Some Reviews on new record::::: "Jane Doe Loves Me"
::::::From the http://www.bibabidi.com website:::::
"Experimental Dental School is one of the most exciting and stunning bands
I've heard in a while. 2008 is going to be great, man.
The Oakland, California trio is far from placeable;
they defy classification, although a few things can be safely said about
the organ-guitar-vocals group's aesthetic and sonic style. Imagine a more
scatterbrained Deerhoof or sharper, higher contrast second-coming of
Captain Beefheart. Whatever it is, Experimental Dental School is definitely
an art-rock outfit that has somehow slyly released three full-length albums
internationally without my knowledge! I feel so left out, so not on top of
what's pushing pop music forward.
Experimental Dental School is a group intimately
focused on constructing music from the bottom up. There's no predetermined
tone or genre that they apply to their songs (I can't imagine these three
saying anything like, "I just came up with this great hook -- let's
make a song out of it!"), but rather a desire to explore, simultaneously,
noise-rock, experimental guitar noodlings, jazzy and spazzy explosions, heavy
garage rock (turned upside down, flipped inside out), and percussive foot
stompers that all make you want to bounce around a concert venue, bedroom,
subway stop, whatever. There's a life and energy behind their work that's
rare and jaw-dropping ... "
:::: ::::From the Portland paper wweek.com :::: ::::
"Well, holy shit-just a few months into 2008 and it looks like we've
already got a winner in the "awesomest album cover" of the year award.
Experimental Dental School's new record, Jane Doe Loves Me, features an image
that just totally nails down its sound: A standing beast looms with a Casio keyboard
torso, galloping horse legs, eagle wings extending toward the sky and a solemn,
strident wolf's head. If you picked a random person, played them the record and had
them close their eyes and draw the first thing that came to mind, it would probably
look pretty similar to the image. EDS plays fractured rock songs through keyboards
that sound like they've been smashed one too many times and guitar tones that
emote, per the band's own description, like "that of a broken-down
Slurpee machine." Jane Doe doesn't just love the band, she designed
the freaking cover."
-MICHAEL MANNHEIMER
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
- Jesse will be contributing artwork to Lit/Mus Magazine
View here. not sure when it comes out.
Experimental Dental School
Jane Doe Loves Me
By Scott A. Gray
There's nothing not to love about these 12 off-kilter stabs of exuberantly creative freak rock.
Bending the capabilities of their instruments beyond their limits, this trio of brazen sonic
explorers display no regard for the idioms of rock music. Sure, there are many other acts
who delve heavily into the experimental aspects of rock music but few achieve such wild
abandon without sacrificing distinctive melodies and an overall focus on great songwriting.
Jane Doe is far more tuneful an effort than the majority of albums by bands so intent on
writing outside the margins but is no less aggressive in its dissonant splurges of controlled
chaos. Shoko Horikawa's delicate voice is a helpful softening agent for the harsher edges
of EDS. Mellower reprieves like the slightly sinister summer carnival tromp of "Obscene
Back Porch Floating" and "Uh Huh - Na Uh" give Jane Doe enough breathing room to
withstand and appreciate Experimental Dental School's more invasive procedures. (Cochon)
:::::::::::::::::: from Aquarian magazine :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Experimental Dental School
Jane Doe Loves Me
Cochon
An offbeat look at the world,
Experimental Dental School's third album
is
anything but mundane.The seemingly
nonsensical song titles are
misleading
as there is actually a cleverly crafted
intelligence woven into
the fabric each
song.This experimental art rock trio paints
a variety of
uniquely abstract lyrics with
metaphorical depictions of animals,
machines
and ghosts to express themes
of nonconformity, reincarnation, sexuality,
vices, existentialism, and religious
agnosticism.The two instrumental tracks,
"Ski's Mini Moo"and "Zeroeth Birthday"
allow listeners to take a breather from
the lyrically based songs by providing
the album with atmospheric backgrounds
that are just as imaginative as the songs
with lyrics.
