SOME EMBER

Photo

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 13:25:29 -0400

SE x ASCETIC HOUSE TEMPE AZ JUNE 29

Thu, 30 May 2013 21:35:00 -0400

SE x ASCETIC HOUSE TEMPE AZ JUNE 29

Photo

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:14:47 -0400

“It pays to be / on the edge of existence / just riding the...

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:56:17 -0400

“It pays to be / on the edge of existence / just riding the surface, my love”

Devon Welsh and Matthew Otto have created something very special in their debut album as Majical Cloudz—“Impersonator.” As an album, it’s a statement which is worth puzzling over, as so many already have. I’ve seen the album described as “arid” but also “lush,” “spooky” but also as “light,” or “beautiful.” People seem torn over the title—are these guys for real? Is it all a shtick? All seem to conclude that this music is powerful, and richly so. Like the greatest poets, Devon and Matt have succeeded in simultaneously mystifying and illuminating.

Any mystery the album exudes or confusion the title creates is demolished by seeing the duo live. It is in this setting that the listener can fully understand these pieces—they are meant as direct emotional transmissions, facilitated by the band and their music. The directness is key—Devon makes a point of eye contact with as many audience members as possible. Matt grins and punches a sampler which emits a bone-shuddering wave of bass. The effect is literally palpable.

It has been amazing watching this album go from the skeletal loops that Devon showed up at my house with early last year to a real LP being released on a respected label. I met Devon nearly two years ago at a Yalls show, and we quickly became friends. I met Matt soon after, in Montreal. I count this past year or so as being one of the most artistically meaningful of my life, in part because of these two. I will never forget the first time I heard Devon sing—in my room in Oakland at 2AM or so, as we recorded an early demo for “This is Magic.” I won’t forget the endless discussions we’ve had on art, music, poetry, and performance, or the weirdo beats and drones we would make in the middle of the night. Or the first show we played with Devon at my house, which I only learned afterwards was his first live performance of the Majical Cloudz material. Or, playing a show in Montreal at Duffy’s house (my first time ever visiting Canada) with Devon and Matt, everyone knowing all the words, Devon ripping off most of his clothes and curling up on the floor, singing his heart out.

Congratulations to my dear friends on the release of this truly beautiful and important record. Go listen to it if you haven’t yet. Buy it if you have some extra cash. Make sure you see them live.

axlecurse: Flag.

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:24:05 -0400

axlecurse:

Flag.

“Hear it, the sound of my...

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:47:21 -0400

“Hear it, the sound of my lungs”

http://pitchfork.com/advance/109-impersonator/

Some Ember - Flowers Open (Official Video)

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:31:19 -0400

Some Ember - Flowers Open (Official Video)

Photo

Fri, 10 May 2013 01:23:53 -0400

Video

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:04:12 -0400

http://someember.bandcamp.com/merch/some-ember-t-shirt

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:40:02 -0400

http://someember.bandcamp.com/merch/some-ember-t-shirt

majicalcloudz: Photo: Tonje ThilesenMe and Dylan (of Some...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:21:58 -0400

majicalcloudz:

Photo: Tonje Thilesen

Me and Dylan (of Some Ember) outside Swan Dive during SXSW

majicalcloudz: This is the video for “Childhood’s End”,...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:02:19 -0400

majicalcloudz:

This is the video for “Childhood’s End”, directed by Emily Kai Bock and starring my father, Kenneth Welsh.

Emily and I have known each other for a long time, going back to the days of Lab.Synthese, which was the venue she lived in and ran with Sebastian Cowan, Alex Cowan and others. I have been a fan of her video work for a long time so I was thrilled that she was interested in collaborating with myself and Matt.

I have been present at two of her other video shoots (for Grimes’ “Oblivion” and Solar Year’s “Brotherhood”) so it was an unfortunate but ironic twist of fate that we were on tour during the filming of this video. As a result, some of the details of its production are a mystery to me, but it makes it all the more fascinating for me to watch. My sincere gratitude goes out to Emily, Bobby Shore and everyone else involved in the production. It’s a truly cinematic video and we are honoured to have our song as the soundtrack.

