23 search results for "Pylon"

For a brief time in the late 80’s, the upstairs back entrance of the Palladium opened as a small rock club known simply by its street address “123 East 13th Street”. I only attended one event at that club and it was memorable — the late 1988 return of Pylon to live performance. It had been somewhere in the range of about seven years since Pylon had last played NYC and this would unfortunately be the last time until their appearance at Mercury Lounge in 2007. The final Pylon show in NYC would be the December 2008 show at Knitting Factory.

In memory of the innovative guitar work of Randy Bewley, we dug deep into the archives for a recording of the 1988 show. Although I attended this show, this recording was not captured by nyctaper. It was mastered by an anonymous person and was ultimately offered as a bit torrent download on dimedozen in March of 2006. The source of the recording is a first generation cassette, and the quality is really quite excellent for the time and the equipment.

As this is not an nyctaper recording, we have decided not to offer it on the site, but rather as a bit torrent download at dimedozen where it originated. You must register for this site to access the download (there is a membership cap, but keep trying as they clear out dormant accounts every hour).

The dimeadozen bit torrent download is [HERE].

Randy Bewley was a profoundly original guitarist and an incredibly nice man. The night after we recorded Pylon at the Knitting Factory in December, we ran into Randy, Michael and Vanessa at the Of Montreal show at Music Hall. The three were just so friendly and complimentary and seemed to just be having such fun with the new life of Pylon. Randy in particular was so buoyant that we were certain that Pylon would continue for however long they wished. Tragically, that will not be the case. Randy suffered a heart attack on Monday and this afternoon he passed away in Athens.

Pylon has posted the following message:

We love Randy
This past Monday evening, Randy Bewley had a heart attack while driving his van on Barber Street in Athens, GA. He was taken to Athens Regional Medical Center. Today, our bandmate and brother passed away at a little before 5 p.m. with his family and friends at his side. He will be missed, even as we celebrate his life and creativity. His guitar sound was as special as he was and always will be. Randy’s guitar work defined not only a generation of sound but Randy himself. His visual art, painting and photos, combined with his signature sound formed a loose set of boundaries that helps understand him. His quiet devotion to family and friends will become a benchmark for those he leaves behind.

I just got back from the Knitting Factory, where I saw a little of Pylon‘s soundcheck — basically Michael playing the bass line from “Volume” to get the levels right. The chalkboard at the Knit lists Pylon’s set time as 11 p.m. Grouper is playing in the Tap Room at 10:15.

The Village Voice did an interview with Pylon (actually just Randy and Michael) and they are also offering a free mp3 download of “Cool” [here].

Today we received great news from Pylon — an unexpected and just-announced performance in NYC in a few weeks. Pylon recently played a couple of dates on the West coast and did not have plans to return North — until now.

Pylon were so unbelievably tight when we saw them at the Mercury Lounge in November of last year, that it is not surprising that they will continue to perform.

Here are the details:
Pylon
The Knitting Factory
Monday, December 15, 2008
7 p.m.
WNYU 35th Anniversary

Pylon, the best band ever produced by Athens Georgia (at least according to Billy Berry from R.E.M.) comes to NYC for two shows later this week in celebration of the long-overdue CD release of the post-punk masterpiece Gyrate.

Pylon were an active band from 1980-83, and produced two seminal albums, Gyrate and Chomp. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, they reformed for Chain, and toured briefly. I was fortunate to see Pylon at a club in the back of the Palladium in 1988.

Pylon has agreed in advance to permit my recording of the Mercury Lounge show. As I do with most acts, I contacted them through their website. Instead of a formal reply, I received a quick and friendly personal response from bass player Michael, which is much appreciated.

Pylon will also perform at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 8.

PLEASE SUPPORT Pylon and visit their website.