The music is masterfully
orchestrated
with deliberate attempts to evade
predictable song structures.
The songs
change time signatures and moods
without warning, yet
appropriately done
so with the inclusion of bizarre and
obscure sounds of
computers, animals,
and other unconventional noises.These
random
atmospheric sounds are often
utilized through various effects pedals
along
with dissonant chord choices on
both organ and guitar-o-bass.Overall,
their
sound is a nod to Frank Zappa that
succeeds in maintaining its own unique
qualities that uncannily work well.As the
band's name hints, this is an
experiment
unlike any other.
EXPERIMENTAL DENTAL SCHOOL Jane Doe Loves Me ( Cochon Records) This
"Jane Doe Loves Me opens with the title track, a barnburner with guitars, keyboards, and various alien sounds chasing the vocals around every corner and dark alley. ’ÄúObscene Back Porch Floating’Äù provides a brief respite from the sonic onslaught with bizarre samples crashing a dreamlike and deceptively simple acoustic party."
" this is a strong effort, one in which each listen reveals new paths of melody or rhythm from the first song to the last. "’Äî Robert Benziker
http://www.epasatiempo.com/
:::::::::::::::::::from the New School Free Press.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Experimental Dental School specializes in a radical and improper kind of surgery. The guitar slithers and spurts. The keyboard spirals out of control. A man shouts, then a woman coos. The drums constantly stray from the standard boom-chuck. Eventually, the very idea of rock 'n' roll is torn asunder. And even sludge monsters playing Napalm Death covers with Casiotone keyboards couldn't have done better.
It's no surprise that this trio, with three full-length albums under its belt, originated in Japan and now hails from Oakland, California. Japanese legends like Melt Banana specialize in blistering clamor, while Bay Area stalwarts like Deerhoof focus on intricate songcraft. Experimental Dental School traverses both ends of the spectrum, yielding spectacular results.
:::::::::::::::::::from the Tastes Like Chicken Blog.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
EXPERIMENTAL DENTAL SCHOOL ’Äì JANE DOE LOVES ME (Cochon Records)
EDS’Äôs brand of schizophrenic art rock harbors many of the same elements that make bands like Deerhoof and Melt Banana sound incredible. And no, I’Äôm not just talking about Asian band members. Honestly though, all jokes aside, go buy this album.
RATING: FIVE STARS
http://www.tlchicken.com/
:::::::::::::::::::from "The Owl" Magazine.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NEW EXPERIMENTAL DENTAL SCHOOL DROPS 5/13
Fresh off a tour with San Francisco band Deerhoof, Oakland band Experimental Dental School is back with a new album. The trio's unique blend of music combines organ sounds, dance beats and guitar riffs to formulate a special hypnotic version of artistic rock 'n' roll. Two of the bands members, organist Shoko Horikawa (originally from Japan) and guitarist Jesse Hall, bring a fresh perspective on indie rock, which reflects in their earlier releases.
Experimental Dental School are another band from Portland who seem to be pushing experimental pop and rock right out to the edges. It must be something in the water. Produced by Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, their idiosyncratic music sounds like a mixture of Battles, Devo and prog rock with a penchant for dayglo 8 bit electronics.
It's full on stuff, chopping and changing course several times within one song, only slowing down for respite at a few points, but it's incredibly dense and you'll find fresh things in it for a while
:::::::::::::::::::from the UK's Organ Magazine issue #257 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
EXPERIMENTAL DENTAL SCHOOL ’Äì Jane Doe Loves Me (Cochon) ’Äì
Ah yes, more microscope lab voices and obscene back porch floating
from the most experimental dental school of them all, we were looking
forward to this one. They moved from Oakland to Portland and they did
again. Bendy - seriously bendy pointy pronky jazzy new wave and
complex Devo shapes and Casiotones and machines that are
programmed for questions and get away from that door people mover.
