Ranges Eu Tour 24: Bristol, Manchester, Cambridge and dunk!festival

Baggins is back with Ranges, baby!

It’s been aaaages. Last time I saw these guys was 2018. We’d planned on reuniting in 2020 but the pandemic cancelled those plans, and I was too cautious to try international travel when they next toured Europe in 2022. They’ve released three albums since I last saw them: Babel (2019), Cardinal Winds (2021) and 33 (2023), as well as re-releasing “Night & Day“, the release that first introduced me to Ranges. So I’m looking forward to seeing them play some fresh material.

A few updates since I last toured with Ranges: Jared the bass player moved to Ohio. And Joey on guitar moved to Idaho, where he is currently playing in a heavy band called Onsetter.

So Ranges are down to a core trio.

Wilson Raska contributes to the overall vision, concepts, and art. Seems a bit weird to include someone who doesn’t play the instruments, but anyone familiar with Ranges will know that their art and overall concepts are vital to who the band is. Wilson and CJ co-own A Thousand Arms – a record label, printing workshop and distro. Chances are high that if you’re a post-rock fan, you’ll have seen Wilson’s art on t-shirts or posters.

CJ Blessum is the band dad. The most driven person I know. He’s the guy up at all hours, coordinating with people, running merch stalls, driving all through the night to get to the next gig. On top of that, he writes some pretty damn good post-rock music. CJ used to contribute to Will Not Fade now and again, and invited me to tour with Ranges across America in 2017. That was one of the greatest things to ever happen to me.

And then we have Mark Levy. New York Hardcore drum legend. He’s a bit older than the others, and talks different, being from Brooklyn. And he is always the life of the party, and has a million amazing stories to share. He’s the guy I always turn to if I need drum advice.

Damn, I’ve really missed these guys. It’s amazing how spending time stuck in a van with a bunch of dudes for a few weeks can galvanise such friendships.

Last time I came to Europe I was in an absolute state for the entire tour. One of my flights – Auckland to Doha – was the longest commercial flight in the world at the time. Jetlag hit me hard and I felt too out of sorts to really enjoy myself. So this time I’ve opted to get to Europe a week earlier, hoping that the extra time would help me recover from jetlag before I join the band.

Also joining Ranges are Tim (guitar) and Tom (bass) from Astodan – an incredible Belgian post-rock band who Ranges first played with back in 2018. Tim is keeps up with Mark in terms of being larger than life and also being a drummer in a bunch of other bands in Belgium. He also finds it very hard to understand my New Zealand accent, which leads to lots of confusion and big laughs. Tom is a lot quieter, but he is by far the funniest person of the group when he cracks a joke.

We also have sound engineer Chuck Goodwin, who has also made the trip from Montana to keep the guys sounding great, and Sean Oliver is the Fanta-loving driver from Utah, charged with transporting us in the huge van.

Day 1

Monday 6 May 2024

Rough Trade Bristol, Bristol, England

w/ Fort, Din of Celestial Birds

I flew into London a week before meeting up with them, and arranged to meet them in Bristol on the day of the first show. They’d spent some time in Belgium rehearsing with Tim and Tom from Astodan. We were due to meet at Rough Trade, the venue, at 4pm for load in. But they’d encounters issues when trying to come across the channel on the train. They’d been sent back to Belgian to obtain signatures that disclose something to do with taxes before they were allowed across into the UK. This put them way behind schedule and they were pushing it to make it to Bristol in time for their set.

In the meantime I introduced myself to the other two bands, and helped Nick the sound tech set up. The house drum kit was a Natal – a brand I’d not encountered before. It was a really cool orange vistalite.

I’d seen El Ten Eleven play at a Rough Trade in Brooklyn, New York in 2017, so I’m assuming it is a chain of record stores. It was a nice venue. There were loads of cool records and books and posters for sale, as you’d expect. The venue was a great size and I got along great with Nick the sound tech. They had these interesting extractor fans that Nick told me they had been required to install before reopening after the covid pandemic. They suck fresh air into the room and filter viruses out, or something along those lines.

The first band to play, FORT, are Welsh. I’d been in communication with them leading up to this and I found them very friendly. They are high energy and the best part was during the final song when Gavin jumped down into the audience with his guitar and they all went nuts during the big climactic part.

Din of Celestial Birds are also playing dunk!fest at the end of the week, and have recently signed to A Thousand Arms. They give a more professional vibe, using backing tracks and even bringing their own fog machine and a lighting rig similar to the one Ranges had when I toured with them in the USA. There’s a lot more to take in, with six of them onstage.

We’d been nervous about when Ranges would arrive, given their big delay, but they arrived just in time. It was a rushed set up and line check, and then they played at their scheduled time. It was such a buzz to see the guys again after six years. It was mostly newer material that they’d written since I’d seen them last, but I got a bit emotional when they played a few Ascensionist songs. Tim and Tom were feeling a bit nervous about playing the set, being fill ins, but they did a stellar job and honestly, I don’t think anybody would have known that the band had only just arrived, or that they hadn’t played together much.

After the gig we drove to Bath and stayed at a YMCA. I bunked with Tim, Tom and Chuck.

Day 2

Tuesday 7 May 2024

The Deaf Institute, Manchester, England

w/ Fort, Din of Celestial Birds

Bath was named after ancient Roman public baths that were situated there, taking advantage of the natural hot springs. Like many English cities, there were grand, stately buildings everywhere with ornate masonry. I gave Sean a hat I’d bought for him at Primark that had the Fanta logo all over it. He was chuffed. Sean is a Fanta connoisseur, and loves trying the Fanta in every country he goes to because they’re all slightly different. French and Belgian Fanta are among his favourites, and American Fanta is sadly not up to par. We spent the morning soaking in the hot pools and steaming in the saunas. It was a great relaxing way to start the day.

