The Brian Jonestown Massacre
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| The Brian Jonestown Massacre |
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The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a psychedelic rock band founded in San Francisco, California in the early 1990s, led by Anton Newcombe. They are now most famous for their role in the 2004 documentary DiG!, which details their explosive onstage antics and their feud with fellow '60's psych-rock revivalists The Dandy Warhols. The band is currently based in New York City.
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[edit] The line-up
Over its decade-long history, the band has undergone a large number of personnel changes. Multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter Anton Newcombe is the only member who has stayed with the Brian Jonestown Massacre since its beginning, when it was founded by Newcombe, tambourine player Joel Gion (who stayed with him the longest), and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Matt Hollywood. There are at least two dozen musicians who have been in the BJM at one point or another.
Ex-members include: guitarist Jeff Davies; guitarist Reginald Shumway; Matt Hollywood, a founding member of Portland band The Out Crowd; Peter Hayes, founding member of San Francisco rock trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; Joel Gion, a founding member of San Francisco band, The Dilettantes; Rob Campanella, a Los Angeles studio producer and engineer who has worked with The Tyde, Beachwood Sparks, Dead Meadow, Mia Doi Todd, Frausdots, Scarling., and his band The Quarter After; Bobby Hecksher, founding member of Los Angeles band The Warlocks; solo recording artist Miranda Lee Richards; Matt Tow, founding member of Australia's answer to the BJM, The Lovetones.
Current long-term members include Collin Hegna and Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson. Long-time guitarist Ricky Rene Maymi was recently replaced by Irina Yaikowsky, who was in turn, replaced by Ricky Rene Maymi.
Much has been made of the fact that Newcombe is head-strong and has just one vision in mind: his own. However, many of the musicians who quit his band have stayed in his orbit and continue working with him in some capacity. Newcombe was, at one point, a drummer in Hecksher's Warlocks. Campanella produces or engineers many of the records on Newcombe's record label, the Committee to Keep Music Evil. Gion is forever showing back up shaking the tambourine at BJM shows. Even The Dandy Warhols appear to have buried the hatchet with Newcombe, as he joined them onstage at Lollapalooza in July of 2005.
[edit] The name
Newcombe's art is heavily influenced by the postmodern techniques of pastiche and image appropriation, and this influence is readily apparent in the name and logo of the band. The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a portmanteau of the name of original Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, and the infamous mass cult suicide at Jonestown, Guyana. The name was also a reaction against a trend toward monosyllabic band names at the time, in particular the British band Ride.
Newcombe's interest in cults like that of Jim Jones and Charles Manson is well-known, and made quite plain by songs such as "The Ballad of Jim Jones" and "Arkansas" (written by, and supposedly performed with, Charles Manson.) Similar interests include a fascination with the Masons.
[edit] The music
The first BJM album, 1995's Methodrone approximates the UK shoegazing genre, but with their second record, Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request (a retread of an old Stones album title), they began the pastiche of '60s psychedelia that has characterized most of their music. Even the incorporation of influences from world music such as Middle Eastern and Brazilian music seem to be filtered through the matrix of their '60s heroes, who include The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Donovan, The Byrds and Bob Dylan.
Stylistic divergences have occurred. A country/roots rock approach was applied to the Bringing it All Back Home - Again EP (another homage title--this time to Dylan), and electronic music crept into 2003's And This Is Our Music. Thank God For Mental Illness displays a stripped-down sound, relying mostly on voices, and acoustic guitars. This is a format that Newcombe has occasionally resorted to presenting live during times of transition in the band.
In 2005 The Massacre released the mini album We Are the Radio. A full length is rumored to come out sometime in 2006, as Newcombe has stated that they will finish an album in October of that year.
[edit] Descendants
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
- The Warlocks
- The Out Crowd
- The Quarter After
- The Dilettantes
- Dead Meadow
- Spindrift
- Sarabeth Tuceck
- Miranda Lee Richards
- The Peoples Temple Of Godstar Children
[edit] Discography
See Brian Jonestown Massacre discography
[edit] Albums
| Album Cover | Info | Track Listing |
|---|---|---|
|
Spacegirl & Other Favorites |
1. Crushed | |
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Methodrone |
1. Evergreen | |
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Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request |
1. All Around You (Intro) | |
|
Take It From The Man! |
1. Vacuum Boots | |
|
Thank God For Mental Illness |
1. Spanish Bee | |
|
Give It Back! |
1. Super-Sonic | |
|
Strung Out in Heaven |
1. Going to Hell | |
|
(Bringing It All Back Home - Again) (EP) |
1. The Way It Was | |
|
Bravery, Repetition and Noise |
1. Just for Today | |
|
And This Is Our Music |
1. The Wrong Way | |
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Spacegirl & Other Favorites (Reissue) |
1. Crushed | |
|
Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective |
Disc 1: | |
|
We Are The Radio (EP) |
1. Never Become Emotionally Attached To Man, Woman, Beast Or Child |
[edit] External links
http://www.myspace.com/brianjonestownmassacre
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1502652,00.html (interview with Anton Newcombe)
- http://www.bjmarchives.com BJM Archives