Deerhoofs and striking discordance and broken machines being hit by
guitar riffs and all going off and things. Things that never stand still, an
ever evolving revolving sound. Here a honk, there a clang and a
guitar-o-bass (a custom built low tuned guitar with bass strings) and
ice creams and machines and different coloured animals and giraffes
that probably run oh so very fast if you want to catch one you had better
take a net. Shoko Horikawa sings like a bird and all the joined up bits
are wonderfully disjointed in such an unobvious way ’Äì and it is all so
obvious although only they could have thought of it and yes they do
keep going off and things and they're all over the place and ghosts may
hide in corners and sing inside them but none of it would work if the
songs weren't so good, are we making sense here? Uh huh, na hu, think
the alt-rock roller-coaster quirk of Melt Banana or Deerhoof or Devo or
Mr Bungle and you'll'be someway near a bus that might just take you near
there and you know what, this is 2008, you don't need anymore words from
us, here's the link, here's the stars and a saucer to drink from and pinchy
and precarious and upbeat and colourful and smiles ever wider than the
most friendly of crocodiles and plant plenty, and they did it again ’Äì I think
we love even more than last time ’Äì www.experimentaldental.com or find it
in the UK via www.cargorecords.co.uk - and you can treat yourself to some
2006 live You Tube footage here.
http://organart.com/
::::::::::: from Seattle's The Stranger weekly newspaper:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Experimental Dental School (Ryan Brundage on drums, Shoko Horikawa
on Casio and sampler, Jesse Hall on guitar and vocals) come from the same
experimental musical school as fellow Bay Area bands Numbers and Deerhoof,
whose Greg Saunier helped mix the band's new album, Jane Doe Loves Me.
Like Numbers, EDS stick forks in analog synth sockets and gets nasty, electric
sawtooth-wave shocks. Like Deerhoof, they pair their noisier bent with delicately
off-kilter pop, switching from merry-go-round lilt to prog scales to punk gallop.
But EDS's spark-spitting broken toys and rewired electronics give their songs a
distinct peripheral flurry of buzzes, chirps, squeals, and burps.
ERIC GRANDY ’Äìthestranger.com
REVEIW ON PAPER THIN WALLS::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Another entry in our seemingly never ending post-Arab On Radar spazzo skronkdown, but delivered with a hug and a smile. Penetrating art-wheedle delivered with an affability and friendliness and a cute dolphin photo and two people that actually sing real melodies, Experimental Dental School are destined to be the popular kids-the Molly Ringwald to Pre's misfit Ally Sheedy, AIDS Wolf's delinquent Judd Nelson, Daughters' jocky Emilio Estevez and The Planet The's geeky Anthony Michael Hall. Do they want to be Pterodactyl (verse) or Peeping Tom (chorus) or Brainiac (probably)? Ten years in the game, Deerhoof can make a similar mush-up of bonkerbatter and pop-hop seem seamless. So is "Jane Doe Loves Me" the scrappy, punk rock beginnings of our next avant-rock hero? Or just another synthy no-wave trifle to have a vague memory of seeing performed in a basement or linked on a friend's blog in 2008, the year you really noticed how young everyone is getting? It's a great three-minute gamble.
Experimental Dental School guitarist Jesse Hall on "Jane Doe Loves Me"
What is this song about?
"These songs are usually a collage of feelings. Vaguely, it's about two people being depressed, but depressed about two different things. I find it difficult to explain a song's meaning without sounding completely infantile... but they definitely have meaning. Maybe only to me. I can tell you the words came from two specific places. Shoko had a hairdresser that would go on and on about how ghosts were visiting her at night, having sex with her, and even warning when the iron was left on. Pretty nice ghosts. But the haircuts weren't exactly on the mark-kind of ghostly. The chorus "Jane Doe Loves Me" comes from a painting-which is in the disc tray or our CD-done by Edward Robinson. He is 70 and we met him on tour, yard-sale-ing paintings, all of people who died in different ways. "
Tell me about the synthwolfbird on the cover of your album
"The album cover is a combination of XDS members. Shoko is the wings and keyboard. Ryan is the horse legs. Maybe I am the eyes"... - CHRISTOPHER R. WEINGARTEN
XDS have sprung forth from the frothy canals of California's growing kitchen sink indie scene. What was once the haven for the sounds of Big Sur, psychedelia and heavy metal has slowly turned into a territory where those genres have ended up in a broth of unidentifiable din agitated by an industrial blender powered by rolling blackouts, tabloid rags, and vapid consumerism.
