DOWNLOAD: Fennesz Daniell Buck - "Antonia" (edit) (MP3)

"Fennesz at LPR. Stellar." -douglaswalter

Though he had nothing to do with ATP 2010, Christian Fennesz was in the area when he played Le Poisson Rouge in NYC on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend (9/4). The ambient artist is back in our fair city TONIGHT (9/22). He plays Littlefield as part of a continuing US tour. Tickets are still available for the show which will feature support from The American Dollar and Bell.

Thursday (9/23), Fennesz will team up with David Daniell and drummer Frank Rosaly to play a collaborative set after individual sets from Fennesz and Daniell at The Empty Bottle in Chicago. Fennesz and David Daniell recently teamed up with drummer Tony Buck to release the new Knoxville LP via Thrill Jockey Records. Dig on a snippet of one song, "Antonia", above and pick up a copy at the Thrill Jockey store.

All tour dates and some video from the LPR show, below...

Continue reading "Fennesz released 'Knoxville', on tour (in NYC tonight) "

You may recognize the name Ryuichi Sakamoto as a member of the pioneering Japanese synthpop band Yellow Magic Orchestra, or as composer for one of many film scores including The Last Emperor (with David Byrne), Babel, The Sheltering Sky, or one of dozens of others. But now the solo artist/composer will embark a new adventure, a short set of US dates including Skirball Center at NYU on 10/18- one of only ten US dates on his calendar where he'll be...

"...bringing his music to audiences through sustainable and ecologically sound touring. In addition, a carbon offset will be made for all carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the tour. Sakamoto has devoted much of his time in recent years to environmental concerns - to turning Ego into Eco as he puts it. Beginning in 2001, he has made a huge attempt to use alternative energy for touring."

NYC show tickets are on sale.

These rare appearances are part of a tour in celebration of the release of his TWO LPs playing the piano and out of noise, out on Decca on 9/28. The first disc, playing the piano, finds Sakamoto covering his previous works with solo piano while the second finds him "the ambiguities between music and noise".

"The second CD, out of noise, is arguably Sakamoto's most ambitious to date in which he continues to explore the netherworld between music and noise that has fascinated him for years. He is joined here by, among others, Austrian guitarist/laptop artist Christian Fennesz, guitarist Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada), England's renowned early music group Fretwork, and Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Skuli Sverrisson."

Ryuichi was last in NYC in 2009 for the Bang on a Can Marathon.

Some Sakamoto videos, as well as his full tour sked, below...

Continue reading "Ryuichi Sakamoto releasing new LPs, touring (dates) "

by BBG

Magma in 1979

Led by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, the Paris-based Magma have been, in their way, perhaps the ultimate progressive rock group; while other artists have achieved greater commercial success and critical acclaim, Magma have typified the many ambitions and excesses of the genre that won them as many detractors as fans, even going so far as to invent their own lyrical and musical language in order to bring their unique vision to life...

As outlined on the group's eponymous 1970 double-album debut, Vander's tale -- projected to be told over the course of ten LPs -- pitted Earth against a rival planet named Kobaia. Over the course of 1971's 1,001 Centigrade and 1973's Mekanïk Destructïw Kommandoh (recorded with a choir), the story -- much of it told in native Kobaian -- unfolded to depict an Earth so uninhabitable that its citizens must flee to the nearby planet, where years of conflict culminated in the achievement of cosmic harmony and a reconciliation with the deity Ptäh. Chart success was not forthcoming, and after a few early tours of the U.S. and Britain Magma spent the middle years of the decade almost exclusively in France, where they launched records including 1974's Kohntarkosz and the next year's Live. After the commercial failure of 1976's Üdü Wüdü and 1977's Inédits, Magma essentially disbanded, although the group lived on in various forms, as alumni founded a number of loosely affiliated splinter groups to carry on Vander's work... -[allmusic]

The proggy purveyors of zeuhl, Magma, reformed in the 90s and will play Highline Ballroom in NYC on September 20th. Tickets are on sale. The NYC show is one of two US dates scheduled thus far. The other happens in Washington DC two days earlier as part of the The Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music...

The Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music was initiated by the American Composers Forum (ACF) in 2001 to provide DC's music and art communities with the opportunity to sample experimental and avant-garde electronic music, with an emphasis on improvisation and artistic use of new technologies.

Now celebrating its tenth year, Sonic Circuits programs music year round and presents the best in electro-acoustic compositions, free jazz, improv, noise rock, electronic drone and experimental folk, as well as live video and film programs, from DC area artists and from around the world.

The full festival schedule, which also includes Fennesz, Univers Zero, Miriodor, The Muffins, Merzbow and many others, is below.

Magma is touring on the backs of their second LP since their return to the stage, Ëmëhntëtt-Ré, out now via Seventh Records. Stream three songs at the Seventh Records site. All tour dates and some video below...

Continue reading "French prog band Magma are coming to the US (dates), playing NYC (tix on sale) & Sonic Circuits in DC (full lineup)"

"BEN NEILL is a composer, performer, and inventor of the mutantrumpet, a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. Through his use of interactive computer technologies, Neill creates a unique musical and visual experience, melding the worlds of electronic music, jazz, pop culture and visual media." [Ben Neil]

"Ben is the curator of the River to River Festival at World Financial Center this summer. This series of 5 free concerts focuses on leading artists in the field of electronic music, including Ulrich Schnauss, Fennesz/Sakamoto, FourTet and Steve Reid, Nicolas Collins, Dorit Chrysler, Kode 9, Dubwar and Johann Johannsson. See full schedule here" [Ben Neil]

Info on a show Ben is playing himself, as well as a Kieren Hebden (FourTet) and Steve Reid video, below....

Continue reading "Ben Neil curated the five free electronic shows @ WFC "

More free shows in NYC this summer.....

Continue reading "Winter Garden 2008: Ulrich Schnauss, Fennesz, Four Tet, Steve Reid, the music of Johnny Cash...."