn

gonna restrain myself to the one track on mp3 on comedy minus one for now

oh damn this is awesome.

i love cohen's unjoking downer songs

cf "ritz dance"

I got this because the people working it sent me a promo btw so if you have a blog write to them

lol it's highly likely i am going to be cranky 90s-indie guy telling everyone bottomless pit made the best record of 2010

I liked the first bottomless pit but this is a huge step up to my ears. very very strong writing & performances, really good recording - wonder if they did this in A or B

did you ever listen to the ep? cause it's a huge step up from the first record too.

yeah I did, it's a quantum leap. listening to it now actually, that first song and its huge sweep, the real depth of emotion that to me was missing from Italian Platinum & It'll Be Cool.

hey guys nice spending the day listening to the new bottomless pit with y'all

listening for the 3x

:)

"so many fuckers in this world..."

where is del griffith

"kiss them all" is fucking unbelievable

got mine in the mail on thursday. haven't heard it all yet. but damn i was getting chills in the car today because the drums on 38 souls sound EXACTLY like dahlquist's playing

such a terrific, haunting song--it won't leave my head.

cant remember ever hearing about this band before i clicked on this thread -- listening to "winterwind" on their myspace right now. not too bad

have you ever listened to silkworm

dont think so yo

oh they're only one of the best three indie rock bands ever by any imaginable yardstick

stop what you are doing and listen to silkworm

the guitar tone on this tune is pretty dope & the productions great

which silkworm record do you recommend

any of them, but i will say side 1 of developer

markers, I think I speak on behalf of call all destroyer & myself when I request permission to go completely ham on you for not knowing silkworm

developer & lifestyle are my recs

but don't miss some of "blueblood," "empty elevator shaft" is all-time

ok ill snag developer later tonight & report back

lol aerosmith i would agree but at least on this board anytime skwm comes up it's basically you me cutty and sometimes another person--point being more fucking people need to stop what they are doing and listen to silkworm.

btw, and don't let this put you off, it took me years (literally) to understand silkworm.

but once you understand them, it's over. you will love them forever.

one of the few bands who after years of listening still don't seem to have peaked with me - I keep finding new reserves of enjoyment for them. just so damn smart & solid & rich. & yeah, my first reaction to them was 'why do all my friends here in chicago think they're so damn rad?' but once they clicked it was like 'oh ok wow I get it'

and for sure the gap between "what?" & "oh I get it" was like right about six years.

man i don't really have time for a long post about getting into silkworm but i'll say this--it was winter, i had owned firewater for over 2 years and never really understood it. i had broken up with my gf of quite a while, i was a senior in college, life seemed ok but kinda shitty. and i was listening to firewater and blueblood one day and it was just like oh my god--this is exactly how i'm feeling.

whoa didn't see this thread had been bumped! sorry i missed it. i just pre-ordered my copy of the new one yesterday, should get it next week i guess. have only heard "38 souls" so far but i've listened to that dozens of times. it's incredible. oh and i got an email response from mr. midgett yesterday confirming their november milwaukee show will be a 15-minute walk from my place. very excite!

so proud of wisconsin for the rhinelander reference

I love Bottomless Pit so much. One of the few current bands that aren't concerned with being hip. I can't wait to get the new one. I'm going to pull out some old Silkworm albums too. They should reissue a few of those.

markers i would go chronologically, not start with developer, but whatevs

also get with the program

I've been listening to the new one a lot over the past few days, so good.

Continuing the discussion from a few posts up, "Firewater" was the first Silkworm album I heard, and I think it took me a while to really get into it too. To be fair I was just like 16 or 17 and probably bought it after reading a positive review in Puncture or something, I think at first it probably seemed like "just boring rock music" with weird artwork, but obviously it really grew on me as they're basically still one of my favorite bands ever.

