ASAC show @ the SOUNDBARN on 12/4 !!

soundBarn & Albany Sonic Arts Collective present:

Benjamin Britten is Dead

Saturday December 4th. 8 pm
The soundBarn, Valatie, NY. FREE

The soundBarn is pleased to present “Benjamin Britten is Dead,” an evening of long form improvisations that unite members of sonic experimentalists Albany Sonic Arts Collective and soundBarn on the anniversary of English composer Benjamin Britten’s death.

The sound explorations of both Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) and soundBarn delve deep into the realms of noise, drone, minimalism and free-improvisation. Employing instrumentation ranging from heavily processed and prepared guitar to 21st century banjo, members of ASAC and soundBarn construct ad-hoc compositions that span the space from spare, minimal soundscapes to full-on noise with ever-shifting rhythms, pace and moods.

Albany Sonic Arts Collective and soundBarn have most recently collaborated on a full-length performance of Rhys Chatham’s famed “Guitar Trio” with performances at Flywheel in Easthampton, Ma. and Saratoga Arts in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Performers include: Eric Hardiman (ASAC, Rambutan, Century Plants, Burnt Hills,) Ray Hare (ASAC, Century Plants, Fossils From the Sun, Burnt Hills,) Thomas Lail (soundBarn), Patrick Weklar(soundBarn), and Metroland Magazine’s “Best Retro-Futurist” of 2010, Holland Hopson (ASAC) and others… Accompanying visuals by Tara Fracalossi.

soundBarn is the experimental music duet of Thomas Lail and Patrick Weklar. The soundBarn is a project of artist/musician Thomas Lail and artist/gallerist Tara Fracalossi and is located on what was once Heald Orchards in Valatie, New York.
Albany Sonic Arts Collective is a grassroots organization located in and around Albany, NY dedicated to building a thriving community of listeners and performers of music that exists outside of traditional boundaries with a special emphasis on forms that stress freedom and exploration of new ideas.
For more information visit: soundbarn.blogspot.com albanysonicarts.blogspot.com
The soundBarn
330 Maple Lane
Valatie NY 12184
south driveway

ASAC + SoundBarn performing RHYS CHATHAM 11/20 !!

Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Trio at Saratoga Arts Center, Saturday, November 20

Saratoga Arts is partnering with soundBarn and Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) to present the full length version of Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Trio. The performance will be on Saturday, November 20, at 8pm in the theater at The Arts Center, 320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs.

Written in 1977, Guitar Trio is Rhys Chatham's signature composition. With a single, repeated chord, Guitar Trio (or G3 as it was later renamed to accommodate increased instrumentation of six to ten electric guitars) embodies an amalgamation of the textural intricacies of the avant-garde collided with the visceral punch of electric guitar-slinging punk rock. Chatham’s Guitar Trio created a new type of urban music. Raucous and ecstatic, the sound energized the downtown New York scene throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, prefigured the No Wave movement and cast a huge influence over the subsequent work of Chatham’s many protégés, including Glenn Branca and future members of Sonic Youth.

Accompanying the performance of G3 is the original visual projection Pictures for Music, created for the piece in 1977 by internationally known visual artist Robert Longo.

soundBarn and Albany Sonic Arts Collective will also perform Swallowtail for three or more electric guitars with electric bass and drums by Holland Hopson. Composed in 2010, Swallowtail is inspired by Guitar Trio and was written as a companion piece to Chatham's work to be performed by the ensemble on the same program.

The G3 ensemble includes: Thomas Lail, Tara Fracalossi, Patrick Weklar, Matt Ernst, Holland Hopson, Ray Hare, guitars; Eric Hardiman, bass; Matt Weston, drums.

The performance is the latest in a series of experimental and underground concerts Saratoga Arts has presented since 2007, when it received a large seed grant from the New York State Music Fund to present an ensemble headed by RPI's Neil Rolnick, John Cage's 5-hour multi-media piece HPSCHD, and other work.

More recently, Saratoga Arts has presented or co-presented with Albany Sonic Arts Collective or The Spring Street Gallery performances by the underground music collective Sunburned Hand of the Man, Ecstatic Peace! recording artists MV + EE and the Golden Road, and the Michael Flower-Chris Corsano Duo.

Albany Sonic Arts Collective is a grassroots organization located in and around Albany, NY dedicated to building a thriving community of listeners and performers of music that exists outside of traditional boundaries with a special emphasis on forms that stress freedom and exploration of new ideas. soundBarn is the experimental music duet of Thomas Lail and Patrick Weklar. The soundBarn is a project of artist/musician Thomas Lail and artist/gallerist Tara Fracalossi and is located on what was once Heald Orchards in Valatie, New York.

What: Rhys Chatham's Guitar Trio
Where: Saratoga Arts Center, 320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs
When: Saturday, November 20, 8pm
Cost: $5
For more information: (518) 584-4132 or www.saratoga-arts.org

image credits: Robert Longo, Pictures for Music

DRONE WITH US!!

