alt-classical.com

James Ross-Undifferentiated Light (2010)

Paul Bailey — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:29:03 +0000

James Ross-Undifferentiated Light (2010)

Solo electric guitar and Boss RC-50 looper. Inspired by Aldous Huxley’s 1961 MIT lecture, “Visionary Experience.”

Watch live streaming video from otownlive at livestream.com

James Ross at Goodbye Blue Monday, on Fri., August 20.
also performed (on video) were Alex Carpenter and Michael Waller with help technical help from Richard Lainhart, Jim Goodin and the folks at ImprovFriday for helping to make it a great night.

James Ross Facebook

Unlike

Share on Facebook

Matt Marks-I Don’t Have Any Fun (2010)

Paul Bailey — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:36:00 +0000

Matt Marks-I Don’t Have Any Fun (2010)

from the opera “The Little Death Volume 1″

“The Little Death: Vol. 1, Matt Marks’ post-Christian nihilist pop opera, is an ambitious new work that fuses bombastic electro-pop hooks, frenetically chopped break beats, hypnotic lyrics, and apocalyptic Christian imagery. Holding these disparate elements together is a unconventional narrative that follows two characters, Boy (Matt Marks) and Girl (Mellissa Hughes), on a journey through the world of Fundamentalist Evangelism, as they cope with repressed sexuality in a modern world.

The sample-heavy work draws on musical references that echo the character’s sexual-religious confusion, including pop songs and gospel standards with evocative titles (“He Touched Me” and “When God Dips His Love In My Heart”). Marks took most of the sampled material from his own collection of 1970s gospel albums and classic hip-hop and soul recordings. Using a DIY approach, he produced the album using only a couple of microphones and a laptop running Ableton Live.

The stage show as directed by Rafael Gallegos takes inspiration from a number of sources, including The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and church lock-ins”

Matt Marks Website
http://twitter.com/mattmarks

Share on Facebook

Alan Morse Davies-Night Falls Fast IV (2010)

Paul Bailey — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:46:32 +0000

Alan Morse Davies-Night Falls Fast IV (2010)

“Night Falls Fast was composed for the contemporary dance work of the same name by John Utans. The original performance was with the Milwaukee Ballet at the Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee, U.S.A. in February 2005.

Sections of the work were also used for the stage play “Through Wyeth’s Window” by the Aperture Tectonics Theatre Company at the Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia, U.S.A. in 2006.

In 2009 the earlier parts were remastered and a new 6th part added. The 1st, 2nd and 6th parts were then used in a new interpretation of the dance piece by John Utans for HKAPA dancers at the Monaco Dance Forum on 1st, 2nd and 3rd of April 2010 in Monte Carlo”

Night Falls Fast (archive.org)

Alan Morse Davies (website/blog)

Unlike

Share on Facebook

Landscaping for Privacy-Eve Beglarian (1995)

Paul Bailey — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:57:58 +0000

Landscaping for Privacy-Eve Beglarian (1995)

“was written in August-September 1995 for twisted tutu (Kathleen Supové, keyboards and Eve Beglarian, vocals) while we were in residence at the Bellagio Center in Italy under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation. The poem is by Linda Norton. The keyboard part was written to be played using the arpeggiator function of a synth keyboard, sort of like a new convertible with an automatic transmission. I tried to capture the fragile elation urban types feel at driving out of the city on a beautiful Saturday morning in spring.”

A recording of Landscaping for Privacy is on the CD Tell the Birds and also on the compilation CRI Emergency Music.

Landscaping for Privacy is May 30th in Eve’s ongoing project A Book of Days.

Eve Belgarian website

Libretto
The hedges along the parkway, the trees, the trees–
They sashay, they nearly genuflect, they breathe.
It’s good to breathe; it’s good to get away in summer,
It makes you feel clean. The city, the squalor, the mess,
That’s what’s killing us. Did I tell you about the rat
I saw in the subway last night? It had a swollen belly
And no fear, it went right for a transvestite in heels!
Enough; I know; not here, not now; I should relax,
Shut up, let go. Oh, yes, Long Island’s very fresh and nice;
Do they have rats out here, or just field mice? And I forget,
What do people do with themselves in the suburbs?
The streets are empty, the lawns unused. If I lived here,
I’d spread out, I’d hang a hammock, I’d keep sheep,
I’d dig a well. I’d build hummocks to my own
Specs, I’d be positively pastoral.

But you’re right, of course. Of course, you’re right.
I couldn’t keep sheep, there’s probably an ordinance,
They’d shoot me for ruining property values.
But what’s property, anyway? Years ago
I read about a pillar of roses in an English garden
And so I own it, I have the deed by heart.
Speaking of which, pull over, look,
Here’s a surprise for you. Check out my bicep.
Do you like my new tattoo?

What do you mean, “What is it, did it hurt?”
It’s a miniature gazebo! Of course it hurt!
Note the incredible detail, the wicked craftsmanship.
See–it’s a garden pagoda for me and you,
With ivy, and grass, and a snake in the grass.
Hey, what are you doing? Oh yes, that’s good,
Yes, kiss it and make it better. Because
It did hurt a bit. In fact, it hurt like hell
(Remember that night when you touched me
And I yelled?)

