Morgan Packard & Joshue Ott in Ithaca, January 24th, Castaways

Local promoter Deep BeatZ is bringing the electronic duo of Morgan Packard and Joshue Ott for an audiovisual performance at Castaways later this month.  As someone who has followed Packard's music for a number of years, though never seen him live, I am very much looking forward to the evening.  Joining Packard will be Joshue Ott; these fine fellows received rave reviews for their performance at Mutek this past summer and are more or less world-renowned at the moment.  Anyone in the Ithaca area even remotely interested in electronic music, audiovisual combinatorics, or future-oriented sounds should definitely consider attending.

Opening will be Ithaca's own DJ Laika, and following will be the minimal techno duo Hemiptera, whose set last summer at Pixel was thrilling.

To make things even more enticing, the two will be offering a production seminar/workshop the following day, which we at Ithaca Experimental are co-sponsoring (more information on the workshop forthcoming).

Details:

Event: "The Future"

When: Saturday, January 24, 9:30 PM

Where: Castaways

Host: Light in Winter and Deep BeatZ

Schedule, beginning at 9:30 PM:

DJ Laika 

Morgan Packard & Joshue Ott (anticipate/nyc)

http://www.myspace.com/morganpackard

Hemiptera (pergin-nce/montreal)

http://myspace.com/hemiptera

Two-Day Rochester Noise and Electronics Festival, June 13-14

For those of you who may be in the Rochester area next weekend, there's going to be a deep line-up of Rochester-based and area noise, drone, and electronics folks playing a two-day festival at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center, in downtown Rochester. If you will click on the image below, you will see who's playing, which includes an Ithacan artist headlining Friday night's line-up in the Main Room. More details, and playing times, will be posted here soon.

DJ Laika and Ithaca Experimental Present Hemiptera, D.A.M.A.G.E, and Laika, Saturday, June 14th, 8 PM, at Pixel Lounge

Things have been a bit quiet at Ithaca Experimental lately, but we are very proud to present an event hosted by Ithaca's own DJ Laika. Scheduled for Saturday, June 14th, at our favorite club in town, Pixel Lounge, Laika is bringing a DJ duo from Montreal & San Francisco—entitled Hemiptera (half-wing, anyone?)—to headline an event that will also feature Ithaca's own electronic duo, D.A.M.A.G.E., as well as DJ Laika herself, spinning in the warm-up slot. The event starts at 8pm, so please arrive early enough to hear Laika's minimal-experimental techno, followed by the two featured acts. We've been wanting to host a purely electronic/DJ event for some time, so we are thrilled to co-sponsor the event with DJ Laika. Thanks also to Jim at Pixel for putting on the event—there's no one like him, and for atmosphere and quality music, his venue is without peer or parallel in the town of Ithaca. There will be no cover at the door but Laika will be taking donations to help the traveling group, Hemiptera ($5 would be much appreciated).

Fossils From the Sun now on Myspace

If you read the blog you already know that we're big fans of all things related to the Burnt Hills collective in Albany, New York (as well their label/online record store, Flipped Out Records).

One of the Burnt Hills members, who also doubles as one half of guitar-noise duo Century Plants, is soon to make his debut as a solo artist, under the moniker "Fossils From the Sun." He now has a Myspace page. Fossils is Ray Hare, who also happens to have been the vocalist in the classic DC/Dischord punk group Deadline. We've seen Ray play with Burnt Hills and Century Plants many times (including last fall's nutso beautiful gig at No Radio Records) and can attest to his fantastic musical sensibilities, whether it be with pedal loops on the ground or with guitar in hand (for evidence of Century's Plants' amazing year in 2007, take a look at this very impressive discography). We look forward to hearing Ray's solo work, and to seeing him perform again in the near future (it doesn't hurt that Ray is one of warmest people you're likely to meet). An album is soon forthcoming on Albany's Tape Drift label, and we can't wait. Best of luck to Ray with the solo work!

And since we're mentioning the new Fossils From the Sun, we would be remiss not to point out the other members of the Burnt Hills circle: Pog, Wovoka, and Rambutan. Did I mention that Burnt Hills have an LP forthcoming on Byron Coley's Ecstatic Yod! imprint? It is some very impressive work these folks are all doing, and we wish them all the best luck in the world.

Open Access Music Journals: a Directory

Have a look here for a list of all available open access journals on music, courtesy of The Rambler. It's an impressive list that I can only begin to think about scrolling through, reading, and downloading. But I'm glad to have it, and wanted to link it here.

The David Borden Trio, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn, on YouTube

Many kind thanks to Mother Mallard founder and Moog pioneer David Borden for sending us the links to the video from their performance in town last fall. If you read the blog, you know that a feature on Borden and the concert appears in the archives here. The piece was composed by Borden in memory of the dancers Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, the former of whom Borden had accompanied in performance in his youth (if you know your dance history, you know how important both were to its development). I was at this performance and can say that the video images were breathtaking, and deeply moving. The concert was lovely and I am happy to be able to revisit it here.

Part One.

Part Two.

Part Three.

Part Four.

Part Five.

