Saturday May 29 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

More about the artists after the break…PINE SMOKE LODGE = Matt McKeever and Hillary Dickerson from Portland, Maine. From Stunned Records: “Together Pine Smoke Lodge summit snowy banks of acoustical drone in ever-ascendant strides of bowed & plucked strings, icicle bells & xylophone, and heat-generating vocal mantra. The trail they follow is never steep, but vista-revealing peaks are reached in good order. Bookended between two stretches of sparkling activity comes a middle passage where one feels the clock has frozen as solidly as the ground underfoot. Such moments of palpable harmonic stasis trickle throughout ‘Haligdaeg’, making the climb worth it every time.”

CRUUDEUCES = Nate Brennan from North Adams, MA. Nate’s played ASAC before, when he dazzled with a clarinet and electronics set. It’s anyone’s guess what surprises Nate will pull out for this set, but we’re sure it’ll be amazing. Recent releases on Tape Drift and Kimberly Dawn Recordings, as well as live sets all over the Northeast. Not to be missed!

GRAB ASS COWBOYS = Jason, Christian, plus assorted others always deliver the noise goods at ASAC. We’ve seen them get impossibly better and better each time they perform, displaying increasing levels of instrumental and vocal prowess. Secret Albany treasures.

JEFFERSON PITCHER – Final ASAC performance (as a local, we hope he’ll be back to visit). He’s off to live in Canada, so come give a hearty farewell to this AMAZING guitarist. He has performed and recorded with many artists including Pauline Oliveros, Fred Frith, Ikue Mori, Okkyung Lee, Scott Amendola, Christian Kiefer, J. Matthew Gerken, Denison Witmer, Sarah Weaver, Mark Dresser, Mike Bullock, Tim Keiper, David Gibson, Kristina Forester, Ron Guensche & many more. He has twice found himself on NPR’s All Things Considered and has been well reviewed by the likes of Pitchfork and Harp Magazine. While much of his work explores free improvisation he also draws heavily from his love for melody, the simplicity of minimalist composers, a long love of flamenco, and a history of performing and recording in the west coast indie-rock scene as a singer-songwriter, where he fronted the band Above the Orange Trees.

Photo: MisterV

I’m looking forward to floating in the River of Drone II: Seven Hours of Sound.

Sunday May 16th
12 noon to 7pm
at the SoundBarn in Valatie, NY.

The Albany Times Union wrote a preview here. Find more information on the Albany Sonic Arts Collective site or below.

Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) and The soundBarn are proud to present River of Drone II: Seven Hours of Sound. A very special, long-form event, River of Drone II is a free, seven-hour, improvised sound performance from 12 noon – 7 pm on Sunday May 16 at The soundBarn, Valatie, NY.

River of Drone II: Seven Hours of Sound is a collective sonic improvisation that will unfold and develop unlike any ordinary concert. From quiet, peaceful soundscapes to full-on noise, the ever-shifting rhythm, pace and mood will evolve as the ebb and flow of performers, energy and instrumentation progresses through the seven hour performance.

Set in a former orchard cooler with views of the Catskill Mountains, The soundBarn is a uniquely suited location for visitors to lounge, listen and linger for an hour, a few minutes or the entire performance. The audience is encouraged to make themselves comfortable and to bring pillows, chairs, food and drink. Unlike a traditional concert setting, performers will be located throughout the venue and listeners are encouraged to move around, watch the accompanying video projections, wander in and out and discover new relationships to sound through immersion, reflection, deep listening, meditation, and concentration.

We hope you will join us to listen, meditate, self-hypnotize, bliss out– or to simply enjoy a swim in the RIVER OF DRONE!

River of Drone II is a collaborative presentation of Albany Sonic Arts Collective and The soundBarn and will be presented at The soundBarn.

Featured musicians include: Jason Cosco, Matt Ernst, Tara Fracalossi, Eric Hardiman (Rambutan, Century Plants, Burnt Hills,) Ray Hare (Century Plants, Fossils From the Sun, Burnt Hills,) Holland Hopson, Thomas Lail (soundBarn,) Patrick Weklar (soundBarn) Matt Weston (Barn Owls), Mike Bullock, Linda Aubry Bullock, Mark Lunt, Chris Bassett, Jeremy Kelly, and many more special guests.
Videos by: Tara Fracalossi, Kyra Garrigue and more.

