sfu·ma·to
Lars @ Hattstattstock 29.08.08 ------- Lars & Morten @ Det Poetiske Bureau 19.08.09 ------- Carl Christian, Lars, Asger, & Marie @ Inkonst 26.03.03
Lars RO : f. e. guitar & throat, f. e. bass, drums, sitar, assorted noises. (also of ELIXIR DE LA VIDA, NAVRATILOVA & PROXY KICKY TRICKS, formerly of OBSTINATE ESTHER, THE QUADRATURE, LAMPshADe;, & pa'vo' yi'JAH)
Arne BOLLINGER: drums. in DE...
Hans Emil HANSEN: f. e. bass. in DK... (also of CHIMES&BELLS, formerly of TRAENING)
Dan WYCKOFF: f. e. guitar, f. a. guitar, & percussion. in Cali... (also plays solo as Daniel WYCKOFF)
pockets of resistance
a singles/B-sides type compilation CD, including the las zadan EP, the long-awaited reissuing of the psi e.p., and several more gems. co-release with BSBTA. 2005.
las zadan e.p.
4 of the best songs they have ever released. lo-fi demonstrational hi-energy punky dischordant down
right good stuff (their least lo-fi yet though). 'las zadan' means foreplay, and that's the general idea here, to whet yr appetite until the pockets of resistance singles/B-sides type compilation CD. co-release with BSBTA. 2004.
shards of ancient suns
a CD/cassette release which pretty much documents sfu·ma·to's american period,
circa 1999-2000. 7 songs & 45 minutes of soulful yearnings & 4 track sessions &
two live tracks featuring the whole american lineup. available from us, BSBTA, or The Other Music in København. Dave from godspeed you black emperor! really likes "spinning 2000" and "solitude 1999" - how about you? 2002.
the psi e.p.
their vinyl debut is a 7" with 4
rockers for the whole family. Rob
VIOLA says "those guitars scrape me real good." "it's good stuff!
it's great. i think it's a really fine production," says Anders
of LITTLE BOY SPENCER. "it's fucking brilliant! and the sound
quality isn't much worse than a TRUMANS WATER 7"!!! ... but it's
lo-fi punk rock, isn't it?" asks Tania from THE NAKED etc.
possibly still available from
Mod Lang,
Amoeba Records, & Rasputin Records (yuch!) in Berkeley CA;
at Aquarius Records or Amoeba Records in San Francisco CA;
at Kim's Records in Manhattan NYC; at
Rhino Westwood in Los Angeles CA, or at Off the Record in
San Diego CA. 1999.
the future lies in darkness
their second release. a CD/cassette release which contains no-fi live
tracks from a hand-held tape recorder & acoustic tracks from their
appearance on Station 2000 radio in København
in March of 1998. you are more than welcome to download the album
in mpeg form and burn it on a disc yrself, if you like...
click here for lyrics. 1998.
come good
home
their first 4 song cassette recording. don't even BOTHER looking for it at an indie boutique near you! 1997.
compilation appearances et al:
Lars is one of the psychedelic collaborators on the remarkable Vinyl Snails LP. beautiful...
DJ Bad Taste has released a ten copy limited pressing of his remix of "spinning" and a brand new track, "panned out." yum!!!
our latest track is a live version of an as yet unreleased piece called "archipelago (the cockatoo is pregnant)" and is available on The Escape from Beer Mountain: A Posthumous BSBTA Label Sampler / Souvenir Compilation. contrary to what the liner notes will lead you to believe, it was recorded at The Diamond Star House in Kalamazoo, Michigan, not in Kansas. other sfu-ma-to-related highlights are a little silly "Outro" by Branta IX vs. sfu-ma-to, and, GET THIS, the world's first recorded sfu-ma-to cover!!! yes, don't bother rubbing yr eyes, you read that correctly. the fine lads of Younolovebunny have taken our old classic "spinning" & transformed it into a masterpiece of trippiness & cacophony. i am truly honoured. so get the CD already!!! :)
our hottest single, "solitude 2003" is on a CD compilation called Affiliate Program, Vol. 1 (in an extended version, no less!).
our most hippin' & hoppin' track to date was recorded in December 2004 in L.A. by Peace & features Lars, Catherine FEENY, & Natalie WOODLAWN. it's called "welcome to Fallujah" and could be found on BSBTA's Christmas Calendar in the past tense. it s now one of the 13 tracks compiled on the CD, pockets of resistance.
Lars is one of the dozens of collaborating musicians featured on the acclaimed Musical Chain Letters CD. here here!
if yr a fan of las zadan's "wave of murmurings 2003," check out the alternate version featuring Lars & Carl Christian called "wave of murmurings 2001" on the August 2003 EP of BSBTA's EP Club.
a song of ours ("psycho-motorique") is on the kick arse Hairballs of Hysteria CD comp on bloated sasquatch beer theatre audio.
a potent live version of "long tall sally" is on the Les Enfants Children cassette compilation.
