Volcano the Bear

Volcano the Bear are an improvisational/experimental English band formed in Leicester in 1995. The group's members are Aaron Moore (drums, trumpet, vocals), Nick Mott (saxophone, guitar, vocals), Clarence Manuelo (tapes, electronics) and Daniel Padden (keyboards, guitar, clarinet, vocals). Although the principal roles of each member are as listed, the group use a large array of additional sound-making objects to create their music.

Volcano the Bear
OriginLeicester, England
GenresExperimental/improvised
Years active1996–present
LabelsVolucan, Pickled Egg Records, Misra, Beta-lactam Ring, United Dairies, Rune Grammofon
Websitebrainwashed.com/vtb1/

Early work

Their early work was characterised by theatrical live performances and unconventional recording methods; for example The One Burned Ma, their second full-length album, contains no tracks on which all four members appear. Having self-released a handful of cassettes and CD-Rs, several as every short-run limited editions with hand-drawn inserts, they came to the attention of Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound, who revived his United Dairies imprint to release The Inhazer Decline, their first full-length album.[1] However, a proposed collaboration with Nurse With Wound was not completed. They continued to release regular live CDRs on their own Volucan imprint, and later albums such as Five Hundred Boy Piano and much of The Idea of Wood were performed live in the studio.

Hiatus

A hiatus in group activity occurred in the early part of the 2000s with Mott and Moore reviving their pre-Volcano the Bear unit Songs of Norway. Manuelo created an album and EP as Earthtrumpet. Padden founded The One Ensemble of Daniel Padden initially as a solo project, later expanded to a quartet, with Chris Hladowski and Aby Vulliamy (both of Nalle), and Peter Nicholson. This unit has subsequently issued its releases as "The One Ensemble", with Padden releasing an album in 2006 of his solo material under his own name. Padden has also played with the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra.

Moore played drums on the 1999 L.P. Free Surf Music #1 by Alan Jenkins and The Thurston Lava Tube, drummed for The Nightingales for a while, and in 2005 formed the duo Dragon or Emperor with occasional VtB collaborator Stewart Brackley. He also released a solo album The Accidental on which Alex Neilson and Andrew Liles appear. He is currently a member of the Brooklyn band Freetime.

Reunification

In early 2006 the band reconvened to release a double album Classic Erasmus Fusion to excellent reviews, and later that year released a live recording of their first performance as a full band in four years entitled Egg and Two Books.

The band released their first album for five years, Golden Rhythm / Ink Music, in April 2012.[2][3]

Musical style

The band's music has been described as "avant-garde drone rock",[4] "avant rock",[1] and on the album 500 Boy Piano British folk influences were noted.[5] Their 2012 album Golden Rhythm / Ink Music was described as pushing "well beyond the boundaries of rock music, incorporating elements of Middle Eastern music, American freak folk, jazz, and Dadaist literary absurdity".[2] They have been compared with The Residents, Nurse With Wound, and Faust among others.[6]

