Albany Sonic Arts Collective

HUGE EVENT to HELP SAVE the UAG!!!

2012-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

JOIN US FOR THIS INCREDIBLE EVENT!!!

To help save the Upstate Artists’ Guild, an essential resource for the Capital Region’s art and music scenes, the Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) is proud to present a showcase event, featuring an array of local performers in the Albany area’s improvised and experimental music world. Now in its 5th year of programming exciting and innovative music in the Capital Region, the Albany Sonic Arts Collective wants to officially thank and give back to the Upstate Artists Guild, which has so generously helped support and develop the local music community.

Sunday January 29th, 2012
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St. Albany, NY
4:00PM - 10:00PM
$5 suggested donation.

All donations at the door, and all proceeds from merchandise sales will benefit the Upstate Artists Guild!! Special raffles/doorprizes too!

On Sunday January 29th at 4PM sharp, ASAC will present an extravaganza of local experimental music talent in new and fascinating configurations.

Highlights will include:

* Century Plants performing Spacemen 3’s DREAMWEAPON in its entirety

* Jason Cosco & Asa Morris premiering a new duo project, CONTINENTS

* Holland Hopson transforming the gallery’s front windows into loudspeakers

* Pete Edwards (Casper Electronics)

* Nonhorse (G. Lucas Crane)

* Parashi

* Jefferson Pitcher

* Shape Shifting Shepherds

* soundBarn

* Matt Weston both solo and with Insect Posse

* Plus surprise guests!

Video projections by 1983 (Jason Cosco) will be displayed during the event.

Facing a financial challenge in the coming year, the UAG is in danger of losing its current gallery space. UAG president Rebecca Schoonmaker Finnen has issued a call for support: “We need to generate a continuous flow of money from as many sources as possible so that our organization can continue to keep a roof over its head.”

ASAC and UAG have worked together since 2007 to provide a regular space for audiences to experience a wide range of musical styles not represented by other area venues. Some of the many memorable performers ASAC has brought to Albany include:
- Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore
- legendary music critic Byron Coley
- former member of 70s punk pioneers Destroy All Monsters, Ben Miller
- former member of the Cecil Taylor Unit, trumpeter & composer Arthur Brooks
- acoustic guitar virtuoso Jack Rose
- Chinese sound artist Yan Jun
In November of 2008, ASAC and UAG hosted the marathon River of Drone, producing a continuous 12-hour drone of sound.

About the Albany Sonic Arts Collective:
The Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) is a grassroots organization dedicated to building a thriving community of listeners and performers of music that exists outside of traditional boundaries. The Collective supports a wide variety of music and sonic art forms, with an emphasis on those that stress freedom and exploration of new ideas. Styles include free improvisation, drone, noise, electroacoustic improvisation, electronic music, avant jazz, and many others. ASAC have been presenting regularly since November 2007. The Albany Times Union called ASAC a “sonic bright spot” of the Capital District arts scene. In 2011 ASAC celebrated the 99th birthday of composer John Cage, with 99 consecutive performances of Cage’s seminal “silent” composition 4’ 33” followed by an evening length performance of Cage’s music.

Sunday January 29th, 2012
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St. Albany, NY
4:00PM - 10:00PM
Donations at the door and proceeds from merchandise sales to benefit the Upstate Artists Guild

5 Acts: An Evening of Experimental Music at the soundBarn

2011-12-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

The soundBarn presents:

5 ACTS -- An evening of experimental music.
Sunday Dec 11 8pm suggested donation $8/$5 students

The soundBarn in Valatie, NY is pleased to present an evening of experimental music featuring Valerie Kuehne, Paul Pinto, Jeffrey Young, Century Plants and soundBarn from New York City and the Capital Region.

"Electrically-charged virtuoso of all-purpose cello," Valerie Kuehne from New York City performs a musical collage for cello and voice of dark and comedic vignettes about shopping, food, and drugs. http://dreamzoo.bandcamp.com/.

Paul Pinto performs For Stefanos Tsigrimanis , an elegy scored for two turntables, voice, guitar and electronics for Pinto’s friend and collaborator whose life was cut short after a bicycle accident in September 2010. Paul Pinto is a composer, vocalist and founding artistic director of thingNY in New York City. http://pfpinto.com/forstefanos

Jeffrey Young premiers a new set of alternatively energetic and deeply meditative work for violin, voice, and live electronics. Young is a composer and violinist from Brooklyn, NY who specializes in experimental classical and rock music. www.jeffrey-young.com

Century Plants are the Albany-based experimental guitar duo of Eric Hardiman and Ray Hare who have been described as “part raging metallic clang by way of the holy Shred, part meditative feedbacking in total Zen style.” Century Plants are highly regarded in the international underground noise/psych/rock/drone scene and have released music on labels from all over the globe. http://www.myspace.com/centuryplants

soundBarn has been mining the possibilities of extreme guitar for years. Thomas Lail and Patrick Weklar ply prepared and altered guitars, overprocess signals and pile loops of sound to orchestrate an arching instrumental tale of creation and destruction. www.soundbarn.blogspot.com

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. The soundBarn has recently initiated soundBarn Press and now publishes limited editions of poetry and experimental writing. Forthcoming publications include poetry by musician/artist/writer and founding member of rock band Sonic Youth Lee Ranaldo and poetry/writings by artist James Cullinane.

For more directions and more information visit: soundbarn.blogspot.com

SAT. Nov. 12th in Saratoga!

2011-11-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

Join us for this special event - a rare performance by LOCATION ENSEMBLE! If you're not sure what that means, read below, and think "ecstatic and hypnotic massed guitar orchestra" and you'll be close.

LOCATION ENSEMBLE with video projection by 1983.

Performing works by: HOLLAND HOPSON, ERIC HARDIMAN, THOMAS LAIL, and VALERIAN MALY

Saturday, November 12, at 8pm
The Arts Center, 320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY
$8 / $5 for students and members of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective

LOCATION ENSEMBLE, a supergroup sprung from the Capital Region's underground music scene and comprised of seven guitarists, bass player and drummer, will perform a program of original compositions and a new classic of experimental sound art at The Arts Center in Saratoga Springs on Saturday, November 12. The musical program will be accompanied by the projections created live by digital/video artist 1983.

In 2010 sonic experimenters soundBarn and Albany Sonic Arts Collective joined forces to perform at Saratoga Springs' Arts Center and two other venues Rhys Chatham's fabled Guitar Trio (1977), a swirling mass of sound where minimalism met punk rock and changed the state of music by ushering in the art-noise-rock scene of the early 1980's. With the last chords still ringing, soundBarn and Albany Sonic Arts members decided to make the group a semi-permanent performing unit and christened the project 'LOCATION ENSEMBLE'.

LOCATION ENSEMBLE has recently expanded its repertoire, serving as the core of two performances of John Cages's Imaginary Landscapes IV, scored for twelve AM radios.

On November 12, LOCATION ENSEMBLE sets aside their radios to pick up their guitars, bass and drums once again. This time the ensemble will perform new works by members Eric Hardiman, Holland Hopson and Thomas Lail with an expanded score of Valerian Maly's Electric Guitar II.

Valerian Maly (Born Switzerland 1959) is a composer, performer and music director of experimental theater. His projects include collaborations with John Cage, David Tudor and Alvin Lucier. Influenced by the Fluxus-artists, Maly’s Electric Guitar II (1994) employs electric guitar & champagne as a form of trauma therapy; a response to the musical education of a Swiss conservatory. Maly lives and works in Bern, Switzerland.

For this show, LOCATION ENSEMBLE will include:

Tara Fracalossi - guitar
Ray Hare - guitar
Howard Glassman - guitar
Holland Hopson - guitar
Thomas Lail - guitar
Jason Martin - guitar
Patrick Weklar- guitar
Eric Hardiman - bass & guitar
Matt Weston - drums

Video projections to accompany this concert will be provided by 1983 (Jason Cosco), an Albany based noise and video artist, co-founder of the Upstate Artist Guild, and a member of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective.

ASAC show on Sept. 25th!!

2011-09-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

The Albany Sonic Arts and the Arts Center of the Capital Region co-present

Doug Van Nort / Al Margolis duo and Mysterybear (Dave Seidel) / Julia Alsarraf

Sunday 9/25 @ 2pm
The Arts Center of the Capital Region
265 River Street
Troy NY
$5 suggested donation

The duo of Al Margolis (If, Bwana) and Doug Van Nort utilizes two distinct approaches to manipulating sampled material, grabbing one another's sound on the fly and forming an endless feedback loop of re-imagined sonic identities. The result is a rich palette of sound informed by classic electronic composition, minimalist drone works, and modern noise music. "Structure to chaos, drone to acoustic collages..."

Doug Van Nort is an experimental musician whose work explores the sculpting and radical transformation of his sonic environment, as well as interaction with/through machines. His instruments are custom-built electro-acoustic systems and digital processes, with an ear towards noise, immersion and free improvisation. Van Nort performs solo and in the trio Triple Point with Pauline Oliveros and Jonas Braasch, and has collaborated recently with others including Francisco López, Stuart Dempster, Chris Chafe, Al Margolis, Ben Miller, Anne Bourne, Sarah Weaver and Judy Dunaway. Recordings of his music can be found on Deep Listening and Pogus among other labels, and his writing has recently appeared in Organised Sound and the Leonardo Music Journal. Van Nort is currently research associate in music at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

If, Bwana was born on New Year's Eve 1984, making music that has swung between fairly spontaneous studio constructions and more process-oriented composition. A recent review of Margolis's work says: "Let it be declared that Al Margolis/If, Bwana is some sort of evil genius working with raw materials which are never adapted to a genre or a context, because they create one in that very moment. Those sources are radically altered up to an utterly unrecognizable state, anarchic manifestations moving in compact determination." (Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes) www.ifbwana.com

Dave Seidel is a composer/performer based in southern New Hampshire who works with electronics in both live-improvised and composed idioms, usually under the name mysterybear. As a guitarist, he participated in the downtown New York music scene in the 1980s, most notably as a member of Scott Johnson’s and Lois V Vierk’s ensembles and in the bands La Guapa Papa and People Falling, performing at venues including CBGB, Danceteria, Mudd Club, The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop and Alice Tully Hall. His premiere recordings of Vierk’s "Go Guitars" and "Red Shift" were released on the XI and Tzadik labels, respectively, and he appears on Guy Klucevsek’s album "Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse".

JOHN CAGE 99 !!!

2011-08-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

September 10, 2011

The Arts Center of the Capital Region is pleased to partner with Albany Sonic Arts Collective to present a celebration of John Cage, one of the most influential American composers.

John Cage, one of the most influential American composers, was a man so ahead of his time, that it is only appropriate to celebrate his centennial on his 99th Birthday. The occasion will be celebrated with 99 consecutive performances of his classic work for silent musicians, 4’33”, played by members of the community throughout the day on Saturday, September 10th. In addition, artists will perform John Cage’s music and writings at an 8PM concert.

We need your help to play all 99 performances of 4′33″! If you would like to participate, please email cage91011@gmail.com to reserve a time slot. Participants are welcome to bring their own instruments or use The Art Center’s piano.

The free ongoing performance of 4’33” will begin at 9AM in The Arts Center lobby and continue until approximately 6PM. The concert, which begins at 8PM, cost $10 for members of The Arts Center and Albany Sonic Arts Collective, and $12 for general admission.

Participating artists:

Michael Century
Justin Friello
David Gibson
Holland Hopson
Julie Kabbat
Thomas Lail
Location Ensemble plus special guests
Melissa St. Pierre

Sunday Aug. 21st - ASAC returns!

2011-08-01T13:21:00.001-07:00

NOTE THE DATE CHANGE...

