photos from TAPE CHANTS

All photos by Bryan Thomas - thanks!

ASAC weekend = June 19th AND 20th!!

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!!!!

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!

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!!

ASAC returns on THURS. April 16th!

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!

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!!

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!

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

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