Bottomless Pit, Silkworm, et al.–The Montana Perplex, anyone?! 1993 Re-bar poster as time portal! by Tom Kipp

From: Kipp, Thomas J
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 10:02 AM
To: Everyone
Subject: FW: Bottomless Pit–Blood Under the Bridge 2×12″+CD preorder

Welcome news from the ex-Silkworm boize in Chicago!

Tom
________________________________________
From: Bottomless Pit
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 8:04 AM
To: Bottomless Pit
Subject: Bottomless Pit–Blood Under the Bridge 2×12″+CD preorder

If you would prefer not to receive infrequent emails from Bottomless Pit, a reply to that effect will halt them.

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Hello,

The new Bottomless Pit album is titled Blood Under the Bridge.

Blood Under the Bridge is available for preorder.

Details are below, or you can visit the For Sale section of the Bottomless Pit website.

Two tracks from the album are streamed on the band’s mySpace page.

Two additional tracks are streamed on the band’s Facebook page.

We have a number of shows coming up: Chicago, Boston, New York, and others. Details are here. We should have records at all of them, and we would love to see you in person.

Bottomless Pit Website: http://www.bottomlesspit.us

Very best,

BP

=======================

Blood Under the Bridge — the third Bottomless Pit record

Track listing:

Winterwind
Rhinelander

Summerwind
Late
Dixon

Kiss Them All
Is It a Ditch

Q.E.D.
38 Souls
The hardcopy release is a double 12″ (45RPM) with a CD of the 9 songs included. Gatefold jacket, printed inner sleeves, etc.

Total U.S. cost of 2×12″+CD is $25: $20 + $5 shipping via USPS media mail

Total European or Japanese cost is $38.00: $20 + $18 shipping via USPS 1st class uninsured

Total Canadian cost is $30: $20 + $10 shipping via USPS 1st class uninsured

Paypal is a preferred payment method. The destination address is pit@bottomlesspit.us.

Preorders will be shipped as soon as the records arrive, likely late July.

Please inquire re multiple copies, other international rates, alternate methods of payment, or alternate shipping methods.

Please note: the CD-only release will be available from Comedy Minus One, and downloads will be available from the usual outlets.

Thank you.

________________________________________

On Aug 4, 2010, at 12:52 PM, “Kipp, Thomas J” wrote:

Gentlemen:

Just received my copy of the 2LP + cd BLOOD UNDER THE BRIDGE album in the mail on Monday.

Beautiful package, excellent new songs!

Go fer it!

Tom

________________________________________
From: Jeremiah Klashorst
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 2:44 PM
To: Kipp, Thomas J
Subject: Re: Bottomless Pit–Blood Under the Bridge 2×12″+CD preorder

Hey TK-

Mine arrived a week ago Monday. I’ve listened to it about a half dozen times now and I can second your endorsement. My favorite track so far is track one side one (the title escapes me at the moment). It’s a beautiful song with a stirring vocal by Mr. Midgett. Anyway, if you haven’t already indulged, it’s worth the dough.

JK

Ps: As is now their standard practice the vinyl includes a cd copy, so there’s virtually no reason not to buy the wax.

Sent from my iPhone

Subject: RE: Bottomless Pit–Blood Under the Bridge!
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 15:31:58 -0700
From: Kipp, Thomas J
To: Jeremiah Klashorst
Thanks for weighing in, Jeremiah!

I also really like “Winterwind”, that opening cut.

And your final point is very well taken. As with the Shellac albums, it’s great to own The Pit’s music in the glorious 12×12 heavy cardstock gatefold vinyl format for which it was conceived/intended!

Another track that caught my ear yesterday was one of Andy’s, the third song on the cd, which is entitled “Summerwind”, I believe.

Hmmm….perhaps they’ve created an oblique homage to Ein Heit’s THE LIGHTNING AND THE SUN, which as you all know commenced with “Summer” and concluded with “Winter”.

If so, well done!

TK

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From: East Portland Blog
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 9:38 AM
To: Kipp, Thomas J
Subject: RE: Bottomless Pit

Yes, please. Love to have a retrospective on Silkworm and Ein Heit. Great stuff.

As for Bottomless Pit, I didn’t expect you to volunteer. I had hoped someone else in the brain trust would.

Even back in the late 90s, it was hard to find someone, anyone to write about Silkworm, and they were putting out great records at the time. The only two Silkworm articles I can remember in Seattle, one was by Dave Thompson, the other was by me. Both in the Rocket.