Sunday 8/21 at the UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD

ELI KESZLER

BENJAMIN NELSON

SHAPE SHIFTING SHEPHERDS

NOT THE WIND NOT THE FLAG

Upstate Artists Guild
8pm start
247 Lark St. Albany, NY
$5 suggested donation for touring performers.

More info on the performers:

ELI KESZLER is a composer/multi-instrumentalist based in Providence, Rhode Island. He primarily uses percussion, bowed crotales, guitar as well as invented instruments (his harps which use strings and motors) to create his sound that balances droning harmonics with shattering acoustic sustain and fast, free rhythm, all working in balance with his integrated installations.

In addition to his solo releases, installations, visual art and performances, Eli has performed, recorded or collaborated with artists such as Phill Niblock (performing on a new work of his for Crotales and soprano saxophone with Ashley Paul), Aki Onda, Loren Connors, Jandek (I.C.A Boston and at NYU), Roscoe Mitchell (Art Ensemble of Chicago), Anthony Coleman (recording Lapidation released by New World Records), Joe Morris, Greg Kelley (Nmperign), T Model Ford, Ran Blake, Bryan Eubanks, Ashley Paul and Steve Pyne (Redhorse). He performed in the United States premiere of Mauricio Kagel’s Der Schall at Merkin Hall in 2008 led by Anthony Coleman.

He has toured internationally finishing a 6-week European tour in December of 2009, performing at Colour Out Of Space Festival in Brighton England as well as Sound-Body-Movement in Ostrave in the Czech Republic. In addition to performing over 25 other gigs in England, France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Serbia.

"Perhaps it’s merely personal, but I’m deeply moved by many of the aural and visual elements present in Eli Keszler’s music. This new LP, on the venerable ESP-Disk label, is a new high, a work of art that is as conceptually strong as it is well executed. Combining explorations of musique concrete and machine music with a sure compositional ear, and incorporating subtle elements of free improv, “Oxtirn” creates some extraordinarily unique and compelling musical architecture." Foxy Digitalis 9/10

BENJAMIN NELSON is a Boston based electronic musician. Performed primarily on modular synthesizer, Nelson’s music is focused on reduction and detail, using long forms and slow development, gradually revealing inner rhythmic oscillations and shifting overtones. While informed by many classic minimalist traditions, Nelson seeks to overcome the sterile and anti-emotional trapping often associated with such music. Personal as process.

Benjamin Nelson is also a co-curator of the Non-Event concert series. He has performed throughout the US and Europe sharing bills with a wide variety of acts such as Giancarlo Toniutti, C Spencer Yeh, Whitehouse, and others. New recordings are due out this summer on Intransitive Recording’s Songs From Under The Floorboards, and Keith Fullerton Whitman’s NO label.

SHAPE SHIFTING SHEPHERDS delve into many realms of sonic exploration. Since 2002, they have made hundreds of live and studio recordings utilizing electronic and acoustic instruments modified by an array of analogue and digital effects, tape loops, samples, stompboxes, and rhythms. They tailor every performance to adapt to each venue often using visual elements.

http://www.myspace.com/556092865

From Canada, dynamic duo Colin Fisher and Brandon Valdiva work as Not the Wind Not the Flag. Together, they deliver improvisational music inspired by everything from free-jazz to post-hardcore to the folk traditions of Bali and West Africa.

Holland Hopson "Post and Beam" CD release party

2011-06-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

We hope you can join us for this great event. In conjunction with the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, we're happy to be announcing the CD release event for Holland Hopson's new release, "Post and Beam". Trust us, it's a fantastic disc. And, even better - In exchange for your admission to the concert, you'll receive a copy of the CD itself! Also playing will be Matthew Carefully and Century Plants.

MONDAY JUNE 13 at 8pm
HOLLAND HOPSON CD release party
with
MATTHEW CAREFULLY
CENTURY PLANTS

The Arts Center of the Capital Region
265 River Street, Troy, NY
$10 admission includes Post & Beam CD!

www.artscenteronline.org

518.273.0552

TWO EVENTS this weekend!!

2011-05-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

FIRST UP:

Albany Sonic Arts Collective and The soundBarn present:

RIVER OF DRONE III

11am – 4pm on Sunday May 22 at The soundBarn, Valatie, NY.

Albany Sonic Arts Collective and The soundBarn are pleased to present River of Drone III a free, long-form sound performance that will center on the extended sounds of drone and will develop through a five-hour performance.
This year will mark the third annual River of Drone and the second Drone collaboration between Albany Sonic Arts and The soundBarn.
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. 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.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
We hope you will join us to listen, meditate, bliss out-- or to simply enjoy a swim in the RIVER OF DRONE!

For more information visit: soundbarn.blogspot.com

The soundBarn
330 Maple Lane
Valatie NY 12184
south driveway

SECOND UP:

They Undulate When Struck By Light
an evening of poetry and music colliding

BILL SHUTE/PARASHI

CENTURY PLANTS with PHIL DONNELLY

CRUUDEUCES

Come on out to UAG in Albany to witness a collision of poetry and improvised sound! Parashi will open the evening with a short blast of noisy wandering. Poet Bill Shute (the head of Kendra Steiner Editions label) will read some of his work, and will then be joined by Sandra Burgess and Parashi for a collaborative set. Century Plants and Burnt Hills drummer Phil Donnelly are slated to follow, bringing out their amazing slow-burning psych drones, and then Cruudeuces' thunderous noisescapes will finish things off for the night's end. Don't miss it!

Bill Shute is an American poet who runs the Kendra Steiner Edtions label as a place to put out adventurous music along with equally challenging poetry.

Century Plants are the duo of Eric Hardiman and Ray Hare; they have released material on such labels as Ikuisuus, Tape Drift, Abandon Ship, and Carbon. They can also be found playing with Burnt Hills and in their respective solo projects of Rambutan and Fossils from the Sun. Phil Donnelly is part of the percussive engine behind psych lords Burnt Hills.

Cruudeuces is Nathaniel Brennan, head of the Ghetto Naturalist Series cassette label. Cruudeuces have released material on Kimberly Dawn, GNS, and Tape Drift.

Parashi is the solo project of Mike Griffin; releases in 2011 have been on Stunned Records, Kendra Steiner Editions, and Ghetto Naturalist Series.

Doors will open at 7.30, music will begin around 8.

Monday, May 23
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark Street
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

RECENT VIDEO EXCERPTS from ASAC shows!

2011-05-07T11:00:00.001-07:00

ID M THEFT ABLE:

BLOOD STEREO:

ASAC show on THURSDAY 5/5!!!

2011-05-03T05:19:00.000-07:00

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents a very special appearance by the Arthur Brooks Ensemble V. Trumpeter-composer Brooks is one of the unsung heroes of the new music, and has worked with Bill Dixon, William Parker, Sonny Sharrock, Alan Silva, Cecil Taylor, and Frank Wright, among others. For this performance, he will be joined by bassist Anthony Santor and percussionist Matt Weston.

ASAC presents:

The Arthur Brooks Ensemble V
Id M Theft Able
Fleshtone Aura

Thurs. May 5th
8pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, New York

The Arthur Brooks Ensemble V
http://www.7dvt.com/2010arthur-brooks-ensemble-v

PLUS from Portland, ME:

id m theft able
http://www.kraag.org/id/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MesgVgfzDnE&feature=related

Fleshtone Aura
http://andrewzukerman.blogspot.com/2011/03/fleshtone-aura.html

There is a $5 suggested donation for the concert.

Hope to see you there!

2011-03-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

ALBANY SONIC ARTS COLLECTIVE presents...

BLOOD STEREO (Brighton, England)

BILL NACE (Northampton, MA)

1983 (Albany, NY)

Tuesday April 12
Doors 7:30; show 8:00
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
$5 suggested donation

ASAC is excited to announce our next event, a rare US visit by Brighton England’s diy/indie legends, Blood Stereo. Blood Stereo is playing a special performance at Oberlin College and is playing only a handful of US dates so we’re particularly excited by their visit! Complementing Blood Stereo will be Bill Nace, Northampton, MA guitarist extraordinaire, last in Albany with Thurston Moore, as Northampton Wools. 1983 is Jason Cosco an Albany noiseician and video artist solo project.

More information on the performers:

Dylan Nyoukis's work exists on the fringe of contemporary avant garde art and underground DIY, and he is a leading light in the UK's tape/CD-R scene, both as a performer and proprietary of the Chocolate Monk label. He has collaborated with artists as diverse as Ludo Mich, Chris Corsano, Thurston Moore, Sun City Girls, Bill Nace (natch!), Heather Leigh Murray, Phil Minton, Neil Campbell, Usurper and Wolf Eyes.

Blood Stereo, is an English duo of Dylan Nyoukis, and his wife, the musician and artist Karen Constance, that combines diy technology and the human voice creating a non-idiomatic sound where the human and material collide. Byron Coley described Blood Stereo as:

“a pair of ill-kempt roosters, fighting over a doughnut. The guy rooster is jibbering in some unknown tongue, turning his face inside out, while shoving the microphone slowly through a hole in his cheek. The girl rooster appears to be pecking at him, either that or she's picking at various trash they have strewn around the stage.”

Wonder what that sounds like? Come on and find out!!

Bill Nace is a musician based in Northampton, MA, who last visited us with Thurston Moore as Northampton Wools. Bill’s effected/treated guitar work is pure improv freedom through a lens of total control that never fails to astound. In addition to Thurston Moore, Bill has collaborated with innumerable artists including Chris Cooper, Paul Flaherty, Kim Gordon, Jooklo Duo, Chris Corsano, Jake Meginsky and John Truscinski.

1983 is Jason Cosco, an Albany based noise and video artist, UAG board member, and ASAC member. Jason’s performances are physical affairs where the body invariably becomes instrument. You can’t be sure what Jason will break out but don’t be surprised if pedals, mics, cymbals, turntables, bells and various other plastics and metals make an appearance!

www.albanysonicarts.blogspot.com
Contact information for this event: Eric Hardiman, Albany Sonic Arts Collective. Email: albanysonicarts@yahoo.com

Yan Jun & Weston-Godston Duo on 3/24!!

2011-03-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Yan Jun & the Matt Weston – Dan Godston Duo

1st set: Yan Jun -- electronics

2nd set: Matt Weston – Dan Godston Duo
Matt Weston -- percussion
Dan Godston -- trumpet, small instruments

Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY
8:00 pm start
$5.00 suggested donation

Yan Jun uses feedback noise in his concerts. He also engages in field recording, site-specific sound art, voice, writing and publishing. He is the founder of Sub Jam/Kwanyin Records, which runs the weekly event Waterland Kwanyin (2005-2010) and annual festival Mini Midi.
http://www.yanjun.org/

Dan Godston teaches, composes music, and plays the trumpet and other instruments in Chicago. He works with the Borderbend Arts Collective to make the annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival happen. Chicago Calling provides opportunities for Chicago based artists to collaborate with artists living in other locations around the world.
http://dangodston.bandcamp.com/

Matt Weston plays percussion and electronics, and has worked with Arthur Brooks, Bill Dixon, Kevin Drumm and, most recently, has collaborated with Century Plants.
http://www.mattweston.com/

http://www.yanjun.org/
http://www.mattweston.com/
http://dangodston.bandcamp.com/
http://www.upstateartistsguild.org/

DRONE with us!!

2011-03-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

The Arts Center of the Capital Region and Albany Sonic Arts Collective present:

Drone-A-Long

Wednesday March 9th | 7:00 pm | FREE!
Arts Center of the Capital Region
265 River Street
Troy NY 12180

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!

