Soophie Nun Squad-- Passion Slays The Dragon LP (FCH025)

Soophie Nun Squad-- Passion Slays The Dragon LP (Harlan Records #25)

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Order CD version from me here.

21 songs.
Recorded October 2002-May 2003 by Tim Scott at ElectricLeedyLand in Kansas City, MO.
First released in Europe on LP by Narshardaa Records, September 2003. (2 pressings, 700 copies)
LP released in North America by Harlan, January 2004. 1000 copies pressed on lavender trash vinyl (what a terrible idea-- glad the "trash" option isn't as common as it used to be!)
CD released by Plan-It-X Records, May 2004. (2 pressings, 2000 copies)

Credits:

Maralie Armstrong-Rial-- voice, accordion, whistles
Dustin Clark-- guitar, voice, claps
Mark Lierly-- drums, percussion
Mike Lierly-- voice, snare, claps, acoustic guitar on "The Scab Fairy--Introduction"
Eli Milholland-- bass, voices of a cow and a monster
Mike Motley-- keyboard, piano, percussion
Asa Newell-- guitar
Nate Powell-- voice, claps, percussion
Tim Scott-- electronics, production, voice, piano, trombone, turntables
Alan Short-- percussion, voice, bass on "The Last Things First"
Mikael Wood-- voice, keyboard
Kristine Barrett-- voice, piano, and assistant engineering on "The Scab Fairy"
Terry Johnson-- voice on "Birthday Song"
Rymodee-- voice on "Birthday Song"
Grendel the Dog-- barks on "Exponents"
Dish-- backing voices in "Your Birthday Song", hallway samples in "D Hall"

Track Listing:

1. The Last Things First
2. Destiny
3. Juxtapose
4. Sesame Sticks & Stevie Nicks
5. To Be A Hero
6. Exponents
7. The Bovinity Of Crust
8. (An Instrumental)
9. D Hall
10. Wilson Phillips
11. Inner Booty
12. Lord Of The Dip
13. Your Birthday Song
14. The Scab Fairy: Prelude
15. The Scab Fairy: Introduction
16. The Scab Fairy: Complication
17. The Scab Fairy: Rising Action
18. The Scab Fairy: Climax
19. The Scab Fairy: Denouement
20. The Scab Fairy: La Triumphe De La Scab Faerie
21. Sleeping On Your Floor

Notes:

* The all-powerful Assfactor 4 is sampled/bootlegged in "The Bovinity Of Crust", from a show I saw them play in Washington DC in October 1996 (the song is "Hey Stinky"). One of the greatest punk bands of all time-- I highly recommend seeking out all of their records, if you're unfamiliar!

* "To Be A Hero" is a Kirk & The Jerks cover, first heard on the incredible 1988 H-Street skate video Hokus Pokus.

* The first 100 copies of the European pressing of the LP (released by Narshardaa Records) have huge white squares surrounding the lettering on the cover, obscuring half of the cover art.

* Okay, here's why this album has so many different titles. When assembling the cover of Passion Slays The Dragon, I asked a friend to do the title lettering. In the spirit of both playful participation in the Soophie process and faux-intellectual anxiety about the word "passion" (seriously, what the fuck?!), she chose to rewrite the title as the homonym Passion, Sleighs, The Dragon for the European LP. I accepted this twist but didn't like it, and neither did anyone else. Tim Scott did the layout for the American version of the LP jacket, and secretly manipulated the title to read Pasizzle Slizzles Tha Drizzle, while labeling the spine Fleetwood Mac-- Rumours (a nod to our cover treatment of The Devil, The Metal... LP's) and Driggynizzle. None of us were aware of this until we received the proofs. As I fell deeper into a hole in life in early 2004 and couldn't "get real" for a while, I re-titled the CD version Pass Ion, Sleds, The Drag-On, while Tim labeled each side of the jewel case Lethal Weapon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Ghost Dad (Widescreen DVD) respectively. You would not believe how many stores and distributors got pissed off about this. I didn't even receive payment from some folks because they couldn't "find" the record in their system! Finally, for the 2nd pressing of the CD, Chris Clavin requested that we put our actual band name on the spine (very reasonable!), but color-blind Tim took it to the next level by having the spine in electric blue & orange text, intentionally making it unreadable and seizure-inducing.

