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Awake When You Dream
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Jai Agnish is American, Canadian, and Indian. He’s a New Jersey born and based musician, journalist, publicist and promoter. Agnish has released two critically heralded indie-rock albums, founded Blue Bunny Records and a fanzine called Flygirl. Although Flygirl and Blue Bunny Records are no longer active, Agnish continues to record, release and perform new music. He just released his third album, Awake When You Dream, as a free download in November, 2008.
BLUE BUNNY RECORDS
Taking a cue from lo-fi indie-rockers like Daniel Johnston, Soul-Junk, Lou Barlow and Beck, Agnish embraced the anti-establishment, do-it-yourself (DIY) philosophy of releasing music and began his own cassette/record label called Blue Bunny Recordings in the mid-1990s when he was in high school.
Agnish dubbed off copies of his and his friend's tapes and sold and traded them through indie distributors, record stores and 'zines. He released two compilation CDs and self-released his debut full-length CD called Automata on Blue Bunny Records.
FLYGIRL 'ZINE
Flygirl began around the same time as Blue Bunny Records. It was a photocopied 'zine that featured reviews and interviews with local bands and some of the indie bands that were touring through Hoboken and New York City. Early interviews included Liz Phair, Lou Barlow, Fugazi, The Treepeople and others. He also documented local happenings like a "freaks" vs. "jocks" war that broke out when Agnish was in high school.
With the seventh issue, Flygirl's focus turned to visual art and the music coverage was shifted to the Web site where he interviewed and reviewed some of his favorite bands like Trans Am, Built to Spill, Sufjan Stevens and Danielson. The final two print editions featured full page drawings, photographs and writings from a community of artists and musicians like Soul-Junk, Julie Doiron, Lou Barlow, Dennis Callaci, and Buzzsaw.
There were eight issues in total. The final two issues of the 'zine were accompanied by a 7" and CD compilation featuring new songs by some of Agnish's favorite artists like Lou Barlow (Sebedoh), Bonnie Prince Billie, Soul-Junk, and Danielson. Agnish, who had by this time amassed a slew of songs on his 4-track by this time, managed to sneak a song or two of his own (under the name Jags) on the compilations too.
Agnish has stopped publishing Flygirl and the associated Web site has been shuttered.
PUBLICITY, BOOKING, PROMOTION
In addition to publicizing his own music, Agnish headed up the first publicity campaigns for his friend's fledgling -- at the time -- labels, Asthmatic Kitty Records and Sounds Familyre. He worked Sufjan Stevens' "A Sun Came," and "Enjoy Your Rabbit," Half-Handed Cloud's "Learning About Your Scale" and Lenny Smith's "Deep Calls to Deep." Agnish helped initiate some of these artists' earliest exposure in publications like Pulse, Bandoppler, Pop Matters, Pitchfork and others.
He promoted the first Sounds Familyre label showcase in New York City. Agnish also has assembled and promoted numerous live bills with artists including Sufjan Stevens, Danielson, Half-Handed Cloud, Denison Witmer, Ben+Vesper, LA Symphony, The Curvy Straights, Unwed Sailer, Saxon Shore and others.
WRITTEN AND VISUAL JOURNALISM
Along with being a former freelance music writer, Agnish is a professional newspaper journalist and editor by day.
His incessant habit of picture taking and video making helped him amass a noteworthy collection of photographs and video footage of some of the earliest performances of friends like Sufjan Stevens, Half-Handed Cloud, and Liz Janes. Agnish also has documented rare Soul-Junk and Danielson performances.
Some of Agnish's footage of early Stevens' performances wound up on the documentary "Danielson: A Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise Here" (2006). He also did some minor videography work for the director of the film at Danielson Famile headquarters in New Jersey.
Some of Agnish's photographs have been used for various band Web sites and music publications.
Check out some of this work on his YouTube channel and on his Flicker site.
MUSIC RELEASES
AUTOMATA
In 2000 Agnish self-released his debut full-length CD, Automata, on his Blue Bunny Records. Here, with 11 tracks, he merged drum machine generated beats and melody and toy samples with acoustic guitar-based singing and song-writing. The sound -- electro-folk, folk-tronica, or maybe indie-tronica -- prompted The Toronto Star to call Agnish a "techno-savvy, 21st-century descendant of Nick Drake or Leonard Cohen."