I’m also very grateful to have a video that features my father Kenneth Welsh, who is a very accomplished actor and who has spent decades acting for the stage, film & television. His career has been a long one but you may know him best from the television show Twin Peaks. His performance in the video is very moving and I’m mostly just really happy to be able to collaborate with him in some way (this is not the first time he has collaborated with Majical Cloudz, as he played the flute and trumpet on two early recordings back in 2010).

Matt and I are both really happy and excited about the positive reaction to “Childhood’s End”. It’s always a strange experience to make a deeply personal song and then release it into the world and play it for lots of different people during tours. Even though it gains a whole other significance by becoming part of who we are as a band, it still remains incredibly personal on some level. So it’s great that other people can get something out of it too!

I was going to write a whole other paragraph here offering my convoluted interpretation of the video and its relation to the narrative of the song, but then I realized: I’ve already written way too much!

Thanks!

new track from the NP tape...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:24:00 -0500

new track from the NP tape <3 http://www.raccoo-oo-oon.org/np/

:::ASLEEP IN THE ICE PALACE::: our new cassette out on...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 15:15:00 -0500

:::ASLEEP IN THE ICE PALACE::: our new cassette out on Night-People

1. Asleep in the Ice Palace

2. Flowers Open

3. Serpent Necklace

4. Wave of Fear, Wave of Joy

5. Revelation

http://www.raccoo-oo-oon.org/np/

“era of wind” video

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:24:56 -0500

“era of wind” video

‎~ ♥ SOME EMBER FEB US TOUR DATES ♥ ~2/3 - Oakland, CA - The Uptown w/Wax Idols2/6 - Santa Cruz,...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:08:34 -0500

‎~ ♥ SOME EMBER FEB US TOUR DATES ♥ ~

2/3 - Oakland, CA - The Uptown w/Wax Idols
2/6 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Crepe Place
2/7 - SF, CA - Great American Music Hall
2/8 - LA, CA - On the Rox w/Light Vision
2/9 - San Diego, CA - The Void w/SISU + Cathedral X
2/10 - Tempe, AZ - house show
2/14 - Austin, TX - TBA
2/15 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jack’s w/(PRESSURES)
2/16 - Atlanta, GA - Peoplestown Palace w/Featureless Ghost
2/17 - Asheville, NC - Apothecary w/Alligator Indian
2/18 - Nashville, TN - TBA
2/20 - Blacksburg, VA - Carport w/Outlands
3/12-3/17 SXSW

more TBA! we love you!

:::ASLEEP IN THE ICE PALACE:::

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:49:28 -0500

:::ASLEEP IN THE ICE PALACE:::

Photo

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:03:55 -0500

ivory splay pulses around the glowing god-brain

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:11:20 -0500

ivory splay pulses around the glowing god-brain

pop montreal <3

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:53:00 -0500

pop montreal <3

SOME EMBER

Photo

SE x ASCETIC HOUSE TEMPE AZ JUNE 29

Photo

“It pays to be / on the edge of existence / just riding the...

axlecurse: Flag.

“Hear it, the sound of my...

Some Ember - Flowers Open (Official Video)

Photo

Video

http://someember.bandcamp.com/merch/some-ember-t-shirt

majicalcloudz: Photo: Tonje ThilesenMe and Dylan (of Some...

majicalcloudz: This is the video for “Childhood’s End”,...

new track from the NP tape...

:::ASLEEP IN THE ICE PALACE::: our new cassette out on...

“era of wind” video

‎*~* ♥ SOME EMBER FEB US TOUR DATES ♥ *~*2/3 - Oakland, CA - The Uptown w/Wax Idols2/6 - Santa Cruz,...

:::ASLEEP IN THE ICE PALACE:::

Photo

ivory splay pulses around the glowing god-brain

pop montreal <3

‎~ ♥ SOME EMBER FEB US TOUR DATES ♥ ~2/3 - Oakland, CA - The Uptown w/Wax Idols2/6 - Santa Cruz,...