Project Spotlight #6: What is Isthmus?

On February 5, 1995, Harry took his synthesizer to Jason's house and they had a jam session in the new Metal XOR Studio that was still under construction in the basement. Jason played guitar and Harry played his synth for most of the jam. After hearing the tapes from that session, it was decided it could be released as an album. More than a year later, after doing some clean-up work and adding a few tracks (mostly drums), the album was released as Electric Field Donut on July 9, 1996. It took a while to settle on a band name, but the winner was Isthmus. The scan below shows some of the other names that were considered for the new band.

For months Electric Field Donut was listened to and reviewed. It was not bad for a "live" recording of two people goofing around. Could it happen again? They recorded another session on September 21, 1996. This time they had a drummer, Jimmy. Harry played guitar and Jason played bass. They recorded in Jason's driveway and the album became Lambskin Temple. It was released on November 19, 1996.

On December 10, 1996, Harry and Jason recorded a jam session of Christmas songs in Harry's chuch. This time they had Tim S. playing drums. The album was an utter failure, not much good came of this effort. It was called New Mexico Igloo.

On May 6, 1997, a very limited release of the Isthmus EP Ideas was released. This was a collection of tracks recorded during the Electric Field Donut session that did not appear on that album. And there is a good reason for that. These were really B-quality pieces of music.

But the band redeemed itself with the world-wide critically acclaimed 1998 release of Parabolic Dish Festival. It was recorded on May 22, 1998. Jimmy was back on drums, Harry played guitar, and Jason was on bass. After the traditional cleaning up and adding of musical and sound effect tracks, the first album of the two-album set was released on July 21, 1998. The second album was released on March 23, 1999. This was their most productive jam session to date and the one that all jam sessions have been compared to. There is a Parabolic Dish Festival Special Edition that has been in the works for years, but it has not been released yet. Maybe we will see it on its 10th anniversary next year. . .

Although the players keep changing, the official Isthmus line-up is Harry, Jason, and Jimmy. And although they have played various parts on their albums, the main instrumentation is Harry on guitar, Jason on bass, and Jimmy on drums. Harry and Jason provide most of the vocals.

They have not had a jam session since the 1998 PDF marathon session, but an Isthmus reunion is not out of the question.

Prior to the creation and naming of the group in 1995, Jason and Harry had played together for years in various bands and with various people. But there exist bootleg recordings of just the two of them playing songs. Those have been adopted as early Isthmus recordings (even before there was an Isthmus). None of those recordings have been officially released. Yet.

Updates:
On April 15, 2008, the first Isthmus video was released. It was for the song "Lost in Detroit (Free II)" from their 1998 album Parabolic Dish Festival Volume 1.

On May 8, 2008, their second video was released. It was for the song "Flathead Midget", also from their 1998 album Parabolic Dish Festival Volume 1.

For years the 10th Anniversary Edition of Parabolic Dish Festival has been discussed. Finally in 2008 the project was finished. It was released on May 22, exactly ten years to the day that the songs were recorded. Talks have already begun about an Ultimate Edition of the album for a future release.

On March 22, 2011, the Gemini Jay bootleg recording was officially released.  The recording took place on January 12, 1996, between the Electric Field Donut and Lambskin Temple recording sessions.  The music is rather raw, but it demonstrates an evolution in the band between their first and second albums.


Next week: What is Binary Pipedream?