The Mercury Impulse "Records of Human Behavior" Announced

 

Re-post via EarsplitPR   THE MERCURY IMPULSE: Experimental Drone/Noise Project Featuring Members Of Wrekmeister Harmonies And Anatomy Of Habit To Release Debut On August 23rd; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available  Photo by Elena Solotroff Experimental drone/dark ambient/noise duo, THE MERCURY IMPULSE, will release their debut full-length, Records Of Human Behavior, on August 23rd, today unveiling the record’s first single and preorders. THE MERCURY IMPULSE was created in 2024 by JR Robinson and Mark Solotroff. Robinson is well known for his group Wrekmeister Harmonies and Solotroff is best known as the frontman of Anatomy Of Habit and BLOODYMINDED. Robinson and Solotroff were first introduced to each other in late 2011, during the formation of a group of musicians that would perform with Robinson in January 2012, under his Wrekmeister Harmonies name, at the Museum Of Contemporary Art in Chicago. This ensemble, drawn from the city’s metal, experimental, classical, and improvised music scenes, came together to play a live score to Robinson’s film, You’ve Always Meant So Much To Me. Solotroff and Robinson continued their collaboration over the following years, performing as a duo and in large ensembles, including multiple legendary shows at Bohemian National Cemetery, as part of the Beyond The Gates series, which Robinson spearheaded. This in-person creative relationship paused in late 2015 when Chicago was no longer the home base for Wrekmeister Harmonies. Over the years, the two had developed a strong friendship while working together, and although music was shared at points in time after Robinson left Chicago, it wasn’t until early 2024 that the idea of a new approach materialized, based on recordings that Solotroff had sent Robinson for a proposed Wrekmeister Harmonies album. Sparked by Robinson’s initial work with a set of existing unreleased recordings, the two set about recording new material, heavily driven by analog synth and guitar noise, and marked by a conscious decision to work rapidly and not risk damaging the creative freedom that they were enjoying in the process. Records Of Human Behavior is the result of approximately three months of active collaboration between friends. While the intensity of early Throbbing Gristle and the vast space of Lustmord are touchstones the album has a rawness expected from Solotroff’s contemporary analog synth drone/ambient releases combined with the expansive sonic landscapes that Robinson’s albums are known for. In advance of the record’s release, today the band unveils “Infinite Repetition” with Solotroff noting of the track, “I hadn’t planned on adding something new to my list of active bands and collaborations at this point in time. JR and I had discussed and had worked on music together that was meant for Wrekmeister Harmonies, but which ultimately wasn’t used. Something stuck with us, though. We worked at a pretty good pace on these tracks, and when we reached this song, ‘Infinite Repetition,’ it was like our already wide-screen view blasted out into some sort of IMAX aspect ratio. I think it’s given us a clear view of where we might take things next…” Stream THE MERCURY IMPULSE’s “Infinite Repetition” at THIS LOCATION. Records Of Human Behavior was recorded at Giants Ledge, in Rosendale, New York and The Confluence in Chicago, Illinois, and mastered by Collin Jordan at The Boiler Room in Chicago. The record will be released on CD and across all digital platforms. Find preorders at THE MERCURY IMPULSE Bandcamp page HERE. Records Of Human Behavior Track Listing: Behind Dull Glass Keeping My Second Self Invisible I Heard The Earth Falling Primitive Instincts Miles Of Smoldering Trash Remanded To The Back Of A Mirror Infinite Repetition Lessons Of Apathy https://themercuryimpulse.bandcamp.com https://wrekmeisterharmonies.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/wrekmeisterharmonies https://www.facebook.com/wrekmeisterharmonies23 https://marksolotroff.com https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/marksolotroff https://www.facebook.com/solotroff For The Mercury Index coverage inquiries, contact liz@earsplitcompound.com. Earsplit PR | Liz Ciavarella-Brenner | www.earsplitcompound.com   MARK SOLOTROFF Website Instagram Facebook Bandcamp Spotify Apple/iTunes Amazon (author page)

Copyright © 2024 Mark Solotroff, All rights reserved.

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/

Mark Solotroff at Museum of Contemporary Art - 11/22

Esther Shaw and J.R. Robinson of Wrekmeister Harmonies have a new piece called "Oscar Screams" for Pope.L's "Cage Unrequited" at the MCA. Mark Solotroff and Billie Howard will be doing a reading on Sunday November 21st, at exactly 3:18 PM.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1658767217728180/

This event is FREE to the public.

