Antiques Achieve Antiquity (December 22, 2008)
It's time to break the news- after six years and fourteen days as "antiques," we ceased to exist other than in recorded form. We're grateful for the years of support & for the friends we've made during the lifespan of this band.

We continue to make music in other forms:
http://www.myspace.com/vacuoleeyes
http://www.myspace.com/teethingveils
http://www.myspace.com/claresegg
http://www.myspace.com/straylightsoundandvision
http://611florida.alkem.org/kohoutek/index.html

Updates on future music from former antiques will also still be found on this page.

Happy hibernation,
Antiques

Awake Album Release, (September 16, 2008)
The second full-length album by the Antiques, “Awake” is complete. The album will be released on Safranin Sound on October 7, 2008.

Track listing:
Blackout
The Microphone Died
The Procession
The Time Escapes
Faceless Edna
I Know the World Ended Tonight
You’re Holding my World
I’m Always Living with your Ghost
Paper Lanterns
Awake

“Awake” was recorded by the Antiques, tracked at Straylight Studios in College Park, Maryland, and at Igloo Studios in Washington, DC, except for “Paper Lanterns,” which was recorded by Hugh McElroy & The Antiques and was tracked almost entirely at Hugh’s studio. The album was mixed at Igloo and mastered at Straylight.

Thanks are due to those who whose playing and voices made this album complete. Without their involvement, it would have been a different record altogether:

“The Procession” is made whole by the beautiful singing of Sara Bettinardi, Tricia Brown, Arlene Gatchalian, Susan Johnson, and Catherine Lewis, who are all members of the DC-based a cappella group Kismet:

“Kismet is an all-female adult a cappella group in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. We are thirteen professional women from diverse musical backgrounds who love the original sound created by layering unaccompanied voices in harmony. Kismet performs pop covers ranging from modern Top 40 to classic rock hits, with a flair for the unusual and unexpected.”

“The Procession” also features saxophones played by Chris Connelly, whose band Soft Complex can be heard in the DC area and beyond, and a cello arrangement played by Alexia Kauffman.

Ms. Kauffman also played the cello on “Paper Lanterns.” “Paper Lanterns” is made whole by the singing of Alexia, Hugh McElroy (of Hand-Fed Babies, Equinox, and numerous other projects), and Jamie Rimmer (of Five Four).

“Awake” is wrapped up with the work of three incredible visual artists- Stephen Carroll, Liz Kasameyer, and Carolina Mayorga.

“Travertine Sunset”, a photograph by Mr. Carroll, is the cover image of the album. A wealth of this photography can be seen on his site here.

Open the pages of the album’s booklet, and you will find the photograph “Mother’s Father’s Sweet New England” by Liz Kasameyer. This image, as well as many other works by Ms. Kasameyer, can be found on her site here.

Also within the pages of the booklet is a detail of the piece “Anatomy Study” by our longtime collaborative partner Carolina Mayorga. Visit her webpage to see more of her artwork, from the Death and Violence series to the Newspaper Soup promotional film.

-listen
You can now listen to deconstructed versions of “Awake” songs on our myspace page and here on our webpage (click above on the "music" balloon). Hear “Paper Bows, “You’re Crushing my World,” and "Ghost Close." They are whole fragments. You can also hear “The Microphone Died” in its album version form.

Now Taking Awake Pre-Orders
Pre-order your copy of “Awake” from us (click on the "records" balloon above) or from Safranin Sound.
Pre-orders will ship

-CD release show
The “Awake” CD release show will be on Friday, October 10 at the Velvet Lounge, with The Fordists- an excellent DC band- and two bands from Milwaukee who we've been wanting to see for some time-White Wrench Conservatory and If I Had A Hi-Fi. Needless to say, we’re quite looking forward to this show.

-T-shirts
Custom-dyed and custom-screened Antiques t-shirts are now available for purchase for $10:

You can order a shirt or shirts by clicking here:

Be sure to let us know what size you'd like before submitting payment.

