Amps For Christ



Amps For Christ is largely the project of Man Is The Bastard and Bastard Noise veteran and metal/noise pioneer Henry Barnes. Beginning in 1996, when Henry met the like-minded Enid Snarb the project (which has also included Joel Connell and Tara Tavi) has largely operated out of Claremont, California ever since. Barnes decided that he wanted to combine his experience with experimental noise and extreme metal with his love for traditional folk music, classical composition, and jazz. Henry has been building odd stringed instruments, pre-amps and amplifiers for years and used them occasionally in his previous outfits. With Amps For Christ he really began to focus on chasing down these new sounds. The warp in the harmonic scale, experimentation with waveforms and beat-tones are matters of great intrigue in this project. Amps For Christ is about combinations of many styles of music, emphasising the multi-cultured, multi-layered, and multi-genre composition as well as broadly ranged themes. Many tracks deal with love, peace, warmongers, rampant corporate capitalism, and Barnes' relationship with God all with a similar mystical honesty. Even if I suspect there may be a tongue implanted in a cheek somewhere down the line...

There hasn't been any new AFC releases for years although I think that there have been some recent tours...so hopefully there will be some new releases soon!

1997 - Amps For Christ - Thorny Path [vermiform]
1997 - Amps For Christ & Two Ambiguous Figures - The Beggars Garden [shrimper]
1998 - Amps For Christ - Songs From Mt. Ion [total annihilation]
1999 - Amps For Christ - Circuits [vermiform
1999 - Amps For Christ - Electrosphere [shrimper]
2001 - Amps For Christ - The Oak In The Ashes [shrimper]
2003 - Amps For Christ & Bastard Noise - Split [helicopter, kill frank lentini]
2004 - Amps For Christ - The People At Large [5 rue christine]
2006 - Amps For Christ - Every Eleven Seconds [5 rue christine]






8 comments:

zodiac 8 December 2010 at 19:45  

This is great, thanks very much.

skweltch,  9 December 2010 at 20:08  

Jawesome!

elmer68 10 December 2010 at 01:16  

Thanks for all of these great recordings. Amps for Christ played recently here in LA but like a dummy I missed it. I saw him a good many times in the 90's, when he would play places like the Impala Cafe quite a bit. I had a chance to speak to Barnes once, and he was as weird and unique as an indivudal as are the sounds of AFC.

Anonymous,  11 December 2010 at 00:48  

I have some bands I'd like to see on here!

(sorry, I'm at work, and the suggestion box on the side doesn't load)

Waves
Charles Balls
Arsonist's Prayor
Stare Case
Graveyards
Dead Machines
Wretched Worst
Sickness

REALLY if you could just get some WAVES and CHARLES BALLS on here...I would be satisfied.

Anonymous,  15 December 2010 at 14:32  

Caligari:
mmm, really didn't like this stuff.
amps don't inspire me.
not my kind of music.
(i recently re-listened to jazfinger. fuck, how great they are. amazing!)
:)

badgerstump 15 December 2010 at 20:47  

Hey Caligari!

Thanks for all the comments! Even if you don't like some of it, at least I can point you in the direction of things you would have never heard before...just like the Jazzfinger post...and yeah, they are fucking awesome...there's supposed to be a new five tape boxset coming out soonish on Blackist Rainbow...it's been in the pipeline for about a year so must be due sometime soon! Keep your eyes open for that one!

NOT COOL,  4 January 2011 at 13:12  

Just go rape Barnes why don't you? Its not as if AFC is unheard of and peoples ears need enlightening, one download fair enough but this? Come on

Anonymous,  1 February 2011 at 13:02  

Caligari:
rethinking amps for christ.
sometimes i re-listen bands i didn't like; sometimes i change my mind. some recordings by AFC are relly great. espiicially
"the beggar's garden"
"coherence is the scarecorw of the narrow minds".
hail eris