L-R: Wilson, Tom, Mark, CJ, Me. Photo taken by Sean

Sean had stayed somewhere else, and had managed to maim his left hand when returning the key to the lock box. He showed up at the van at the agreed time, with a bunch of bloody napkins held to his palm. We stopped in at an emergency room on the way to Manchester, but there was going to be at least a three hour wait, so we got some dressings at the pharmacy and continued on our journey.

Mark was quite excited to go to Manchester because he’s a fan of The Smiths. He insisted on having a photos taken outside the Salford Lad’s Club, which I thought was the name of a brothel. He wanted to replicate a photo from God Save The Queen, by The Smiths. I don’t really know much about it, but please enjoy this photo that I edited of Mark, Sean and I at the Lad’s Club.

Tonight’s venue was The Deaf Institute. The facade read “ADULT DEAF & DUMB INSTITUTE”. Tom cracked a joke about there being a translator up the front to sign the lyrics, which was hilarious because all the bands are instrumental. There was another gig happening in the same building on the floor above.

Sean managed to get his hand seen to while we were setting up, which was a relief.

I liked the venue but the stage was tiny. Two members of Din of Celestial Birds had to stand on the floor in front of the stage because there was no way all six of them would fit. The lighting was also terrible. But the show was good and the band sold lots of merch.

Lots of people had mentioned that Manchester is great to visit. I had a little wander round during soundcheck but didn’t really see enough to form an opinion. I did find a place with a huge MF Doom mask though, which I loved.

After the gig we found a pizza joint that was still open after midnight, before heading back to the hotel we stayed at.

Day 3

Wednesday 8 May 2024

The Portland Arms, Cambridge, England

I would say this was the best day of the UK leg of the tour.

Wilson and I had matching shirts.

We stopped in at Croxden Abbey. I’ve been seeing lots of old churches and castles during my time in the UK, but I still get super excited about it every time. Many have been bombed during the WWII, or fell casualty to prior wars. Henry VIII also disbanded many churches, convents etc when he formed the Church of England so that he could divorce his wife. I love walking amongst the old ruins, admiring the workmanship that is still so evident hundreds of years later, and getting the sense of history of those locations. We did some cool/cheesy photoshoots before grabbing lunch.

Croxden Abbey

Lunch was at a quaint countryside tavern. We all ordered fish and chips. I didn’t think they were very good, but the others all loved the novelty of having such a distinctly English meal, complete with pints of ale, mushy peas, tartare sauce and lashings of malt vinegar.

I really liked The Portland Arms, our venue for the night. The stage lighting was on point, Chuck had the sound dialed in, and the green room was a welcome haven where we could relax, charge our devices, and use WiFi.

CJ took us on a walk around Cambridge. We climbed an old motte – the hill from a former castle where they would have built the defensive keep. We walked around some university grounds (around, not through. They were very clear that visitors are unwelcome), and saw a small apple tree that is theoretically linked to Isaac Newton somehow. The place reminded me of Oxford, although nowhere near as impressive. We finished up with some great doner kebabs from a street vendor before heading back to the gig.

I met a local photographer, Dobbin Thomas, who took some incredible shots of the night. He was happy for me to feature some here. Give him a follow: https://www.instagram.com/robin_dobbin_t

FORT by Dobbin Thomas

Din of Celestial Birds by Dobbin Thomas

Ranges by Dobbin Thomas

And here are some of my photos below

It looked and sounded fantastic. Ranges really came together tonight and locked in well. Everyone was on a high.

Day 4

Thursday 9 May 2024

En route to dunk!festival

We got up bright and early for a 7am departure. Touring can sound fun and glamourous, but the reality is often it means late nights, inadequate sleep, eating crappy food obtainable at petrol stations, spending all day in a van. Sometimes it wears you down. We spent hours at customs. The government wanted to ensure that we aren’t selling items that they could be claiming tax on. It just meant sitting parked up in a bay with hundreds of trucks and a lot of waiting.

This pushed back our departure time for our train to Europe. Which meant more waiting around. There were more confusions about the carnet at border security and the feeling in the van was starting to get tense, but Tim was able to talk things through with the police and it was fine. Thankfully he speaks French and was able to explain things. We finally got on the train to France and left just before 2pm.

We’ve got a long day of travelling ahead, but we’re excited to get to Belgium for dunk!festival. Din of Celestial Birds are scheduled for 17:40, and Ranges are on at 22:00

UPDATE WRITTEN LATER ON

We missed Din of Celestial Birds, but lots of people insisted that they were one of the better acts at dunk!fest that weekend so well done to them.

We made our way to Ghent, unloaded our gear, and then the Americans and I took our personal belongings to our accommodation. The accommodation was across the road from Kinky Star, the venue Ranges first played in Europe, back in 2018.

We made our way back to the venue. Last time I’d come to dunk!festival it was held at a magical space in Zottegem. There was a forest stage and a mainstage tent. People camped onsite and it had a wonderful culture where everyone reveled in the music, fueled by fries and the finest Belgian beers. They’ve switched venues, and now it is in Ghent. Regulars mourn the loss of the camping experience associated with the festival, and the stages didn’t have the same magical atmosphere as the forest, but it wasn’t a bad set up.

