Observer: You've been with Lou Reed for what seems like forever. Any tips for staying together?

Laurie Anderson: Take a break from each other. We've been together for 19 years, married for two years. I think everything is about to blow away, and everyone is about to blow away, and it makes me care for them more.

Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed are no strangers to their friend and collaborator's non-profit, avant-garde, East Village club The Stone, and in February 2011 they will take their turn at being the curators. They will also play the venue right in the middle of that, on 2/15 with an opening set by Buke & Gass. Laurie also plays on 2/23 with Fred Frith. And the rest of the month isn't so bad either. John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Hal Wilner, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Eyvind Kang, Sean Lennon, Rob Burger, Marc Ribot, Rob Wasserman, and many others adorn the schedule so far (it is all listed below).

In related news, the dates that Lou/Laurie are curating The Stone overlap with a MoMA exhibit featuring Lou Reed's former manager in The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol. The exhibition, entitled Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures, will show silent pictures that are professed to be his "most daring and experimental" film work. The show kicks off on December 19th and lasts until March 21, 2011.

And while we're on the subject of film, "And Everything Is Going Fine" is currently playing at the IFC Center. It's a tribute to Spaulding Gray directed by Steven Soderbergh. Laurie soundtracked the Spalding Gray films Swimming to Cambodia and Monster in a Box, and made a promotional appearance related to the movie this past weekend. .

The Stone schedule is below...

Continue reading "Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson curating The Stone in February, MoMA exhibiting Andy Warhol pictures"

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 Andrew Frisicano

Ryuichi Sakamoto & the Bang on a Can All-Stars

"This year's marathon offered works by 28 composers on Sunday, from noon to just past midnight, at the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan. Like the last several, it was presented as a free concert, part of the River to River Festival. Early in the day listeners came and went, but by 5 p.m. the center's atrium (which holds 2,000) was packed, and it remained so to the end." [NY Times]

Sunday, May 31st was the 22nd annual Bang on a Can Marathon in the World Financial Center's Winter Garden. The 2008 fest ran from 6pm to 6am, with a 4am Dan Deacon set in the early morning lull. This year's concert took a more diurnal approach, with a noon start and a finish coming after Tortoise's encore-less set a little past midnight. When the final introducer asked who'd been there since noon, a weary cheer came from that select but healthy part of crowd. Near night's finale, the Winter Garden stairs and seats were all full, and as Tortoise set up, even more filtered in, perhaps from one of the other shows that night.

Around 10pm, Ryuichi Sakamoto sat behind the room's piano for a quiet solo piece punctuated by sparks of crackling static. Mid-set he paused to call a BoaC tech over to fix the piano, before finishing with a burst of dreamy chords and carefully spare melodies.

After welcoming the Bang on a Can All-Stars on stage (a sextet of guitar, bass, percussion, cello, keys and clarinet), Sakamoto and two band members "conducted" with pocket mirrors, reflecting the room's lights on the white backdrop in what looked like lens flare from a sunny photo. The sustained textures of the ensemble's first piece gave way to a more structured, percussive songs that focused on a repeating three-bar phrase and its variations.

The BoaC All-Stars remained on stage for their performance of Steve Martland's Horses of Instruction, apparently an old standard for the group. They certainly had fun with it, adding percussionist Eduardo Leandro on marimba. Clarinetist Evan Ziporyn traded for a tenor sax as he led the piece jumping and gesticulating through the changes. The busy work juxtaposed the restrained Sakamoto songs with parts that moved from shredding cello to Frisell-like guitar comping to swinging and pulsating drums. The song was a sufficient energy boost to prep the crowd for Tortoise, who'd be closing the night.

Tortoise was recently discussed at length in a review of their show at the Bell House one night earlier, but briefly speaking, the band played a short, 7-song set largely driven by its two drum kits. Other songs abandoned the drums for malleted percussion, which moved the group away from driving jams to more minimal pastures. Their volume drowned out the room's rattling air conditioners, but at times the drums, right up front, overwhelmed the total group sound in the echoing hall. Granted, shifting, propulsive beats are kind of Tortoise's raison d'être, and their groove-heavy songs capped the Marathon with engaging, kinetic energy. A collection of psyched devotees jammed along in an area next to the stage.

The Marathon officially kicked off this year's River to River Festival, which will host many shows throughout the summer. Tortoise will be back as well, with a July tour that includes a show at (Le) Poisson Rouge.

Bang on a Can will use the Marathon's momentum to host two benefits this week -- both taking place Wednesday, June 3rd at LPR. The big-money early show and bargain-priced late show will feature established big names and talented up-and-comers, respectively. More specifically, Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, David Cossin, Wu Man, Maya Beiser, Talujon and Doug Aitken appear for the intimate dinner and music early benefit. So Percussion, Gutbucket, Newspeak and NOW Ensemble hold it down late. Tickets for the late show are still on sale.

Check out some videos from the whole day, and a few more pics from the late-night portion, below...

Continue reading "Bang on a Can Marathon 2009 in review w/ pics & video "

by Andrew Frisicano

Ryuichi Sakamoto

The Bang on a Can Marathon returns to World Financial Center for its fourth year to kick-off the 2009 River To River Festival on May 31st. The 12-hour marathon (noon-midnight) of mind-boggling, genre-bending music will include Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tortoise, Bill Frisell, Bang on a Can All-Stars and more.

Those acts will be performing "music composed by Gavin Bryars, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Evan Ziporyn, and many more." The annual NYC event is free.

As previously reported, Tortoise will play a Saturday, May 30th show at the Bell House, in addition to the Marathon. Tortoise also has an appearance at Pitchfork Fest, plus a new album coming out and a track on Thrill Jockey's Record Store Day comp.

Michael Gordon, whose work will be performed at the Bang on a Can Marathon, is also having his composition Trance performed by Signal at a (Le) Poisson Rouge show on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Other free shows coming up at the World Financial Center this summer include M83, Mountains and Scanners. Clogs and Laurie Anderson play there TONIGHT (April 15).

The Japan Times recently profiled Japanese pianist and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who will be performing at the Bang on a Can Marathon, about his 30 year career and his connections with David Bowie, John Cage, and others. Read an excerpt from that, with videos of Sakamoto solo and with Iggy Pop, below...

Continue reading "Bang on a Can Marathon - initial 2009 lineup (Bill Frisell, Tortoise, and RYUICHI SAKAMOTO included)"