Dream Amsterdam: Ryoji Ikeda floods the city with pure light
The Dream Asterdam foundation has announced that Japanese multimedia artist Ryoji Ikeda will be their featured artist for this year's edition of their Dream Amsterdam spectacular. Dream Amsterdam is an outdoor art event which uses the city as its projection surface, integrating walls and public spaces directly into the artist's performance. As a consequence, spectators are whitnessing two different layers of art at the same time: The visual and aural media in their concrete form and the changes to the urban landscape, which now appears surreal and dream-like. Ryoji Ikeda's contribution, too, will demand a fair amount of participation from the side of his audience according to the organising committee. Pure light is to be the source for his work, spread across several secret locations in Amsterdam. As Dream Amsterdam have pointed out, his brightly luminous interventions „will appear mysteriously, connecting a constellation of points across the cityscape.“ The event will take place on three subsequent nights, each with its own twist to the installation.
Ties Mellema: Dramatic injury prompts slew of commissions
Recovering from a serious injury, Dutch Saxophone player Ties Mellema has asked befriended composers to write short pieces for him only using the notes he can play. On March 12th of this year, Mellema cut his wrist in what he describes as a „very unfortunate accident“. While the damage done to one of his hand's tendons and an artery will not pose any insurmountable problems, the ulnar nerve, responsible for some essential motoric functions (such as spreading your fingers) was also severly injured. Mellema's future as a Saxophone player now depends on whether he the nerve endings will heal completely (for which there is a chance of 75% apparently) and whether the healing will mean that the old functionality will be restored. In a first move, the members of the renowned and astoundingly succesful Amstel Saxophone Quartet had to cancel all tour dates – including prestigious ones in New York, Detroit and Chicago. Mellema also started taking singing lessons and focusses on composing for the time being. Playing the Saxophone, both „in his head“ as a mental training and – carefully – for real, he realised that he would benefit greatly from music suited to his current situation. As a consequence, a slew of composers will ready pieces for left hand Saxophone and Piano over the next weeks.
Headphone Festival: Going East straight into your ears
After offering some intimate listening moments in Leipzig last year, the Headphone Festival will move to Pecs in Hungary for this year's edition. Organising German label Privatelektro has again invited a colourful array of artists from diverse genres for one of the more unusual Festivals on the experimental scene. As Privatelektro has revealed, visitors to the Headphone Festival will be given a FM Radio with integrated Headphones (or is it a pair of Headphones with integrated FM radio?), with which to receive the performances. Alternatively, visitors can bring along their personal headphones and plug into docking stations at „listening islands“ designed for relaxing listening sessions – or even use their mobile phones as a receiver. This year's motto for the two-day festival is „going East“ and next to the obvious geographic relocation to Hungary, the artists involved have prepared their personal vision on this theme – with either abstract sounds or field recordings, analog equipment or digital gear, as purely electronic projects or in a more traditional band line-up. Concerts will take up to thirty minutes and there will be a continous flow of music thanks to the involvement of DJs, filing in the gaps between live sessions.
Kluster: Admira & Vulcano dig up Krautrock treasures
Legendary Krautrock band Kluster are back – sort of. Kluster member and former Tangerine Dream engineer Klaus Freudigmann discovered two sessions of the group, a full decade apart, now deemed exciting enough for a release. Available from Important records, “Admira” and “Vulcano” take listeners back the early 70s and the beginning of the 80s respectively, when Kluster were counted among the most innovative and unique formations in the blooming garden of experimental rock outfits. Both albums were realized after the other two members Mobius and Roedelius had left the band to pursue different projects and solo careers, and with Conrad Schnitzler as Kluster’s mastermind. “My criterias were not folk music, not rock music, not pop songs and not dance music”, Conrad Schnitzler remembers, “The idea for "Cluster" later "Kluster" (I wanted to avoid americanisms) is not only a name for a group but a form of music. I had amplifier,instruments ,contact mikes and effects, that could used by the others,too.Klaus had tape machines and microphones. In addition he constructed instruments and electronical sound generators,which made the most undescribable sounds.” “Admira” and “Vulcano” are now issued as deluxe packages in strictly limited editions of 1.000 copies on Important Records.
