leftorbittemple http://www.fuzz.com/fan/leftorbittemple Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:54:18 -0700 Fuzz.com en http://www.fuzz.com/ http://www.fuzz.com/_/images/logo/blimp.png http://www.fuzz.com/fan/leftorbittemple/blog/entry/IceNine-EP-by-Left-Orbit-Temple http://www.fuzz.com/fan/leftorbittemple/blog/entry/IceNine-EP-by-Left-Orbit-Temple#comments
All of the hype that we’ve been hearing lately about that documentary called Zeitgeist caused us to remember that an early version of Left Orbit Temple had created three tracks in the late 1990s, and then shelved them.

The idea was that James Teitelbaum, Danny McGuinness, and Charles Levi (now a grand-felon larceny practitioner and drug addict) would form the core of a new band, and augment the line up with additional musicians as needed.

For the three songs that became known as the Ice-Nine EP, James, Danny, and Charles recruited Kyle Woodring on drums, Mike Armes on guitar, Felix Miklik on percussion, Sean Mulrooney on double bass, Alex Shienton on guitar, plus Bob Pucci and Dana Harnet on backing vocals.

Although the tracks ended up being the seeds for the Left Orbit Temple concept, Danny wanted to peruse something more mainstream, and went on to form the band Icos with Kyle. Charles got into drugs and theft. Mike had been with Mind Bomb; we’re not sure where he went. Sean owns popular Chicago music venue The Double door, Alex is doing computer work now, and Felix - who had been with popular industrial outfit 13mg. - is now recording techno as TransAlarm. Bob continues to manage recording studios, and Dana has vanished. James continues the vibe begun with the Ice Nine EP as the refined and expanded version of Left Orbit Temple with a new parade of collaborators.

Not having listened to these tracks in nearly a decade, we were surprised at how well some of it holds up, and regret not having unleashed this material upon the public sooner. there are some great musical ideas here and some really nice moments.

Hope you enjoy the Ice-Nine EP, the seeds of Left Orbit Temple.

On the EP are:

Zeitgeist (short version)
This is an edited version of the original longer mix. Danny has some powerful, passionate vocals here, and some grim and heavy lyrics. Cool stuff.

Dark
This one was re-recorded on the Left Orbit Temple CD, Prolusion, a few years later. A lot of the elements are the same, and yet the differences are fascinating. The newer, re-recorded version was retitled “Darker”, and now you know why.

Crush
This track is a real trip. We started with an aggressive loop of taiko drummers, and had Danny read a poem over it. By the end of it all, we had a dense, psychedelic head trip of a mess, that is all strangely alluring. from the floaty poetic opening, to the almost jazzy middle section, to the big percussive finish, this is a journey through some sort of soundscape representing the inner workings of a troubled mind.

Zeitgeist (long version)
This is the complete and unedited Zeitgeist, only available if you buy the EP, it is not for sale separately.]]> Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:04:00 -0700 http://www.fuzz.com/fan/leftorbittemple/blog/entry/IceNine-EP-by-Left-Orbit-Temple