is it possible there is no c/d s/d thread for THE EX????????

There's an Ex thread around here, it's just hard to search for for obvious reasons.

http://www.tgrec.com/images/misc/the%20ex%20flier.jpg

I'm amped for that Lincoln Center show

haven't heard the whole record they did w/ Getachew Mekuria (if it exists) but the tracks I've heard are sick

It exists, and it's pretty great.

god the ex were soooooooooooooo amazing when i saw them here last year. if i hadn't seen boredoms and daft punk within hte same month or so it defly would have been my fave concert ever.

xp- yeah I guess that's a picture of the CD on the flyer there! my friend's been hunting for it but hadn't found a copy yet

There was definitely an Ex thread here somewhere that I started, but I can't find the thing at all. Great band though. Unfortunately only seen them once live, in about 1988 or so, but they totally brought the scorch.

The 2001 show with Unwound at Graceland in Seattle is the best show I've ever seen.

search:

History Is What's Happening
Tumult
Blueprints For A Blackout
Dignity of Labour
Pokkeherrie
both albums with Tom Cora
"Six" singles series
Instant
Joggers & Smoggers
Mudbird Shivers
Singles.Period.
Turn
Ex Orkest
any Ethiopian stuff

pretty good:
Disturbing Domestic Peace
Dizzy Spells
Starters Alternators
Aural Guerilla

meh:
Dead Fish
Too Many Cowboys

that's a pretty damn good track record for almost 30 years!

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000059MJX.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg

seen them at the great american in sf and they were mind blowing. electrelane opened and they were great, and the ex just pretty much blew them out of the water.

good times at Maxwells

Oh fuck yeah I'm in CHICAGO on those dates!

That Getatchew/Ex record is ridic btw.

Always swore by 1936: The Spanish Revolution EP myself. A lovely work of art. But if somebody's just now starting out with them, I'd recommend Singles, Period: The Vinyl Years 1980-1990.

yeah I just realized I forgot that 1936 photobook, it is awesome.

also, Hand Up You're Free is a pretty good collection of BBC sessions.

These guys are my second fav band, sooooo psyched for the Chicago shows!

sleeve's reccs are very accurate, except I might be inclined to move Dizzy Spells into the "search" section. Not a clunker in the bunch though.

This is making me feel less bad about not getting down to LA to see the Boadrum thing.

Aural Guerilla is totally SEARCH. That record is great. It's way better than Joggers Smoggers which is skippable if you ask me.

I love "Carcass" so much. Motorbike too.
Yeah, move that one into "search" also.

okay, now we just have to keep this thread on new answers from now on...

joggers & smoggers has some great stuff on it. probably shouldn't have been a dbl album, tho.

there's a lot of ex stuff I haven't heard but for some reason I think scrabbling at the lock is something I'm missing out on in particular.

scrabbling at the lock is amaaazing

The 2001 show with Unwound at Graceland in Seattle is the best show I've ever seen.

-- Mackro Mackro

Except that Unwound were are kinda boring that night.

Let's keep talking about the Ex. It would be nice if DJ /rupture was opening for them again.

Aural Guerilla is great! So is Disturbing Domestic Peace, for that matter.

In fact out of every Ex record I've heard, the only one I'd skip is Too Many Cowboys.

everybody should read the news entry on their website describing the (first) Ethiopian tour. it is consistently amazing throughout, a great read.

http://www.theex.nl/news11.htm

also search the documentary DVD Beautiful Frenzy.

more odds & ends... the split live tape with Dog Faced Hermans (Treat) is super noisy Aural Guerilla-era stuff. I would really like to hear the Ample tapes (Ample and Ample 2), 2 cassettes from the 90's/late 80's with all of their compilation tracks (some of which are great - "Choise" in particular).

The Ex movie "Building A Better Mousetrap", I think, is quite good.

haha I was just about to post this:

there's also a dvd documentary coming out on touch & go - build a broken mousetrap. supposed to be quite good.

I have not seen that one or the Bimhuis movie.

one more -

In The Fishtank EP with Tortoise is OK but far from essential.

I'd really really like A Beautiful Frenzy but the site listed on the Ex's site doesn't allow ordering, or doesn't have it in stock. Love the new DVD, though.

Speaking of the Ex's site, has anyone ever ordered directly from them? I'm sure it's not as complicated as I make it sound in my head, and I'd much rather give them my money directly

Too expensive in the States.

I ordered from them in the 80's and they were great. I have no experience ordering from their website.

the Touch & Go stuff is readily available in the US, but not much else except the 1936 book which is Alternative Tentacles/Midheaven.

also

The Ex

a couple of my favorite tracks from the ex -
'kokend asfalt'
'listen to the painters'

THE EX ROOL. But I'm unlikely to ever see them live. :(

"Kokend Asfalt"/"State of Shock" is probably my favourite song of all-time.

