So this will be the ending chapter for Kolya. Such a odd find for me or even for anyone. I honestly do not think many people were aware of this release until some blogspots uploaded the tape sometime in 2012 as the 1999 demo tape. This release is under as a "Unofficial" release. Probably some tapes done for some tour in 1999 its the only conclusion I can come up with. This was the last release as a 4 piece band. There's no insert or any info on the tape so I am not so sure if I have that missing. Two of the songs made it to the bands second 7" there's a file of this tape around the internet entitled as "1999 demo tape" this is the same thing. I tried to get the best quality while converting so its at 320 kbps. There's some minor glitches but not as bad as the original upload with the long pauses. Overall this tape is pretty darn nice of a find. Supposedly the tape was in storage for 15+ years unused but it was definitely used. The quality isn't so bad actually for a tape that's been around for about 16-17 years this is still in top shape. Whenever I think about how this tape was done I imagine the band members gathering up in a garage or basement one night and made the songs. As a band I have admired for about 8 years I can still remember my first time listening to this band. I don't remember which blogspot but I believe it was somewhere between Hardcore for nerds or Zen and the art of face punching but it was around there where I found this band. I spent the entire night listening to the 4 songs off both 7"s and two off the LP (Since the blogspot didn't fully uploaded the LP) Kolya will always be that band I will first tell people about on what sort of Emo, Post hardcore bands I like. Spending 85 dollars for this tape almost felt like some dying wish of my younger self. Honestly I would never give that amount for any tape but since it's kolya I was very curious about this tape since discogs only claims the tape had 2 songs.
Here is the breakdown of the tape, it starts off with The story becomes the vehicle as the first version (Not the 7" version since that version as Todd Giles as the lead guitar only) what amazes me are the songs Jet lagged and the other two instrumentals that were not cut for the 7". Jet lagged sounding the most mysterious one with some odd lyrics thrown. I still have no idea what the hell Todd is really talking about but it sounds hell of mysterious that gave me the chills upon hearing it the first time. It's still the strangest song from Kolya's discography. The instrumentals have a bit more of a early math rock feel with "An encounter with logic" having some tapping calm moments and finally closing with Conversations and smokescreens which I honestly love this version a bit more. Two guitars being involved with the song sounds more complete than the 7" version.
Wow, haven't heard these tracks in a long time! My old band. I can offer a bit of clarity - around the summer of 1999, Kolya was a 4 piece band. Our bass player and drummer both announced that they planned to move on to other things, so we banged out this demo tape so that we could capture all of the complete but as then unrecorded songs we had in our catalogue (the other songs ended up on the Iditerod 7"). Later that year, we'd found a new drummer, and in the process of teaching him our songs, I picked up a bass and we immediately started writing a slew of new songs as a trio. We found that we enjoyed that format better, so we only kept a handful of our songs from our quartet days (some of the old songs that we were able to rearrange for our three-piece format ended up on the blue 7") and just started writing the songs that landed on the LP.
I still want to know what the hell is up with the song Jet lagged. Thats still the strangest song out of all of them. I wished there was footage of you guys playing
Thanks for spending 85 bucks on an old cassette that I can hardly remember recording. It's nice to know that these things have legs. So here another chapter for you. After Kolya stopped I eventually started the Union Ares. It was also a band that was shorted lived than in hindsight it deserved. We recorded this 10 song record before the drummer Carl moved to NYC. I never really looked for a new drummer, instead started playing the banjo semi full time and these songs never saw the light of day. So here they are now 10 years later. I hope they make you less angry. Feel free to pass it along and feel free to let me know how you like them. Cheers. Todd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGJ1Yafcoi4
Wow, haven't heard these tracks in a long time! My old band. I can offer a bit of clarity - around the summer of 1999, Kolya was a 4 piece band. Our bass player and drummer both announced that they planned to move on to other things, so we banged out this demo tape so that we could capture all of the complete but as then unrecorded songs we had in our catalogue (the other songs ended up on the Iditerod 7"). Later that year, we'd found a new drummer, and in the process of teaching him our songs, I picked up a bass and we immediately started writing a slew of new songs as a trio. We found that we enjoyed that format better, so we only kept a handful of our songs from our quartet days (some of the old songs that we were able to rearrange for our three-piece format ended up on the blue 7") and just started writing the songs that landed on the LP.
ReplyDeleteI still want to know what the hell is up with the song Jet lagged. Thats still the strangest song out of all of them. I wished there was footage of you guys playing
DeleteMr. (or Mrs) Angry emo nerd,
ReplyDeleteThanks for spending 85 bucks on an old cassette that I can hardly remember recording. It's nice to know that these things have legs. So here another chapter for you. After Kolya stopped I eventually started the Union Ares. It was also a band that was shorted lived than in hindsight it deserved. We recorded this 10 song record before the drummer Carl moved to NYC. I never really looked for a new drummer, instead started playing the banjo semi full time and these songs never saw the light of day. So here they are now 10 years later. I hope they make you less angry. Feel free to pass it along and feel free to let me know how you like them. Cheers. Todd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGJ1Yafcoi4
Do you have a file of these songs? Id love to add those union ares songs on here. I only have 4
DeleteLol, how did one of the band members find this blog?
ReplyDelete