* Soophie's last show was at Nexus in Braunschweig, Germany on June 21, 2006 with Tim's electronic band Orange Core. We attempted to have two final shows in Little Rock, May 19-20 2007-- one with Smoke Up Johnny as a part of Towncraft week, and the other with The Good Good, Erin Tobey, and Totally Michael in North Little Rock. Unfortunately, Mark had broken his wrists a few weeks prior, so neither show ever happened.

* Folks from SNS also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Bloodhuff, Sand City, Deadbird, Zucura, Holy Angell, Universe, Pallbearer, R.I.O.T.S., The Evelyns, Divorce Chord, Wait, The Insides, Tem Eyos Ki, Lily Maude Horseman, Sugar And The Raw, Big Boots, Rainy Day Regatta, Boomfancy, Gioteens, Shake Ray Turbine, Revolver Red, William Martyr 17, and K.

SNS @ Kafe Kult. Munich, Germany, May 2006.

SNS @ Solidarity Infoshop. Lawrence KS, July 2005. Photo by Ginger Alford.

SNS before leaving on our final tour. Little Rock AR, May 2006. Photo by Sara Blancett.

Soophie Nun Squad/ Abe Froman-- split LP (FCH022)

Soophie Nun Squad/ Abe Froman-- split LP (Harlan Records #22)

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13 songs.
SNS side recorded October 2002 by Tim Scott at ElectricLeedyLand in Kansas City MO.
AF side recorded July 2002 by Fred Thomas at the Tobey house in Lansing MI.
1000 copies pressed (900 black, 97 opaque purple, 3 black/purple starburst), April 2003.
CD version released by Plan-It-X Records. 1000 copies pressed, November 2003.

Credits:

Soophie Nun Squad:
Maralie Armstrong-Rial-- voice
Dustin Clark-- guitar
Mark Lierly-- drums
Mike Lierly-- voice, talking guitar on "Headbangin' In LR", body percussion
Eli Milholland-- bass
Mike Motley-- percussion
Asa Newell-- guitar
Nate Powell-- voice, piano
Tim Scott-- voice, keyboards, production, samples
Alan Short-- voice, percussion
Mikael Wood-- voice, keyboards

Abe Froman:
Ryan Batkie-- bass, voice, acoustic guitar on "July 1998"
Erin Tobey-- guitar, voice
Matt Tobey-- drums, voice
Fred Thomas-- steel drums on "Fair Friend"
Nate Powell & Art Middleton-- extra voice & percussion on "Walking Distance"

Track Listing:

SNS side:
1. Maybe You Heard
2. Hemispheres
3. Headbangin' In Little Rock
4. You're Too Young For The Living Dead
5. Snap, Crackle, Props
6. The Extreme Discomfort Dance

AF side:
1. Willing Suspension Of Disbelief
2. Droppin' Like Flies
3. Hobbit Hole
4. The City That Never Wakes Up
5. Fair Friend
6. Walking Distance
7. July 1998 (Old Style)

Notes:

* Abe Froman recorded one unreleased song from this session, "The Guerrillas", which Ryan Batkie's subsequent band Hissyfit rerecorded and released on a split 7" with The Reflectors in 2004.

* This record was initially to be an Abe Froman/ Boomfancy split LP, but when the time came to record, no Boomfancy was even remotely in sight. Attempts were made at assembling Boomfancy 2.0 in Providence RI, which turned into the short-lived band Braids To Your Ass (Nate Powell, Sara T Huber, Natalja Kent, Peter Woods, Daniel Pastrana) with one show and two songs to their name. Fortunately, Soophie had a multitude of song ideas for their fall 2002 recording summit, and this split LP fell into place perfectly. It holds Abe Froman's best and most intimate recording for sure, and personally represents the merging of my two family units spread across the map.

