Abel Ashes - Eat Plastic and Other Elements (Ecto 2010)

Abel Ashes

Eat Plastic and Other Elements

© Copyright-Abel Ashes(884501275187)

Record Label: Ecto
Featuring performances by Marcos Fernandes, Eric G. Hensel, Meyer Hirsch (Hirsch the machine Hirsch), Fayd, Max Vazin and Clare Vazin.The 10 track Eat Plastic album remastered plus 14 previously unreleased songs including four live improvisations with Eric Hensel from Found Objects at Lestat's on August 15th 2001 and 3 new solo tracks recorded in Louisville between 2004 and 2009. Now it's time to work on the new album!

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A 12 year anthology of some of the most unusual music on Earth. Includes the original Abel Ashes & The Runs/Eat Plastic album remastered plus 14 newly released tracks. Guest artists include Marcos Fernandes, Meyer Hirsch, and Eric Hensel.

Track list:

ABEL ASHES - EAT PLASTIC & OTHER ELEMENTS
1. Stop And Go Traffic (featuring Marcos Fernandes & Fayd)
2. The CEO (featuring Marcos Fernandes, Fayd, Max Vazin, & Clare Vazin)
3. Introduction (featuring Marcos Fernandes)
4. Commercials (featuring Marcos Fernandes & Fayd)
5. Amtrak Out Of Orange County (featuring Fayd)
6. The Revolution Is Making Me Dizzy (featuring Marcos Fernandes & Fayd)
7. Alamogordo Testing (featuring Marcos Fernandes)
8. Food In My Gut (featuring Marcos Fernandes, Fayd, & Max Vazin)
9. Goddess/Godless (featuring Marcos Fernandes, Fayd, & Clare Vazin)
10. Lemming Sunset (featuring Meyer Hirsch & Eric Hensel)
11. The Planes Operation
12. Phantoms Of Lost Liberty
13. Burning The Fuse
14. Swamp Cooler
15. Vehicle Of Choice
16. Giant Metal Cockroaches
17. Caveman Diplomacy
18. Steel Monster Hula Dance
19. A Mist That Drifts
20. Long Arm Of The Hydrocarbon Mafia (featuring Eric Hensel live at Lestat's, San Diego 8-15-2001)
21. Singing Whales Of The Totem (featuring Eric Hensel live at Lestat's, San Diego 8-15-2001)
22. Zigzag Kamikaze (featuring Eric Hensel live at Lestat's, San Diego 8-15-2001)
23. Plunder The Garden (featuring Eric Hensel live at Lestat's, San Diego 8-15-2001)
24. Adios Pendejos

This 12 year anthology collection features the original 10 track Abel Ashes & The Runs Eat Plastic album remastered and resequenced plus 14 previously unreleased tracks. The "new" material is comprised of 10 solo pieces recorded between 2000 and 2009 in additional to 4 exceptional live recordings by Abel Ashes and Eric Hensel captured during the Found Objects improvised music concert series at San Diego's Lestat's Coffeehouse on August 15th 2001.

Produced by Abel Ashes

All words and music by Abel Ashes except:
"Amtrak Out Of Orange County": words by Abel Ashes/music by Fayd
"Lemming Sunset": words by Abel Ashes/music by Abel Ashes, Meyer Hirsch, and Eric Hensel
"Long Arm Of The Hydrocarbon Mafia", "Singing Whales Of The Totem", "Zigzag Kamikaze", & "Plunder The Garden": improvised live by Abel Ashes and Eric Hensel

Abel Ashes:
Guitar on 1-4, 6-9, 14, 18, 20-24
Bass: 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 18
Vocal: 2, 4-6, 8-10, 12, 16, 20
Piano: 10
Keyboard: 13-15, 19, 20
Percussion: 11, 13-20

Fayd:
Marimba: 1, 6
Piano: 2
Vocal: 2
Keyboard: 4, 5, 9
Percussion: 4
Sequencer: 5
Organ: 8

