Just when we were starting to think that we might not be cool, someone else realized that we are and wrote this sweet review of a video that we made in a friends garage almost 2 years ago.
"Before Dawn is two people. Who apparently have a great music video idea and can execute near flawlessly. Their music has a bit of a Von Iva feeling to it, which makes me dance in my chair. The only regret for this video is not having been invited to the raging dance party.
About the music video: The theme of “Drowning” is the eruption of a spontaneous dance party in a suburban home garage. We spent most of $99 on refreshments for the dancers so they would let loose a bit.
Band - Kate and Rob Houle Director - Rocky Hopson Camera - Chris Gibson "
With all the novel ideas I seem to keep cooking up like pyramid schemes...my favorite thing so far is to consciously collect habits. New habit: Officially Land Marking Events. It all started with the declaration of "The Most Hilarious Week of My 2009". The last week of February, which after many amusing surprises, a well deserved car chase and a failed attempt to stiff me 20 lousy bucks...ended with bird shit in my hair by Thursday. All such things that would have normally pissed me off were just down right laughable. I'm not gonna lie, I indeed had a hardcore tourette pirate potty mouth regarding the fiasco over that chump change.
So, in light of all that, this last Wednesday marked "My Hawt-est Sweaty Night of 2009". Uhh...Bajofondo. Specifically Bajofondo live at the One World Theatre. I have been wanting to check out One World for a long time but never really got around to it. So that was already two reasons to be excited to go that night. It's a beautiful, green-built, villa style home on the westsiiiide near Mopac south and Bee Caves that was turned into a theater. Very romantic and lots of people speakin' the Spanish.
When we walked in to pick up our wristbands there was a merch table with NaCo designed shirts. Both for the band and a couple other best sellers. Edoardo Chavarìn, founder and graphic designer of NaCo also created the visuals for the live performance. I had the pleasure of being introduced to him briefly by Agent "A" (aka the Empress of Latin Music aka Licha) at one of his "NaCo Nights" in Houston back in November of last year.
I absolutley love their quest to embrace the sometimes tackyfabulousness of Mexican culture as it seeps into North America and beyond. That particular NaCo Night ended up being an exclusive unofficial pre-party for the Latin Grammy's. Minglers among my friends and I (pictured above) at the tiny club were music industry types/bands from all over the Latin map. There were free beers, human manikin girls voguing in the window, a trailer across the street where you redeemed tickets for free tacos(Which were THE best I've had in Texas. I must have had 6 as I kept finding stray tickets on the ground), a dj and a live performance from Amandititia. It was a superb late night mini road trip. We also left with a cute bag of free merch from NaCo, itunes, VW and some local publications.
Back to the show. So Bajofondo, formally Bajofondo Tango Club, is currently on tour promoting their new album Mar Dulce. Austin was very lucky to be on that tour list...they weren't even here for SXSW. They are a group of performers from Argentina and Uruguay that have been lumped into the genre of "Electro Tango". Most people are familiar with Gotan Project who tends to be brought up a lot in comparison. I've never seen Gotan Project live but I was very much entranced by their music when I came across it several years ago.
Bajofondo made a much larger impact by far having experienced them from such close proximity. Their songs are very energetic and less loungy than Gotan. The normally seated section at the center of the theater was removed to allow for dancing. Good choice. I was positioned at one of my usual spots in front of the low stage directly in view of the ever so charming Gustavo Santaolalla who kept hypnotizing me with his "dance for me" eyes and flashing sneaky grins. Santaolalla has also composed well known music scores for Brokeback Mountain, Babel, Motorcycle Diaries, 21 Grams, Amores Perros...and produced for Julieta Venegas, Cafè Tacvba, Juanes....the list goes on. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.
(GO--see the version with Julieta Venegas HERE, I demand you. Do NOT defy me just because I can't embed it)
The perfomance was so firey and intense. Their expressions were full of such sincere, delightful passion and there was LOTS of jumping and raspy shouting. Towards the end...would you guess that I along with a group of about 20 other hand picked girls were pulled on stage to shake it with the band. Oh heart flutter. I could handle that a few times a week. After a couple more songs, cheek smooches from Santaolalla, and a backstage visit it was off to race en bicicleta to make it to the Texas Union on time for a 20 minute photo session with break dancers.
Oh p.s. new super crush...Bajofondo's bandoneòn player Martìn Ferres.
