The Squid's Ear Magazine


Surplus 1980: Pigeon Obstacle Course (Surplus Industries)

Created out of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and drummer/percussionist Moe Staiano's Mute Socialite, this 7-piece improvising rock band turns rock on it's side in mostly instrumental, energetically complex and twisted rock pieces with acerbic social narrative, the band employing three drummers, bass & two guitars, piano and trumpet from Darren Johnston.
 

Price: $12.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 4.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Melne Murphy-guitar, glockenspiel, Bundt pan, vocals

HL Nelly-bass

Mark Pino- drums, cymbals

Moe! Staiano-percussion, vocals, Bundt pan, prepared guitar, marimba, bells, drums, molodica

Bill Wolter-guitar, piano, prepared guitar

Darren Johnston-trumpet

Feona Lee Jones-piano


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




Label: Surplus Industries
Catalog ID: G1506
Squidco Product Code: 28006

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: Czech Republic
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded at Santo Recording Studio, in Oakland, California, on October 21st and 22nd, and November 4th, 5th, and 22nd, by HL Nelly.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Surplus 1980 is a San Francisco Bay Area-based post-punk band founded in 2009 by former Sleepytime Gorilla Museum multi-instrumentalist Moe! Staiano.

As alluded to in its name, Surplus 1980's music takes cues from the angular bands of the 1980s such as Dog Faced Hermans and Diagram Brothers and fuses it with the heavy, fierce attack pioneered by The Ex and The Fall to create their own blend of modern no-wave angst. Combined with Staiano's playful lyrics, Surplus 1980's music is a thick slab of out-jazz, with more than a dash of punk ferocity.

Staiano originally created Surplus 1980 as a studio-only collaboration, with the goal to further a musical journey begun with Staiano's previous no-wave instrumental group, Mute Socialite. After recording, Moe! assembled a live configuration of the band with guitarist Bill Wolter (Inner Ear Brigade). The line up coalesced with the addition of guitarist Melne, drummer Mark Pino and new addition, HL Nelly on bass.

Surplus 1980's debut album, Relapse In Response, was released in 2011 on Staiano's micro-indie label, Dephine Knormal Musik. Moe! plays most of the instruments himself, but the recording also features a noteworthy stable of musical collaborators including Carla Kihlstedt, Matthias Bossi, and Dan Rathbun (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), guitarist Ava Mendoza (Mute Socialite, Fred Frith), violinist Meredith Yayanos (Faun Fables), and cameo appearances from Andy Moor (The Ex) and G.W. Sok (the Ex, King Champion Sound).

In 2013 Surplus 1980 released a new work, Arterial Ends Here, which features the current live band, as well as another vocal/lyrical collaboration from G.W. Sok, and orchestral textures from clarinetist Aaron Novik, percussionist Jordan Glenn and oboist Kyle Bruckmann.

Two new recordings were done in 2017 and 2018 - a new full-length record, and the Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl, which includes every musician that has played with Surplus 1980, current and past, performing as a whole. The instrumentation composed of three drum kits, five guitars, bass, contrabass, saxophone, oboe and keyboards.

Since 2011, Surplus 1980 has played shows all over the region with some of the Bay Area's most notable creative music luminaries, including Fred Frith Trio, miRthkon, Free Salamander Exhibit, Jack O' the Clock, Moetar, Dominique Leone Band and Grex. In 2012, Surplus 1980 was one of the 8 bands chosen to participate in Undercover Presents' "Black Sabbath Paranoid," a unique show in which an influential album is chosen to have its songs reinterpreted with the personal vision of different artists."-Dephine Knormal Music


Artist Biographies

"Melne Murphy is a West Coast guitarist known for the bands Surplus 1980, Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl With G.W. Sok, Têtes Noires."

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/3308186-Melne-Murphy)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Mark Pino began playing drums at the age of 13. He has performed in the SF Bay Area and other parts of the country since the early 1990's. Mark has shared stages and playing situations with many talented individuals, and is grateful to all of them, most of all those who have shared their insights with him. He considers himself a band player, first and foremost. He also plays percussion with Cloud Shepherd, The Ruminations, and other experimental/improv groups. More on his work is available at markpinoondrums.blogspot.com"

-Acousmatique (https://acousmatique.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-the-luggage-store)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Moe! is conductor and composer for the Moe! Staiano Ensemble, (formerly Moe!kestra!), a large-ensemble avant garde orchestra, which can feature over 30 musicians playing everything from violins, clarinets and cellos to drum kits, oscillators and electric guitars. Moe! Staiano Ensemble performances are high-energy, electrifying experiences that create unique and memorable soundscapes that intrigue and beguile.

