Fun City NYC releases A Transendance, the new album by Wharton Tiers Ensemble
Fun City recordings is pleased to announce the release of A Transendance, the latest by the Wharton Tiers Ensemble: Ten bursts of instrumental passion guaranteed to improve your summer travel experience.
The thing that makes this collection cool is that it encompasses the entire history of the band, which was started by Wharton Tiers (NYC underground producer, composer and drummer extraordinaire) way back in 1996. In fact, Wharton, a bit of a procrastinator and perfectionist, calls A Transendance the Ensemble’s 20-year retrospective two years early. The 14 performers on the songs include most (but not all) of the performers in the Ensemble for the past 18 years. Here’s the breakdown:
Fit for a King
Gtrs: Jim Santo, Ellen Watkins, Kevin Kim. Eric Hubel, Wharton Tiers
Bass: Matt Hunter
Sax: Fletcher Buckley
This was the last song composed for this collection, recorded at The Kennel studio. I always thought of this as my tribute to T.Rex.
Bomb Squad Boot Camp
Gtrs: John Tanzer, John Neilson, John Hogan, Kevin Kim
Bass: Miriam Happe
Sax: Fletcher
This was composed in 1998, about the same time as Twilight of the Computer Age, because I wanted a song that would go second in the live set. Miriam does an awesome job on the bass and Fletcher’s sax takes it south of the border.
Whoops
Gtrs: John Tanzer, RB Korbet, John Neilson, Paul Johnson
Bass: Michael Gelfand
Sax: Fletcher
This is another early Ensemble song and always a big favorite live, but it didn’t seem to fit with the Twilight or Freedom Now collections. This is an early version with the original guitarist and bass line-up, and what makes this version pop are some well timed drum hits, Rebecca’s lovely harmonic fills and Michael’s swooping bass lines.
Border Patrol
Gtrs: Ellen Watkins, Kevin Kim, Eric Hubel, John Neilson, Perry Masco
Bass: Matt Hunter
Sax: Fletcher
This is everything an Ensemble song should be. My rockin’ tribute to Homeland Security based on an incident returning from a Canadian tour. Spooky gtr. hooks, dissonance and a Big ending….yeah it all worked out in the end.
Rasputin’s Orgy
Gtrs: John Tanzer, Ellen Watkins, John Neilson, Wharton Tiers
Bass: Matt Hunter
Sax: Fletcher
This was written for the epic I, Rasputin dance piece, which was performed with the Dura Mater Dance Group at the PS 122 performance space in Manhattan in 2000. A little Jon Spencer, a little Breeders, can’t help but feel Rasputin would approve.
Clear the Runway
Gtrs: John Tanzer, RB Korbet, John Neilson, Paul Johnson, Wharton Tiers
Bass: Michael Gelfand
Sax: Fletcher
This is another early Ensemble song, performed quite a few times with Dura Mater. Love the harmonics, the Music Man bass, and Fletcher’s stunning sax.
Critical Mass
Gtrs: John Tanzer, John Neilson, Kevin Kim, Ellen Watkins, Wharton Tiers
Bass: Matt Hunter
Sax: Fletcher
This was based on a guitar line John Hogan came up with, though he had left the band by the time this version was recorded. This was also known as ESPN for a while because it lined up so well with sports highlights. I also think it would sound great performed by a marching band.
Night In Beijing
Gtrs: John Tanzer, John Neilson, Kevin Kim, Ellen Watkins, Jim Santo
Bass: Matt Hunter
Sax: Fletcher
This might have needed the most tape (yeah, everything was recorded to tape) to get The final “take,” but flow is everything and Matt’s bass lines are magical. Also John Neilson gets in some of his tasteful licks and there you are Beijing!!!!
Sea Hag
Gtrs: John Tanzer, John Neilson, Kevin Kim, RB Korbet, Wharton Tiers
Bass: Matt Hunter
Sax: Fletcher
This is the opening and theme music for SEA HAG, The Movie. The Sea Hags sail out of the mist and into New York Harbor in a vessel that resembles the USS Constitution as the opening credits roll, No one seems to notice the Hags, who look for the most part like crazy homeless ladies, but they exhibit a strange mind control that causes everyone to start acting in the best interests of humanity. We got the power!
Cloudburst
Gtrs: John Tanzer, John Neilson, Ellen Watkins, Kevin Kim, Wharton Tiers
Bass: Matt Hunter
This is really the Transendance; it’s hard to say exactly what it is, but it comes on like a summer storm in the mountains, wild and tugging and throbbing until it finally fades away.
All material except “Fit for a King” recorded at Fun City NY, lovingly caressed by Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Aisle of Meadow Festival, June 21, 2014
WTE plays a rare outdoor, daytime show on Saturday, June 21, 2014, as part of the Aisle of Meadow Festival, a Make Music New York event.