It was a pretty immense building, with four different stages as well as a bar/restaurant and artist green rooms. I was constantly getting lost as I tried to navigate the numerous staircases, but always found my way eventually.

We met back up with Tim and Tom. Their better halves had come to meet them. Tim’s wife is from Spain so I tried conversing with her in Spanish. Ironically enough, everyone understood me a lot more clearly when I spoke broken Spanish than when I just spoke in English with my New Zealand accent…

We visited catering, had a fantastic meal, and then began to set up our gear.

Chuck was getting a bit nervous, but he had the sound dialed. And people were already flooding into the room to listen to the soundcheck.

The Balzaal was full long before the band came onstage. I found this interesting. They could have chosen to watch other bands play downstairs. But they were that eager to see Ranges that they came early.

And that eagerness was justified.

I’ve seen Ranges play 22 times now. And this was the best by far. Tim and Tom bring an extra energy to the band that has elevated Ranges to new heights. They do jumps and kicks and move about, feeding off each other. I could see that they were all loving it, turning and looking at each other and just savouring the experience throughout their set. Being a drummer, I notice Mark’s playing the most, and I could tell he was giving it more oomph than usual. The lights looked incredible. Chuck had them sounding great. And the packed out audience was so enraptured to take it all in.

I took photos from backstage and ensured their drinks were topped up. I tried to get front of stage to take photos at one point but there were so many people that I didn’t want to push past. Tim was dripping with sweat and asked me to fetch him a towel. I looked all around backstage and eventually stole the handtowel from the toilet because I couldn’t find anything else.

Ranges set was a triumph. They were all just beaming. And rightly so.

At the end of the night we celebrated the end of the tour. Ranges had made a custom vodka to be released alongside their album Babel, and Wilson had specially bought a bottle and some cigars all the way from Montana. I don’t usually drink alcohol these days, but I joined in and got a bit silly. I’m sure Wilson has some embarrassing footage that will appear in a future Ranges release.

The rest of dunk!fest was cool. My highlights were Maserati and sleepmakeswaves. sleepmakeswaves was quite late on the final night and we were all tired and fading by that stage, but I’m glad I stuck it out because smw bring me so much joy. They faced a number of difficulties like pedals not working and straps breaking, but none of these hiccups dampened the mood.

It was nice to spend some quality downtime with the Ranges guys outside the festival as well, especially once the pressures of touring had finished. We enjoyed seeing some local sites (castles, canals and cathedrals!) and eating some great food like delectable French pastries, Belgian meatballs, and of course, frites. Last time I’d been in Ghent I was horrendously jetlagged and also got fairly drunk, so it was also nice to see more of the place in a less messy state.

With CJ and Mark in Ghent. Photo by Wilson Raska

CJ commented how dunk!festival always happens on Ascension weekend, Ascension Day being a public holiday. And that is the day that Ranges have played, on the three times they’ve played dunk!fest. And the first time, in 2018, they were touring their album The Ascensionist. There’s something especially fitting and special about that.

We had a teary goodbye at Brussels airport on the Sunday. These guys are like brothers to me. We’ve been through so much together. Over the years I’ve spent 4 weeks in the van with them, driving countless miles together. Drunken, late nights. Sampling local foods. Sharing beds in cramped sleeping quarters. Meeting crazy characters. So many laughs and stupid in jokes. Jokes that don’t make sense and we can’t even remember the origins of, but that we still find hilarious. Lots of bonding over incredible music.

I’m so thankful that CJ invited me to join them on tour back in 2017. And I’m thankful that he insisted that I join them on tour again this time.

Greets and great times to you all.

Joseph James AKA Baggins

Will Not Fade’s 2023 In Review

Time for the annual wrap up. It’s always interesting to look back at the year and reflect on the highlights, and how things have changed.

It’s pretty wild that the covid pandemic seems so long ago now. International bands can tour here again, we don’t have restrictions for gatherings, life goes on. For the most part this is a good thing, but the local music scene was really flourishing for a while, and it feels a lot harder to book gigs now that we have to compete with bands from overseas again for use of venues.

Not that I’m complaining. I saw some incredible bands this year from both Aotearoa and abroad, and that’s how it should be.

I’ll start with bands I saw overseas. I’ve loved Gyroscope ever since I discovered them as a teenager. They’d played in NZ a few times but I was too young to go at the time. They’ve sat firmly on my bucket list of bands to see for a long time now. So when they announced that they were playing Breed Obsession – the album I loved so much – in full, I was sold. I made the trip to Melbourne and it was everything I’d hoped for. Honestly, so, so good. “Snakeskin” was an obvious highlight – featuring an appearance from original drummer Rob Nassif. “Australia” was a big singalong moment. And surprisingly enough, album closer “Time” went hard. Usually it’s very soft, but for an album comprised mostly of ballads, the set was pretty heavy. I went to the matinee show the following day as well, which was just as great again. Bodyjar also played their blistering punk rock which was a lot of fun, but my trip was about Gyroscope and it was well worth it. It was also nice to finally meet fellow music writer Gilbert Potts in Melbourne.

I managed to see Frank Turner play twice this year. The first time was a last minute solo event after Counting Crows cancelled their gig (Turner was the support act), and the second time was the first leg of his international tour promoting his most recent album. He has long been one of my favourite artists so you can imagine how pleased I was to see him play twice.

