Various Artists - i don't think the dirt belongs to the grass
- Artist: Various Artists
- Title: i don't think the dirt belongs to the grass
- Format: 3CD
- Label: Carbon Records
- Price:
$20.00$12.00 (40% sale) - Catalog ID: CR99
a year+ in the making, and originally slated for a 10YR celebration, this compilation is documentation of amazing people/artists i've worked with over the past, now, 12 years. it also started out as a double CD project, but with the growing list of people i wanted to involve, and the overwhelming volume of confirmations, i had to grow it to a triple CD (and even had to do some trimming to fit that format). the release is packaged in a standard-size DVD case, with a full-color cover, and holds the 3 CDs as well as a full-color card-stock insert. the dvd case is then housed in a natural-color cotton bag with single-color ink stamp art/logo. the sounds range from quiet ambient sounds, to meandering guitar work, to outsider rock, to full on noise, as well as a folk/pop track here and there. [limited edition of 500]
artists include:
aaron rosenblum
andy gilmore
anla courtis
antony milton
asthmatic
autumn in halifax
blood and bone orchestra
blood stereo
carlos giffoni
carpentry
caustic solution
chad oliveiri
chris reeg
cock e.s.p.
coffee
craig colorusso
crawlspace
crush the junta
the davenport family
dead machines
entente cordiale
foot and mouth disease
g55
gastric female reflex
heathen prayers
hilkka
hinkley
howard stelzer
irene moon
joe+n
john charlton
justice yeldman
keith fullerton whitman
lunt
mike shiflet
nancy garcia
neil campbell
pengo
phroq
pumice
rainbeaux
sindre bjerga
sindre bjerga / jan-m iversen
sq
taiwan deth
taurpis tula
the body
the north sea
thurston moore
tinnitustimulusReviews (4):
The Wire
The compact Rochester, New York label Carbon Records is not the normal unit-shifting operation. Judging by their Website, there seems as much music being given away as there is being sold, and the roster of artists is too wide and weird to form any sort of house style. Label boss Joe Tunis (Joe+N) carries so many collaborations in so many formats and forms that it's hard to believe just one man is behind the whole operation.
Carbon's tenth anniversary entailed another minor deluge of new material. Following a dedicated CD-R series for the occasion, this weighty triple CD set features artists from the last couple years of Carbon's life cycle, and feels impressively comprehensive. More importantly, it's never less than a lot of fun. Many of the names here -- Thurston Moore, Keith Fullerton Whitman -- can already boast of substantial oeuvres, but like all of the contributors, they keep it short, sweet and fresh. Moore's amusing "Anal Cry" sounds like it's made on a car alarm rather than a guitar. Taurpis Tula move outside Heather Leigh Murray's intimate vocals into the spacious textures and layers of The Dead C.
Despite the 'anything goes' experimentalism Carbon exudes, none of the artists sound like they're struggling through a momentous aesthetic dialectic. These tracks are as natural as breathing, and radiate an unpretentious joy in self-discovery. Andy Gilmore 's back-porch guitar strumming is as nimble and contented as Jerry's Garcia's soundtrack to the sand-covered lovers in Zabriske Point, and Carpentry's Loren Connors-style guitar lament is so loose and languorous it feels like you've stumbled in on a private doodle. Although I Don't Think The Dirt Belongs To The Grass spans a wide aesthetic terrain, from bedroom drone to cathartic free blowing to raga folk, Carbon's mission is not to document the state of art so much as to share their time and their world. The music resonates because, like those Website giveaways, it feels free and easy, and part of someone's everyday life in Rochester. It's the sort of compilation to live with and love. - Derek Walmsley
Foxy Digitalis
With his Carbon Records imprint, Joe Tunis has been exploring the underground music scene of upstate New York and its environs for over 12 years. Throughout its existence, Carbon has released adventurous music on formats both traditional and obscure – Tunis’ own Joe+N project has released music on entire computer hard drives mounted on unique works of art; various series explore DVD-R and MP3 technology as well as the use of recycled materials in handmade packaging. Tunis has played day-tours, in which Joe+N performs at multiple venues around Rochester in a single day; his band Pengo has recorded an alternate soundtrack to the first 31 minutes of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s epic film, The Holy Mountain. It seems that Joe Tunis has both an immense love for art and music, and that he is constantly searching for ways to push the boundaries of performance and production.