The DC show with Getatchew Merkuria and a guest Ethiopian dancer was alot of fun. They're in Baltimore Thursday night. When Merkuria put on a goofy crown and had a blanket/cape with an Ethiopian design on it wrapped around his shoulders and was strutting around blowing it kinda brought back Sun Ra memories for me, although most of the time they were much more in the pocket and funky/punky/garage-surf-loungy, and uh Ethiopian. I liked when the drummer sang. That clarinet player sure made some crazy sounds. Although I do not think Black Cat advertised the show towards DC's large Ethiopian community, nonetheless there were a fair amount of Ethiopians there (Plus folks from Fugazi and Half Japanese)...

dying of envy over here on the west coast

one of the best live bands i've ever seen in my life, hands down.

sad thing is I've got too much shit going on this week to get to their show in boston

;_;

both of the above comments are true for me too.

This isn't completely related but seeing the mention of Sun Ra made me think of it, and people in Chicago that are into the Ex & Getachew might be interested: there's a free show tonight at Millennium Park that's a tribute to Sun Ra led by one of his former bandmates, Phil Cohran. Goes from 6:30 to 8:00.

Got tix for tomorrow -- SO EXCITED YOU GUYS!

"Six" singles series

Are they ever going to compile this?

The liner notes for the singles comp said they'd do it one day, but that was about three years ago. What do liner notes know anyway?

curmudgeon: Did they mostly play songs from Moa Anbessa/Getatchew or did they play old saxophonized Ex songs?

I think it was mostly from Moa Anbessa/Getatchew (sheepishly must admit that I don't know their catalogue that well). I wonder if Al or Amon or any other Baltimore folks saw the Ottobar gig...

Saw the Cohran show yesterday and while it was nice to see the old guy get some props in the hometown it wasn't all that. As expected, the band wasn't very tight, the mix wasn't very together, and it didn't have very much to do with Ra aside from Cohran's Egyptian headdress.

There were a few long jammy, riff-based, pieces which featured Cohran on harp, kalimba, and French horn, a ton of gospel-soul vocals (solo and chorus), some funky piano and guitar licks, and some terrible, out of tune string playing. Then the Hypnotic Brass crew came out and did their thing, which wsa cool for me, 'cause I haven't seen them since the days when they played on Michigan Ave across from the Art Institute. Again, the mix was terrible, but the music was pretty enjoyable to me, 'cause I basically like what they do.

The sun started to set, the temperature was dropping, and I had to go work on some of my own music, so we left. Did anyone see if they finally busted out the old geezers sitting off to the side?

I'm not clear on what show you're talking about? Did Kelan Phil Cohran perform with the Ex and Getatchew Mekuria? I thought the latter two were in Baltimore Thursday.

Here's the W. Post review of Wednesday night

The Best Ethiopian Sax/Dutch Punk Fusion Ever

Friday, August 15, 2008; Washington Post C09

With a nearly 30-year history ranging from noisy squat-punk to equally noisy avant-garde improvisation, the Ex probably isn't the first band one would expect to hear backing up a septuagenarian Ethiopian saxophonist. But when the Dutch group performed with Getatchew Mekuria Wednesday night at the Black Cat, the common ground was broader than expected.

By dialing down the amplifiers ever so slightly, the Ex allowed Mekuria to hold the spotlight, playing intoxicating melodies over a series of Ethiopian standards that the group had arranged for its collaborative album, "Moa Anbessa." But the Ex, probably one of the most uncompromising bands in the history of uncompromising bands, could hardly refrain from making a little noise. A guest horn section augmented Mekuria's melodies not only with subtle harmonies but also with a host of atonal honks and squeaks. A few times the horn section even took a few steps back to allow Terri Ex and fellow guitarist Andy Ex room for thrillingly dissonant and athletic solos.

But Mekuria -- who built his reputation by transposing hoarse-voiced Ethiopian war chants into outward-bound saxophone melodies -- was completely at home amid the maelstrom. During a medley composed of the traditional songs "Aynoche Terabu" and "Shemonmwanaye," he blew melismatic spirals like an East African Albert Ayler -- free-form melodies that rivaled anything the Ex was playing on guitar. It was in these frequent moments of melodic chaos and ecstatic improvisation that the band's unruly Ethio-jazz-improv-punk hardly seemed strange at all.

-- Aaron Leitko

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081403384.html

The Ex

Oh, sorry, someone already posted that link. Anyway, for this sort of thing Google works well, w/query: site:www.ilxor.com intitle:"the ex"

fuck, i'm leaving town just before this show!!!!

No Cohran - Ex - Getatchew show, just kinda hijacked the thread. They're playing at the same venue, less than a week apart.

http://www.quarterlifeparty.com/getachew-mekuria-the-ex-ottobar-815/

the above has links to some youtube videos and the below to an interview

http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16154

Just came back from the Logan Sq show in Chicago - those ILX'rs working in the Loop on Monday need to take a long lunch break and enjoy this at Millennium park - it was so enjoyable. Off the hook and fun and you won't even find yourself wishing they'd play 'gonna rob the sperm bank.' Getatchew Mekuria is majestic!