+Off to finish Lady Macbeth-ing the carpet now. Up next...clearance kids books.+
As tasks have begun to storm in, I figured it was time to find a better way to stay organized. I didn't want this improvement to cost me anything so I decided to hire an intern. Her name is Sprinkles but somehow over the weekend it changed to Phebe(feee-beee).
What.A.Difference.
I don't even know where to begin describing how much easier my life has become since making the genius choice stated above. Even though Phebe is left handed, tends to use excessive amounts of paper and occasionally hung over, having someone else hold my pens for me really takes a big load off. Her notes can be a bit illegible and slightly dyslexic but hey...free help is hard to come by these days. I heard a rumor that the economy isn't doing so hot but I wouldn't know, I just work here. In summary Phebe has been a Godsend to Team Circus Pirata she really brightens everyone's day. Ohhhh that spicy intern, what'll she think of next?!
New CP project...So I've decided to embark on a photographic quest to find out what really happens to my shirts and where they end up after they've been handed off to their ecstatic new owners. The travel has begun as of Easter and will NOT stop until I guess I feel like it. Pics will be up on flickr in the coming week. Learn:myspace.com/gadjodisko
Here is a mix I made for you to enjoy. It has a definite slant on minimal techno with shuffling rhythms and bouncing synthesizers. Some of my favorite songs from today, yesterday, and of my own creation are incorporated in the mix. Mathias Kaden's remix of Noze's "You Have to Dance" is pure joy; the bass line, the whistles, and the percussion command you want to dance! The last song is Ricardo Villalobos' "Fizheuer Zieheuer" a strange piece of music that is at times austere and minimal, but if you listen to the subtlety you will notice all of the intricate programming in the song. The highlight of the track comes midway when the percussion and horns give way to a slow Latin style horn wail, it's techno music at it's most experimental. Enjoy and share!
April 2009 Mix
01. Mark Star "Keep On Groovin" Mark Henning remix 02. Noze "You Have to Dance" Mathias Kaden's Beapolka remix 03. Gel Abril "Your Face is a Mess" Itamar Sagi Remix 04. Ricardo Villalobos "Mellow Dee" 05. Amir "Jazz Loops" 06. Wighnomy Brothers "Moppal Kiff" 07. Steril "Rock the Nation" Lutzenkirchin Remix 08. Lutzenkirchin "All that Jazz" Popof Remix 09. Tiefschwarz "On & On" 10. Hoxton Whores "Devil Toy" 11. International Pony "Leaving Home" Akufen Remix 12. The Lady Candice Juarez "Molcajete" Version 2 13. Marcin Czubala "Jedwab" 14. Ricardo Villalobos "Fizheuer Zieheuer"
April 2009 Mix (93.38 MB) Time 1hr. 8min. Download from Mediafire Here!
I seriously get giddy when my inbox has a new invite from The Austin New Music Co-Op. I feel so fortunate to have come across their existence. Flyers work, doggammmit! I was closing up my store and saw their arty-nerdy flyer on our bulletin board and bought a ticket for the advertised show the next day. The very first event by the Austin New Music Co-Op that I went to was this last November for their Annual "Electrons and Phonons" held at the Mexican American Cultural Arts Center. They describe it as a "fusing of instruments and voice with cutting-edge (and classic) electronic technology".
It was two nights of performances..I went Friday because I read this on their site- "On Friday night we will present Karlheinz Stockhausen's Kontakte. This is a rare opportunity to hear this ground breaking work in its original four-channel format. Created in 1959-60, Kontakte is a masterpiece of twentieth century electronic music. Stockhausen, who passed away less than a year ago, was widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important composers of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
"Kontakte is the epitome of Stockhausen's pioneering "moment form," characterized by long periods of inactivity broken by sudden changes. The prepared tape used in the work consists of a variety of metallic effects, some sped up to create radically different sounds and timbres. Probably Stockhausen's most famous work, Kontakte has been performed in two versions, one with four-channel tape and another with four-channel tape with added piano and percussion." - John Bush, AMG"
AH-MAY-ZING.
Sadly I didn't write down all of this sooner and what few notes I did write while I was there now proves to be a bit illegible. There are however drawings which I should edit in later.