(possible titles for future releases are Explosions Spontanees and Chalk It Up to Seasons of Expertise.)
"brush my teeth (live)" (on myspace)
mp3
"i wanted to ride my bike triumphantly up the mountain" (on myspace)
"freedom isn't free (live)" (on myspace)
(unreleased!)
"welcome to Fallujah / how many Iraqis have you killed today? (live)" (on myspace)
all 12 (of 12) "control-alt-delete" tracks! (on archive.org)
(control-alt-delete)
10 (of 13) "pockets of resistance" tracks! (on soundvenue)
the other 3* (of 13) "pockets of resistance" tracks (on last.fm)
(pockets of resistance (1998-2004)
"solitude 2003" (on myspace)
(the las zadan e.p.)
"spinning 2000" (on myspace)
(shards of ancient suns)
"luxury of Crete" (on myspace)
(the psi e.p.)
all 13 (of 13) "the future lies in darkness" tracks! (on soundclick)
(the future lies in darkness)
(* = there are actually 6 of the "pockets of resistance" tracks there available as free mp3s, but 3 of them are duplicates of what is up on soundvenue)
"Formed in '96 by Lars RO (gtr, voc), Andreas FUPS (bs), and Kasper ANDERSEN (dr) - voc, gtr in THE NAKED (Crunchy Frog Records). The group concentrates on using its music to bring forth a Christian message, and all of their lyrics therefore take root in the scriptures. Meanwhile, in the fall of '98 Andreas FUPS left the band and was replaced by Carl Christian TOFTE of OBSTINATE ESTHER. It can be difficult to characterize their music compared to that of other bands, but one can say that LAMPshADe; has been a decisive influence. These days, the band is being temporarily dissolved due to Lars RO's departure from Denmark in March '99 in order to continue his studies in California, USA."
it can be added that we actually started as Kasper (a.k.a. Tania) & yrs truly. the 2 of us met at a VERSUS show at Loppen Christiania one night in the mid-nineties. we realized our common interests & resolved to do radio together. this gradually happened a few times in the ensuing years, and somehow faded into us playing in a band together. Tania also spent her time playing in THE NAKED & POLISH. looking for a guitarist, yrs truly ran into a guy, his name was Lars Sveistrup, he said "howdy," we said "hi." eventually we picked up Finnegan for his poetic prowess. Lars Sveistrup (now of EL RAY) was replaced by Andre CHERCKA (Andreas FUPS? :D), who was, truly enough, replaced by Carl Christian.
for 2 years Lars RO collected the SF Bay Area California version, together with Carey DALL on f.e. guitar & f.e. bass, and then Bomba on drums & f.a. guitar, Bryan GOSKI on f.e. & f.a. guitar, & Darren HERTELL on f.e. bass.
as of 2001 we were back in København with Lars RO, Carl Christian, & an elusive drummer due to long-beloved drummer Tania parting ways with us to concentrate on ENSEMBLE ORLANDO. we look back fondly on the years we played together, Tania, & welcome future collaborations! this then gave way to the rock lineup of the Summer of 2002 (Lars, Carl Christian, Andreas KOCH (also of GANGERPILT, ex-ENSEMBLE ORLANDO & THE NAKED) on bass, plus Marie HANSEN on vocals (also of MOKO & THE BLEEDER GROUP, ex-TRAENING) & Asger HVID on drums (also of MIT NYE BAND, ex-TRAENING), which was - shall we say - slightly compromised by Lars' move to the South of France in Summer 2003.
this same year saw their debut on Swedish & Spanish shores. 2004-2005 marked the band's first U$ & Canadian tours as well as a few shows in Germany & Portugal. Rupert (of VERONICA POST, ex-TWANG & TOTHE INTERNATIONAL) played some drums for us for a spell. in 2006, sfu·ma·to played to Israelis for the first time, and as of 2007 to Syrians & Swiss for the first time (opening for THEE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA & TRA-LA-LA BAND). drummer Nicolas VOGLER a.k.a. BLACK PINK joined for a while, and in Summer 2008 they did a little West European tour together, before parting ways again in Spring 2009.
the Autumn of 2009 has seen the departure of long-time bassist Andreas KOCH, and 2010 has seen the coming to terms with Carl Christian's departure from the band too - not an intentional move, but finally realizing that the guy is just too busy to play shows with more than once a decade! yet who knows what the future holds... so Lars is now wandering around again, wondering which musicians he will play with now above & beyond new-drummer-for-good-insh'Allah Arne BOLLINGER in Deutschland & Dan in L.A. (are there any cellists in the house?)...
adieu!
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