* Folks from SNS also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Bloodhuff, Sand City, Deadbird, Zucura, Holy Angell, Universe, Pallbearer, R.I.O.T.S., The Evelyns, Divorce Chord, Wait, The Insides, Tem Eyos Ki, Sugar And The Raw, Big Boots, Rainy Day Regatta, Boomfancy, Gioteens, Shake Ray Turbine, Revolver Red, William Martyr 17, and K.

* Folks from AF also in  Fat Shadow, Erin Tobey, Pink Razors, Mt. Gigantic, Hissyfit, Memory Map, Good Luck, and Canine Sugar. 

Abe Froman's last show @ Plan-It-X Fest. Bloomington IN, June 2004. Photo by Mark Novotny.

SNS @ Plan-It-X Fest. Bloomington IN, June 2004. Photo by Ginger Alford.

Tem Eyos Ki-- LP (FCH021)

Tem Eyos Ki-- LP (Harlan Records #21)

DOWNLOAD remixed/remastered LP here!

12 songs.
Recorded March 2002 by Chuck Schaff with Tim Scott, at Olive Street house in North Little Rock AR.
1000 copies pressed, July 2002.

Credits:

Maralie Armstrong-Rial-- voice, accordion
Mike Lierly-- guitar, voice
Jay Lytle-- bass, voice
Eli Milholland-- guitar, 12-string guitar, voice
Kevin Rains-- drums, voice
Tim Scott-- guest voice on "Wolf And Moon"
Tina Samples-- didgeridoo on "Ogoni" and "Last Of The Mastodons"

Track Listing (original LP version):

1. Spring
2. Pangaea
3. Wolf And Moon
4. Ogoni
5. The Lion, The Roach, And The Naked Mole Rat
6. Pulpit And The Pallbearer
7. Argenta
8. Drinking Gourd
9. Portrait Of Agatha Bas
10. John Parker's Iron Wheel
11. Cruithne
12. Last Of The Mastodons

Notes:

* This LP was recorded during 9 days of continuous, unrelenting rain in Little Rock. The rain sample in "Pulpit And The Pallbearer" is from the front of the Olive Street house as the album was being recorded. The entire process of making this album was surrounded by marriage, new babies, intense health problems, separation, crises of faith, and heartbreak amongst those involved, and is tangible within the songs.

* The original mix was a bit rushed (as Soophie Nun Squad left on our first European tour immediately upon the completion of this LP, and we had to send it off to be mastered at that time to ensure it would be out in time for Tem Eyos Ki's summer tour), and the LP's mastering job was absolutely horrible thanks to unpredictable work at Aardvark. In 2003 Kevin attended school for music engineering, moved to Chicago and began working in studios there; around 2005 he began the long process of remixing the entire album, which was finally completed around 2010. It sounds immeasurably better, with a new song sequence, and with the inclusion of a song left off the original LP pressing.

* Members also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Bloodhuff, Universe, Holy Angell, Them Of Delphi, Ridin Dudes, Shitfire, Sickshine, Zucura, Tom Sweet, Divorce Chord, Soophie Nun Squad, Boomfancy, Gioteens, and K. 

TEK @ The Map Room. Memphis TN, January 2002. Photo by Nate Powell.

TEK @ The Map Room. Memphis TN, January 2002. Photo by Nate Powell.

TEK @ The Map Room. Memphis TN, January 2002. Photo by Nate Powell.

Tem Eyos Ki-- tour CDR (FCH019.75)

 
Tem Eyos Ki-- tour CDR (Harlan Records #19.75)

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11 songs.
Recorded March 2001 by Chuck Schaff at his house in Fayetteville AR, except "Aluminalkalyde" and "Stop Action" recorded January 2000 (same as 7" session) by Dwight Chalmers in Fayetteville AR. "Ogoni", "Barefooted", and "Kaput Mortem" recorded by Tim Scott in Kansas City MO.
Roughly 400 copies made, May 2001.

