sidewalk improvs from the rock of the eagle

This lengthy set of improvisations was recorded on Saturday night, March 12 2011, outside the Cactus Gallery in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Tom Paige is on the upright bass. 5-Track is playing the electric guitar.

http://www.5-Track.com/mp3/CactusJam.mp3

new SNOOSE JUNCTION release :: "The Echo Parks Department"

SNOOSE JUNCTION's "The Echo Parks Department" featuring Secret Weapon Woody, Sir Ian McKagan & 5-Track, is now available for your streaming or purchasing pleasure from Cosmic Primitive Records:

http://snoosejunction.cosmicprimitive.com/album/the-echo-parks-department

new SNOOSE forthcoming

The new SNOOSE JUNCTION release, "The Echo Parks Department," will be available on Cosmic Primitive this February 2nd, 2011. Here's a preview for ya:



Echo Park Lake Goes Down The Drain, part 2 by Cosmic Primitive

Snoose Junction South on the L. A. Record Winter Solstice Mixtape

Hi kids,

Here's a link to the Winter Solstice Mixtape 2010 listening experience at L. A. Record:
http://www.larecord.com/radio/2010/12/21/l-a-record-winter-solstice-mixtape

if you check the last song on "side 2"
you will find something by Snoose Junction called "EPD5".
What that is, is this:

Gerry Amandes ... keys
Ian McKagan ... guitar
Secret Weapon Woody ... guitar
5-Track ... guitar

It's from an album called "Snoose Junction Presents: The Echo Parks Department", recorded, mixed and edited by 5-Track at Duane St, Coronado, and Cat Valley in Echo Park, Los Angeles, USA, Earth, in mid-winter or very early spring of 2008, and due to be released on Cosmic Primitive Records on February 2nd, 2011!!

ZOOMSQUAD

out today:
reissue/remaster/reiteration edition of ZOOMSQUAD's debut




Zackery ... electric guitar
5-Track ... electric guitar
Danny ... bass
Nate ... drums

http://zoomsquad.cosmicprimitive.com

100% mind-melting "psychedelic" improv for your life

an mp3 of relevant improvisations

Summer Solstice 1999: Tapping The Channel (Bruce) by Cosmic Primitive

mp3: WILD WILD WILD CRAZY CRAZY WEST

Wild Wild Wild Crazy Crazy West (Snoose Junction) by Cosmic Primitive

RADIO FREE SNOOSE JUNCTION 12-28-2009

AKA Lutefisk Night at the Chai House ... the soon-to-be-defunct Chai House ... so it REALLY IS the Last Daze Of Ballard, after all ...

here's a recording made by Garrett Kelly of Hollow Earth Radio, featuring (so far as I can tell) John Leighton Beezer (guitar), Gerry Amandes (synth noise? guitar?), N8 (drumz!), John Foss (super-barrista-serenader) and the usual gang of idiots...

CLICK HERE FOR LUTEFISK SNOOSE

rite on

5 out

live GLASS GOBLINS featuring Snoose alumni

...including Cadets Woody and Evan *guitar & bass*, 5-Track *guitar* and Snoose Junction South (Echo Parks Department) honorary member Scott Keil *drums*


dig it:
http://www.archive.org/details/glassgoblins2009-08-28.amandasbasement

Listen Here: THE BEST SNOOSE EVER

I'll allow it could be possible, but I'll be amazed if we ever find a better Snoose Junction recording than this one:

http://www.archive.org/details/Snoose2007-06-26.Jewelbox

(Although... that one on CD-R Volume 2 is really nice in a completely different way... and this one doesn't even have Evan on it anywhere!! Hmm... I guess debating about the merits of different shows is part of the fun, yes?)

The sound is very guitar heavy - a nice big room to stretch out in - sparse pounding drum beats and droning distortion, washed-out space-keys and deranged vocals from Foss and Julianna The Human Theremin. Very Krautrock. Cause to rejoice.

This was recorded at the Rendezvous / Jewelbox Theater, a bit off the Snoose Junction beaten path, all the way out there in Belltown, Seattle, Earth.


Personnel includes:
John Leighton Beezer (guitar), 5-Track (bass guitar), Gerry Amandes (guitar), Vince Amandes (drums), John Foss (voices in your head), Julianna Brandon (The Human Theremin), Troy Swanson (keys etc)



"Songs" include:

01 Snoose In The Jewelbox
02 The Human Theremin / Calling Planet Ballard / Get Man Back Into Space
03 Swim Before You Crawl / D BOON Died Too Young!!
04 Jeff & Louise (Back Into Space reprise)

Track 3 is for Watt



If you need instant gratification, start with track 2. But it's ALL good. Just a lot of it hangs around a slow boil for infinite durations of shimmerness.


love & good luck,
5-Track

PAPER DOLLHOUSE JAM

There's some new improvs on this facespace page, featuring N8 and Zack and some other familiar noises:

http://www.myspace.com/paperdollrecordings

...courtesy of Paper Doll Recordings


dig it
5

focus on JOHN LEIGHTON BEEZER

Hello peoples,

for those of you rabid Beezerphiles, an interview with him has just been published on the web-mag PERFECT SOUND FOREVER. You can read the article here: http://www.furious.com/perfect/johnleightonbeezer.html


In case you want to know more about his work with Snoose Junction, here is a link to all articles on this blog which pertain directly to him: http://www.furious.com/perfect/johnleightonbeezer.html


good luck,
~5

Snoose Junction volume 4 - free music for your life

I'd been planning, for, like, years, to make this another CDr release, straight from the master minidisc to your earholes... But, thing is, there's studio recordings which are bound to come out and they, well, were recorded a lot better than these. So if I'm gonna ask for money for those, maybe I shouldn't be asking money for these. So - no more lo-fi CDrs - just hi-fi ones. And Snoose Junction volume 4 is now available here:

http://www.archive.org/details/snoose2007-01-22

...featuring musical contributions from Lindsay Vari, John Foss, Evan Strauss, 5-Track and friends.



dig it
5

ChromaSnoose

Courtesy of John Leighton Beezer:

http://johnbeezer.com/music/chroma.html

These are an assortment of excerpts from the Snoose conflagration of October 2008 which took place in the Chromasound Studios (last known home of the Greenwood Posse), compiled by John Leighton Beezer from the original 2-track recordings. Included is most of an improv set by Consider The Source, as well as jams featuring Gerry Amandes, Andrew Woods, 5-Track & John Foss and so forth. So far I like what I hear.

dig it
5

An online review of our LAST DAYS OF BALLARD SAGA CYCLE (otherwise Live On KEXP), from ExMogul Music

ExMogul Music, run by Susan White, has given our live-on-KEXP downloadable album ("The Last Days Of Ballard Saga Cycle") a short and glowing notice:

http://exmogulmusic.blogspot.com/2008/12/snoose-junction.html

Somebody likes us! Thanks, Susan.


np: Zinnia is singing to the cat

FREEEEELLLAAAAAAABBBBBB!!!!!

