Thursday 21st February Phoenix Brighton

David Velez (Impulsive Habitat/The Field Reporter)

David Vélez was born in Bogotá. He moved to New York City in 2002 and returned to Colombia in 2010.

He started to publish his work on 2005 under the name of Lezrod with the album 'Retorno a la nada' which was nominated for the Qwartz awards.

Since 2006 David has participated in a series of exhibitions and art festivals such as ‘Frequencias’ (2012 Plazarte Gallery, Medellín), ‘Cacería de Brujas’ (2011, Bogotá), ’Densidades’ (2011 Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá), Intermedios (2011 Universidad Nacional, Bogotá), Internacional Ruidística (2010 Valenzuela Klenner Gallery, Bogotá), Fine Diving (2008, NYC), Red Room (2008, Baltimore, Maryland), Rake Festival (2007, NYC) and Photophono (NYC, 2006).

David Vélez works as content manager, curator and publisher for Impulsive Habitat a label he co-founded in 2009 that focuses on the publication of phonographic and musique concrete works.

In 2011, David Vélez founded the journal The Field Reporter which is focused on the critic and review of phonographic and musique concrete based works. The Field Reporter gathers an editorial team composed of a series of artists, publishers and curators with high expertise in the line of work, like Cheryl Tipp (Wildlife Sounds Curator at the British Library), Daniel Crokaert (label manager and curator at Mystery Sea and Unfathomless), Ennio Mazzon (sound artist and manager - curator at Ripples) and Jay-Dea Lopez (sound artist and journalist at Sounds Like Noise).

http://davidvelezr.tumblr.com/about

http://impulsivehabitat.com/

http://thefieldreporter.wordpress.com/

Yiorgis Sakellariou (Mecha/Orga)

Mecha/Orga is the project and recording name of Greek sound artist Yiorgis Sakellariou. Since 2003, he has been active internationally being responsible for solo albums, having composed music for short films and theatrical performances, leading workshops and ceaselessly performing his music around the globe.

His practice is founded on the digital manipulation of environmental recordings. His palette of sounds is all encompassing; from vibrating rail-tracks to refrigerators’ static, and from noisy waterfalls to the humming of insects.  He only performs in absolute darkness, fostering an all-inclusive and profoundly submerging sonic experience.

Yiorgis Sakellariou is a member of the Athenian Contemporary Music Research Centre and the Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association. Since 2004 he has curated the label Echomusic

http://mechaorga.wordpress.com/

Paul Khimasia Morgan & Simon Drinkwater

Paul Khimasia Morgan has been developing his approach to improvised music for over ten years and has worked on projects with Simon Whetham, Daniel Jones, Adam Lygo, Dan Powell and Simon Drinkwater.  He has releases on Con-V, Engraved Glass, Cronica and The Sound Projector. Paul also runs the imprint The Slightly Off Kilter Label, which publishes artist-led short-run vinyl and cd-r editions.  He has performed live in collaboration with Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga, Robert Curgenven, Simon Whetham, Daniel Jones, Duncan Harrison, Seijiro Murayama, Daichi Yoshikawa, Ryu Hankil, Patrick Farmer and Jez riley French.  Paul Khimasia Morgan is the curator of aural detritus concert series.

Simon Drinkwater's work explores polyphony. He uses voice as the sole sound source and relays it through both tape and digital delay; using the digital on a long slow decaying loop which picks up microtonal mumblings and forms them into undulating swathes of choral drone, reminiscent of Ligeti's Lux Aeterna.  His improvisations incorporate shifting chord changes, feedback and rhythmic fragments of psycho-babble sound poetry. Simon also plays improvised music on the harp.

Joshua Clarke Legallienne

Composer/improviser/guitarist based in Brighton, U.K.  Joshua studied Sound Art at Brighton University and performs solo guitar improvisations.

Joshua is involved with bands and artists such as S'ba, Nick Hudson, Swim Club, Sargasso Sea, WAVES and Tysarc.

Track “Rose Quartz” here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHbr7-OvLjU

audet001

audet001

eaves drop by Paul Khimasia Morgan

3" cd-r; edition of 30 only

a live performance recorded by Jason Kahn

at The Grey Area Gallery, Brighton UK, February 2012

The first in an ongoing series of live recordings made

at aural detritus concerts released in co-operation with

The Slightly Off Kilter Label.

price: £4 including P&P in UK; international enquiries to the following email:

