Neptune (band)

Neptune
Neptune in Pontevedra, 17 November 2006
Background information
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Genres	Noise rock, Avant-garde music,
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Fortissimo, Table of the Elements
Members	Jason Sanford Mark Pearson Kevin Micka

Neptune is a noise music band from Boston, noted for having built their custom-made guitars and basses out of scrap metal. The band also plays custom-made percussion instruments and electric lamellophones.

Band history

Neptune's origins trace to a 1994 sculpture project by Boston artist/musician Jason Sanford, who created the band's guitars and drums from scrap steel and found objects. In 2007, they released their album Gong Lake on the Table of the Elements label, home to art heroes Tony Conrad, Rhys Chatham and Faust. Neptune has performed with artists including The Ex, Mission of Burma, Ut, Oneida, Lightning Bolt, The Flaming Lips, Blonde Redhead, Melt-Banana, Charles Hayward, Liars, Black Dice, James Chance & the Contortions, Gang Gang Dance, The Dresden Dolls, Six Finger Satellite, and Wolf Eyes. As of 2011, the lineup includes Sanford and longtime Neptune collaborator Mark Pearson as well as musicians/instrument inventors Kevin Micka and Farhad Ebrahimi.

Personnel

• Jason Sanford – baritone guitar, electric thumb piano, electronics, small electric spring, percussion, vocals
• Mark Pearson – baritone guitar, electronics, large electric spring, drums, percussion, vocals
• Kevin Micka – drums, electronics, 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-inch LP. (Magnetism Crafts/Self-Release, 2005)
• "Patterns", full-length CD/LP. (Self-Release (US)/Fortissimo Records (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)
• "Mother of Millions", full-length ([Unfinished and unreleased], July 2009)
• "18:40/19:19", full-length LP (Magnetism Crafts/Wrong Whole, 2010)
• "Silent Partner", full-length CD/LP/Digital (Northern Spy, 2011)
• "msg rcvd", full-length CD/LP/Digital (Northern Spy, 2012)

EPs

• "Knife Fight E.P.", 7-inch. (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 Whole, 2007)
• "Roman Business", 4 songs, C20 cassette. (NO=FI, March 2009)
• "Cave Drawings", 6 songs, 10-inch colored vinyl. (Self-Release/Magnetism Crafts, January 2011)

Live releases

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

Singles

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

• Official website
• Gretchen Hasse (December 3, 2007). "Electro-Harmonix Memory Man and Micro Synth are Keys to Neptune's Noise Kingdom". gearwire.com. Retrieved 5 Feb 2009.
• Jed Heneberry (2008-02-15). "Neptune creates new instruments, album". Boston Music Spotlight. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved 5 Feb 2009.