Discography

YearTitleFormatLabel/Cat. No.Notes
Volcano The Bear
1996Vol OneCassetteVolucan 001Limited edition of 25.
1996Vol TuCassetteVolucan 002Limited edition of 50.
1996Vol III (iii)CassetteVolucan 003Limited edition of 20.
1998VolfurCD-R/CDVolucan 004, later Beta-lactam Ring mt053.1Limited edition of '50 – 60'. Recorded live 6 February 1998.
1998VolveCD-R/CDVolucan 005, later Beta-Lactam Ring mt053.2Signed limited edition of 50. Recorded live 22 March 1998.
1998The Inhazer DeclineCD-RVolucan 006Limited edition of 6.
1998VolseptorCD-R/CDVolucan 007, later Beta-Lactam Ring mt053.3 
1999VolwheatCD-RVolucan 008Recorded live 8 March 1999 at the Y Theatre in Leicester.
1999Yak Folk's Y'areLPPickled Egg 7 
2000The Inhazer DeclineCDUnited Dairies UD055Fewer tracks than 1998 version.
2000The One Burned MaCDMisra MSR006 
2001Five Hundred Boy PianoCDUnited Dairies UD50 
2002Guess The Birds10" EPBeta-Lactam Ring mt028 
2002VolnonoCD-R/CDVolucan 009, later Beta-Lactam Ring mt0 53.4Some tracks previously featured on Volwheat.
2002XvolCD-R/CDVolucan 010, later Beta-Lactam Ring mt053.5Live in East Hampton, Massachusetts.
2002The Mountains Among UsLP/CD-RBeta-Lactam Ring mt045/Volucan 011 
2002VolevenCD-RVolucan 011Only available with the Volucan edition of "The Mountains Among Us", features material by VTB and various other projects.
2003The Idea of WoodCD/LPTextile Records TCD3/TLP3 
2004All The Paint I Can Breathe10"EPBeta-Lactam Ring mt059Material from the first three Cassettes. Some with additional 7".
2004VoldozerCD-RVolucan 012Recorded live in Glasgow, Paris and Nijmegen
2004"Shake Your Crow Remix" / "Tunnels And Wheels"7"Gold Soundz GS#13Limited edition of 310.
2005CatonapotatoCDBroken Face/Digitalis Industries DIGI14Recorded live in Leicester, Sheffield, Paris and Norrköping. Only Mott & Moore appear.
2006Classic Eramus Fusion2xLP/2xCDBeta-Lactam Ring mt092a/bSome 2xLP sets come with an extra 7", and a special edition comes with a bonus LP and the 7".
2006VolfurtenLPVolucan 014Limited edition of 300 with hand-painted covers.
2006"Massive Furniture Invasion"8"alt.vinylLimited edition of 150.
2006"Birth of Streissand"7"NO-FI NEU001Limited edition of 150.
2006Egg And Two BooksCDVivo 2006026CDRecorded live at the Phoenix Theatre, Leicester.
2007Amidst the Noise and TwigsCDBeta-Lactam Ring mt204a
2007VolquinceCD-RVolucan 015
200711 Years of YesCD-R Business CardTwisted Knister Flupp 025One track, limited edition of 40 copies in cigarette packet.
2009The Shy Volcanic Society at the Bear And Bird ParadeCDBeta-Lactam Ring mt222Split release with La Societe Des Timides A La Parades Des Oiseaux.
2009That People Don't Know They Are Monsters / Bow Heavier My Lord7"Quasi Pop QPOP REC 02
2010Volrudolf / Grande PfungstLP / CDRVolfurten 01Limited edition of 105 copies with hand-painted covers.
2010VolsechzehnCDRVolucan 016Recorded live in Berlin, 2009 . Only Moore and Padden appear.
2010Planetary BethlehemLPBeta-Lactam Ring mt205Limited to 330 copies. 30 in hand-painted covers.
2011Hotbites Live at the NightlightLPBlastocoel Sound 002Limited to 100 copies. Live in Chapel Hill, NC, 2006.
2012Golden Rhythm / Ink MusicLP/CDRune Grammofon
Other Projects
The One Ensemble of Daniel Padden (Solo and group works by Daniel Padden.)
2002The One Ensemble of Daniel PaddenCDCatsup Plate CPR714 
2003The Owl of FivesLP/CDTextile TLP4/TCD4 
2005Live at VPRO RadioCD-RBrainwashed Handmade Series HAND002 
2006The Isaac StormLPUltra Eczema UE37As "Daniel Padden". Limited edition of 400.
2007Wayward The FourthCDSecret Eye No. 32As "The One Ensemble".
Songs of Norway (Improvised music by Aaron Moore and Nick Mott.)
2003Despite The CloakLP/CDBeta-Lactam Ring mt058Some LPs with additional 7".
2004The Great Work3" CDOlwyn Plant SB007 
Earth Trumpet (Solo work by Clarence Manuelo.)
2000Earth TrumpetCDCenotaph Audio CT004 
2001Roman2xCD-RBeta-Lactam Ring mt053.6One audio disc, one with QuickTime movie.
Guignol (Aaron Moore, Jeremy Barnes and Clarence Manuelo.)
2003Angela, David and the Great Neopolitan Road IssueCDCenotaph Audio CT009 
El Monte Aranos (Nick Mott and Aranos.)
2003Allied Cooking But Not As You Know It!CDPieros 003CD 
Aaron Moore (Solo project.)
2005The AccidentalCDElsie & Jack No. 017Some with additional DVD by Francesco Paladino with extra track.
Dragon or Emperor (Aaron Moore and Stewart Brackley.)
2007Dragon or EmperorLP/CDPickled Egg 64CD

Compilation appearances

  • Lactamase Bonus Compilation

References

  1. Semprebon, Rolf "The Inhazer Decline Review", AllMusic, retrieved 7 October 2012
  2. Houle, Zachary (2012) "Volcano the Bear: Golden Rhythm / Ink Music", PopMatters, 18 June 2012, retrieved 7 October 2012
  3. Masters, Marc (2012) "Volcano the Bear Golden Rhythm/Ink Music", Pitchfork, 24 April 2012, retrieved 7 October 2012
  4. Carlson, Dean "Volve Review", AllMusic, retrieved 7 October 2012
  5. Semprebon, Rolf "500 Boy Piano Review", AllMusic, retrieved 7 October 2012
  6. Wilson, Andy (2006) Faust: Stretch Uut Time 1970–1975, Mute Publishing Limited, ISBN 978-0955066450, p. 3
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