-To Hell With Good Intentions
The latest issue of To Hell With Good Intentions, number 5 in a series of these exquisite fanzines by Jack Abok, features a story about and interview with the Antiques. Here’s a sample-

“They remind me of listening to OK COMPUTER when I was 16, to the weird guitar and organ sounds, head in the clouds and feeling utterly floored by the sounds. The Antiques have two guitarists, a drum machine, an organist, a bass player, and organ with two keys held down by tape and a drum machine that doesn’t know how cool it is. I first saw them opening for Sonic Boom, I didn’t get to hear any song cos the vocals were too reverb-y, they had the dude from Kohoutek on drums and their drummer sat on a chair cos he was on crutches. During the last song, Greg, the singer fell on his knees and started playing with his pedals, Sam, the drummer repeatedly scratched his guitar Craig the bass player was hitting his bass on his amp and Kevin, the organist was unplugging his stuff and packing it.
They have a couple of releases of which I bought ‘sewn with stitches’ a claustrophobic creepy self hating record that I couldn’t bear listen cos it made me want to curl up in a ball and cry like a baby (ref: spiritualized, spacemen 3, joy division, suicide). Most songs read like diary entries and post break-up letters, and Greg sings in a flat monotone (hey, it worked for New Order) with the vocals way front of the mix. At first this was a bit unsettling cos I loved the way his vocals were buried when they played live, kinds like when bands say they use vocals like an instrument.
So back to the songs, “bedsit bones” is white disco, opener “tied to nowhere” is a garage stomp that recalls the bunnymen at their lightest, and “there’s nothing to explain” is just a perfect song in every sense of that word. All chiming guitars and twelve string guitars, when they play it live Sam makes his guitar sound like a millions women wailing or cats being burnt alive. They do not sound like an American band and thank fuck for that, they remind me of late eighties UK. Its shoegaze. Pedals, organs, reverb, pedals, hair in their faces (they audience, not the band) and more pedals.”

The article is quite long and has lengthy interviews with Sam and Greg as well. You can pick up a copy of To Hell With Good Intentions at Smash, Crooked Beat, Red Onion, and other fine independent record shops. Grab a copy before they’re gone.

That's all the news for now. We'll have more soon.

Two Upcoming Shows (July 1, 2008)

Sunday, July 27, 2008
College Park, MD
@ WMUC Third Rail Radio
w/Julie Ocean
streaming live from 6-9pm on 88.1 FM and on the web at www.wmucradio.com University of Maryland 3130 S Campus Dining Hall College Park, MD 20742-8431

Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Washington, DC
@ Velvet Lounge
w/Gospel Gossip (Minnesota shoegaze/dreampop), The Softrocks

Midwestern tour in November, Sewn with Stitches now available via ITunes (October 17, 2007)
Check the shows page for particular show details...

Sewn with Stitches has now been released via Itunes.
Click below to purchase:


saturday 8/4 birthday blow-up, new stitches reviews (July 31, 2007)
Celebrate antique Gregory's 30th birthday and Adri Mapachita's 25th birthday
with two Safranin bands, the debut performance of Kuschty Rye Ergot, and
Omaha's own Foreign Elfest! BYOB/BYOH/BYOW!

Saturday, August 4 @ 9pm
611 Florida Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Screen Vinyl Image
Foreign Elfest
The Antiques
Kuschty Rye Ergot

info/directions/full write-up

all pharmaceuticals will be checked at the door
by screen vinyl image

and have a look at these new reviews of the Antiques' album- which is available for purchase from www.tonevendor.com and www.safraninsound.com-

"'Sewn In Stitches' is a bitter claustrophobic collection of melancholic psych tinged shoegazing for fans of '80s British glum rockers Echo and the Bunnymen, The Comsat Angels , The Sound and The Chameleons and early 90s Brit shoegazers, Ride...In the mist of all this bitterness, rancour and self immolation Greg produces some classic glum rock including a great moment when he rhymes glistens with aneurysms ('Auburn Aumbry')...'Sewn with Stitches' is an exhausting, emotional and entrancing album that gets better with each listen. I don't now what effect baring his heart and soul on the record had on Greg but I certainly felt purged after just one listen. File under cathartic.
-the devil has the best tuna (click for full write-up), july 28, 2007

