Pumice

"thanks for writing back and removing the downloads. i appreciate it alot. I also really appreciate your situation and desire to share my music with your homeland. Maybe its possible to listen to it on your site but not download? Or you could post just one song from those albums that are still available? Again I am happy you have the rare stuff available for people to listen. And im happy you are listening to my music and giving it such thought.

best
stefan."

The work of Stefan Neville as Pumice, throughout its ten year plus existence, remains as one of the most relevant and prolific in the New Zealand experimental music scene, and undeniably significant in the psych/outsider/free folk (or any other dull labeling) scenario. Altough abiding extreme lo-fi aesthetics and sonic noise explorations, his work has shifted into different sonorities and styles since the mid nineties to the present time.

Neville's work since the mid nineties until 2000 show him in more free improvisational moments, as seen on I'll Take No Chance Near a Volcano (Stabbies, etc, Cassete - Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, CDR), Poin and Ones. Still folk oriented, Pumice resembles much of Clayton Noone's CJA during that period: ultra-lo-fi rock'and'roll / punk soundscapes, dirty cacophonic acoustic outbursts and old samples manipulations. Sexual, released by Pseudoarcana, definitely gathers all these elements in a destructive no-wave noise-rock live presentation.

(1997) I'll Take No Chance Near A Volcano / 192k
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(1998) Sexual / 320k
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Most notably since 2002's White (Stabbies, etc), Stefan Neville reached a (hardly achievable) level of unpretentiousness in his music. Free improvisation decreased, while a broader pallette of musical styles enriched Pumice's sound without losing its identity - on the contrary. White is a dark, noisy and minimalistic record, souding a mixture of NZ-postpunk, psych-folk and ambient, sometimes souding what would be better explored two years later with Antony Milton in Sunken.

(2002) White / 192k
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Last Visible Dog's Raft, released two years later, is a true masterpiece. The opener 'Pumiceraft' is an ambient-surfmusic lullaby, followed by a minute-long acoustic pop-punk track. The next two songs could well be obscure recordings from the Mutantes that were too harsh to be released. 'Ridge' is an epic organ hymn, while 'Awe of Oar' could well be a drunken mantra. 'Pudding Stone' is the reflex of the interaction between him and the Jewelled Antler Collective (Society of Dogs split with Armpit), matching Glenn Donaldson's Birdtree/Ivytree songs. Raft is undoubtly one of the most creative albums in recent years, obviously underrated before its geniality.

(2004) Raft / 192k
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Yeahnahvienna is his most concise album, seemingly instrumentally conceptual: 'Abominable', 'King Korny Remains' and 'Brawl' seem compositionally connected , and the same is observed in the second group, 'Wild Dogs', 'Tears Tasting Fair' and 'Darkpark'. Finally, 'Worsted' has 4 variations over the same theme. This 2006 album was the first release by NY's Soft Abuse.

(2006) Yeahnahvienna / 230 VBR
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Pumice's last proper release was Pebbles, in 2007. As respectfully mentioned in the Kiwi Tapes blog about this album, "It's clear right from the start that he has spent a great deal of time internalizing all of the important aspects of kiwi rock, specifically the warm analog textural goodness of the Xpressway scene." 'Eyebath', 'Stopover' and 'Northland' are clearly 80's style New Zealand postpunk (specially from the referred local label); the leap to the 90's are much in the ways of Alastair Galbraith in songs like 'Bold/Old' and 'Brownbrownbrown'.

(2007) Pebbles / 192k
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Stefan Neville, as Pumice, crafts the idea of music in such idiosyncratic ways that it is impossible not to reconsider its standpoints. His radicalism towards music recalls the work of contempories such as (already mentioned) Glenn Donaldson and Richard Youngs: the first applying his unique aesthetical concepts of the limits of lofi recordings in countless musical projects; the latter, since the early nineties, puts in question the idea of good (or bad) taste and the limits of the unbearable in music.