Wikipedia defines drone music as “a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters…” This event is presented in partnership with Albany Sonic Arts Collective.

The drone will be led by Ray Hare and Eric Hardiman of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective.

ASAC returns with DEEP FREEZE on FEB. 19th!!

2011-02-01T08:21:00.000-08:00

Saturday Feb. 19th will mark the return of ASAC to the Upstate Artists Guild on Lark St. in Albany, with a very special night:

DEEP FREEZE: Experimental Music for Snowy Times

ASAC will be celebrating its first concert of 2011 with performances by some of the Capital Region's most exciting experimental musicians including Century Plants with Matt Weston, Holland Hopson, SoundBarn and Insect Posse.

DEEP FREEZE: Experimental Music for Snowy Times

HOLLAND HOPSON
CENTURY PLANTS with MATT WESTON
SOUNDBARN
INSECT POSSE

Plus: LIVE VIDEO PROJECTIONS by MIKE BULLOCK & LINDA AUBRY BULLOCK!!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19
8:00 PM
UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD (UAG)
247 LARK STREET ALBANY, NY
$5 SUGGESTED DONATION

About Century Plants:
ASAC members Eric Hardiman and Ray Hare have been collaborating for years as Century Plants, utilizing voice, guitar, and complex electronics setups to create haunting, evocative works. For this performance, they will be joined by Matt Weston on percussion and electronics, sure to add a new layer of intrigue.
For more information http://www.myspace.com/centuryplants and http://www.mattweston.com/

About Holland Hopson:
Named by Metroland as the area's "Best Retro-Futurist," composer Holland Hopson will present a set of his typically challenging work in a rare solo appearance on soprano saxophone and electronics. Holland is preparing for an upcoming three week residency with composer and live electronics pioneer David Behrman at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna, Florida.
For more information http://hollandhopson.com

About SoundBarn:
soundBarn (Thomas Lail and Patrick Weklar) use heavily processed and prepared guitar to construct ad-hoc compositions that span the space from spare, minimal soundscapes to full-on noise with ever-shifting rhythms, pace and moods. soundBarn has recently collaborated with Albany Sonic Arts Collective on full-length performances of Rhys Chatham’s famed “Guitar Trio” as well as performances at The soundBarn—a project of artist/musician Lail and artist/gallerist Tara Fracalossi located on what
was once Heald Orchards in Valatie, New York. Lail formerly performed with the experimental trio Lukomski/Majer/Lail whose improvised sound Metroland weekly recommended "for those who are turned way on by the gloriously weird guitarscapes of Sonic Youth’s late ’90s SYR recordings, or the
dreamy, sometimes atonal soundwaves of Hovercraft…” Both Lail and Weklar were founding members of the long-ago Albany post-punk band The Fauves.
For more information http://www.soundbarn.blogspot.com

About Insect Posse:
Insect Posse are the prolific and inscrutable Mark Lunt and Chris Bassett, purveyors of noisy yet hypnotic hymns to other worlds of nothingness.
For more information http://www.myspace.com/insectposse

There is a suggested donation of $5.00 for admission to support ASAC and UAG.

SEE YOU THERE!

ASAC show @ the SOUNDBARN on 12/4 !!

2010-11-29T20:55:00.001-08:00

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 !!

2010-11-15T06:14:00.000-08:00

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!!

2010-11-04T20:48:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-09-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

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:

2010-07-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-05-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-04-21T03:55:00.001-07:00

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.

2010-03-25T05:14:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-03-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-03-04T05:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-07T20:23:00.001-08:00

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!

2009-12-05T14:29:00.001-08:00

Saturday 11.21 at UAG!

2009-11-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

SAT. 10/24 - GREAT SHOW!

2009-10-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Hope you can all make it out for this one. It's going to be a stellar night of music and fun.

IMPORTANT -- NOTE THE LINEUP CHANGE!!!

BEN MILLER / MATT WESTON DUO
ANDY CRESPO/JEFFERSON PITCHER DUO
SAM SOWYDRA
CRUUDEUCES

Sat. OCTOBER 24th at 8PM
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY
$5 suggested donation

Ben Miller plays sax and analog electronics and was formerly in legendary Michigan group Destroy All Monsters.

Matt Weston lives in Albany and is a member of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective. He's an amazing percussionist.

Andy Crespo is from Western MA. and plays in Barn Owl with Matt (and Chris Cooper). Andy will split your mind wide open with his bass playing.

Jefferson Pitcher lives in Troy and is an accomplished guitarist who has released albums on a variety of labels with collaborators Christian Kiefer, J. Matthew Gerken, and others.

Sam Sowydra recently moved to Albany. He is a percussionist and multi-instrumentalist who also performs as part of Baltimore musician Dan Deacon's ensemble.

Cruudeuces is the solo project of Nathaniel Brennan of North Adams, MA. He has also recorded with Twin Beds, and has a slew of releases about to drop on all sorts of labels.

This is going to be an EXCELLENT night of great music - hope you can make it! Email if you have any questions at all.

October events!!

2009-10-02T21:05:00.001-07:00

First of all, MANY thanks to everyone who came out to Proctor's for the Faust/Century Plants/Holland Hopson event. It was a great great night.

Two quick ASAC announcements for our next events in October:

1) On Tuesday October 13, Holland Hopson and other ASAC members will lead a collective participatory drone from 8pm to 10pm at the Arts Center in Troy. 256 River St. Bring an instrument or a noisemaker and join us for some hypnotic drone making. Or just come and listen and enjoy.

2) On Saturday October 24th, we'll be hosting a show at the amazing Upstate Artists Guild (247 Lark St. in Albany).

BEN MILLER / MATT WESTON duo (Ben was in Destroy All Monsters, Matt is in Barn Owl)
EXPO 70 (Kansas City epic drone shredders)
ANDY CRESPO / RON SCHNEIDERMAN duo (Andy from Barn Owl, Ron from Sunburned Hand of the Man)

Promises to be another exceptional night of great music in Albany, featuring both local and travelling performers. More descriptive words soon, but for now, just mark your calendars - it's a "do not miss" kind of night...

be seeing you!

ASAC and Proctor's bring you FAUST with CENTURY PLANTS and HOLLAND HOPSON!

2009-08-20T11:36:00.001-07:00

Wednesday Sept. 30th - ASAC, in conjunction with Proctor's Theater in Schenectady, is proud to present F A U S T, the original krautrock legends from the early 1970s in Germany. Even better, ASAC's own CENTURY PLANTS and HOLLAND HOPSON will be opening the show. This is going to be a very special night, at the GE Theater in Proctor's, and we hope you'll all be there!!!!

Tues. Aug. 11th -next show!

2009-08-04T10:43:00.001-07:00

REMINDER - show tomorrow night!!! And as an extra special incentive, mystery group BLACK CHALK have been added to the bill. Don't miss this one!

An amazing night of music, presented by the Albany Sonic Arts Collective:

TUESDAY AUG. 11th
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY
8pm
$5 suggested donation

ELI KESZLER & ASHLEY PAUL
and
PEAKING LIGHTS

More scoop here:

ELI KESZLER AND ASHLEY PAUL.
Keszler is a percussionist/multi-instrumentalist/composer, and Paul plays sax and clarinet. Together their duo is garnering widespread praise for a brand newly released duo LP. Having spent the last 3 years performing all over the northeast, they have developed a unique sound, combining the piercing high pitched resonance of Keszler's bowed crotales and cymbals with altissimo sustains and drastic pitch bends of Paul's alto saxophone and clarinet. The split tone combinations from these instruments is surprising and overwhelming, creating continuous, multi-layered, dense, shifting harmonics and intense inner-ear sound. Spinning discs, invented resonating metal configurations, bending reed tones, and voice interference carefully blend, creating a wild texture that is both harsh and striking . This is contrasted with Paul's guttural string attacks, which meet the rapid-fire movement of Keszler's low end bowed cymbals and jittery crash.

PEAKING LIGHTS features husband and wife duo Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis from Madison, WI. They've played in many other bands, but as Peaking Lights, their music has been described as avant-pop drone psychedelia, and live they are mesmerizing. A review of their recent LP says, "Sparks fly in the form of warm fuzz and soft melodies when Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis work through marital bliss. Existing in the open space between the parallel of primordial instinct and the delicate creation, Peaking Lights call on psychedelia’s most potent qualities as it floats through 7 mysterious tracks. "Imaginary Falcons" draws from the distorted pop of Wavves and Times New Viking — and in much the same way those entities wrap those garage-based trappings around saccharine pop and beachside lullabyes, Coyes and Dunis work muzzled magic enveloping their Casio tones, monochromatic drones, and blissed-out synth with the power of lo-fi static and bass heavy production. “Silver Tongues, Soft Whispers” rains down like droplets of Quasi; lightly patterned keystrokes given a Hammond B3 treatment in part due to the low frequency in which it is recorded. “New News” is a slow burner; refusing to climax despite a careful build up of white noise squalls and lackadaisical keyboard pokes.
Never do Coyes and Dunis weigh down their at-home operation by trying to cram too much into each track, allowing their minimal DIY to flourish in simplicity rather than drown in excess.

JOIN US!!!

Saturday July 25th - next show!!

2009-06-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, July 25th, three sets will be presented, from local jazz experimentalists The Synapse Brothers, new Albany resident and amazing percussionist Matt Weston, and San Francisco sound artist Matt Davignon.

The Synapse Brothers (Albany/Great Barrington/Los Angeles)
Matt Weston (Albany)
Matt Davignon (San Francsisco)

Saturday, July 25
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St. $5 suggested donation

More information on the performers:
The Synapse Brothers fuse together elements of electroacoustic music with improvised jazz and funk. Bob Gluck on the keyboard and electronics and John Myers playing guitars and MIDI-guitar will play live. They will be virtually accompanied by sound designer Pat Gleeson’s (Herbie Hancock, Charles Earland, Apocalypse Now) lustrous beats and sounds. Bob is well known for his presence on the local jazz scene. His repertoire spans jazz performance both acoustic and with electronics and free improvisation, avant-garde concert music and music for electronic expansions of acoustical instruments, including the ram¹s horn, Disklavier (computer-assisted piano) and Turkish baglama saz. Bob Gluck is Associate Professor of Music and Director of the University at Albany Electronic Music Studio. John Myers directs the jazz program for Bard College at Simon's Rock, in Great Barrington, MA.

Matt Weston has recently relocated to Albany, and we couldn't be luckier to have such an incredible musician in our midst. Matt plays percussion and electronics, and has performed throughout the US and in Europe. He has appeared on CNN, VH1, and CBS TV. He has studied and/or collaborated with Arthur Brooks, Bill Dixon, Kevin Drumm, Milford Graves, William Parker, Jack Wright and others. He has recorded for the Tautology, Sachimay, Breaking World Records, Imvated, Crank Satori, BoxMedia, and Drag City labels. He currently records for the new 7272music label. In addition to his solo work, Weston is a member of Barn Owl (with guitarist Chris Cooper and bassist Andy Crespo); and is guitarist with Thrillpillow (with guitarist/vocalist Plum Crane, bassist/vocalist Maggie Nowinski, and drummer James Z).

Matt Davignon is an experimental musician living in Oakland, California. Since 1993, he has developed his own unique style of music, which focuses largely on textures, arrhythmic patterns and musical imperfections. Since 2004, he has been working almost exclusively with a drum machine. Instead of using it as a rhythm device, he plays the pads manually while processing the sounds through an array of effects devices and samplers, improvising music made of organic-sounding textures, hums, gurgles and crackles. Matt is also a member of the Crank Ensemble, and is the founder of the Pmocatat Ensemble. He's active in organizing experimental & unusual music performances in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to being responsible for such events as The San Francisco Found Objects Festival, and regular DroneShift concerts, he’s one of the curators for the Luggage Store Gallery Experimental Music Series.