Neon Brown Presents has moved, and may now be found and listened to at:

http://ffrreeeellaabb.blogspot.com


The current entry includes contributions by Snoose Commander John Leighton Beezer:
http://ffrreeeellaabb.blogspot.com/2008/12/neon-brown-presents-full-of-life-and.html


Check back there for a constant stream of semi-biweekly improvised goodies from Andrew Woods and company...

Snoose-related video treat

a short video introduction to: "The Naturalization Of The Cetacean Nation" by 5-Track & Abalone Sandwich

directed by Christian Peet

musicians you can hear on this video include Andrew Woods (electric guitar), Donovan Raymond (electric bass guitar), 5-Track (electric guitar)

cd available here: www.5-Track.com

Resolution

Alright, the sounds and the images are back, y'all can crawl back out from wherever you were hiding in a panic of tremors and bask once again in the soothing balm of SNOOSE JUNCTION

Minor Technical Issues

Yeah, so maybe or maybe not you noticed, none of the mp3s or pictures are working right? Hmm? No? Well, don't be alarmed whatever. They'll be back in the near now. The site on which most of the media files are stored has just moved full-time to www.5-Track.com, and I gots to update a MESS of links!

FREE Album Download - Sonarchy Radio (5's mix)

www.5-Track.com/CDSonarchy.html

Personnel = John Leighton Beezer, Evan Strauss, Wesley Amundsen, Vince Amandes, 5-Track, John Foss

Not to take away from Doug Haire's broadcast mix of this same material, but I wanted to hear it the way I wanted to hear it. So click up above or on the image and you can check it out.

dig it

5

(we had a) Big Skunk Ape Party @ Chromasound, featuring Snoose Junction & Consider The Source

Wow, that was just exactly what I needed in my life!

At 8pm on Wednesday August 27 2008 I arrived with Gerry Amandes (Greenwood Posse) and John Foss (Greenwood Posse, Cantenna, Snoose Ringleader: The Iron Stomach) at ChromaSound Studios in Seattle, WA, Earth. John Leighton Beezer (The Thrown-Ups, Stomach Pump, Cantenna, El Grande Conquistadore, Snoose Commander) was already there, and so were the guys from Consider The Source, an instrumental trio from New York whose genre might be best-described as belly-dance-funk-fusion (or something). Usually they play songs, but we told them they weren't allowed.

Michael Faulhaber (Thrown-Ups, Snoose Admiral, Cantenna) was there, and Steve Turnidge. So were a few other folks including the studio techs and some short-term visitors, and in short order the jamming began with me on bass, JohnLeightonBeezer on guitar, Mr Faulhaber on drums, Mr Turnidge on the Hammond B-3, and lo - we brought forth a mellifluous shag-carpet of luminous groove.

Not sure if that one made it to tape, but most of the rest of the night did. Next set was me on bass again with Michael F still on the drums but with the addition of Gerry Amandes on the nightmare/wet-dream feedback guitar. Sounded like Les Rallizes Denudes without the songs or the bile. Possibly my favorite part of the night, certainly the bit I most look forward to hearing back!

It may have been around this time that Whiting Tennis (El Grande Conquistadore) played some drums, also. And Chavon sang at some point, as did John Foss.

Then came a MAD PHAT UNACCOUNTABLY AMAZING set by Consider The Source, during the course of which we received attendees straight from Neon Brown Presents @ Mr Spot's Chai House: Andrew Woods (Neon Brown), Evan Strauss, Woody Frank, Patrick Lenon, Zack The Orginal Guitar Player For Variety Pack Who Now Plays Saxophone (all 4 from Variety Pack), and several beautiful friends. Damn, they got there at a good time. We all boogied like mad with our jaws hanging down to our navels while Consider The Source altered the consistency of the walls of our mutual universe!

I believe the surprisingly funky round after that one belonged to JohnLeightonBeezer (bass), Davey B (drums), and Andrew Woods (guitar and sing). They were gradually augmented / replaced with myself (guitar), Woody (guitar), Evan (bass), Zack (horn) and Patrick (drums). Fun fun fun fun fun. Again, I can't wait to hear it back, though I suspect it was more fun to play that particular set than it will be to listen to it.

More from Consider The Source with JohnLeighton Beezer on 2nd guitar, then more from Evan, Woody, etc and me. Think that was it. Six hours worth, and most of it got recorded, live to 2-track digital.

Tracks should be forthcoming, um, a good healthy while from now when you've just about forgotten it ever happened - look forward to it!

Thanks to everyone involved - that was possibly the most fun I've had all year!

love
5

Late date: Snoose On Sonarchy KEXP

I just discovered, quite some time after the fact, that our performance on KEXP Sonarchy Radio can be listened to on Archive.org:

http://www.archive.org/details/KEXPSonarchyRadio_SnooseJunction

check it out - it's a good one, and the sound quality is GREAT.

I put together my own mix of this, by the way, and will probably post it somewhere eventually... If that interests anyone!

rite on
5 out

brand new Snoose-related CDs and thangs

5 sez:

There are 3 new CDs with which you may desire to occupy your attention.

None of them are officially "Snoose Junction" titles,
but every one includes musicians who you may know and dig
from our live shows or from existing Snoose Junction recordings.

