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bochum

back from germany, country of easter goodness.

i had a very nice gig at the great and funky goldkante, home of the homewreckers and other ruhrgebeit funkiness. had about 50 people i think. tried out projections for the first time, which seemed to work quite well.

i’d like to thank tobias koth, the other tobias, sebastian, and johannes for helping me out with setting up the gig, and also andreas for writing a very excellent press release (in german!) for coolibri and taking some pictures. the pix below are by jutta brendemuehl. go to my myspace page for a musical sample of the night.

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prince albert

just got back from trip to prince albert, saskatchewan, to play a gig with leela gilday for the prince albert grand council’s celebration of international women’s day. there were some lovely moments in the ceremony, especially the elder woman who did the blessing for the food, and the 90 year old woman who was honoured.  these women are amazing, so strong.  and so incredibly cute!

it was really very interesting to be at an event such as this, where first nations citizens took this concept of international women’s day (a very worthy occasion but which, let’s face it, came out of a political landscape shaped by the western, mostly white feminist movement), and made it their own. there were a lot of speeches by the chiefs of the nations in the saskatchewan area, almost all of which were in native languages.

i love the sounds of these languages, and how different they all are. all over prince albert, or at least where i was, there was very little english being spoken, especially parents with children. in the hotel restaurant friday morning was a small child (all in pink) running around, and her mother calling to her, each speaking one of the indigenous languages. you could tell what was going down though—the universal “you-get-back-here-right-this-minute-young-lady-or-you’ll-see-what-happens!”. some things never change.

it was really surprising and exciting to me to see that. there is so much i don’t know about how that world really is. it struck me very hard about how all the talking we do about media bias and narrow worldviews are really so very true. i like to think of myself as someone who is in tune with reality and understands the way communities work, and the bias against them, but being in P.A. and attending that celebration really brought it home to me how little i know.

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drumming continues

it’s good to get back to drumming again. march 6 will see me in prince albert, saskatchewan, with dene singer/songwriter leela gilday….i hope we’re not playing outside. playing music with leela is great—not only is she a great singer and super person, the rest of her band is about the best bunch of people anywhere. and laying down grooves with my strange hand percussion/drum kit elements hybrid percussion setup is always fun. after all the blips, beeps, clicks and cuts of the new media work i have been doing its good to connect with the groove.

i also just talked to marc nadjiwan, who is working on a new CD. i played on his last one, also doing the hybrid kit thing, and this one is really a step forward in his sound.

you can’t step away from the groove…..

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video week kommt

next week sees me being video guy. the SAVAC MONITOR 4 festival is feb 20, and the bird project is feb 23rd. i am looking forward to not having to carry 50 drums around. but then again there is the small matter of the projector. oh well.

(incidentally, its not just video week.  my piece is being played on feb 22 @ madrid abierto.  see the previous post).

stills from the bird project

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new audio installation

just got word that i received funding to create ice field, an 8 channel audio installation that will use digital noise and audio detritus and south asian rhythmic theory. look for it in a flourescent-lit bare white room near you.

thanks are in order to the toronto arts council.

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savac monitor 4

great news!  my video piece skin (2007) has been selected to be screened as part of MONITOR 4, SAVAC’s international short film and video festival in toronto.  the screening is at innis town hall, feb 20, 2008.  more deets available on SAVAC’s website.

see you there.