The soundBarn is a project of artist/musician Thomas Lail and artist Tara Fracalossi and is located on what was once Heald Orchards in Valatie, New York. The soundBarn is sited in a modern addition to the orchard’s 100 year old Dutch style barn. The cavernous, heavily insulated space served as the orchard’s cooler where apples and pears were over-wintered and chilled by the massive, still visible refrigeration system.

Remember the first River of Drone? Listen to some of the first River of Drone.

Ben Miller

Doug Van Nort

Albany Sonic Arts Presents Ben Miller/Doug Van Nort Duo, Barn Owl and Shape Shifting Shepherds

Saturday May 1 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

More about the artists after the break.

Ben Miller was a member of legendary Michigan proto-punks Destroy All Monsters with ex-MC5 bassist Michael Davis and ex-Stooges guitarist
Ron Asheton.  His intuitive approach to creating a multiphonic soundscapes features a deconstructed electric guitar modified with multiple pickups. First used in the Michigan art band GKW in 1982 and then with Chicago’s Dirty Old Man River in the mid-90‘s, Miller focuses on a textural, cacophonic amalgamation that defies standard guitar playing. With the addition of electronics and analog tape, it is difficult to discern where any one sound originates or where it is heading.

“If new expressionists closed their eyes and painted what they saw
then Ben Miller must be taping shut his ears and playing what he
hears…blood thrashing through arteries, nerves popping, synapses
burning,.. Formerly a part of the ‘anti-rock band’ Destroy All
Monsters, Miller takes the ‘anti’ idea a step further.” — Detroit
Metro Times

For this performance, Ben will be performing with Doug Van Nort, local sound artist and Pauline Oliveros collaborator.

Since their formation in 1999, Barn Owl has been one of Western Massachusetts’ most enduring and intriguing musical institutions.
Foxy Digitalis called them “fantastic. There’s all sorts of cut-up and manipulated electronic and synthesized sounds mixed in with the drums
and bass. It’s disorienting at times, like being totally smashed and hanging your head over the toilet waiting to puke.”  Between them, the
three members of Barn Owl (guitarist Chris Cooper, bassist Andy Crespo, and percussionist Matt Weston) have played with such luminaries as Paul Flaherty, Smog, and Fat Worm of Error, among others.

Hailing from Saratoga Springs, Shape Shifting Shepherds have crossed many fields to bring you improvisational herds of sonic sounds. They
are a duo who wander through aural soundscapes seeking to share their discoveries through experimentation. Up their collective sleeve is a mixture of analog and digital crooks used for milking the bulbous teat of uncertainty.

Albany Sonic Arts Presents Lucre and Jonathan Chen

Sunday March 14 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

• Lucre is the improvising trio of Chris Cogburn , Bryan Eubanks, and Vic Rawlings who perform with exposed circuits, extended ampli?ed cello, low-? modular synthesis, and stripped down percussion.
• Jonathan Chen will perform a solo set of music for electronics, viola and violin.

Chris is a good friend from my Austin days and does great work with the No Idea Festival. I’m very excited he’ll be playing in Albany. And I’m equally excited that local artist Jonathan Chen is finally getting a chance to present his work.

More information about the artists after the break…

About Lucre

Working with exposed circuits, extended ampli?ed cello, low-? modular synthesis, and
stripped down percussion, Lucre, the trio of Chris Cogburn (Austin, TX), Bryan Eubanks
(Brooklyn, NY), and Vic Rawlings (Boston, MA), come together for the ?rst time to de-
velop their music for ten days in the Northeast. Long standing duo work exist between
all three and the idea for a trio came about during a gathering of musicians in Seattle
during August of 2009.

Vic Rawlings and Bryan Eubanks are familiar to Albany audiences through two previous
Albany Sonic Arts appearances. Chris Cogburn is making his Capital District debut.
Cogburn is based in Austin, TX where he presents the No Idea Festival, an annual
gathering dedicated to improvised music.