Credits:

Maralie Armstrong-Rial-- voice, accordion
Mike Lierly-- guitar, voice
Jay Lytle-- bass, backing voice
Eli Milholland-- guitar, voice
Kevin Rains-- drums, voice
Justin Crooks-- cello
Jason Baldwin-- lyrics to "Barefooted"
Nate Powell-- lyrics to most of "Stop Action"
Emil Heiple-- lyrics to "Blind Guardian"

Track Listing:

1. Ogoni
2. Drinking Gourd
3. Tigris/ Euphrates
4. Letter To The U.S. Marshalls
5. Blind Guardian
6. Stop Action
7. John Parker's Iron Wheel
8. Barefooted
9. Aluminalkalyde
10. Grinding Rogue Honest
11. Kaput Mortem

Notes:

* This CDR was self-released by the band for their 2001 tour with Them Of Delphi (Kevin Rains, Alan Short, Luke Hunsicker, and Jack Lloyd). Around 2004, plans were made for Jonathan Lee to release these songs as a split LP with Countdown To Putsch on his record label, but that never happened.

* Lyrics to "Barefoot" were written by Jason Baldwin, an Arkansan falsely imprisoned as a teenager for the terrible murders of three children in 1993-- widely known as one of the West Memphis Three. He and his co-defendants were released in 2011, after 18 years behind bars for crimes they did not commit. More information can be found at www.wm3.org.

* Members also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Bloodhuff, Universe, Holy Angell, Them Of Delphi, Ridin Dudes, Shitfire, Sickshine, Zucura, Tom Sweet, Divorce Chord, Soophie Nun Squad, Boomfancy, Gioteens, and K. 

Tem Eyos Ki. Richmond VA, June 2001. Photo by Chris Boarts Larson.

Tem Eyos Ki. Richmond VA, June 2001. Photo by Chris Boarts Larson.

Tem Eyos Ki. Columbus OH, June 2001. Photo by Nate Powell.

Soophie Nun Squad-- "The Devil, The Metal, The Big Booty Beats" LP (FCH018)

Soophie Nun Squad-- The Devil, The Metal, The Big Booty Beats LP (Harlan Records #18)

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Order CD version from me.

14 songs.
Recorded August 1999 by Barry Poynter in Little Rock, AR. "Diarrhea Of A Madman" recorded August 1998 by Darian Stribling at Blue Chair Studio in Ward AR, and "Singalong" recorded on cassette in Mikael Wood's bathroom the night before the album was recorded.
First released on CD (Phyte Records #18) in January 2000.
First LP pressing: 500 copies, September 2000.
Second LP pressing: 300 copies, February 2002.
Third LP pressing: 510 copies, 2003.

Credits:

Maralie Armstrong-Rial-- voice, whistles
Dustin Clark-- guitar, backing voice
Mark Lierly-- drums
Mike Lierly-- voice
Eli Milholland-- bass
Nate Powell-- voice, donkey drum
Tim Scott-- voice, turntables
Mikael Wood-- voice, organ, additional guitar on "Chicken Fight"
Asa Newell-- acoustic guitar on "Unspeaking"
Jeremy Brasher-- drum machine on "Donkey Call" breakdown
Ashley Goodspeed-- "Chromatic Death" vocal lead on "Diarrhea Of A Madman"
Alan Short-- beatbox
Mary Clarendon Mulkey-- backing voice on "The Drawbridge"
Chip King-- Mayor of Ghost Town on "Rattlesnake Attitude"
Emil Heiple, Michael Motley, Courtney Kaiser-- backing voice

Track Listing:

1. Blackout
2. Dragon Style
3. Cinderblock
4. Mean Streak
5. Diarrhea Of A Madman
6. No Moms Allowed!
7. Unspeaking
8. Donkey Call
9. Wannabe (Spice Girls cover)
10. (Mister Nister)
11. Chicken Fight
12. Singalong
13. Rattlesnake Attitude
14. The Drawbridge

Tim Scott stayed up all night and finished 100 LP covers at an anarchist squat in Leipzig, Germany in April 2002. Photo by Nate Powell.

