News about The Clear Spots

The Clear Spots - Princetown Air out now on Ruralfaune

Nat — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:10:23 -0500

From the great French label:

First ever recording by the Pennsylvanian quartet outside the Deep Water Acres camp. A live session of rural noise that builds a massive freestyle edifice. An intense & experimental work made of guitarz and heavy drums.

The Clear Spots are so amazing that they were on the top of my favorite releases of 2006 ; sorry but I love ‘em ! ltd72

To order, email ruralfaune [at] neuf [dot] fr

Multiple DW Releases Reviewed on Terrascope Online

Nat — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:46:03 -0500

Bones of the Great Divide

. . . Whilst previous albums have been created by tapes moving between the duo, this latest double CD release ‘Bones Of the Great Divide’ was played live, giving the pieces a looser and very vibrant feel which the players maintain over eleven sparkling pieces. One of those albums that reveals its true nature with repeated listening, meaning you will be enjoying even more every time you play it. . . .

This is the Voice of Doom Calling

. . . Over ten tracks, the band paints pictures with sounds, visions of running water, snowy mountaintops, deserted buildings and abandoned cars all coming into my head. . . .

Evening Fires

. . . From magical to mystical, the music of Evening Fires is as beautiful as the starry sky on their self-titled debut. Featuring bells, drums, guitar, organ, flute, synth and voice, this is music for contemplation, delicate and soothing but never twee and boring, the sounds alive with possibility. . . .

Levitate and Dissolve

. . . a roller coaster ride of epic proportions, Robert Cozzolino (Percussion) and George Draguns (Guitars), keeping control of the dynamic tension with great precision. Whilst undoubtedly noisy, the musicians retain control, knowing exactly when to press down on the throttle, something they certainly do on the excellently named ‘Pat Metheney’s Kidney Stone’. . . .

Plays Spiral Isles / Smokehouse Debris

. . . Named ‘Plays Spiral Isles’ the Niagara Falls offer three tracks of wonderful smoke filled music, the second of which ‘Acid Of Ants’ is a tense scuttle of noise that creeps under the skin like that itch you just cannot reach. . . .

. . . Opening with a heavy space rock riff, highly distorted and thunderous in its intent, the band slow it down to enter a far more experimental passage, building into a frenetic crescendo of chaos, the band launching into another killer riff that mixes the Stooges and Hawkwind, finally disintegrating under the weight of their sonic fury. . . .

Sunblinded Visions by a Silver Sea / say goodnight to the evangelist

. . . You can almost hear the waves lapping at the shore and feel the sun on your face, so strong is the mood of the piece an enticing and gentle guitar mixed with electronics, the music evolving into a heart-warming drone filled with bliss. . . .

. . . Following a similar path, The Circle and the Point offer four more pieces of guitar and electronic drone, gently weaving their experimental magic through the brain. . . .

Click here and scroll down to read the full reviews on Terrascope Online

Plays Spiral Isles / Smokehouse Debris reviewed on Foxy Digitalis

Nat — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:07:07 -0400

Whose idea was it to take ambient music past ambient and into a less Yanni, more "drone" sound? Where can I sign up to thank them? The Niagara Falls split release with The Clear Spots is reason enough to do so. . . .

. . . The Clear Spots break out of their riff to employ surf sounds, freestyle noise and bring it all back in the four movements of this piece titled, "Roach Beef Sandwich". Extremely tasty, they are. Overall this is one of the best pieces of instrumental work that I've heard in a while . . .

Click here to read the full review on Foxy Digitalis

Plays Spiral Isles / Smokehouse Debris reviewed on Womblife

Nat — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 13:34:52 -0400

This split CD-R is one of those releases received toward the tale end of '06 but not fully digested till now. Niagara Falls, huh? Got some nerve naming yourselves after that raging natural wonder, but then maybe these Pennsylvania natives are onto something. There is a gorgeous shimmer in these cascading waterfalls that refracts its tonal light fragments in every direction at once. . . .

Click here and scroll down to read the full review

Electricity for All reviewed on Broken Face

Nat — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 08:28:56 -0500

We’ve showed our love to the Clear Spots before and despite the fact that I initially found myself a bit surprised by the sound of the sprawling Electricity for All (Deep Water) the main content of such love declaration is not likely to change anytime soon. . . .

