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Smells Like Teen Spirit / Polly (2010) lathe cut 7" edition of 100

Nothing is Certain but Death (2004)

The Tempest is Over (2006) w/ Kevin Davis

Live at Barkenhoff (2009)

When We Get to Meeting (2010) w/ Seamus Cater

• "[Sullender] contort[s] a couple of Nirvana tracks, running them through a series of band-pass filters to bequeath barely recognisable traces of the original works, channelling instead the language of reluctant hymenoptera in séance. The beautiful clear lathe- cut lends itself to the ephemerality at the heart of this release, the grooves becoming gradually corroded with every pass of the stylus."
Spencer Grady, Record Collector
• "Extrememly interesting lathe... what remains is quite remarkable" -Byron Coley, Wire Magazine
• "From the choice of music, the execution of the concept, choice of sound carrier and cover: well thought out and a great record." - Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly (NL)

available from deadceo

Haunted by the voices of the banjo's past, Sullender's debut solo outing challenges the instrument's various identities, constructing a new voice equally indebted to punk, free jazz, noise, and Derek Bailey as it is to the artists preserved in 78rpm recordings.

• "This is a solid debut and one of the most interesting releases I've heard in 2004. Sullender is an impressive musician and an even more impressive improviser." - Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis
• "Even listeners who haven't acquired an ear for solo improv music might find themselves charmed by the freshness of Sullender's project. One can feel its brightness and daring execution from the first pluck." - Joel Calahan, Dusted Magazine

cd available from deadceo

mp3s available FREE from Free Music Archive
 

"On The Tempest is Over, his new improvised duo record with cellist Kevin Davis, former Chicagoan Woody Sullender continues to find unexplored terrain for the banjo, weeding out any reference to bluegrass or old-timey music. In his hands the instrument sometimes evokes those of other cultures - the oud on "Strata Collide," the pipa on "Knocking Dust" - but his MO is singular: wonderfully strangulated tangles of notes arrive in brief bursts, then recede into gentle arpeggios or ominous single-note runs. Davis is a wonderful accompanist cushioning Sullender's brittle sound in mahogany chords and spectral harmonics." -Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader


cd available from deadceo

mp3s available FREE from Free Music Archive

Concert cd recorded August, 2008 in rural Northern Germany. Sullender performs stylistic acrobatics on his "electronically augmented" banjo (designed with the help of the Dutch electronic performance center, STEIM), easily flowing from the Fahey school of lyrical romanticism into aggravated synth/banjo tones.

• "what we hear is masses of inventive and sustained playing that will appeal mightily to any of listeners who recently discovered the amazing Robbie Basho... the musical phrases just seem to pour out of him, like an intelligent conversationalist armed with many an arresting anecdote from his unusual life. Sullender is carving out a unique niche, delivering an intelligent and skilled update on American folk forms." - Ed Pinsent, Sound Projector
• "... the virtuosity, the fast finger-picking licks, improvisation skills, variety of ideas and a lot of experiments. This is not music you hear on everyday basis which is a pity, because it should be." - Terrascope Online

available from deadceo
mp3: Violence of Völk (excerpt)

Duo recording with harmonica player Seamus Cater (UK/Amsterdam). The project is a blend of a wide spectrum of contemporary music and folk, equally rooted in minimalism and spectralism as in the folk traditions of each artist's homeland.

• "Its one of those things which you have no idea what to make of, but you feel instinctively its great and perhaps therefore all the more a great record." - Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly (NL)
• "This is a refreshing take on the combination of folk and experimental musical modes and definitely deserves wider attention. 10/10" - Charles Franklin, Foxy Digitalis

available from deadceo