Extras:

(1998) Poin / 160k
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(1998) Let's Treat The Pigshead As Dip / 192k
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(2000) Ones / 160k
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(2005) Spears / 128k
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(2005) Worldwide Skull / 192k
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(2006) Pewt'r Trust & Pumice Split - Radio Centraal / 192k
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(2008) Punches / 192k
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See also:

NZ Series #2: Antony Milton, Stefan Neville and Clayton Noone
NZ Series #1: Armpit / CJA

Labels (not before mentioned):

Rural Faune
Ultra Eczema

NZ Series #2: Antony Milton, Stefan Neville and Clayton Noone

"Hi,
I wouldn't mind this all so much if maybe you could have an active link to my label webpage...
www.pseudoarcana.com
Some people still may be prepared to buy all these bloody cds I spend so much money and blood and sweat producing.
Haha.
Cheers bud,
-Antony Milton"

Antony,
These albums are all surely collector's items, and my intentions are to make all of them at least visible specially to latin americans (as I am) and to everyone else whose access to this great music is restricted in many means. I really appreciate your consideration. Keep up the great work!
obs: other labels included in this post are Last Visible Dog, Root Don Lonie for Cash and Pink Skulls.

/

This selection is intended to be in some way a pre-Pumice post. Pumice is Stefan Neville's main musical vector, and it will posted here shortly.

1. 1. STEFAN NEVILLE
2. 2. ANTONY MILTON
3. 3. STEFAN NEVILLE + ANTONY MILTON
4. 4. STEFAN NEVILLE + CLAYTON NOONE
5. 5. CLAYTON NOONE + ANTONY MILTON
   

1. Stefan Neville

Albeit Pumice's discography is virtually impossible to measure, this album enters Stefan Neville 's portfolio as an unique recording. Firstly, this was not released as an umpteenth Pumice record, but as Stefan Neville, no monikers at all. With guests Antony Milton and Clayton Noone (not coincidently the ones covered below) and others, Do Not Destroy justifies its odd authoring adoption as it is maybe the first time Neville is not bending the concept of pop music. Instead, this is abstractly challenging, more process oriented than Pumice's aesthetical endeavors.

(2006) Stefan Neville - Do Not Destroy / 208 VBR
(removed)


2. Antony Milton

All released by Milton's own Pseudoarcana label, these records show much of the work of this drone aficionado. Glory Fckn Sun is a superb free noise improv trio formed by Antony Milton, Ben Spiers and Simon O'Rorke. Vision Scorched gathers the abstraction of noise, the eerie slow paced layer morphing of dark ambient with psychedelic elements taken to extreme. Milton's guitar work in Vision Schorched and in solo attempts, specially in Guitar Has Strings, is much similar to Steven R. Smith and Loren Mazzacane Connors.

(2007) Glory Fckn Sun - Vision Scorched / 219 VBR (V0)
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(2006) Antony Milton - Guitar Has Strings / 128 VBR
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(2007) A.M. - Orla / 192k
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3. Stefan Neville + Antony Milton

This is Neville and Milton's ambient duo. Sunken is beautifully built by organ drones, analog feedback and homemade percussion. A marvelous debut album.

(2004) Sunken - Sunken / 256k
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4. Stefan Neville + Clayton Noone

(2003) Pumice & Armpit - Society of Dogs (Split) / 192k
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(Unknown) The Ideal Gus - All My Life I've Loved You / 192k
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(Unknown) The Ideal Gus - No Ballheads / 144 VBR
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5. Clayton Noone + Antony Milton

Both newzealanders entered the Jewelled Antler family with Claypipe. The label aesthetics of open air recording are adopted following the steps of fellows Glenn Donaldson, Loren Chasse and others. Live recorded minimal lofi folk with analog drones.

(originally posted in the Jewelled Antler Library section)

(2003) Claypipe - Wayside / 160k
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