Mark Solotroff - Solo Synth Set - Tonight (5/8/17)

A final reminder for tonight's free show at The Empty Bottle with Wrekmeister Harmonies, Trevor De Brauw (solo guitar, member of Pelican) and DJ Skyler Rowe (Rash, Anatomy of Habit). I will be playing a doomy analog synth set.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1884123095210553/

Anatomy of Habit on Pelican's Decibel Playlist

Thanks to our friends in Pelican for including us in their new Decibel playlist -- and in such great company!

http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured/decibrity-playlist-pelican/

Late-Breaking Wrekmeister Harmonies Show (Fri. 8/9/13)

Sometime during the night, before my 5:00 AM alarm, J.R. Robinson sent me a cryptic text message (I turn my ringer off at night), instructing me to arrive at The Burlington at 9:30 PM on Friday night.  I assume this means that Wrekmeister Harmonies (personnel unknown) will be playing with Chord (featuring Trevor de Brauw from Pelican) and Bottomed.  If I knew more I would say so.

A great review of, and photos from, our recent Lincoln Hall show with Pelican and Redgrave. A big thanks, as always, to Brooklyn Vegan!

See photos here: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/chicago/2012/07/pelican_anatomy.html

Anatomy of Habit's sprawling compositions make for a captivating live performance. The fluctuating tension over the course of their seven-plus-minute songs creates a sense of drama that negates the attention span problems that could potentially result. Their performance at Lincoln Hall (on 6/29) consisted of the two tracks from their new self-titled EP and the noisy and heavy "Torch" from their self-titled LP. Frontman Mark Solotroff delivered his softer clean vocals with thoughtful inflection and enunciation, becoming more assertive as the group got louder, eventually yelling twisted melodies. Percussionist Blake Edwards complimented drummer Noah Leger (also of Electric Hawk) with a large gong bass drum and an array of industrial objects including a big spring and the brake drum of a car, which he hit and scraped with metal mallets. After the slow droning intro of "Torch," guitarist Greg Ratajczak provided a chugging rhythm that repeated throughout bassist Kenny Rasmussen's low-frequency noise experimentation. Rasmussen got on top of the subwoofers to create feedback through a PA speaker, and then proceeded to saw his bass, strings down, against the subs.

Tonight! (6/29)

Anatomy of Habit with Pelican and Redgrave (6/29)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/114166192058383/
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/event/3254292+Pelican+at+Lincoln+Hall+on+29+June+2012

Tickets: https://secure.tecturellc.com/lincolnhallchicago/cart.aspx?returnURL=http://www.lincolnhallchicago.com/Shows/06-29-2012+Pelican

Poster for June 22 Anatomy of Habit show

Tonight! (5/12)

Anatomy of Habit coverage in Brooklyn Vegan

A big thanks go to Brooklyn Vegan, as always, for paying attention!

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/chicago/2012/04/anatomy_of_habi_4.html

Revised poster for 5/12 AoH show

Poster for May 12, 2012 show

Updated schedule for Anatomy of Habit

+ Saturday April 21 at The Burlington with Man (Sean Patrick Riley from Bloodiest solo guitar)

+ Saturday May 12 at The Hideout with Chord and John Mueller

+ Friday June 22 at Cobra Lounge with RØSENKØPF, Maledicere and Sun Splitter

+ Friday June 29 at Lincoln Hall with Pelican

Arriver "Tsushima" LP release party tonight!

Tonight's Arriver show with Anatomy of Habit and The Swan King marks the official release of their new  "Tsushima" LP on BloodLust!  We hope to see lots of folks at The Hideout in support of the release and the show...  the exception being if you have tickets for Diamanda Galas at the Museum of Contemporary Art... but come out afterwards to catch part of the show and to hear DJs Arman Mabry (Rabid Rabbit) and Trevor De Brauw (Pelican) spin into the wee hours...

2/15 Show Recap

Thanks to everyone who came out to support the show last night! I know that the weather was a bit of a deterrent, as was it being the day after Valentine's Day, and all, but we still had a pretty respectable crowd on hand. Thanks also to Rabid Rabbit for asking us to join them, particularly as we had unfortunately had to back out of a proposed show last Friday at Reggie's. Hopefully we can make up for that cancellation in the near future.

My apologies for not getting the webcast information posted... I still do not have the details... but the entire show was broadcast/streamed last night -- and I will try to find out if it was archived. I know at least one person who was on their computer ("I watch you guys like a stalker") and witnessed possibly the most un-metal song intro ever -- as we opened with the debut of "After The Water -- and started it with everyone in the band clapping -- the audience joining in, too -- before launching into the song itself. The new piece went really well for us, and we were all pretty excited to finally reveal this new creation. I will be curious to hear what people thought of it... it is a bit more "indie"... for the first half, at least, before the heaviness kicks in. We followed with an extended version of "Torch" that ended with me singing/screaming into the empty soda fountain cannister that Blake drums on, adding to the echo on my voice... and Greg building an epic backwards loop that apparently ran for at least five minutes after we had all finally left the stage.

It was also great to sing with Rabid Rabbit on their closing number, "Gloomy Sunday," AKA "Suicide Song." I really enjoyed being part of the recording process and getting to sing it live with them was a treat. Bruce Lamont was also a part of the song, adding sax and deeply chanted vocals. It could not have gone more smoothly and effortlessly. That also had to be the most residents of Garfield Park to ever stand on the Empty Bottle stage at one time (5). Sorry Bruce, you need to move further west. No, not really. No one should.

The overall curating of the night needs a mention... Andrea and Rabid Rabbit put an excellent line-up together... from Let's Pet, who combined Neu-flavored Krautrock with a mix of dense shoegazer and(maybe) New Order-esque elements... lot of synths and keyborards mixed with chiming guitars... in a sense, pretty true cold wave music, in fact. And Reds and Blue played beautiful organ-driven proggy-psych-pop... at times calling to mind a less-motoric Stereolab, possibly??? Hazy and very pretty stuff. So, yeah, overall, a night of dark, romantic, and atmospheric music... at times heavy, at times not...

Also of note, last night Rabid Rabbit released a beautifully packaged, limited edition cassingle of the studio version of "Gloomy Sunday," and it includes a truly mind-warping backwards b-side. Guest players include Bruce Lamont, Dave Rempis, Michael Zerang, and me. The cassette is in a Norelco case with a jcard, and is housed in a hand-adorned, heavyweight tar-paper outer slipcase, maintaining the style of Rabid Rabbit's two vinyl releases. If anyone wants to acquire a copy, I would suggest contacting the group through their MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/rabidrabbitlives

Finally, thanks to everyone at the Empty Bottle, for helping to make it such an enjoyable night!

Oh, and thanks to Andre and Terence from Locrian, who surprised me with two big boxes of assembled "Territories" LPs that I had to drag home (ha!)... Holy fuck, it is great to see it done! Release announcement to follow, once the three other labels get their boxes...

Sneak Peek of 2/15 Poster