Moe!'s innovative solo percussion shows feature prepared drum kit, found objects, audio looping and the inventive use of a "percussion guitar" woven in with performance art, which always gets the audience involved and eagerly expectant of what might happen next.

Moe! also fronts Surplus 1980, a post-punk band that continually evolves its journey of no-wave progressive and percussive musical exploration. Surplus 1980 features Moe!'s bracing guitar and wry wordplay and a wide palette of timbres from the multi-instrumentalist members of the group.

Over the years, Moe! has worked with a veritable who's-who of the Bay Area creative music scene, including Ron Anderson (the Molecules, RonRuins, PAK), Tom Nunn, Vacuum Tree Head, Z'ev, Amy X Neuburg, Ava Mendoza, Nurse With Wound, David Slusser, Karen Stackpole, Ches Smith, Michael Evans (God Is My Co-Pilot), Caroline Kraabel & John Edwards (Shock Exchange), Gino Robair, William Hooker, Tom Dimuzio and has performed with all these plus Henry Kaiser, Mark Growden's Electric Pinata, Amy Denio, Cheer-Accident and sfSoundGroup among others.

Solo Percussion

Moe! performs solo percussion shows, some are based around a modified drum set and looping, while others include "playing" a variety of found objects. His performances are always interesting and engaging, and often include the audience as a participant, as well as observer.

Moe! Staiano Ensemble (formerly Moe!kestra) is a large-ensemble avant garde orchestra, which can include over 30 musicians that play everything from traditional classical instruments and percussion to contemporary mainstays like electric guitars and drum kits.

Moe!'s ferocious conducting leads the ensembles through his own compositions--epic forays into sonic landscapes from pastoral and evocative to jagged and frenetic.

Moe! has created over ten works for his ensemble, including the dramatic and safety-glasses-encouraged "Piece No.1: Death of a Piano"--which climaxes with a frenzied crescendo and Moe! destroying a piano with a sledgehammer.

Collaborations

Moe! has collaborated in small ensembles with notable musicians such as Amy X Neuburg, Aram Shelton, Jordan Glenn, Thollem McDonas and more."

-Moe! Staiano Website (http://www.moestaiano.com/about.html)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Since settling in San Francisco in 1997, Canada-born trumpeter/improviser/composer/songwriter Darren Johnston has collaborated and recorded with an extremely diverse cross-section of artists. His interests rotate around composing instrumental music, writing songs, and performing all styles of jazz, experimental and purely improvised music, as well as traditional music of the Balkans, Greece, and Macedonia.

He has performed and/or recorded with luminaries such as ROVA Sax Quartet, Fred Frith, Myra Melford, Ben Goldberg, Matt Wilson, Mark Dresser, Marshall Allen, and many others.

As a composer, he has written for jazz and/or non-idiomatic improvising groups, big bands, string quartet, and even a multi-generational choir, with songs based on a collection of immigrant letters. He has written for dance companies such as Amy SeiwertÕs Imagery, Deborah Slater, Axis Dance, Robert MosesÕ Kin, Liss Fain, and others, as well as for dance films."

-Darren Johnston Website (http://darrenjohnstonmusic.com/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Pigeon Obstacle Course 4:49

2. Temporarily Present 11:56

3. 261 7:43

4. Perilous Night No. 4 1:45

5. Failure of Commitment 7:04

6. Question After Ended Questioned 6:01

7. A Motivated Song About Procrastination 7:12

8. Is That Better? 7:34

9. Morale Is High 6:12

Related Categories of Interest:


Rock and Related
Improvised Rock
Improvised Music
West Coast/Pacific US Jazz
Septet recordings
Song Based Music
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Rock Forms

