Sommeil: A Concert for Sleep

Tanner Menard, Antenna Gallery and Experimedia Records present Sommeil: A Concert for Sleep in New Orleans on 4/11-4/12. Get details here.

Tanner sent out an open call for sound to be used during the concert. My work will appear alongside approx. 70 artists who submitted work. I’ll be interested to hear how this event comes off, especially having recently participated in the River of Drone.

ASAC Presents Trauma, Herons, Sleepy Demons, Twilight of the Century

Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents Trauma, Herons, Sleepy Demons, Twilight of the Century.

Wednesday, January 28
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St. Albany
Doors at 7:30 pm: show at 8:00
$5 suggested donation at the door

More on the musicians from the press release after the break. Continue reading

ASAC given Best of 2008 nod by Times Union

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective is included in the Albany Times Union “’08 Year in Arts” article.

Sonic bright spot

Last fall, a group of experimental musicians formed the Albany Sonic Arts Collective as an outlet for musicians not into strict recitations of the verse-chorus-verse structure. Soon, there were musicians coming from all corners of the Capital Region to contribute to the sonic palette. And twice this year, indie rock godfather Thurston Moore, leader of Sonic Youth, came to unleash his own twang-wangery.”

Read the full article here.

Dipping a Toe in the River

Ray Hare (photo by Chris Bassett)

Ray Hare swims in the River (photo by Chris Bassett)

Here are some excerpts from ASACs recent River of Drone marathon. I grabbed snippets at random from the recordings I made and appended them into a single, condensed track. These excerpts were from noon to 3pm and 8pm to 11pm in case you’re keeping score.

[audio:river_of_drone_excerpts.mp3]

River of Drone excerpts

Also, Mark Lunt has posted some captivating photos from the event here.

ASAC Presents A River of Drone

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective celebrates their one-year anniversary with a 12-hour continuous live drone performance on Saturday Nov. 22 12pm-12am!
A RIVER OF DRONE
Saturday 11/22
12 Noon til Midnight
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY

Free

Performers will include: Eric Hardiman, Ray Hare, Holland Hopson, Jason Cosco, Mike Bullock, and Linda Aubry Bullock. Video projections/installations will also be presented.

ASAC Presents No More Bush Tour

In conjunction with Ecstatic Yod, Ecstatic Peace, and Arthur Magazine, the Albany Sonic Arts Collective is proud to present: No More Bush Tour

Sunday Aug 3
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark Street, Albany NY
7:00 pm

Featuring:

  • Zaika (Tom Carter & Marcia Bassett)
  • Jack Rose
  • Valerie Webber
  • 50 Foot Women + Axolotl
  • Charles Plymell
  • Kate Village + John Morton
  • Wovoka
  • Byron Coley + Ziamaluc

This is a great long lineup, hence it’s an early show. See below to study up on press release jargon and artist bios so you can delight your friends with an insider’s knowledge of the event. I’m looking forward to hearing Jack Rose, seeing Tom Carter again, and being pleasantly surprised by someone else on the bill. It’s bound to happen.

“Five years ago, in a time of woe for the underground, the country and the world,  the members of the Ecstatic Yod Collective organized a tour called More Hair Less Bush. Including a variety of musicians and writers, the tour brought the flame of hope to cities cast into darkness by the hideous secretions of the Bush Twins.

Now, in 2008, as we prepare to enjoy thelong-promised fruits of regime change, we felt it was time to bring our show on the road again. But this time, rather than offering balm and apologies to the psychically wounded, we would like to celebrate the pre-dawn of a new day — a day when the word “cheney” is once more an empty phrase we use to terrify youngsters.  To this end, we have assembled a revolving cast of musicians and writers, all of whom honk the horn of freedom with both hands. We trust it will be a gas. Trinkets will be available at all shows. Tour schedule and bios follow. Support is being provided by Ecstatic Peace Records & Arthur Magazine.”

Continue reading

ASAC on WAMC

Eric Hardiman of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective recently appeared on WAMC 90.3 FM. Listen to the archive of the show here. It kicks off with a few seconds of my piece Telephone Temple

[audio:http://hollandhopson.com/music/asac/04_hopson_telephone_temple.mp3]

Then Eric and his Roundtable hosts chat about the collective, upcoming events, and attempt to describe experimental music for the average upstate public radio listener. My favorite moment: hearing an excerpt of a piece by Brendan Murray on WAMC.

ASAC Presents Brendan Murray and Brown Wing Overdrive

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents Brendan Murray (Boston) and Brown Wing Overdrive (Brooklyn)

Saturday July 12, 2008
doors at 7:30 pm: show at 8:00 pm

Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY
$5 suggested donation at the door

From the minds of ASAC:
“Brendan Murray is a self-taught musician living in Somerville, MA. He has actively recorded and performed with electronics since 1999. He regards his music as a balance between spontaneous sound making and compositional rigor, with an emphasis on drones and repetition. He records and processes instruments and tapes until all traces of instrumentality are blurred, leaving only large blocks of pure sound.

He has recorded four full-length CDs, four cdrs and two cassettes for various record labels in the United States and Europe. Murray has also toured extensively throughout the United States as a solo performer and as a member of various improvising ensembles.

Brown Wing Overdrive is an electronic trio from Brooklyn specializing in improvisation.  Members include Chuck Bettis (electronics and vocals), Mike IQ Jones (electronics and objects), and Derek Morton (electronics and banjo)  Between them, they have deep histories in punk rock and electronic improvisational music.  Their music has been described as “amorphous ebb-and-flow ooze rippling over No Neckian pick, blurt, and throttle”.   Their debut CD, “We Have Issues: live at Issue Project Room”, is available on Living Myth Records.”

I’m looking forward to more banjo weirdness–see you there.

ASAC Presents Thurston Moore+Bill Nace, Robedoor, Pocahaunted, Century Plants

The next Albany Sonic Arts Collective show is a doozy. I’ll have to miss it, but don’t let my poor fortune prevent you from getting there.

Thursday 26 June, 2008 at 8PM
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St. Albany, NY

Here’s the lineup:

ASAC Presents Thurston Moore+Bill Nace/Robedoor/Pocahaunted/Century Plants