PayPal to:  slightlyoffkilter@hotmail.co.uk

chimes, overtones, friction & resonance

Adam Bushell  -  photo by PKM

So then, sadly the final night of november's aural detritus concert series, and also our final concert of 2012.  Not to worry though; we're fixing to organise the third concert series, again at Phoenix Brighton, in the spring of 2013, and there may even be a special one-off event somewhere in Brighton in January, so watch this space, as they say.
More by accident than by design, tonight's performances all have strings in common and the first example of this concerns percussionist Adam Bushell, (tonight playing vibraphone), and cellist Bela Emerson.  In fact Bela doubles up her string quotient; beginning by playing a relaxed figure on four-string tenor guitar.  Adam Bushell remains fairly restrained for the majority of their set; as Bela switches to cello augmented by electronics, a coherent and beautiful interplay of sounds takes shape.  Adam's vibraphone playing reminded me of the sound of some of the Chicago post rock/jazz records from the last decade, although that scene's Chad Taylor played marimba as well, I believe...  A very precise, enjoyable start to the proceedings.

Bela Emerson  -  photo by PKM

By total contrast, violinist Angharad Davies played a beautiful acoustic solo in the ante-room at the back of the Gallery.  By playing more than one string simultaneously, Angharad produced an overtone-like effect, gradually bringing in harmonic information and at one point bringing her playing volume down to a very quiet level.  Angharad demonstrated a stunning grasp of technique and the intellectual potential of the instrument.  Just amazing.

Angharad Davies  -  photo by PKM

After some more of Daniel Spicer's poetry reading and an intermission, our third purveyor of string-based music, Sarah Hughes, began her solo performance on amplified zither.  Sarah approaches her instrument, (some brief background for the uninitiated here), in a similar way to some of our our previous guests, lets say for example, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga, Patrick Farmer, Daniel Jones, (and incidentally, they happen to be friends and have performed together in various groupings and projects), in that she not only works with the characteristics of the instrument itself, but augments her zither with objects, actions and extended techniques.  This approach has found her interpreting modern composition scores recently, but as pure, open improvisation, her set tonight really soars.

Sarah Hughes  -  photo by PKM

Lastly, a man with one foot in the jazz world and the other in free improvisation; the great Dominic Lash, who, remarkably for a man so young, has attained an unbelievable command of double bass syntax and a reputation and popularity to match.  Tonight, Dom treated us to a display of virtuoso extended bass technique, utilising every inch of the instrument.  His imagination and technique know no bounds and he sustained his impressive and captivating solo for thirty or so minutes.
It was great to finish with such fantastic and unique players; not quite sure how we'll be able to follow it next year!
Big thanks again to everyone who attended, particularly those who took advantage of the three-night passes; to all the performers who made long, and in some cases, arduous (!) journeys down to the seaside; to all the staff and volunteers at Phoenix Brighton, particularly Belinda Greenhalgh and Clare Hankinson; to our sound engineer Simon Drinkwater, and the production team - Daniel Spicer, Holly Jarvis, Adam Lygo and Daniel Jones - your hard work is much appreciated!

Dominic Lash  -  photo by PKM

illuminations, glossolalia, static & cascades

Paul Khimasia Morgan - photo by Andrea Shamlou

Concert two; this is the halfway point, and already something's different.  The action takes place in the Phoenix' main Gallery this evening, giving everyone, performers and audience, a bit more elbow room and offering a more polished presentation.  After a quick introduction, and his first poem of the evening (a version of Spood I think, from his album engruntled), Daniel Spicer urged the audience up off their seats and into an ante-room at the back of the Gallery to watch me, Paul Khimasia Morgan.  I feel a bit strange attempting to review my own performance, (partly because I don't remember much about it), so all I'll say is this: shortwave radio, mobile phone recordings and amplified bicycle lights in pitch darkness. 

Iris Garrelfs - photo by Andrea Shamlou

Next up was London-based sound artist Iris Garrelfs who produced an impressive set of real-time vocal manipulation/improvisation from behind her laptop.  Dense backgrounds were set up, occasionally producing a very effective sub bass effect, over which Iris spun a wordless filigree. Such was the power of her bass soundforms, a large bough fell from an elm outside, visible through the Gallery's plate glass windows during Iris' set*.  The resulting sonic landscape moved interestingly in and out of vaguely esoteric territory (at least to my mind) which I enjoyed; but the thing that stays with me is the extremely high quality signal Garrelfs produces which allows the nuances of her manipulations of her trained voice to hit their marks, without an audible residue of whatever software she was using to do the processing.

Daniel Spicer - photo by PKM

More poetry from Daniel Spicer, before an intermission, and then the Oxford/Bristol based Stephen Cornford and London based Greek owner of the label Organised Music From Thessaloniki; Kostis Kilymis.