Our showtime is 2:45 pm and admission is free!
10:00 Mayham and the Veggies
11:00 Strange Walls
11:45 Mike Connor
12:15 Plutonian Ode
1:00 Nate Meng
1:30 How To Be Topp
2:15 Plan B
2:45 WHARTON TIERS ENSEMBLE
3:30 Pontius Pilate Sales Pitch
4:15 The Progress
5:00 ICU
5:45 Damn Kids
6:30 The Jennifer Blowdryer Band
7:15 Fist of Kindness
8:00 Nervous Assistant
8:45 Robert Leslie
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Cameo Gallery May 14, 2014
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Cake Shop 2/6
Fun City NYC releases Flash In The Universe by Aurora.23
Aurora.23 is a new form of matter, first studied extensively in 1987 at Fun City Laboratories in New York City, USA. Using shreds of old science fiction movies as building blocks and all manner and type of analog and digital sythesizers for expression the sound was channeled through human performers and directed finally to magnetic tape. The resultant Quantum Entanglement is presented for your listening pleasure!
credits
Aurora.23 was conceptualized by Wharton Tiers using various schemes, and performed by a shifting group of musicians including Fletcher Buckley, John Neilson, Lynne Culverson, Miriam Happe, Carolyn Master, Jan Ewing and Wharton Tiers.
Released today on Fun City Recordings. Listen now:
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at The Paper Box, 11/26
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Pyramid Club, 11/21
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Coco66, 10/17
An interview with Wharton Tiers
In this interview with Connie Adams of Orange Country Reverb, Wharton discusses his recording philosophy, his illustrious clientele, and his current activities as composer, bandleader and musician.
Video: "Primary Wave" by Superduperlooper
From the album Superduperlooper (Fun City NYC, 2013). Listen to more and buy it here
Wharton Tiers Ensemble Live Sept 12 at The Gutter, 200 N. 14 St., Brooklyn
See Wharton Tiers Ensemble live! Saturday August 10 @ Saints + Sinners 10 E 39 St MANHATTAN
Video: "Full Moon Standing" by Wharton Tiers
From the album Mayan Nocturnes (Fun City NYC, 2013). Listen to more and buy it here
Video: "Shoe Nu" by Wharton Tiers Ensemble
From the album Freedom Now! (Fun City NYC, 2013). Listen to more and buy it here
Video: "Bad Cog" by Wharton Tiers (solo piano)
From the album Mayan Nocturnes (Fun City NYC, 2013). Listen to more and buy it here.
Superduperlooper released today!
Superduperlooper, a exploration of musique concrète, noise, drones and loops, was released today, June 25, on Fun City NYC Recordings.
Listen now and buy the album on Bandcamp:
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Bar 13 NYC June 27
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Silent Barn - "Border Patrol"
February 23, 2013. Video by Mark Richards.
New video: Freedom Now! by Wharton Tiers Ensemble
You’ll definitely want to go full-screen for this one:
“Freedom Now!” is the title track of the new LP by Wharton Tiers Ensemble, released March 2013 on Fun City Recordings. Listen to the album here and please consider purchasing it:
WTE at St. Vitus
New video by Wharton Tiers Ensemble
Watch “The Randomness Of Insects,” the first music video from the Ensemble’s new LP, Freedom Now!:
Download “The Randomness Of Insects”:
Listen to Freedom Now!:
Wharton Tiers launches new label: Fun City NYC
Wharton Tiers, multi-instrumentalist member of the No Wave groups Theoretical Girls, A Band and Glorious Strangers; and producer/engineer of seminal recordings by Sonic Youth, Glenn Branca, Helmet, Dinosaur Jr, White Zombie, Biohazard and Quicksand; has started a new record label, Fun City NYC, to release his extensive catalog of recordings made at his legendary Fun City Studio in New York City, as well as new material currently being produced.
The inaugural Fun City releases are Tiers first new recordings in 14 years.
FREEDOM NOW! by Wharton Tiers Ensemble is the first new album from the instrumental, massed-guitars group since Twilight Of The Computer Age (1999). Recorded to analog tape at Fun City Studio, the LP’s nine songs are true to the Ensemble’s signature symphonic-surf sound of hard bop saxophone, a guitar army, and Wharton’s hard-hitting drums.
The first single from Freedom Now!, “The Randomness Of Insects,” is now available as a free download from Bandcamp.
Listen to Freedom Now!
MAYAN NOCTURNES, an album of solo piano works, reveals a new facet to Tiers’ creativity. Inspired by diverse sources, including French impressionist Erik Satie, the great Romantic composer Frederic Chopin and jazz/classical pioneer Keith Jarrett, the album’s nine tracks were recorded at Tiers’ Pocono Mountains retreat in Pennsylvania.
A free download of “Perpetual Storm” is now available from Bandcamp.