Ryan, Jesse, and Shoko (burrito fetish aside) have condensed the racket of California materialism and advocate nihilism into a high-energy, dance-crazed third album: Jane Doe Loves Me. Much like the album's forgetfully lost namesake, XDS look to put the zaniness of their surroundings into their music, much like their noise-making brothers and sisters-in-arms.
Much of the album finds the trio mining much of the same quick-yet-epic territory of Deerhoof and while such comparisons are accurate (right down to the Asian female voice), Jane Doe Loves Me is far heavier than any recent Deerhoof output; not to mention XDS clearly have a melodic goal in mind rather than just bashing out angular (although catchy) riffs. XDS are more influenced by new wave than by cuteness and indie experimentation for its own sake.
Experimental may be 1/3 of the band's name--and they hold up that end up the moniker--but don't be fooled into thinking Jane Doe Loves Me is stab in the dark tactics to be 'experimental.' These are highly controlled songs all the while maintaining a sense of spontaneity. This won't be an album for the masses and it won't be an album for the ever-growing flock of devotees to the Seussical stylings of The Smell's recent alum. It carves its own niche with each passing listen and is preparing to launch XDS into their own stratospheres crack.
::::::::::::::::Ryan's blog from the Modern Drummer website::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: http://www.moderndrummer.com/modern-drummer-blogs/
reetings to modern drummers worldwide. My name is Ryan Brundage, and I play drums for the Oakland based art-rock band Experimental Dental School. Working with E.D.S. has definitely been one of the most challenging and rewarding musical experiences of my life, and has also afforded me the privilege of touring the US and Europe extensively. Playing in such a wildly creative band allows me to experiment with different sounds, techniques, and time signatures like never before.
I am now and have always been influenced by a very wide variety of art and music. Growing up, I mainly listened to punk, metal, death rock/goth, and new wave, and in years since it's been avant-garde black metal, '60s-era free jazz, noise/ambient, and '70s kraut rock, just to name a few genres. It's my ultimate goal to fuse all of these concepts and styles into what I play and do artistically. I've never actually taken any sort of drum lessons, instead opting for the D.I.Y. approach to every instrument that I've learned to play. Luckily, I have a very supportive mother and father who let (and encouraged) me to beat on the skins in their basement incessantly for hours from age ten through eighteen.
In some ways I feel like lessons on proper technique can hinder some peoples' creative abilities. Of course this is not always the case for everyone, but who hasn't met a "killer" guitar player who can play anything and shred wicked solos all day but can't write a good song? And then you have people like Robert Smith of The Cure who was technically inept but wrote insanely creative and lasting pop songs of all varieties. Most of my favorite music is a little more on the imaginative side rather than the technical.
I've always embraced the notion that "pro" gear will never help you be a good player. In fact, I still love the sound of some janky equipment, especially mics and guitar amps. If you can play well on a crappy kit (European tour), you will only sound better on a nice one.
This concept was reiterated to me tenfold while on tour with Deerhoof last year and watching drummer Greg Saunier completely rip on the most stripped down, non "pro" set that I've ever seen-while sitting on a milk crate. Incidentally, Greg is one of my absolute favorite modern drummers, along with Jesse Applehans of Upsilon Acrux/Bad Dudes (whose set I am playing on in the photo above while on a recent tour with Bad Dudes). I have learned more from watching those two play night after night on tour than from almost anything else.
