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The_Battleship_Ethel

Excerpt from unfinished record 2009.
Ex-Drummer Mike Ford has all the master tapes.

Carl_Didur_and_Mike_McLean

CURRENT LINEUP (2011)
CD, MM




DAMO SUZUKI'S NETWORK TOUR

Jamie Andrew on bass, McLean on guitar, Kevyn Wright playing drums and melodica, Mike Ford playing CS 60 synth and theremin and Carl Didur playing organ and ring modulator. Essentially stable 5 piece line-up. Excerpt from MINI DISC recording from that tour with Damo Suzuki singing. Rough Tour Schedule >>

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The_Battleship_Ethel
Over the Top Festival with Simply Saucer in St Stephen in the Fields Church in Toronto .

Michael McLean, founding member.


Excerpt (full song minus introduction) from LOSS OF CRITICALITY live at Korova Milk Bar, Toronto, 2010. Last large scale BSE composition. An exercise in truncating time signatures. MINI VHS audio.



And a rough demo of same track 2008-2009
"CANTERBURY" era


2007 or 2008: Two shows in one day, both outdoor. One on the roof of Jackson Square mall and another in the quiet town of Dundas for their street festival. The BIKERS with the Harley Davidson booth complained that the band was "clearly on drugs" and was scaring away their audience. The soundman was a 13 year old boy. The "same" set both times. Both poor quality cassette recordings. A BEAUTIFUL DAY.

Jackson download



Dundas download
B_S_E

Another entire live show from 2009 (?) warts and all.
Mike McLean bass, fuzzbass, Carl Didur organ, fuzz organ,
Mike Ford batterie. Very Poor quality cassette recording of unreleased material.


DOWNLOAD
notably_the_chirping_of_birds
Eclectic Psychedelic. Local Small Paper review.
The_Battleship_Ethel
CD Release at the RAVEN, early period.

The_Battleship_Ethel
It's YOUR Festival, an Ethel tradition, View Magazie.

Absinthe show with Evangelista, trio format.
title=
Poster for Hamilton show with Mean Red Spiders and Creeping Nobodies 2003 (?)
The_Battleship_Ethel
Early self-released catalogue. Recorded at Valley View (Jamie's studio) or live with Jamie's equipment. Jamie engineered the early period of BSE. Kevyn oversaw the art and manufacturing.

Underground opening with Arcade Fire for Swords Project (?).



The Battleship, Ethel played many times at the Underground
with lots other bands. Long sets.

Middle Period Typical (2003-4 ?)
Ford on drums, Winterman bass, McLean guitar, Didur synth.
download



61 mixed vegetables was a live compilation of improvised recordings.
The_Battleship_Ethel_wavelength
The_Battleship_Ethel_wavelength
The_Battleship_Ethel_wavelength
WAVELENGTHS (Weekly Toronto Music series). Cedrumatic played Wavelength#2, Ethel played several times and again with Damo


Hamilton indie video night. BSE made one video for "The Old Regime" and commissioned a short film on a later occasion to be played behind the band.

Flyer for shows on Jackson Square rooftop and in Gage park, presumably made by Kevyn.
BSE
Dan Winterman and Mike McLean performed. Payment consisted of a collated photocopy of the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft, a real tome.


McLean poster, meaning unknown.

McLean Flyer, meaning unknown.

Opening for Oneida. Sheets of Easter.

The general context in which BSE existed (exists?)
Get_the_NAC_BSE
At the Niagara Arts Council.

Sidebar ad for the RAVEN (long gone) where Ethel often played (possibly more than any other band in the club's history).

Early Ethel Era article about Valley View x-Mas records.
With Jamie Andrew.
Battleship_Ethel_Bio
A Wavelength Music series write up. A good synopsis of the early era.
Photo is Kevyn, McLean, Jamie
BSE_SONIC_UNYON
Rare Sonic Unyon gig.

Playing with Simply Saucer at the Westside Concert theater. Ethel bass player Dan Winterman had quit to join the reformed Saucer by that point. Mike McLean on bass, Carl Didur on rhodes, organ, stylophone, Mike Ford on drums.

Rare visit to St.Catherines


Playing for the City of Hamilton on the roof of the local mall.
Battleship_ethel_2004
A New Plane of Existence.
View Magazine, Hamilton

Introducing Dan Wintermans.


Live MINI DISC recording from the Silver Dollar Room a few years later with this version of the band. Wintermans and Ford, as the rhythm section, had a large impact on the sound, tending more consistently towards epic dirge rock. McLean on guitar/ X-911 guitar synth and Carl playing synth, organ and rhodes. Excerpts from "Capacitor Ambassador" self released recording 2005.



Damo_Suzuki
An article Michael McLean wrote for View Magazine the first time Damo Suzuki visited Hamilton. How do you explain Krautrock to Hamilton, Ontario?
MONTREAL

HAMILTON

Backing up Damo.

Mike Ford, Michael McLean

Mean Red Spiders; Creeping Nobodies; the Battleship, Ethel
Flyer on top. Hamilton Spectator.

From Hamilton Spectator Friday June 27, 2003
Start of article.

Hamilton Spectator, June 27th 2003, end of article.


Improvising a score to Fritz Lang's "M"