I'VE BEEN WAITING ON THE REAL YOU ALL ALONG

on this board anytime skwm comes up it's basically you me cutty and sometimes another person

I would claim membership in ilx skwm crew. also m@tt h.

the real depth of emotion that to me was missing from Italian Platinum & It'll Be Cool

man I loooove Italian Platinum. Bourbon Beard and LR72 don't have depth of emotion? The Old You?? (agree about It'll Be Cool though.)

only heard "38 Souls" so far off the new thing but it is great

I lived in Seattle in the 1990-91 grunge years, but was underage for bars (19-20) and mostly went to zydeco and sometimes folk shows (and a lot of all-ages dance clubs). The one relevant rock band I saw, though, was Silkworm, at the OK Hotel, in spring 1991, because I was friends with some Missoula expats. Good then, and good when I saw 'em again in Minneapolis in the early 2000s.

i was seriously getting my first "zone out and listen to music" session since the baby last night and i kicked it off with "firewater"!!

also,

"Dogtag" usually makes me tear up tbh

eazy if you saw 'em in mpls in the early 00s i bet i was there

also aerosmith is right - blueblood is kinda slept on IMO, i think it seems like a transitional record but still it is awesome

Man I'd like to think I'd be considered part of the SKWM crew too, I post about them a lot but I guess dudes have me killfiled.

I really like Italian Platinum, to the point where it's maybe my third-favorite Silkworm album. "I Hope U Don't Survive" is one of their best songs ever and an amazing album-opener. I still don't really get It'll Be Cool aside from "Don't Look Back" and maybe one or two other songs, makes me sad that it was their last album because it was so disappointing to me after Italian Platinum.

u def part of the crew dawg

phew

IT'S. JUST. THAT. GOOD.

seriously like I hate to be the guy putting the OG's from back in the day high up in the year end list but who the fuck is gonna make a better album than this in 2010? this album fucking rules.

man i need to get out to a store and get this, did you get vinyl?

no just the CD. which is like the best-looking CD, even though it's just a standard jewel case - it really stands out somehow, the simple color scheme & the tiny typewriter-typeface.

I'm excited to eventually pick up the vinyl. I think all of their releases come with a CD.

yeah, they do.

vinyl release of the new one looks reeeeeeeeeeeeeal nice.

album is great too, obv.

sh@ke, the show was at the Entry and it closed with cover of "Ooh La La" (never knew the name of that song until I now just googled "wish that I knew what I know now").

in keeping with the cover art theme, allow me to classify "is it a ditch" and "kiss them all" as my favorite mortal's songs on this album, whereas "38 souls" is its lone entry into tier generally reserved for gods/god-like rock guitar demonstrations. i mean the wailage people THE WAILAGE! i finish listening to that song and i feel like tossing andy a gatorade, and not even a mere 16 oz. regular size gatorade, but one of those 32 oz ones. that is how much he brings it, on that song.

"rhinelander" quite beautiful.

eazy man i may have been at that

RHINELANDER IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GRATEFUL DEAD STYLE SONG OF THE 2000S WHICH I KNOW IS THE WEIRDEST THING TO SAY, BUT ITS TRUE

even more than usual i am just totally confused as to what the three andy songs on this album are about

this album rules so hard you guys

otmfm

Got it on vinyl. Gorgeous!

every time I listen to this album it's even better than I think it's going to be

Seriously, I hate to keep reviving this thread just to say how unbelievably awesome this album is, but this may be as good as the best Silkworm. Constant rotation here.

Where did you buy the vinyl, Evan?

I got it from insound.com

I know people there, so they put their last copy on hold for me. It could be backordered with them at this point.

Otherwise, I see that Reckless Records has it:

http://www.reckless.com/index.php?RcSes=f7cee9b4f78e9e3b1d979a061b110c58&keywords=bottomless+pit&format=&cond=&store=&is_search=true&srch=Search

I'm going to revive this thread every time I have this album on headphones and say to myself "holy shit"

Dudes, sacrilege, maybe, but...better than Silkworm??

Did you get the vinyl? Its very nicely packaged.

the thing it is is more beautiful that silkworm - I don't think it's reading too much bio into things to say that there's a very wistful feeling to the melodies & overall tone on this record which while present in some of silkworm is less dominant. I can't call this a better record than Developer or Lifestyle, my two favorite Silkworm records, but I think it stands alongside them and has some qualities that they don't.

it just rules every time I play it, and every time I play it I usually end up playing it twice.

OTM re: the melancholy, AND the playing it twice. Me too.

Evan, I saw it for $25, which, at the moment, is too rich for my blood, but I'm thinking this is an album I'm going to need to own on vinyl, so I'm 'listing' it.

Yeah, they're pretty different from Silkworm, although even Silkworm wasn't really sounding too much like Silkworm by It'll Be Cool. All the same, I don't know that I'd even be able to recognize this band as being "ex-Silkworm" if Tim and Andy weren't singing the songs; obviously the lack of Michael's trademark drumsound certainly doesn't help. But this is The Pit, and The Pit is different and The Pit is good.

