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]Also, Mark Lunt has posted some captivating photos from the event here.
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.
Danielle Furfaro of the Albany Times Union has written a profile of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective. Read it here.
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:
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.”
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.
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.
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:
The Albany Sonics Arts Collective (ASAC) presents YEAH! SWEET! YUMMY! featuring
Saturday 17 May, 2008
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St. Albany, NY
Doors at 7:30 pm: show at 8:00
$5 suggested donation at the door
Continue reading
I never posted a proper announcement for last weekend’s Albany Sonic Arts Collective show at the Upstate Artists Guild Gallery featuring Ray Hare, myself, Eric Hardiman and Travis Johns. Here are recordings of the pieces I played.
[audio:http://hollandhopson.com/music/asac/02_hopson_turnover.mp3]Turnover – I improvised the melody and lyrics for this one inspired by Ray Hare’s hair raising performance.
[audio:http://hollandhopson.com/music/asac/03_hopson_my_own_true_love.mp3]My Own True Love – an arrangement of a traditional tune
[audio:http://hollandhopson.com/music/asac/04_hopson_telephone_temple.mp3]Telephone Temple – an arrangement of a piece I wrote to be performed with LEMUR‘s musical robots.
Visit the UAG site to view photos from the event.
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.