Melodic hardcore band La Dispute played a packed out show at Meow, reminding me of Zeal – the local youth venue I’d last seen them play at. Their intensely poetic brand of hardcore always hits hard, and I doubt anyone walked away unmoved after witnessing their delivery of “King Park”.

Guitar Wolf and Otoboke Beaver brought their brands of crazy Japanese rock and roll. It was my fourth time seeing Guitar Wolf, and the third time I’ve been part of a human pyramid onstage at one of their gigs. Otoboke Beaver was just as wild in their own way, in a heaving sold out show, screaming their heads off as they played frantically in their brightly coloured dresses.

Highly Suspect were blown away at their demand from NZ fans, selling out venues to the point that they kept having to upgrade to places with larger capacities. It was fun to be in a big arena rock show, enjoying the bluesy rock of a larger scale band.

Looking at NZ bands, I’d managed to catch the ever-awesome Shihad twice. They headlined the rock stage at Homegrown festival, and also played their debut album Churn in full in Auckland a few weeks ago at the bFM radio station fundraiser. They namedropped Jaz Coleman who had produced Churn and I almost wet myself, thinking that they were going to play a Killing Joke cover with Coleman on vocals. It’s not implausible – Coleman does live in Auckland. But it didn’t happen – they were paying tribute to KJ guitarist Georgie Walker who had passed away recently.

The other highlight of the Save The B night was Princess Chelsea. There were so many musicians onstage, it was hard to know where to look. We had someone playing the gigantic organ at the rear, a harp, multiple guitars, bass drums, glockenspiel, and almost everyone contributed to vocals. It was so layered that the music was borderline doom, and it was awesome. Princess Chelsea is playing Meow in Wellington in a few months and I’m super keen to attend and see what the band is like in a radically different setting.

I saw Lorde play at TSB Arena. I’ve never been much of a fan, but I was curious. She’s one of the biggest names in music, and I wanted to see what that looks like in a live setting. The stage set was interesting and Lorde has clearly rehearsed over and over. But ultimately I was pretty bored. There were lots of musicians onstage, but we heard a lot more backing track than live instrumentation, and the music just isn’t played in a way that the musos could put much energy into their performances either.

My favourite local band of the year is Crying Club. They play infectiously fun emo/pop-punk. I’ve had their single “Munchies” playing on repeat, and they put on a great show.

Similar to Crying Club, Cherry Punch play furious punk music that I’d liken to The Runaways crossed with Motorhead. Everyone in the band brings something unique to the experience and they’ve been playing a lot, so I can see them building a profile quickly. I was fortunate to play in a band that toured with them earlier in the year and it was so fun being able to see them play so much.

Bulletbelt released their album Burn It Up, which made it to the no1 position on the music charts, which is a great achievement for any band, let alone a band that plays a less mainstream genre like metal. I really enjoyed the album release show that they played at Valhalla and was pretty chuffed to see that one of the photos I’d taken of the band is on the record sleeve on their vinyl pressing.

Bulletbelt promo pic

It was really cool to see my friend Vorn seeing some big successes this year, including international tours with Crash Bandihoot, The Wellington Sea Shanty Society, and releasing a great new album with his own eponymous band. All of these bands are fantastic and I love seeing them doing well.

I tagged along with Planet Hunter on a mini tour up north for Kaitaia Metal Fest. It was such a great time. Planet Hunter are amazing musicians and great guys so it was really fun to spend a few days with them in the van and see them play new material each night. I wrote a tour blog, but here’s an account of the Metal Fest from event organiser Frankie O’Malley featuring a few of my photos link.

Lastly, I’d like top draw your attention to a new Wellington metal band, FVKVSHIMA. They’re incredibly technical and groovy, drawing upon influences like Killing Joke and Meshuggah. Keep an eye out for their upcoming debut single, “Quato”

It was fun to be part of FromThePit again. Special thanks to Maeve O’Connell for organising the Wellington night at Bats Theatre, as well as the FTP team who work hard to organise, collate, and arrange sponsors and showing opportunities every year. It’s a real blast being part of a community of creative people who want to celebrate the arts and the talented photographers involved in the music scene. I spent some time in in the record store Reel Groovy a few weeks ago when I was in Auckland and it was cool to see some of these amazing photographs still on display at the top of the escalator.

Looking forward to 2024, I’ve got some exciting times lined up.

I’m going to some big arena gigs like Foo Fighters, Blink 182, possibly Iron Maiden. And I’m glad to see some post-rock bands like Mogwai and Russian Circles coming. And I’m super pumped to see Aussie punks Private Function are coming to NZ as well. They’re incredible. Don’t sleep on that tour if you like punk music.

I’m looking at possible heading back to Europe in May for dunk!fest. Watch this space…

Thanks to all my readers, near and far. I’ve been putting my energy towards other things like photography, booking gigs, drumming in bands etc.. but it’s always humbling to see that people take the time to read my ramblings when I share my thoughts on the music that I’m so passionate about.

Joseph’s top song of 2023

Taylah: Okay

I actually prefer this version recorded at Taylah’s flat over the studio version, but both are excellent

Joseph’s top album of 2023

Winter Dust: Unisono

WILL NOT FADE’S 2021 IN REVIEW

Yet again we faced another unpredictable year. So many tours were cancelled, rebooked and postponed. But creative people need outlets and despite the effects of covid, the music community still pushed to keep the arts alive.

Here are some of my favourite releases of the year:

Ranges – Cardinal Winds.

Obviously any Ranges release is going to get a mention. I consider myself an unofficial member of the band. It’s a real shame that postage issues have prevented me from receiving the record I ordered because I know that they always put a lot of effort into the packaging and design. But the music is great.