Marcos Fernandes:
Drums: 1-4, 6-9
Additional percussion: 4, 6, 7

Eric Hensel:
Guitar 10, 20-23

(Meyer Hirsch) Hirsch the machine Hirsch:
Guitar: 10

Clare Vazin:
Vocal: 2
Piano: 9

Max Vazin:
Bass: 2, 8

Studios and engineers:
Hit Single (El Cajon, CA) Randy Fuelle engineer
Blitz (San Diego, CA) Richard Livoni engineer
Abel's home studio (San Diego, CA) Abel Ashes engineer
Lestat's Coffeehouse (San Diego, CA) Abel Ashes and Eric Hensel engineers
Abel's home studio (Louisville, KY) Abel Ashes engineer

Track 2 recorded at Hit Single in 1998, re-edited at home in San Diego in 2001
Track 3 recorded at Hit Single in 1998, drums overdubbed at Hit Single in 2001
Tracks 1, 8, 9, 10 recorded at Hit Single 2000-2001
Tracks 4, 5, 6, 7 recorded at Blitz 2000-2001
Tracks 13-19 recorded at home in San Diego, California 2000-2002
Tracks 20-23 recorded live at Lestat's Coffeehouse, San Diego, California on August 15th 2001
11, 12, 24 recorded at home in Louisville, Kentucky 2004-2009

Abel Ashes & The Runs - Eat Plastic (Other Elements 2006)

Abel Ashes & The Runs

Eat Plastic

© Copyright-Abel Ashes(634479399008)

Record Label: Other Elements
All words and music composed by Abel Ashes except:
"Amtrak Out of Orange County" : Words by Abel Ashes / Music by Fayd
"Lemming Sunset" : Words by Abel Ashes / Music by Abel Ashes, Eric Hensel, & Meyer Hirsch
All songs copyright 1993-2006 Abel Ashes, All Rights Reserved

Album produced by Abel Ashes, except "The CEO" produced by Abel Ashes & Marcos Fernandes

Abel Ashes
>Guitar: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 >Bass: 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12 >Vocal: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 >Piano: 10 >Sampling: 11, 12
Fayd
>Marimba: 3, 7, 12 >Piano: 5 > Three-Part Vocal Arrangement: 5 >Keyboard: 2, 8, 9 >Percussion: 2 >Sequencer: 9 >Organ: 6
Marcos Fernandes
>Drums: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 >Additional percussion: 2, 3, 4
Eric Hensel
>Guitar: 10
Hirsch the machine Hirsch (Meyer Hirsch)
>Guitar: 10
Clare Vazin
>Vocal: 5 >Piano: 8
Max Vazin
>Bass: 5, 6

Tracks 1, , 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 recorded at Hit Single, El Cajon, CA by Randy Fuelle 2000 - 2001
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 9 recorded at Blitz, San Diego, CA by Richard Livoni 2000 - 2001
Track 5 recorded at Hit Single in 1997, re-edited by Abel Ashes at home in San Diego, CA in 2001
Track 1 recorded at Hit Single in 1997, edited from a longer track at home in San Diego, CA by Abel Ashes / drums overdubs recorded at Hit Single, El Cajon, CA by Randy Fuelle in 2001
Tracks 11 & 12 remixed by Abel Ashes at home in Louisville, Kentucky 2004 - 2006

Original mastering and post production work by Hans Fjellestad, San Diego, CA 2002
Additional post production work by Abel Ashes, Louisville, KY 2006

Reviews:

John Bookman writing for Music For America in 2006:

