We enter new (sonic) territory this month with percussionist Kevin Cheli.
I’ve always been a bit apprehensive about having a percussionist on the podcast; I could never get my head around how it would work. But, as I keep reminding myself, “there’s only one way to find out!”
So Kevin came to the studio with his vibraphone, percussives and electronics and I think the results are great. There’s a whole new lexicon of textures, sometimes approaching the world of ASMR. Its gets pretty noisy, but there are also melodic moments and lots of beautiful sounds. Open your ears and enjoy the ride.
This month’s podcast features Neonach (Craig Douglas) from Western Massachusetts.
Craig combines vocals, electronics and acoustic instruments to create lush, immersive soundscapes. Our collaboration explores varied sonic topographies and imaginary frontiers…
This month’s podcast is a binaural recording from the July 2022 Space Out, Outside.
It features Bob Lukomski (granular synthesizers, samples) and Irman Peck (conceptual cello/bass guitar).
Its a really beautiful field recording, best experienced in headphones, with subtle interactions between the players, and their environment.
This month’s podcast sees the return* of Tom Law, but with a twist!
In addition to being an experimental musician, Tom has an interest in early music and brought along his Viola da Gamba to our session. He incorporated it into his Max/MSP rig and two worlds collided (to weird effect).
We ended up with a wonderfully abstract series of soundscapes which I find very transporting. Best enjoyed in headphones, lying down in a dark room…
This month’s podcast is from a live performance at the Shaker Meeting House in Albany, NY in August 2021.
It was a collaborative performance with dancer Ophra Wolf that took place as the sun set. As has too often been the case with weather reliant performances, it was very cloudy and even raining a bit before we started, but we did persist and this recording is a document.
The Shaker Meeting House was a beautiful space to play in, and I hope to perform there again in the future. Also, they let me use one of their Shaker chairs – so comfortable!!
This month’s podcast features the violin and voice of Concetta Abbate.
Concetta came up to the studio from Queens, NY on a weird winter day that started sunny and devolved into icy snow squalls. The three improvisations that comprise this recording really seem to capture the feeling of that day.
Concetta Abbate is a classically trained violinist turned improviser and composer. Grammy.com describes her original performances as a mix of “Violin and delicate vocals that float between the worlds of Modern Classical, Neo-Folk, and poignant and poetic verse”. She has released three studio albums exploring art song, avant chamber music and free improvisation.
This month’s podcast is a return to basics. As winter starts winding down I’m reconnecting with the electric guitar as a tone generator, and preparing for live performances again after being in studio mode and getting lost in the world of synthesizers.
I constructed this podcast from five exercises where I explored the sonic and textural palette of my guitar performance rig. It felt a bit like reconnecting with an old friend, and it was nice to be reminded of the strange world of sounds we can create together.
This month’s podcast features guitarist Lucas Brode.
Lucas and I have know each other for a while, both of us being oddball musicians based in the Hudson Valley. We’ve had a few live collabos, but I’d never asked him to be on my podcast, because I tend to shy away from playing with other guitarists, perhaps out of a fear of redundancy.
However, our approaches to the instrument are very different, and Lucas is an amazing listener and improviser – I think the combo works quite well. This serves as a reminder for me to keep an open mind; the only way to know if something is going to work is to try it!
This month’s podcast is a live solo performance from June 2021 in Goshen, NY at the Orange County Arts Council.
Its a field recording, so you’ll be able to hear the environment where I was playing; there’s a little pond, lots of birds talking, and some traffic. Its nice to post an unedited performance like this as a snapshot of where I am creatively. One of the audience members described it as “sonic acupuncture,” which I think is fitting. I hope you enjoy it!
This month’s podcast features bassist (and synthesist) Irman Peck, from Philadelphia, PA.
Irman was a participant in the Remote Variations series, but this one was recorded live at a Space Out, Outside performance in June 2021.
We covered a lot of ground that afternoon, from contemplative improvisation to weird poly rhythms and textural drones. It’s got something for everyone??