Oneida (band)
Encyclopedia
Oneida is a rock
band from Brooklyn
, New York
. Their influences include psychedelic rock
, krautrock
, electronic
, noise rock
, and minimalism
, but the overall structure and intent of their music cannot be easily traced to any of these styles. Common elements found in their music include improvisation, repetition, driving rhythms, antique and analog equipment, and an overall eclecticism
.
A prominent aspect of Oneida's music is their use of repetition. Their 2002 LP, Each One Teach One
, for instance, begins with two especially long tracks, Sheets of Easter and Antibiotics, the former over fourteen minutes long, the latter more than sixteen. Both of these songs consist of one repeated riff (with a few short interludes on Antibiotics). Oneida's music can also be distinguished by the band's use of antique keyboards and analog electric pianos.
The band also runs Brah Records, an imprint of Jagjaguwar
. The label has released records by Parts & Labor
, Oakley Hall
, Home
, Company
, and an Oneida/Plastic Crimewave Sound
split 12".
In September 2007 the group celebrated 10 years of existence with a concert at the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
in NYC.
In June 2008, it was announced that the band would be releasing a triptych of new records, referred to as the "Thank Your Parents" series. The first of these was Preteen Weaponry, which was released in August 2008, and the second was a triple album, Rated O, released in July 2009. The final release, the experimental Absolute II, followed in 2011.
The band have been chosen to perform their third extended 'Ocropolis' set at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror
festival curated by ATP & Portishead in September 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Their influences include psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
, electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
, and minimalism
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
, but the overall structure and intent of their music cannot be easily traced to any of these styles. Common elements found in their music include improvisation, repetition, driving rhythms, antique and analog equipment, and an overall eclecticism
Eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
.
A prominent aspect of Oneida's music is their use of repetition. Their 2002 LP, Each One Teach One
Each One Teach One (Oneida album)
Each One Teach One is a 2002 double album by Oneida. Prefix magazine described the record as "[a] sprawling monster of an album...equal parts compelling and difficult."- Disc two :# "Each One Teach One" # "People of the North"...
, for instance, begins with two especially long tracks, Sheets of Easter and Antibiotics, the former over fourteen minutes long, the latter more than sixteen. Both of these songs consist of one repeated riff (with a few short interludes on Antibiotics). Oneida's music can also be distinguished by the band's use of antique keyboards and analog electric pianos.
The band also runs Brah Records, an imprint of Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
. The label has released records by Parts & Labor
Parts & Labor
Parts & Labor is an American experimental rock/noise rock band. The group was formed in 2002 by B.J. Warshaw and Dan Friel in Brooklyn, NY. Drummer Joe Wong joined the band in 2007. Parts & Labor has released five albums, two EPs, one split album , and numerous 7"s and compilation tracks...
, Oakley Hall
Oakley Hall (band)
Oakley Hall is an American folk rock band based in Brooklyn, New York.The group was founded in 2002 and is named for Oakley Hall, an American novelist. The group's songs combine elements of rock, bluegrass, and old-time music, prominently featuring the male-female vocal harmonies of lead vocalists...
, Home
Home (band)
Home is an experimental pop band formed in Tampa, Florida in the early-1990s, before relocating to New York in 1996. The band released eight self-produced, sequentially-numbered, ultra-low-distribution albums on cheap Radio Shack cassettes before signing to Sony's Relativity Records label, which...
, Company
Company (band)
The Brooklyn-based band Company consists of three songwriters and a dynamic drummer. They perform folk- and country-based songs with punk and psychedelic rock energy to create a sound that defies ready categories....
, and an Oneida/Plastic Crimewave Sound
Plastic Crimewave
Plastic Crimewave , otherwise known as Steve Kraków, is a Chicago-based illustrator and writer, avant-garde musician, music historian and impresario. He is the editor of Drag City-published magazine Galactic Zoo Dossier, eponymous frontman for Plastic Crimewave Sound, founder of the Million Tongues...
split 12".
In September 2007 the group celebrated 10 years of existence with a concert at the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
MoMA PS1 is one of the largest and oldest institutions in the United States dedicated solely to contemporary art. It is located in the Long Island City neighborhood of New York City...
in NYC.
In June 2008, it was announced that the band would be releasing a triptych of new records, referred to as the "Thank Your Parents" series. The first of these was Preteen Weaponry, which was released in August 2008, and the second was a triple album, Rated O, released in July 2009. The final release, the experimental Absolute II, followed in 2011.
The band have been chosen to perform their third extended 'Ocropolis' set at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival curated by ATP & Portishead in September 2011 in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Current members
- Kid Millions - drums, vocals (formerly of Adhesive X and Pocket Monster)
- Bobby Matador - organ, guitar, vocals
- Hanoi Jane - guitar, bass
- Shahin Motia (of Ex ModelsEx ModelsEx Models is a no wave-influenced band based in Brooklyn, New York.-Career:The band, based around brothers Shahin and Shahryar Motia, was started while they were in high school. They reunited after college to make their first album, Other Mathematics, released in 2001 on Ace Fu Records...
) - guitar - Barry London - synths, organ, effects
Previous members
- PCRZ (aka Papa Crazee or Pat Sullivan), now with Oakley HallOakley Hall (band)Oakley Hall is an American folk rock band based in Brooklyn, New York.The group was founded in 2002 and is named for Oakley Hall, an American novelist. The group's songs combine elements of rock, bluegrass, and old-time music, prominently featuring the male-female vocal harmonies of lead vocalists...