Jacques Coursil and the Cornell Electroacoustic Music Center in the Ithaca Times

This week Aaron Phillip Tate wrote a brief preview for two recent concerts, one by Jacques Coursil and the other by the Cornell Electroacoustic Music Center (where Coursil himself performed alongside local new music specialists Tim Feeney, Wendy Richman, and others, on a selection taken from Stockhausen's "intuitive music.") Composer Ingram Marshall was in attendance for the latter concert, and was on hand for an open rehearsal of his piece "Fog Tropes" on Friday as well as a discussion with local composers on Saturday morning. Having attended all of the aforementioned events, we can report that the past half-week offered a heady brew of sounds and thought for the Ithaca music community.

Recent and Upcoming Music Events

It's been a busy time for new music in Ithaca recently, as there have been a spate of recent shows. Last night Excepter played Castaways, and earlier this week we had concerts by Jacques Coursil and the Cornell Electroacoustic Music Center. One week from tomorrow (Monday), none other than Mouthus and Axolotl will be playing at No Radio Records, and with a bit of luck we are hoping to bring the Skaters, together with Belgian-based Dolphins Into the Future, in April, as well as Area C for a return Ithaca performance too, also in April. More information on these shows will be made available here in the days to come, so please check back.

Vic Rawlings and Tim Feeney at No Radio Records, November 30th, 8pm

We are thrilled to announce that the duo of Tim Feeney (percussion, electronics) and Vic Rawlings (cello preparations, electronics, open circuits) will be performing this Friday at No Radio Records at 8pm, on Seneca Street in Ithaca.

We are particularly proud to host this event, as Feeney & Rawlings are one of the finest improv duos working today. Together the two released one of the most exciting recordings in electroacoustic music this year: In Six Parts (Sedimental Records).

For those who may not be familiar with this style of playing, it should be stressed that this a music that explores acoustic resonances as much as it does electronic circuits, while fundamentally remaining an improvised music—though 'improvisation' here means something closer to 'composition in performance' than 'soloing' (which it certainly is not).

As for the qualifier, 'electroacoustic,' the accent falls on both words: Feeney and Rawlings are as devoted to the sonic possibilities of acoustic properties and reverberations as they are to electronic devices.

This concert will be a rare opportunity for Ithacans to witness not only a compelling and eye-opening musical approach but to do so in the presence of two masters. Both are established performers in their own right, with numerous recordings and performances. As a duo Rawlings and Feeney have been playing together since 2005, and they've toured the northeast extensively. If you have even the slightest interest in new music in the classical vein, electronic music, 'noise', or free improv—or are merely curious to hear something entirely refreshing and new—then this show is for you. You won't hear anything else like it this year, I promise. If you've never come out to one of our 'Ithaca Experimental' shows, or if you've never heard exploratory music played live on traditional instruments (percussion and cello), then this event furnishes the perfect chance to try something new. We want you to come, first and foremost, because we care about this music and believe in it. Plus, Feeney is a newly settled Ithaca resident and Cornell music instructor, so please consider stopping by in order to hear one of the most promising young experimental musicians in the country.

Ithaca's own Norman William Long, who also goes by the name Differance Engine, will be opening.

We'll have more to say about Rawlings and Feeney in upcoming posts.

Announcing Albany's Sonic Arts Collective

This is an exciting development for the upstate musical landscape. Eric Hardiman of Burnt Hills and Century Plants has inaugurated a new collective devoted to presenting new music. Check the excellent new blog here (and now in the links bar). We look forward to collaborating with this new arts organization and we've already got a number of shows in the works.

Last weekend we had Rochester's Entente Cordiale and Stone Baby at Ithaca's No Radio, and now we have a sister organization in Albany; Michael Hentz in Syracuse has been hosting music events for five years now, and there are signs that other upstate communities are building local music scenes too.

So, with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, we may be able to build a circuit of organizations and event-presenters stretching from Buffalo, Rochester, Ithaca, Syracuse, to Albany and the rest of the northeast (Brattleboro, Western Mass, and so on). If anyone is interested in contributing to this effort, or to booking shows upstate and helping to support travelling performers, please get in touch.

Again, congratulations to Eric and the Albany music community on undertaking this new project!

Onda & Licht, Feeney & Richman, Stone Baby, and Century Plants in This Week's Ithaca Times

And all in one article.

Entitled "Uncommon Sonorities," the article looks to be a roundup of sorts devoted to new music, out music, leftfield music, and the like. Both review (Onda & Licht) and preview (Feeney & Richman), it also provides historico-geographical contexts for the music discussed.

If you're in the area, check the Ithaca Times for the article and ones like it (it's a free paper aftera all), or just check here, the Times' arts blog (which is way more interesting than our wee site anyway.)

Tim Feeney and Wendy Richman Performing at Barnes Hall, Friday, Oct 19

Note on the concert here. To judge by the press release, this concert is going to be a stunner.

Tonight: Stone Baby and Entente Cordiale at No Radio

If you're in the area, you won't want to miss this one. Five bands, beginning at 6pm, at No Radio Records, on Seneca Street. Two of Rochester's best, and if you are curious to know if an upstate weird/underground community or scene might actually exist, this is the show to attend.

In other news, we noticed in the recent issue of the Wire a review of Area C's latest 3" CD. We were happy to see that, as Area C was the first Ithaca Experimental show that we hosted under that moniker, in June of '07. Also, in the 'file under small world' category, we noticed last night that the singer of Nuages, our local early 20th century traditional French pop ensemble, is the same fellow who produced the beautiful film images of Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn at the last Mother Mallard concert: Franck Vidal. They sounded great last night, and we loved the Django Reinhardt (notice the ridiculous chromatic run at 1:22, good lord, the speed) tunes.