the news

Beat Circus on myspace.com

Beat Circus is now on myspace.com/beatcircus. You can post comments, hear late-breaking mp3s, get inside announcements on upcoming shows, and check out our family of friends. Join the mailing list for free ticket giveaways and all the latest.

 

May 2008 shows announced 4.5.08

Beat Circus will be performing a select few shows in the Northeast on May 14-16. We will be debuting some new songs we are excited about and performing with a number of our favorite people, including Larkin Grimm, The Goddamn Rattlesnake, Micah Blue Smaldone, and Alec K. Redfearn & The Eyesores.

On Wednesday May 14th Beat Circus will perform a make-up show at Space Gallery in Portland with Over A Cardboard Sea (our show last February in Portland was snowed out.)

Portland-based songwriter and guitarist Micah Blue Smaldone will be opening with a rare solo performance on our Boston show Thursday May 15th at TT The Bears along with our long-time collaborator and label-mate Alec K. Redfearn & The Eyesores.

And on Friday May 16th we return to Union Pool in Brooklyn with the awesome hellfire punk country band The Goddamn Rattlesnake, and the magical songwriter and performer Larkin Grimm. Last February we toured with Larkin on a few shows in the Southeast and recently Brian Carpenter and Jordan Voelker (of Beat Circus) and Micah Blue Smaldone (of Fire on Fire) have been recording with Larkin and producer Michael Gira for Larkin's new album to be released this year on Young God Records.

Hope to see you all in May. More information on the SHOWS page.

 

In the studio with Larkin Grimm 4.11.08

Brian Carpenter and Jordan Voelker have recently been in the studio recording with Larkin Grimm and producer Michael Gira for Larkin's new album scheduled for release later this year on Young God Records.

Larkin is a powerful and magical singer, songwriter, and performer who we toured with in February and she was a complete inspiration for us...I wrote a few songs with Larkin's voice in mind for our next album, and during a quick rehearsal on the road, she fell into the harmonies and rhythms so naturally that it was as if she knew the songs before even hearing them. Larkin is a phenomenon and her live performance must be seen to be believed. Don't miss our show with Larkin Grimm and The Goddamn Rattlesnake on Friday May 16th at Union Pool in Brooklyn.

-- B.C.

 

Photos from CD release shows 4.3.08

Photographers Lauren Goldberg and Katie Szczypinski shot our Dreamland CD release shows last February at the Knitting Factory in NYC and at Middle East Downstairs in Boston. You can view the full sets of photographs on Lauren and Katie's flickr pages. We have posted some of the highlights on our GALLERY page.

 

 

 

 

Dreamland stageplay in development 3.22.08

Brian Carpenter and Jordan Voelker are collaborating on the development of a musical stageplay of the story and characters behind the concept album Dreamland. The Dreamland stageplay is loosely based on Ray Bradbury's 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes. We will post more news as this project develops.

 

 

 

 

 

Dreamland available on iTunes 3.22.08

The long-awaited full-length studio album Dreamland is now available for digital download at the iTunes music store HERE. Dreamland is the first part of Brian Carpenter's Weird American Gothic trilogy, produced by the legendary Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, Foetus), a 150-page score for 12 musicians containing macabre narratives loosely based on historical figures from the surreal, turn-of-the-century Coney Island theme park of the same name, which burned in a devastating fire in 1911. For track listings and personnel list, visit the MUSIC page. We recommend the uncompressed Dreamland CD with booklet which can be ordered now through our online STORE and Cuneiform Records.

 

Critical praise for Dreamland 3.6.08

The critics weigh in on Dreamland! Stewart Mason of All Music Guide calls Dreamland "a wonderfully imaginative record." The New Yorker writes "an ambitious new Brechtian concept album with rich and tight orchestration." Time Out New York writes "Dreamland realizes a lushly imaginative American mythology...a surreal melange". Mark Jenkins of the Washington Post writes "Beat Circus evokes a period so distant that it might seem like a Dreamland, transporting listeners to a world that's alluring and eerie." Read more on our MUSIC page!

Dreamland is available NOW at our online STORE and at Cuneiform Records!

 

Dreamland has arrived 1.6.08

Our long-awaited full-length album Dreamland has arrived. Dreamland is the first part of Brian Carpenter's Weird American Gothic trilogy, produced by the legendary Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, Foetus), a 150-page score for 12 musicians and contains macabre narratives loosely based on historical figures from the surreal, turn-of-the-century Coney Island theme park of the same name, which burned in a devastating fire in 1911. For track listings and personnel list, visit the MUSIC page. Dreamland can be ordered NOW at our online STORE and at Cuneiform Records.

