Stars Like Fleas performed this set live on VPRO (Dutch National Radio) in Amsterdam during their final tour in 2009. Tracks 2-7 (DWARS Part 1-6) are from this performance. All other tracks are bonus curiosities for the curious. Tracks 1, 8 & 11 are from the sessions for an abandoned final album. Track 9 is from a UK only 7" single previously unreleased in any other format. Track 10 is a previously unreleased live recording. (Click "info" for additional details & credits on bonus tracks). This is the first release from a huge archive of live and session material that may or may not see release in the future.
Stars Like Fleas was an indescribable collective of musicians from radically different backgrounds, active in Brooklyn from 2000-2009. Their performances were sometimes delicate, sometimes anarchic, rarely precious, always risky, and often thrilling and embarrassing in the same performance. They played in DIY spaces and kitchens, they played at the MoMA. Every show and every record showed a different side of the group and the story of Stars Like Fleas remains very incomplete. They disbanded soon after their critically acclaimed third LP (The Ken Burns Effect) was released on Hometapes (2008). After wrapping the initial recording sessions on a new album, in October 2009 Stars Like Fleas commenced a month-long European tour culminating in France, with a solo show at the Pompidou Center in Paris, & the Soy Festival in Nantes. During the final week of tour, Stars Like Fleas performed this set live on the DWARS Sessions, hosted by Berry Kamer on VPRO (Dutch National Radio) at their studios in Amsterdam. This is the last recorded document of the band, and the only recorded document of some of these songs. The band called it quits upon return to the U.S., their final album incomplete and scrapped. Various members of the band remain active across multiple musical, artistic & culinary disciplines.
"Stars Like Fleas' music is disjointed, meandering, chaotic, and wonderfully unique...as engaging as it is utterly confusing...at times aimless and at other times perfectly composed, if insanely so. [They] clash as often as they harmonize [with] tracks that drift from beautiful symphonies to discordant pandemonium on a whim, the album stands as a work of mad genius. Stars Like Fleas have created a sound that, though certainly not easily digestible, is extremely rich." - NPR
credits
released March 20, 2020
Tracks 2-7 were recorded live at VPRO studios in Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 2009. Engineered by Berry Kamer. Mastered by Shannon Fields.
Montgomery Knott: sings his words. additional signal processing.
Ryan Sawyer: drums, voice
Ryan Smith: keyboards, piano, electronics, voice
Laura Ortman: amplified violin, voice
Shelley Burgon: harp, hammered dulcimer, voice
Shannon Fields: guitar, synthesizer, voice, sampler
Additional voices sampled on PART 5 - UNTITLED (VOICES): Sam Amidon, Tiana Kennedy, Matt Lavelle (based on vocal improvisations recorded at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY by D. James Goodwin
Special Thanks David Kleijwegt for his help to coordinate this release with VPRO, as well as to Melchior Meter and everyone at VPRO for permissions. Thanks to Berry Kamer for having us on.
In addition to the musician credits for the VPRO sessions, the bonus tracks also include prior touring members of Stars Like Fleas, including Shayna Dulberger (10), Matt Lavelle (1, 8-11) Tianna Kennedy (1, 8, 9, 11), Jon Natchez (9, 10), Gerald Menke (9) & Sam Amidon (1, 8, 11).
The record cover is by Benedict Kupstas, based on the 2009 tour poster designed by Nick Kuepfer.
Stars Like Fleas was a Brooklyn band formed by Shannon Fields & Montgomery Knott in the winter of 1998, & active through
2009. Frequently compared to This Heat, later Talk Talk and Robert Wyatt. They were a key fixture of the early Williamsburg music/art scene, alongside Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective, Excepter, Black Dice, GGD, & Akron/Family, & launched a few music careers...more
supported by 10 fans who also own “DWARS Session: Live on Radio VPRO (Amsterdam)”
Service is truly a great album! It is such a crossroads…There are parts that are heavily Stars Like Fleas, parts that are the first twitches of Leverage Models and other parts still that are exactly that: other. Martin Otis
supported by 4 fans who also own “DWARS Session: Live on Radio VPRO (Amsterdam)”
Just discovered Sam Wilkes and some of his work and bass playing, and arrived to this record. It reminds me a lot to John Hassell/Eno era a bit more jazzy, and all the ambient music from the 80’s. I love it! Santi Umbert
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