Michael Yonkers

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This name came up as a guy who recorded some great lost rock circa 1968. What's the scoop?

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 30 August 2002 17:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Here's what I know.

http://citypages.com/databank/23/1112/article10262.asp

― Keith Harris (kharris1128), Friday, 30 August 2002 18:08 (twenty-three years ago)

probably the best 60s reissue in the past decade - if you see it buy.

more later, i've got to go eat.

― your null fame, Friday, 30 August 2002 19:19 (twenty-three years ago)

anyway - "microminiature love" is a brilliant album. yonkers' guitar is a rattling, churning blues-descended maelstrom best compared to syd barrett's work on the first floyd album (but only insofar as it's obviously derived from old bluesmen and taken somewhere way out). the music has a distinctively american 'lurch' to it that reminds me of the godz when they were playing their more song-y pieces on "godz 2." there are two songs ('boy in the sandbox' and 'puppeting') that feature some quite amazing uses of home-made effects boxes ranging from harsh white noise to a churning, warbling wah-wah type drone.

yonkers' lyrics are pretty damn solid as well, focusing on themes of individuality, society, war, etc, in a way that resonates quite well even now and doesn't really seem corny. his voice, which is slightly odd, might turn some people off but i reckon this album is in my top 10 psych albums; it's that good. why de stijl decided to limit the reissue so severely (99 copies, supposedly) is totally beyond me, i would think they could sell 500-1000 easy.

it. fucking. rocks.

― your null fame, Friday, 30 August 2002 21:59 (twenty-three years ago)

99 copies? The fuck?

I could burn more CD-Rs in mere days than that. LAME

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 31 August 2002 03:20 (twenty-three years ago)

i totally agree, which is why me and my friends have distributed it as mp3s. the free market rules again!

― your null fame, Saturday, 31 August 2002 04:10 (twenty-three years ago)

hi,
destijl did not limit the yonkers lp to 99 copies. thats absurd! where did you hear this? i did do a couple of series of 99 editions but it wasn't the yonks rec. i pressed 1000 and it sold way too fast; i only have 3 left.
thanks for the kind words, i will fwd them to michael.
best,
clint

― clint, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 18:32 (twenty-three years ago)

hi,
i forgot to mention that the micro lp will very likely soon be a subpop CD and i'm sure no one will have any trouble getting their paws on that...
best,
clint

― clint, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 18:42 (twenty-three years ago)

clint:

good to hear - i had several people (including the store i bought the LP from) tell me it was 99 copies. maybe this was just a false assumption based on the hototogisu LP or something. good news on the CD release...

sorry for spreading misinfo.

― your null fame (yournullfame), Saturday, 7 September 2002 22:24 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

Wow. I'm a believer.

― Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 21:38 (twenty-two years ago)

here's my review:

http://villagevoice.com/issues/0347/eddy.php

― chuck, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I read that a couple months before I picked up the CD, good stuff. You're right, the unhinged yelps are great. I didn't think that a record could match the bad trip vibe of the first Mad River lp but this might be it..

― Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 21:54 (twenty-two years ago)

it's fantastic, a total favorite of mine. i saw him at cmj last year, and the few solo songs he did were kind of meh but the rest of the set, with full band, was outstanding. his voice was still eerie and strong, and he seemed so proud to be playing.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 21:58 (twenty-two years ago)

i hated it upon initial listening but it's grown on me, especially the title track.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

three years pass...

i just listened to Grimwood (coming out soon on De Stijl). i really like it. way more than Microminature Love. it sounds more like a really acid fried folk album. super atmospheric. tons of tape hiss. seems to be in normal tunings (my complaint of the other album).

― jaxon, Thursday, 9 August 2007 18:12 (eighteen years ago)

so i'm assuming that's some oooooold stuff, right?

― hstencil, Thursday, 9 August 2007 18:20 (eighteen years ago)

1974 i think. it's weird folk stuff, nowhere near as interesting to me as microminiature but still quite good.

seems to be in normal tunings (my complaint of the other album).

buh? what's wrong with different tunings?

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Friday, 10 August 2007 03:25 (eighteen years ago)

oh, i musta written it on the other yonkers thread. i wasn't really feeling the other album because i felt like it sounded like sonic youth :-/

― jaxon, Friday, 10 August 2007 04:23 (eighteen years ago)

lol, when i played it at work once this dude came over and was like "is this hendrix?!?"

"grimwood" is a whole 'nother beast but it's hitting the spot. thanks jaxon!

― hstencil, Friday, 10 August 2007 06:08 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

Michael Yonkers is playing tonight in St. Paul with the Blind Shake.

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 23:08 (eighteen years ago)

It's the "Grimwood Re-Release Party," sorry to be so last-second about it...

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 11 September 2007 23:10 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

Wow "Microminiature Love" is fucking awesome!

― I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 18 September 2008 16:54 (seventeen years ago)

yeah it's great.
i don't think he can play live anymore : (

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 18 September 2008 17:10 (seventeen years ago)

eight months pass...

some friends of mine do a podcast zine thing and have a big yonkers interview episode

http://tevscast.podomatic.com/

― i would never want a book's autograph (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 10 June 2009 16:06 (seventeen years ago)

That was great, thanks M@tt!

I'd never heard that first song in there either -- gotta track down that cd.

― city worker, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 18:12 (seventeen years ago)

My old Skin Graft band opened for Hair Police, Michael Yonkers, and Dream Aktion Unit (Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, etc) about five years back. Great show. Yonkers was the least of it though.

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 11 June 2009 07:00 (seventeen years ago)

four months pass...

grimwood is perfect on a rainy, kinda cold, dreary day like today.

― ACIID BARF (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 17:28 (sixteen years ago)

My old Skin Graft band opened for Hair Police, Michael Yonkers, and Dream Aktion Unit (Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, etc) about five years back. Great show. Yonkers was the least of it though.

― Nate Carson, Thursday, June 11, 2009 7:00 AM (4 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

nate u were on skin graft????

― i feel like i'm an antenna and i want to be that antenna (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 17:38 (sixteen years ago)

also new (very old) yonkers record - Michael and the Mumbles is coming out soon

http://destijlrecs.com/mumbles.html

― i feel like i'm an antenna and i want to be that antenna (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 17:40 (sixteen years ago)

I've heard good things about the record w/ The Mumbles.

― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 18:18 (sixteen years ago)

It's pre-Microminiature Love, from what I understand.

― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 18:19 (sixteen years ago)

yep real early stuff

― i feel like i'm an antenna and i want to be that antenna (M@tt He1ges0n), Wednesday, 28 October 2009 23:45 (sixteen years ago)

five years pass...

this goldberg record - produced/released by yonkers -- is pretty happening if you're into the loner folk/private press thing: http://lightintheattic.net/releases/1738-misty-flats
https://light-in-the-attic.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/release_image/17580/image/thumb_325_tmp_2F1433433190792-g920qeyt974aemi-8d132313cf4c53d454f61e34aaec98fb_2FGoldberg_Outside.jpg

― tylerw, Monday, 3 August 2015 21:43 (ten years ago)

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