Other upcoming ASAC-related events, also at the UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD on 247 Lark St. in Albany:

Aug. 11 - Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul

SEE YOU THERE!

photos from TAPE CHANTS

2009-06-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

All photos by Bryan Thomas - thanks!

ASAC weekend = June 19th AND 20th!!

2009-06-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

Just announced... Now you can spend both weekend nights at ASAC on Friday June 19th (TAPE CHANTS, see post below for details), and Saturday June 20th (SUBLIME FREQUENCIES, see below). We'd love to see you twice of course, and both of these nights are going to be spectacular. Both are rare local opportunities to see high caliber traveling musicians and filmmakers. See you there!!

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES Film Screening at ASAC/UAG
Sat. June 20th
8PM - $5 donation
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY

Albany Sonic Arts Collective is proud to present a night of film screenings, rare and unusual 78rpm records from around the globe, presentation, and discussion, featuring:

IAN NAGOSKI (Black Mirror/Canary Records/Mississippi Records)

ROBERT MILLIS (Climax Golden Twins/Victrola Favorites/Sublime Frequencies)

Rare and unseen Sublime Frequencies (www.sublimefrequencies.com) films will be screened, with the director in attendance (so you can blame him!)

INDIA AT 78rpm
Folk and classical music in India through the lens of the largest private collection of 78rpm records and dusty ephemera on the sub-continent.

MY FRIEND RAIN
Decay and rebirth and death through the endless Asian monsoon cycle. A collage of musical segments and tropical ambiance from Robert Millis and Alan Bishop.

PHI TA KHON: GHOSTS OF ISAN
A traditional Buddhist ghost festival from Thailand's Isan province that features beautiful handmade masks, outrageous wooden phalluses, ceremony, ritual, dancing, and endless music.

Hope to see you all there - email albanysonicarts@yahoo.com with any questions...

Fri. June 19th = TAPE CHANTS!!!!

2009-05-15T12:46:00.001-07:00

On Friday June 19th, we'll be hosting Gregg Kowalsky and Ben Bracken, both from Oakland, California. Gregg will be presenting his TAPE CHANTS project, to coincide with a new CD release on Kranky Records. Also on the bill are Fossils From the Sun and Rambutan. This will be a very special treat for ASAC, so please make sure to join us!

Friday June 19th
UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY

GREGG KOWALSKY (performing Tape Chants)
BEN BRACKEN
FOSSILS FROM THE SUN
RAMBUTAN

MORE ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
GREGG KOWALSKY resides in Oakland, California where he completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in Electronic Music and Recording Media at Mills College. Kowalsky’s compositions range from drone and noise pieces to meditative psychedelia.

His recent series of Tape Chants explores the acoustics where the performances occur by setting up cassette players around the space, using only the cassette players’ speakers for amplification. Throughout the piece, Gregg moves around the space adjusting the amplitude of the players as a live mix. The first incarnation of Tape Chants was released in 2007 called Tape Chants A Million (Rootstrata).

Kowalsky has had the opportunity to perform throughout Europe and the United States over the past several years. He participated in festivals such as WDR’s SoundArt-Köln Festival, Sonar, OFFF (Online Flash-Film Festival) and The Nursery Summer Festival in Sweden. His recordings have released on Kranky, Rootstrata, Kning Disk, Nosordo, Ruralfaune and others. He has composed for dance, sound installations, film and acoustic ensembles.

BEN BRACKEN For the past 15 years, Ben Bracken has slowly been creating a unique sonic language utilizing electronics, acoustic sound sources (guitar, cymbal, bells, found objects, etc), electric guitar, and field recordings.
Primarily interested in the possibilities of a kind of echo-relocation that exists with sound based art, his work has oscillated from performance to installation, often blurring the lines between the two. In both, the location of the event becomes an active participant, intimately shaping the nature and direction of each work.

After finishing a graduate degree in Electronic Music at Mills College in Oakland, CA, Ben moved on to his current technical support position at Cycling '74, the developers of Max/MSP, which he utilizes as one of many tools in his live performances. Some previous or current musical groups include Crystal Village (With Gregg Kowalsky), Flashpapr, Tiny Lights, Remote Viewing Ensemble, Duo with Luis Maurette, Duo with Zach Wallace, Bones (with Jacqueline Gordon). Ben has improvised with Le-Quan Ninh, Brent Guetzeit, Kevin Drumm, Peter Kowald, Chris Cutler, Phil Minton, Rhodri Davies, Werner Dafeldecker, Fred Van Hove, Johannes Bauer, among others.

For this performance, Ben will perform a version of a new work in progress which utilizes the computer analysis of feedback tones to excite an unplayed guitar.

FOSSILS FROM THE SUN is the solo project of Ray Hare, also a member of Century Plants, Burnt Hills, and Twilight of the Century, and Transcendental Manship Highway. Fossils From the Sun incorporates the use of minimal electronics, guitar, feedback loops, microphones, and vocals. Hare's music has been described as "Slow evolutions coming across like a piper’s lament,but with more friction / swooping ...burring in sustain, like wire skyscrapers wavering round a puppet master's hands... Gathering and nitric, marvellous stuff that glows with an energy you can literally taste with your eyes..." Live performances from Fossils From the Sun are always intensely captivating.

Hare is also a founding member of ASAC. He has released solo recordings on a number of labels around the globe including Tape Drift, Reverb Worship, Abandon Ship, Peasant Magik, and Bum Tapes. Upcoming recordings are due on Phantom Limb, Digitalis, Peasant Magik, and Random Investment.

RAMBUTAN is the solo project of Eric Hardiman, also part of Century Plants, Burnt Hills, Twilight of the Century, and Transcendental Manship Highway. As Rambutan, he has released recordings on Tape Drift, Abandon Ship, 905 Tapes, House of Alchemy, and Stunned Records. Forthcoming releases are due out on Small Doses, Digitalis, Existential Cloth Recordings, Peasant Magik, and Tired Trails. Hardiman is also a founding member of ASAC and runs Tape Drift Records.

ASAC Videos!

2009-05-12T07:11:00.001-07:00

Stay tuned here for more show announcements soon, but in the meantime, here's some great ASAC video clips you might want to watch. Hope to see you all soon!

http://www.youtube.com/user/albanysonicarts

Next ASAC event = SAT. April 25th!!

2009-04-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

ASAC returns on THURS. April 16th!

2009-03-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Don't worry - we haven't disappeared. We're all happy to announce that ASAC is back and ready to begin shows again at the Upstate Artists Guild. We're super happy to be back in action with some exciting shows coming up for spring and summer.

Mark your calendars for this one now!!

THURSDAY APRIL 16th
8pm
UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY

Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents

AREA C

MUDBOY

HOLLAND HOPSON

MORE ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:

Area C is Erik Carlson, a composer, media artist and architect based in Providence, RI. His work examines sound as an evocative presence, often acting as a marker, in the physical and mental spaces we inhabit. Since 2002 he has been recording and performing under the name AREA C, whose compositions work with timbre, texture and live loops, exploring cyclical relationships and the details of their decay over time. Improvisation plays an important part in both recordings and live performances, encompassing extended explorations of minimal rhythm and melody, drawing on remnants of other times and places, outdated and untested technologies, signals sent out but never received

Mudboy is also from Providence RI, and has been described as a "doctor of experimental organomics", a patch-cable conjurer, and a shadowy avant provocateur. Musically he casts a hypnotic spell that should not be missed.

Holland Hopson is a founding member of ASAC. He is also a composer, improviser and electronic artist. As an instrumentalist, he performs on soprano saxaphone, clawhammer banjo, and electronics. He has performed at ASAC numerous times, and each time has wowed audiences with his musical mastery. He was last seen swimming in the "River of Drone", a 12-hour live drone performance at the Upstate Artists Guild in November 2008.

SATURDAY Feb. 7th event!

2009-02-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

Hope you can all make it to this one. Stay tuned for details on ASAC-sponsored shows happening EVERY Saturday in February too.

first show of 2009!!

2009-01-11T19:03:00.000-08:00

yes, that's right - we are back and ready to bring on 2009 in style! More details soon, but here's the basic scoop:

Albany Sonic Arts Collective Presents...

TRAUMA
HERONS
SLEEPY DEMONS
TWILIGHT of the CENTURY

WEDNESDAY January 28th
doors 7:30, music 8pm (Sharp)
247 Lark St. Albany, NY
UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD
$5 suggested donation

Trauma is the duo of Ben Hall + Chris Riggs from Michigan. Ben also plays drums with Graveyards (featuring John Olson of Wolf Eyes). Chris is a serious guitar shredder. Together, they create powerful, post-free jazz and punk informed music that could be described as DISCHARGE meets AMM, with a healthy dose of Morroccan Gnawa trance music thrown in. Not to be missed!

Herons hail from Annandale-on-Hudson (ie Bard College) just down the river. They make wonderful sonic stews that one might descibe as psychedelic, hypnotic, heavy, deep, and utterly engaging. They often perform with excellent multimedia video projections.

Sleepy Demons are from Hudson and feature musicians who have played ASAC before in the past year (Cyrus Gengras, Jeremy Kelly). An amazing amalgam of talent, they dabble in drone, noise, psychedelia, homemade electronics, and much much more.

Twilight of the Century is the resident ASAC collaborative group of Linda Aubry Bullock, Mike Bullock, Ray Hare, and Eric Hardiman. They each play in several other projects, but together they conjure a unique blend of improvised and often atmposhpheric doom-laden beauty.

Should be a fun night - come help us start the year off right. Only a $5 donation.

see you wed. 1/28!

RIVER of THANKS!

2008-11-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who performed and/or attended our RIVER of DRONE event. We had an incredible time, and it was a great experience for all of us. We will see you all in 2009 with lots more exciting events!

Here's a great composite shot from the event, courtesy of Chris Harvey. Thanks Chris!

A RIVER of DRONE -- Sat. Nov. 22

2008-11-03T11:38:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone - hope you can all stop by for any part of this great event. We'll be there from noon to midnight, and the sound will be continuously evolving, so pop in when you can! And if you're really adventuresome, why not stay for the whole thing and experience something very rare in live music!!

ALBANY SONIC ARTS COLLECTIVE presents a celebration of its first anniversary. Come join us as we offer a 12-hour continuous live drone performance:

A RIVER OF DRONE

The Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany, NY
Saturday Nov. 22, 2008
12 Noon Until Midnight
Free

Capping off a compelling first year of performances that ranged from the intensely quiet Berlin sound master Andrea Neumann to the roaring noise of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, with many stops in between, the Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) is proud to present our first anniversary celebration at the Upstate Artists Guild. For this very special event, several ASAC sound and video artists will be collaborating live to create an immersive sonic and visual environment. The "drone" is a part of life, from the constant hum of electricity to the constant rush of traffic around us. Music from all parts of the globe has drawn inspiration from the sounds found in drones. In celebration of the universal harmonic power of drones, the ASAC musicians will conjure a continuous river of sound, building on sustained tones and repetition.

Inspired by LaMonte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music and Dream House installation, along with the music of Charlemagne Palestine, Phill Niblock, and others, the goal is to develop a musical vehicle for immersion, reflection, deep listening, meditation, and concentration. Video projections throughout the gallery will accompany the ongoing music. Attendees are encouraged to bring pillows, chairs, and snacks, and to stay for as little or as long as they would like. Unlike a traditional performance, performers will be located throughout the gallery, and may move during the performance in order to explore subtle acoustic phenomena. Attendees are also encouraged to walk around, enjoy the art on the walls, watch the video projections, and discover new relationships to the sound in the drone.