"...I mostly agree with some of the previous reviews of The Antiques in that there is a feeling of early 80's British pop/rock threaded heavily with that time defying lo-fi garage sound we know so well. The difference found and contained within the the brand new CD "Sewn In Stitches" is that there are seemingly no limits or guidelines to which the sound is relegated. The healthy dose of organ accompaniment lends another dimension to the sound and the reverb levels don't hurt things at all. If, for no reason whatsoever, we were given three words to describe this music? Haunting, hollow and lovely would be the front runners although I might not be doing the slightest bit of justice to the music you are hopefully listening to right now..."
-milk milk lemonade (click for full write-up), july 28, 2007

-Sewn With Stitches album of the week on Cielo Líquido radio,
Antiques reviewed by The Last Pop Song (Germany) (July 20, 2007)
Sewn With Stitches was the featured album of the week on Spain's Cielo Líquido radio program for the week of June 18-24. Fernando has been playing songs such as "You're an Act That Can't be Followed," "Brown Balloons," "Tied to Nowhere," "The Ides of May," "Chutes and Ladders" and "There's Nothing to Explain" alongside some very good company in his always-stellar playlists. Check out the show via the link above.

There is a write-up on the Antiques & Safranin Sound in general in The Last Pop Song, a very nice German indie music blog. Here is a (very) rough translation:

"After the year unfortunately last itself Alcian Blue dissolved have, remained the volume members not idle and have under the name "Safranin Sound & design" a small Label in Washington established. Here publish a row of young volume out of the atmosphere of Alcian Blue. Next to Screen Vinyl image (former Alcian Blue members), Ceremony, The Offering, safe ace home also The Aniques. A class portfolio! Would like to introduce I here deputy for the Label the Antiques that have now the receptions of 2004 until now on its neune CD "Sewn witch stitches" together vicinity: Grow psychedelic Dreampop with atmospheric song that are very melodieorientiert unaufgeregt daherkommen and with the hearing. On the websites are found a row songs to the download, at the same time also a 15 minute live reception of Awake. Recommended.

HP: On the websites of Alcian Blue, there is another row of songs to the download!"

The aforementioned Alcian Blue songs can be found here.

-CD release event at Taking the P*ss this Friday, June 22 (June 20, 2007)
Deejay Mark Williams, also known as The Kasier of Taking the P*ss, has generously invited some Antiques to deejay with him to mark the release of "Sewn With Stitches." Taking the P*ss is DC's monthly night of music at the Marx Cafe (3203 Mt. Pleasant St., 10pm-3am) that "seeks out that bittersweet concoction of broken eternal promises and expressive forlornness, all wilting over pop melodies that make everyone nod in agreement: it's good to have your heart broken sometimes."

There will be lots of good music to hear. CDs and stickers will be available.

Hope to see you there.

Details courtesy of The Kaiser...
"So hi there. Another monthly installment of "The Pisser" is upon us and this month we've invited local indie pop mephistos The Antiques to both deejay and celebrate the release of their new CD "Sewn With Stitches."
See now, there was a time in DC when practically every month saw a new indie pop release of merit. Nowadays the pickings are slimmer, and so we rejoice with extra fervor when the goods get delivered. This The Antiques have just managed. Check out "Chutes and Ladders," which is the opening to our "Streaming P*ss" offering at www.dcsoundclash.com. For the committed and interested, the rest of
the tracklisting is at the bottom of this email.

WHERE: Marx Cafe, 3203 Mt. Pleasant St, NW
WHEN: Friday, June 22, 2007, from 10 pm to 3 am
NO COVER

The Antiques - Chutes and Ladders
David Kilgour - BBC World
Steve Treatment - Tempest Fashion Baby
The Fall - Fit and Working Again
The Candidates - Sound of Summer
The King of Luxembourg - Lee Remick
Electrelane - Cut and Run
The Famous Boyfriend - It Sounds As If You Are Falling Apart
The Deddingtons - The Last Day
Barbara Manning & S.F. Seals - Don't Underestimate Me
The Faintest Ideas - Capitol Between Brackets
Cardinal - Singing to the Sunshine
The Homosexuals - Divorce Proceeing (From Reality)"

-One Track Mind on Chutes and Ladders, album-release events continuing next weekend (June 14, 2007)
In this week’s Washington City Paper, Joe Warminsky examines “Chutes and Ladders” in the One Track Mind column. If you live in the DC area, pick up a copy and have a look, or simply follow the link above to read the article online.