There were 5 live performances before the recording of Kontakte. The one that still stands out to me was the piece performed by William Bridges, titled "Loyal Badger". He performed it with an instrument he made and what looked to be a synth. It was big. About 7 feet tall. It was a simple "A" frame that had a horizontal rod at the top with about 4 metal bars suspended down from that. He had it connected to the synth and stood behind the whole contraption. It was played by knocking metal washers onto the metal bars that were waiting in line at the top. It was sooooosuspenseful!!! The sparkling washers fluttered down the long bars until they fell to the wooden floor. He just kept sending them down one by one and played with the echo by using the synthesizer. You keep wondering which one will be the last to fall. Then he sends down more. It made me feel like I was in an episode of Reading Rainbow. Loved it.
After the last performance and intermission, they turned out all the lights, and turned on a projector that displayed only a white circle onto the center wall in front of us. There were maybe 40 of us seated in metal folding chairs in the center of the main hall. On each corner of the group was a speaker. I closed my eyes. The sounds would travel from one speaker to the other, criss crossing. I figured that this must be what it feels like to have ghosts floating around you while you're conscious. Different sounds flashed different colors in my eyes. It was very Close Encounters. I mean I look at my notes and I have things like zebras, babies, sand, formation and neon written down. It was exhilarating to say the least.
"The title of the work refers to both contacts between instrumental and electronic sound groups and to contacts between self-sufficient, strongly characterized moments. In the case of the four-channel loudspeaker reproduction, it also refers to contacts between various forms of spatial movement."(from the program)
Yeah...what he said.
Here's a decent video I found that since you can't experience it the way it was meant still gives you some good visuals to think about. The melody at the end isn't part of the piece just a dash of flavor I guess by the person that made it.
Since then, I decided I had to go to every event they tell me about...until the end of time.
So far I've gone to one other and now there's one coming up this Saturday.
The last one was flutist Roberta Michel that came in from New York to play for their Willow Street Concert Series on the east side at a great little historic home. It was absolutely beautiful. Much more intimate setting and smaller turnout. Maybe 8-10 people. It was cold out...February in Austin. I wasn't sure what to expect but I just got blown away, again. I've never seen anyone play the flute like that. She played modern pieces(most early 90s), as far as I know all written by composers that are still alive. She would sing into the flute, make percussion, and different sounds that were like drafts coming in and out through a haunted mansion window. The pieces were so emotional. A few were playful and the last was even quite jazzy (or yazzy).
I would have easily gone to see her play again in Houston the next day if I didn't already have plans.
So anyone interested in joining me on the next adventure, I leave you with this:
AUSTIN NEW MUSIC CO-OP PRESENTS:
Sound in Time - The Music of Alvin Lucier With Special Guest Cellist Charles Curtis (San Diego, CA) April 11th, 2009 - 8PM Ceremony Hall 4100 Red River St. $12 students/advance and $15 at the door Advance tickets available at End of an Ear http://endofanear.com
Among the pieces to be performed is "Vespers," composed in 1968 and dedicated to "all living creatures who inhabit dark places and who, over the years, have developed acuity in the art of echolocation." The title of this work comes from the North American bat of the family "Vespertilionidae," some of which reside under our very own Congress St. bridge. According to the composer, the piece seeks to "make a picture in sound about the space you're in." In order to perform the piece NMC members Bill Meadows and Travis Weller have crafted replicas of the electronic "Sondol" echo-location devices which were used in the original piece. In realizing this immersive piece, an ensemble of NMC performers will use the devices to send sounds into the environment. The sounds return as echoes carrying information about the shape, size, and substance of the performance space and the objects in it.
Also on the program is Lucier's "Still and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas," composed in 1984. This series of pieces for chamber instruments (woodwinds, strings, and percussion) feature closely tuned pitches to create "sound geographies" of standing waves. As the performers change their tunings, they cause sound waves to freeze in place, or begin to slowly shift in one direction or the other. The performers as well as the audience will experience the unusual sensations of these lines of sound physically interacting with each other.
Additionally, NMC percussionist Nick Hennies will present "Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra," and our guest artist will perform Lucier's piece, commissioned for the performer and entitled "Charles Curtis," for solo cello with two sine wave sweeps. In all, this distinctive program is sure to be stunning in its physicality.
+Do it. You ears will gain back a little respect for you+
The intention of this blog is for some friends to stay in touch and share projects we are working on to catalog the processes of. It is a place for us to congregate, scheme and be internet pen pals as we explore and travel both mentally and geographically.
Who knows what continent we will all be in a few months or years from now. What connects us is our appreciation and fascination for everyday life and the reaction of the world around us.
The current contributors are located in Austin, Denver and San Francisco. We all have our specialties that we will focus on...Our Zòcalo is constantly (r)evolving just wait and see... GO TEAM!
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