Despite my love for less than ideal gear, I bought a five-piece '72 Ludwig kit a few years ago, and it pretty much rules. Huge kick, huge floor, and a giant and booming classic-rock Bonham-like tone. Recently I have stripped down my cymbal setup and now play with only one hi-hat and one very expensive Istanbul ride/crash. The variety and complexity of tones within that cymbal are amazing, and eventually convinced me to shelf my other two crashes. It took me years (and a lot of convincing by my bandmates) to realize that sometimes less is more with regards to cymbal setup, especially in a live environment. I'm sure that any seasoned musician would agree that the use of time and space (learning when and what not to play) is invaluable, and only comes with years of practice and experience. I have only recently begun to TRULY realize the importance of this concept, after twenty-two years of playing, and I am once again reminded that there is always something to learn no matter how good you feel you are.
We finished recording our third album, Jane Doe Loves Me, a few months ago and finally released it in the US on April 1. It is by far the best piece of work that I've ever been associated with, and we're all very proud of the way it turned out. It took almost two years to realize because we all had ridiculously high standards...we would work on some songs for weeks and then one day just scrap them, realizing that said song just wasn't quite good enough for the record. Jesse (guitar/vocals) and I spent a few all-night twelve-hour sessions in our practice space, employing a method in which we would attempt to write twenty songs and record them all in one twelve-hour period. At one point in the night, five or six hours into it, our brains would sort of reach a new level of consciousness due to such mental fatigue, and then the really good ideas would flow. Some of our best song ideas were spawned from these sessions, and a couple of them even made it onto the album almost in their entirety.
The initial tracks were recorded in the legendary all-analog Tiny Telephone studios in San Francisco for that all-important warm drum, organ, and guitar tone. All of the overdubs were done via Pro Tools in our studio in Oakland, and the utmost care was put into not only the sound and feel of the tones, but also mic placement in the room and around the amps. Jesse would spend hours and hours down at the studio just moving the mic a little bit and then testing...a little more and then testing...and so on. The results were truly amazing, and we are all very happy with the outcome of the songs as well as the artwork.
We're now enjoying a much-needed break after this exhaustive recording and equally exhaustive recent month-long European tour. Now we can kick back and watch our bank accounts grow from our millions of dollars in CD sales. Oh, I forgot to mention that that's why I started playing drums in the first place. Thank you to Modern Drummer for letting me ramble on and on...later days...'til next time. Go forth and create.
Angular art-rock trio Experimental Dental School--who perhaps play around in the same kitchen sink as Deerhoof--make music that sometimes sounds like it's been cranked out of a meat grinder: it's gritty, messy, but still cohesive. Their Jane Doe Loves Me album is coming out next week, and you might find the band's Shoko Horikawa celebrating this feat with burritos.
For Horikawa, a Japan native, there was a time when burritos were a novelty. Her first experiences with them were at a fast-food joint and in a dorm room, so it wasn't until moving to San Francisco's Mission district that she gained an appetite for the Mexican delicacy. Now residing in Portland, Horikawa's appreciation for burritos has grown. "Before I moved up here, I didn't expect too much from Oregon burritos," she says. "But I was wrong. There is this really good Mexican place called Taqueria Los Gorditos. My favorite is filled with tofu, and it's so good that I can't chit chat or do anything but enjoy the great time with my burrito."
And, in case you are curious about translations, Horikawa's done some sleuthing: "I found out that the word 'burrito' literally means ’Äòlittle donkey.'"
Spastic, blasting angular grinds define the damaged chromosome output of Oakland, California's Experimental Dental School. Not as punishing as their name suggests, the sugary power trio dwell loudly in overamplified whimsy. The squiggly, yet doom obsessed Jane Doe Loves Me serves as the unwieldy bouncing band's third full length.