Janine Jansen: Live Sessions: Bach
Violinist Janine Jansen is continuing her promotion and exploitation of the digital market by releasing an EP specially tailored to the world of downloads – and available exclusively at iTunes. "Live Session: Bach" fully profits from the decisively shorter time needed to realise a publication: Recorded in Berlin at the end of February of this year, the music is of an unprecedented freshness, allowing her audience a crystal-clear look at where she stand as an artist today. Both in terms of repertoire and line-up, "Live Session: Bach" can be regarded as an immediate follow-up and addendum to her succesful (physical) full-length “Bach Inventions & Partitia” on Decca Classical. Again, Jansen will be joined by Maxim Rysanov (Viola) and Torleif Thedéen (Cello), with a special guest appearance of her father Jan Jansen on Harpsichord. In conjunction with these widely renowned musicians, Janine Jansen embarks on three musical adventures of different instrumental combinations, all based around the music of Bach, a composer Jansen has repeatedly declared her sincere admiration for. On the strength of "Live Session: Bach", the Dutch instrumentalist has also been invited to perform at Berlin’s “iTunes Festival” as one of the few select classical musicians.
Slon: Post-Rockers announce first tour dates
Austrian Post-Rock band Slon have followed up on their promise of touring with first announcements of a couple of German dates. Only a few months back, the group caught our ears with their “Jelenka EP”, a both relaxed and ambitious effort, which included short musical scenes and epic pieces made up of diverse moods and stylistic allusions. “Based around a solid core of guitar, bass, drums and embellished by cello and electronics, this fourpiece has definitely developed a vocabulary of its own. Their sombre guitarstring-themes and recursive harmonies are stilly pointed in the direction of post-whatever, but their lyrical poetry and brittle structures are both different from the harsher edges of the genre as well as from its mathematically founded art-jazz experiments:” is what we wrote at the time and with concert dates a mere month and a half-away, we still stand by our judgement.
Kenneth Gaburo: An influential Thinker awaits posthumous Breakthrough
Pogus are paying tribute to a man some call “an undersung hero with a profound influence on a generation of musical thinkers”: Kenneth Gaburo. The upcoming “LINGUA II: MALEDETTO / ANTIPHONY VIII” captures Kennth Gaburo in two different phases of his career and on strikingly contrasting musical grounds. “Maledetto” was written and first realised in 1967/1968, only shortly after he had founded the New Music Choral Ensemble (NMCE) – an early avant-garde choir. While he excelled in public performances of the works of Nono, Kagel, and Messiaen among others on the one hand, he also used the NMCE’s creative force for his own music. “Maledetto” is therefore a powerful vocal piece for seven speakers, working on several layers of meaning with regards to the word “screw” “in all its connotations, from the sexual to the mechanical, from the mildly obscene to the boisterous, with diversions along the way into topics such as perfume manufacture, printing, classical design, and structural linguistics, all of which connect with the small ridged, groovy object of attention.”, according to Pogus.
Barry Douglas: Rachmaninov Treasures From the Vaults
While dusting off the shelves in his huge archive, Sony BMG Masterworks’ General Manager Chris Craker discovered a veritable gem by complete coincidence: An over ten year old recording of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos No 1&3 performed by Belfast-born Barry Douglas on Piano and in cunjunction with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra under Evgeny Svetlanov. Amazed by its qualities, Craker gave the green light for its release – and paved the way for one of the moments to look forward to in the classical music season 2008. “I have known Barry Douglas for more than 20 years, having performed with him myself”, Craker enthused, “I have always greatly admired his recordings and was therefore wonderfully surprised and delighted to find the Rachmaninov recording in the vaults.” Barry Douglas, too, was happy to dig up some golden memories from the recording sessions to the album: “I was on cloud nine all the time to be working with this orchestra and this great musician and was very happy indeed that we saw the music in exactly the same way. I will never forget the sessions and these are performances I will always treasure”.The album is due internationally on 2nd of June.