The dreaded mainstream media has never “gotten” Silkworm or, apparently, its legacy projects.

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Subject: RE: Bottomless Pit, Silkworm, et al.–The Montana Perplex, anyone?! 1993 Re-bar poster as time portal!
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 12:12:51 -0700
From: Kipp, Thomas J
To: East Portland Blog

Re: Silkworm, I seem to recall Danny Housman doing a piece as well, during the early part of his L’ETRANGER tenure, though perhaps my mind’s playin’ tricks on me.

And perhaps Scott [can’t quite recall his last name—was it Griggs? Anyhow, he was a really cool African-American guy who wore glasses and played in various electronic combos during my first few years hereabouts] who used to book Re-bar did something as well, for either THE ROCKET or L’ETRANGER.

Yup, it’s Griggs, I was right! http://www.myspace.com/griggs4vr

And of course the early-’90s ROCKET made sure to insult each new Silkworm release as it appeared, with Grant Alden a particularly obnoxious and tin-eared offender!

Eric Weisbard did two favorable S’worm pieces in THE VOICE, once the boize were on Matador/Touch and Go, though one yoked FIREWATER w/ Joel’s first Downer Trio release, which was the indie journalist “hook” back in 1996. And I know Stephen Malkmus included Silkworm as a special fave in a brief article he did around then for TVV as well.

It was always baffling to me at the time, the near-total indifference shown to a band who were, at absolute WORST, as significant and accomplished as [and far more consistent than!] Yo La Tengo, GbV, Sleater-Kinney, Archers of Loaf, et many al.

They probably weren’t quite Nirvana, Pavement or PJ Harvey, but then NO ONE ELSE was either!

On the other hand, we Montanans have always been used to scornful incomprehension, especially of our “artistic” and/or intellectual efforts—I was hit right in the face w/ that at Brown [and in visits to The Hamptons, where I went on break and/or vacation to see my grandmother from time to time], for example.

For Silkworm, I’d boil it down to this—The three Great Indie “Tastemakers” of the Nineties [Steve Albini, Gerard Cosloy and Stephen Malkmus] each consider(ed) S’worm their favorite band of the era, give or take two or three others, at most.

And I know that means more to Timmy and Andy than ANY amount of critical acclaim [or sales!] ever could have.

Still, their “career” would have been even more satisfying without all the pointless, clueless, unremitting negativity, and I’m sorry they never made the leap into general [Afghan Whigs- or Flaming Lips-level, say] acceptance, or even worship.

By the by, Greil Marcus discovered them quite on his own, at least once they had the least little bit o’ distribution. Greil included FIREWATER in his 1996 Top Ten Albums, in one SF paper or another, and I know that meant a lot to Timmy, John Kappes and me. [Ed. Note — Nerves, the rousing tune which kicks off Silkworm’s 1996 release FIREWATER can be heard by clicking the white triangle below.]

Silkworm – Nerves
 

Found at Nerves on Duck.fm

His effusive support of my five Pop Conference papers meant more to me, for much the same reason, than any amount of generalized favorable notice would have.

Greil is actually the only person in the world, aside from my friends Jeremiah & Jessica, who even SAW all five of my EMP presentations!

You just never can tell….

Tom

P.S. I think Pitchfork quite likes Bottomless Pit, but I don’t have the stomach to check for sure! LOL

[Ed. Note – Here is the Pitchfork review of Bottomless Pit’s 2007 debut, HAMMER OF THE GODS: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11086-hammer-of-the-gods/.]

And Bob Christgau did finally get with the program, though it took ’til 2001, when he got into LIFESTYLE a full year after it came out! I think only Kappes and I really appreciated those nods, however, as Bob’s oblique reviews themselves struck Timmy, Andy, Michael & Matt Kadane as impenetrably condescending, and felt to them like “B-minus” notices, aside from the grades themselves! LOL

http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=silkworm

P.P.S. Just came across this never-seen Ward Sutton poster [above right] from one of my fabled “dream bills” at Re-bar, 8/10/1993. The Flamers were my noisy Moog synth/gtr/gtr improv project w/ Timmy, and only played out six times during 1993-94. This was likely our very first such performance.

Clearly, those were the days! LOL

By the by, Ward Sutton later illustrated at least one of my pieces for SLANT! Tiny world….