Moritz Von Oswald Trio at Unsound 2010 (more by Greg Cristman)

UNSOUND had it's first NYC event over the course of ten days in February with artists like Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Aidan Baker, Carl Craig, and a ton of others. Now the Polish organizers will make their return to NYC from in April 2011 (the 6th through 10th) for a gang of musical acts as well as "workshops, discussions and experimental events". So far the lineup hasn't been announced, save for one performance:

Making its USA premiere at Unsound Festival will be a new Unsound-commissioned project by Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnasson, with "film manipulations" by Brian Eno and Nick Robertson. The ambitious project will celebrate the 50th anniversary (2011) of the publication of Krakow writer Stanislaw Lem's novel Solaris and will feature Frost / Bjarnasson collaborating with Sinfonietta Cracovia, one of Poland's leading orchestras.
Written for 29 string players, 2 percussionists, prepared piano, guitars and electronics, Music For Solaris has its beginnings in both Lem's original novel and the 1972 film adaptation by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. It is a re-imagined soundtrack for a film so still as to become almost absent, a story in sound, and an exploration of an interior cosmos. It is music written by human beings, removed and mutated by machine intelligence, then translated once more by human beings.

Integral to the project are a series of "film manipulations" by Brian Eno and Nick Robertson, drawing on moments from the original Tarkovwsky film to create a visual parallel to the music composition process. The performance will also mark the release of the album Music For Solaris.

More details about the NYC event are forthcoming, but the work will make its world premiere "at Unsound Festival on the 24th of October 2010 in Krakow Poland. It will then be recorded in Krakow, for release as an album on the Icelandic label Bedroom Community."

Ben Frost meanwhile is scheduled to open the sold-out Swans show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple on 10/8. Brian Eno is currently streaming his new album Small Craft on a Milk Sea, due in November via Warp.

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Efterklang

It's rare that I enjoy every artist on the line-up, but Wednesday night's show at Le Poisson Rouge hit all the right notes. Sure, I was a bit bummed out that Balmorhea had canceled (due to "urgent family matters"), but the last minute replacement for the opening slot, Samamidon, was a welcome addition to the roster...

...[Sam's] performance tonight made me regret not making more of an effort to see him in the past. Sam unceremoniously took to the stage, picked up a ukulele, and began playing...

...Next up was Icelandic composer/conductor Daníel Bjarnason... or more accurately, I should say Daníel Bjarnason and his sixteen-piece orchestra. I'm still not quite sure how they fit so many people and instruments on stage, but it was marvelous.....

...In addition to the obvious - the music, I love Efterklang for their charming stage presence. All of the guys in the band seem so genuinely excited to be playing - as if they can't believe that they're on stage in New York.... [Sonic Smorgasbord]

More pictures from the show below...

Continue reading "Efterklang, Sam Amidon & Daniel Bjarnason @ Le Poisson Rouge in NYC - pics "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Daníel Bjarnason - Bow to String I. "Sorrow Conquers Happiness" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Efterklang - Modern Drift (MP3)

Daníel Bjarnason...

Tonight's Efterklang's show at (Le) Poisson Rouge (3/3) has been merged with the club's earlier show, which adds Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason and the banjo playing Sam Amidon to the bill. Tickets are on sale.

Part of the reason for the new lineup is the fact that Balmorhea, who was to open Efterklang's entire tour had to cancel due to a family emergency. As a result the band's tour schedule had been updated with new openers, posted below. Efterklang will also be touring without violin+ player Peter Broderick, who has to tend to "a knee surgery that isn´t healing properly." Best of luck to both of them.

All three of the bands playing have records that just came out, or are coming out shortly. Efterklang's Magic Chairs came out February 23rd. "Modern Drift" from it is posted above.

Bjarnason's debut album, Processions, came out on the Bedroom Community label on March 2nd. "Sorrow Conquers Happiness," the full-throttle first part of his Bow to String concerto, which opens the record, is posted above. Its multi-track cellos evoke a range of sounds from clanging chains and machine gun taps to spiraling riffs and even a bit of tender melody.

At age 30, Daníel Bjarnason is already a veteran of Iceland's music scene, and his compositions have received international acclaim in recent years. As co-founder and chief conductor of the Isafold Chamber Orchestra, he's recorded two discs of modern classical music on the 12 Tónar label....He has lent his talents to artists on the other side of the alleged classical/rock divide--Ólöf Arnalds, Pétur Ben, Hjaltalín, and, most famously, Sigur Rós, collaborating with that band at its Abbey Road sessions with the London Sinfonietta--before creating Processions with producer and Bedroom Community co-founder Valgeir Sigurðsson.

He'll be joined at the show by cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdottir, pianist Vicky Chow, and others.

Sam Amidon's new record, I See the Sign, comes out on Bedroom Community on April 20th. Among the guests on the album is Beth Orton, who Amidon opened for in January. He plays a record release show at 92YTribeca on April 10th with Thomas Bartlett (Doveman). Tickets are on sale.

Its amazing lead single, "How Come That Blood," is available here. Sam was recently featured on the World Cafe, which you can stream online.

Sam Amidon will be part of the Whale Watching Tour, which'll pair him with Bedroom Community labelmates Ben Frost (who plays at Big Ears with Tim Hecker), Nico Muhly (who plays with Doveman at the Kitchen March 18th and 19th), Valgeir Sigurðsson, and a band of musicians across Europe this April and May. Tour dates for that and more are below...

Continue reading "Daníel Bjarnason & Sam Amidon have new albums & shows, both opening for Efterklang (because Balmorhea cancelled)"