DRONE ALONG: A Participatory Sonic Arts Event | Led by Holland Hopson

Thursday, November 11 | 7:00 pm | FREE!

The Arts Center of the Capital Region
265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Phone: (518) 273-0552


Whether you’re an experienced sound artist or an open-minded newbie, grab the soundmaker of your choice and join a community of those who make hypnotic and meditative sonic art. Those who just want to listen are welcome too!

This event is presented in partnership with Arts Center of the Capital Region.

We hope you can join us!

NEXT ASAC event is on OCT. 8th - JOIN US!

Robert Millis of the Climax Golden Twins will be joining us for a very special ASAC night. He'll be performing solo, and will also present a brand new SUBLIME FREQUENCIES film, called "This World is Unreal Like A Snake in a Rope". Also, we'll be hosting the first ASAC appearance by PARASHI!

Please join us for an incredible night of film and music.

THIS WORLD IS UNREAL LIKE A SNAKE IN A ROPE
...A film by Robert Millis (Sublime Frequencies)
55 minutes 2010

A collage of sights and sounds from the eternal never-ending collage that is INDIA. A trip through the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu featuring Hindu trance ceremonies, free jazz nagaswaram improvisations, impossibly loud cities, processions, devotion, blessings, color, abstractions, detail, music and more. India is impossible to know: it is too vast, too rich and too much of a dream. Offered here is one perspective, one dream, subjective and flawed, hanging by a thread. Robert Millis is a musician and artist, a founding member of Climax Golden Twins and AFCGT and a frequent contributor to the Sublime Frequencies and Dust-to-Digital record labels. His previous films include Phi Ta Khon: Ghosts of Isan and My Friend Rain and he was the co-author of Victrola Favorites released on Dust to Digital in 2008.

Here is a preview of the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iIpPPccNVc

PARASHI will also be playing a special set of music for the evening. Parashi is the solo project of Mike Griffin. Using microphones, pedals, tapes, synthesizers, guitar, metal bowl, washboard, tin box, tin whistle, noise generator, and more, Parashi is able to transport with his otherwordly noise-based improvisations. Not to be missed!

Read more:

SPYKES + RAMBUTAN + FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE + FOSSILS FROM THE SUN!!

We're incredibly excited to be hosting the amazing JOHN OLSON from WOLF EYES in solo format on Tuesday July 27th!!

Mark your calendars for this one and tell everyone you can. We'd definitely appreciate the help getting the word out.

SPYKES (John Olson solo - from Wolf Eyes, Dead Machines, Graveyards, American Tapes, etc)

FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE (Bill Kouligas from Berlin, also plays in Sudden Infant and runs the amazing PAN RECORDS)

RAMBUTAN (Eric Hardiman from Century Plants, Burnt Hills, Twilight of the Century, Tape Drift, etc)

FOSSILS FROM THE SUN (Ray Hare from Century Plants, Burnt Hills, Twilight of the Century, etc)

Tuesday July 27th
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY
8PM

See you there!

SATURDAY May 29th!

Saturday May 29th is our next ASAC event - we really hope you can make it out for this very special night!

PINE SMOKE LODGE (Portland, ME) - amazing and mysterious drone psych masterpieces
CRUUDEUCES (N. Adams, MA) - organic, deep improvised sounds
GRAB ASS COWBOYS (Albany) - intense noise masters


PINE SMOKE LODGE = Matt McKeever and Hillary Dickerson from Portland, Maine. From Stunned Records: "Together Pine Smoke Lodge summit snowy banks of acoustical drone in ever-ascendant strides of bowed & plucked strings, icicle bells & xylophone, and heat-generating vocal mantra. The trail they follow is never steep, but vista-revealing peaks are reached in good order. Bookended between two stretches of sparkling activity comes a middle passage where one feels the clock has frozen as solidly as the ground underfoot. Such moments of palpable harmonic stasis trickle throughout ‘Haligdaeg’, making the climb worth it every time.”

CRUUDEUCES = Nate Brennan from North Adams, MA. Nate's played ASAC before, when he dazzled with a clarinet and electronics set. It's anyone's guess what surprises Nate will pull out for this set, but we're sure it'll be amazing. Recent releases on Tape Drift and Kimberly Dawn Recordings, as well as live sets all over the Northeast. Not to be missed!

GRAB ASS COWBOYS = Jason, Christian, plus assorted others always deliver the noise goods at ASAC. We've seen them get impossibly better and better each time they perform, displaying increasing levels of instrumental and vocal prowess. Secret Albany treasures.

JEFFERSON PITCHER - Final ASAC performance (as a local, we hope he'll be back to visit). He's off to live in Canada, so come give a hearty farewell to this AMAZING guitarist. He has performed and recorded with many artists including Pauline Oliveros, Fred Frith, Ikue Mori, Okkyung Lee, Scott Amendola, Christian Kiefer, J. Matthew Gerken, Denison Witmer, Sarah Weaver, Mark Dresser, Mike Bullock, Tim Keiper, David Gibson, Kristina Forester, Ron Guensche & many more. He has twice found himself on NPR's All Things Considered and has been well reviewed by the likes of Pitchfork and Harp Magazine. While much of his work explores free improvisation he also draws heavily from his love for melody, the simplicity of minimalist composers, a long love of flamenco, and a history of performing and recording in the west coast indie-rock scene as a singer-songwriter, where he fronted the band Above the Orange Trees.