The collectively summoned drone will be harmonically rich and full of mysteries for the listener to discover. By presenting a 12 hour continuous performance, the music will unfold and develop in an evolutionary way unlike any ordinary concert. Parts of the drone will be quiet, others will be loud; parts will be relatively still, while others will be dynamic. Such diversity mirrors the range of sound we experience in the world every day.

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

Musicians:
Eric Hardiman
Ray Hare
Holland Hopson
Jason Cosco
Michael T. Bullock
Linda Aubry Bullock

Video:
Jason Cosco
Roy Buckley
Michael T. Bullock
More TBA

Sat. Nov. 1 in Saratoga = MV/EE + Wovoka!!

2008-10-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

While you're waiting for the next ASAC event (Nov. 22, by the way), why not stop up to Saratoga this weekend to see MV/EE and Albany group Wovoka?!?

Saratoga Arts Center (right at the corner of the park)
320 Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY
8PM
$5 to get in

Great venue, great music, great time. Be there!

Next ASAC event = SAT. Oct. 25!!

2008-10-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, we haven't gone away! We're very happy to announce the next monthly ASAC show at the UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD at 247 Lark St. in Albany. It's this coming Saturday, October 25th, and we've decided what better way to spend the evening than to celebrate Glenn Tipton's Birthday and everything else that is great about Autumn.

COME JOIN US! On tap, we'll have:

* Holland Hopson (the dynamic chimeric), banjo and electronics (Albany)
* Aaron Phillip Tate (Ithaca's finest, his first Albany appearance!)
* Twilight of the Century (Albany/Troy)
* Cyrus Gengras (Hudson's Antique Brother and Sleepy Demon)

Twilight of the Century = Century Plants (Eric Hardiman and Ray Hare) PLUS rise set twilight (Mike Bullock and Linda Aubry Bullock). This will be their second appearance at UAG, and it's bound to be a scorcher.

Doors at 7:30, music at 8:00.
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany

TUESDAY 9/30 @ VALENTINE's!!!!

2008-09-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

hi again everyone! Last Saturday's show was amazing - we were really happy with how everything turned out. BIG thanks to Steve Pierce and the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy for letting us collaborate with them. And an even bigger thanks to Weasel Walter, Mary Halvorson, and Peter Evans, who put on a beautiful set, as did the Empty Cage Quartet.

On to the next thing now! We're presenting an unusual show outside of our normal monthly events on Tuesday Sept. 30th. This one will be at Valentine's on New Scotland Avenue in Albany. We really hope you can be there - it's going to be a great night of music, only $5 too!!

It'll be the first Valentine's appearance for Century Plants, featuring ASAC's Ray Hare and Eric Hardiman. Blues Control are an amazing psychedelic duo from Brooklyn, with an LP on Woodsist and an upcoming one on Siltbreeze. Psychedelic Horseshit hail from Ohio, have graced the pages of Spin Magazine, and apparently stole the show from everybody at SXSW in Austin, TX. Finally, Pink Reason also come from NYC and they offer a fantastic and unique take on garage rock.

So the sounds will range from deconstructed, shambling garage rock to lo-fi pop nuggets (think early pavement or GBV!) to trippy psychedelia to raging cathartic drones. And I'm sure there will be plenty of stops in between.

Definitely another ASAC event not to miss! Holler if you have any questions...

BLUES CONTROL
PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT
PINK REASON
CENTURY PLANTS

VALENTINE's in Albany
17 New Scotland Ave.
TUES. 9/30 at 7pm

SEE YOU THERE!!

SEPT. 20 EVENT!!!!

2008-09-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

It's that time again, and it's big news. For the first time ever, ASAC will be co-presenting an event with the amazing Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy. We could not be more thrilled about this, and hope you will all make it across the river for this extraordinary show! The Sanctuary has been one of our inspirations in starting ASAC this past year, and the chance to combine forces for this night will be great!!

Here's the scoop:

Saturday, September 20, 2008

A double feature showcasing:

the Empty Cage Quartet (Los Angeles) and
the Weasel Walter Trio (Oakland, CA)

The Sanctuary for Independent Media
3361 6th Avenue in north Troy (at 101st Street).

The Empty Cage Quartet will perform at 8 PM; the Weasel Walter Trio begins at 10 PM. Admission for the all-ages show is $10.

Call (518) 272-2390, email info@MediaSanctuary.org, or visit www.MediaSanctuary.org for directions and more information.

SEE YOU THERE!!!! Some information on these amazing musicians follows:

EMPTY CAGE QUARTET

The Empty Cage Quartet has consistently been praised as one of the most powerful and original new jazz groups to emerge from the American West Coast. For nearly six years the group has explored imaginative new ways to integrate a diverse mix of musical influences ranging from shuffle swing to free jazz blowouts, minimalist
percussion loops to complex modernist gestures, robotic grooves, odd- meter marches, heavy rock, and nearly everything in between. Performances of this music involve an elaborate system of on-stage cues to navigate the flow of improvisation in, around, and out of modular compositional structures designed to cycle, overlap, combine
and recombine. The result is a continually evolving, multidimensional approach to jazz and new music performance, improvisational acuity, and compositional craft that Amazing Sounds Magazine has likened to an "urban folk music of the future."

The Empty Cage Quartet has toured extensively in the Western United States and in Canada and Europe, and they have received support from the American Composers Forum, the International Society for Improvised Music (ISIM), and Chamber Music America’s French-American Jazz Exchange. To date they have released six CD recordings that have been featured on jazz radio stations around the world and reviewed favorably in publications including Signal to Noise, The Wire, All About Jazz, Cadence Magazine, Jazz Hot, Paris Transatlantic Magazine, LA Weekly, Tucson Weekly, and Stride Magazine. Stratostrophic, their most recent album, is out now on the Clean Feed label, and in September they will make their New York City debut with a concert at
the Living Theatre co-sponsored by Clean Feed Festival III and the Sixth Annual Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT).

Instrumentation
Jason Mears - alto saxophone, clarinet, flutes
Kris Tiner - trumpet, flugelhorn
Ivan Johnson - double bass
Paul Kikuchi - drums, percussion, electronics

WEASEL WALTER TRIO

A drummer whose current material straddles the many lines between punk, free jazz, no wave, improv, and much more, Weasel Walter will be playing with Mary Halvorson on guitar and Peter Evans on trumpet.

Weasel Walter (born Christopher Todd Walter in Rockford, Illinois) is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell. Over the years, the band has included noted Chicago musicians such as Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Dylan Posa, while creating an uncompromising and mercurial body of abstract music drawing equally from no wave, death metal, free jazz, gamelan, noise music, hardcore punk and modern classical. Walter relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003, where he formed the latest of many Luttenbachers lineups, remaining on percussion with
the addition of bassist Mike Green (Burmese), and virtuoso guitarist Ed Rodriguez (ex-Colossamite, Gorge Trio). Singular guitar phenomenon Mick Barr (Octis, Orthrelm) joined the group in 2005. The Flying Luttenbachers ceased to operate in late 2007. In addition to leading various free jazz ensembles under his own name, currently he is a member of XBXRX and Burmese.

Before relocating to the West Coast, Walter was a major contributor to the Chicago no-wave/noise/improvised music underground during the '90s and early 2000s. During this period, he performed as a founding member of bands such as The Flying Luttenbachers, Miss High Heel (with Jim O'Rourke and Azita of The Scissor Girls), Lake of Dracula (with Marlon Magas and Heather M. of the Scissor Girls), To Live and Shave in L.A. 2, and Hatewave (replacing founder Nandor Nevai) among others. Walter has collaborated with artists like Marlon Magas and Jim O’Rourke, Tom Smith in To Live and Shave in L.A., Henry Kaiser, Damon Smith, Vinny Golia, Joe Morris, Frank Gratkowski, William Winant and Ken Vandermark as well as many influential underground rock bands including Bobby Conn, U.S. Maple, Cock E.S.P., Curse of
the Birthmark, the Scissor Girls, Erase Errata, The Chicago Sound, Harry Pussy, Quintron, Sharon Cheslow, and Cheer-Accident, in addition to producing albums by the Coachwhips, Burmese, Total Shutdown, Arab on Radar and Glenn Branca.

Mary Halvorson is a guitarist, composer and improviser living in Brooklyn. She grew up in Boston and studied jazz at Wesleyan University and the New School. Since 2000 she has been performing regularly in New York with various groups and has toured Europe and the U.S. with the Anthony Braxton Quintet (Live at the Royal Festival
Hall, Leo Records) and Trevor Dunn’s Trio-Convulsant (Sister Phantom Owl Fish, Ipecac Recordings). She has also performed alongside Joe Morris, Nels Cline, John Tchicai, Elliott Sharp, Andrea Parkins, Marc Ribot, Tony Malaby, Oscar Noriega and Jason Moran. Current projects which Mary composes for and performs with include a chamber-music duo with violist Jessica Pavone (On and Off, Skirl Records, 2007); The Mary Halvorson Trio with John Hebert and Ches Smith; and the avant- rock band People (Misbegotten Man, I & Ear Records, 2007). She also performs regularly in ensembles led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Ted Reichman, Tatsuya Nakatani, Jason Cady, Matthew Welch, Brian Chase and Curtis Hasselbring.

Peter Evans is an American trumpet player based in New York, who specializes in improvisation and avant-garde music. Evans has been a member of the New York City musical community since 2003, when he moved to the city after graduating from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Peter currently works in a wide variety of areas, including solo performance, chamber orchestras, performance art, free improvised settings, electro-acoustic music and composition. In addition, he performs regularly as part of the Festival of New Trumpet Music, which is held annually in New York City.

Local presentation of the Empty Cage Quartet and the Weasel Walter Trio is co-sponsored by the Arts Department at RPI and Albany Sonic Arts Collective, made possible by volunteer labor, small financial contributions from hundreds of patrons of The Sanctuary For Independent Media and support from the New York State Music Fund.

The Sanctuary for Independent Media is a community media arts center located in an historic former church in Troy, NY. The venue is an intimate and acoustically excellent space which seats about 150. The Sanctuary hosts screening, production and performance facilities, training in media production and a meeting space for artists, activists and independent media makers of all kinds.

# # #

Empty Cage Quartet website:
http://www.myspace.com/emptycagequartet

Weasel Walter website:
http://www.myspace.com/weaselwalter

Mary Halvorson website:
http://www.maryhalvorson.com/

Peter Evans website:
http://www.myspace.com/peterevanstrumpet

Sad news...

2008-08-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

Adam with Sunburned April 08

Our friend Adam Nodelman passed away at home on Monday. Adam was just at our No More Bush show a few weeks ago, and was an amazing person, full of life. We're all incredibly saddened by this. Adam began playing with BORBETOMAGUS at age 18 in 1984. He appeared on LIVE IN ALLENTOWN(RECENTLY REISSUED), 7 REASONS FOR TEARS,and FISH THY SPARKLING BUBBLE He joined MISSING FOUNDATION IN 1987 and put out MISSING FOUNDATION, 1933-YOURE HOUSE IS MINE ,DEMISE, IGNORE THE WHITE CULTURE.after a short stint with MOTHERHEAD BUG with DAVID OUIMET, he joined the west coast band CRASH WORSHIP in 1996-97.In 2005 Nodelman joined SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN. We'll let you know about the memorial service. RIP Adam...

Next event = FRIDAY 8/29!!

2008-08-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Quick announcement here, full press release with bios SOON!!!