Firstly, we have
Abalone Sandwich: The Naturalization Of The Cetacean Nation
This disc contains oceanic and largely drumless guitar drones,
plus a prose paean to interspecies comunication
and a genuinely global peace. I have never heard anything
quite like it. Dedicated to Dr John C Lilly.
Musicians =
Andrew Woods (Neon Brown) - guitar
Donovan Raymond (Midway Orchestra) - bass
5-Track - guitar
Andrew McInnis (Lemons & Stallions) - drums (track 3)

Secondly there is the mighty
Zoomsquad: Interstellar Mating Rituals
Zoomsquad opened up both of the Snoose Junction events
which took place at the excellent
Jewelbox Theater in the Rendezvous, downtown.
Parts of the first of those shows are on this disc,
along with many artifacts from the
Luxxe-house basement studio.
The music is improvised, ambient, heavy, groovy, tripped out
and genuinely democratic.
Musicians =
Zack, guitar
Danny, bass
N8, drums
5-Track, guitar

And thirdly, but by no means leastly,
Evan & The Modern Human Show: A Moose Supreme
Evan wrote all the tunes and lyrics,
played the bass and the kaoss pad
and he sang.
The results are notable.
Musicians =
Evan Strauss - bass, kaoss pad, sing
Pat Lenon - drums
5-Track - guitar
Charles Wicklander - intermittent keys



...and if that isn't enough for you,
go dig the Greenwood Posse:
www.myspace.com/greenwoodposse
Musicians =
John Foss - sing
Gerry Amandes - guitar
Vince Amandes - drums
Reyza - bass
...and cameos from the usual gang of idiots



more info on at least some of this stuff can be found at
http://www.5-Track.com


good luck
5T

LISTEN HERE: Clips from our CDs

I thought it might be for the common good to have all this stuff listenable to in one place...

So this is going to be that place!


Starting with two segments from our recent issue, VOLUME 3:
1 - Light (excerpt) - juicy groove with guitar and saxophone
2 - Dark and/or Heavy (excerpt) - clearly the devil has taken over


...moving on to the equally-creatively-named but somewhat more hypnotic VOLUME 2:
Part 1 (excerpt) - trance groove
Part 2 (excerpt) - total madness


...and lastly, as a special bonus, here is the elusive SNOOSE JUNCTION VOLUME ONE, in its entirety:
Part 1 - a long groovy jam with a preponderance of rhythmic ideas and not a whole lot of excessive ego-distortion
Part 2 - more of the same, but more people on the stage and somewhat less formal coherence. Not only is this Volume One, this is SHOW #1, and there is some debate as to exactly whose fault it was

All of these were recorded live to minidisc at Mr Spot's. Personnel tend to include John Beezer, John Foss, 5-Track, Evan Strauss, Donovan Raymond, Knute Jordan, Andrew McInnis, Sammy Lett, Gerry Amandes, Vince Amandes, Ian McKagan, Andrew Woods, Charles Wicklander etc etc.

Free Album Download from We're Late For Class

looks like this:


and sounds like this:
massmirror
or
divshare

and you can find out more about it
here.

Hint: think "spaced-out stoner improv"


5 sez:
I am not in this band, but I like them.
I also like free download albums in general.
here is another one by someone else

CD: SNOOSE JUNCTION volume 3

SNOOSE JUNCTION volume 3





This music was recorded on March 5 2007 at Mr Spot's Chai House, Ballard, Seattle, USA, Earth. Musicians featured include John Foss, Ian McKagan, 5-Track, Joe Reno, Michael Faulhaber, Gerry Amandes, Vince Amandes, John Leighton Beezer, Evan-S, Donovan, Knute Jordan, Sammy Lett, and maybe some other folks. The cover is from that month's original poster art by Sarah Francis Rosenfeld. I have cut the music down to about 79 and a half minutes.


1 - Light 40:56
2 - You Don't Have To Worry Anymore 8:29
3 - Dark &/or Heavy 30:25


post a comment, send an email, or click on the CD cover to obtain your very own copy...

Hmm...

Not a whole lot to add here, but it doesn't seem right that there's been no post since July, wouldn't want anyone thinking this was a DEFUNCT CONCERN, nonononono...

Speaking from the L.A. Office, I miss you guys a ton, was slicing-and-dicing the show from 3-5-07 yesterday (almost done, CD in the future) and it was SO NICE, music aside, to hear everybody's voices hovering around and swooping past the mic and trying to figure out just who the hell was playing what anyway

see yas in the future
5-Track

Ballard Seafood Festival

Foss sez:

Well,
I'm calling Snoose on ya all.

It's Seafood Fest in Ballard and I feel it is Snoose Junction's right to play on OUR stage.

No Badges needed.

Sat. Night we are going to snake a cord out of the Chai House or just plug in in the park that is Bergen.

We will try to go on as soon as we can after the o-fish-ul activities wind down, and the Glass shop closes and puts their displays inside.

So 7 p.m.? until we get shut down. Last year the cops let us go to 10.
My badge goes to 11.

Is Foss really going to Alaska?

Coastal Rovers Episode 1 says he is...

Check out the music at the beginning and end of the spot, BTW, that's Gerry Amandes and Snoose Junction: Greenwood Posse tearing up the Magna Freak (you can hear the whole track at our MurdochSpace Page!) I was in the room for the recording session, playing along even, but no mic on 5 so no hear me... But trust that I exerted an influence...? However slight or profound


np: Walter Wegmuller, "Tarot"

Summer Solstice 2007

Well, not the solstice proper, but the evening of the Fremont Solstice Parade to be sure.



Rain on and off... No word from MC Foss... People calling my phone asking what's going on, and me not answer... Closing on midnight...

Finally Foss checks in. Yes, on his walk from Ballard to Fremont he did encounter some drizzling rain, and no he has not yet been able to raise certain principle characters on the telephone, but we can play under this overhang provided we bring a million feet of extension cable and...

Alright, I'm there. Call Ian. Call Muscles. Call Danny (but she doesn't answer). Draft erstwhile Tom to help lug erstwhile bass rig to erstwhile pickup truck. Swing by frame store for PA head and a million feet of extension cable. Make Fremont.

The now-requisite Snoose Prelude of Cadet N8 playing as loud as possible on a drum kit somewhere, well, that's in full swing as I'm pulling up and the security people are looking nervous but Foss and Peter Beavis are talking them down and I can't tell if it helps or hurts to have another freak park and start hauling gear, especially since without electricity I can't join in. Chef Joe and some friends appear and one of them spells N8 - he sounds good and I want to play, but no outlet. Eventually Snoose Admiral Faulhaber makes the drum kit (which is his) ring not out for a time til I get plugged in and Snoose Commander John Leighton Beezer arrives with guitar and rig and Lo! There is music!