SEE YOU THERE!!!


Sat. May 29
8pm
UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY

$5 suggested donation for the touring performers.

SEE YOU THERE!

RIVER of DRONE II - Sunday May 16th!!

RIVER of DRONE II happens on Sunday May 16th at the SOUNDBARN in Valatie, NY.

SEVEN HOURS OF SOUND!!!! Many great performers/participants. Potluck food/drinks.

12 noon to 7pm

Good times assured!

Please email us for more details...

Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) and The soundBarn are proud to present River of Drone II: Seven Hours of Sound. A very special, long-form event, River of Drone II is a free, seven-hour, improvised sound performance from 12 noon – 7 pm on Sunday May 16 at The soundBarn, Valatie, NY.

River of DroneII: Seven Hours of Sound is a collective sonic improvisation that will unfold and develop unlike any ordinary concert. From quiet, peaceful soundscapes to full-on noise, the ever-shifting rhythm, pace and mood will evolve as the ebb and flow of performers, energy and instrumentation progresses through the seven hour performance.

Set in a former orchard cooler with views of the Catskill Mountains, The soundBarn is a uniquely suited location for visitors to lounge, listen and linger for an hour, a few minutes or the entire performance. The audience is encouraged to make themselves comfortable and to bring pillows, chairs, food and drink. Unlike a traditional concert setting, performers will be located throughout the venue and listeners are encouraged to move around, watch the accompanying video projections, wander in and out and discover new relationships to sound through immersion, reflection, deep listening, meditation, and concentration.

We hope you will join us to listen, meditate, self-hypnotize, bliss out-- or to simply enjoy a swim in the RIVER OF DRONE!

River of Drone II is a collaborative presentation of Albany Sonic Arts Collective and The soundBarn and will be presented at The soundBarn.

Featured musicians include: Jason Cosco, Matt Ernst, Tara Fracalossi, Eric Hardiman (Rambutan, Century Plants, Burnt Hills,) Ray Hare (Century Plants, Fossils From the Sun, Burnt Hills,) Holland Hopson, Thomas Lail (soundBarn,) Patrick Weklar (soundBarn) Matt Weston (Barn Owls), Mike Bullock, Linda Aubry Bullock, Mark Lunt, Chris Bassett, Jeremy Kelly, and many more special guests.
Videos by: Tara Fracalossi, Kyra Garrigue and more.

The soundBarn is a project of artist/musician Thomas Lail and artist Tara Fracalossi and is located on what was once Heald Orchards in Valatie, New York. The soundBarn is sited in a modern addition to the orchard’s 100 year old Dutch style barn. The cavernous, heavily insulated space served as the orchard’s cooler where apples and pears were over-wintered and chilled by the massive, still visible refrigeration system.


albanysonicarts at yahoo

thanks!

May 1 -- next ASAC show!!

Sat. May 1, 2010
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St. Albany
8pm - suggested donation of $5

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents the latest in its ongoing
series of new music performances with a triple-bill:

Ben Miller/Doug Van Nort Duo

Barn Owl

Shape Shifting Shepherds

JOIN US!!!

Sat. April 10th! at UAG on Lark St.

We really hope you can make it to this very special night of music!

Saturday April 10
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY

8pm
suggested donation $5

Defragmented: A concert of emergent systems
Featuring Marko Timlin and thenumber46 (Suzanne Thorpe + Philip White)

features Finnish- based composer/sound artist Marko Timlin alongside thenumber46, the collaborative effort of electro-acoustic flutist Suzanne Thorpe and electronic musician Philip White. Both Timlin and thenumber46 employ improvisation and non-linear analog systems to create music in which a delicate balance exists between the human and machine. A music at once intuitive and mechanical. Explosive and subdued. Violent and meditative.

Friday 3/19 - SISSY SPACEK and more!

Friday 3/19 at the ever amazing UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD in Albany:

SISSY SPACEK (featuring John Wiese)
GERRITT WITMER & PAUL KNOWLES
TWILIGHT OF THE CENTURY (Mike Bullock/Linda Aubry Bullock/Ray Hare/Eric Hardiman)
GRAB ASS COWBOYS
BUDDY COPS

7pm doors
$5 suggested donation
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY

Hope to see you there!

MARCH 14th - next ASAC show!

VIC RAWLINGS/BRYAN EUBANKS/CHRIS COGBURN

plus

JONATHAN CHEN

Sunday March 14th
8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY

$5 suggested donation

Will be a GREAT show, hope you can make it!

Sat. 2/13

Not an official ASAC event, but we hope you'll come out for this regardless! And don't worry - ASAC will be in FULL SWING shortly!