I swear if anyone passes that free show up, I swear I'll...uh, keep enjoying the show but everyone should be able to! So I'll weep a bit
Last night was so wonderful, gorgeous, etc. Gave them some money and bought stuff, and asked for one of those posters that were laying under their stuff. I would like today's if possible

i wish i was in chicago : (

Me too :(

The free show in Millennium Park fucking ruled. Echoing comments above ... The Ex were The Ex, simply one of the best live bands ever as they prove every year ... the clarinet player was fantastic, the dancer was a treat, but Getatchew pretty much owned the stage and was beaming the entire time. Super great when he was admiring the clarinet solo and blew the guy a kiss! and yeah, he came out with the crown and coat, very nice.

The weather was perfect and there was a very decent, enthusiastic crowd for midday Monday.

Man, that was just too cool.

A couple of hours baking in the midday sun kinda fried me, but it was worth it.

I really am not floored by Merkuria, I find him a kind of noodly one-trick pony with a kind of soft, flat delivery (braces for ass-tearing responses) but the band was great, and after seeing them 20 times in different phases, I have to say that this was the most "different" set I've sen them play. Terrie and Andy usually rule the roost, and here they took a mostly support role in a set of highly arranged material by a fairly large ensemble, that was thoroughly rehearsed, and banged out the way a really veteran band can bang it out.

In part due to the amount of players, there was a real variety to the material, even if the pieces were fairly long, so it was sonically refreshing when a new song started. Kat sang probably more powerfully than I've ever heard her, which might have been due to the mix, but it was nice to hear her sound so assertive. Her voice can come off a bit shrill when she tries to project, but here it was just strong.

The horn section was ace and there were amazing textures coming out of the clarinet. I was wondering if the fact that clarinet was so much more present in the mix than the other horns was due to it not being contact mic'd. Anyone know who the bassist was? I thought it was supposed to be Colin, but it didn't look like him, although I haven't seen him in years, so he may have filled out.

At the risk of this sounding like a high school report, it was a beautiful afternoon, there was a nice turn-out by an expectedly diverse lunch-time crowd, including the obligatory Dog Faced Hermans T. On a style note everyone (in the band) looked good (I've missed them the last couple of times they were here), and Terrie is carrying the gray well.

I'm pretty sure the guy was Colin, at least those are the reports I'm hearing from others and am basing my thought solely on that. The songs Kat sang on were probably my favorites from both days.
I took a friend who saw them at that Touch & Go show those years back (also my first exposure to the band) and she said this grouping was much more engaging than just the Ex. Idk if I'd go that far...

I also have a huge crush on Terrie. And Andy. And Sok. And even Kat.

I caught them at the Middle East (Cambridge, Mass.). It was special. Thrilling to hear those Ethiopian melodies & rhythms delivered through the textures of post-punk and avant-jazz. Ethiopians in the crowd singing along. Joy in the room.

My only gripe is that Sok and the guitars were too quiet in the mix. I understand they've got to make room for the whole ensemble, but Terrie & Andy were barely audible. I found myself wishing they'd do at least one tune with the stripped-down Ex cast, just to get a satisfying dose of that guitar sound (which I loved so much last time I saw them). But I guess you can't have your cake etc...

Terrie, by the way, has to be my favorite musician in the world to watch on stage.

have to echo everybody else and say that the ex were really amazing when I saw them a few years back.

man, I'm leaving for vacation tonight and I am seriously bummed that I'm going to miss the nyc show. sounds like it'll be great. damn.

The 2001 show with Unwound at Graceland in Seattle is the best show I've ever seen.

Yes. At the Portland show (Crystal Ballroom), a brand spanking new Sleepytime Gorilla Museum opened. What a kick ass show that was... (though far from the best Unwound show I'd seen).

The Ex rule live.

my friend went and he picked up the gretachew/ex CD for me, which is near IMPOSSIBLE to get here in Mpls for some reason...it's really great.

any reports from the nyc show?

yeah it was cool, big crowd (damrosch park holds 3000+ I think? it was packed), perfect weather, they rocked

highlights: Getachew leaving stage for one song then making an entrance in his cape, insane clarinet solo, Ethiopian dancer getting everyone hyped up

if anything I think the crowd was MORE pumped up for the openers, Mahmoud Ahmed and Alemayehu Eshete who sang with the Either/Orchestra

I think they played most of the record plus a few extras that the drummer sang (Getachew would leave the stage during those)

have never paid them much attention before, but ditto, super show. The dancer was wildstyle!

clip from chicago (i think?) anyway, it's sweet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNwEVAWI00g

Alemayehu and Mahoud were worth it on their own.

how DOES he dance like that

My favorite move (not sure if it's in the clip up there) = his Chuck Berry duck walk, with HIS RIGHT LEG out straight as an arrow as the guitar (which he, of course, strums)