Colin Stetson is Upstairs
A little while back, I invited Julianna Barwick to perform / record in the tank as part of Is Upstairs. The timing wasn’t right, but she put me in touch with this really cool, enthusiastic fellow named Derrick Belcham, who’s first email proposes having Colin Stetson swing by as part of a series for La Blogotheque. Easy-yes. Derrick shot the two videos above on a Tuesday afternoon in late March. Good stuff.
- Original post on La Blogotheque
- Derrick’s project, A Story Well Told
- An interview with Derrick
- Colin Stetson’s website and wiki
Videos of 2s & 4s, Light Asylum in tank No. 1
Finally up! 2s & 4s performing in the tank as filmed by our pals at Mssng Peces. And though it’s been out a while, I’m reposting a video directed by Grant Worth of one of my fav neighborhood bands, Light Asylum, which was in-part shot inside the tanks, too.
02.19.13 is Upstairs recap
Vids below. Board-recordings of the audio should be up in a few days. I suggest playing all 3 videos at the same time and adjusting the volume levels of each performance as-desired. Huge thanks to Adam Downey / Northern Spy and to the musicians! For artists’ bios, links, and more info, check out the previous post.
02.19.13: Northern Spy is Upstairs
Northern Spy is Upstairs
+ Jason Sanford (Neptune)
+ Patrick Higgins (ZS)
+ Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul
“Bored by the typical show-going experience, wherein artists play on (yawn) stages? Try the Is Upstairs series, which features experimental musicians performing inside a 20,000-gallon metal tank suspended above the audience (!), which tunes in via video feed…” - Time Out
Artists Performing from Within a 20k-Gallon Metal Tank Above the Audience
February 19th 2012, 8:00 PM
Public Assembly, 70 North 6th Street, Brooklyn
All Ages, $10, Cash Bar, Limited Seating
Jason Sanford is a founding member of the Boston-based experimental rock-outfit Neptune. Since 1994, Sanford has built hundreds of instruments, including the haphazard guitars & reluctant drums of scrap steel and found objects that fostered twenty-three Neptune releases to-date. Sanford will be performing with his recently designed Feedback Organ.
Described by The New Yorker magazine as one of the “prime movers of the local avant-garde”, and an “exacting avant-classical guitarist” by TimeOut NY, Patrick Higgins is a New York based composer/performer of experimental music. He plays guitar in ZS. Hailed as “visionary … master craftsmanship on guitar” by Tiny Mix Tapes, Higgins’ new record STEREO is available on Words+Dreams. He will be on tour with ZS across the US, Canada, Europe and Japan in 2013.
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, and currently based in New York City, Eli Keszler began playing drums at eight, and composing at twelve. Before finding an interest in experimental music and improvisation, he played in rock and hardcore bands; his work retains an intense physicality and churning, often ferocious energy. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory, where he studied composition with Anthony Coleman and Ran Blake. He has collaborated with Phill Niblock, Roscoe Mitchell, Tony Conrad, Joe McPhee, Loren Connors, Jandek, and many others, and has recorded more than a dozen CDs and LPs for ESP-DISK, REL, and PAN.
Brooklyn based composer/ multi-instrumentalist Ashley Paul uses a unique mixture of saxophone, clarinet, voice, prepared strings, bowed percussion and bells to create a mash of understated clatter, floating melodies and psycho-acoustic experiments. Her solo albums have received high praise being chosen “Album of the Column” in The Wire, first on Byron Coley and Thurston Moore’s “Tongue Top Ten” in Arthur Magazine and picked on NPR’s All Songs Considered “Best of 2010”.
+ http://www.neptuneband.com
+ http://www.patrickhigginsmusic.com
+ http://northern-spy.com
+ http://www.mivosquartet.com
+ http://elikeszler.com
+ http://ashleygpaul.blogspot.com
Is Upstairs: Demo Night Recap
Is Upstairs’ demo night went off without a hitch. Great performances all around - and an excellent job by / huge thanks to the venue’s production manager, Eric Sheppard, for going along with all this. We have dates confirmed for 2013 - stay tuned!