Anyone know anything about bassist Brian Orchard's other band, .22? The only relevant bit of information I could manage to dig up is a very brief Electrical Audio profile page for him as a former staffer, what with ".22" not exactly being the most Googleable term and all.

I have one of the .22 albums...it's pretty good...very "chicago" and, well, you can tell they are very much Silkworm fans.

not like mindblowing or anything but solid

markers never reported back on what he though of developer

ON WHAT HE THOUGH

WHAT DIDEST THOU THOUGH MARKERS

Playing in Chicago tonight, I can't go :(

go to the milwaukee show! yes it's an hour and a half away, but it's a beautiful drive, even at night. plus i'll buy you a fin du monde (they've got 'em at the cactus club). would love to meet another ilxor/silkworm/pit fan.

waiting on deliverance is just like
waiting on a
tree that you can't get out from under
get out from under it now

Saturday at the Knitting Factory (BK) with Obits

I'm so there

great show last night, but the really exciting thing was that there were three new songs in the set.

hoping to buy the LP tonight if they've got some

they have all of their lps for sale!

No gigs within 100 miles of me boooooo

i love how "winterwind" just drifts on and on it's so gorgeous

they really know how to make good sounding rock records

"I saw the Devil on a commuter train"

They have new release Lottery

It is actually a cd compliation of both lps, the "Congress" ep and three outtakes. Aimed for the Japanese market you can order it direct from the band for non-import prices.

Was just listening to it last night, the three outtakes are rockers, good stuff. It was funny listening to Hammer of the Gods in this context, it really clicked for me, despite being a longtime SKWM & BP fan. Like I always liked the album, but last night the light went off and I loved it.

One of my fave BP moments and one I think displays the sort of weird dynamic those guys have...show in Chicago, Andy takes this just insane solo during, I think, "Red Pen" & I've seen him play something like 15 times over the yrs in SKWM & BP and I've never seen him play like this solo, otherworldy and wild. And it kept going & going, by the time he finishes I'm just completely slack-jawed.

Post show I'm talking to Tim and I'm all "What the fuck was up with that solo?" and Tim gets this bemused look, sort of smiles and goes "Yeah I dunno, he just does that sometimes."

playing on saturday in chicago with bellini and coffin pricks (chris thomson's newish band), pretty killer lineup

^ ended up wussing out of this show, i suck

extra songs on "lottery" are fantastic, all more uptempo and catchy

Oh shit, I hadn't heard about that Lottery thing! Is that on iTunes or anywhere else I can just buy the bonus tracks? Already have the other stuff. Also, lol @ the bOTTomless pit / lOTTery on their website.

I wish they had their own release beyond being tethered to a repackaging of both albums. Haven't checked if the tracks are on itunes though.

I heard the extra tracks via spotify, it's just two new/unreleased songs and a fast version of winterwind so I don't feel too bad about not buying lottery when I already paid for the two albums. Bonus tracks are choice though.

yeah the bonus tracks are really sweet but yeah i don't feel like re-buying stuff i already own on vinyl

haven't watched yet but here's a recent full live set, just posted yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfyq6POcjhc

Stream a new song from the new album, Shade Perennial

For folks in the upper midwest, they will be playing Oct 5th at the Kitty Kat Club in Mpls

new song is very, very good

can't decide if i want to listen to it or wait for the full album

New album yes!

This is sweet. Blood Under the Bridge was one of my favorite albums from 2010, and I was half-worried they were breaking up or something when they put out that retrospective album.

new song is really great

Just my copy in the mail!

jealous

got*

Yeah I heard it yesterday, need to let it sink in (was distracted while listening) but it's a short, punchy treat.

I just put it on now. So far it's the song I already heard. I don't think there is any way I won't love this.

I have to wait a week. A week AND a day! Lame.

oh shit missed this, ordered

This was(is) so great. The last song killed me, I'm not sure why.
It wasn't the lyrics, I have this problem where I don't focus on them very often for anyone, generally. I just get sucked up in the music.
But musically it's just a super solid record.

so this is the rockinest bp record, huh

Holy crap this record is great.

Saw them last night, always, always a treat

oh man, i had no idea this was out.