Ranges and I in Ghent

Lakes – Start Again.

Lakes released the best album of 2019 and now they’ve signed to Big Scary Monsters and given us another brilliant album.

Claemus – Daydream.

Local prog-rockers Claemus have always set a very high standard but seriously, do not sleep on this album. I’ve been playing it on repeat and I’m not even remotely sick of it. I’m excited to see them play again over the next few months.

Claemus

Halsey – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power

I reviewed Halsey’s debut album Badlands years ago and was a bit dismissive, categorising it as music for edgy teenagers who wanted to feel rebellious. But I did genuinely like most of the music, even if a whole album’s worth was too much. This past year Halsey teamed up with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails to create If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. And it is fantastic. You can really hear the NIN touches and Halsey is obviously a great singer. I haven’t watched the film, but I have had the album on regular rotation.

Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

I’ve been a Julien Baker fan since her first album. She has risen in fame a lot since then, especially after taking part in the group boygenius (also featuring Phoebe Bridgers, who was one of the hottest artists of 2020). This latest album is Baker’s most musically fleshed out, with a full band and wonderful intriguing soundscapes and tones.

Amy Shark – Cry Forever

I’m a huge Amy Shark fan, and thrash her last album Love Monster all the time. This latest release sees her ascending further into the pop stratosphere. There’s a few big bangers as well as some intimate ballads. Will she manage to collab with Tom DeLonge on her next record to complete her Blink 182 hat-trick?

Fucked Up – Year of the Horse

Fucked Up drip-fed the four parts of their EP over four Bandcamp Fridays, each a month apart. I’m not sure if that is smart marketing or not but it had my hyped for the full release. At almost an hour and a half long, it takes the listener on a wildly varied journey, but I love it. You need to be committed to get past some of the weirdness, but I think that was already a given if you’re a Fucked Up fan.

Fucked Up

Gojira – Fortitude

I can’t believe that I never listened to Gojira before this album. Simultaneously heavy and accessible, technical and groovy, it’s a great metal release. Thanks to Mark Levy for recommending this one.

Planet of the Dead – Pilgrims

I’ll admit that I’m not usually into doom metal but I’ve got to give Planet of the Dead some love. They did exceptionally well, with plenty of media attention around the globe, and a lot of demand for their latest record. It’s a real shame that most of their tour was cancelled due to covid, but I managed to see them play a few times and they’re an outstanding live act.

Planet of the Dead

Live Music

No surprises that all my favourite gigs of 2021 were NZ artists. The local music scene seems super strong and venues are booked out well in advance.

I only travelled out of town to see one band play this year. I saw legendary trio Jakob play their album Solace in full two nights in a row, in Auckland and Wellington.

Jakob

David Dallas is one of my favourite artists, so there was no way I was missing him play his classic album The Rose Tint in full, especially with a live band. I know that album so well and had the best time seeing Dallas and his band The Daylight Robbery bringing it back to life.

I did photography at Peachy Keen festival at Easter time and it was super fun. I don’t usually listen to much pop music but I had a great day and discovered some new acts. I’d love to see Peachy Keen become a regular event.

Newtown Festival and Cubadupa are also perennial highlights in the calendar that make me super grateful to live in Wellington. It was a wonderful period where New Zealand felt “normal” and “safe” and we could have events that involved thousands of people coming together to celebrate the arts while the rest of the world was shutting down over a pandemic. Cubadupa especially felt like a revival of sorts, having been affected by covid and Christchurch terrorist attacks the past few years. Sadly, those times of normalcy were fleeting, and Newtown Festival 2022 has already been cancelled.

Personal achievements

You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged as much this year. It is just harder to find the time these days, and I’m more involved in other creative pursuits like my photography and playing in a few bands.

One of my photos of Sam Leamy from Opium Eater was included in the From The Pit exhibition that took part in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. I’m already good friends with many of the local music photographers but it felt really nice to be included in something that celebrates the talents of the wonderful photographers around the country.

My old band Secrets of the Sun released their debut album Obon. I no longer play with them, but I did record the drums that featured on the album.

My new band Aegir & Ran played four shows, all which were loads of fun. We’ve got some video footage that I’ll get around to editing and sharing at some point. Nothing better than playing great music with some of your best friends.

I also joined another band, Dressed in Wax. We’ve only played one show so far, but are excited to play more in the future. You can hear some of our songs from frontman Ilja Gray’s solo EPs.

2022

Who knows what the future will bring? Much of the population are vaccinated now, but I still think that the pandemic will continue to affect things for a while to come.

I have tickets to see The Beths and Shihad early next year, both events that were supposed to happen months ago but were postponed. I’ll be stoked if the concerts happen, but won’t be surprised if they don’t.

The Beths

Karnivool just dropped a new single so may have an album on the way. I’m super keen to get to Australia to see them play with amazing prog and post acts like Cog, sleepmakeswaves and Plini, but I don’t think it’s likely at this stage. The chances of getting stranded in Australia are extremely high, with New Zealand’s MIQ system proving inadequate to meet demand time and time again.

I’m excited about future releases from bands who have been in the studio such as Youth League, Tides of Man and Shipwreck Karpathos.

Tides of Man

On a local level, Adoneye may finally release their debut album next year. Planet Hunter have been doing some work in the studio. And I was super excited to help record backing vocals for an upcoming Wellington Sea Shanty Society EP recently (bring on the tiktok fame!)