For my part, I started off the night with I am Sitting in a Room in a Tank, which involved simply playing a tape of Lucier’s work. As the homage played out, the audience also overheard the shuffling of gear, performers setting up and talking, sneezing etc - so maybe there’s a little 4:33 in there for good measure.
Since the night was a bit of an experiment, the media below is pretty raw / unmastered. I’ll add in more stuff as it becomes avail.
* * * *
^ That’s the only way in. It’s awkward.
^ That’s Lesley, setting up.
^ We used an old mini DV cam for the video feed.
^ This is what the audience saw down on floor 1. More photos on Flickr.
In this video you can hear Eric (off camera) and me setting up. It gives a good sense of how much echo there is, and the scale of the tanks.
^ Tristan Perich’s performance for tubular bells, with Frank Tyl (excerpt).
^ RAFT’s (Pat Noecker) performance (excerpt).
11.12.12 Is Upstairs
IS UPSTAIRS
+ Tristan Perich with Frank Tyl
+ Lesley Flanigan
+ RAFT
+ Ben Sisto
Artists Performing from Within a 20k-Gallon Metal Tank Above the Audience
Public Assembly, 70 North 6th Street, Brooklyn
November 12th 2012, 8:00 PM
21+, Free, Suggested $5, Cash Bar, Limited Seating
Little known fact. Prior to being Public Assembly, 70 North 6th Street housed a mayonnaise factory. Today, two of said factory’s original 20k gallon metal tanks rest silently above the venue’s main events space. Tonight, at the invitation of PACS Gallery, four artists will create new works for & inside these historic tanks (well, three originals and a cover). The audience will be below, watching via projections and hearing sounds pumped through the FOH system and resonating from the tanks themselves. There’s about 9 seconds of echo / reverb in there. We have no idea how it’s going to go. Should be fun.
* * *
Tristan Perich’s work is inspired by the aesthetic simplicity of math, physics and code. The WIRE Magazine describes his compositions as “an austere meeting of electronic and organic.” 1-Bit Music, his 2004 release, was the first album ever released as a microchip, programmed to synthesize his electronic composition live. His latest circuit album, 1-Bit Symphony (Cantaloupe, 2010) has received critical acclaim, called “sublime” (New York Press), and the Wall Street Journal said “[its] oscillations have an intense, hypnotic force and a surprising emotional depth.” His award winning work coupling 1-bit electronics with traditional forms in both music (Active Field, Observations) and visual art (Machine Drawings, Interval Studies) has been presented around the world, from Sonár and Ars Electronica to the Whitney Museum and bitforms gallery.
Lesley Flanigan is an experimental electronic musician living in New York City. Inspired by the tangible elements of electronic sound, she builds her own instruments using minimal electronics, microphones and speakers. Performing these instruments alongside traditional instrumentation that often includes her own voice, she creates a kind of physical electronic music that embraces both the transparency and residue of process — sculpting sound from a pallet of noise and subtle imperfections.
RAFT is Patrick Noecker. Born 2972, Yankton, South Dakota USA. Current Home is Brooklyn, NY. Attended Brooklyn College (Journalism/Film) & University of Nebraska (English). Played in These Are Powers, No Things, and Liars. Played at MOMA, Pop Montreal, PS1 Warm Up, Siren, Ghetty Museum, Clocktower Gallery and endless clubs.
Ben Sisto first climbed inside the tanks upon taking a position as Venue Director for Public Assembly about 2 years ago. He leaves the venue on December 1st, and will be somewhat of a DJ on this night; playing back sounds as folks arrive.
tristanperich.com
lesleyflanigan.com
raftmusic.tumblr.com
51570.org
publicassemblynyc.com
pacsnyc.com
LQQKs like we’re at CMJ
Here is how this came to be. My buddy Duncan (Bunce Booking) and I put together a show (see past post) for Regression, Sightings, and ZS. Adam Downey of Northern Spy dropped by in a super good mood. So we took advantage of his high spirits and asked him to get a CMJ showcase together on a week’s notice. He did, and it rules. LQQK is “the media partner” on this one. Meaning we curated Northern Spy / approve of this message / help with PR .. but credit goes to Adam for the lineup itself.