We are on the opposite side of the street from usual, in the past we have been tucked into a crevice between two awnings (subtle) and directed our amps more-or-less into the side of the building in front of which we are now playing - broadcasting the sounds rather up the hillside and into Fremont proper. Whee!

The jams are good, the sky is clear, I have a fish I like to hold... Wait... That's the library talking!

It's been slow on the Snoose scene since we quit the House of Chai, and although I've played with Evan a fair bit I hadn't seen JLB or Michael F in weeks. It sounded really good... And then Snoose Captain Gerry Amandes checked in with a guitar rig and something to put Foss through and we had vocals! Foss and Cadet Ian traded off, and then I took over drums until some random rude punk brit chased me off, but he sucked and left pretty quick (after all that) to be replaced eventually by a Columbia City veteran whose name I missed - he was terrific! I was on guitar by then, but I switched to bass when Beezer (showing more sense than anyone in sight) decided he didn't want to play an electric instrument in the rain.

N8 took the drums again, we lay down some slick and amorphous grooves and the cops came by (2 cars worth) to tell us to chill it out. Foss talked them down and they left, but they were back in fifteen minutes (3 cars this time, 4 by the time I left) around 3:30am. "It's our 31st noise complaint," Foss explained. "I told them to give us one more and they did and this is it. OK?"

And with a boom, N8 and I managed (miraculously) to stop at once on the beat.

That was Saturday/Sunday. Today is Monday. I slept 12 hours last night... Message from Foss this morning that came in while I was out: "Best... Snoose... EVER!"

CHAISTOCK in review

Technically it started on Wednesday night, the 25th of April, 2007, with a performance from Neon Brown Presents - The Woodsland Acoustic Orchestra, led and presented by Andrew Woods and featuring in this case Evan Strauss, 5 Philpin, David Smith and Bill Wolford on acoustic guitars, and Andrew Woods on a home-made but highly superior thing called a BassBox.

There was a touring folksinger-type-artist beforehand, but he wasn't technically a part of Chaistock. You could tell, if you hang around the Chai House a lot, in two different ways. 1) You hadn't seen this guy hanging around the Chai House a lot. 2) Foss wasn't working the door yet.

Part of the theme of Chaistock, to Foss' chagrin, involves him (in his capacity as M.C. Snoose Junction) standing at the front door all night trying to get a $5 donation out of everyone. This might be a Chai House first, to ask for even a donation at entry. Many musicians could talk their way past him, most regulars couldn't ("It's going toward a new P.A. This is for you, 'cos you're here every night!") and everyone else either coughed it up or ignored him completely.

The Woodsland Acoustic Orchestra is something that has been evolving slowly over the course of about 5 years of Neon Brown Presents. Andrew has wanted for some time to create something like it, and has gone so far as to assemble acoustic musicians for spontaneous improvised performances and module-based rehearsals, but only lately has he begun to organize it as an autonomous entity - with a name, even! The membership is loose but always of high quality, and the ideas being dealt with so far include an amorphous fractal improvised and "acoustic" response to electronic dance music, and a body of mutually understood spontaneous and unplanned verbal signals from various members of the group which lead us in an array of directions at the whim of the signaller.

In this specific case we threw down key-related changes, time-related changes, cohesiveness-related changes and we attempted to channel the energy of a guy in a baseball-type cap who was sitting at the big table with some friends. He had no idea, but he seemed to enjoy what we played.

Dancing to us on this particular night would have to have been for joy and not for much in the way of innate dancability to a lot of what we were playing. If you don't believe me or think that sounds like it might be amusing, check out www.neonbrown.com and visit the Jam Of The Week page.

Chaistock continued on Thursday night with the Scratching Post Open Mic All-Stars. I wasn't there, but I can attest that the amazing Operadisiac performed at some point.

Friday night began with Bob & Sheldon, followed by Local Comedy Night (it has a name, can't recall what it is) which had to contend with two Chai Protesters who arrived during their set. The protesters shouted things like: "T(ea) is for terrorists!" and waved signs and marched around.

After that was all over with, Glass Goblins played a set. Glass Goblins in this case was 5-Track (guitar and sing), Patrick Lenon (drums) and Evan Strauss (bass guitar). We played 3 long songs with few changes and lots of group-mind activity, plus a Guitoracle wherein we answered a psychic-type question for an audience member in the language of improvised earth music - can't remember the question or who asked it, does anyone else remember? Also we played "Season Of The Witch," and Foss sat in.

After Glass Goblins came JAPANDA consisting in this case of James (guitar), Donovan (bass guitar), Rob (bass guitar), N8 (drums) and Chris St Peters (sing). They blew everybody's mind, that's all. It was some LOUD, and it was some CHAOTIC, and it was totally unpredictable, and it even had dramatic coherency. (Did you read Rob's t-shirt?)

A band called The Scene played after that, who were probably not tehcnically part of Chaistock as measured by either factor, but they came all the way from California for reasons best known to them to play on this night and that has to stand for something, maybe a clue to the secret dark matter which describes physically the order of the universe... Or maybe not. Thanks, The Scene, for passing through our strange attractor.

The next day was the epicenter of Chaistock, the nexus or maybe even the crux, at least from my position as the center of my own universe. I showed up with gear around noon-thirty, went to breakfast and when I got back Foss was on the drums (!) and Donovan was playing bass. They'd been going for a while, so I spelled Foss on the kit and played for 45 minutes with Donovan. Shades of OM - great way to get in a zone, start the day with some primal rhythm section activity.

Evan showed up next. I switched to guitar and we made some of what Denali has called "guitar goo" until Chris Hogan showed up with... Who started us off on drums? Paul Turner, I think... Cos I think I remember him setting up his kit while Evan, Chris and I were still playing... But I'm not sure, it starts to get hazy there.

Most of the usual Snoose configurations (the what?) played for the next 3 or 4 hours without a pause, including stints by John Beezer (guitar), 5-Track (guitar), Evan (bass guitar), Donovan (guitar, bass guitar), Chris Hogan (guitar), various players of the electronic drum thingy, Chavon (sing) and, um, some other people. Special random guest for the afternoon was Jeremy Lightfoot (drums) who has played awesome bass with Danny Barnes, Siamese and Jive Turkey and sings with The Droneys.