FRIDAY Aug. 29, ASAC is proud to present:

Vic Rawlings (cello, electronics) - Boston
Andrew Lafkas (bass) - Queens
Bryan Eubanks (electronics) - Brooklyn
Mike Bullock (contrabass, electronics) - Troy

Andrew, Bryan, and Mike have all played ASAC before, and we're thrilled to be having them back of course. But it's Vic we're most excited about hosting for his ASAC debut appearance. If you haven't heard the magical things Vic does with his cello, homemade instruments, and electronics treatments, you are in for a very special surprise. Please make it out if you can, and as always, bring some friends!!

Friday 8/29
247 Lark Street - UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD
Albany, NY
doors at 7:30, show at 8
donation at door

See you then!

Some photos of recent shows!

2008-08-05T16:54:00.001-07:00

Byron Coley and Ziamuluch (cello)

Wovoka

Wovoka

Wovoka, Bill Nace, Tom Carter

Charles Plymell

50 Foot Women w/ Axolotl & Meg Clixby

Valerie Webber

John Morton and Bill Nace

Byron, Jessi, and Valerie

Jack Rose

Zaika (Tom Carter & Marcia Bassett)

Tom Carter

Marcia Bassett

Ghoul Poon & Jason Cosco

Twilight of the Century (Linda, Ray, Mike, & Eric)

Bone Parade

Hair Police

Hair Police

Hair Police

Thanks to Chris Bassett and Sick Llana for the photos!

TWO SHOWS in one week!!!

2008-07-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

Two upcoming shows to tell you about next week. We know there's a lot going, but it'd be a serious mistake to miss out on these happenings. Albany is finally getting on the map for underground music, and these shows are a great example. And if you're feeling like you should make a choice, just take the chance and hit BOTH of these shows. We wouldn't steer you wrong!

And as usual, if you can't make it, tell a few of your pals - we really want to keep the energy of our past shows going, and we need you all there! Thanks for spreading the word.

*****************************************************************************
THURS. JULY 31 -- UAG Gallery 247 Lark St. 8:00 PM SHARP!!!
*****************************************************************************

Hair Police (noise psych rock masters from Lexington, KY)
Bone Parade (Albany's own makers of "dark soundscapes" )
Twilight of the Century (Troys' Rise Set Twilight meets Albany's Century Plants - see what happens!)
Ghoul Poon + Jason Cosco (electronics/ noise/madness/ excellence from Albany)

8PM's the time. $10 is the suggested donation. Hair Police are amazing, and include Mike Connelly from Wolf Eyes, if that helps sweeten the deal for you. If you like your rock LOUD, weird, righteous, and intense, be there...

****************************************************************************
SUNDAY AUG. 3 -- UAG Gallery 247 Lark St. 7:00 PM SHARP!!! ****************************************************************************

The NO MORE BUSH Tour makes a stop in Albany!! We told you about this one already, and we'll keep reminding you because we don't want anyone sleeping on this special night. Rock legends, underground and otherwise, come together to celebrate the end of the Bush era. And since they're legends, this show will definitely be... legendary!

A fantastic array of talent, different styles, genres, you name it. Show of the year in Albany? You bet. If you have questions about who the performers are, and why they're legends, just shoot us an email, or scroll down to the next post for some bios to read...

Zaika (Tom Carter & Marcia Bassett)
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Charles Plymell
Kate Village + John Morton
Wovoka
Byron Coley + Ziamaluch

Hope to see you all out for these shows!

No More Bush Tour - SUNDAY Aug. 3!

2008-07-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with Ecstatic Yod, Ecstatic Peace, and Arthur Magazine, the Albany Sonic Arts Collective is proud to present:

NO MORE BUSH TOUR

SUNDAY AUG. 3
UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD
247 Lark Street, Albany NY
7:00 PM SHARP!

Zaika (Tom Carter & Marcia Bassett)
Jack Rose
Valerie Webber
50 Foot Women + Axolotl
Charles Plymell
Kate Village + John Morton
Wovoka
Byron Coley + Ziamaluch

Five years ago, in a time of woe for the underground, the country and the world, the members of the Ecstatic Yod Collective organized a tour called More Hair Less Bush. Including a variety of musicians and writers, the tour brought the flame of hope to cities cast into darkness by the hideous secretions of the Bush Twins.

Now, in 2008, as we prepare to enjoy thelong-promised fruits of regime change, we felt it was time to bring our show on the road again. But this time, rather than offering balm and apologies to the psychically wounded, we would like to celebrate the pre-dawn of a new day -- a day when the word “cheney” is once more an empty phrase we use to terrify youngsters. To this end, we have assembled a revolving cast of musicians and writers, all of whom honk the horn of freedom with both hands. We trust it will be a gas. Trinkets will be available at all shows. Tour schedule and bios follow. Support is being provided by Ecstatic Peace Records & Arthur Magazine.

Info/photos/ etc: glasseye@yod.com

PERFORMER BIOS

50 FOOT WOMEN is a San Francisco-based duo with Jessi Leigh Swenson and Elaine Barry Kahn. Swenson is known for her trance-forming work with the Believers and Duck, Kahn is a wild card. Combined, they create and destroy small forms with the ease of kettle fish. They promise to have several secret weapons up their sleeves.

AXOLOTL is the ghost-wolf of New Jersey and all points west. Currently resident in the head of Karl Bauer, this ghost takes many forms, and uses many tools to do its jobs. On this tour, there is a functional involvement with several things. Psychedelic? You bet!

BYRON COLEY is a writer from Western Massachusetts . His organizational abilities are dwarfed by his capacity for letting a participle hang. He is a veteran of the More Hair tour.

JOHN MORTON is legend that begins in Cleveland , with the Electric Eels and spasmodic guitar art bonged against the arc of the infinite. Later, in Brooklyn , these inpulses devolved into more insanity and writing and art and phlug. Now, here he is again. He promises a theremin. Think fast! A veteran of the More Hair process.

CHARLES PLYMELL is one of the great writers of our age, and a ferociously talented/opinionate d editor, publisher and reader as well. Based for the last few decades in Cherry Valley , NY , Plymell’s evil eye and exquisite grasp of language and image are a deadly combination. It’s always an extreme pleasure to hear him read. A veteran of More Hair.

JACK ROSE is one of the pre-eminent geniuses of acoustic guitar creation and dissemblage. In the years since he left Pelt, Jack has toured and recorded incessantly, inventing moves that would make past masters blush. His fingers are magic fever generators.

KATE VILLAGE is one of the most savage guitar players our planet has yet produced. Her most blues-wailing style with Crystalized Movements, Vermonster, B.O.R.B., Magic Hour, Major Stars and solo have made her an icon to the youth of every nation. Watch her bring it to the masses.

VALERIE WEBBER is a Montreal-based writer whose poetry and prose combines a naïve belief in perefection and a wise-ass sneer at its collapsing façade. Her work has been widely published in Canada and the U.S.. , and her voice has a soft purity, oftimes at odds with its content. She is a veteran of the More Hair tour.

WOVOKA is an upstate channeler of mystery-volk in all its drugged and writhing splendor. Rarely spied except through a cloud of basement smoke, their vibes are their amplifiers.

ZAIKA is a duo comprised of Marcia Bassett and Tom Carter. Both are long-time and very active members of the American underground scene: Marcia with Un, Double Leopards, Shackamaxon, Hototogisu, GHQ and others; Tom with The Mike Gunn, Charalambides, Badgerlore, Friday Group, Kyrgyz, Spiderwebs, etc. Together, they create very special kinds of silver cloud eruptions.

ZIAMALUCH represents the bridge between ERL and Burnt Hills in terms of Albany ’s underground continuum. Unseen in public since opening a gig for Universal Indians, Ziamaluch once again scales the scales.

SATURDAY JULY 12!!!

2008-07-09T09:27:00.001-07:00

Hope you can all make it for this one - it's going to be great!!!

See you there.

PHOTOS FROM THURSDAY NIGHT

2008-06-28T07:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who made it out on Thursday for our June event. It was a great time. Hope to see you all on July 12 for BRENDAN MURRAY and BROWN WING OVERDRIVE.

Here are a few snaps from the show...
eric

CENTURY PLANTS

CENTURY PLANTS

CENTURY PLANTS

ROBEDOOR

ROBEDOOR

POCAHAUNTED

POCAHAUNTED

BILL & THURSTON

THURSTON

BILL

BILL & THURSTON

BILL

BILL and THURSTON

BILL & THURSTON

BILL & THURSTON

THURSTON

THANKS TO CHRIS BASSETT & JESSICA DARNELL FOR ALL THE PHOTOS!

JUNE 26 - Thurston Moore + Bill Nace/Robedoor/Pocahaunted/Century Plants!!!

2008-05-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note here to let everyone know about the next ASAC event. I'll post something more detailed soon, but for now, just hold the date on your calendars!

It's going to be a KILLER night of amazing music - don't miss this one.

THURSTON MOORE + BILL NACE (Sonic Youth, Vampire Belt, X.0.4., etc).
ROBEDOOR (amazing duo from LA)
POCAHAUNTED (another amazing duo from LA)
CENTURY PLANTS (Albany)

THURSDAY June 26 @ 8PM
UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD
247 Lark St. Albany

A very rare Albany appearance from Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, a repeat visit from the ever amazing guitar wizard Bill Nace, the first ever east coast tour for Robedoor and Pocahaunted, and ASAC's own Century Plants. Sounds pretty sweet for a hot June night, huh?!?

We'll get you the flyer soon.

One important thing: space is pretty limited for this show, so it'll be tight and cozy but fun! Get there early if you can...

see you on 6/26!!!

SATURDAY MAY 17 - next show!!!

2008-05-01T19:22:00.001-07:00

May's here, and we are thrilled to be announcing our next event in the monthly series. We're on a roll, and this month is no exception. It's gonna be a fantastic night, so don't miss out!

Show This Saturday!!!

2008-04-21T09:09:00.001-07:00

SATURDAY 4/26 at UAG - be there!

2008-04-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

hey everyone -

The sun is out and spring might finally be here. yeah!!

So a week from Saturday we've got our next ASAC event, and it should be a boatload of fun. As before, we'll be at the awesome Upstate Artists Guild on Lark St. Come on out for this one, bring a few pals too if you can.

here's the scoop on it:

ALBANY SONIC ARTS COLLECTIVE presents “4 Solo Sets for April”

TRAVIS JOHNS (field recordings, electronics)

ERIC HARDIMAN (guitars, electronics)

RAY HARE (guitars, electronics)

HOLLAND HOPSON (banjo, electronics)

video projections by JASON COSCO

The Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.Albany, NY
Saturday April 26, 2008
doors at 7:30 pm: show at 8:00
$5 suggested donation at the door

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) is proud to present “4 Solo Sets for April” the fourth installment in our 2008 monthly series of live improvised experimental music events at the Upstate Artists Guild. Previous months have showcased world renowned musicians from Germany, Philadelphia, New York City, and Cincinnati, Ohio. For this very special evening, we will offer four solo sets from locally-based musicians. A diversity of styles and approaches will characterize the night, and the audio wonders will be enhanced visually with live improvised video projections from UAG member Jason Cosco.

A common theme among these four musicians is a dedication to the exploration of new sonic spaces and atmospheres. In some cases, improvisation is blended with more structured musical approaches, resulting in fascinating and compelling blends. Each musician will present a set showcasing a particular style and/or strategy. Please join us in supporting these local musicians and come be part of our ASAC community!