In Order of Appearance:
+ Thurston Moore and Loren Connors
+ Hubble
+ PC Worship
+ Diamond Terrifier
+ The Dreebs
+ Devin, Gary, & Ross
Public Assembly, 70 North 6th Street Brooklyn, NY
Between Kent & Wythe; L to Bedford Avenue
8:00 PM, 21+, $10, Ltd. Free Entry with CMJ Badge
+ + +
Thurston Moore is … Thurston Moore. While best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth, he has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moore has collaborated with musicians including Maryanne Amacher, Lydia Lunch, William Hooker, Daniel Carter, Christian Marclay, Mike Watt, Nels Cline, Chris Corsano, etc.
Loren Connors is an American experimental musician who has recorded and performed under several different names: Guitar Roberts, Loren Mazzacane, Loren Mattei, and currently Loren Connors. He is a prolific collaborator who has worked with artists including Alan Licht, Jim O’Rourke, bassist Darin Gray, John Fahey, Keiji Haino, Jandek, Suzanne Langille, avant garde poet Steve Dalachinsky, Chan Marshall, and others.
With Hubble, Greenberg of Zs and The Men has exploits the guitar for its ulterior qualities, displaying a true love for the instrument. It’s an apocalyptic, beat-less quasi-electronic music, conjuring Terry Riley’s pulsing minimalist structures and Gregg Ginn’s aggressive, avant-garde rock. “[Hubble]…is where the measured precision of downtown minimalism meets the unhinged aggression of Brooklyn loft noise–truly hypnotic and truly New York.” – Christopher R. Weingarten
PC Worship kick it dense and heavy with a damaged crude DIY psych edge that often transcends into totally catchy melodic and repetitive jammers, so they say.
Diamond Terrifier is the saxophone & electronics solo incarnation of ZS’ Sam Hillmer. Sam is here concerned with the potential positive qualities of destruction as mediated by noise/drone sheets of sound music. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times describes a set: “…he turned a saxophone tone into the sound of chimes or cracking ice, and, later, bagpipes or an animal roar. And after about 25 clean and questing minutes, he was done.”
Hazy & harsh no wave noise-pop surrounds you. A triumphant thunder-punk roars throughout your local valley, as crafted by Adam Markiewicz, Jordan Bernstein, Shannon Sigley, known together as The Dreebs.
Last but not least: Devin, Gary, & Ross! Brooklyn’s Emilie Friedlander said it best in Altered Zones a while back: “Instantly smitten with this ramshackle psych-folk number by New York’s Devin Gary & Ross, the visually inclined trio of cartoon animator Devin Ross, photographer and sign painter Ross Goldstein, and illustrator, designer, and all-around Renaissance weirdo Gary Panter, perhaps best known as the art director for “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” Pete Nolan of Spectre Folk is putting out their debut EP, Four Corners Bounce, on his own Arbitrary Signs imprint, and we can definitely hear the family resemblance. Think Velvet Underground-era VU meets Alexander “Skip” Spence meets the equally LSD-infused solo output of Germany’s Juergen Gleue, only WAY more deadpan.”
http://www.fvrec.com/lorenconnors
http://missionhubble.blogspot.com
http://pcworship.bandcamp.com
http://thedreebs.blogspot.com
http://www.diamondterrifier.com
http://www.northern-spy.com
http://www.LQQK.org
http://www.publicassemblynyc.com
General press & info contact adam@northern-spy.com
Press passes please contact ben.sisto @ gmail
10.06.12: The Psyched, Major Stars, Radical Dads, Warm Soda
+ The Psyched (mems Tunnel of Love, The Apes)
+ Major Stars (Boston)
+ Radical Dads (Brooklyn)
+ Warm Soda (ex Bare Wires, CA)
+ DJ Cassie Ramone (Vivian Girls, Babies)
Public Assembly
70 North 6th Street, Brooklyn
Btwn Kent & Wythe / Bedford Ave L
Saturday October 6th 2012
8:00 Doors & Drink Deals 9:00 Jams
$10, 21+, Facebook Invite
http://psyched.bandcamp.com
http://www.myspace.com/themajorstars
http://www.radicaldads.com/
http://warmsoda.bandcamp.com/
2 Nights with Silver Apples! October 4th & 5th 2012
+ Facebook Invite
Thursday 10.04.12 at PUBLIC ASSEMBLY (Flyer)
with Xeno & Oaklander (Wierd), Man Forever (Thrill Jockey), and La Big Vic
8:30 PM, $12 adv / $14 dos, All Ages, Tix: http://tinyurl.com/cityapples
70 North 6th Street Brooklyn, publicassemblynyc.com
Friday 10.05.12 at 92YTRIBECA (Flyer)
with CFCF (live debut, on a Steinway Grand), Win Win (Vice Records / live band set!)