About Jonathan Chen

Jonathan Chen will perform a solo set of music for electronics, viola and violin. The
electronic work is created by producing feedback through a trumpet: a small micro-
phone is positioned in place of the mouthpiece and a small speaker is set next to
the bell. The feedback is altered by pressing or releasing the valves on the trumpet and
by ?ltering the frequencies via equalization and volume control on both an ampli?er and
a mixer. The work for viola, entitled “de-clime” involves the use of a metal mute placed
lightly on the bridge, coupled with bowing while changing pressure and speed. The re-
sulting sounds include difference tones and beating as the pitches gradually move
higher throughout the duration of the 15 minute work. The works for violin focus on tim-
bre and pitch while employing extended techniques such as preparations, sub-tones,
and micro-spiccatto. A wide variety of sounds are produced at dynamic extremes.

Born in 1974, Jonathan Chen is an improvisor, composer, and installation artist. His solo
work has  been presented in cities such as Atlanta, Beijing, Berlin, Chicago, London,
Luzern, New York and more. As a collaborator, Chen has worked with Tatsu Aoki, An-
thony Braxton, Gene Coleman, Nic Collins, Bill Dixon, Ensemble Noamnesia, Flux
String Quartet, David Grubbs, Alvin Lucier, John Zorn (brie?y) and many others, per-
forming both in the U.S. and internationally. Chen received his MM in Violin Perform-
ance from Northwestern University, his MA in Music Composition from Wesleyan Uni-
versity, and is currently working on his PhD in Electronic Arts at RPI in Troy, NY.

Saturday October 24 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

• Ben Miller plays sax, guitar, and analog electronics and was formerly in legendary Michigan group Destroy All Monsters.
• Matt Weston lives in Albany and is the newest member of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective.  He’s an amazing percussionist and if you haven’t seen him play yet, you’re in for a treat.
• Andy Crespo is from Western MA. and plays in Barn Owl with Matt (and Chris Cooper).  he plays bass in ways that will expand your mind.
• Jefferson Pitcher lives in Troy and is an accomplished guitarist who has released albums on a variety of labels with collaborators Christian Kiefer, J. Matthew Gerken, and others.
• Sam Sowydra recently moved to Albany. He is a percussionist and multi-instrumentalist who also performs as part of Baltimore musician Dan Deacon’s ensemble.
• Cruudeuces is the solo project of Nathaniel Brennan of North Adams, MA. He has also recorded with Twin Beds and has a slew of new releases out soon on a variety of labels.

Tuesday October 13 @ 8pm
The Arts Center of the Capital Region
265 River St.
Troy, NY

Albany Sonic Arts Collective and friends will be performing as part of “TROY NIGHT OUT! 21st Century Celebration of Light and Art” in the Black Box Theatre at The Arts Center of the Capital Region on Friday September 25 from 5 to 9pm.

Performers include

• Jason Cosco, live video projections
• G. Lucas Crane (Nonhorse and Woods), tape manipulation and electronics
• Pete Edwards (Casper Electronics),  circuit bent and homemade electronic wizardy
• Eric Hardiman (Rambutan, Century Plants), guitar improv and feedback loops
• Ray Hare (Fossils From the Sun, Century Plants), guitar improv, vocals and feedback loops
• Holland Hopson, modified electric banjo and electronics  from
• Matt Weston,  improvised percussion and electronics

Also going on at the Arts Center will be a live video remix of local illustrators by lmnopf, live DJ’s, circuit-bending demos by Casperland, a video game showcase from 1st Playable in the Digital Artist Space, works from NYFA MARK program artists and a colossal light and sound installation in Monument Square.

Faust, Century Plants, Holland Hopson at Proctor's Schenectady NY 9/20

I’m thrilled to be part of this show presented by Proctors and the Albany Sonic Arts Collective.
FAUST
Wed. Sept 30, 2009 at 7:30pm
GE Theatre at Proctors
432 State Street
Schenectady, NY 12305
(518) 346-6204
http://proctors.org

Reserved seating
Tickets: $29.50
10% discounts available for groups of 20 or more

With:
Century Plants
Holland Hopson
and live video by Jason Cosco

Download your very own Faust Poster.

Tuesday August 11 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
$5 suggested donation

Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul
and
Peaking Lights
(plus mystery band, Black Chalk)

Bios after the jump.