Saturday night was a classic BP/SKWM crowd, not very large but a couple who drove from Canada and a kid from Pittsburgh now going to the U of MN who was a superfan but never seen them before and was basicaly freaking out the whole night, it was great.

three listens in, this is obviously brilliant, one of the best records of the year, etc.

funny though, i was listening to blood under the bridge tonight and all the vox on that album are super forward and comprehensible. on the new one, they seem mixed way down and i can't make a lot of them out--result is this seems a lot more oblique than any bp stuff to date.

Yeah, I think this new one is really solid but I feel like the tracks blend together a bit more. Maybe it's the lack of dynamics.

Streaming:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/listen-to-all-of-bottomless-pits-new-record-right,104523/

Loving this record. Going to see them next month in Mad City.

are they a 3 piece now?

They're doing a free in-store and a real show here in Chicago, gonna try and hit both.

Man my pre-order got delivered really early, huh.

are they a 3 piece now?

― lorde willin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 17:37 (1 hour ago) Permalink

No same four piece line-up

Saw them play the new album (and a Jason Molina song as an encore) yesterday at an in-store. It's crazy to me how well they make the baritone guitar and the bass guitar work together. They never really seem to step on each others' toes. I want a baritone guitar.

Tim & Andy where busy yesterday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm2HoYpHJ6Q

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYMBM79CYAAK5le.png

You can play "Where's NA?" in this picture of the in-store.

I'm still planning on driving to Madison this Saturday to see BP, even though it is supposed to goddamn snow this week. Milwaukee folks should be aware they are playing this Friday at Frank's with Light Coma (Brian O from BP's band, who are just fucking awesome) & the excellent Wereworm

From my vantage point:

http://i42.tinypic.com/550xzm.jpg

is that NA cut off at the extreme right?

Ha yep

Does anyone know what the pedals are that Tim uses? the ones that look like the bass pedals from a piano/organ? I couldn't tell if he was using them to trigger an effect pedal or if they are tied to his crazy custom baritone guitar.

Good show last in Madison, though the sound was spotty in parts, cuz it was literally a clothing store, but still worthwhile They played "Red Pen" and "Rhinelander" which was nice treat. A fun and Wisconsin-strange night.

this record kicks so much ass

i love how cohesive it is and also how each song is like its own expanding universe

I liked it to being with, but the more I listen to it the more I enjoy it. Really great.

on the new one, they seem mixed way down and i can't make a lot of them out--result is this seems a lot more oblique than any bp stuff to date.

this is one of my favorite things about this record - it feels really muted and understated, but then every so often a killer line comes out of nowhere and just knocks me out cold. "i have limits to my personality/i'll be anyone as long as you want me." jesus christ.

yeah this is great so far

love the rhythm section on this, so groove oriented, just repetitive loops played so great

chris was saying best thing since Italian Platinum and i'm starting to agree

Still think the Congress EP is the best thing they've done myself.

yeah that's great too, but this is getting right up there for me.
"sacred trench" rules

"Felt A Little Left" knocked me down first time I listened through.

http://vishkhanna.com/2013/11/14/ep-52-tim-midyett-of-bottomless-pit/

I haven't listened to this yet, and the one other episode of this podcast I tried (Jon Wurster) was not very good.

This threat is almost convincing me to give SKWM/BP another shot

I listened to the interview last night it is pretty good, I'm glad Tim is doing interviews again. He stumps for "Lulu"! Also, he was wearing the Metallica t-shirt mentions in the interview when I saw them the other day, it's a cool shirt.

i did not know there were two versions of tim's last name??

I was confused by that too.

I mentioned this on the Chicago thread but I have an extra free ticket to the show at Township on Saturday if anyone wants to go.

his personal site and linkedin seem to use "midyett," which is news to me.

is this a representative bottomless pit song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dil3f7nwDYk

yup

always good to hear tim talk but my god that guy is the worst host/interviewer. albini was really having trouble being patient with him.

his personal site and linkedin seem to use "midyett," which is news to me.

http://www.nuvo.net/MusicBlog/archives/2013/11/12/bottomless-pits-tim-midyett-on-shade-perennial-and-jason-molina

NUVO: Totally different topic, but interesting to me: you changed your name, recently, correct? The spelling of your last name? Pronunciation as well as spelling?

Midyett: Yeah. It was straight-up "midget" before. And now, it's "midd-yett," which is the modern pronunciation of that spelling, Midgett. In French, it's "mid-e-ett." They came over to the Carolinas, mid-1700s there was a split, and people were like, "I'm tired of not knowing how to pronounce my name," so they just wrote "Midgett."