Beat Circus will be touring the East Coast February 6-16. If you live in any of the tour spots and can help us with posters, please let us know now and you will receive an advance copy of the cd, your name on the guest list, and our undying gratitude! Thank you!

 

 

East Coast tour in February 2008 12.14.07

Beat Circus is preparing for a tour of the east coast in February 2008 to celebrate the release of the new album Dreamland produced by Martin Bisi. The tour dates run Feb 6-16, 2008 and will include shows with some of our favorite artists, including HUMANWINE, Nervous Cabaret, O'Death, Larkin Grimm, The Cassettes, Flaming Fire, and Hallelujah The Hills. Check the SHOWS page for more information as things develop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra NYC debut Nov 17 11.01.07

Brian Carpenter's instrumental music side project The Ghost Train Orchestra makes its NYC debut on Saturday November 17th at Barbes. Carpenter assembled the orchestra in April 2005 to record a cartoon score commissioned by animator Lorelei Pepi. Since then the 10-piece band has performed twice at the historic vaudeville house The Regent Theater in Arlington, MA as part of their 90th anniversary event Voltaic Vaudeville. On the November show, Carpenter will be presenting unearthed music mined from the dusty vaults of a basement record collection, new arrangements of "voodoo music" and spirited stomps from the most incredible of the late 1920s Chicago and Harlem jazz bands, plus original music commissioned for the cartoon score and vaudeville shows.

 

 

Brian Dewan's Dreamland illustration 9.28.07

In August 2006 I met Brian Dewan in NYC at Tonic after he opened for Beat Circus with a very peculiar and moving solo performance of songs accompanied by a giant custom-built electric zither. Built by Brian and made entirely of wood and harpischord hardware, it is plucked, sits like a table, has eight Humbucker pickups, and sounds like "Jimi Hendrix on smart drugs" (that's a quote from Bar None Records). After hearing these incredible sounds I convinced Brian to come into Martin's studio the next day to record three tracks of electric zither on Dreamland. It was not until weeks after the session, going through my cds, that I discovered Brian was also the illustrator responsible for the famous flying victrola for Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. I asked him to illustrate the cover for Dreamland and he provided the stunning watercolor you see here.

Brian Dewan is a true multi-media artist. He has produced two albums of songs and performed extensively as a solo artist, as well as collaborating with many ensembles such as Flaming Fire, The Music Tapes, They Might Be Giants, and the Raymond Scott Orchestrette. He also builds furniture and instruments; with his cousin Leon, he has designed and built a series of synthesizers in custom cabinetry they refer to as Dewanatron.

Dave Bias (also the designer of this website) designed the booklet for Dreamland and it is a beautiful package of song lyrics and historical photographs. After researching hundreds of historical photographs and postcards with Aaron Beebe, curator of the Coney Island Museum, we found several photographs and postcards we are excited to present in the context of Dreamland. Other historical photographs used in the booklet were supplied by The Denver Public Library Western History Department, The Library Of Congress, and The Museum Of The City Of New York.

Dreamland will see a release date in January 2008 on Cuneiform Records.

-- B.C.

 

 

Sxip's Hour Of Charm Sept 21-23 8.18.07

Beat Circus will be performing a run of 4 shows on September 21-23 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge with our old colleague Sxip Shirey as part of his Hour Of Charm. Sxip has been producing his Hour Of Charm shows regularly at Joe's Pub in NYC and he is taking the show to Boston. Other performers include trapeze artist Una Mimnagh, comedian/performance artist The Red Bastard, accordionist Corn Mo, singer/songwriter Erin McKeown, and multi-instrumentalist Sxip Shirey. These shows will take place at the Zero Arrow Theater, a "circle in the round" stage and one of the most spectacular intimate venues in Boston (also where "The Onion Cellar" was performed.) Sxip Shirey recorded his unique arsenal of sounds on two tracks on the forthcoming Beat Circus album Dreamland.

Showtimes are listed on the SHOWS page. Ticket information here.