Travis Johns writes and performs music that he describes as an "abstraction of reality." Consisting primarily of processed field recordings, improvisations and amplified "small sounds," he attempts to weave a tapestry of experiences, gestures and thoughts into a singular, enveloping mass of sounds. Often labeled as noise at first, a more concentrated listen will yield countless paths for the ear to follow, leading to listening experiences that he hopes will provide infinite possibilities for interpretation. His music has been performed extensively throughout the United States and abroad to a wide variety of audiences, ranging from galleries to anarchist warehouses to international music festivals. An avid performer and improviser on electric bass and electronics, he is a member of the Oakland, Ca. quartet le Pink Canoes (with Noah Phillips, Aram Shelton and Zachary Watkins), the improvisation trio Satellite (with Gudmundur Steinn Gunnarsson and Liz Meredith) and Vslykon, a collaborative duo with sound artist Ayako Kataoka. Travis is also a founding member of the Thinktank Collective, an international arts collective focused on the interrelation of sound and image. More information on both Johns and Thinktank can be found at: www.think-tankmedia.net.

Eric Hardiman plays guitar and various other instruments as one-half of Albany-based experimental minimalist guitar duo Century Plants, and also plays in Albany free form psych rock collective Burnt Hills. In addition, he records solo material under the moniker Rambutan. He also has experience playing both Javanese and Balinese styles of gamelan. He runs a handmade DIY label, Tape Drift Records (www.tapedrift.com), and is also a founder of the Albany Sonic Arts Collective. Hear excerpts of Eric’s solo work at www.myspace.com/rambutanmusic.

Ray Hare is a musician who currently plays in Albany-based experimental minimalist guitar duo Century Plants and free form psych rock collective Burnt Hills. He records solo music under the name Fossils From the Sun, and has just released his debut cd for Tape Drift Records. Hear excerpts of Ray’s solo work at www.myspace.com/fossilsfrthesun.

Holland Hopson is a composer, improviser, and electronic artist. As an instrumentalist he performs on soprano saxophone, clawhammer banjo and electronics. He hopes someday to play the musical saw. He has held residencies at STEIM, Amsterdam; Experimental Music Studios, Krakow and Katowice, Poland; Sonic Arts Research Studio, Vancouver, Canada; and Harvestworks Digital Media Arts, New York where he developed a sound installation based on Marcel Duchamp’s With Hidden Noise. In 1993- 1994 Holland recorded environmental sounds on four continents and in over a dozen countries as a fellow of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. Holland’s latest recording is With Hidden Noises released on Grab Rare Arts (www.grabrarearts.com).

Jason Cosco is a video and sound artist who is a member of the Upstate Artists Guild and has previously played a solo noise set for the Albany Sonic Arts Collective. He does extensive VJ work around the Capital Region. He has worked with the band Death by a Thousand Cuts, and currently plays in the Albany-based Grab Ass Cowboys. Check out some of Jason’s work (http://jasoncosco.mosaicglobe.com/).

Century Plants in Saratoga with Sunburned!

2008-03-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Not an ASAC event, but we hope you'll make it up to Saratoga on April 12th to catch CENTURY PLANTS opening up for SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN. Thanks to the Saratoga Arts Council for putting this one on.

Saturday April 12th, 8PM
at The Arts Center
320 Broadway, Saratoga
$5, all ages

Century Plants, featuring Eric Hardiman and Ray Hare, is a guitar-based duo from Albany, NY playing improvisational noisy psychedelic minimalism. Working with an array of sound sources and strategies, they create sonic systems that simultaneously unsettle and hypnotize listeners. They've been described as "Part raging metallic clang by way of the holy Shred, part meditative feedbacking in total Zen style", "hazy psychedelia", "massive inferno style guitar destruction" and "axe-slinging skull soothers". One review notes that "The music .... contains both fuzz-drenched melodic improvisation and blistering atonal squall, blending themselves to create a musical behemoth that is both intimidating and accessible." Another describes their music as "extremely tense, dark and utterly spellbinding" made up of "a rich tapestry of textures".

Century Plants have released 6 full-length recordings in their first year alone, on underground labels from all over the globe, including Hardiman's Tape Drift Records. They've also appeared on compilations and split releases. A feature interview is found on Foxy Digitalis.

Read more about Century Plants

Read more about Sunburned Hand of the Man

C. Spencer Yeh

2008-03-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who made it out last night. An amazing night!! Stay tuned here for announcements about the next event(s) and more pix from last night too. Special thanks to Mark Lunt for the photography.

(photo by Mark Lunt)

C. SPENCER YEH on March 22!!!

2008-02-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

On SATURDAY March 22, at the UAG Gallery (place rules, if you haven't heard yet), we are very proud to be hosting a special solo gig from the one and only C. SPENCER YEH!!

C. SPENCER YEH (solo violin, electronics)

BRYAN EUBANKS (electronics) & ANDREW LAFKAS (bass)

MEG CLIXBY (bass, electronics)

The Upstate Artists Guild 247 Lark St.
Albany, NY: Saturday March 22, 2008
Doors at 7:30 pm: show at 8:00
$5 suggested donation at the door

The third in our 2008 monthly series of live improvised experimental music events at the Upstate Artists Guild, the Albany Sonic Arts Collective is proud to present this very special evening. Each musician brings a unique approach to the soundworlds they create, and to have them all in one place will be a treat for the Albany experimental music community. These musicians have played all over the globe with multiple collaborators and represent some of the guiding lights and innovators in creative improvised music. C. Spencer Yeh in particular is in high demand for his improvisational skills on the violin, as evidenced by his work with such luminaries as Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, jazz great Evan Parker, and minimalist legend Tony Conrad.

More on the musicians:

C. Spencer Yeh was born in Taipei, Taiwan 1975, moved to the US in 1980; studied radio/television/film at Northwestern University, and is now based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Yeh is active both as a solo and ensemble artist, as well as with his primary 'organized sound' project, Burning Star Core. As an improviser, Yeh has focused on developing a personal vocabulary using violin, voice, and electronics. As a sound organizer/composer, Yeh works with all aspects available surrounding a work, aurally and physically, as elements key to the cumulative experience. He is concerned not only with the sensual aspects of sound, but the gestural qualities as well. Yeh has performed alongside and collaborated with a deep and ever-growing list of artists and groups including Tony Conrad, Evan Parker, Thurston Moore, The New Humans with Vito Acconci, Paul Flaherty and Chris Corsano, John Wiese, Aaron Dilloway, John Olson and the Graveyards, Amy Granat, Jutta Koether, LaDonna Smith, Carlos Giffoni, Okkyung Lee, Atsuhiro Ito, Lasse Marhaug, Audrey Chen, Nate Wooley, JP Feliciano, Rafael Toral, Rhys Chatham's Guitar Trio All-Stars, Damo Suzuki's Network, and many others, and has performed across the U.S.A. and Europe in a variety of settings and festivals. Most recently he participated in the 24 Hour Drone People project in Stockholm (and the abbreviated 5 hour version in Amsterdam), alongside artists such as CM Von Hauswolff, Mika Vainio, Joachim Nordwall, BJ Nilsen, Hildur Gudnadottir, Hild Sofie Tafjord, and Mark Wastell. He has also had visual art and video works presented internationally. http://www.myspace.com/cspenceryeh

Bryan Eubanks is a musician and sound artist originally from the Pacific Northwest of the US, and since 2005 he has been living and working in Brooklyn, NY. He works in live electronic settings with an instrument that integrates open-circuits and samplers, as well as working in acoustic settings with the Soprano Saxophone. His primary focus is on collaborative improvisation and solo musical projects, and he consistently works with Andrew Lafkas, Vic Rawlings, and an acoustic chamber ensemble. His work with sound installation is exploring sound as a function of architecture, cognition, and temporality. He has presented his music across the US, Europe, Japan, and Korea and at festivals such as LineSpaceLine in Los Angeles, Erstquake in NYC, No Idea in Austin, Texas, Relay in Seoul, and recently exhibited sound installations at the Portland Art Center and Diapason Gallery for Sound (in collaboration with Andrew Lafkas). He has released recordings on Little Enjoyer, Gameboy, Last Visible Dog, Jyrk, Experimental Musical Research, and Rasbliutto Recordings, a label and online library of sound he founded in 2002. http://www.rasbliutto.net/bryaneubanks

Meg Clixby grew up in Maine and then quitted to Western Mass for eight years. She took a hiatus during that time to live in Brighton, UK where she began to play bass guitar and participated in The Polly Shang Kuan Band. This collaboration continued once back stateside for a NE US mini-tour after which Meg began to play with her WMass brethren in projects such as Duck and Bottoms Up. After moving to Brooklyn, she continued to play with friends indoors but now lives in the woods and jams with herself. Bass, pedals, tape.

Recent Events!

2008-02-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who attended either of the ASAC events this weekend! We had a great time both nights, and all the music was wonderful. Here are some snaps, in case you weren't able to make it. Drop us a line and say hi anytime!

Photos are from the last three events:

* The Great Snowball Tour (w/ Andrea Neumann, Jack Wright, & Mike Bullock, along w/ Alex Chechile) at UAG.
* Century Plants Sound System (Ray Hare, Eric Hardiman, Paula Gaylord, & Jason Cosco) in Schenectady
* Holland Hopson and Jason Cosco at UAG in January

February Event on 2/16!!!

2008-01-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone - It's that time where we try to drum up some excitement for our monthly series. This next one is going to be an AMAZING treat for the senses, so do whatever you can to be there!

Why not get this date on your calendars now?!? Seriously, this is not to be missed!!!

ALBANY SONIC ARTS COLLECTIVE presents THE GREAT SNOWBALL TOUR

The Upstate Artists Guild 247 Lark St.
Albany, NY: Saturday Feb. 16, 2008

ANDREA NEUMANN(innenklavier, Berlin)

JACK WRIGHT(saxophones, Easton PA)

MICHAEL T. BULLOCK (contrabass, Troy)

also:

ALEX CHECHILE (guitar, Troy)

JEFFERSON PITCHER (guitar, Troy)

doors at 7 pm: show at 7:30
$5 suggested donation at the door

As the snowball rolls around the east coast it picks up players who then melt off, and new additions are joined. In the words of Jack Wright: "This is the idealistic version of free improvisation, that wants never to think that our individual projects of aesthetic adventure can be separated from the generous spirit of community. So in that spirit please share the information of this series with others, with your mailing lists and friends."

Jack is one of the busiest improvisers ever. I'd say "he's played with everyone," but I think a more accurate description is: he hasn't played with everyone yet but he's working on it. Through his efforts he's brought together countless musicians across many scenes - large and small, domestic and foreign - and taught a lot of people that if you play improvised music, or just like it a lot, you are far from alone.

Andrea operates at the heart of Berlin's hotbed of improvised electro-acoustic music, which in its turn is a vital organ of the global electro-acoustic music scene. Her instrument, the innenklavier, is a scale model of the insides of a grand piano (no keyboard), which she amplifies and plays with her hands and other objects. Imagine if "prepared piano" stopped apologizing for being a piano, graduated, and started its own company. Scratch that - its own country.

More on the musicians:

Andrea Neumann: Born 1968 in Freiburg, grew up in Hamburg. Since 1996 primarily active as improviser and composer in the areas of experimental and new music. In the process of exploring the piano for new sound possibilities, she has reduced the instrument to strings, resonance board and metal frame. With the help of electronics to manipulate and amplify the sounds (sometimes to make parts of the sound audible which are inaudible without amplification), she has developed numerous new playing techniques, sounds, and ways of preparing the dismantled instrument. Because the original inside piano is very heavy, a piano builder (Bernd Bittmann, Berlin) constructed a new and lighter one for her. She has worked intensively in the crossover area between composition and improvisation, and in the field between electronic and handmade sounds, with Berlin musicians such as Annette Krebs, Ignaz Schick, Axel Dörner, Robin Hayward and Burkhard Beins.