- keyboards, guitar - Double Rainbow (aka Phil Manley of Trans AmTrans Am (band)Trans Am is a three-piece band which originated in Bethesda, Maryland that was one of the originators of "post-rock" in the mid 90s. Their work centers on a cerebrally robotic, usually instrumental, semi-danceable, minimalistic format, with influences including Krautrock, heavy metal, hardcore...
and The Fucking ChampsThe Fucking ChampsThe Fucking Champs are a three-piece progressive rock band from San Francisco, California. They are known for their heavy metal appeal, based largely around shifting time signatures, guitar harmonies, and lots of rhythm. Most songs are instrumental. They are currently signed to Drag City...
) - guitar
Studio albums
- A Place Called El Shaddai's (Turnbuckle - 1997)
- Enemy Hogs (Turnbuckle - 1999: re-issued by JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2001 ) - Come on Everybody Let's Rock (JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2000) - Anthem of the Moon (JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2001) - Each One Teach OneEach One Teach One (Oneida album)Each One Teach One is a 2002 double album by Oneida. Prefix magazine described the record as "[a] sprawling monster of an album...equal parts compelling and difficult."- Disc two :# "Each One Teach One" # "People of the North"...
(JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2002) - Secret WarsSecret Wars (album)-Track listing:#"Treasure Plane"#"Caesar's Column"#"Capt. Bo Dignifies the Allegations with a Response"#"Wild Horses"#"$50 Tea"#"The Last Act, Every Time"#"The Winter Shaker"#"Changes in the City"...
(JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2004) - The WeddingThe Wedding (Oneida album)-Track listing:#"The Eiger" #"Lavender" #"Spirits" #"Run Through My Hair" #"High Life" #"Did I Die" #"You're Drifting" #"Charlemagne" #"Know" #"Heavenly Choir" #"Leaves"...
(JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2005) - Happy New YearHappy New Year (album)Happy New Year is the eighth full length album by Brooklyn-based Alternative rock/Indie rock/Krautrock/Psychedelic rock band Oneida.-Track listing:# "Distress" – 3:21# "Happy New Year" – 2:33# "The Adversary" – 5:15# "Up With People" – 7:49...
(JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2006) - Preteen WeaponryPreteen WeaponryPreteen Weaponry is the ninth full length album by Brooklyn-based Alternative rock/Indie rock/Krautrock/Psychedelic rock band Oneida.-Track listing:# "Preteen Weaponry, Pt. I" – 14:30# "Preteen Weaponry, Pt. II" – 11:26...
(JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2008) - Rated ORated ORated O is the tenth full-length album by Brooklyn-based indie rock band by Oneida, released as a triple LP.-Track listing:...
(JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2009) - Absolute II (JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2011)
EPs
- Steel Rod (JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2000) - Atheists, ReconsiderAtheists, ReconsiderAtheists, Reconsider is a split EP between two Brooklyn groups: Oneida and Liars. Each band contributes two original songs, plus one cover of a composition by the other band.-Track listing:# "Rose and Licorice" - Liars# "Privilege" - Oneida...
(Arena Rock Recording Co.Arena Rock Recording Co.The Arena Rock Recording Company is an independent record label based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Albums are distributed by Redeye in the United States and Koch in Canada.-History:...
- 2002) /split with LiarsLiars (band)Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Angus Andrew , Aaron Hemphill , and Julian Gross... - Nice. / Splittin' Peaches (Ace Fu - 2004)
Singles
- Best Friends / The Land of Bugs (Turnbuckle - 1998)
- Bobby's Black Thumb (JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2002) /split with Songs: OhiaSongs: OhiaJason Molina is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Lorain, Ohio. He first came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of musicians... - Anthem of the Moon (JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
- 2002) / split with Brother JT - Caesar's Column (Rough TradeRough TradeRough Trade may refer to:*Rough Trade Records, a record label*Rough Trade , linked but independent London record stores*Rough Trade , a Canadian new wave rock band*Rough Trade , an episode of American Dad!...
- 2004) - Split (Brah - 2005) / split with Plastic Crimewave Sound
- Heads Ain't Ready (These Are Not Records - 2008)
- Split (Altin Village & Mine - 2010) / split with Pterodactyl
- Equinox/Last Hit (Xhol Recordings - 2010)
- Human Factor (Limited Appeal - 2010)
- Split (Rocket Recordings - 2011) / split with Mugstar
Live albums
- Street People (Bulb 2001) /Split with 25 Suaves
- Fine European Food and Wine (Scotch Tapes 2010)
External links
- Band's biography / discography
- Band Website
- Oneida at Myspace
- Oneida page on Jagjaguwar site
- Oneida's label, Brah Records, an imprint of Jagjaguwar
- Arena Rock Recording Co.
- PUNKCAST#152 Video from Brownies, NYC - Feb 1 2002
- PUNKCAST#506 Video from Mighty Robot, Brooklyn - Jul 17 2004 (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
) - PUNKCAST#805 Video from East River Park, NYC - Jul 30 2005 (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
, mp4) - Kid Millions 77 Boadrum Site Profile Viva Radio, Sep 2007. (FlashAdobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
) - Interview on More than sounds webzine