amazing pics of old houses in north kolkata online here.
end of summer
the end of summer is nigh. a different one for me—took a holiday instead of working. of course now its come to bite me in the butt, but this is in the best way.
scoring the tv documentary Losing My Religion continues. its looking/sounding good i think. still working on the nuit blanche projects (see below for more info and a link to one of the pieces). mark duggan has asked me to record on his new cd in mid september and i will be the percussionist for the small world music festival’s world on a string project, with amir koushkani, rich brown (who is also the musical director), jayme stone, levon ichkhanian, and a few others. that will be really great—i can’t wait to play the drums again…there seems to be too little of that lately somehow….
and of course the radio theatre workshop led by robert lippok from berlin, being put on by the goethe institute toronto. 4 days of audio art theatre. woo hoo! if anyone in the toronto area is interested, email me. i’m sure i will be writing a post on it….
keep up to date on everything here.
d
annabelle chvostek’s new cd
the wonderful singer annabelle chvostek (some of you may know her from the wailin’ jennys) is working on a new solo CD, produced by roma baron and vivian stoll (some of you may know them from their production work on laurie anderson’s records). she’s asked me to play percussion on probably the catchiest track i’ve heard in the last 3 years (and i like catchy tracks).
my first experience with internet sessions—i recorded the tracks at oldmonkeymusic and uploaded them via ftp. the wave of the future.
check out annabelle’s myspace and her website for release dates and a very entertaining and interesting journal.
maryem tollar in BC
taken from this summer’s tour with maryem tollar, ernie tollar (winds) and levon ichkhanian (guitar) at the peace conference in castlegar BC.
live in berlin aug 4
i’m in berlin right now. spent the day sightseeing, although that is the worst word for it.
its a city so full of history. i’m staying in mitte, right near the wall in east berlin. 2 min walk from here is an old guard tower. i have been so overwhelmed with history. its been a very emotional day. i can see why the war is still so alive in the collective memory of the german people.
but, on another note, i too will be contributing a bit to the culture of berlin. i make my laptop debut on aug 4 as part of the daskleinefieldrecordings festival, mangling sound i recorded on my latest trip to kolkata and also plundering my own archives of music and phonographic sound in a live improvised set.
deets:
@ wendel (one of the best places in berlin for organic beer!), Schlesische Strasse 42, U-bahn Schlesisches Tor, Kreuzberg (of course).
21:30 doors, 5 Euro.
peace.
nuit blanche
i’ve started working on the (scotiabank) nuit blanche cell phone pieces. its really a lot of fun and a great challenge to try and make pieces that actually work that are 45s or under….
wow. i think i am really liking this whole video thing.
a great one.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdtPFncgbHo]
found this on the great blog sepia mutiny.
man.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBxy1R0jitM]
new CD for dance classes and dancin’
i’ve been working on creating some trax for modern dance classes, as i seem to be getting a lot of requests for this when i accompany dance classes in the school system.
the root grooves of each track are taken from a recording of a class i played for toronto dance theatre company early this year, recorded by the inimitable phil strong. each track uses these grooves to construct, ah, journeys in sound, spiced with the digital world of electronics. if i may indulge in marketspeak briefly, the CD is an organic combination of electronic beats, textures and acoustic percussion.
because each track is based on a groove directly taken from a dance class, teachers will be able to find something for each excercise—warmups, tendus, ronde de jambes, across the floor, etc. non-teachers will also enjoy the cool grooves—perfect for a summer day, riding your bike (riding your bike not recommended with headphones!!!!), or getting places on the subway.
working on a DECEMBER release. keep listening.
where you are
hi
so the nuit blanche project is to create a series of audio art pieces (20) out of sound recorded on the streets of kolkata. you will dial a number (on your cell phone) as you walk the streets of nuit blanche and listen to the audio soundtrack in one ear, and the spontaneous soundtrack of nuit blanche in the other. it is a ritual to open your ears to the sound of the night around you, and to listen to what is happening as something beautiful, art.
lately i have been a lot more interested in attention and focus and the results of being in this way. the rewards are tremendous on so many levels….
i’m still looking for a service provider….!