The album cover consists of an illustration of a man holding up two children (or two very small men) by the neck. This is the slightly-demented, slightly-sane world of Abel Ashes & The Runs, and Eat Plastic is an album that you'll either get or not. Fortunately, it's good (and original) enough to merit a number of listens.
When I listened to it for the first time, I was not sure what I was getting myself into. There are hints of Frank Zappa in there, in the guitar playing and the deep low voice that Abel Ashes uses in some of the songs, along with the humor. You can take the humor with a grain of salt, for the music on this CD (recorded between 1993 and 2006) is what will keep fans there and wanting to hear more. Or in a track like "The CEO", the guy is almost a dead ringer for Calvin Johnson (of Beat Happening fame), and that alone is funny too, for here is Abel Ashes singing lyrics that make you want to laugh and yet does it in a deadpan voice.
What also makes these songs interesting is that he's a good storyteller, even if those stories seem to go anywhere and everywhere, not unlike Primus. It's a cartoon-like musical world, with the music just as animated, moving from weird guitar feedback and distortion to jazzy lounge. The album closes with two serious tracks which look into some of the 9/11 conspiracy theories that have been discussed, done with various sound bites from different sources. They are separated from the rest of the album but could have easily flowed well with the other material.
The songs can be open to interpretation, yet there's nothing left to the imagination with lyrics such as 'Here's some commercial advertisements/here's some commercials you stupid ass.' It's oddball when it wants to be (which is most of the time) and yet carries a bit of a smirk which leads me to believe they know exactly what they're doing. Impressive work.

Various Artists - Trummerflora 2 (Accretions 1998)

Various Artists - Trummerflora 2

Accretions ALP012, 1998

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01 - Before The Pirates Came (Upsilon Acrux)
02 - LOT 12 (hans and damon, AKA Donkey)
03 - The C.E.O. (Abel Ashes & The Runs)
04 - Todo Por Amor (Marcelo Radulovich)
05 - The Enemy Part II (Marty's Sexual Organs)
06 - Temporary Discomfort of Sound (Hirsch with Invalid Entry, AKA Meyer Hirsch)
07 - Improv (Ultra 7)
08 - Tarantula (Marty's Sexual Organs)
09 - The Sky Is Falling (5/5/2000)

Trummerflora, or rubble plants and trees, are a special phenomena unique to heavily bombarded urban areas. The bomb acts as a plow, mixing the rubble fragments with the earth which often contain seeds dormant for a century or more. These seeds come to light and those that can live in this new and special earth grow and flourish.

"This is the long overdue follow-up to the first Trummerflora released in 1995 which is about the time I encountered Hirsch and Abel Ashes at the Wikiup Cafe/Intersection Gallery where a lot of San Diego's experimental artists used to perform. The physical space may be gone but the seeds that were then planted now bear fruit in this sequel augmented by other flora that have since emerged. The aforementioned artists' resilience is finally rewarded while Ultra 7 makes a return appearance. Marcelo Radulovich is consistently versatile and new discoveries such as hans and damon, 5/5/2000, Marty's Sexual Organs and Upsilon Acrux never cease to surprise and delight as they enhance the sonic landscape. I invite you to sit back and enjoy the assembled experimenters who present a vision at once unique yet unified in their common pursuit: the explorations of sound." - Marcos Fernandes 1998

Produced by Marcos Fernandes and recorded at Hit Single Recording Services by Randy Fuelle unless otherwise noted. LOT 12 produced by hans and damon. Todo Por Amor produced by Marcelo Radulovich. Mastered by Mark Chalecki at Tower Mastering, Hollywood, CA.
Design & photos by Marcos Fernandes.
Graphics by Marcelo Radulovich.
Cover and CD art constructions by Martin Bilben.
Thanks to Xavier Vasquez and KCR, Randy "Dark Fader" Fuelle, Bryan Ray, Tam Kozman, all the artists and the Harrisons for the title.

Marty's Sexual Organs appears courtesy of Lemon-Lime Recorded Product P.O. Box 691064 Los Angeles, CA 90069 a division of Kill Your Idols Inc.
Mike Keneally appears courtesy of Immune Records.
5/5/2000 appears courtesy of Attention Deficit Records.

©1998 Accretions

Upsilon Acrux
Before The Pirates Came
Produced by Upsilon Acrux.
Recorded in February 1997.

The maximist band from San Diego will release a full length album on Accretions in 1999.