Burial: Lends a Buzz to "DJ Kicks "
Just one day after Souljazz Records announced their commitment to the DubStep scene with a handful of most promising releases, K7! have spread the word about yet another highlight from the still fledgling genre. Burial, whose two latest releases have been acclaimed worldwide and turned him into the prodigal son of a style still struggling to express itself in the album format, is set to feature in the next volume of the label’s renowned and classic “DJ Kicks” series. The Berlin-based record company is just as anxious for this album as the rest of the musical world, revealing that they’re “buzzing on the announcement” and labeling Burial as “one of the global leaders in this exploding scene on word-of-mouth alone”. With a projected release date of the end of June and Souljazz’ “Steppas’ Delight” compilation also due any day now, listeners may soon be able to choose from two seminal DubStep collections.
Bebe Barron: First lady of electronic music dies aged 82
American electroacoustic composer Barry Schrader has reported on the death of his colleague Bebe Barron. Barron, a pioneering, widely respected and seminally influential artist, died of natural causes on April 20th. Already in January of this year, when she particpated at an event held at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, celebrating the creative legacy of her close friend, poet Anais Nin, she was no longer strong enough to speak in public. Still as lucid and sympathetic as ever, she shared her thoughts and memories in a video interview – the last she would give. Even though Bebe Barron had essentially withdrawn from composing or least from promoting her work (her final piece “Mixed Emotions” was completed in 2000 and will be available as a free download from the site of Schrader), she never lost her unique position in the world of American Sound Art – a position she had aquired through her immeasurably important work as a soundtrack sculptor (“Forbidden Planet”!), a composer and as the first secretary of SEAMUS, the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States in 1985.
Souljazz Records: Dig Dubstep
London’s finest Soul Jazz Records are set to breathe fresh air into the DubStep movement with a string of releases scheduled for the next weeks. In a first move, Soul Jazz will issue three 12’’singles poised to get clubs shaking and breaking. “Carla” by Leeds-based Ramadanman has already been named Mixmag’s single of the week and contains a trio of pieces, each with its distinct flavour: While the title track evokes memories of the jazzy days of Drum n Bass, “Kablammo Eleven” is a sinister, ghostly slab of haunting atmospherics and moody vocal samples rising from cogweb-like pads and a metronomically stuttering, alien latin groove. A second heavyweight Vinyl disc features the ominous Cult of the 13th Hour, with music so dubby and spaced-out it would make Lee Scratch Perry run for cover.. Who’s hiding behind the project name? “We still can’t tell you who the Cult are except that they are two of the most important names in Dubstep at the moment!”, the label says, not entirely unhappy with the attention benefits the mystery might conjur up. Meanwhile, “The Search” is a split highlighting two Cotti-tracks (including the bonzai-wobble of the title tune) and a powerful statement by King Soly, adding further musical nurishment to their ongoing legacy.
