Music
Press
Lots of CDRs being made today and that is good. They have become today’s cassette tape and are creating an underground as fruitful as the Cassette Underground of the 70s & 80s. True, the Cassette Underground produced a lot of crap. That will happen when artists are also their own quality control agents. Still, even if most of what made its way onto cassette in the 70 & 80s is unlistenable, the accessibility of the format made it possible for people who might not otherwise be heard to come to at least a few people’s attention. I, myself, have put out several records from tapes I collected in the 80s and plan to do more, so wading through mediocre cassette after mediocre cassette to find a few songs that are brilliant is well worth the time and effort. Someday (hopefully) there will be people digging though their old CDRs looking for gems among the garbage and praying that the data hasn’t mysteriously disappeared. And when they come across a CDR by The Ruined Frame they will be happy it survived their many CDR purges and actually plays.
The Ruined Frames is a great example of music that will never find “proper” commercial release. It is too individualistic, too much of a DIY effort, too personal. Big Dumb Blur starts off with a demented tango, instruments run Chinese in and out until it abruptly ends. An organ spazzed whack out follows and then a great DIY meets Wire meets Country Teasers though very stripped down hits the speakers. And there are a string of mutant singer-songwriter tunes checkerboarded by more organ lead pieces. As mentioned above the artist isn’t always the best judge of his material and had I been editor I would have halved the folky and organy songs. That still leaves 8 strong ones, enough for some enterprising label ten years into the future to make a solid archival release. I don’t imagine this will cost you more than a fiver and five bucks nowadays is a meager demand for good music. I’d seek this out. –SS - ZGun
This cdr album from The Ruined Frame is not quite what i expected it to be. The man behind the music was/is involved with acts such as Flowers in the Attic, The New Flesh, etc... Not exactly quiet music. This album however is a collection of 13 songs which can be classified somewhere between rocking singer/songwriter stuff and burlesque/carnival influenced synth based songs. If that makes any sense at all. And so far that description may have put you off, but don't worry.There are loads of songs on this release which i enjoy quite a bit. There's such a weird vibe in some of them because of the synth melodies. And others consist just of a guitar, vocals and minor percussion, but sound really good as well (eg, "Beach-Crazed" is such a great song). And for me personally, "Surface Ghost" is the track of the album. Heavy synth action, very good melodies and cool vocals. I like how everything gets layered up in the end and then fades out. Yep yep, this turned out to be a nice surprise! - Mashnote
Discography
The Weight of ALL Filth LP
"Sing a Pleasant Song" EP
The Mask Room b&w art book
Box EP
The 7,000 Corners LP
Daily American Torture split EP
Big Dumb Blur LP
Photos
Bio
Rick Weaver began the Ruined Frame namesake in 2005 as an umbrella for his musical and visual endeavors. The Ruined Frame’s first two full lengths were recorded, performed, written, and self-released by Rick. Around the time of their conception, Weaver traveled with Yukon, Deer Tick, Jessica Reifler, and Human Host on three U.S. tours, opening each night as a solo artist. The performances weighed heavily on surrealistic stories, cinematic presence, and nightmarish folk.
The next phase of the Ruined Frame began in 2007. Rick was joined by percussionist Nick Podgurski (Yukon, Extra Life), multi-instrumentalist Tracy Conway, and engineer and bassist Kevin Bernsten (Flowers in the Attic, Hollywood). The quartet began and ended within a year’s time frame, playing a series of shows and leaving behind a powerful recording entitled The Weight of All Filth self-recorded by Bernsten and the band which demonstrated the eclecticism and dynamics of the performers and the songs.
The Ruined Frame Quintet formed shortly thereafter, joined by multi-instrumentalist Ari Schenck and percussionist Brian Litz. The Quintet was the mightiest of all Frame incarnations yet, using guitars, vocals, percussion, synthesizers, Rhodes piano, harmonica, saxophone, and violin. The band, fresh off their summer tour, is recording the fourth full length, Moving Water.
Simultaneously, Weaver has begun recording a solo record with the title Three Red Lights, and has reappeared under the name the Ruined Frame in a new solo form. His addition of drums and mouth instruments to his guitar and vocal interplay adds a fuller and looser energy to his body of songs.
Rick Weaver co-operates Human Conduct Records, an aggressively independent label which hosts the buds and blossoms of bands and projects with which he involves himself - such as The New Flesh, Sexually Retarded, Human Host, Organ Donors, and Flowers in the Attic. To date, all the major Ruined Frame releases, including three full lengths, two EPs, an art book and a box of artifacts, have been released on Human Conduct.
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