Click here and scroll down to read full review at Broken Face

Electricity for All reviewed on Noiseweek

Nat — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 20:51:24 -0400

One of the things I love about noise is that even though the best is often made with non-traditional sounds, instruments, and processes, great noise can also be coaxed out of standard implements like guitar riffs and drum beats. Just ask Bardo Pond, Marble Sheep, Sonic Youth, Sun City Girls, Pussy Galore/Royal Trux, the Dead C., etc etc etc - pile up some chords until they blur into noise, or break them in half so oozing feedback pours out; stumble through some lopsided rhtyhms or puncture the air with epileptic beats; rip your lungs into the red or drool into the mic until it shorts, and you can make stuff that still kinda sounds like rock into really fucking great noise.

The Clear Spots know this as well as their forefathers listed above, and their three albums so far are all nice examples of how rock's better when it's busted, bloody, and spilling. . . .

Click here and scroll down to read full review at Noiseweek

Clear Spots interviewed, reviewed on Foxy Digitalis

km — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 11:08:52 -0500

Interview

(from introduction): Pennsylvania's Clear Spots might be the best kept secret in the Northeast, though I don't imagine that's necessarily by choice. This trio makes some of the best psychedelic-tinged music around. Innovative songs that pound your skull into dust, all the while retaining a melodic nature that keeps you coming back for more. . . .

Click here to read the full interview

Review of Mansion in the Sky

"Mansion in the Sky" is an absolute delight. I knew The Clear Spots were good, but I didn't know they were this good. It's not just that it sounds good, but it feels good too. This is the kind of music that once you scratch the surface and find yourself fully entrenched, you'll let it suck you dry before letting go. . . .

Mansion in the Sky reviewed on Ptolemaic Terrascope Online

km — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 22:08:31 -0500

Hard on the heels of their debut 'Mountain Rock' (reviewed by the Terrascope in November), brothers Adam Bugaj (drums), Matt Bugaj (guitar), and Kevin Moist (guitar) evolve their sound somewhat on 'Mansions in the Sky', albeit in stripped down trio format (brother Tom Bugaj, drummer 'Mountain Rock' does not appear here). The first thing to note is the wonderful cover photograph. It's quite easy to imagine that the featured barn was where this series of metallographic sound worlds was created, and the alarming lean of the barn the result of some extreme sound pressure level transgressions performed during these sessions/rites/cook-outs. Even so, this time out, the Clear Spots are perhaps more restrained, more spacious and more structured than on their debut (but not too much). . .

Mansion in the Sky reviewed on Broken Face

Nat — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 13:57:57 -0500

When reviewing Mountain Rock, the debut CD-R from the Clear Spots I described the music as raw and ragged, but I also noted that they choose to slow things down in a way that makes the untamed guitars and the general sense of improvisation, the aural chaos and the beds of rustic noise sound surprisingly beautiful. This is even more case on the follow-up which still finds its base in tangles of melting feedback, squealing guitar work and blaring epic noise but at the same time blows all these components apart in every direction. . . .

Click here and scroll down to read full review at Broken Face

Mountain Rock reviewed on Ptolemaic Terrascope Online

Nat — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 21:30:59 -0500

Is it too early to get nostalgic about the mid-90s heyday of skull-splitting noise rock of the ilk of prime Dead C or early Bardo Pond? The Clear Spots clearly don't think so, if the ten imploding barnstorms on 'Mountain Rock' are anything to go by. The band is a pocket apocalypse comprising brothers Adam Bugaj (bass, keyboards, percussion), Matt Bugaj (guitar) and Tom Bugaj (drums), and the estimable Kevin Moist on more guitar. (Kevin will be familiar as editor of the late, great and soon to be resurrected on the web fanzine Deep Water, and who co-conspires with various Bardos to make the racket known at Third Troll.) 'Mountain Rock' was - appropriately - recorded in a farm house in a place called Bush Holler, Pennsylvania (they may have made that up), and one can only imagine at the distress of neighbours, livestock, low flying aircraft and anything else that stayed into the path of these Jovian storm cells during the process of their creation . . .