Superficially, instrumentation seems simple with driving organ, samples, guitar and drums. How these instruments are used is an entirely different story as manic depressive intensity rules heavy-handed. Songs will violently sprint - all the instruments attacking each other in a padded room. Song progressions possess a wondrous wounding tendency to swoop into strange reflective valleys where acoustic guitars and soft, soothing vocals melt seductively out of the ether, especially those by Shoko Horikkawa. One will be worn out or energized by the frantic energy packed in each three minute song.
A rattling temper tantrum of junky percussion begins "What Ghosts See" before sonically lurching forward with a stomping guitar rhythm, while an organ bleeps and percolates like an old time sci-fi sound track rendered. Such eyes to detail bring the listener back looking for more eccentric details. Everything in this song seems to have a five second solo - the organ has a very brief circus, show off moment, while a drum solo branches into an odd military march.
The album obsesses with ghosts and wide spread planetary doom through an individual perspective. Opener "Jane Doe Loves Me" has lines like "Many ghosts have sex with me/ Now they warn catastrophe." Towards the album's end, "Lord's Lap" mutters out "The lord is a horny ghost/ very professional/ very omni-versatile." The album's themes depict a dystopia where everything is digitally downloadable from ghosts to the holy spirit. Heavily processed moments of monotone vocals reinforce the hijinx of this strange collision.
A strange anthem that's too clunky to ever commit to memory, "Plant Plenty" illustrates hollowed utopian images turning militant, drowned in the thick teeth cavity provoking of a pinkish purple cotton candy world. The song sports the albums most disquieting lyrics: "Tags on whales then on me/ Leads to mass conformity/ Switch-blade teeth then tigers happy/ Then we know we'll plant plenty." The band was wise to print the lyrics in the sleeve to be able to appreciate the lyrical nuances as they can easily be lost in the rushing mania onslaught of the song(s). When hearing the sound of the vocals, one feels you're at an underground resistance pep rally or reprogramming facility. Heavily affected guitar riffs sound simultaneously like rockabilly mimicking sirens. The song is just plain weird as one can almost detect a Native American tribal vibe. Organ explores free jazz blurps as well as circus carnie drugginess.
Jane Doe Loves Me ends appropriately with a dark malfunctioning lullaby. Galloping lo-fi percussion of indeterminable origin is haloed and hovered over by digital squiggles and a loopy keyboard dementia that could also be amplified glass bowls as well. Everything is not as it seems. The bizarre swirling psychedelia reminds one of a gooey eyed mutant part squid, part infant and part cyborg.
:::::::::: From http://www.sfgay.org :::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"In their latest album, Jane Doe Loves Me, the pop group explores sounds that
are reminiscent
of everything from an old school Nintendo game to a Fellini film.
One thing Experimental Dental School is not lacking is an unbridled whirlwind of creativity
and abelief that anything can be possible when making an album. The group hails from Oakland,
California where they use eclectic instruments backed up with a guitar, organ and drum, to create
their bizarre and unique art rock. Ryan Brundage's beats underline Shoko Horikawa's tornado riffs
and Jesse Hall's guitar mayhem. The band might strike a chord with Devo or Deerhoof fans looking for
a new and perhaps more quirky fix. In fact, Greg Saunier of Deerhoof even helped the
Experimental Dental School kids mix Jane Doe Loves Me. "
"there are a few gems in the chaos of this relentless album, where a few songs do disembark from
clangs and robot sounds and seek out a straightforward acoustic melody instead.
"Uh Huh-Na Uh" is a charming harmony that gives the listener a break from the experimental
throbbing. The whimsical "Back Porch Floating" is also a display of a more harmonious moment
in an otherwise clattered album. The bass and organ give structure to "Plant Plenty," as
"Zeroeth Birthday" has a touch of jazz to it.
If anything Dental School knows variety and although they might have a signature experimental sound
they
also have enough flexibility to reach out to a surprisingly broad audience. Jane Doe Loves Me is a
lesson in variety."