Search for other titles on the label:
Surplus Industries.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Other Recommended Releases:
Surplus 1980
Illusion of Consistency [VINYL + CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Surplus Industries)
Composed using an "exquisite corpse" method during the pandemic, where each player provided a partially complete track with instructions to expand their concept, enlisting an incredible set of musicians across the US & Europe, directed by Moe! Staiano, including Jesse Quattro, Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, GW Sok, Amy X Neuburg, Darren Johnston, &c &c.
Surplus 1980 + G.W. Sok
Kremlin Gremlin [VINYL 7'']
(Surplus Industries)
Reminiscent of the packaging of early releases from The Ex, the vocalist from that band--G.W. Sok--provides the words for the first tracks on this 7" from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum drummer/composer Moe! Staiano's long-running band, a brutal wordplay stab at Russian president Putin for his invasion of Ukraine; plus a dub remix of a song on the upcoming full-length Surplus 1980 album.
Coultrain
Phantasmagoria [VINYL]
(577 Records)
West Coast songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Coultrain, aka Aaron Michael Frison or Seymour Liberty, in an collection of songs based around a sequence of images reminiscent of a dream, capturing the hazy state of mind that drove the process behind this album, as well as its dreamy effect; soulful and introspective, an album of poetic observation and reflection.
Coultrain
Phantasmagoria
(577 Records)
West Coast songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Coultrain, aka Aaron Michael Frison or Seymour Liberty, in an collection of songs based around a sequence of images reminiscent of a dream, capturing the hazy state of mind that drove the process behind this album, as well as its dreamy effect; soulful and introspective, an album of poetic observation and reflection.
Squid
Bright Green Field
(Warp Records)
Blurring the boundaries of popular rock, composed and electro/experimental/ea forms, with hints of The Ex, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, LCD Soundsystem and their own happily quirky sound, Squid was formed in Brigton by Ollie Judge (Drums & Lead Vocals), Louis Borlase (Guitars), Arthur Leadbetter (Keys, Strings & Percussion), Laurie Nankivell (Bass & Brass) and Anton Pearson (Guitars).
Powerdove
Bitter Banquet
(fo'c'sle)
Keyboardist Annie Lewandowski (London Improvisers Orchestra, Fred Frith, Samech) composed this song cycle about ancient Greek figures in collaboration with David Yearsley, Theresa Wong and Russell Greenberg, poetic pieces contrasting traditional use of instruments with subtle experimental approaches in a unique and fascinating set of compositional strategies.
Surplus 1980
Pigeon Obstacle Course [VINYL + 7'']
(Surplus Industries)
Created out of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and drummer/percussionist Moe Staiano's Mute Socialite, this 7-piece improvising rock band turns rock on it's side in mostly instrumental, energetically complex and twisted rock pieces with acerbic social narrative, the band employing three drummers, bass & two guitars, piano and trumpet from Darren Johnston.
Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl With G.W. Sok
Forget All This
(Music a la Coque)
Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl takes the current members of drummer Moe! Staiano's Surplus 1980 along with associated musicians, including Kyle Bruckmann, John Shiurba, Vicky Grossi, Paul Costuros, &c, with vocals from Dutch vocalist G.W. Sok (The Ex), in an album of avant post-punk rock, sophisticated but determined and pointed music, an unusual hybrid of impressive styles.
King Champion Sounds / Surplus 1980 (Moe! Staiano)
Split [7" VINYL]
(Tractor Notown)
A split 7": on one side Sleepytime Gorilla Museum percussionist/drummer/composer Moe! Staiano's West Coast rotating ensemble Surplus 1980 in a teaser for an upcoming release with G.W. Sok, Kyle Bruckmann, members of Fred Frith Trio and Total Shutdown; on the other side King Champion Sounds featuring G.W. Sok, formerly of the Dutch band the Ex.
Spectral (Dave Rempis / Darren Johnston / Larry Ochs)
Empty Castles
(Aerophonic)
Spectral, since 2012 the working horn trio of Dave Rempis on alto & baritone sax, Darren Johnston on trumpet, and Larry Ochs on sopranino & tenor sax, split their time between San Francisco and Chicago, in their 3rd album of spontaneous, complex free improv, here using the setting of Bunker A-168 in Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve, CA, to influence their performance.
Frith, Fred / Darren Johnston
Everybody's Somebody's Nobody
(Clean Feed)
Bay Area trumpeter Darren Johnston meets improvising guitar legend Fred Frith for an incredibly well-paced series of duos, remarkable improv that uses space, skill, extended techniques and unexpected approaches to both instruments in vivid and beautiful discourse.
Mute Socialite
More Popular Than Presidents and Generals
(Dephine Knormal Musik)
Dynamic and hyperkinetic songs from this West Coast band with Moe! Staiano (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum), rugged and impressive instrumental rock including a cover of Massacre's "Killing Time".
Johnston, Darren
Edge Of The Forest
(Clean Feed)
Bay area trumpeter and bandleader Johntson in a set of original compositions performed with Ben Goldberg, Sheldon Brown, Devin Hoff and Smith Dobson.
Staiano's, Moe! - MOE!KESTRA!