"Cage Unrequited" is a 25-hour marathon reading of experimental composer John Cage’s influential book "Silence: Lectures and Writings" (1961) organized by visual artist Pope.L. The performance reimagines the book for contemporary audiences by filtering a bit of the past through the voices and attitudes of a diverse community of more than 100 invited readers from Chicago.

This program is presented in association with the exhibition "The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music 1965 to Now."

"Cage Unrequited" was originally commissioned and premiered as part of "Three Duets, Seven Variations," a special series of performances organized by Adrienne Edwards, Performa, and Thomas J. Lax, The Studio Museum in Harlem, during the Performa 13 biennial for the New York presentation of "Radical Presence: Black Performance" in Contemporary Art at The Studio Museum in Harlem and NYU’s Grey Art Gallery. Radical Presence is curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver, Senior Curator, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

For more information visit http://www2.mcachicago.org/event/mca-live-pope-l-cage-unrequited/

Wrekmeister Harmonies - Night of Your Ascension (Official Album Trailer)

Mark Solotroff with Wrekmeister Harmonies this Sunday

https://www.facebook.com/events/734253963358971/

Mark Solotroff will be playing synth at another Wrekmeister Harmonies show, this weekend (Sunday May 3), at The Empty Bottle, with Two From The Eye, Sanford Parker's new solo affair. You can listen to some tracks here: https://twofromtheeye.bandcamp.com/

Mark Solotroff with Wrekmeister Harmonies tonight

Heads-up! We're starting a bit later tonight in order to give folks time to swing by after the Six Organs of Admittance show at The Empty Bottle.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1548453172102234/

Wrekmeister Harmonies - Comfort Station - Halloween 2014

Wrekmeister Harmonies - Comfort Station - Halloween 2014 - Sound Check (L-R: Mark Solotroff, J.R. Robinson, Esther Shaw; not pictured Matt Jencik); Photo by Matt Jencik

Video: Wrekmeister Harmonies - August 30, 2014

Wrekmeister Harmonies at The Owl, Chicago 7-30-2014 - From Alexander Hacke:

On the 30th of July 2014 Alexander Hacke and Mark Solotroff (of Bloodyminded) joined J.R. Robinson under the guise of WREKMEISTER HARMONIES at The Owl in Chicago, IL in "an attempt to completely shatter your mind" as the event was promoted. This is the entire show as filmed by Danielle de Picciotto. No modifications were made on neither picture nor sound.

http://vimeo.com/103616264

Wrekmeister Harmonies Photo

Wrekmeister Harmonies Video Clip

Wrekmeister Harmonies (trio with J.R. Robinson, Alexander Hacke, Mark Solotroff). Video courtesy of Anthony Dunn.

Post by Anthony A Dunn.

Chicago Reader on Wrekmeister Harmonies 7/30 Show

Wrekmeister Harmonies with Mark Solotroff and Alexander Hacke 

When: Wed., July 30, 10 p.m.
Price: free

Chicago sound artist J.R. Robinson has been creating music as Wrekmeister Harmonies since 2006, channeling the frigid, demonic spirit of black metal in slow-building, minimalist ambient music. Sometimes he plays solo, sometimes he lines up a collaborator or three, and sometimes he puts together an ensemble a couple dozen members strong for an especially monumental and grandiose sound—for his summer solstice concerts in Bohemian National Cemetery the past couple years, he’s recruited heavy-metal stalwarts from Indian, Nachtmystium, and Leviathan, to name a few. Lately most Wrekmeister Harmonies performances have been of “Run Priest Run,” a 30-minute slow burn of dark, spaced-out guitar and synthesizer, with Robinson in a duo with Mark Solotroff of Bloodyminded and Anatomy of Habit—a master of bleak sonic punishment himself. For tonight’s version, German experimental musician Alexander Hacke—a member of legendary avant-garde industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten—will join the heavy drones on bass and electronics. Robinson and Hacke have performed together in Europe, but this will be the first and possibly only set by the trio with Solotroff. Hacke will undoubtedly add a gigantic, grim exclamation mark to the already crushing atmospheres. —Luca Cimarusti

 

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/wrekmeister-harmonies-with-mark-solotroff-and-alexander-hacke/Event?oid=14316306

 

Flyer for July 30 Wrekmeister Harmonies show

 

Wrekmeister Harmonies (Robinson/Hacke/Solotroff) - July 30 - The Owl