Hi folks,

Those of you residing in the area commonly referred to as 'SoCal' should know that we are invading your largest metropolitan areas.

Friday June 5 - Knitting Factory - 7021 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA $9 - All ages.

Saturday June 6 - Black Box Studios - 2469 Broadway, San Diego, CA $9 - All ages.

Joining us on the bill are wunderkind prog power trio WITT from San Diego and solo electronic artist June Debris.

Be there and pick up our new album VEHICLE!

-Wally

Hi Folks,

Our debut full-length CD is now available for purchase!



Visit miRthkon.com to miRthkonsume!

cheers,
Wally

Hi folks,

The Pre-Order for our upcoming debut full-length CD 'VEHICLE' is now available!

Please visit miRthkon.com to reserve your copy now!

Orders will be shipped on or about Tuesday May 26th.

cheers,
miRthkon

Hi folks,

The official miRthkon facebook page is now online and has 3 tracks from the new album posted, you can only hear them there (TODAY), they'll be online here shortly, I hope?  It's taking unusually long for them to post here. 

Become a fan!  You don't need an account to hear the songs, and the sound quality is superior.

miRthkon official facebook

Hope to see y'all at the upcoming shows!

love,
Wally

Hi folks,

I'm very very very happy to report that Dan Rathbun and I have completed the final mix for our upcoming LP 'Vehicle' due out mid-May on Italy's AltrOck Productions.

Nearly 4 years in the making, 'Vehicle' will feature a broad survey of our repertoire since our early 2005 formation.  13 songs total, lots of conceptual grout filling in the cracks, stories, charts, graphs, diagrams, you name it.

We are very proud of this album and can't wait to unleash it upon the masses. 

In June we will be embarking on a small west coast tour to promote the album.  June 4-7 we will be hitting southern Cali with the amazing avant-prog power-trio wunderkinds WITT and then June 18-21 we will be traveling north to Arcata, Eugene and Portland, OR playing with Juan Prophet Organization and *maybe* the inimitable Brian Kenney Fresno!

Check back soon for confirmed dates and release info for the LP.

..m/

-Wally

It's called Automaton and it's friggin' posted.

Please note that the two new tracks (Kharms Way and Automaton) are un-mastered mixes, hence the severe difference in volume level from the TIOJ tracks.

Enjoy, and thanks for the haikus.  All three of them. 

Man, we're really on our way.

We have received a handful of delightfully odd requests for us to hurry up and finish are goddamn album already.

Well, I'm happy to report that Mr. Rathbun and I have re-entered the land of Polymorphia and have completed 1.5 mixes, by this time tomorrow I hope to add .5 to that tally.  By this time next week we should have a total of 4 done, then overdubbing commences on the 4 other tunes we just tracked basics for back in June.  13 songs total. 



In order to motivate me to post a mix I request that all interested parties express their need for fResh miRthkon in the form of a haiku, in response to this blog.

So hurry up and write a friggin' haiku already.

Though I can't really call it 'popular demand' a whopping FOUR people pleaded with me to post the latest mix. Ok. Since it's still gonna be some time before the album is done here's a nugget. I give you 'Kharms Way', an homage to Russian absurdist Daniil Kharms.

Suggested reading while listening:

(1) Blue Notebook No. 10
(or 'The Red-Haired Man')
There was a red-haired man who had no eyes or ears. Neither did he have any hair, so he was called red-haired theoretically.
He couldn't speak, since he didn't have a mouth. Neither did he have a nose.
He didn't even have any arms or legs. He had no stomach and he had no back and he had no spine and he had no innards whatsoever. He had nothing at all! Therefore there's no knowing whom we are even talking about.
In fact it's better that we don't say any more about him.

(3) The Plummeting Old Women
A certain old woman, out of excessive curiosity, fell out of a window, plummeted to the ground, and was smashed to pieces.
Another old woman leaned out of the window and began looking at the remains of the first one, but she also, out of excessive curiosity, fell out of the window, plummeted to the ground and was smashed to pieces.
Then a third old woman plummeted from the window, then a fourth, then a fifth.
By the time a sixth old woman had plummeted down, I was fed up watching them, and went off to Mal'tsevisky Market where, it was said, a knitted shawl had been given to a certain blind man.

