Neptune

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Neptune
Neptune in Pontevedra, 17 November 2006
Background information
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Genres	Noise music
Years active	1994 - present
Labels	Fortissimo, Table of the Elements
Website	www.neptuneband.com
Members
Jason Sanford Mark Pearson Daniel Boucher

Neptune is a noise music band from Boston that built all their custom made guitars and basses out of heaps of scrap metal. They also play on custom made percussion instruments and electric lamellophones.

Band history

Neptune began in 1994 as a student art project by sculptor/musician Jason Sanford, who forged guitars and drums out of circular saw blades, gas tanks, oil drums, bike parts, VCR casings and miscellaneous scrap metal found in the trash.

The early guitars were untunable, resulting in the atonal sound of the early recordings. With several different members and collaborators over the years, the music has evolved with the instruments, blending the traditional sounds of rock & roll with industrial soundscapes. The current three-piece lineup relies as heavily on home-made electronics as it does its signature scrap metal instruments. Improvisation and performance art play key roles in their live shows.

In summer of 2006 Neptune signed with Table of the Elements, an experimental record label that is home to acts such as Rhys Chatham, John Cale, Captain Beefheart.

Neptune played 117 shows in 2006, including North East Sticks Together, and had two US tours and a two month trek throughout Europe and the UK.

Neptune has played with many other indie-rock acts such as Mission of Burma, The Ex, Liars, Oneida, Enon, Lightning Bolt, Black Dice, Flaming Lips, Blonde Redhead, Erase Errata, Melt Banana, Arab on Radar, Wolf Eyes, James Chance & the Contortions, Parts and Labor.

Personnel

• Jason Sanford - baritone guitar, electric thumb piano, electronics, small electric spring, vocals
• Mark Pearson - baritone guitar, bass, electronics, large electric spring, percussion, vocals
• Daniel Boucher - drums, electric floor tom, electronics, electric gas pipe, vocals

Discography

Albums/LPs

• "Studio Recordings, May MCMXCVII", Full Length CD/LP. (Archenemy Records, 1999)
• "The Ballet of Process", Full Length CD/LP. (Mister/100% Breakfast Records, 2002)
• "Intimate Lightning", Full Length CD/LP. (Mister/100% Breakfast Records, 2004)
• "Mice and Worms", 6 Song 12" LP. (Magnetism Crafts/Self-Release, 2005)
• "Patterns", Full Length CD/LP. (Self-Release (US)/Fortissimo (UK)/Les Potagers Natures (France), 2006)
• "Untitled Improvised LP", Full Length, LP only. (Golden lab records, 2007)
• "Gong Lake", Full Length CD/LP (Radium/Table of the Elements, February 2008)

EPs

• "Knife Fight E.P.", 7". (self released, 1996)
• "Basement Recordings E.P.", 6 song CD. (Mister Records, 2001)
• "Green Cassette", 5 Song C30 Cassette. (Wrong Whole Records, 2005)
• "3" CDR", 5 song CDR. (Magnetism Crafts, 2005)
• "White Cassette", 4 Song C20 Cassette. (Magnetism Crafts, 2005)
• "3" Collage CDR", 2 Songs. (Magnetism Crafts / Self-Release, 2006)
• "Red Cassette", 6 Improvisations, C30 Cassette. (Magnetism Crafts, 2006)
• "3" CDR", 3 song 3" CDR. (Hiddenbirdhouse, 2006)
• "Paris Green", 5 track CDR with hand painted art. (Magnetism Crafts/Wrong Hole, 2007)
• "Roman Business", 4 songs, C20 cassette. (NO=FI, March 2009)

Live Releases

• "At the Pink Pony/A Car Is A Weapon", Live 7" Single. (Mister Records, 2002)

Singles

• "Swang!/Poodle Walk", 7" single. (Anti-Social Records, 1996)
• "Your Company/Productivity is a Science", 7" Single. (Heliotrope Records, 2000)

Split Releases

"Split LP", Full length split w/ One Second Riot, LP only. (Distile Records, 2007)

Videos

• The Penetrating Gaze Video by Bill T. Miller, recorded at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA, 12/29/2005
• Live in Strasbourg France (Full Set, 11 Songs), Recorded live at Le Zanzibar, Strasbourg, France, 9/27/06 | video by Normaltv.org

References

External links

• http://www.neptuneband.com
• http://www.myspace.com/neptuneandjupiter
• http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/49975-gong-lake
• Gretchen Hasse (December 03, 2007). "Electro-Harmonix Memory Man and Micro Synth are Keys to Neptune's Noise Kingdom". gearwire.com. http://www.gearwire.com/neptune-mark-pearson.html. Retrieved 5 Feb 2009. 
• Jed Heneberry (2008-02-15). "Neptune creates new instruments, album". Boston Music Spotlight. http://www.bostonmusicspotlight.com/article.php?id=819. Retrieved 5 Feb 2009. 
• http://billtmiller.com/neptune Photos and video of Neptune
• Pictures from Neptune / White Mice show - taken April 2006 at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain.
• article in Spike magazine