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101 Crustaceans
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Ed Pastorini is an undeniable musical genius. Particular about recordings and always retreating from the spotlight, he hasn't made a full-length album since 1990's Songs of Resignation, which was produced by the brilliant Giorgio Gomelsky. Keep an eye on the calendar at churchofbetty.com for news of Pastorini's unforgettable performances. |
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Penny Arcade
Contact Info:
www.pennyarcade.tv
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Penny Arcade was a teen runaway who washed up on the shores of New York's Lower East Side at age 17 in 1967. She became a Downtown theater star in John Vaccaro's Playhouse of the Ridiculous, and later a Warhol superstar. Her hit show "Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!" toured all over the world in the '90s. A playwrite, actress, poet, monologist, comedienne, and activist, Penny tells the truth like few others, is funnier than most sitcoms, and kicks serious ass onstage. "She's the glitter on your wings," sings husband Chris Rael. |
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Bebe Eiffel
Contact Info:
olivierconan@earthlink.net
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Bebe Eiffel is the brainchild of Olivier Conan, a musically agile quatro player with a classic throaty French cabaret voice, a talented band and a flair for interesting arrangements. Bebe Eiffel delivers original songwriting and meaty musicality while entertaining your ass off. |
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Bengal Tigers
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Bengal Tigers is a unique project fusing the folk songs of Bengal with contemporary Western elements. This collaboration between internationally admired tabla maestro Samir Chatterjee, his singing wife Sanghamitra, and Church of Betty's Chris Rael was produced by Rael and Danny Kadar. "Songs About Birds and Trains" features Sanghamitra's beautiful, delicate voice, Samir's masterful East Indian rhythms, Rael's supporting rock-inflected arrangements, and guest appearances from flutist Steve Gorn, reed man Ned Rothenberg, sitarist Krishna Batt, and Ramesh Mishra, master of the sarangi (ancient bowed instrument most often used to accompany vocalists). |
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Marlon Cherry
Contact Info:
marlon.cherry@lycos.com
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"Elsewhere" is a haunting and atmospheric CD, beautifully sung by multi-instrumental songwriter Marlon Cherry. Soulful hand drums and spacey guitars create a sonic landscape for his rich baritone voice. With special guests Terre Roche, Daniel Carter, Chris Rael & Deep Singh. |
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Church of Betty
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Chris Rael's epic Indo-Pop project, integrating the sounds and rhythms of South Asia with Western pop and rock n roll songwriting. One of NYC's most popular live bands, Church of Betty has been widely praised for more than 10 years of constantly evolving original work. Rael is also the founder of Fang Records. |
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Jayne County
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Punk rock legend Jayne County is what real rock n roll is all about. A seminal influence on two generations of punks, glam and glitter rockers, Jayne still lays it down with sincere intensity, raw and vicious. |
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Dissolving Poets
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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This compilation features Chris Rael's musical accompaniment to six great spoken word artists: Penny Arcade, Ira Cohen, Marty Matz, Edgar Oliver, Bina Sharif, and Charles Henri Ford. |
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Doctor Snitch
Contact Info:
drsnitch@yahoo.com
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Doctor Snitch: Brian Geltner of the band Johnny Society plays every instrument on this epic instrumental CD, which is loaded with surprises. Inventive, funny, layered and funky, the good doctor gives us the soundtrack for a dozen unwritten demented films. |
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Rima Fand
Contact Info:
rima@lumii.org
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Church of Betty violinist Rima is a tremendous blossoming talent. She plays with everyone and adds beauty, fun and sublime musicality to everything she touches. Now she brings you her first solo CD, produced by Kenny Siegal. This is a fascinating and progressive record, taking you on a wending journey through Rima’s rich and intrepid creativity. |
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Goodie Magazine
Contact Info:
www.goodie.org
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Goodie Publications is a print operation that we here at Fang greatly admire and support. Their magazine, "Goodie", is a biographical journal of, as they put it, The Real McCoy. Subjects of recent issues include Ira Cohen, Edgar Oliver, Debbie Harry, Penny Arcade, and many others. Goodie's book imprint, Panther Books, has just published its first book, a gorgeous paperback compilation of the poems of Ira Cohen entitled "Poems from the Akashic Record". We love Goodie because its founders, Romy Ashby and Foxy Kidd, share our ideal of putting beauty and meaning into the world for its own sake. They recognize that this is an essential contribution to society even if it doesn't mean making a million bucks. |
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Ravindra Goswami
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Chris Rael's sitar guru from Varanasi, India is a soulful master of the instrument. |
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The Hand
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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One of the great unknown smashmouth rock n roll trios of recent years, the Hand consists of Kenny Siegal and Brian Geltner of Johnny Society and Church of Betty's Chris Rael. Through the Hand, insanely prolific songwriters Rael and Siegal make a home for dozens of songs that simply can't fit onto Johnny Society and COB records. Since the Hand is a "side project" the band doesn't tour, and consequently not many people have heard this music. Don't be fooled, the Hand is great! |
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Michael Holt
Contact Info:
mholt@istar.ca
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Michael Holt made Pajama Garden in New York before going to California to join the Mommyheads. Originally released on cassette, this imaginative and intimate recording is being released on CD for the first time. |
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Iconoclast
Contact Info:
www.iconoclastnyc.com
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Ferocious noisemakers Julie Joslyn and Leo Ciesa use sax, drums, violin, keyboards, squeeky toys and electronics to produce relentless instrumental dissonance. One of the first Fang bands, Iconoclast continues to record and perform in exotic corners of Europe and North America. |
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Johnny Tibet