Notes:

* This album was first pressed on CD as Phyte Records #18 in January 2000. 3 pressings and 2,000 copies were made. It was then repressed as Plan-It-X Records #46 in 2005, with 1,000 more copies made.

* Every single copy of this LP was hand-painted/collaged over used LP covers. Nate, Mike, Eli, and Maralie painted most of the 1st pressing; Nate, Erin Tobey, Matt Tobey, and Lisa Bennett Merva painted most of the 2nd; Nate did nearly all of the 3rd pressing in soul-crushing marathons. If you have a copy, please send me (Nate) a photo/image of the cover so I can post it! My email address is seemybrotherdance@yahoo.com. 


* "Rattlesnake Attitude" is written in the same universe as the song "Ghost Town" from SNS's 2nd 7", and as more songs were introduced, certain characters were intended to cross over. Soophie intended to include an additional song, "John Paul Rains" (named after Tem Eyos Ki drummer Kevin's brother), from this universe on the album, but forgot that occasionally it's helpful to write the music to songs before attempting to record them.

* Here is a collection of Soophie Nun Squad photos on my Flickr page.

* Members also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Bloodhuff, Sand City, Universe, Pallbearer, R.I.O.T.S., The Evelyns, Divorce Chord, Wait, The Insides, Tem Eyos Ki, Sugar And The Raw, Rainy Day Regatta, Boomfancy, Gioteens, Shake Ray Turbine, Revolver Red, William Martyr 17, and K.

SNS at The Living Room, Goleta CA, August 2001. Photo by Joshua Peach.

SNS in Richmond VA, June 2000. Photo by Natalja Kent.

SNS at 40th Street warehouse, Oakland CA, August 2001. Photo by Joshua Peach.

Tem Eyos Ki/ Hundred Years War-- split 7" (FCH017)

Tem Eyos Ki/ Hundred Years War-- split 7" (Harlan Records #17)

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3 songs.
TEK side recorded January 2000, and HYW side recorded late 1999, by Dwight Chalmers at Listen Laboratory in Fayetteville, AR.
First pressing: 500 copies, August 2000.
Second pressing: 300 copies, February 2002.
Third pressing: 200 copies, 2004.

Credits:

Tem Eyos Ki--
Maralie Armstrong-Rial-- voice
Mike Lierly-- guitar, voice
Jay Lytle-- bass, backing voice
Eli Milholland-- guitar, backing voice
Kevin Rains-- drums, backing voice
Chip King-- backing voice on "Purge"
Nate Powell-- lyrics for most of "Kids Kill Kids"

Hundred Years War--
Chip King-- guitar, voice
Clay Simmons-- guitar
Adam Smith-- bass
Jason-- drums

Track Listing:

TEK side: Kids Kill Kids/ Purge
HYW side: The Flesh Eating Disorder

Notes:

* The HYW track was one of the final two recorded before the creation of The Body.

* Members of TEK also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Bloodhuff, Universe, Holy Angell, Them Of Delphi, Ridin Dudes, Shitfire, Sickshine, Zucura, Tom Sweet, Divorce Chord, Soophie Nun Squad, Boomfancy, Gioteens, and K. Members of HYW also in The Body, Siege Engine, League Of The Last Days, Full Service Quartet, Generation Of Vipers, Crown Of Glory, Unfixers, Shake Ray Turbine, Revolver Red, William Martyr 17, and Modular.

TEK at Squaresville. Atlanta GA, June 2000. Photo by Natalja Kent.

HYW at MacArthur Park. Little Rock AR, May 1998. Photo by Nate Powell.

Gioteens-- demo tape (FCH016.5)

 
Gioteens-- demo tape (Harlan Records #16.5)

DOWNLOAD FREE here!

9 songs.
Recorded August 1999 by Jay Lytle at Olive Street in North Little Rock, AR.
100 tapes made, June 2000.