All words and photos by Joseph James

Album Review: Ranges – Cardinal Winds

Regular Will Not Fade readers should need no introduction to Ranges. I’ve been covering music from the Montana post-rockers since they released “Night & Day” in 2015. I also joined them on tour across America for their 2017 tour in support of their breakthrough album The Ascensionist, and again when they went on tour in Europe and played dunk!festival the following year. CJ (guitar) and Wilson (art direction) also co-own A Thousand Arms, the screen-printing company come distro/record label responsible for the awesome Open Language and Hemispheres post-rock compilations that come out every year.

Most Ranges releases have an underlying concept. “Night & Day” was a 24 minute song that mirrored the 24 hour day. Gods of the Copybook Headings was inspired by the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name. I’ve always liked how their music had extra elements that you could chose to delve into and find deeper meaning in.

CJ playing guitar for Ranges in Lyon

The albums often have amazing physical elements as well, especially with the two most recent albums, The Ascensionist and Babel. Handmade booklets for liner notes on recycled paper; ceramic mugs and shot glasses; screen printed b-side records, wall banners, t-shirts, guitar pedals, cassette tapes with riddles and maps, black market currency… Seriously, the band made their own coins which could be redeemed in exchange for exclusive merch items that were only accessible on certain days discovered by decoding a calendar.

Loads of their releases and merch have cryptic hidden puzzles and codes and meanings that hint at upcoming releases or unlocking more secret b-sides. I know Aaron “Foofer” Edwards was the first to decipher on of the puzzles that came with a cassette tape the band released.

So it’s interesting how they’ve approached this record. It seems clear that something is coming. They’ve dropped a lot of singles in quick succession over the past month. But no clear news about what was coming. No album title, no pre-order. I guess they’ve always loved the air of mystique attached to their music, and now they’ve built up a big enough fanbase that they can really have fun keeping people speculating.

They’ve even kept me in the dark – and for all intensive purposes I’m an honorary band member. I’ve been able to listen to the album for a month or two, but they haven’t given me any hints. I guess I can review the music, but any true Ranges fan knows that the music is only one component of a release. I guess information about artwork and physical media will be revealed in good time…

L-R: Joey Caldwell (guitar), Wilson Raska (art direction), Jared Gabriel (bass), CJ Blessum (guitar, band dad). Front: Me (Joseph aka Baggins), Mark Levy (NYHC drum legend)

OK, here are some juicy details you’ve been after. You’ve actually heard most of the songs if you’ve been keeping up with their recent releases. There’s the four tracks we’ve already heard; four interlude tracks named after the directional points of the compass; and the title track: “Cardinal Winds”

CJ was responsible for a lot of recording and mixing duties in the past because he ran a studio, The Low Country. For Babel they chose to give CJ a break so he could focus on songwriting, rather than worrying about taking on too much responsibility. They drove down to Texas and recorded with Chris Commons, an experience that they all enjoyed. But the a global pandemic made it harder just to get out of the house, let alone out of the state, so Ranges went back to self-recording.

This album also saw Ranges reduced to a trio of musicians. Jared Gabriel was the the bass player in Ranges for quite a while, but he moved from Montana to Ohio last year to live with his fiancé, so doesn’t feature on this record. Hope you’re doing awesome Jared!

“Deluge” was the first track we heard, featuring on the recent Open Language compilation put out by A Thousand Arms. It’s a great song to create first impressions with, but actually features as the last track on the album. It starts out with a murky sound that makes me think of whale song, and a great bass tone that gives off Kerretta vibes. The guitar line is fantastic. You can always trust Joey to come up with a great melody and it’s what makes this song what it is. Mark plays some tasty rolling beats on the toms that sound thunderous but not overpowering. And CJ brings the swells and ambience. It’s a solid song but watch out: that melody will get so stuck in your head!

The actual album opener “Abyss” (debuted on Everything is Noise) comes in strong and intentional. We’re hit by a barrage of overdriven guitar. I remember CJ saying how he wants to incorporate more tremolo strumming into his playing during the writing of Babel, and I can picture him here rocking back and forward, hands a blur as they flutter over the guitar pickups. Mark is really laying into his cymbals too and you can feel the intensity of his hits.

This subsides somewhat to allow an opening for the melody line. Joey and CJ work well together, both playing just what they need to complement the other. There’s some lush beauty that the two work together to weave throughout the song, a very rewarding listen. “Abyss” is a strong statement as an opener and it works brilliantly.

We have four tracks that I’ll call the ‘compass’ tracks. They serve as interludes, giving breathing space and breaking up the album. They sound like samples of cassette tapes; of needles on record grooves; static on the radio; or of some forms of analogue media at the very least. It’s ethereal and we hear gales of wind howling through “North” atop a speaker crackling. It’ll be interesting to hear how the four ‘compass’ tracks sound on vinyl. Very meta, I assume.

Mark is one of my drum heroes. I have so much love for the guy. I even have a photo of him up on my bedroom wall. He gave me advice when I needed to buy a snare drum, and often recommends music to listen to. My old band just released an album that I drummed on and in all honestly, Mark’s thoughts are the main thing I care about. If Mark approves of my playing then that’s all I need. Mark has a custom drum company named Duradero and if he ever makes me a snare drum I will die a happy man.

Mark had been accused of ‘playing it safe’ in the past, and he openly confesses that it was true. But it’s not true on this album. His playing is just what the music needs. It’s driving and passionate. You can hear the energy of his strokes and how it propels and elevates everything. It sounds great. It’s tight, it’s creative, it’s musical. He’s a beast but his playing serves the music instead of overshadowing it.