ELI KESZLER AND ASHLEY PAUL.
Keszler is a percussionist/multi-instrumentalist/composer, and Paul plays sax and clarinet. Together their duo is garnering widespread praise for a brand newly released duo LP. Having spent the last 3 years performing all over the northeast, they have developed a unique sound, combining the piercing high pitched resonance of Keszler’s bowed crotales and cymbals with altissimo sustains and drastic pitch bends of Paul’s alto saxophone and clarinet. The split tone combinations from these instruments is surprising and overwhelming, creating continuous, multi-layered, dense, shifting harmonics and intense inner-ear sound. Spinning discs, invented resonating metal configurations, bending reed tones, and voice interference carefully blend, creating a wild texture that is both harsh and striking . This is contrasted with Paul’s guttural string attacks, which meet the rapid-fire movement of Keszler’s low end bowed cymbals and jittery crash.

PEAKING LIGHTS features husband and wife duo Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis from Madison, WI. They’ve played in many other bands, but as Peaking Lights, their music has been described as avant-pop drone psychedelia, and live they are mesmerizing.. A review of their recent LP says, “Sparks fly in the form of warm fuzz and soft melodies when Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis work through marital bliss. Existing in the open space between the parallel of primordial instinct and the delicate creation, Peaking Lights call on psychedelia’s most potent qualities as it floats through 7 mysterious tracks. “Imaginary Falcons” draws from the distorted pop of Wavves and Times New Viking — and in much the same way those entities wrap those garage-based trappings around saccharine pop and beachside lullabyes, Coyes and Dunis work muzzled magic enveloping their Casio tones, monochromatic drones, and blissed-out synth with the power of lo-fi static and bass heavy production. “Silver Tongues, Soft Whispers” rains down like droplets of Quasi; lightly patterned keystrokes given a Hammond B3 treatment in part due to the low frequency in which it is recorded. “New News” is a slow burner; refusing to climax despite a careful build up of white noise squalls and lackadaisical keyboard pokes.  Never do Coyes and Dunis weigh down their at-home operation by trying to cram too much into each track, allowing their minimal DIY to flourish in simplicity rather than drown in excess.

Saturday July 25 @ 8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
$5 suggested donation

If you’d like to study up for this show, check out Davignon’s Some Notes on Drum Machining.

Artist Bios:

The Synapse Brothers fuse together elements of electroacoustic music with improvised jazz and funk. Bob Gluck on the keyboard and electronics and John Myers playing guitars and MIDI-guitar will play live. They will be virtually accompanied by sound designer Pat Gleeson’s lustrous beats and sounds. Bob is well known for his presence on the local jazz scene. His repertoire spans jazz performance both acoustic and with electronics and free improvisation, avant-garde concert music and music for electronic expansions of acoustical instruments, including the ram¹s horn, Disklavier (computer-assisted piano) and Turkish baglama saz. Bob Gluck is Associate Professor of Music and Director of the University at Albany Electronic Music Studio.

Matt Weston has recently relocated to Albany, and we couldn’t be luckier to have such an incredible musician in our midst. Matt plays percussion and electronics, and has performed throughout the US and in Europe. He has appeared on CNN, VH1, and CBS TV. He has studied and/or collaborated with Arthur Brooks, Bill Dixon, Kevin Drumm, Milford Graves, William Parker, Jack Wright and others. He has recorded for the Tautology, Sachimay, Breaking World Records, Imvated, Crank Satori, BoxMedia, and Drag City labels. He currently records for the new 7272music label. In addition to his solo work, Weston is a member of Barn Owl (with guitarist Chris Cooper and bassist Andy Crespo); and is guitarist with Thrillpillow (with guitarist/vocalist Plum Crane, bassist/vocalist Maggie Nowinski, and drummer James Z).

Matt Davignon is an experimental musician living in Oakland, California. Since 1993, he has developed his own unique style of music, which focuses largely on textures, arrhythmic patterns and musical imperfections. Since 2004, he has been working almost exclusively with a drum machine. Instead of using it as a rhythm device, he plays the pads manually while processing the sounds through an array of effects devices and samplers, improvising music made of organic-sounding textures, hums, gurgles and crackles. Matt is also a member of the Crank Ensemble, and is the founder of the Pmocatat Ensemble. He’s active in organizing experimental & unusual music performances in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to being responsible for such events as The San Francisco Found Objects Festival, and regular DroneShift concerts, he’s one of the curators for the Luggage Store Gallery Experimental Music Series.