Credits:

Mike Lierly: drums, voice
Eli Milholland: guitar, bass
Nate Powell: voice
Maralie Armstrong-Rial: backing voice on "Circuits"
CT, Jeff Morgan, Jay Lytle, Chuck Schaff: backing voice on "The Rodgering"

Track Listing:

1. Trampoline Song
2. The Stand
3. The Heist
4. Perfect Killing Machine
5. Antisick
6. Circuits
7. Magic
8. The Rodgering

Notes:

* Bonus songs on the download include "Teenage Curfew" (originally by Man At Arms, Mike's 1997 band while living in Savannah GA.) and "P.E.A.C.E.".

* Gioteens 1.0 (1997-1998: Mike-- voice, Eli-- guitar, Tim Scott-- bass, Mark Lierly-- drums) This version played impromptu sets in Pittsburgh PA and Evansville IN on Soophie Nun Squad's first tour. In summer 1998, they recorded versions of "Trampoline Song" and "The Stand" at Blue Chair Studio in Ward, AR; these songs were released on the Defeated Records' Food Not Bombs comp CD.

* Gioteens 2.0 (1999-2001: Nate Powell-- voice, Eli-- guitar, Tim-- bass, Mike-- drums) Most shows and tours were played with this lineup. Gioteens' last show was New Years Day, 2001 in Sherwood AR. A total of 18 songs were written, but unfortunately never recorded-- neither the "Girl Don't Get Me Started" 7" nor the split LP with 2 Dean Crew ever materialized. God, those records would've been absolutely amazing.

Gioteens practice amidst Mike's work on the infamous Hintetour children painting, summer 1999. Photo by Eli.

Gioteens plus Maralie, with Mike accidentally out of frame. Little Rock AR, July 2000.

Gioteens at MacArthur Park. Little Rock AR, July 4th 1997. Photo by Nate Powell.

Gioteens "Salad Days" EP. Minneapolis MN, July 2000.

Tem Eyos Ki-- s/t 7" (FCH016)

 
Tem Eyos Ki-- s/t 7" (Harlan Records #16)

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4 songs.
Recorded January 2000 by Dwight Chalmers at Listen Laboratory in Fayetteville AR. "Chipko" recorded August 1999 by Jay Lytle at Olive Street in North Little Rock AR, for Tem Eyos Ki's demo tape.
First pressing: 500 copies, March 2000.
Second pressing: 300 copies, September 2001.
Third pressing: 200 copies, 2002.
Fourth pressing: 500 copies, 2004.

Credits:

Maralie Armstrong-Rial: voice
Mike Lierly: guitar, voice
Jay Lytle: bass, hatchet, backing voice
Eli Milholland: guitar, 12-string guitar, backing voice
Kevin Rains: drums, backing voice

Track Listing:

1. Aluminalkalyde
2. Chipko
3. Communion
4. Annie Mae

Notes:

* Tem Eyos Ki remains my all-time favorite band, and in hindsight, their genesis signaled the dawn of what we now know as the modern Little Rock music scene. LR has always had vibrant punk, metal, hip-hop, alternative, and art scenes, but Tem Eyos Ki successfully bridged the two most contentious (and deeply loyal) of those communities by suturing the divide between punk and metal scenes, torn asunder in 1988 by The Numbskulz' "Bikini Underwear" debacle. Without TEK, Central Arkansas' music community wouldn't have grown and thrived in quite the same way.

* Folks from Tem Eyos Ki were/are also part of Humanbeast, Bloodhuff, V Manuscript, Universe, Holy Angell, Zucura, Shitfire, Sickshine, Soophie Nun Squad, Divorce Chord, Boomfancy, Gioteens, and Them Of Delphi, among many others.

* Here are a bunch of Tem Eyos Ki photos from my Flickr page.

* Members also in Humanbeast, V Manuscript, Bloodhuff, Universe, Holy Angell, Them Of Delphi, Ridin Dudes, Shitfire, Sickshine, Zucura, Tom Sweet, Divorce Chord, Soophie Nun Squad, Boomfancy, Gioteens, and K.

TEK in Alexandria, LA. June, 2000. Photo by Natalja Kent.

TEK in their practice space. Sherwood AR, summer 1999. Photo by Nate Powell.

TEK's first show. Riverfront Belvedere, Little Rock AR, August 1999.