Pitchfork, in a favorable review (7.6 rating) said "Agnish blends electronics, toys, and folk into a chalice and offers it to you as a gift. Both familiar and unlike anything else, you'd be wise to taste it." The album was spun on college radio, debuting at number 121 on the CMJ charts.
Sufjan Stevens, a former band-mate who toured and performed regularly with Agnish in support of the album, recorded melodica on one song and analog synth on another. JSRockit, a long-time friend and musical influence who accompanies Agnish on other releases, contributes programming on two of the songs on Automata. Agnish toured in support of the CD with Stevens, Half-Handed Cloud, Soul-Junk, Danielson, and Unwed Sailor.
CD is out of print; Download it through bandcamp.mu:
Automata
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MECHANICAL SUNSHINE
Mechanical Sunshine marked the maturation of Agnish’s foray into the electro-folk-tronica experiment. This 15-track CD was released on ClerestoryAV in 2006 and features a new drum machine and several guest musicians. JSRockit returns for a guest rap appearance and some programming. Two of the songs are without electronic elements -- foreshadowing Agnish’s temporary departure from machine-inspired song-writing.
Buy it from ClerestoryAV or download it through bandcamp.mu:
Mechanical Sunshine
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8.21 A BLUE BUNNY COMPILATION
8.21 was a collaborative project organized and funded in 2000 by Agnish and Sufjan Stevens together with the bands that appear on the compilation. All but one of the songs are exclusive to this compilation and don't appear anywhere else.
The bands/artists here are Jai Agnish, Sufjan Stevens, Soul-Junk, JSRockit, Friends of the Band (Soul-Junk side project), therefore (Michael Kaufmann of Asthmatic Kitty Records and Soul-Junk) Modern Synthetic and White Trash Inc. (Orchestra) (Scott Hatch of Burnt Toast Vinyl). Each of the eight bands were given around 10 minutes of space on the compilation for a total of 21 tracks. Stevens created the cover art.
Friends of the Band Autumn Attic Ease, Love/Gong, Supersharp
JSRockit (untitled), (untitiled), Woke Up on the Wrong Side of a Dream
Sufjan Stevens Woman at the Well, (Year of the) Ox, Far Physician's Son
therefore Rinse, Like Room, Entitled
Soul-Junk If You Quaff the Obligations, When We Are Eaten By Lions, She's an Old Bat
Jai Agnish Wade Through, Atomic Elbows, Collide
Modern Synthetic Straight Economics, Earthlight
White Trash Inc. Abolish the Racist White Overclass
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Compilation Tracks
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or or buy the CD from Jai's store.
OUR SPLIT E.P.
Agnish joined up with the Israeli-based band, The Pit That Became a Tower (formerly Gospel Zombie), for a split E.P. in 2003. Agnish's six tracks feature pre-Automata drum machine and Casio keyboard experiments. Two newer tracks recorded around the time of Mechanical Sunshine were also included.
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Our Split EP
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or buy the CD from Jai's store.
"Methods of Intimate Plumbing" CD (released w/ Flygirl No. 8)
1. Indiam - “Dueling Drum” | An instrumental acoustic side project from Jai Agnish and Mark Husby
2. Bro. Danielson - “First John Five” | Original version
3. Dan Zimmerman – “Influx” | From “Great Small” on Sounds Familyre Records
4. Bonnie ‘Prince' Billy – “Watch With Me” | Will Oldham takes on the ‘Prince' moniker for the first time and covers Joe Wise.
5. Jai Agnish (Jags) – “Petty Cash” | pre-drum machine
6. Friend of the Band – “Don't Eat the Eggs” | Ron Easterbrooks of Soul-Junk's solo alias.
7. Soul-Junk – “Swallowed Up By Life” | A stellar out-take from 1956.
8. The E of A – “At Sixes and Sevens” | Brian Franetovich's instrumental electric guitar jam.
*All of these songs are exclusive to this CD with the exception of song 3. Song 2 is the original version of a song that was re-recorded and released at a later date.
Download Jai's song through bandcamp:
Compilation Tracks
by Jai Agnish Download | Share
or buy the CD from Jai's store.
OTHER COMPILATION APPEARANCES
- Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation (Asthmatic Kitty Records 2006)
- Vainglorious Home Recordings compilation (Vainglorious Home Recordings 2001)
- Eye Of The Beholder (Vorpal Studios 2000)
- [untitled] (Flygirl 7 companion 7" on Blue Bunny Records)
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