2 Rooms Of Uranium Within 83 Markers: Conducted Improvisations, Vol.II
(Edgetone Records)
Two live conducted improvisations percussion for large group recorded at the Oakland Box Theater, presenting the 6 part Piece No.11: Two Orchestras in Separate Rooms.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Allbee, Liz
Rille
(Relative Pitch)
Berlin trumpeter Liz Allbee's solo work focuses on the interaction of voice, extended approaches to her instruments, which includes her self-designed quadrophonic trumpet, electronics and acoustic homemade instruments, on Rille presenting four enigmatic works of dramatic pacing--environmental and rhythmic--guided by impressionistic spoken words and moments of tonal clarity.
Fielder, Alvin / David Dove / Jason Jackson / Damon Smith
The Very Cup of Trembling
(Astral Spirits)
Five inventive, lively and informed collective improvisations plus one brief interlude from the quartet of Alvin Fielder on drums, David Dove on trombone, Jason Jackson on tenor & baritone saxophones and Damon Smith on double bass, recording in Texas three years after their excellent From-To-From, with titles provided courtesy of poet and scholar Fred Moten.
Arcane Device
Circuit Dreams
(pulsewidth)
Using a combination of controlled feedback, samples, computer processing and Eurorack electronics, Arcane Device aka David Lee Myers continues his long exploration of electronic music, focusing here on evolving and complex patterns complemented by beautiful tones and occasional rhythmic foundations, a great collection of elegant electronics.
Garcia, Violeta / Chris Pitsiokos
Uanmortaim
(Relative Pitch)
From fractured and fragmented to assertively raw improvisation in the unusual pairing of saxophone and cello from Chris Pitsiokos on alto and Argentinian cellist Violeta Garcia, using intense approaches to their instruments in a reactive set of 11 concise dialogs, a well-matched meeting of innovative improvisers uniquely responding to and clearly enjoying an eccentric conversation.
Lopez, Brandon Trio
Live at Roulette
(Relative Pitch)
Calling his music jazz and not jazz, bassist Brandon Lopez demands of his listeners to dance, as the quartet of Lopez, Steve Baczkowski on saxophones, Gerald Cleaver on percussion and Cecilia Lopez on synthesizer are heard in this energetic live concert at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, blurring free jazz with experimental sound that never loses its strong grooves.
Consorts
Distinctions
(Spoonhunt)
Composer Dominic Lash's Consort ensemble explores the possibilities of combining sustained-tone music, guided & free improvisation, and the relationship between acoustic and amplified sound, heard in this evolving, extended concert at Café Oto on Lash's 40th birthday, in a unique mix of acoustic & electronic instruments that even includes an amplified kitchen sink!
Ulher, Birgit / Damon Smith / Chris Cogburn
The Eternity-Cult
(Balance Point Acoustics)
A building and extended set of fully free improvisation using unusual techniques, from the trio of Birgit Ulher on trumpet, radio, speaker & objects, Damon Smith on double bass and Chris Cogburn on percussion & electronics, Ulher using the trumpet as a sound source as much as a conventional instrument, as the trio builds from near silence to intensely controlled interaction.
Jone, Jean Claude (JC) / Raymond Boni
Visions of Sound
(Kadima)
Twelve studio improvisations between Kadima-label leader JC Jones playing on a lap-steel plugged in Spanish guitar and French guitarist & improviser Raymond Boni, also performing on harmonica and electronics, where Jones, leveraging his history of work as a double bassist, often takes on the role of percussive/rhythmic foundation against Boni's incredible explorations.
Doneda, Michel / Frederic Blondy / Tetsu Saitoh
Spring Road 16
(Relative Pitch)
After 30 years of collaboration between French saxophonist Michel Doneda and Japanese double bassist Tetsu Saitoh, this 2016 recording was to be their last due to the premature passing of Saitoh, the two heard here in a trio with pianist Frederic Blondy recorded for Radio France in a remarkable and consuming performances of fully free and often darkly savage improvisation.
Belisle-Chi, Gregg
KOI - performing the music of Tim Berne
(Relative Pitch)
After hearing Matt Mitchell's solo piano album performing the music of saxophonist Tim Berne, Brooklyn-based acoustic guitarist Gregg Belisle-Chi asked himself how Berne's compositions would sound on his own instrument, reaching out to the composer for guidance as he went into the studio to interpret and record these 10 Berne compositions.
Puntigam, Werner / Beat Keller / Georg Wilbertz
UND JA, AND YES
(zOaR Records)
Freely improvised, noisy chamber music performed on guitar, trombone, conch shell, drums & percussion from the trio of Swiss guitarist Beat Keller, Austrian trombonist Werner Puntigam and German drummer Georg Wilbertz, bridging genres while keeping a sense of free jazz as an implied basis, with a sly sense of humor and wonder through marvelous technique and timing.
Philippakopoulos, Anastassis / Jurg Frey
Wind And Light
(elsewhere)
Wandelweiser composer and pianist Anastassis Philippakopoulos presents four solo clarinet pieces performed by fellow Wandelweiser member, Swiss composer and clarinetist Jürg Frey, and three solo piano pieces performed by himself, in a beautiful album of delicately minimal and fragile music inspired by and reflecting the natural landscape of Greece.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC