An astounding work of passion and patience over one thousand hours in the making, Long Beach musician/composer Chris Schlarb bestows his latest musical vision, Psychic Temple, onto the world. Known for his work as half of the hypnotic, jazz/drone duo, I Heart Lung, Schlarb’s latest work expands wildly in new directions, incorporating wordless vocal choirs, string quartets and horn sections into his 29-member ensemble.

Inspired by the rhythmic pulse of microhouse, and the melodic vocabulary of jazz and folk music, Psychic Temple is a deeply considered meditation on beauty. Recording began in January of 2009 and over the next nineteen months Schlarb collaborated with twenty-eight musicians (including four bassists, three drummers and six vocalists) to build Psychic Temple.

It would not be an exaggeration to boast that Psychic Temple contains performances from some of today’s finest musicians including Mick Rossi of the Philip Glass Ensemble, legendary Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, vocalists Julianna Barwick, DM Stith, Joel St. Julien (of ELLUL), Aaron Roche, trumpeter Kris Tiner, Brian Blade Fellowship pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley, Weird Weeds percussionist Nick Hennies, guitarist Danny Miller and drummer Tabor Allen (of Rare Grooves and The Widow Babies), bassists Steuart Liebig, C.J. Boyd and Anthony Shadduck, and Danny T. Levin and David Moyer on horns.

Credits
Composed, Arranged, Engineered, and Produced by Chris Schlarb

Recorded and Mixed at Sounds Are Active, Long Beach, CA.
from January 4th, 2009 – August 18th, 2010

Mastered by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering
Layout and Design by Elis Im
Photography by Ian Souter
Additional Artwork by Danny Miller
Mix Consulting by Ronan Chris Murphy
Master Consulting by TW Walsh

Track Listing
01. I Can Live Forever If I Slowly Die 10:10
02. Dream State > Police State 9:15
03. Daughters of Ursa Major 5:20
04. White Dove In The Psychic Temple 8:25

After countless remixes and guest appearances, DENEIR releases the his debut solo recording. The 7 track Nowhen EP curves acoustic sounds into new electronic shapes. Nowhen features contributions from The Weird Weeds‘ Nick Hennies, Melk The G6-49’s Karl Hoffstetter and Chris Schlarb. Not to be outdone, the EP also features a rare remix by Warp Records legends, Autechre.

Track Listing
1. Quantum Foam and Non-Spagettification
2. Load Universe Into Cannon. Aim At Brain. Fire!
3. n’exprimez rien
4. The Ten Thousand Things
5. Piaf Peeloff [mp3]
6. The Winding Ladder
7. The Winding Ladder (Autechre Mix)

Written and Produced by DENEIR

Kris Castro- guitar on “n’exprimez rien”
Nick Hennies- drums on “n’exprimez rien”
Karl Hofstetter- drums on “Piaf Peeloff” and “Quantum Foam and Non-Spagettification”
Chris Schlarb- electric guitar on “Piaf Peeloff” and “Quantum Foam and Non-Spagettification”
Giovanni Serrato- field recordings on “The Winding Ladder”

Artwork by Jonathan Dueck

Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, the music of Weird Feelings is inspiring both in the subtlety of its craft and the immediacy of its emotional impact, packing more ideas into 90 seconds than most bands do in a song three times that length. It is the result of relentless performing and songwriting as well as a firm commitment to faith in their own imaginations. With Weird Feelings, The Weird Weeds have established themselves as an important voice in the worlds of both pop and experimental music. They utilize the best of each genre while adhering to the constraints of neither.

The Weird Weeds are:
Sandy Ewen- guitar, vocals
Nick Hennies- percussion, vocals
Aaron Russell- guitar

with:

Tucker Dulin- trombone
Kurt Newman- pedal steel
Ralph E. White- kalimba
Nathan Gage, Red Hunter, Rory Seydel, Karmin Snow, Caila Thompson-Hannant- vocals

Track Listing
01. Bad Dreams
02. Weird Feelings
03. Nose to the Wind
04. In Your Arms
05. Tupper
06. Broken Arm
07. You Win!
08. For You to See Me [mp3]
09. Alley
10. Salt Shaker
11. One-eyed Cloud [mp3]
12. Cold Medicine

Press
“Call it what happens when Wire or the Minutemen’s aesthetic approach is applied to 21st century psychedelia … but the end result is a series of surprising and swiftly captivating performances.”- All Music Guide

“Exploring the line between post-pop and experimental noise, Weird Feelings is truly a record that must be heard to be understood.”- XLR8R Magazine

“…light years ahead of most bands…”- Dusted Magazine

“Hennies’s and Ewen’s vocal accompaniments are deceptively bare and utterly evocative. The rawness of the simple musical elements punctuates and elucidates often impenetrable lyrics… Weird Feelings is tempered with musings that offer glimmers of the coming thaw.”- Venus Magazine

“With… Weird Feelings, Austin’s The Weird Weeds have created one of the year’s strangest and most beautiful albums.”- Gorilla Vs. Bear

“…while these songs are unpredictable, they never sound haphazard or improvised; instead, the band plays and composes with high regard for subtlety.”- Pitchfork

“Weird Feelings, the second full length from Austin’s The Weird Weeds, packs hours of subtle psychedelia, curious changes, and gorgeous harmonies into a very trim and compact thirty minutes. Never before have two voices, two guitars and a drum set sounded so expansive and yet been played so succinctly and expertly … “- Indie Workshop

“…a beautifully unnerving experience.”- Austin Chronicle

“The Weird Weeds [have a] powerful grasp on both economy and subtlety, managing to say everything they need to in less than a minute and some change, allowing everything the song says to be delivered with the utmost regard for the effect all the individual sounds have on one other.”- Tiny Mix Tapes

“Quite captivating in a rather humane, schizophrenic way.”- Dream Magazine

Called the “best band in Austin, TX” by Tiny Mix Tapes, The Weird Weeds are an experimental pop band with two guitars, drums, male/female vocals, and lots of strange noises.

This Is Not What You Want is something of a departure from the group’s usual work in that the songs feature a quieter, stripped-down instrumentation including acoustic guitar and minimal percussion. Despite these changes, the music is still consistent with the band’s unique melodic and harmonic sense and knack for defying any predetermined genres.

The Weird Weeds are:
Sandy Ewen- guitar, vocals
Nick Hennies- percussion, vocals
Aaron Russell- guitar, vocals

Written, performed, and recorded by The Weird Weeds
except “Sweet Thing” written by Van Morrison and published by Van-Jan Music (BMI).

Artwork by Nick Czap
All tracks presented in 192kps.

Track Listing
01. See The World [mp3]
02. The Butcher [mp3]
03. Salt Shaker [mp3]
04. Sweet Thing [mp3]
05. Broken Arm [mp3]

Press
“It took all of 30 seconds for Weird Weeds’ new EP to fully blow my mind…there’s nothing half-assed or phoned-in about this; it’s solid, steady, stable music that can still get loose without sounding loose because it understands the subtle balance of hard work vis-a-vis hyper-creativity”- Portland Mercury

“Improvisational guitar phenom and University of Texas student Sandy Ewen, indie rock vet guitarist Aaron Russell (ex-the Teethe) and drummer Nick Hennies, who has guested with avant-pop melodrama queens Xiu Xiu — are one of Austin’s more compelling pop acts. Blending avant-garde tendencies with more rigorous songwriting…”- Austin American-Statesman