Alfred Brendel: Says Goodybe in Style
The sad news is that Pianist Alfred Brendel, revered as a pronounced and personal voice of 20th century classical performance, has announced that he will be retiring from the stage this year. The good news, however, is that he will be doing so in style: First of all, there will be one last tour and a final chance to watch this outspoken and lucid-minded artist live. And secondly, Alfred Brendel will soften the impact of his departure with the release of an 8CD Box set containing some of the finest moments of his long career – selected by the man himself. As part of the „Artist's Choice“ series on Philips, the Austrian performer has been able to draw from an extensive catalogue of albums spanning decades of recording: „This new series by Philips is trying to sum up my career, albeit fragmentary“, Brendel stated, „Luckily for me, I recorded so much, which increases the chance of finding a cut in which you'll be able to recognise yourself as an artist.“ Brendel also emphasised the importance of a wide choice with regards to finding the ideal version of a particular piece. „On my CD featuring the d-minor Concerto by Brahms, for example, which I recorded with the Berlin Philharmonics and Claudio Abbado, the piano sounds as though it was placed amidst the orchestra – not in front of it. Fortunately, however, there's a perfectly balanced concert production realised with the Orchestra of the Bavarian Broadcasting Service under Sir Collin Davis – which is due to follow in a series of my favourite live recordings.“
No Man's Steve Wilson & Tim Bowness: Revisit Schoolyard Ghosts
After another lengthy hiatus, No-Man, the duo project of Tim Bowness and Porcupine Tree- and Basscommunion-mastermind Steve Wilson is back with another full-length effort. The result of several months of continous work between Autumn 2007 and Spring 2008, „Schoolyard Ghosts“ will arrive on May 12th on Kscope. On eight tracks, between a mere four and cinematic 12 minutes' length, the band have deepend their recognisable, subtly psychedelic and dreamy style by engaging in several collaborations. Guesting on „Schoolyard Ghosts“ will be pedal steel performer Bruce Kaphan, saxophonist/flautist Theo Travis, drummers Pat Mastelottom as well as Gavin Harrison. The epic dramaturgy of the album's core piece „truenorth“ furthermore includes Fabrice Lefebvre on a mellow yang t’chin part, as well as the luscious strings of the London Session Orchestra, arranged by Dave Stewart. Next to the regular edition of the album, „Schoolyard Ghosts“ will also be available as a Special edition from the group's own No Man Store, which includes a six-track Bonus-disc of 20 minutes, offering alternative edits of some tracks. No Man are said to follow-up the record's release with an extended tour through Europe, even though no official dates have been announced yet.
Bullock, Coleman, Gross & Roden: Challenge $2.2 Million Work of Art
Self-declared „Minimalist Experimental label“ (1.8)sec.records has let it be known that an eagerly anticipated and drastically delayed album by Michael Bullock, James Coleman, David Gross and Steve Roden is now finally available directly from their webshop. The already promisingly titled „untitled, or not yet“ blends the refined sound artistry of Steve Roden with the vivid live improvisations by Coleman, Bullock, and Gross and features an exciting line-up: Michael Bullock on contrabass, James Coleman playing the theremin, David Gross blowing an alto saxophone and Steve Roden manipulating his own voice as well as several loose objects and electronics. In line with the multimedia-mindedness of its protagonists and their interest in adjacent forms of creative expression, the first meeting of these musicians took place in May of 2001 at an art gallery hosted by actress Christina Ricci. Two years later, they met again, rediscovering their wordless communication and decided to tape their sessions at „Pete's Studio“ for „untitled, or not yet“. The album will be available in a limited edition of 350 copies and „come packaged in 1 of 4 different printed vellum and cardstock packages“ according to (1.8)sec.records.
Toshimaru Nakamura: Learns English in "One Day"
Influential Japanse sound artist Toshimaru Nakamura has teamed up with „English“, the duo of Joe Foster and Bonnie Jones, for the album „One Day“ on Erstwhile Records. During a time of intensive touring, English spent a single day recording with Nakamura. In between English-gigs and performances in different constellations, Foster and Jones teamed up with one of the artists to work with what has later been coined the „No-Input Mixing Board“, and taped three long and drawn-out improvisations, collectively clocking in at just under an hour. Erstwhile Records have described „One Day“ as „dense and organic, pointillistic but rough, focused but not overly polished“ and after having listened to the sample MP3 provided on their website, these adjectives prove to be wisely chosen – albeit unable to convey a fully convincing picture of the tracks. „Ong Time“ charges between scraping white noise rhythmics and quiet work on the most delicate of textures – before suddenly lashing out. „Plant Signs“, meanwhile, is marked by subtle layering, destilling an organic, animistic feel from essentially entirely synthetic sounds. In all of its experimental nature, this is dreamy music you could keep running in a loop while watching the flowers grow in your garden.
Partner sites