Next weekend is taking shape to continue in album-release-related events, beginning on Friday with a Stitches-related Taking the Piss, DC’s monthly night of music at the Marx Cafe (3203 Mt. Pleasant St., 10pm-3am) that “seeks out that bittersweet concoction of broken eternal promises and expressive forlornness, all wilting over pop melodies that make everyone nod in agreement: it's good to have your heart broken sometimes.” The Kaiser has graciously invited us to share the night with them by playing records, and copies of the album will be available. We’ll have more details in the coming days for “Stitching the Piss.”

On the following night- Saturday, June 23- we’ll be playing at DC Nine with The Motion Sick, The Roosevelt and Deleted Scenes.

And if you read Portuguese, the Urge blog has some musings about “Painted Post Road.”

DJ Will Eastman includes "Tied to Nowhere" in Biss Pop's monthly hit parade for May 2007.

Sewn With Stitches is available from Tonevendor and Safranin Sound. If you live in the UK, you can save some postage by ordering from Northern Star Records.

-Sewn With Stitches reviewed by And Before the First Kiss, Glasgow (May 31, 2007)
"A complete album that you should own and hear from start to finish with no deviations whatsoever. It features fourteen wonderful (melancholic) songs that capture (and pierce) your sad old jaded heart. This is not sweetness and light but stories of loves-u-have-lost, with melting guitars and a bass in your head. It has been far too long. However, the desperateness of the lyrics and deep-drawl vocal delivery is counter-punched with a kind of spikey, cynical guitar-led "pop" that reminds me of The Go-Betweens at their absolute peak, possibly mixed in with a little early to mid-period Felt. I recommend this album highly and ask you to open all ears and take a listen (from the first few seconds of fast and furious spunkytastic album-opener, Tied To Nowhere, I think you will be hooked in and cooked for tea...)."
-And Before the First Kiss (Glasgow) album review, May 31, 2007

-Sewn With Stitches now orderable (May 21, 2007)
With the 22 May release date less than twenty-four hours away, “Sewn With Stitches” is now orderable online- copies of the full-length CD are available from Tonevendor, from Safranin Sound and from here on our website (click on the 'records' balloon above).

-Sewn With Stitches CD Release Show This Saturday @ Iota (May 10, 2007)
This Saturday May 12 marks the release show for our album, “Sewn With Stitches,” on Safranin Sound. We’ll be playing at Iota with Lejeune- it’s the CD release show for them as well- and Julie Ocean (an excellent band which includes past members of Velocity Girl, Swiz, High Back Chairs, Severin, Saturday People, and Glo-Worm).

Sat., May, 12 2007 @ Iota:
The Antiques, Lejeune & Julie Ocean
2832 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, Virginia 22201
Cost : $10

"For fans of semi-obscure '80s British acts such as Comsat Angels and the Chameleons UK ... well, here is your new favorite band. The songs are dramatic without being overwrought, as the band doesn't get bogged down with unnecessary instrumentation. A thick organ sound envelops tracks such as "Painted Post Road" and "Don't Stand in My Room," which plod along gingerly while Greg Svitil gives a perfect deadpan delivery of lines like, "Don't light up my life / Yours is the light I don't need / When did you become such a creep? / When did you become so psychotic?" Things are more sprightly on "One Day You'll Be Sorry Too" and "Auburn Aumbry," recalling some different obscure '80s U.K. acts -- let's say Felt and Orange Juice this time. People who are serious about their 7" record collection will seriously love this album.”
-Washington Post Going Out Gurus album review, May 10, 2007

"The meticulously crafted songs are full of drama, sometimes heavy on thick organ, other times with reverb-laden guitar."
-Washington Post.com, May 10, 2007

"Sewn With Stitches is an unqualified success in every sense. Each track was clearly meticulously crafted and executed brilliantly, and the end result fills the listener's ears with some of the most beautiful and heartfelt sounds they're likely to hear this or any other year."
-Rick Taylor, We Fought the Big One

despierta news (April 23, 2007)
Laura González now has her short film "Despierta" showing on her youtube site. “Despierta” tells the story of Ana- and who exactly is she trying to help? This film includes “Awake” by The Antiques. You can see the short either by going to her site above or by going directly here.

sewn with stitches (April 9, 2007)
We’ve recorded and mixed our album, “Sewn with Stitches,” which will be released on Safranin Sound. It’s an honor for us to be involved with Safranin, and to be in the company of some of our favorite bands and people- Screen Vinyl Image, Vacuole Eyes, The Offering, Ceremony, Safe as Home, and the late, great Alcian Blue.