Donkey [formerly: hans and damon]
LOT 12
in order to waste everything it has taken us to a particularly accessible price so much for the effect of occasions our search for the aluminum general our fetching of prosperity in our consumption of the difficult and the dislike of variations designing our search for the defects concluding with the occasional opinions in line with a particularly accessible price in order to waste everything

Abel Ashes and The Runs
The C.E.O.
Words and music by A. Ashes
©1997 Abel Ashes Music ASCAP.
Arranged and performed by Abel Ashes and The Runs:
Abel Ashes: lead & backing vocals, electric guitar; Marcos Fernandes: drums; Genius Max Genius Vazin Genius: electric bass; Fayd: piano, creepy ass vocals; Clare Vazin: backing vocals.

Abel Ashes was born July 7, 1973 in El Paso, Texas. He grew up just outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico. Abel Ashes was a regular performer at the now defunct Wikiup Cafe in San Diego, California. He now resides in Los Angeles and means you no harm.

Marcelo Radulovich
Todo Por Amor
originally titled falkland island crisis
begun 82 completed 98
sample sources: margaret thatcher, lydia lunch roberto carlos

Marty's Sexual Organs
The Enemy Part II & Tarantula
Written by R. A. Fleming and M. Bilben/Wolive Music BMI. Produced by Fleming - Bilben and Matt Neth for Squid Lid Pro. Mixed by Matt Neth at the Mouse House.

MSO was birthed in 1994 by Martin Bilben and Ronald A. Fleming, both visual as well as performing artists, who play on their extensive collection of assorted vintage organs and electronic keyboards. MSO's predominantly improvisational performances are periodically augmented by drummer Jarre Benzel. The two tracks on this compilation are from an upcoming album on Lemon-Lime Records.

Hirsch the machine Hirsch with Invalid Entry
Temporary Discomfort of Sound - Sweet 1,2 & 3
Hirsch: voice, guitar, metals Abel Ashes: metals, hammer, voice Andy Hyde: guitar, voice Pat Seick: drums, voice Kevin J. Mutant: drums, voice Desiree Cooper, Adam Phillips: voice

Imagine this before my eyes I could see these creatures moving walking very fast moving faster and faster in many directions very busy verbusy doing things occasionally stopping in flight paying attention to others inspecting the situation and as I peered more closely I could see what all this was about oh it's so incredible everything was in a state of virtual agitation the creatures or things were observing eachother things were observing each other curiously close observing each moment as many objects would motor by at speeds faster than a blinking eye or a thought quickly forgotten I now was aware of the other bodies they were inside out no skin covering the organs I could see the veins I could see the blood flowing through the veins I could see thought I could see disease I could see black and brown bowel movement dropping from the little hole I could see urine pouring from the kedneys and out the dick I could see for sure the whole body all moving organs pulsating and breathing inside out gutsy slimy and slippery these were not ordinary things these were humans I could actually reach into each body figure and touch the parts feel the wet softness of each penetrate to the center enter into the domain of the fantastic sometimes it is cold sometimes it is hot I don't know why it is cold "dogs can ruin my day"

Ultra 7
improv
Recorded by Xavier Vasquez at Claire De Lune, San Diego, CA on 6/20/98. Mixed by Marcos Fernandes at Hit Single Recording Services.

Ultra 7 is an improvisational ensemble whose core members are Marcos Fernandes, Mike Keneally, Robert Montoya and Marcelo Radulovich, and is joined on this live recording by Travis Ryan and Hans Fjellestad.

5/5/2000
The Sky Is Falling: A Theme and Dirge in D 1. The Initiation 2. Gravity 3. The Realization

from their upcoming Accretions release FIN.
Produced by Marcos Fernandes and Travis Ryan.
Recorded by Travis Ryan.
Additional recordings and mixing at Hit Single Recording Services.

5/5/2000 is Travis Ryan and Nathan Berlinguette. Travis Ryan has also recorded with Uum (silla sonida - public humiliation for the well tempered speaker, VC131, Vinyl Communications) and his current solo project The Mono Source (ADR).