01/22 @ 8:30pm - Apothecary Hymns + Sacred Harp + Prince Rama

Apothecary Hymns

Alternately thought of as “drug songs” and “medicine music”, the shambolic, shamanistic realm of Apothecary Hymns came into being at the end of 2003, when ex-The Court & Spark bassist. Alex Stimmel taught himself how to play the drums so he could capture some of his nascent songs in a one-man band format.  The resulting 45, “Half of What is Seen” b/w “The Marigold,” drew praise not only from the underground psych community (such as Byron Coley, Gerald Van Waes, and Aquarius Records), but also more mainstream publications like Goldmine, which featured the limited-edition, hand-numbered picture sleeve in its 2004 indie special.

The single caught the attention of Chicago’s Locust Music, who signed Stimmel and the AH moniker upon first hearing. The debut album, Trowel & Era was released in April, 2005. But, after playing a number of ad-hoc release shows, Stimmel dove full-time into his day job – working with public school students with emotional disturbance and autism in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  Content to continue to develop his songs over the next two years, Stimmel stayed away from recording in favor of teaching, playing full-band shows in NYC and going on the road as time allowed, playing solo electric sets, looping & droning his Strat through open-tuned folk-cum-fuzz.

Then, in June of 2007, after years of shifting personnel, a new Apothecary Hymns live band solidified around bassist Rob Fellman (the only original band member to remain) and drummer Aaron Nixon.  Abandoning the one-man format in favor of full-tilt power trio energy,
Apothecary Hymns began woodshedding new tunes, started taking the band on the road more, and blissfully moved into a heavy rural psych phase

Sacred Harp

Sacred Harp draws influences from Old Time to psychedelia, beveled edges and appalachia, Fuckle, dirty fingernails, killer jowls, rappahannock river, backyard coal train, depersonalization/derealization, family, friends, Marye’s Heights talking box (R.I.P.), The Caroline Street Jug Nugglers, steel strings, nylon strings, Fog Haus.

Prince Rama

Spawned from the vernal heat of the Florida swamps amidst swirling patterns of pine orchards and pre-Columbian artifacts, Prince Rama of Ayodhya was whispered into the ears of Taraka Larson, Nimai Larson, and Michael Collins in the summer of 2007 by the clanging of prayer bells and goat-skin drums. They left the Hare Krishna farm where they
were staying and formed a creative nucleus in Boston, MA where they gained a cult following in the underground art and psychedelic folk and noise circles who were mesmerized by their captivating blend of campfire surrealism and transcendental anthems of every cosmic order.

Taraka studied experimental film in art school, and her songwriting reflects an almost cinematic quality, taking listeners on labyrinthine sonic safaris with sparkling lyrical imagery intensified by Nimai’s tribal drumming and elevated to the astral plane by Michael’s sci-fi synth lines; the result is a sonic experience that takes the listener
through celestial residue and archaeological constellations of a timeless civilization pining for self realization, while conjuring lingering anthemic melodies that haunt the fringes of the collective psyche. At times, one can hear echoes of eclectic influences
stretching from weird folk and hallucinatory operas set to thunder drums  to a plethora of ethnographic recordings of Native American and Southeast Asian rituals; yet, the culminating holistic sound is one that is strikingly unique.

In a short time, the trio was picked up by the British-based psychedelic label, Cosmos Recordings. After sending them a handmade tape with a few dozen tracks recorded in forests and candle-lit bedrooms Cosmos released a collection of these lo-fi recordings as
“Threshold Dances” in August 2008 and flew them out to England to tour, play a radio session for the BBC, participate in the Stockton International Fringe Festival and Greenman Festival and record a second album, “Zetland”, which Prince Rama self-released in June 2009 to coincide with a series of extensive US tours.

In their young lifespan, Prince Rama has toured the UK and US several times over, traveling with Teeth Mountain and sharing stages with Caribou, Wooden Shjips, Magik Markers, Psychic Ills, Indian Jewelry, Chris Corsano, Pocahaunted, and Kurt Vile and playing festivals with Pentangle, Spiritualized, Iron and Wine, Clinic, Black Mountain and many others.
Their engaging and often unpredictable live shows reflect their eclectic pool of mysticism; amidst collective chants, werewolf summonings, and Sanskrit invocations, they have been known to distribute hand drums, conch shells, bells, gongs, and other various percussion to members of the audience to create the ultimate communal ritual experience.

They are currently working on their latest record, “Architecture of Utopia” which is a unique collaboration with the internationally acclaimed visionary artist, Paul Laffoley, that  explores the act of mapping utopia through the means of a one-sided vinyl record that traces the journey from the far reaches of the cosmos to the center of the earth via the mandalic architecture of the record. They performed the project at the opening of Laffoley’s solo exhibition at the Kent Gallery in New York in January 2009, as well as at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in late November, in conjunction with a European tour with Amen Dunes. In response to the project, the London Institute of Contemporary Art deemed Prince Rama “a group not of this planet”.