zacbentz Posts

Dirty Knobs Live at Homegrown 2014

In case you didn’t feel like showing up, or you did and you want to re-live the memories over and over like in that one movie, here is the Dirty Knobs set recorded live from the Teatro Zuccone stage on Friday May 2. You can listen and download for free. There’s also an in-studio recording included of the same raw materials taken to a slightly different direction.

Thanks to Starfire, to all of the Homegrown staff and volunteers, to everyone at Teatro Zuccone and to the audience.

List of Duluth-related album releases in 2014

The Electric Witch – We See the Shapes

The Electric Witch - We See the ShapesDuluth’s dark-synth band The Electric Witch has a new album out May 1st! You can listen to a few tracks for free and pre-order now for just $1! (or more if you’re a patron of the arts with a few more bucks to burn).

We’ll be playing Homegrown this year (yes, three live synthesists and a fleshy robot-type singer), Saturday the 3rd at Tycoons (along with Mr. Kickass and Duck Duck Punch. Whoa!) Check out the music now so you’ll know how to properly slam-dance and/or throw shapes.

New album from the Electric Witch

… So We Burn, the new album from Duluth dark-synth duo the Electric Witch (myself and Marcus Matthews of Wino, WI / The Surfactants / The Virgin Marcus etc. etc.), has just been released! Five new original songs (one featuring Moleman aka Brett Molitor of the Surfactants / Both on guitar), a Mega Man 2 cover (complete with Japanese lyrics!) and remixes from Duck Duck Punch (Twin Cities) and Cities of Earth (Denver).

You can listen to it all for free and own it for whatever you want. And keep an eye out for a full live band coming for you in the near future!

Dirty Knobs – “La Tortue Diabolique”

From the banjo capital of the world (Duluth, Minnesota, USA) comes the newest banjo sensation Banjrone (banjo drone). The sound of a herd of turtles racing across the world, risking their lives, “trampling” all in their path.

New Duluth Drone from Dirty Knobs

Duluth’s own drone/dark-ambient unit Dirty Knobs (me) is hoping to release his (talking about myself in the third person) next album A Disenchanted Snake as a double vinyl package sent around the world (Hello, Italy!). You can watch the video, hear some clips and read a lot more about it (and past Dirty Knobs stuff) here on Kickstarter.

Free Both

If you were alive in the 2000s, then you were part of the international phenomenon knows as Bothomania, an uncontrollable urge to listen to Both. Unfortunately for many, this frenzy often resulted in the complete and total destruction of all physical materials associated with the band.

Flash forward to today (the future and present), where we have all shuffled off this physical coil and all things are made accessible though tubes aligned in series. Things including the three (3) studio albums (aka LPs aka CDs) that the band released before achieving a simultaneous state of burning out and fading away.

You can stream them (aka listen to them on your computing box/calculator) and download them (aka store them on your phone/game machine) for free (aka for no money or trade) here and here and here but not here.

Duluth synth-pop from the Electric Witch

Two debut albums from new synth-pop project The Electric Witch (aka Zac Bentz aka hey, that’s me) have just been released.

Two new albums from Dirty Knobs

Hello. I released two new albums today. I am so sorry.

You could call them “dark-ambient.” “Electro.” “Drone.” “Doom.” “Soundscape.” “Experimental.” Together they are almost six hours long. Listening to them will probably feel much, much longer. Ug.

You can listen to all of it for free. $1 each to buy them. That’s not very much, but probably enough.

I hope to release four more albums this year. They will not be anything like these. Thank god.

Ghost Geometry
I am Sitting in an Infinite Room

TxT Tix

I’m wondering, why is Homegrown punishing Trampled by Turtles fans by making them pay an extra $20 to get in? Isn’t having to wait in line for 24+ hours going to be bad enough?

New album from the Surfactants

The Surfactants - Our Dead Bodies

It’s been a few years, but the Surfactants have finally released their second full-length album Our Dead Bodies. If you don’t know who the Surfactants are, that’s probably for the best.

You can stream it all for free and/or buy it here. It’s $4 or pay-what-you-want. There are also two singles featuring some remixes that are $1 each. There are currently no plans to produce any physical media. (…because CDs are just going to go in the garbage anyway and you can download very high quality files when you purchase them. And besides, if we made a CD and you bought the CD then you’d be paying twice as much for the same music and a bunch of garbage. So really your $4 [or more] is saving you $4 [or more].)

Oh, and there’s also a cover of a Haley Bonar song on the album, and she’s nice.

Listen, download, pirate, burn something (one).

Surfactants’ live Homegrown 2010 set is free y’all

Surfactants Homegrown Live

Here’s some more free music! The Surfactants just uploaded their live set from last year’s Homegrown (that would be 2010)! You can listen to it all and download it for free or for money if you want.

Grab it now and get ready to rock with them at Luce this Friday night!

New 8-hour dark-ambient album from Duluth’s Dirty Knobs

Field Recordings from the Edge of Hell

Apologies. Bit of a humblebrag here. But my new 8 hour dark ambient/electro/doom album, recorded under the name Dirty Knobs and titled Field Recordings from the Edge of Hell, has been getting a fair bit of press lately.

Rock at the Rex Saturday

This Saturday at the Rex — 10pm — $5

American Rebels
The Surfactants
Cars & Trucks

Saturday’s show at Luce canceled

Hey music fans. The show with American Rebels, the Surfactants and Grey Matador at Luce has been called off due to the snowstorm. Sorry! Stay safe/warm.

Grey Surf Rebels – Luce, Nov. 13

poster

Grey Matador
The Surfactants
American Rebels

So much rock! This is one that’ll melt your face clean off. Not for the faint of heart! Start hydrating now.

Fazebuke E-Vant