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Church of Betty trio of Rael, Feinberg and Quigley became "Johnny Tibet" for this CD, in which Rael bases songs on Indian pop hits. |
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Life in a Blender
Contact Info:
donrauf@aol.com
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A keen and hilarious observer of the human animal, Don Ralph delivers his intelligent and incisive songs with outrageous gonzo energy. He's a modern bard, part poet and part jester. |
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Marty Matz
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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The late Marty Matz was one of the greatest Beat generation poets. The ex-pat vagabond junkie sacrificed fame for freedom and wandered the globe in search of chemically-induced nirvana. Late in life he returned to his native New York, where he met Chris Rael. Chris wrote music for his poems. Beautiful words read in Marty's bold and rhythmic style set to acoustic world music is really something to hear. One day he may be Van Gogh; right now he's a frustratingly well-kept secret. Be one of the first to discover Marty Matz. |
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Mecca Bodega
Contact Info:
www.meccabodega.com
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The ecstatic spirit of Mecca Bodega's live music rings true on their recordings. The percussion-based instrumental ensemble, led by brothers Marc and Paul Mueller, has played everywhere from New York's subways to trendy Soho parties to huge hippie festivals. They are true modern minstrels leading a life of music. |
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Amar Nath Mishra
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Little known in the US, Amar Nath Mishra is one of India's last great traditional sitarists. |
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The Mommyheads
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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The Mommyheads were a remarkable trio of teenage musical explorers from Brooklyn. Adam Cohen, Jan Kotik and Matt Patrick had the unique chemistry of a great band. They toured North America, creating pockets of devoted fans and influencing many other bands. "Acorn" was their seminal first album, co-produced by the band and Chris Rael. Released on LP only, it has been an out-of-print collector's item for a decade. Buy it here on CD for the first time. |
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Mr. Forky
Contact Info:
mrforky@yahoo.com
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Josh Meismer, aka Mr. Forky, is a fine songwriter with a lot of range. Having played in several accomplished NYC-based bands, Josh called in Johnny Society's Kenny Siegal and Brian Geltner to produce his first solo CD. This disk is a work of art: each tune is its own little world, but they all fit together like a tapestry. |
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Najma
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Rael conceived and produced the British-Indian chanteuse's CD of Hindi film classics by legendary composer S.D. Burman. CD is available through Shanachie Records |
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Joe Quigley
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Veteran Church of Betty bassist and widely admired Downtown session man Joe Quigley steps up to the mike for the first time to bring you the inside scoop on what’s going on in HIS brain, and surprise, surprise! He’s the most subversive of us all. ADC is without question the most reverent and spiritually profound tribute to alcohol ever conceived. Each spirit has its own song, a song to vodka, a song to rum, etc. Delightfully conceived, expertly played, and funny as hell. Do yourself a favor and pick this up. |
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Chris Rael and Deep Singh
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Chris Rael's epic Indo-Pop project, integrating the sounds and rhythms of South Asia with Western pop and rock n roll songwriting. One of NYC's most popular live bands, Church of Betty has been widely praised for more than 10 years of constantly evolving original work. Rael is also the founder of Fang Records. |
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Chris Rael
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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Chris Rael's epic Indo-Pop project, integrating the sounds and rhythms of South Asia with Western pop and rock n roll songwriting. One of NYC's most popular live bands, Church of Betty has been widely praised for more than 10 years of constantly evolving original work. Rael is also the founder of Fang Records. |
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Dudley Saunders
Contact Info:
dudleynyc@aol.com
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Dudley Saunders delivers dark and elegant tales of struggle, heartbreak and hope. His heavily vibratoed tenor voice is remarkable and distinctive. A fine wordsmith, Dudley's unflinching testimonials of the gay experience and other subjects earned "Restore" deserved attention from gay culture media. |
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Thirsty Ears
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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This compilation documents Fang's early golden era (1989-92) with 8 groups playing live at the Knitting Factory: Mommyheads, Oren Bloedow, 101 Crustaceans, Church of Betty, Very Pleasant Neighbor, Brian Woodbury, Dolores, Goulash. |
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Weak
Contact Info:
antony@weakworld.com
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"Weak" is the moniker of progressive composer/singer/instrumentalist Antony Widoff, who has created virtually his own language of sound in this debut solo recording. Weak exemplifies the aesthetic upon which Fang was originally founded: a unique voice and perspective, both practicing and celebrating individuality in artistic expression. Like much original music, Weak gets better with repeated listens, as details of Widoff's vision reveal themselves. Review from Fang's own Dr. Snitch: "Some of the best music I've ever heard." Produced by Kenny Siegal. |
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Hal Willner
Contact Info:
rael@fangrecords.com
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The brilliant Hal Willner has produced some of the major artists of our time, conceived and produced some of the most fascinating live multi-artist theme shows of our time, and maintained a day gig at Saturday Night Live the whole time. Less well known is his own intrepid dance music: bold, funny, visionary. |
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Brian Woodbury
Contact Info:
www.somephil.com
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Brian Woodbury's music is a complex cocktail of musical theater, pop and new music elements. A protege of Van Dyke Parks, his acrobatic arrangements are laced with humor and irony. Brian's recent CD "The Brian Woodbury Songbook" is an epic work featuring many fine singers, including Fang's Chris Rael. |
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