Then, like a 100 years after that, P.T. Barnum started calling dwarves "midgets" in the circus. And, for a while - this is more than you wanted to know probably.

NUVO: I could not be more interested. (Editor's note: This was said very sincerely. She really could not have been more interested in this etymological side note.)

Midyett: - for a while, after Barnum started using it in the circus, midget was the preferred term (for little people). Midget sort of implied that you were proportionally "normal," whereas dwarves had dwarfism - long torsos, shorter legs, etc. Couple things: one, the outward signs of dwarfism are almost gone, because they've figured out how to avoid those, with prenatal care. There are much fewer people who exhibit the typical proportions of dwarfism. Second, little people realized that "midget" was a circus term, and they were like, "Well, what the hell? I don't want to be called a midget anymore. That's terrible." And so it became a pejorative, in my lifetime, in the last 20 years. And it only happened about five or six years ago that I noticed that people didn't want to say it - they didn't want to say my name. And then I did some research and realized, "Aw, crap. This is not cool." It's like having any other kind of slur as a last name.

So I changed it. And my whole family still has the same name. But, I partly changed it because of that, for myself. But mostly because I have a kid. And it's not like it's going to change back (from being a pejorative). It's not like it's going to be cool to call people that again. So I thought, "I'm just going to make her life easier, and swap that." Plus, it's not the original name, anyway.

NUVO: It's fascinating how language changes. For someone who does not care about sports at all, it's been fascinating keeping up with the http://images.chron.com/blogs/askacat/hatcat.JPG debate happening in sports writing right now. If someone is telling you, "I'm offended when you use that word," then, change it!

Midyett: Yeah! Who cares! I finally realized, I have nothing invested ... anyone who wants to find me, can find me. There's no reason for me to keep my name. And if it makes anyone uncomfortable, or me (uncomfortable) or it's going to make my kid's life 1 percent weirder, just forget it.

NUVO: I kept going back and forth before I realized that you officially changed it wondering if I was spelling it wrong. And now, mystery answered!

lol

that interview is from this week but he changed it at least a couple of years ago afaik

oh wow, that's pretty interesting. good for him.

finally getting to the new one, not having read reviews of it except to glance at them. much less immediate record to me than the others, which is kind of welcome - I love the last one especially but this one mixes it up a little, which I attribute to Andy being a little more dominant than on the other ones - I think they divide the songs more or less equally, I haven't counted? but the other ones, it's the Tim-melodic stuff that resonates for me, whereas on this one I feel like the grittier/rockier side is clearer

really fleshes out the picture, although my favorite stuff is always gonna be the super-wistful things like "kiss 'em all" but this feels like it could do the thing Developer did where I just keep coming back to it to dig & dig & dig - like it'll repay living with it for a while

"Horse Trading"'s melody is pretty reminiscent of Dido's "Thank You" (the one that got sampled for that Eminem song) which throws me some in a good way

Ha I've been thinking the same thing, glad I'm not totally insane.

I saw them again on Saturday and it was better than the in-store I went to a couple of weeks ago. Part of it was that they were playing old stuff too instead of just the new album, but the energy was better in general as well.

Oh damn that's what that is!

xp

Shade Perennial is slowly getting better and better each time I listen to it. I had been missing the space of the older songs, the long instrumental parts, but today the new one is hitting the spot.

On a side note, has anyone heard the new Joel RL Phelps yet? Not sure if it's out yet. I was never a huge fan of his solo stuff but maybe I'll give the new one a shot.

On indefinite hiatus per FB last night

Hi everyone—I would like you to know that Bottomless Pit is on indefinite hiatus. I wasn’t going to make a big thing of announcing it, but I do get inquiries as to our availability, and I finally decided it was best to make it official. We are all still good friends and pleased with what we have done. I’m making music now under the name Mint Mile, with Andy’s involvement. Likely Andy will get his own thing together at some point. I'll post any updates on that front here. Can’t tell you how much we appreciate your interest. See you around. Very best, Tim

Wish they would have made it to New York for a show first! Oh well.

Well that sucks. Glad I got to see them a few times.

Lucky

aw :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA0rolG0-24

http://www.comedyminusone.com/029.php

the mint mile ep is very good

I still listen to Bottomless Pit almost every day.

Other artists that never leave my rotation: The Clientele, Glenn Jones (guitarist), Lilys, pre-2013 Mark Kozelek projects, Cass McCombs, Polvo, various Flying Nun bands (at least one at all times)