Mark playing drums for Ranges in Lyon

“Sojourner” [featured on Heavy Blog is Heavy] feels majestic and powerful, with a pulsing beat. There’s some really cool electronic sounds at play – a wavering, shimmery sound and some warm synth bass – that provide nice textural elements for the guitars and drums to build upon.

Title track “Cardinal Winds” is the song that they’ve saved for the big reveal. I’m guessing that they wanted to keep the album name secret. It commences with a neat percussive sampled intro before launching into the big crescendo sound that is recognisably Ranges. It comes in at just under nine minutes long, so it’s fair to say it’s an epic, comprised of a number of movements.

In fact, there are two other songs of similar length, the aforementioned “Abyss”, and “Solace”.

“Solace” [premiered on the YouTube channel wherepostrockdwells] gives of feelings of solitude freedom, as the name would suggest. 2017’s The Ascensionist was the soundtrack to conquering a mountain, and we return to similar feelings of finding ourselves reckoning with the wild forces of nature here. This is the lull in the album, focused more on ambient textures and tender guitar picking than sheer force or melody. Of course, there’s the obligatory crescendo, but “Solace” is the song that helps you catch your breath.

It’s a shame I can’t comment on the artwork, packaging or merch. Wilson always knocks it out of the park with that side of things. They did such an amazing job with Babel that I’m excited to see what they have planned. I feel that my review is incomplete, but I can at least assure you that the music is worth your time.

These guys are my good friends. I’ve spent 3 weeks in a tour van with them traveling around the world. Of course I have favourable things to say about them. But I truly mean it when I say this is a great album. Their last album Babel was their best work to date, but Cardinal Winds tops it. This record really is a triumph of songwriting. I can’t wait to receive a physical copy and let me neighbours experience it as well when I blast it on my turntable.

Joey playing guitar for Ranges in Ypsilanti

Cardinal Winds is out on Friday 27 August. There’s a countdown clock at https://www.rangesmusic.com/ but I’m not staying up til 3am local time to see what happens. I imagine there’ll be some awesome content available to purchase at the A Thousand Arms and dunk!records websites.

Ranges links:

A Thousand Arms store (USA): https://www.athousandarms.com/collections/ranges

dunk!records store (EU): https://dunkrecords.com/collections/dunk-records-on-vinyl/ranges?sort_by=manual

Bandcamp: https://ranges.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rangesmusic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rangesmusic/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBJg41ELchEChCEtIRKz4NA?app=desktop

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rangesmusic

Joseph James (Baggins)

Will Not Fade’s 2020 In Review

I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say it has been a rough year. Personally, I had a lot of amazing plans that got cancelled. I was planning on traveling throughout Europe, seeing the world, touring with my dear friends Ranges and attending festivals such as dunk!festival and ArcTanGent. Then a pesky virus spread around the globe and put an end to all of that. Admittedly we’ve got it pretty good here in New Zealand. We had five weeks of national lockdown around Easter time, and certainly a lot of gigs were cancelled or at reduced capacity, but we’ve still had live music for a lot of this year, which is an absolute blessing.

Even so, I’ve found it hard for a multitude of reasons. I decided to retire from running the blog earlier in the year. But I have some spare time now that I’m on holiday and I enjoy writing these end-of-year summaries, so I’m back in action for this one last article for the year.

My top albums of 2020

The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers

As I mentioned, New Zealand has still been able to have concerts and gatherings for a lot of the year, so this has allowed a lot of NZ artists to stand out a bit more on the world stage. Benee is an example of one artist who has garnered international attention and success. The Beths are another group who have gone from strength to strength. Many of us fell in love with their self-deprecating powerpop with debut album Future Me Hates Me, and follow up record Jump Rope Gazers is just as brilliant. It’s more of a slow burner than FMHM, but still proves just as irresistible and catchy after a few listens, and an easy pick for my top album of 2020. The Beths are also great live and I was delighted to catch them live again this year after a number of postponements. They’re in such demand that they played 5 packed out shows over three days in Wellington, and I imagine they could have even pulled enough of a crowd to play a few more shows too.

Caspian – On Circles

Caspian’s last album Dust and Disquiet is phenomenal. They blew my mind playing that material at dunk!fest in 2018 and I was so upset that I couldn’t see them play again this year after my travels were cancelled. On Circles may not quiet measure up to Dust and Disquiet, but it’s still a solid album, just in it’s own way. It’s a more reserved offering, but this seems somehow appropriate for the times. There’s two songs with singing – Kyle Dufrey of Pianos Become The Teeth lends his voice to one track, and Phil Jamieson’s singing on the titular track is sublime and soul restoring. Something else I love about this album is the interesting tones and timbres they’ve gone for. Maybe they’re in alternate tunings, maybe it’s effect pedals, I really have no idea. But these tones, coupled with some cello and violin on a few tracks, make for unusual yet enticing listening.

Into It. Over It. – Figure

Regular readers won’t be at all surprised by this inclusion. It’s no secret that I’m a big IIOI fan. They were the first act that I flew overseas to see live. And the last album, Standards, was a great. Figure is a logical continuation of Standards. Brilliant songwriting, great playing. The drumming is complementary and they’ve continued their exploration into interesting tones.