Outside, and at the same time, rotating lineups of N8 (drums) were playing on the sidewalk. Allison (bass) played for a while, but I'm not sure who else exactly because I was inside playing for most of it.

Later on we had a visit from Noah (drums) of the groups Xenghaia and Falcon Engineers. He played with N8 (bass) and 5-Track (guitar) until Funklove materialized on the outdoor drumkit, then found his way to the indoor mic. He did his thing, wherein he sang us some grooves to chew on, then hit the mic with the right thing to sing, direct from the cosmic channel. A few minutes in, N8 swapped out for Donovan and swapped out for Paul T. This was nice, because Donovan, Paul, Funk and myself have a natural chemistry from having been vaguely around each other and sporadically sitting in with one another's muses for about 5 years now. We hit a flow that lasted for a while.

I took a break after that. I think I played the drums when I got back, and I think I remember ending the evening with a big goofy 2-chord jam. But that could have been last Monday... Which was also fun, by the way... The tape will surface when it needs air. Yeah, maybe I wasn't in the last jam on Saturday... We'll find out when I play it back!

Thus endeth the nexus of Chaistock... But Sunday was alright, too. The first band was, I am told, unexpected... But it worked out OK since Variety Pack was supposed to open and only 1/4 of the band was there. Evan, Ian, and N8 set up camp on the sidewalk and played to the traffic. They were louder than the outside jams had been on Saturday, mainly 'cos the amps were bigger and better on Sunday.

Did I mention that Sunday was under-21-musicians-only day? Part of Foss' gig was to kick anyone over 21 off the stage. Since that meant no jams for 5, I left after an hour or so... But I want to tell you that the outdoor jams on Sunday made me really happy, good-sounding amps ricocheting tone off the walls of downtown Ballard on a Sunday afternoon on a sunny sidewalk, a heavy electric improvising trio that understood how to use that space and work with its other occupants: busses, passersby, self phones, car horns, sirens and etc.

I didn't catch the end but I understand N8 moved his drums into Bergen Park after a while and played there until the "condo people" made him cool it.

Final Chai House SNOOSE JUNCTION Monday

Good morning!

Tonight
Monday April 23rd 2007
will be the final SNOOSE JUNCTION Monday
at
Mr Spot's Chai House
Market & Leary, Ballard, Seattle, Earth
8-10pm, all ages, free

For those who may not be aware
we play Non-Hierarchical Improvised Music For Your Life

This particular night is expected to feature
CANTENNA (Foss, Beezer, 5-Track and Sarah On The Drums)
PAWN COUNCIL AND FRIENDS (Turner, Donovan, 5, maybe others)
THE EVAN STRAUSS EXPERIENCE (lineup yet to be fully determined)
and also Happy Birthday Chavon!!

SNOOSE JUNCTION
will continue to perform:
on the radio
at house parties
where they keep boats
and other venues of various sorts


If you would like to be kept well-informed on the
future of SNOOSE JUNCTION
please reply to this email
and let me know!
We will add you to the SNOOSE JUNCTION emailing list

The current list will continue to feature vague and sporadic updates on
SNOOSE JUNCTION
as well as detailed information on everything else I do...


__
www.5-track.com
www.myspace.com/snoosejunction

Alternatives to Snoose Junction

Y'all may be aware that in the wake of the epic
CHAISTOCK event at the end of this month
(April 2007)
we will be terminating our residency at Mr Spot's Chai House

Until we find ourselves a new clubhouse, may I humbly suggest that you dig
Neon Brown Presents
every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at Mr Spot's

This consists of mildly conceptual improv with a rotating cast of musicians
(sound familiar?)
and has been going on for 4 or 5 years now...

The show is hosted by Andrew Woods
I am nearly always in attendance and often on the stage
as will be the case this Wednesday, April 11 2007
with additional guests:
Terry Parks (bass) and David Smith (drums)

see yas
-5-

Progress...

Alright, the MP3s are back...

??

Hey y'all -

Sorry for the missing photos and soundfiles, I am atempting to remedy the problem but Globat.com from whom I purchase my webspace is being what I would have to call

SINGULARLY UNHELPFUL

Hopefully it'll be under control soon... Why do people have to be this way?

love
-5-

LISTEN HERE: MP3s from 2-19-07 @ Mr Spot's

I especially dug parts 4 and 5... Part 1 is pretty phat as well... You know, it's all good or I wouldn't have put it up here

CLICK HERE FOR THE FIRST SET
featuring 5-Track (guitar), John Beezer (guitar), Evan Strauss (bass guitar), Charles Wicklander (keyboard), Patrick Lenon (drums) and John Foss and Aaron Gates (sing)

CLICK HERE FOR THE SECOND SET
featuring 5-Track (guitar), Gerry Amandes (guitar), Reysa (bass guitar), Charles Wicklander (keyboard), Vince Amandes (drums), John Foss and Aaron Gates (sing)

CLICK HERE FOR PART 3
featuring Chris Hogan (guitar), ? (guitar), Charles Wicklander (keyboard), Evan Strauss (bass guitar), Patrick Lenon (drums), John Foss and Aaron Gates (sing)

CLICK HERE FOR PART 4
featuring Chris Hogan (guitar), N8 (guitar), 5-Track (bass guitar), Charles Wicklander (keyboard), Knute Jordan (drums), John Foss and Aaron Gates (sing)

CLICK HERE FOR PART 5
featuring Gerry Amandes (guitar), N8 (drums), Reysa (electric bass)

see yas
-5-

LOOK HERE: pictures from 2-5-2007 @ Mr Spot's Chai House

Courtesy of Snoose Admiral Michael Faulhaber...














5-Track (yours truly):



Amy Richards on the mic, hazy Foss in the background:



The special-est of guests, Mr Andrew Woods of Neon Brown:





Snoose Commander John Leighton Beezer:





Snoose Cadet N8:





Chris Hogan is from outer space:



Chai House counter...



Chavon and Ian:





Donovan in the Octopus Hat:



Paul Turner, drums::





Evan Strauss: "A drum set? Why no, John Foss, what makes you think I have a drum set?"