Track listing:
Tied to Nowhere
Painted Post Road
Don’t Stand in my Room
You’re Everything I Don’t Need
There’s Nothing to Explain
One Day You’ll be Sorry Too
You’re an Act That Can’t be Followed
Brown Balloons
Chutes and Ladders
Auburn Aumbry
Bedsit Bones
The Ides of May
Closed Curtains
Every Night

“Sewn with Stitches” is to be released on May 22 (Marisol Escobar's birthday). It was recorded by the Antiques, Nikhil Ranade, Bryan Hoffa, Jake Reid and Hugh McElroy, and mastered by Sam Chintha at Straylight Studios. The album artwork is by Carolina Mayorga.

Special thanks is due to Jake Reid, Kim Reid, Sam Chintha, John Rickman, Theresa Kim, Davis White, Carolina Mayorga, Kevin Buckholdt, Kathleen Wilson, Hugh McElroy, Scott Verrastro, Rick Taylor, Mike Harbin, Terence Hannum, Andrew Ratliff and Vera Kochanowsky.

-album preview
Songs from the record can now be heard here on our webpage (click on 'music' above) and on our myspace page. “Painted Post Road,” “Don’t Stand in my Room,” “Brown Balloons” and “Bedsit Bones” are a sampling of sorts for the time being. “Closed Curtains” can also be heard on our webpage.

Additional guitar on “Brown Balloons” was expertly provided by Sam Chintha, and the song itself was recorded by Jake Reid. “Don’t Stand in my Room” was tracked by Nikhil Ranade and mixed by Hugh McElroy. The others were recorded in our home.

The additional vocal lead for “Closed Curtains” was sung by Kathleen Wilson, who was the singer in our previous band and who is now in Thee Lexington Arrows.
The harpsichords used for this song belong to a very nice woman named Vera Kochanowsky. A little about these instruments- 1) double manual harpsichord built in 1991 by John Phillips of Berkeley, California after an original by Andreas Ruckers (Antwerp, 1646) that was later enlarged by Blanchet and Tuskin (1756 and 1780); 2) single manual harpsichord built in 2002 by John Phillips of Berkeley, California after an original by Giovanni Battista Giusti (1681).

-antiques movie
We Fought The Big One’s Rick Taylor has been working on a documentary movie with the working title "Tied to Nowhere: The Music of The Antiques.” Rick says that “the film is an attempt to not only capture the creative process involved in bringing Antiques' songs to life, but also the various highs and lows that come from being in a DC band, particularly one that has little in common with other independent bands in the local area. It will feature interviews with former as well as current band members, other musicians who know the Antiques (such as Alcian Blue), critics and other talking heads. But the doc will be more than just music focused---I hope viewers get a sense of who the individual band members are as people, not just musicians.”

-making up time
An instrumental version of “Closed Curtains” will be featured in the video installation in progress “Making Up Time” by Tori Wunsch. “Making Up Time” captures make-up’s beautiful, sensual, and transformative qualities while the temporal length of the piece highlights the banal, repetitive, time-consuming process. Conceptually the piece is both a celebration and a critique of the ritual of putting on make-up. The film centers around the exact time it takes one woman to put on her eyeliner, eye shadow, lipstick, etc. The piece captures a week’s worth of time spent on make-up and will loop fifty-two times to represent a year. Film editing work is in progress as is the venue site…

-alcian blue & antiques live clip
Courtesy of DJ Jaguar of the Trans-Atlantic Underground, this video clip is of Alcian Blue and Antiques covering Slowdive’s “Primal” at Walls of Soundfest 2 in Fredericksburg, VA in September of 2006.

