October 26, 2006 by mike.

Went to yet another FFMUP last night, this time with my mother-in-law- Nanette.

This month there was SideCar (Anne Hege and Heather Heise), a duo with an amazing amount of talent. Amazing vocals with Piano, Toy Piano, Flute, Accordian and pre-recorded ambient tracks. I was blown away! The compositional skills they displayed were just unbelievable… I’d describe it as Modern Cabaret with a tiny dash of performance art. The duo os a “must see”. Visit their links about for sample music!

HZL BRD (pronouned Hazel Bird…I think) performed an improvised set. Tim Albro (Guitar, Radio and Electronics) Jesse Kudler (Guitar ad Electronics) and Dustin Hurt (Trumpet). I found there music subtle and quietly engaging.

…Which leads me to this months Gate show…since Dustin Hurt was a performer there as well!

Dustin performed with Forty-2, who opened the show. A great and surprising set! This band should be seen more. They were followed by Charles Cohen v.s. Maria Chavez. What an interesting duo… Charles’ Buchla Music Easel versus Maria’s turntable… great stuff. Maria uses the turntable an an intrument and a way I have never seen before. I found it inspiring! Charles is apparently a very well known musician in this genre around the Philadelphia area. It was great to finally hear him perform… what and instrument! what a performer! These two, I will be following closely.

Trokenesis close the show…and I am still stunned…they blew me away…THIS group I MUST see/hear again. Bowed metal and cymbals, percussion and jaw dropping vocals…wow…then, there was the dry ice…

Dry Ice you say? That’s what I said…. Catherine Pancake placed and manipulated bits of metal and bowls on top of a block of dry ice. The best I can guess is that the pressure of the metal item on the rapidly evaporating dry ice induces vibrations which cause the item to resonate. It was music and performance art mixed together. I simply loved what I heard and will definitely try to see them perform again.

If you get a chance, see one, many or all of these different groups. These genres of music are undersupported. Come out and lend an ear. Some many of these perfromances are free (and thus devoid of comercial concerns…horray!!!) It’s honest Art…and as we musicians know…frequenty “free” is the only place you’ll see it… That being said, I would pay to see any of theses artists again. I wish them well in all their endevours and hope the reach the level they both deserve and aspire to.

Finally, Sasha Raught…

I have known Sasha Raught since High School… He is one of those people who excel an anything they choose to pursue. Sasha is a world class gymnast and and artist…

I have donated some of my web space to his artwork…the page is primative and still underconstruction, but I invite you to visit and have a look at this MAJOR TALENT. I am proud to own and display one of his pieces in my home…it’s in the Maxfield Parrish style. If you know Parrish, then you know that Sasha must be good…

I assure you…he is world class. please visit the site here.

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October 12, 2006 by mike.

I went over to the Terrace Club on the Princeton University campus on Tuesday night to check out the

FFMUP show with Ken Pamler of Brainstatik and Bil Fieger of Stares to Nowhere.

The sets were as follows: Seth Cluett , Kasper T. Toeplitz and Kasper T. Toeplitz with Michael Haleta.

I arrive a few minutes late as the club was a well hidden behind a row of hedges…but my persistance paid off.

Bill and I walked in and sat amongst the other audients. It was very much a “living room” environment…all dark wood and soft couches. Seth performed an amazing piece using a sheet of metal and a wire brush as the sound source which he post-processed with a laptop. I really enjoyed the subtle interaction between the low frequency tones beating against one and other. All in all, a quite unique and enjoyale experience. I’m going to see about getting any recordings Seth might have. From a brief look at his web site, he appears to be a video artist as well…interesting work too.

Kasper T. Toeplitz followed next with a BassComputer piece. It was amazing. As I listened, I closed my eyes and saw bleak vistas…soot colored skys, hot winds, burning forests and titanic roving cyclones for smoke and debris.

Kasper was kind enough to answer my questions and explain his process and methods during the break. I was intriged by his approach to the solo piece he played. Rather that using his Bass Guitar as a melodic source, he used it strictly as a source of timbre. He used various objects to stroke the strings and was also seen to use an Ebow. He used the software (Max MSP) to control the pitch. This is unusual in that most musicians do the exact opposite; they use the instrument to control pitch and computer/effects to change the timbre. Brilliant! I love when people turn long understood concepts on their ear (pun intended.)

I encourage you to seek out his recordings. I purchase three CD’s from him immediately after his solo performance and have since enjoyed them all. This music is not for the faint at heart…this is not “pop music” (thank god…)

After the break, Kasper returned with Michael Haleta. They did a very intense improvised (I assume it was improvised) noise set. I normally do not enjoy this type of music, but this set was definitely an exeption.

The FFMUP series was a joy…and I plan to attend their future performances whenever time allows.

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October 2, 2006 by mike.

Ken Palmer (of Brainstatik, one of the other bands I play with) and I are planning a concert for the late November/early December time frame.

 The idea came to me while reading about Rober Rich’s “Sleep Music” concerts. Robert would perform throughout the night and audience members were invited to come and bring their sleeping bags. These performances were up to (and above?) 7 hours of continuous music.

My idea was to do something similar. Invite several ambient music groups/performers to play there set, but as one group ended another group would begin… a sort of organic flow from one group to the next. This way the music would be contiguous thoughout the night.

This event will likely be held at the same location as had contained Ken Pamler’s Cosmic Coffeehouse in the past…but, perhaps, in the upstairs theater instead.

More details, including performer participants to follow later.

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October 1, 2006 by mike.

Great show tonight… Ian Boddy was awesome…light show was cool too.

If you are in the Philadephia area (and maybe even if you are not!), you should consider checking out The Gatherings concert series that is put together by Chuck VanZyle of the radio program Stars End on 88.5fm WXPN Philadelphia,PA / 88.1fm WXPH Harrisburg, PA / 90.5fm WKHS Worton/Baltimore, MD. It’s a great ambient music program that I highly recommend. Listen Live here from 1am to 6am on Saturday (well…I guess technically, Sunday morning…)

 Interesting project has appeared on the horizon…more info shortly.
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