Aaron Gates sings for his life:





So does Ian:



A few last enlightening images:












dig it
-5-

The High Dive @ Snoose Junction, 2-12-2007

Yes, I DO mean
"The High Dive at Snoose Junction"
'cos Snoose Junction is WHERE WE ARE
and it doesn't matter WHERE THAT IS...



It seemed to freak people out a little bit... It was Monday, alright, and we were all us... But it wasn't the Chai House, under-21s were being turned away and there was a big stage and PA and sound man and an opening act (singer-songwriter with acoustic guitar and deep voice, Kyle Hawkins) and it was all being put on by an absentee entity called 'nadamucho'...

On the plus side, Kent was working the door.

Anyway, we started with a trio featuring Wes Amundsen (upright bass), Vince Amandez (drum kit), and myself (electric guitar). The mood was groovin' and tribal and heavy and light and we kept it up for ten or fifteen minutes before Gerry Amandez joined in on 2nd guitar, then Juliana the Human Theremin stepped up and sang her heart out for a while, and then Donovan came up to add an electric bass to the mix... Full-on bottom end bedlam! I couldn't really pick out which bass was doing what (or even which guitar at times!) but the tone, feel and mood were right on.

At about this time, Paul Turner stepped up to take the drumsticks out of Vince's hands without a pause or even a tremor in the groove... The mania escalated as a gent from the audience stepped up to sing, then John Leighton Beezer showed up with the deadly Captain Trips virus somewhat under control and played the hell out of his strat for a while. Wes took a break and I took the electric bass off Donovan and donned the Octopus Hat while Chris Hogan took Gerry's guitar spot...

Eventually Wes came back to add bowed accents to my minimalist groove, Chavon and Amy finally got up to sing for a few minutes, and Knute took over the drums for the last ten minutes of the night. We had about the same turnout overall as a Chai House Monday, though it felt emptier being in a bigger room...

Everyone I've talked to had a blast... Thanks for being part of it! I am honored to play with and for all of you.
-5-

LISTEN HERE! 2-5-2007 @ Mr Spot's MP3s

This was too cool a night to try to say anything about it, so here are the recordings instead:

CLICK HERE FOR THE FIRST HOUR
featuring Andrew Woods (guitar and human voice), 5-Track (guitar), Evan Strauss (bass guitar), and Paul Turner (drums) plus John Foss and Aaron Gates do some singing and Mike plays the trumpet. We started in5/8, went ambient, came back in 7 and stayed there for a while, then got into some fast 12/8 ideas and then got really really slow and grooved heavy for about 30 minutes

CLICK HERE FOR PART TWO
This segment features John Leighton Beezer (guitar) and N8 Moore (drums) with Andrew Woods and Evan Strauss plus Foss, Gates and Mike on the trumpet. This starts about where part one leaves off, goes heavy latin for a while and then tumbles through some other ideas for a total of about 22 minutes

CLICK HERE FOR PART THREE
This segment features Michael Faulhaber (drums) and Donovan (bass guitar) but beyond there I have lost track of who is playing for most of this 43 minutes. I am playing Andrew's guitar for a while, but I think Andrew is back later on. I think Aaron Gates plays my guitar for a while. I believe I hear Chavon singing something amazing, and Amy Richards too (Amy is Keith Richards' bastard daughter)

CLICK HERE FOR THE LAST SIX MINUTES
Tragically we lost the best part of this jam when the minidisc filled up... That's Chris Hogan on the electric guitar, myself on the bass and Paul Turner on the drums. This excerpt is pretty cool, but we got WEIRD in the remaining half hour

Hope ya dig it!
-5-

Snoose Log re 1-29-2007

It was a tough night, and didnn't really hit its stride until it was almost done...

Whiting Tennis and El Grande Conquistador opened it up, but they never caught fire like they did the last time, maybe 'cos we started late or maybe 'cos we weren't sure exactly who was going to play until almost the second it happened. When I got there, we had no drummer lined up, we had 3 or 4 people making calls to 1-800-NEED-A-DRUMMER but they were booked, solid. Finally we lucked onto a kit, but no one to play it, at which time Mr Van Yserloo walked into the room, followed in short order by Mr Iverson, and - like that - a quorum was achieved.

But it was a slow-burn quorum, a smoldering quorum, a quorum that had seen its shadow and was on its way back to bed. The music was GORGEOUS in places, but stumbled and staggered and spat in between - and I have the tapes to prove it. After about a 1/2 hour of false but scintillating starts, JLB called a full-on change-up and kicked everyone (including himself) off the stage.

I took the guitar, Wes took the bass, Knute got on the drums (his first visit to Snoose Junction - and a long story in itself) and Diono from Ancestor Radio hit the congas (another first) and we played a set that went over real well but felt like an uphill jog on a hot day all the way.

Not sure what happened next - Danny played the bass and Joe Reno painted her picture, John Foss gave KP a birthday roast from the heart, N8 played the drums, Amy put the octopus hat on Iverson, then she took the mic and channelled an Indian shaman for 10 minutes, Spike took the mic but I couldn't hear what he said, and then

(it was as if the sun came out from behind a cloud)

there was this great jam from Chris Hogan (guitar), Evan Strauss (bass), Knute (drums), Foss (sing) and some mandolin player from Tennessee? It coulda gone on for hours, and then it stopped

What's A Joe Reno?

That's a picture that Joe Reno painted
(of me, tho at first I thought it was a landscape, perhaps a sunrise behind a purple mountain, or maybe a submarine, til I realized I was holding it the wrong way)
during a performance by Snoose Junction at Mr Spot's Chai House...