Biffy Clyro – A Celebration of Endings

Again, this should come as no surprise; Biffy Clyro have been my favourite band since I was a teenager. I almost slept on this one though – I pre-ordered the vinyl record and due to covid related complications it still hasn’t shown up. Warner said they’d send a digital download but never did (same case with their last record Ellipsis too, up your game Warner!) After a few months of waiting I figured that maybe I should do some hunting. I eventually got a copy of the album downloaded and I’m glad I did because it’s been on steady repeat ever since. Biffy have always trodden a fine line, making a point of being weird and alternative (at times inaccessible even, especially during the earlier albums), yet at the same time playing stadium rock and writing songs that earn mainstream radio play (more so overseas). And somehow they’ve managed to continue down this path with success. There’s less of the bland radio fodder that featured heavily on Ellipsis, and they’ve managed to evolve and push their style whilst style true to their distinctive Biffy sound.

Other music worth mentioning

distance

Sam Butler released two great solo EPs this year. I reviewed the first EP, over time.

Saint Speak

A side-project from Spencer of Tides of Man, lullabies for his newborn.

Spencer Gill with Tides of Man at dunk!festival 2018. Image: Will Not Fade

Jakob – “HAARP”

A great lost b-side from the post-rock titans.

Lakes

Lakes released my favourite album of 2019, and dropped a few remixes, covers and other tracks this year. This 7″ is my pick of their 2020 offerings.

And two albums not released in 2020 that I listened to a lot

Dave Hause – Kick

You may know Hause as the singer of punk band The Loved Ones. It’s almost a cliche how punk singers start solo projects along these lines (Think The Revival Tour). Kick is a great album, hopeful and defiant in the face of oppression. It’s in the vein of singer-songwriter, even country styles, something a bit more chilled out, but still with rock roots.

Metavari – Be One Of Us And Hear No Noise

I have no idea how I came across this album but it just hit the spot. A perfect blend of ambient and electronica. I’ve needed more calming music like this a lot this year.

The state of things in 2020

I’m terrified of the ongoing implications of what will happen to the music scene as a result of this pandemic. Musicians who rely on touring and selling merch for a living suddenly don’t have an income. Venues can’t get by because people aren’t allowed to attend gatherings. No venues means no places for bands to play. And it doesn’t just affect musicians, there’s the roadies and drivers and lighting techs and sound engineers and a whole industry suddenly without work.

Many musicians are resorting to livestreaming performances. [Here’s one that my friends in Ranges did for WherePostRockDwells]. Some people have been able to monetise livestreaming these performances. We will see if this becomes comomonplace in the future.

We all know that streaming is not really the answer forward. Sure, it is a revenue stream, but they pay such a pittance per stream that it’s a joke. Bandcamp have stepped up with Bandcamp Fridays, monthly events that they choose not to take their cut on any music and merch sold in order to help the musicians and labels who need the income so badly now. And it appears to have worked, with millions of dollars worth of transactions happening every Bandcamp Friday.

Thankfully we still have live music here in NZ for the time being. I’ve been paying to a Patreon for our local venue Valhalla because I know that without venues, we won’t have a live music scene.

Live music in 2020

I didn’t see many international acts this year, for obvious reasons. I did see Queen at the stadium (it was a bit of a spectacle but I’m glad I didn’t pay much), I saw Yawning Man at Valhalla, and a few metal bands at Obey The Riff festival at Panhead Brewery in Upper Hutt. My own band also opened for Sebadoh at a sold out show at San Fran in Feb, which was pretty awesome.

Yawning Man at Valhalla. Image: Will Not Fade

My best gig of the year was The Wellington Sea Shanty Society at Breaker Bay Hall. It’s exactly what it sounds like. I drank a lot of rum and sang pirate songs. My friends and I all agree that it was our collective best night out since The Beards.

Newtown Festival was one highlight. I spent most of the day there taking photos at the Ferguson St Stage for The Mousai.

Happy Valley at Newtown Festival. Image: Will Not Fade

Some of my favourite Wellington bands at the moment are Happy Valley, Planet Hunter and Adoneye, and I managed to see them all play a few times.

It’s a real shame that Spook The Horses had their European tour cancelled, but I was stoked that they asked my band to open at their album release and they killed it. They livestreamed the night if you want to go back and watch it.

Spook The Horses album release at Meow. Image: Will Not Fade

A real indication of how much things have changed is when I went to see local speed metallers Stälker recently. It was packed. Certainly a big change from reduced capacity shows that I’d been going to a few months earlier. The mosh pit was pumping and you couldn’t move because everyone was squeezed together so tightly. I used to live for nights like that, but it felt so uncomfortable after avoiding being too close to others for most of the year.

Stälker at Newtown Sports Bar. Image: Will Not Fade

2021

It’s hard to say what next year holds for us. Guns n Roses have announced a stadium tour in NZ. Is that too ambitious? Only time will tell. Hopefully the covid vaccine is effective.

Beastwars have held an Obey The Riff festival at Panhead Brewery in Upper Hutt over the past few years and it’s been successful. I’ve heard rumours about the potential lineup for 2021 and I’m excited about that. I’m not holding my breath about seeing any acts from overseas anytime soon though.

In terms of releases, I’m looking forward to a new Amy Shark album, and hopefully Adoneye release their debut (bass player Jesse is recovering from wrist surgery). There may also be a live DVD from Opium Eater (Jesse’s other band) and Glassblower are dropping their debut grindcore album. My own band Secrets of the Sun will have an album out at some stage early next year too. Sora Shima are coming back so I’m hoping to see them again, and fingers crossed for some new music.

What are your favourite albums of 2020? What are your predictions for 2021? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts!