The first set consisted of duo improvisations by Holland Hopson, fretless banjo and  electronics with Mike Majkowski, double bass.

Holland Hopson & Mike Majkowski; Photo: Terumi Narushima

Hopson Majkowski Improvisation 1.mp3

Hopson Majkowski Improvisation 2.mp3

Hopson Majkowski Improvisation 3.mp3

Hopson Majkowski Improvisation 4.mp3

Next was a wonderful set by Kraig Grady, just tuned vibraphone and Terumi Narushima, just tuned pump organ.

Grady Narushima.mp3

Holland Hopson & Mike Majkowski; photo: Terumi Narushima

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.

I’m excited about this show on Tuesday, April 6 at Bread and Jam in Cohoes, NY featuring Human Mirror and The Jazz Robot. I’ll be opening the show with banjo and electronics. Come early; The music starts at 7pm.

091108 Willow Street Improvisation 1.mp3

091108 Willow Street Improvisation 2.mp3

091108 Willow Street Improvisation 3.mp3

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/invisible-city/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Metroland critic Mike Hotter has chosen last September’s Faust show at Proctors as one of his top live events for 2009:

2. Faust, Holland Hopson, Century Plants

GE Theatre at Proctors, Sept. 30

Seminal German art-rockers Faust showed why they have been championed by avant-garde musicians for more than 30 years, while hometown openers Holland Hopson and Century Plants performed amazing outré music of their own. Hopson, in particular, is a must-see performer, a musical treasure hiding right under our noses.

Hotter’s mention of us “hometown openers” is certainly welcome, though his superlatives may not be entirely deserved.

Josh Potter chose the Boredoms as his top show of the year; I was surprised that it didn’t show up in any of the other critic’s lists. Read the entire article with all the other critic’s picks.

Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down

Born in the Desert

Born in the Desert from Holland Hopson on Vimeo.

Wichita Mind Control – Estate Capital

Wichita Mind Control – Estate Capital from Holland Hopson on Vimeo.

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.

PROCTORS and the ALBANY SONIC ARTS COLLECTIVE

present

FAUST

Legendary “Krautrock” band featuring, and founded by, former Schenectady resident, Jean-Hervé Peron

AT PROCTORS SEPTEMBER 30^th

Schenectady, NY – Faust will perform at The GE Theatre at Proctors on Wednesday, September 30 at 7:30 P.M.

Take the danger of Velvet Underground, the playfulness of early Frank Zappa, the epic experimentation of Pink Floyd, and sprinkle in some post-WII American Jazz, and you might just come up with a sound approximating the legendary Faust.  Jean-Hervé Peron founded Faust in Germany in 1969 just one year after a stint at Schenectady’s Mont Pleasant High School.  Faust quickly became a key figure in 20th Century music, a leading the way for “Industrial” and “Post-Punk” rock and defining “Krautrock” along the way.

Along with Kraftwerk, Can and Tangerine Dream, Faust re-invented pop music and revolutionized the whole process of musical production with their mix of aggressive hypnotic grooves, satirical pop, electronic collages and delicate waves of pastoral ambience. Faust dabbled with every conceivable musical genre, sometimes simultaneously, and the music has lost none of its immediacy or relevance—it sounds as if it was recorded last week, not last decade.  Amongst those Faust have influenced include such diverse groups as Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Wilco, Pavement, The Boredoms, Joy Division, Brian Eno, Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten, and a host of Industrial and Techno bands.

Faust have only made two prior brief trips to the US (in 1994 and 1999), their current line-up including original members Jean-Hervé Peron and Werner “Zappi” Diermaier, along with James Johnston (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Lydia Lunch, Gallon Drunk) and visual/video artist, painter, and musician Geraldine Swayne.

Also performing will be the following Capital Region performers, both of whom will be supported with video by Jason Cosco

Century Plants are an Albany-based experimental guitar duo that traffic in “slow motion psych drift, lazy and blown out” and have been described as “part raging metallic clang by way of the holy Shred, part meditative feedbacking in total Zen style”.  Directly influenced by the hypnotic repetition of Faust and other German rock bands of the 1970s, along with minimalism, and a range of experimental rock and noise, Eric Hardiman and Ray Hare conjure a fully improvised sound that ranges from gentle drones to “a lysergic sprawl that eventually builds to full on chaotic cacophony”.  Century Plants are highly regarded in the underground noise/psych/rock/drone scene internationally and have released music on labels from all over the globe.  Their debut LP is due out this Fall on the Music Fellowship label. http://www.myspace.com/centuryplants

Holland Hopson is a composer, improviser, and electronic artist. As an instrumentalist he performs on soprano saxophone, clawhammer banjo and electronics. He hopes someday to play the musical saw. He has held residencies at STEIM, Amsterdam; Experimental Music Studios, Krakow and Katowice, Poland; Sonic Arts Research Studio, Vancouver, Canada; and Harvestworks Digital Media Arts, New York where he developed a sound installation based on Marcel Duchamp’s With Hidden Noise. In 1993- 1994 Holland recorded environmental sounds on four continents and in over a dozen countries as a fellow of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation.  http://hollandhopson.com/

FAUST PRESS:

“Faust are essential, not just as a history lesson, but as a living legacy and as a reproach to an underachieving age.” —Melody Maker

“A radical mix of Musique Concrete, Stockhausen, the Velvet Underground, and moments of almost pastoral beauty.” —NME

“There is no group more mythical than Faust.” —Julian Cope

“Anyone who’s loved the last half-decade’s re-invention of the guitar, (Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine et al.), will instantly recognize Faust as a prime ancestor of ‘our’ music.” —Melody Maker

“Faust were first!” —Time Out

Tickets for Faust at The GE Theatre at Proctors on Wednesday, September 30 at 7:30 P.M. are $29.50. Tickets are available at Proctors Box Office, (518) 346-6204, or online at proctors.org.

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.