Stephen Cornford and Kostis Kilymis - photo by Katy Connor

Quite a surprisingly full and full-on sound from these two young improvisors tonight; both men armed with a table full of wires, devices, objects, bits of metal, boxes and who knows what.  Pulsing electronics, droning hums, skittering noise-shards all produced with gusto and at volume; a far cry from the sometimes delicate and sedate world of lower-case improv.  Kilymis has worked with a who's who of  international avant names both solo and through his label, while Cornford participated in the Soundfjord residency at  V22 / The Biscuit Factory in South London this summer with Patrick Farmer and Lee Patterson.  Their pedigree shows.  Marvellous stuff.

Noteherder & McCloud - photo by PKM

Rounding up the evening were the rather dapper saxophone and electronics duo Noteherder & McCloud; also known as Chris Parfitt and Geoff Reader.  Having selected from a choice of two horns tonight, Parfitt set about utilizing the acoustic properties of the space in tandem with his usual habit of feeding a signal to Reader's electronics set up.  Reader himself prefaced their set with a brief apology regarding one of his keyboards which had appeared to have reverted to its factory presets, but to me, this was to their advantage, making them (consciously or unconsciously) seem to work harder.  This improvisation was one of the best ones I've seen them do, Parfitt's processed sax reminding me of  Nik Turner at times (in no way a bad thing) and with Geoff Reader providing plenty of momentum with his churning synths and distorted vocalising.  Two new releases from these guys; one on Exotic Pylon and the other from The Slightly Off Kilter Label coming very soon - I'd advise you very strongly to seek them both out, judging by the calibre of work the boys demonstrated tonight.

Big thanks to the staff of Phoenix Brighton, and the adcs team: Simon Drinkwater, Holly Jarvis, Adam Lygo and Daniel Jones.

Final show next Friday 30th November with:
Angharad Davies, Dominic Lash, Sarah Hughes and Adam Bushell/Wil Miles/Bela Emerson trio
interludes from Daniel Spicer

* note:  it was quite windy last night.

hums, blasts, tics & scraping

Patrick Farmer/David Lacey/Daniel Jones  -  photo by PKM

Very pleased with the excellent music on offer last night at our first show of november at Phoenix Brighton.
MASS, a duo of dark clad gentlemen, started the evening off with a linear set of tone development interspersed with what appeared to be some kind of homemade breath operated instrument heavily time-processed I'm guessing.  Apart from that, I'm not sure exactly how their sounds were being produced, but an absorbing set with an esoteric undercurrent, perhaps.
Breath continued as a theme as the great bass saxophonist Tony Bevan followed with a highly technical, and physically demanding by the looks of it, solo display.  Bass sax is an unusual instrument in jazz and Mr Bevan is, to my ears, the top exponent in the UK if not everywhere.  He even demonstrated his technique (don't forget - a bass sax is a not inconsiderable-sized object) of playing with the mouthpiece full of water for a lucky few of us in the bar prior to doors opening.

Gus Garside & Dan Powell  [The Static Memories]  -  photo by PKM

The Static Memories (double bassist Gus Garside and electronics/guitar man Dan Powell) reprised their set at adcs in May with another extremely enjoyable performance rich in textural and gestural detail.  I really like the collision of a jazz career and experimental electronics of this duo.
After a short interval, we all decamped into the bar to witness the trio of Patrick Farmer, David Lacey and Daniel Jones and their tabletop devices.  Self-amplified by a means of a small speaker each, they first set some noises running for ten minutes, slowly increasing in quiet intensity, as the audience finished ordering drinks.  We all then seated ourselves and the trio commenced a score by Sam Sfirri.  This seemed to contain a good deal of "silent" passages which really focussed the audience, so much so that I felt I had to politely shoo some audible conversationalists out of the next room.  A further fifteen or so minutes of pure improvisation followed in more exuberant fashion to finish the evening to great appreciation.
I must also thank Daniel Spicer, he of jazz writings and his own Mystery Lesson radio programme, for his poems and announcements throughout the course of the evening.
Next Thursday; Iris Garrelfs, Stephen Cornford, Kostis Kilymis, Noteherder & McCloud and myself will be entertaining in the Phoenix main Gallery from 7:30pm.  All welcome...

line-up for november 2012

Friday 16^th November

Tony Bevan
Patrick Farmer/David Lacey/Daniel Jones

MASS

The Static Memories

Thursday 22^nd November

Iris Garrelfs

Kostis Kilymis

Stephen Cornford

Paul Khimasia Morgan

Noteherder & McCloud

Friday 30^th November

Angharad Davies

Sarah Hughes

Dominic Lash

Adam Bushell/Wil Miles/Bela Emerson

Tickets for the 16^th November are available here: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/188904

22^nd November here:  http://www.wegottickets.com/event/189911

30^th November here:  http://www.wegottickets.com/event/189912

Or you can buy 3 day passes for the special price of £9 either from the door on the first night or in advance from Endless Records or Resident on Kensington Gardens, North Laine,  Brighton.

november concerts