(13) The Mathematician and Andrey Semyonovich
MATHEMATICIAN (Pulling a ball out of his head):
I've pulled a ball out of my head.
I've pulled a ball out of my head.
I've pulled a ball out of my head.
I've pulled a ball out of my head.
ANDREY SEMYONOVICH:
Put it back.
Put it back.
Put it back.
Put it back.
MATHEMATICIAN:
No, I won't!
No, I won't!
No, I won't!
No, I won't!
ANDREY SEMYONOVICH:
Well, don't then.
Well, don't then.
Well, don't then.
MATHEMATICIAN:
So I won't, then!
So I won't, then!
So I won't, then!
ANDREY SEMYONOVICH:
Well, that's okay.
Well, that's okay.
Well, that's okay.
MATHEMATICIAN:
So, I won!
So, I won!
So, I won!
ANDREY SEMYONOVICH:
All right, you won, so now calm down!
MATHEMATICIAN:
No, I won't calm down!
No, I won't calm down!
No, I won't calm down!
ANDREY SEMYONOVICH:
You may be a mathematician but, my word, you're not very bright.
MATHEMATICIAN:
No, I'm bright and I know an awful lot!
No, I'm bright and I know an awful lot!
No, I'm bright and I know an awful lot!
ANDREY SEMYONOVICH:
A lot, yes, only it's all rubbish.
MATHEMATICIAN:
No, it's not rubbish!
No, it's not rubbish!
No, it's not rubbish!
ANDREY SEMYONOVICH:
I'm fed up with arguing with you!
MATHEMATICIAN:
No, I'm not fed up!
No, I'm not fed up!
No, I'm not fed up!
ANDREY SEMYONOVICH waves his hand in annoyance and walks away. The MATHEMATICIAN, after standing for a minute, walks off after ANDREY SEMYONOVICH.
(Curtain)

Yesterday Dan Rathbun (of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) and I finished the first of 9 mixes for the new full-length LP. Jesus. It's taking a long time.

The mix we finished is for 'Kharms Way' and took 40 hours. Christ Almighty I need to start writing some simpler music. Dan told me it's the most complicated and detailed mix he's ever done for someone other than his own band. I'm not sure what to think of that statement.

Our soon-to-be label, AltrOck Productions, have been *incredibly* patient with us and we are very grateful to them.

We are actually going to track 4 new songs between now and August before the 2nd phase of the mix resumes. Those will be: Coven of Coyotes, Camelopardalis, Honey Key Jamboree, and The Black Fruit. All 4 of these tunes will feature our new drummer, Matt Guggemos. How exciting.

So. Some news. There are roughly 500 people worldwide who own our debut EP, The Illusion of Joy. This EP was independently released by us and distributed by Wayside in the US and Marquee in Japan. It has 4 of our best songs on it and after a lot of back and forth, we've decided to include those four songs on our full length LP. For those of you that already own the EP, fear not. Once you have the LP in your hands and experience its supreme greatness you will see the light. The conceptual framework that we are implementing for our LP is merely a house of cards without these four songs. Plus, the EP will become a bit of a collector's item in that it contains several secret goodies that will not be available elsewhere. So there you have it.

I'm toying with the idea of posting our new mix since it's gonna be a while yet till the record is done. Whaddaya say... should I?

from Experimusic.com

When one imagines the worlds of jazz and metal fused into one body they might think of sloppy breakdowns lazily placed under insipid lounge-jazz grooves, unless of course the album has been released on labels such as Tzadik or Cuneiform. Cast these assumptions aside because Mirthkon, an Oakland based sextet of heavy-jazz crusaders have created a 4 track, 23minute EP that documents the profound effect that heavy riffs can have on spooky leftfield jazz melodics. Twisting and turning at frantic speeds, the sextet produce a musically rich and complex soundscape that also brings in to play elements of frenzied skronk and polyrhythmic neo-prog dynamics to create a real rich concatenation of genres that could easily fall apart in lesser hands. Although subtle and delicate when needed, the whole package explodes forth with real urgency thanks to propulsive guitar and bass workouts that provide such an energetic foundation.

Freeform, counterpointing Woodwind instruments consisting of Saxophone and Clarinets deliver gypsy-tinged freejazz-folk melodies loaded with ethnic motifs that produce a Zornian aesthetic that lies somewhere between the cryptic glory of the Masada series and the hallucinogenic, carnivalesqe madness of Mr Bungle. This melodious core of noir-ish tuneage gives the listener something tangible to hold on to through the fast-paced, storm-riddled excursion and this keeps things rather accessible and highly captivating. What 'Mirthkon' do well is that they resist the temptation to launch into one constant tirade of fluctuating, angular melodies and pounding riffs. Instead they occasionally break up proceedings by injecting atmospheric passages loaded with delicate percussive clusters, freeform skree and micro-noodlings, thus heightening the impact of the forthcoming jazz explosion. Saying that, the sound occasionally does breaks free from its melodious core and, as exemplified by the closing track 'Trishna', launches into a cacophonous deep-fried assault of molten prog-jazz.

Melodic, heavy and ever so complex, 'The Illusion of Joy' is a densely layered and extremely rich body of music that is constantly shifting like the ground below it is giving way. Several listens to this 23 minute EP will still not make you wise to all of its permutations which is what interesting music is all about. Bring on the full length and I for one wouldn't be surprised if it's released on the likes of Tzadik or Cuneiform! (KS)

For fans of: Mr Bungle, ZAAR, Zappa, Dr Nerve, Dhysrhytmia, Djam Karet, Flying Luttenbachers, Ephel Duath