"Ed Schrader has built a wildman reputation for mixing shirtless, Mark Stewart-style post-punk free-association with completely unhinged tom-tom bashing - and, starkly, pretty much nothing else. In a too-quick 20-minutes, Jazz Mind recalls Neurosis, Swans, Big Black, the Death Set and pretty much the unfiltered, primordial joy of pounding on shit." -- SPIN
"Schrader's voice alternates between a low, Ian Curtis-esque bellow and a frenetic bark that recalls Andy Falkous of McClusky and Future of the Left. In other words, this is aggressive music, even in its quieter moments." -- Pop Matters
Baltimore duo Ed Schrader's Music Beat launch an East Coast tour today supporting their hometown synth-pop pals Future Islands. ESMB will then return to the road for extensive headlining dates beginning in July. Those shows will be announced soon, please see current dates below.
The duo recently premiered a second track from their new full length via SPIN Magazine. The hushed-yet-propulsive and eminently hummable song "My Mind Is Broken" is available to download/stream HERE.
Pitchfork also recently premiered the frenetic and incisive song "When I'm in a Car", featuring guest guitarist Randy Randall of No Age. It's an urgent blast of vitriol clocking in at a blazing one-minute and 14-seconds. Download/stream HERE.
Previously better known as a partner in Dan Deacon's Wham City collective and performing solo with just voice and a floor tom, Ed Schrader has recently made inroads with ESMB by teaming up with bassist Devlin Rice and touring with Future Islands and Dan Deacon in the last year.
Watch a powerful 10-minute live video HERE. Check out videos of individual songs below.
Jazz Mind opens with the snarling fury of "Sermon", driven by Schrader's high-pitched wail over early-Swans style primal drumming and blurting bass. Turning on a dime, "Gem Asylum" is a sparse and compelling lullaby of delicately chanted vocals and hypnotic bass notes reminiscent of Chairs Missing era Wire. Elsewhere, when ESMB strips down the noise on "My Mind is Broken", "Air Show" and "Can't Stop Eating Sugar", there remains an icy intensity hearkening to Joy Division. Meanwhile, "Rats" and "Gas Station Attendant" explode with a rage and raw simplicity that's rare in an era of unlimited access to audio gloss. Jazz Mind is perhaps the closest one can come to inventive, unbridled emotion.
Jazz Mind is available on LP, CD and Download via Load Records, released March 20th, 2012.
ED SCHRADER'S MUSIC BEAT LIVE:
04/25 York, PA @ The Depot *
04/26 Middletown, CT @ Eclectic House (Wesleyan) *
04/27 Providence, RI @ AS220 *
04/28 Boston, MA @ Paradise *
04/29 Portland, ME @ Space *
04/30 Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle *
05/01 Montreal, QC @ Il Motore *
05/02 Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks *
05/03 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern *
05/04 Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar *
05/05 Albany, NY @ Valentine's *
05/06 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church *
* w/ Future Islands
Artist: Ed Schrader's Music Beat
Album: Jazz Mind
Label: Load Records
Release Date: March 20, 2012
01. Sermon
02. Gem Asylum
03. Traveling
04. Right
05. Do The Maneuver
06. Rats (VIDEO)
08. When I'm In A Car (MP3)
09. Air Show
10. Can't Stop Eating Sugar (VIDEO)
11. Gas Station Attendant
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