Jack Wright began playing saxophone in 1952, and after eight years quit to pursue an academic life. After turning to political activism in the late sixties, he began again in 1979, and has been touring the US and Europe since 1983. He created Spring Garden Music as a vehicle for organizing an improvisational music community, and is still active in encouraging the improvised music scene in Phila. He currently plays with about fifty partners in Europe and the US, bringing European musicians to the US for collaborations with Americans. He was originally focused on free jazz and now largely uses the instrument simply to play with sound. These days he is playing mostly alto and soprano saxophones, and as a musical explorer his music ranges widely in vocabulary, depending on the situation and partners. He lives in Easton, which enables him to commute easily to NYC and Philadelphia. He has released 35 recordings, samples of which are available at his website:

Michael T. Bullock is a composer, sound artist and visual artist based in Troy NY. The range of his work includes contrabass, banjo, video instrumentalism, and illustration. Bullock performs across the entire US and in Europe, collaborating with a huge range of artists, including Pauline Oliveros, Christian Wolff, Steve Roden, Bhob Rainey and Greg Kelley of nmperign, Mazen Kerbaj and Theodore Bikel.

His groundbreaking solo contrabass playing has brought him to medieval chapels and the side of a mountain. He also performs with the BSC, an octet of Boston-based improvisers; as the trio MAWJA with Kerbaj and Vic Rawlings; and in the multidisciplinary duo rise set twilight. Bullock is the founder of Chloë Recordings. He is currently a doctoral candidate in the Arts Department at RPI in Troy, where he researches noise, feedback, and non-idiomatic music cultures.

Alex Chechile (b.1980, Boston, MA) is a composer, improviser, and interdisciplinary media artist who is currently working to explore and utilize the relationship between human physiology and the act of musical creation by developing homemade biofeedback music performance systems. He received a BA in Composition and Theory from Tufts University in 2003, and is presently finishing an MFA in the Electronic Arts at Rensselaer in Troy, NY.

An avid performer of music with improvisation at its core, Alex has played in a variety of ensembles ranging from New Music to Noise, Javanese Gamelan, and West African Drumming, and is frequently performing with Pauline Oliveros both in and out of Tintinnabulate.
His previous work includes compositions for acoustic chamber ensembles, electro-acoustic configurations, as well as installations, video pieces, and stop-motion animation. His work has been shown in festivals both stateside and abroad.

Jefferson Pitcher (b. Redwood City, CA, 1972) is a composer, improviser, sound and video artist from Northern California. He plays primarily electric guitar, making sounds like birds, boats, engines and whales gliding in and out of a dense fog. Although much of his work explores feedback and prepared guitar, he also draws heavily from his love for melody, the simplicity of minimalist composers, and a long 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. During his teens, Pitcher was immersed in the San Francisco Bay Area punk scene, playing in bands and attending volunteer meetings at the now legendary 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley. He was deeply influenced by the DIY philosophy, and the clean, simple melodies of the music, both of which extend into his work today.

Stay in touch, and we'll be seeing you

Show on SATURDAY Jan. 5 !!!

2008-01-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone. I'm tremendously excited to finally be announcing the first event in our 2008 monthly performance series for ASAC. It's coming up in just a few short days, and I hope you will all make every effort possible to be there. It's going to be a GREAT night of music and comraderie. Both performers are amazing musicians, and this is a rare treat for us to see them in this context. This will be Jason's debut solo performance, and Holland's first local performance since moving back to the Capital Region. Trust me - this is the place to be on Saturday night!! And it's a great way to kick off 2008 in style. As always, be in touch if you have any questions!

End of the Year stuff

2007-12-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

So 2007 is rapidly drawing to a close. We'd like to post some year-end lists, so please submit them if you have them! No rules, no boundaries, just list some stuff that impacted you this year and that you'd like to share your perspective on. We'll try to get 'em compiled and posted ASAP.

A full announcement will follow soon, but for now, make sure to hold SATURDAY JANUARY 5th open on your calendars for the next ASAC event. It'll be the first in our monthly series for 2008, and will feature a solo set by Holland Hopson on banjo + electronics. Also playing a solo set that night will be Jason Cosco on turntables, percussion, and electronics. It'll all go down at the UAG gallery on Lark St. again, a wonderful space.

Don't forget your lists, have a great end of the year, and we'll be seeing you all soon!

KILLER show in Troy on Sunday night!

2007-12-12T07:17:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone - We're not sponsoring it (though we would if Ross hadn't beat us the punch!), but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you simply CANNOT miss this show in Troy on Sunday night. What better way to end yr weekend and prepare for another week?!? Even if you don't know these artists, by all means check out their myspace pages - this show promises to be a secret treat of the highest order. You know, one of those shows that people talk about years later and you WISH you had been there?!? And even better, it features Barkhausen, with two of our favorite ASAC members Mike Bullock and Linda Aubrey Bullock! YEAH!!

So here's the full scoop...

Ross Goldstein presents:

Sunday December 16th @ 8:00 pmLIVE ELECTRONICS fromLEXINGTON,KENTUCKY !
at 51 3rd Street garage in Troy!

Three Legged Race (http://www.myspace.com/mountaain)
Caboladies (http://www.myspace.com/caboladies)
And from Troy, NY:Barkhausen (http://barkhausen.blogspot.com)

(Linda + Mike = Noise. Do the math!)

Plus a special video screening by Takeshi Murata !!

It's going to be AWESOME! Please come out for this one!
Suggested donation $5

Be seeing you.

Pictures from First Friday

2007-12-08T17:56:00.000-08:00

Here are a few shots from last night's First Friday event with Century Plants, Sleepy Demons, and Grab Ass Cowboys. An excellent time was had by all, many thanks to the bands and the video guys as well.

Also - if you want to be added to the ASAC email announcement list, just shoot us a quick email (albanysonicarts@yahoo.com) First few shows in the 2008 series to be announced any day now!!

RIP Stockhausen...

Century Plants in Albany on Friday night!

2007-12-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone's well and managing to navigate the ice... We're busy working on the 2008 performance series, and we know you'll dig it - lots of exciting things happening soon, so check here often. We don't want you to miss any of the action!

Also - A last minute news bulletin - this Friday night (12/7), Century Plants will be playing as part of the First Friday series. The show is happening at 217 Lark St. in Albany. Also on the bill are Albany's own Grab Ass Cowboys and Sleepy Demons will be making the journey up from Hudson. There will be art on the walls, some video projections as well, and a guaranteed good time to be had by all. We hope you can make it out for this show and start your holiday season right. Stop over and introduce yourself if you get the chance.

Area C to play Albany

2007-11-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

December's almost here, and there's a good show in the works this coming Saturday (12/1). Sponsored by The Capital District Federation of Ideas, (383.5 Madison Avenue, Albany). We're big fans of Area C, and it's bound to be a good time. Try to make this one if you can!

Saturday, December 1 at 4pm Michael Peters and Area C

Michael Peters: The "writing" attributable to "Michael Peters"--his poetry, his visual poetry, his fiction, his critical writing--has appeared in SleepingFish, Wordfor/Word, Lungfull, Xtant, Spell, Tool a Magazine, Rhino, Spinning Jenny, Posted, Generator Press, American Weddings, and Kostelanetz's Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes, among many others. His visual poetry has appeared innumerous galleries and exhibits, and can be found in the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry,as well as in the Special Collections/Avante-Garde Libraries of both the Ohio State University and the University at Buffalo, among others. As a musician, most notably in Poem Rocket, Michael Peters has released recordings on a number of independent labels. In 2007, Atavistic (the avant jazz and rock label based out of Chicago), released Poem Rocket's fourth full-length recording, a double CD titled Invasion! Peters also performs and records with the sound-text performance group: The Be Blank Consort. In 2005, he performed at the Subtropics Experimental Music Festival in Miami both independently and as a member of the Consort. VAAST B1n; n Ephemerisi (Calamari, 2007) is his first book. Calamari Press: www.calamaripress.com/

Area C: A vertical of error; a transplant to the chamber. Dubbed "space rock for the information age" by WIRE magazine, AREA C weaves a complicated web of sound from minimal sources, mainly guitar, field recordings, Farfisa organand harmonium, sometimes with an old Hammond drum machine thrown to the wall. Drawing on remnants of other times and places, outdated and untested technologies, signals sent out but never received, AREA C was formed by Erik Carlson in 2003 as a means to examine the texture and tonal characteristics of sound. He also works with audio art, installations,and soundtracks and his work has been featured at the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum and Terrastock. AREA C recently completed a permanent interactive installation titled "Low Rez / Hi Fi" on Vermont Avenue in Washington DC, a collaboration with architect J. Meejin Yoon. AREA C also has a new trance-like cd called "haunt" out on Last Visible Dog. http://www.areacmusic.com/

Stay tuned here for announcements about upcoming Albany Sonic Arts Collective shows - we've got some really exciting things happening in the Spring!

First Event

2007-11-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who attended our first event. The Albany Sonic Arts Collective (ASAC) is off to a good start. It was great meeting everybody, and we hope you enjoyed the music and food. We certainly did!

More pictures from the evening are available for viewing on the Upstate Artists Guild website:

http://upstateartistsguild.org/189

Special thanks to Rebecca, Colin, and Jason from UAG for helping us put the show on. And thanks to all the musicians who played - Grant, Cory, Jen, Ray, Eric, Cyrus, Ged, Noah, Kyle, and Jeremy.

Please send us an email at ASAC if you'd like to get on our announcement list for upcoming events, or to get involved with the collective in other ways. We can be reached at albanysonicarts@yahoo.com.

See you all soon for the next event! And drop us a line anytime, especially if you have ideas or would like to get involved...

AN EVENING OF CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL EXPLORATION

2007-10-18T11:56:00.001-07:00

An evening of experimental and improvised music, this will be the inaugural event for the Albany Sonic Arts Collective. Come find out about our collective and hear some wonderfully intriguing and mysterious sounds!

SUNDAY Nov. 11th

UPSTATE ARTISTS GUILD (UAG) Gallery

247 Lark St. Albany, NY

Century Plants (Albany NY)
Experimental/psychedelic/minimalist guitar-based improvisation
www.myspace.com/centuryplants

Stone Baby (Rochester, NY)
Ambient chamber noise
www.myspace.com/stonebabyband

Antique Brothers (Los Angeles, CA & Hudson, NY)
Acoustic improvisation and “gritty industrial folk music”
www.myspace.com/antiquebrothers

Sleepwalkers Local 242 (Los Angeles, CA)
Tonal layering in hyperspace, moody rags in waltz time
www.myspace.com/sleepwalkers242

We're thrilled to be presenting this first performance with the support of the wonderful Upstate Artists Guild Gallery (http://upstateartistsguild.org/).

We also hope you'll consider getting involved - if you are a musician, performer, composer, listener, or simply anyone who's interested in helping us build a community, get in touch with us here. We'll have plenty of opportunities to participate, volunteer, and be a part of our collective group.

WELCOME!!!

2007-10-18T11:46:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the brand new blog for the ALBANY SONIC ARTS COLLECTIVE. This is where we'll post information about upcoming events, share news, links, resources, and much more. Check back often. Don't hesitate to get in touch!

Who are we?

The Albany Sonic Arts Collective is a new grassroots organization dedicated to building a thriving community of listeners and performers of music that exists outside of traditional boundaries. The Collective will strive to support a wide variety of music and sonic art forms, with a special emphasis on those that stress freedom and exploration of new ideas. Styles may include free improvisation, drone, noise, electroacoustic improvisation, electronic music, avant jazz, and many others.

We'll be starting off things with a monthly series of live performances in various venues around Albany. Stay tuned for details!