Listen to Mayan Nocturnes:
Freedom Now! and Mayan Nocturnes are available from all major online retailers, including iTunes, Amazon MP3 and eMusic, as well as streaming services including Spotify, Rdio and Last.fm.
Both albums can also be purchased directly from Wharton’s Bandcamp page.
Review copies are available upon request.
More about Wharton Tiers Ensemble
Wharton Tiers discography at AllMusic
Wharton Tiers Ensemble on Facebook
Mayan Nocturnes released: solo works for piano
Fun City NYC Recordings has just released Mayan Nocturnes, an album of solo works for piano by Wharton Tiers. Inspired by diverse sources, including French impressionist Erik Satie, the great Romantic composer Frederic Chopin and jazz/classical pioneer Keith Jarrett, the album’s nine tracks were recorded at Tiers’ Pocono Mountains retreat in Pennsylvania.
Listen:
A free download of “Perpetual Storm” is now available from Bandcamp.
Mayan Nocturnes is available from all major online retailers, including iTunes, Amazon MP3 and eMusic, as well as streaming services including Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody.
The album can also be purchased directly from Wharton’s Bandcamp page
Free download: The Randomness Of Insects
Download the first single from the new Wharton Tiers Ensemble album, Freedom Now!
Freedom Now! On sale now!
Freedom Now!, the first Wharton Tiers Ensemble LP since 1999’s Twilight Of The Computer Age, was released today, March 5, 2013, on Fun City! Digital downloads of the album can be had at our Bandcamp store or from iTunes.
Listen:
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at the new Silent Barn February 23.
Wharton Tiers Ensemble play XPO929 Tuesday October 16
WTE at Goodbye Blue Monday
Wharton Tiers Ensemble return to Shea Stadium May 10
Wharton Tiers Ensemble returns to Shea Stadium (Brooklyn) November 3
Marathon Man
Here’s a clip of Wharton Tiers performing the closing movement of “Ascension: The Sequel” with the Glenn Branca Ensemble during last Sunday’s Bang On A Can Marathon in New York City:
Wharton Tiers Ensemble LIVE at Shea Stadium (Brooklyn) June 24
Wharton Tiers music featured in No Wave documentary
Directed by French newcomer Céline Danhier, Blank City is an oral history of the “No Wave Cinema” and “Cinema of Transgression” movements, featuring acclaimed directors Jim Jarmusch and John Waters, actor-writer-director Steve Buscemi, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Hip Hop legend Fab 5 Freddy, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and photographer Richard Kern, among many others.
The soundtrack includes Patti Smith, Television, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, The Contortions, The Bush Tetras, Sonic Youth — and Wharton Tiers. True! Featured in the new documentary are two Wharton Tiers songs: “Move It Time” by Glorious Strangers and “No Love” by A Band.
NO-CORE reviews Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Silent Barn
“A totally classic NYC-flavored experience, part Branca/Live Skull/Sonic Youth, part Television/New York Dolls.” Read more at NO-CORE (Photo © NO-CORE)
New York Times review of Glenn Branca's Symphony # 15
“[Branca’s] symphony No. 15 for 12 musicians, performed for the first time on Saturday night at Le Poisson Rouge and subtitled “Running Through the World Like an Open Razor,” ran about two-thirds along familiar lines and one-third off the wall. It signaled a difference from the start; as it moved along, it grew weirdly wide, showing a completely different side of his musical imagination, if only to make you prefer the one you already knew.” Read more at the New York Times
Wharton Tiers Ensemble at Passout Record Shop, Williamsburg
On April 16, 2010, the Wharton Tiers Ensemble performed at a party commemorating the closing of Passout Record Shop and the birthday of Passout proprietor and Ensemble member Perry “PeeWee” Masco. Thanks to Mark Richards for capturing this video of WTE performing “Border Patrol.”
Wharton Tiers Ensemble with J. Mascis, "Hi Lo" (Smith College 1997)
The Wharton Tiers Ensemble performs “Hi Lo” with guest guitarist J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, 1997.
Photos and video of last night's Knitting Factory show
The Ensemble performed last night at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, sharing the bill with RICE, the Marc Edwards/Weasel Walter Group and headliners An Albatross.
Thanks to Mark Richards for sharing these photos and video of the event. Higher resolution versions of these photos can be seen on his Flickr photostream.
WTE at Knitting Factory
Wharton Tiers at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wharton, who played drums for Glenn Branca’s seminal No Wave band, Theoretical Girls, was among the many artists featured in The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from April 21–August 2, 2009.
Educated in the self-reflexive and critical principles of Minimal and Conceptual art, this tightly knit group of artists brought those lessons to bear on a return to recognizable imagery, exploring how images shape our perceptions of ourselves and the world. Featured were 160 works in all media by thirty artists.
View images from the exhibition
Listen to a preview of the exhibition’s online audio guide