I saw one of his new ones the other day, a beautiful Mt Rainier with a pterodactyl

yup
-5-

Snoose Log re 1-22-2007

On this night (with Beth and Julie behind the counter) the first set was thrown down by Paul Turner (drums), Donovan (bass), Gerry Amandez (kaos guitar), and Aaron Gates (sing, guitar), and it was rocknroll

Beezer subbed in for Gates on guitar at 8:50, followed eventually by me on bass and N8 Moore on the drums. A kid with a guitar turned up and jammed powerchords with Chris Hogan for a little while, then Donovan took one guitar and a man I don't know took the other. He was going to step down after a few jams but Turner came back to the kit (replacing Mike Faulhaber) and told New Guitar Guy to stay right where he was

Roslyn came back this week to play the mouthpiece and eventually the whole clarinet ("not slower," she advised us as we dropped the dynamic for her approach, "just quieter") in a multiphony of duckcalls and cellular melodies while Ian McKagan took the mic (he had it in him, and it got to get out) and shared it intermittently with Amy and Chavon and Kansas City Cunningham

Where was Foss during all this? He was in the shower... But the new expanded format (thanks to Superbarrista Beth) allows him to shower and sing on the same night, and he was in the house by 9 in his Guatemalan Coffee Pickers Hat and a bright yellow shirt that says 'Fuma' (ask the Mugicians where he got it)

Some drunk came in and we let him make an ass of himself on the mic for a while but then he broke a tap off a keg and wanted to play the bass. Beth gave him the Big Red Snow Boot and he took a hike with his girl who couldn't stop laughing at him... "This is our clubhouse," Foss told them, "you can't be breakin up the clubhouse!"

The night wound up with Gerry on bass, Thomas The Cat Nelson on guitar, Foss and Amy and Chavon singing and Mike Faulhaber on the drums

Gerry was cool enough to bring out an ADAT and and a mixing board and get some hopefully decent live sounds to 8-track digital. Some of us have been laying down the sounds in his home studio in the middle of the night (check out Magna Freak) but this should be the best sounding live tape we've got yet, in our natural habitat

Snoose Log 1-15-2007

Tonight began with a set from the Columbia City All-Stars, which is to say, John Beezer (guitar) brought in Steve Turnidge on the bass (amp supplied by Snoose Cadet Evan Strauss), Mike Faulhaber on the drums, Jason Dennie on keys and vox, and John Lee on keys... I came in halfway through their set, chill and late for a change, with no responsibilities or gear, and boogied down with Zack and Danny from Luxxe while the All-Stars rocked it out good-like

The first substitution of the evening came at 9:15pm (Beezer offered me the axe at 8:45 but I declined as I played ALL NIGHT last week and ALL WEEKEND this week)... with Snoose Cadet Evan Strauss subbing in for Mr Turnidge, resulting in a funkier groove but a remarkable restrained and deep one for Evan, who likes to play the Irrepressible Mad Bass Funk. The keys set up some ambient drones, and I wandered onto the guitar for a time as Foss stepped up to finally sing some things

Paul Turner came up and took Mike's place behind the drums for some scattered aggro-fusion (or something) and then I got on the bass with, um, N8 Moore on the guitar and lay down fractured post-everything grooves with Paul until newbie Roslyn came up with her clarinet... "My instrument is a lot quieter than yours," she pointed out, so we (now including Chris Hogan on guitar instead of N8 and Mr Donovan on the keys) settled into a slow, chill, simple rock&r&b groove for a loooongg time and this woman Amy2 came up and sang BEAUTIFULLY from a chair next to the keys for a while, what a lovely, sweet slow jam it was...

I tried to get Danny up to play at that time but she wouldn't... So eventually I turned it over to Eric, who I met at Danny and Zack's house one New Year's Eve. Little did I know that Danny and Zack had eaten the leftover New Year's Truffles of Spike earlier in the night and were pleasantly zonked. Eric lay down the mad bass funk with John Beezer and Vince Amandes (drums) and then I subbed in for Beezer for the SuperBarristas Funk Jam dedicated to Beth who is the Man even if she is a Woman (The Very Reverend Betty that is)... Foss told everyone to get up and dance but they wouldn't so Amy danced like a whirling dervish in the aisle for a while and then

to cap it all off, Danny came up with Zack and N8 (and Donovan on the keys!) for some space-groove ambient improv that ROCKED AND ROLLED and I DANCE AND DANCED and th-th-th-that's all, folks!

Evan, thanks for letting us keep your gear late! Roslyn and Eric and Amy2, thanks for being the new kids! See yas in the future,
-5-

Snoose Is Up!

Tonight we are convening the Snoose Junction Greenwood Posse for another evening of crazed and unreasonable jams blasted into hifi digital immortality in the basement of a condemned house in (you guessed it) Greenwood, Seattle, WA, Earth

Personnel of course varies, but it's Gerry Amandez' house, for one thing, so he'll be there playing guitar and maybe some bass and running the studio. His brother Vince is a good bet for drums. Rey will likely be playing some bass. I'll play guitar. Foss will sing and I understand someone named Troy is going to be there as well

What tends to happen is, is that we lay down a lot of weird tracks in the middle of the night until everyone passes out and then Gerry mixes and edits it all down into something vaguely presentable and eventually it makes its way onto a CD and gets back to us. Last time it was John Beezer, Gerry, Vince, Patrick Lenon (drums - Glass Goblins & also Variety Pack), Foss and myself. We haven't heard that yet, but the tracks we have mixed include Gerry, Vince, Paul Turner, Foss, Rey, Donovan and myself

You can hear two tracks from that session at the Snoose Junction xxspace page: 'Magna Freak' and 'Live And Let Live'

Gerry sez these aren't finished mixes, and I believe him, but they're totally listenable and really spaced out... Ask Foss who plays what on which, he has it written down

Word from the Chai House is time to head for Greenwood. Snoose is up!

Snoose Log 1-08-2006

First Snoose of the year...

Starting lineup was Paul Turner (brought the drum kit with geegaws and whatnots and played the hell out of it) with Donovan on bass, Gerry Amandez on kaos guitar and 5-Track on guitar, eventually Aaron vocals and piano...

Then Foss on the sing, and then Vince Amandez on the drums, 5 on the bass, N8 on the drums, Chris Hogan on the guitar, and Sarah the Sometime Superbarrista's Sister (name? sorry I missed it!) on the post-Alice Coltrane piano stylings... And Rey on the kaos guitar, and then Donovan on it, too

Beezer sez:
" I decided I would only play if the quality dropped below the 95% level for more than 20 seconds. Y’all went and rendered me redundant ... but with a big grin on my face."

I think I played for almost 3 straight hours!
ptite...
-5-

Happy Birthday to Agent HH, 12/26/2006

This has been a test of our emergency Snoose Junction Hotline...