Taking over a year to compile, assemble and produce, this three-disc compilation collects tracks chosen by Tunis from a large handful of the many musicians he has worked with during his dozen years running Carbon. The packaging is exquisite – the CDs are housed in a DVD-sized case with beautiful full-colour artwork, which is then sheathed in a natural cotton bag that is ink-stamped with a minimalist logo. The dirt/grass motif is explored thoroughly on both the insert artwork and the artwork that adorns the CDs. Each successive disc explores a geographic region of increasing size: disc 1 represents Tunis’ hometown of Rochester, and features at least three of his musical endeavours (Joe+N, Pengo, Hilkka); disc 2 reaches out across the United States, while disc 3 explores the entire globe. There is no easy visual cue to distinguish among the three discs, which according to Tunis is to demonstrate “the differences and similarities between artists next door and half-way around the world.”
The styles of music represented on this mammoth release range from quiet ambience to full-on noise freakouts, from dazzling guitar explorations to computer-based sonic mayhem. Many of the artists’ names will be recognizable (The North Sea, The Davenport Family, Carlos Giffoni, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Dead Machines, Thurston Moore, Antony Milton, Pumice, Neil Campbell, Taurpis Tula), while others should be (the entirety of disc 1, for example). To say that this compilation is highly recommended is an understatement – if you’re reading this right now, you should already own it. If you don’t, what are you waiting for??? - Bryon Hayes
Mimaroglu Music
triple-disc compilation celebrating 12+ years of joe tunis’ (Joe+N) carbon records label... spiralling out one disc at a time from rochester, ny, first to the rest of the usa, then to the rest of the world... a very nice thing: three full-color printed discs housed in a triple-amaray case with a gatefold carstock insert, all inserted into a very familiar-looking “cloth parts” bag (uline represent!)
right off the bat what strikes me as impressive/attractive about this comp is its relentless diversity; one track might be minimal computer music; the next some lo-fi broadband noise, then a sound-art piece, then a song by a rock group... but at the same time there’s a tangibly real commonality to not just the participants herein but the noises they choose to make and (re)arrange. and this, my friends, is what ultimately makes a good comp; tying bonds and an overall thread.
that said; there’s something on here for everyone... and in fact you might end up, like myself, enjoying just about everything on this set, from the pieces by the names you know/trust to those by otherwise unknowns (for example; i didn’t know john charlton ’s name, but his acoustic guitar/tibetan singing bowls/wine glasses piece on here - click to your left for a sound-sample - ended up being one of my favorite pieces.) for $20 it’s an absolute steal... - Keith Fullerton Whitman
Volcanic Tongue
Massive, genre-defining 3xCD set packaged in a DVD case with full-colour artwork and full colour card stock insert housed in a natural-colour cotton bag with single-colour ink stamp art/logo and featuring exclusive tracks from a gob-stopping selection of underground players orbiting the Carbon universe. Limited to 500 copies. Tracks from: Aaron Rosenblum, Andy Gilmore, Anla Courtis, Antony Milton, Asthmatic, Autumn In Halifax, Blood and Bone Orchestra, Blood Stereo, Carlos Giffoni, Carpentry, Caustic Solution, Chad Oliveiri, Chris Reeg, Cock ESP, Coffee, Craig Colorusso, Crawlspace, Crush The Junta, The Davenport Family, Dead Machines, Entente Cordiale, Foot and Mouth Disease, G55, Gastric Female Reflex, Heathen Prayers, Hilkka, Hinkley, Howard Stelzer, Irene Moon, Joe+N, John Charlton, Justice Yeldman, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Lunt, Mike Shiflet, Nancy Garcia, Neil Campbell, Pengo, Phroq, Pumice, Rainbeaux, Sindre Bjerga, Sindre Bjerga/Jan-M Iversen, Sq, Taiwan Deth, Taurpis Tula, The Body, The North Sea, Thurston Moore and Tinnitustimulus. Highly recommended.