swimmin' in sewage

for those of you outside of nyc, you may not know about Tonic. for a number of years now, this one location has been a haven for the experimental and avant-garde scenes. with multiple performances happening every night, there is surely something for everyone- even those who don't like skronky free-jazz or noize-core or freak-folk or midi feedback.

Over the past few years we have suffered a series of blows: our rent has doubled since 1998, our insurance costs have tripled, we’ve been robbed, and we’ve been plagued by the expense of maintaining a building in ill repair – including the collapse of our main sewer line. For Tonic to survive they will need to raise upwards of $100,000 in the next few weeks. A number of benefit shows will be happening there in the coming days, from Yoko Ono's 72nd Birthday Party to Devendra Banhart to Jim O'Rourke to Vincent Gallo and beyond.

In 1999, DJ Olive and Toshio Kajiwara founded Phonomena Audio Arts & Multiples, a weekly event as well as a record label. The weekly event has been happening at SubTonic in the Lower East Side of Manhattan from the beginning, developing from a platform for local DJ's and beatmakers to perform downtempo abstract electronic music to a space for electro acoustic improvisation with many international guests. however, now with the Tonic sewer woes, Olive aka Gregor Asch has been flooded out of his comfortable downstairs music space and is up to his ears in nastiness!

anyone who is able should go to one of these shows at Tonic to help maintain one of the great clubs for the underground. if you aren't in NYC, you can also contribute online at the Tonic website. while you are at it, check out some of DJ Olive's latest workings... the first track is a contribution on the sub rosa vs kompakt CD. and the other two are from Olive's recent debut solo album, Bodega, available now on the Agriculture label. Olive was one of the founders of the "illbient" genre, a deep downtempo dubby exercise that also featured such luminaries as dj spooky, we, and sub dub.

DJ Olive vs. Jürgen Paape
DJ Olive - Rooster Rooster
DJ Olive - Round Fire Strut