-shows
With more than one of us literally on crutches and/or in stitches right now, we play on. Two upcoming shows will be at Iota on Saturday, May 12 (with Lejeune- CD release show for them- and another TBA) and DC Nine on Saturday, June 23 (with The Motion Sick, Deleted Scenes and The Roosevelt)

ye olde 45rpm single (February 9, 2007)
In commemoration of the anniversary of the antiques & unlucky atlas split seven-inch, copies of the record can now be ordered online, either through our website (link below, or click on 'records') or on our myspace page for $4 ppd. If you'd like to order one through the mail, you can write a check for $4 payable to 'the antiques' and send it to 611 florida ave, NW, washington, dc 20001 (Update: mail orders should now be sent to 420 Randolph Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011, with checks and/or money orders payable to greg svitil). This record was made when the temperature was a lot like how it is right now, only there was a lot more snow on the ground then.


The Antiques & Unlucky Atlas 7" single
Side A- "Pediment"
by Unlucky Atlas
Side B- "There's Nothing to Explain"
by The Antiques

July, 11 2006
Black Cat
1811 14th St. NW.
Washington, DC.

w/Pagoda and Carol Bui (see shows page for band details)
Cost: $8

we three antiques (april 12, 2006)
Thanks to everyone who came out to support us at our last show in March at DC9. There are more shows coming up in a little while. But first, we’re sad to say that Theresa Kim, The Antiques' organist, has left the band. We wish her all the best in the future.

to magnetic tape
We're going into Nikhil Ranade's Upstairs studio in Arlington, VA to record some songs. Ranade (whose credits include Trans Am, Eyes of the Killer Robot, and The Alice Despard Group) is a whiz in the studio.

may shows
There are two shows planned for next month:

Friday, May 12
Fredericksburg, VA
@ The Bourbon Room
w/Alcian Blue, The Offering & Ceremony

and on:
Monday, May 22
Washington, D.C.
@ D.C. Nine
w/Headlights (Polyvinyl Records),
Five Four

springtime (march 22, 2006)
We will be returning from the rehearsal aumbry with our first show of this year on Sunday, March 26 at D.C. Nine. We'll be sharing the stage with three great bands- punk-chamberists Barbez, midwestern ghosttowners Dreamend, and D.C.'s own exceptional experimental trio The Caution Curves.

We'll be spending part of the springtime recording.

new year's (january 4, 2006)
We're tucked away in our rehearsal room spending time with several new songs. Thanks to all who have supported us in the last six months since our first show. We look forward to seeing you again this year.

recording (september 9, 2005)
We've finsihed mixing four songs with Bryan Hoffa (whose credits include Camper van Beethoven, Cracker and Labradford) at Richmond’s Sound of Music studios. Two of these- “One day you’ll be sorry too” and “Bedsit bones”- can now be heard here on this website.

"One day you'll be sorry too" is a featured track for D.C.'s
Bliss Pop Hit Parade for September 2005.

We’re also posted a new song,
“You’re an act that can’t be followed.”

We’ll be playing with Trembling Blue Stars and the Sprites on Wednesday, September 28 at D.C. Nine.
Mark your calendars- this promises to be
a wonderful night of music.

We’ve taken the Washington City Paper’s Pop Quiz for this week. It can be seen here.

“Tied to nowhere” was recently featured on Argentina’s Retroforward web radio program, a show that focuses on new wave-influenced music from all around the globe.

antiques recording (july 28, 2005)
We've been in Richmond putting the finishing touches on some songs.
More details to come.

"despierta" (june 20, 2005)
"Awake" will be included in the feature-length film "Despierta" by Laura González. "Despierta" tells the story of Ana, a girl who has twenty five minutes to get from the village on the mountain where she lives, down to a church in the city where she must stop her best friend before she commits suicide.  More details to come.

new antiques (april 28, 2005)
We have a new group of people.  The members come from groups such as EBSK, Eggs and Kohoutek.  We're now rehearsing for some shows. 

Craig Garrett: bass guitar
Theresa Kim: organ
John Rickman: drums
Greg Svitil: guitar and singing