Wherein, with little advance warning and only 15 minutes notice to convene, we were able to raise a quorum and then some, with which to converge upon the Center Of The Known Universe, aka Mr Spot's Chai House, at or around 8:15 pm local time and commence to BRING THE HOLY NOISE

In the service, as it were, of commemoration of an adjunct unit, the organism known as Agent HH. Let it never be said that Snoose Junction does not take care of its own!

Time restrictions, though established with firm clarity early in the proceedings, proceeded to warp and bend ala tube-driven Dali. Snoose Cadet Evan Strauss provided the low end with able assistance from Donovan. John Beezer and myself brought in the guitar amplification and accompanying axes (bold as rain) with assistance from Chris Hogan in the P.A. and guitaristics department. Big Stephen sang the boogie and in deference to the Agent no one called a foul on the non-improv state of his boogie - especially since half the room was dancing!

And the benevolent deity Reverend Betty, she who walks between the Chai jugs, she who presides over the evening's wave/fractal incursion, not only allowed this all to continue well past the prophesized Time Of The Closing (and on a Tuesday no less - ain't that supposed to be Chess Night?) but instigated in full complicity the conncluding James Brown Memorial Funk Jam, for our fallen Soul Brother #1... I'm not saying it was great, but we tried, and the whole room boogied down this time at the command of latecomer John Freakin' Foss: "This is a dance party, everyone!"

Props from the 5 to everyone who made it out to play, sing, dance, or otherwise pay tribute to the birthday girl. Had this been a genuine emergency, casualties would likely have been nil. A night that requires Snoose Action will not catch us napping

Snoose Junction & Musical Channelling, 12/22/06

So far in Snoose Junction, nearly all the music has been of an intentional but entirely freeform character. The only exceptions I can think of (in 6 months of weekly performance) are a) John Foss’ “Superbarristas” closing theme, which itself most likely originated as an improvisation, and b) an instance of Guitoracle which took place in December 2006, although the purely improvisational nature of El Grande Conquistadore (November 2006: Beezer, Iverson, Tennis, Van Yserloo) has been debated, mainly the contribution of singer / guitarist / visual artist Whiting Tennis.

The set by El Grande Conquistadore was nonetheless one of my favorite sets to date, and if Tennis is in fact bringing preconceived material to the stage, the results are still largely intentional freeform channelling with Whiting's contribution serving as a catalyst, since I know John Beezer won't play in bands that rehearse or play songs...

Snoose Junction improvisations are characterized less by form or preconception - most consisting of stream-of-consciousness themes and variations which arise from musical dialogue between the players - than by juxtaposition of different energies in the form of different combinations of musicians. In this sense we are all the composer, and an absence from the stage is as much a part of the picture as a presence.

-5-

SNOOSE LOG re: 12/18/06

Separate reports label this the Best Snoose Ever!

We had Andrew Woods from Neon Brown playing the oddly-tuned and often-tapped 6-string guitar with a hidden microphone in the volume pot, all night...

And we had Michael Faulhaber on the drums, followed perhaps too quickly by Dave Foley (he was walking by and we flagged him down) who played GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT, followed I think by N8, followed by Paul T (and that's just the first 4 drummers!) by which time I had switched from guitar to bass. Evan had started off on the bass but took a breather and graciously allowed me to play his fretless 4-string bundle of joy while... Thomas "The Cat" Nelson I think picked up the guitar at this point, and Chavon came up to help John Foss out with the singing, then Amy came up to help out Chavon, and left-handed Woody turned Evan's bass upside-down and played a great coupla jams with Evan on the Kaoss Pad and John Beezer on the 2nd guitar and Chris Hogan on the 3rd guitar, and then Woody and Evan swapped places, and then... I'm not sure what exactly happened but then this girl I've never seen before played some terrific guitar and Michael was back on the drums and it all wrapped up around 11:30 with a big fat heavy groove that went on for DAYS! And I think it ended with a trio of myself and Chris Hogan on guitars, no bass, Michael on the drums, and Foss singing "SuperBarrista" to the chords from "Stand By Me" ... Some monday night!

see yas
-5-

Snoose Log re:11/27/06

'scuse the same post as m-sp-c- page, still ironing out the details of the overarching concept...
-5-

Last night:

Jason Dennie came out to play keys and sing in a band with John Leighton Beezer, Soctt Boggan and Michael Faulhaber... Very excellent, pswampy psoul psych... The rest of the night involved 5-Track on guitar, Spencer on the drums, Nate on the drums, Evan on the bass, 5-Track on the bass (for a minute, and the drums for even less), and Paul Turner on the drums. Have I forgotten anyone? Oh yeah: Chris Hogan on the guitar!

np: Thunder Before Dawn (south african compilation on vinyl)

Let It Snow... Chai House Monday Night

re: 11/27/06
Beezer Sez:

"Hi,

I’m pretty psyched about the line-up for the Chai House tonight ... and even though the weather may make it tough to get around, I can’t think of a better place for a warm drink (cider, tea, hot chocolate, chai ...). Or a cold beer, for that matter.

Come by if you can make it ... here’s the starting line-up:

Drums, Mike Faulhaber. The original guitar player in the Thrown Ups, who has somehow morphed into a subtle and totally tasteful jazz drummer (?!).

Bass, Scott Boggan. A musician who earned my undying respect freakin’ 20 years ago in Room 9 ... still astonishing and a natural at improv. Scott’s latest ensemble is Down With People. Here’s their MySpace page:

Down With People!

Guitar. Yours truly ... and as an added bonus, we’ll rotate 5-Track in as early as I can stand to let go of the axe, Eugene.

Vocals & Keyboards, Jason Dennie. The man behind the Columbia City jams makes the trek out to Ballard. Jason will be playing his new Nord keyboard which is said to be capable of emulating the classic Hammond B3 sound, which I kind of have a thing for. To hear what Jason has been doing lately, here’s a link to the MySpace page for The Western Shore, where he’s on keys and vocals ...

The Western Shore!

We have also invited Michael Uxa to rotate in on saxophone. I’ve never heard him play sax, but he’s an incredible drummer, so we’ll see what happens. If you’re jonesing to play tonight, send me an e-mail and I’ll try to rotate you in, too.

As usual, the music starts at 8:00 and goes to 10:00. Feel free to forward ...

JLB"