OK, let’s drive, let’s tour the hydrangeas
And the lawns. What could be more suggestive
Than a grassy mattress? Maybe that TV glowing
In a darkened den, shades nearly drawn.
Slow down, slow down–that’s strange: a sick room,
A suburban tomb, on a day like this,
With the clouds all starched and bustling
In a Disney sky. Look, they have a gazebo, too,
Jam-packed with rusted rakes and trash.

If I had their lawn I’d soak it and sun bathe on it,
I’d sleep out under the stars, I’d walk to the mall
And strap a sack of fertilizer to my back and hike
All the way home. We’ve lived in the city far too long,
Yes, that’s what’s killing us. That, and this monument
To love we lug, this brick inscribed FOREVER.
Let’s let it sink. Let’s kiss. Give me the wheel,
I’ll drive so you can look at clouds.

“All clouds are clocks,” bulldozing time.
Do you remember who said that?
A pauper? A philosopher?
Well, he was right,
Those pretty clouds are bullies–

Bouffant armada,
Fluffy but cruel,
Ushering last days for many.

–Linda Norton

Share on Facebook

Copralalia, la la la- Mary Jane Leach (2002)

Paul Bailey — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:25:58 +0000

Copralalia, la la la- Mary Jane Leach (2002)

“is for two sopranos and taped voices. “Copralalia” is the term for the vocal outbursts of Tourette’s Syndrome sufferers. It derives from the Greek word “copros,” meaning “shit.” I wrote this piece when I was working on a project about witches, trying to find explanations for why some people were/are called witches. I thought that the vocal outbursts of Turette’s Syndrome would be frightening and perhaps sufferers from it could be called witches. The lyrics are by the medieval French poet Castelloza”

Mary Jane Leach website

Download Copralalia, la la la- Mary Jane Leach (2002)

Libretto

“God knows I should have had my fill of song –

the more I sing

the worse I fare in love,

and tears and cares

make me their home;

I’ve placed my heart and soul

in jeopardy,

and if I don’t end this poem no

it will already be too long.

Oh handsome friend, just once before I die

of grief, show me

your handsome face; the other lovers say

you are a beast – but still, though no joy

comes to me from you,

I’m proud to love you always

in good faith, with an unfickle heart.”

Poem by Castelloza (born c. 1200)

The lyrics are interspersed with profanities in the song.

Unlike

Share on Facebook

From Honey to Ashes – Baby Bats

jimperkins — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:54:35 +0000

Baby bats is an improvised performance from Jeremy Keenan, Matt Lewis and Edgar Curtis, otherwise known as From Honey to Ashes.The sound world is created through a combination of foley, granulation, comb filtering and audio pops and clicks. Real-time rhythmic synchronicity is achieved between players by using a central network through which patterns are passed around and instruments are interconnected.

Listen to Baby Bats

Download Baby Bats

Curated by Jim Perkins from his Twigetticast no. 3

Share on Facebook

the sea, the sea- My Fun/Justin Hardison (2009)

Paul Bailey — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:16:50 +0000

the sea, the sea- My Fun/Justin Hardison (2009)

My Fun is the slightly eccentric nom de guerre of Justin Hardison, a musician, who uses field recordings, lush electronics and samples to make quite lovely, if also quite bittersweet music. – Rare Frequency

He also runs The Land Of label

My Fun – the sea, the sea by the land of

Unlike

Share on Facebook

Simeon- Diex/Marcello Dirks (2009)

Paul Bailey — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:37:53 +0000

Simeon- Diex/Marcello Dirks (2009)

“Originally a pure piano-piece, this is breaking in Garritan’s Personal Orchestra on Kontakt 4 with a tribute-work-in-progress to one of my favorite Dutch composers; Simeon ten Holt.”

marcello dirks website (via synopsis decay @soundcloud)

Simeon by Diex

2ab61fc8e4c947adb28616bdbb7c7e61

Unlike

Share on Facebook

when someone loves you no more: Derrick Hart (2010)

Paul Bailey — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:00:39 +0000

when someone loves you no more: Derrick Hart (2010)
fall asleep to this EP via archive.org

“when someone loves you no more” begins with a profound wailing on behalf of anyone who has ever suffered before blooming into some incomprehensible sonic victory. it is performed only with his voice, captured with a contact-mic, processed and converted.

With his “fall asleep to this” EP he goes a more experimental and meditative way. The five tracks are mainly based on vocals, even though there are no actual lyrics. “To follow Derrick’s advice: The EP serves as a meditation tool to listen to before sleeping. So plug your earphones in and fall asleep.

Share on Facebook

Anton Baibakov: Music for Stop Motion Camera (2010)

Heinali — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:07:33 +0000

Anton Baibakov: Music for Stop Motion Camera (2010)

“this track, the dream of fixing time in the conditional space.”

Music for stop motion camera by Anton Baibakov

curated by Heinali

Unlike

Share on Facebook