Thanks to good weather and childcare (and a job away from my house, of course!) I finally got back to commuting by bike. Friday I rode the 10+ miles each way. It was a bit much for the first time back in the saddle, but a great ride overall. Most of the route is on the Hudson River hike and bike trail, squeezed between the Hudson River (imagine that) and I-787 (who put that highway there!?). As long as I rode with my face to the river and went fast enough for the wind in my ears to drown out the noise of the highway…it was blissful. Looking forward to riding it again.
Max 5 Release Date Announced
From the Cycling ’74 Users Forum: “This new version will be available as a download on April 22nd, with packaged versions available shortly thereafter. Compatible versions of MSP and Jitter will be released at the same time.”
Exciting stuff. I’ve got a few shows right around that time, so I’ll probably wait a week or two before upgrading. But I’m looking forward to digging in to a new version!
The Universal Instrument: New Music for Voice
The Austin New Music Co-op is presenting a concert of new music for voice on Saturday, April 12 in Austin TX. The concert will feature music by Chris Cuellar, Brent Fariss, Holland Hopson, Keith Manlove, Josh Ronsen and Travis Weller performed by vocalists Ashley Gaar, Kathy Hatch, Deena Hyatt, Wendi Olinger, Anton Boyd, Brandon Young and Kevin Adickes.
The ensemble will be premiering my vocal quartet, Nine Tas (Download the score). I unfortunately won’t be in attendance.
NMC is presenting a number of related events beginning with an open rehearsal tonight, a radio broadcast tomorrow and a pre-concert talk on the 12th. More information about the concert and all the extras.
Best of ReSiDeNt: The First Two Months
I’m excited to be playing again with the LEMURbots. This time it’s at Issue Project Room on Thursday, April 10 @ 8pm. I’ll be sharing the bill with Taylor Kuffner and Ben Neill. Here’s the rundown:
LEMUR storms Issue Project Room on Thursday, April 10th, with a night of special collaborations. Best of ReSiDeNt: The First Two Months showcases performances by January/February LEMUR ReSiDeNtS Taylor Kuffner debuting the GamelaTron robotic gamelan and Holland Hopson playing his customized MIDI banjo in an Appalachia-meets-robots performance. Then, Ben Neill presents the NYC premiere of new works for Mutantrumpet and LEMUR robots.
Thursday, April 10 @ 8 pm, $10
Issue Project Room @ The Old American Can Factory
232 3rd Street @ 3rd Avenue
Brooklyn
Maps Breaks $1. Maps is Free. Long Live Maps.
The price for my Maps CD on amiestreet.com recently broke the $1.00 barrier (see below). To celebrate I’ve the posted the album in its entirety at grabrarearts.com. Go here for complete information or use the link below to get it all in one swell foop. This is part of my pledge to make more of my music available for download in 2008. I’ll have more coming up soon, so stay tuned.
Download the full album including artwork: hopson_maps.zip
LEMUR photos
Here are a few more photos from the LEMUR show courtesy of Nicole Peyrafitte.
Max Lord playing the Marimba Lumina with the LEMUR’s GuitarBot on the left.
Max Lord, percussion (in the mirror) and Ellen Godena, dancer with LEMUR’s ModBots on the ceiling.
Holland with his extended banjo…gotta hit that pressure sensor just right…
Old Alabama
Here’s a video from my recent performance at LEMUR. It’s the first outing for this brand new piece, complete with all the hesitations, misfires, fuzziness and fun of a premiere.
I’ll be playing with the LEMURbots again in early April–details to be announced.Thanks to Nicole Peyrafitte for grabbing this video on-the-fly. Check out Nicole’s new blog, Collectages. (Yum…spätzle.)
Where is My Bicycle Coverage?
Yesterday morning the host of Marketplace Morning Report mentioned high oil prices then joked, “where is my bicycle pump?” Indeed. And where is Marketplace’s coverage of bicycle commuting/alternative transportation issues? I might even sit through that 5/4 earworm of a theme song to hear to it.
Matmos at Amiestreet
At the risk of becoming a shill for amiestreet.com, I feel compelled to mention that Matmos has added most of their catalogue to the site. And the recordings are still at bargain prices. Yesterday I picked up three of their records I didn’t already own and the total price was under $7.00. Their Quasi-Objects CD (a fave of mine, but maybe the least popular in the Matmos canon?) is currently available for $0.30. The Civil War CD (gorgeous, bizarre music) is selling for under $2.00. Hurry–amiestreet.com uses a popularity pricing system, so the more people buying the music, the higher the price.
Has any other movie generated more band names than Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy? (It inspired my wife to name our compost pile Matmos. I’m sure the band would be pleased, as would Jane Fonda.)
Really Terrible Orchestra
Read about it in the NYTimes. I quote: “Amateurs arise — make a noise.” Here! Here! Hear! Hear!