8:30 PM, $12 adv / $14 dos, All Ages, Tickets on Sale 08.20.12
200 Hudson Street (at Canal St), 92ytribeca.org, Tix: http://tinyurl.com/cityapples
Electronic Music Pioneer Plays 2 NYC Shows! Live Film Projections from Reelloopy
* * * *
Silver Apples, originally an American psychedelic electronic music duo from New York, were composed of Simeon Coxe III on a primitive synthesizer of his own devising, and until his death in 2005, drummer Danny Taylor. They were active between ‘67 and ‘69, before reforming in the mid ‘90s. They were one of the first to employ electronic music techniques within a rock idiom; their minimalistic style, with its pulsing, driving beat & discordant modality anticipated not only experimental electronic music & krautrock of the 70s, but also underground dance & indie rock of the ’90s. Past recent performances include All Tomorrow’s Parties and Electric Picnic.
Friday marks the Live Debut for Canadian-composer CFCF, who has already toured across Europe and the Americas in a variety of contexts - DJing with and for Toro Y Moi, Neon Indian, and Caribou, playing The Museum Of Modern Art’s PS1 venue with Animal Collective and Oneohtrix Point Never, and performing full-on parties with Hercules and Love Affair and The Juan Maclean among many others. The 92Y has a grand piano. Going classy.
Xeno and Oaklander are a minimal electronics girl/boy duo, and they are based in Brooklyn, NY. They record their songs live and play analogue synthesizers and instruments exclusively, and have performed at SF Moma, PS1 Warm Up, Miami Art Basel, the Zürich Kunsthalle and the New Museum in New York.
John Colpitts ( Kid Millions) is a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist, composer & writer best known as the drummer for Oneida. Man Forever, his vehicle for exploring the outer limits of drum performance has fostered live collaborations with the Brian Chase (Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs), James McNew (Yo La Tengo), Chris Baio (Vampire Weekend), Richard Hoffman (Sightings), and others. It’s always a surprise who shows up. Always amazing.
Win Win is XXXchange (Spank Rock / producer), Chris Devlin (Spank Rock) and Ghostdad, the video wizard. The trio has begun to step outside the DJ-set world, forming a straight up live psych-rock band that rules. Past collaborations include Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Lizzie Bougatsos (Gang Gang Dance), Andrew W.K and others.
La Big Vic is the Brooklyn electronic trio of guitarist/producer Toshio Masuda, violinist Emilie Friedlander, and synthesist Peter Pearson. They have put out two records on Underwater Peoples, and have a third one on the way.
http://silverapples.com
http://xenoandoaklander.com
http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/Man-Forever/
http://soundcloud.com/labigvic
www.soundcloud.com/cfcf
http://winwin.bandcamp.com
http://www.lqqk.org
ben.sisto@gmail.com for more info, press passes, and so on
09.29.12: Regression, Zs, Sightings, Drainolith
+ Regression (12:00)
+ Zs (11:00)
+ Sightings (10:00)
+ Drainolith (9:00)
at PACS Gallery, 70 North 6th St Brooklyn
Door between Music Hall and Public Assembly, Floor 2
8:30 PM, Set Times are Real, 21+ w ID, No BYOB, $10
Presented by LQQK & Bunce
Regression is Nate Young of Wolf Eyes fame. Zs just released a 10-year box set that might be the best retrospective of any NYC band in some time. Sightings are one of LQQK’s all time fav NYC bands, hands down, and Drainolith’s ex Aids Wolf, on tour w/ Nate. It’s going to be loud as fuck, and awesome. I might DJ some classic 90s hip hop between acts.