 

 

 

August 2007 Northeast US Tour 6.24.07

Mark your calendars! Beat Circus will do a short tour of the Northeast in August with HUMANWINE and Ara Anderson (Tin Hat) and his band Iron & The Albatross. Wherein Brian Carpenter reveals the Third Incarnation of Beat Circus, featuring violist Jordan Voelker (Callithumpian Consort), contrabassist Paul Dilley (Reverend Glasseye, HUMANWINE), guitarist/banjoist Andrew Stern (Naftule's Dream), tubist Ron Caswell (Slavic Soul Party), and drummer/percussionist Ches Smith (Secret Chiefs 3, Xiu Xiu, Mr. Bungle).

The August shows will likely be our only live performances until the release of Dreamland in January. More information on the SHOWS page. Hope to see you all soon. We miss you.

 

 

 

 

 

Dreamland update 5.9.07

The long-awaited full-length Beat Circus epic produced by Martin Bisi entitled Dreamland will see a release date in January 2008 on Cuneiform Records. Comprised of narrative songs based loosely on historic figures and fictional characters from turn-of-the century Coney Island, Dreamland features a pantheon of long and short-term collaborators, including cellist Julia Kent (Antony & The Johnsons), saxophonist Briggan Krauss (Sex Mob), multi-instrumentalist Sxip Shirey, homemade instrument pioneer (and cover illustrator) Brian Dewan, thereminist Michael Hearst (One Ring Zero), and ragtime pianist and sideshow historian Todd Robbins. You can read more about the evolution of Dreamland on our myspace blog. An EP of experimental music, noise, and modern classical music also recorded with Martin Bisi entitled Blood Boy has tentative plans for release this fall.

 

 

Beat Circus provides score for Quincy & Althea 5.9.07

Beat Circus' "Big Top Suite" from Ringleaders Revolt provides the score for Brooklyn-based director Doug Lenox's apocalyptic short film Quincy & Althea, a black comedy set in post-Katrina New Orleans. The film uses an uneventful domestic squabble between the title characters as a device to put New Orleans' shattered, hopeless landscape on the big screen. Quincy & Althea won "Best Live Action Short Film" at the Memphis International Film Festival. More details and upcoming screenings can be found here.

 

 

Käthe performs at Inland Empire premier 3.1.07

Käthe Hostetter was chosen to perform a solo piece at the request of (our favorite) surrealist filmmaker David Lynch at the Brattle Theater to set the stage for his new film Inland Empire. More photos of this momentous occasion can be viewed here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dreamland update 3.1.07

We have finally finished mixing the new album Dreamland with legendary producer Martin Bisi. We're now in the process of trying to find a home for it. Comprised of narrative songs based loosely on historic figures and fictional characters from turn-of-the century Coney Island, Dreamland features a pantheon of long and short-term collaborators, including cellist Julia Kent (Antony & The Johnsons), saxophonist Briggan Krauss (Sex Mob), multi-instrumentalists Sxip Shirey and Brian Dewan, thereminist Michael Hearst (One Ring Zero), and ragtime pianist and sideshow historian Todd Robbins. You can read more about the evolution of Dreamland on our myspace blog. We ended up with enough material to release both a full-length of lyrical songs and through-composed instrumental music entitled Dreamland and an EP of modern classical music, noise, and experimental music entitled Blood Boy. Stay tuned to this frequency as we hope to announce release dates here in the coming weeks!

 

Beat Circus w/Sxip Shirey and Ara Anderson @ Tonic Feb 13 2.6.07

On Tuesday February 13 we will be performing on an amazing bill at Tonic in NYC with our good friends Sxip Shirey and Bay area multi-instrumentalist Ara Anderson (Tin Hat, Tom Waits, Jolie Holland), who will be debuting his band Iron & The Albatross, a "junky-circus-chamber music" band. Beat Circus will be performing some new songs with virtuoso tenor banjo/mandolinist Jamie Masefield and trombonist/guitarist Curtis Hasselbring.

 

 

 

 

 

Dreamland update 12.18.06

We are busy working to finish the new record with the very great Martin Bisi. The mixing game is slow but we are making steady progress. We're about 70% there as of this writing. As a special preview, we just posted two new mp3s on our myspace page, "The Ghost Of Emma Jean" and "Dreamland". Track listings and lyrics are detailed in the blog section. Comprised of narrative songs based loosely on historic figures and fictional characters from turn-of-the century Coney Island, Dreamland features special guests cellist Julia Kent (Antony & The Johnsons), trombonist Curtis Hasselbring (Golem), multi-instrumentalist Sxip Shirey, thereminist Michael Hearst (One Ring Zero), and harpist Jesse Sparhawk (Jaggery). We don't have a release date yet but stay tuned!