Ziggurat: Part II of the Rites of Passage (2/6/2016)

I'm excited to say that I'll be performing a set at The Reliquarium's second Rites of Passage.  Playing at the first Rites of Passage last year was a really intense and amazing experience and I am truly honored to be a part of this event again.

-more info / tickets-

Here's a video collage of last year's Rites of Passage created by soyoon cha

Rites of Passage 05.01.15 from soyomyoyo on Vimeo.

I was asked to play dark ritual music for this - so I'll be putting something together that will hopefully fit this description.

Here's a few stills from my performance at Rites of Passage last year:

(photograph courtesy of Summer Skeye) 

There's some other returning acts from last as well, such as Of the Sun, and as always I can't wait to see the mind-bending art that The Reliquarium has created for this.

flyer for the ritual stage: 

TICKETS

much love,

Mike Simonelli

Winter Shows 2016

1/22:

Lure of the Animal @ Out of the Blue Too

Angular Jacket & Joss @ the Lilypad

Lettuce @ House of Blues 

1/23:

Raise The Roots: House Show and Art Gallery (with the Grownup Noise, Samantha Hale, The Ladels, Aisha Burns)

-I'll be playing guitar on a few songs of Samantha's set-

Weird Folk Fest III @ Magnolia Loft

Unterwelten: Pink0 + Acid G • Lychee • Ian Flux • Full Color • r3curse • Augur • Nachtreim
(secret location) 

1/25:

Philip Glass' Low & Heroes Symphonies @ MIT

1/27:

Donny McCaslin Group @ the Regatta Bar 

1/29:

SCANNERS "Deep Field" w/ DJ Won't, pink0, & Acid G.

CMB (EP Release Show) | Andre Obin | St. Nothing | W00dy

1/30:

DJ Won't// Prone// Squelcher// 5AM Dro// INDLAB FREE

Wilco @ the Orpheum

1/31:

Soul Sessions xxxii Things that Make You Go Soul

-I'll be performing at this as well as some other great acts - contact me for more details-

Charles Lloyd & the Marvels (featuring Bill Frisell) @ the BPC

2/2:

The Pillow Men @ The Oberon

2/4:
Sound Shaman @ the Plough & Stars 

2/6:
Of the Sun, Lespecial, Proplydz, Wigzen, and Moduloctopus ft. Josh Weinberg
-secret location - contact for details- 

2/14:
Lauryn Hill @ Paradise Rock Club


2/18:
IAN + MEGA BOG + EKP + HARMOOS

2/19:
Kid Koala @ the ICA

2/22:

Animal Collective w/ Ratking @ the Royale

2/25:

Blackalicious @ the House of the Blues

3/4 - 3/5

24 Hour Performance Marathon AND Telethon

-I'll be performing a piece called "Ouroboros" at this-

3/6:

Julia Holter @ Great Scott

3/14: 

Oneohtrix Point Never @ The Sinclair

3/15:

Tortoise @ The Sinclair

SHOWS LATER THIS YEAR:
4/16: Melvins, Napalm Death, Melt Banana 

4/24: Behemoth @ the Royale 

6/16: The Cure @ Agganis Arena 

6/18: AT THE DRIVE IN!!! 

8/25: Black Sabbath @ Xfinity Center 

Anticipated Releases 2016

Albums that Already Came Out This Year: 

Blackstar (David Bowie):

Bowie's final album is one of his best (definitely among the top ten in his discography).  

Purple Reign (Future) 

Heaven is a Place (LSD & the Search for God)

1/21:

Jesu / Sun Kil Moon (Jesu/Sun Kil Moon) 
-full stream up-

1/22:
Symphony 4 (Henryk Górecki)
-first listen on NPR-

Something About April II (Adrian Younge)

Chorus (Lush) 

Adore Life (Savages) 

1/26:

The Catastrophist (Tortoise) 

1/29:

MartyrLoserKing (Saul Williams)

Three Licks (CMB) 

2/11 

Swish (Kanye West) 

2/19:

Painting With (Animal Collective)

Ultimate Care II (Matmos)

2/26:

This Unruly Mess I’ve Made (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) 

3/4:

Eraser Stargazer (Guerilla Toss)

Varmints (Anna Meredith)

Xtreme Now (Prince Rama)

3/18:

Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future (Underworld) 

Chaosmosis (Primal Scream) 

4/1:

The Wilderness (Explosions in the Sky)  

Trying not to get my hopes up about this - but their description of it being "an album where shoegaze, electronic experimentation, punk damaged dub, noise, and ambient folk somehow coexist without a hint of contrivance” definitely has me interested. 

Mogwai (Atomic) - April 1st 

The White Album (Weezer) 

-it’s probably not going to be good…but one can still hope maybe…right? 

TBA:
AT THE DRIVE IN!!!

Tim Hecker

Bottomless Pit (Death Grips)

Dark Matter (GZA) 

Radiohead

The Human Highlight Reel (Action Bronson) 

Electronica 2 (Jean Michel Jarre)

-looks like some interesting collaborations on this one such as David Lynch, Julia Holter, Gary Numan, and Hans Zimmer

Deftones 

PJ Harvey 

DJ Shadow 

Views from the 6 (Drake) 

Radio Silence (James Blake)

M83

Subtle Creature (Shira)

Matahdatah (M.I.A.)

Dream Chasers 4 (Meek Mil) 

Red Hot Chili Peppers 

Lorde 

Music is the Weapon (Major Lazer) 

Meshuga 

Mike Simonelli
(: 

Mutual Benefit 

Run the Jewels 3

Hy!£UN35 (Young Thug) 

Modest Mouse

Molt Corps 

Nine Inch Nails 

Missy Elliot

Hopelessness (ANOHNI) 

formerly Antony (coproduced by Oneohtrix Point Never)

Time Death (Of the Sun)

Gorillas 

PLEASE THIS YEAR?!?

Tool 
I know I've been saying this for the last three years...but I really think this is going to be the year this year!!! 

I'm sure there'll also be a ton of great jazz records and modern classical/avant-garde stuff that drops this year - but I haven't heard hype for those records because generally those artists don't care to hype their stuff.

Looking forward to hearing what 2016 has in store for us.

Much love,

<3

Stills & Video from Acoustic Set @ The Goddess Tower (1/9/15)

Stills courtesy of Adrian Felicano 

And here's a short excerpt of a collage I played of things I heard people sing that they want. In this clip those people are Sharon Van Etten, The Spice Girls, Bob Dylan, and Third Eye Blind: