Monday, May 17, 2004

Bio, articles, reviews

Biography:

Decembers Architects are/were: Nate Holtz (lead vox, guitar, local hottie), Nate Kinsella (drums, Mr. Everything), Mark Swoverland (guitar, keys, fits of creative rage), Tim Cronin (bass, vox, the chillin' wallflower)

>>>Winner of Minnesota's Best Local Unsigned Band of 2000 from City Search's Best of the Twin Cities.

[Nate Holtz and Nate Kinsella also experimented in a side-project known as Mechanical Bull (top article), with Nate Wittenberg (guitar, vox) and Kris L (bass, piano). As far as I know there were no recordings completed.]

Mimosas Peloria are: Minus Nate Kinsella (drums), add Jacko (drums)

Nate Kinsella moved on to the Chicago area to be with his brothers in their band, Joan of Arc. An excellent band from a talented family. You can listen to Joan of Arc's mp3's here.



Discography:

-- "Fall/Autumn performance" EP (on Roll Music; out of print)
-- "bifocalbyefulcrumbymarionette" EP (on Roll Music; out of print)
-- unreleased, unnamed LP? (Adonis Music)
-- "Pop for Charity" LP (with the Decembers Architects' electronic "Pop 1 Remix") is available at Electric Fetus, Double Plus Good Records.



Articles:

(On Mechanical Bull)
Pulse: What are your musical histories?
Wittenberg: Nate K. and Nate H. play in Decembers Architects and they must have had lessons or something, ’cause they’re geniuses.
Pulse: If Mechanical Bull’s name isn’t a tribute to a Janis Figure song, tell me where it does come from.
Wittenberg: It’s actually a political statement against the capitalist war machine, which is modern media and her twin sister, advertising. Like, "We have T-shirts and CDs on sale in back." Oi.
Pulse: What do you forsee in the evolution of music?
Wittenberg: Music is so splintered, but on the 770 [Radio K] scene, it seems the "country sound" is hip, so we plan on cashing in big. You know, spend all our money on recording and touring and hope to break even. Maybe pick up a drinking habit and illegitimate child along the way.
Pulse: Before you go, tell me who is going to play you guys in the Mechanical Bull movie.
Wittenberg: Tim Robbins would play me, Jim Reeves--if he was an actor--would play Nate K. The next-door-neighbor kid in American Beauty would play Nate H., and the guy from Steely Dan would play Kris L. --Pulse

"Oh, and not only that, but one of the people in that apartment are in a band I like, Decembers Architects which released a song called, "upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbaba--start".

"Sometimes you just have to admit that there are people in the world who are far cooler than yourself." -- Ian Whitney

Bands comments on themselves:

"In the past year and a half, the handsome youth of Decembers Architects have learned to live a little, love a little, and perhaps, have made some friends along the way. The important thing, though, is their steadfast adherence to one basic ideal... Taco Bell - and lots of it." -- Music Scene



Reviews:

"The exhaust from the tailpipe of the mobile whips around like a ghost in the biting December air. Its four passengers, (who are deeply in love with one another), muse silently about what each other offers their underground institution - their indie rock band." -- Angelfire (punk, summer jam bands)

"These scruffy mops are the sort moms fuss over, but they spew noises no mother could love. Defying classification with their spring-loaded guitar hullabaloo and elasticized performances, they leave you scratching your head while cheering for more. " -- Scott Henkemeyer, CitySearch.com. The music of Decembers Architects is performed by: Nathan Holtz (plays the guitar, sings and has the sass), Timothy Cronin (adds some vocals, and is of the shy bass playing variety), Mark Swoverland (touches the keys, and does the guitar), and Nate Kinsella (mechanical drummer). -- At the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis

"One of the best kept secrets in all of guitar music. The Decembers Architects were quietly a revolution in math-rock with their stop & start time signatures scaling and then descending into moments of soft melodic chord noodlings. The greatest part about all this is I'm not even sure the band knew what they'd achieved." -- Dry Guy



Joan of Arc:

An excellent review of the bands latest.

"Musically, Joan of Arc glides along on softly plucked acoustic guitars, video game boings, keyboard blips, and fragmented sound collages dispersed attentively throughout their songs." "Conceptual and contextual, subversive and sublime, Joan of Arc is always inventive and often irresistible." -- Jeanne Acceturo, Epitonic
You can hear the bands mp3's at Epitonic or Insound.

"Tim Kinsella's adorably clumsy and off-kilter vocals make me wanna run up and give him a great big kiss. His fractured emote indicates that it's never too late for a man to discover his feminine side." -- Dry Guy



Adonis Music:

A pretty darn good summary (middle of page) of the bands with Tom Elko's music label. You might want to take a look since there are some new releases coming out in the not too distant future.


Remember 9-11


"Although we are no longer a band, I think that record is great and it would be a goddamn shame to just forget about it." --Nate Holtz, frontman of DA, on the unreleased LP

"Their music is ten years ahead of its time." --Tom Elko, Adonis Music

"It was the bands live show and almost prog-like experimentation that distances themselves from the rest. A melding of hyperactive punk, garage rock decor, and an unorthodoxed, yet cohesive, focused and insightful tempo exchanges." --Dry Guy