Vocalist Suzanne Langille and multi-instrumentalist Neel Murgai perform in a distinctive voice-percussion duo, much like they did on their recent release Wild & Foolish Heart (Family Vineyard). The Wire mentions how Langille “[throws] herself at the feet of her material,” letting go of her ego. Langille, best-known for her recording work with Loren Mazzacane Connors, began collaborating with Murgai in the late 1990s.

The kaleidoscopic arrangements of Paranoid Cat are a leap from the stripped down attack on Forsyth’s hotly acclaimed 2009 Dreams, a long-gone 100 edition LP that will be reissued by Family Vineyard later this year.  Paranoid Cat will be released as LP/DL by Family Vineyard on March 29.

Paranoid Cat is the result of Forsyth performing with a band over recent years and bringing together drummer Mike Pride, bassist Peter Kerlin, pianist Hans Chew (member of D. Charles Speer & Helix), pedal steel player Marc Orleans (Sunburned, D. Charles Speer, etc)  Koen Holtkamp (of Mountains) on synths, trumpeter Nate Wooley and others into the studio. The side-long, three part opener “Paranoid Cat” spirals out from a groove that owes as much to Richard Lloyd/Television as John Fahey’s America opus and continues through a transformation tempered by Chew’s piano but eventually breaks into a neo-psychedelic wall of sound. It’s a startling epic masterwork for 2011 and beyond. A much shorter, acoustic version of this song kicked off last year’s “Imaginational Anthem IV: New Possibilities” compilation on Tompkins Square. The second side showcases Forsyth’s depth with the aptly named “New Pharmacist Boogie” — a ripper in the vein of a one-string John Lee Hooker pulse study dedicated to departed friend Jack Rose — and the emotionally devastating sustained blues “Front Street Drone.” “Anniversary Day” fuses a lumbering pedal steel, marimba, trumpet and more into a cosmopolitan finale nodding toward Van Dyke Parks handiwork.

Since Forsyth released his debut 45 in 1998, his guitar style has been equally split between the rich yet often abstract melodies as a solo artist to the fractured, confrontational forces in the Peeesseye trio or alongside Tetuzi Akiyama, and in the tailored collaborations Phantom Limb & Bison and Dirty Pool. He is joined by Mike Pride (drums), Peter Kerlin (bass), Don Bruno (organ), and Hans Chew (piano).

Suzanne Langille and Neel Murgai

When The Wire reviewed the recently released LP, Wild & Foolish Heart, it spoke at length about Suzanne Langille’s vocals without really describing her voice or singing style. Instead, it focused on her aesthetic, noting how she prefers to let go of ego, “throw herself at the feet of her material and let it speak through her.” Best known for her work with guitarist Loren Connors, she began stepping out more individually in the late 1990s, with a solo piece for RoadCone’s InStress series of 7” EPs, and a Secretly Canadian release of the unusual Enchanted Forest. This was followed by collaborations in various permutations by Langille and Connors with four musicians from Atlanta – Andrew Burnes, David Daniell, Bryan Fielden and Neel Murgai. Recordings from this connection include Let the Darkness Fall, Up in Flames and Passing Song. Tonight, as on “Wild & Foolish Heart,” she performs with Neel Murgai, in a distinctive vocal-percussion duet.

Neel Murgai is a multi-instrumental performer/composer. He specializes in sitar, which he learns from Pundit Krishna Bhatt, and has a passion for frame drums, including the Persian daf, learned from Soheil Zolfonun. He also creates a more personal music, mixing it up in collaborations with artists from diverse backgrounds. In addition to his work with Langille, Murgai has composed music for film and TV and performed with artists such as Bill T. Jones, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Cyndi Lauper, Wyclef Jean, Sameer Chatterjee, Yuerba Buena, Yes Men, Daniel Bernard Romain, Ellen Stewart, Laraaji, Baba Israel, Raz Mesinai, Mission on Mars, Akim Funk Buddha, Loren Conners, Louis Bellogenis and Cosmo Vinyl.

Bill Baird

Bill Baird is a multi talented musician from Austin, Texas. Known to most for his prolific songwriting and pop productions under the names Sunset and Sound Team, Baird is at heart a musical experimenter without boundaries. The dynamic nature of his approach to songwriting leads to an always-evolving sound, constantly reaching for its true shape yet never settling in on form. With his album Silence! (an August 2010 release on the Austin label Autobus) he has created a rich, analog ambient recording akin to the Folkways records of Craig Kupka and the meditations of early Kranky releases. Silence! is awash with the heavy sonic textures of pianos sent through 24 stereo delays, french horn, and a variety of acoustic instrumentation. For this special ISSUE Project Room performance, Bill Baird will perform live arrangements of the pieces from the album in ensemble with Tucker Dulin, Erica Dicker, Dave Ruder, Nathan Stein, Alexander Waterman, Kenny Wang, Karen Waltuch, and Katherine Young.

Loren Connors

Loren Connors was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1949. Best known as a composer and improviser, Connors has issued over 50 guitar records on his own imprints (Daggett, St. Joan, Black Label) since the late 1970s and over two dozen on other labels across the globe. He has recorded under the names Guitar Roberts, Loren Mattei, Loren MazzaCane Connors and other variations. Connors’ singular adpation of the blues is a distinct personal vision combining the Delta bottleneck sound and the ancestral blues voice (appearing as distortion, baying hounds or multi-tracked guitar), with hauntingly unexpected sounds. Outside of Connors’ three decades of solo work, he has collaborated with Suzanne Langille, Jim O’Rourke, Darin Gray, Alan Licht, Christina Carter, Keiji Haino, San Agustin, Jandek and many others, as well as leading the group Haunted House. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

This evening is curated by Unseen Worlds Records. With releases by Lubomyr Melnyk, Carl Stone, “Blue” Gene Tyranny, and Elodie Lauten, Unseen Worlds pens itself as a record label “releasing quality editions of unheralded and revolutionary, yet accessible, avant garde music.”

Video of “Surfing” by Bill Baird, shot on 8mm in Times Square:

BILL BAIRD – SURFING from autobus on Vimeo.

What is share?

Share is an open jam, not just for digirati, but for all new culture lovers. Participants bring their portable equipment, plug into our system, improvise on each others’ signal and perform live audio and video. We furnish the amplification and projection. Share happens every Sunday.

open jams and walk-in sets — Bring your equipment/instruments/gear etc. to join the jam!

audio jam: Prepared and spontaneous music from eight plus simultaneous performers. This is the time and place to perform a piece of music you’ve written and hear it on a large sound system, improvise spontaneously with other participants, get feedback on your latest project or try out that new max patch/software setup. Bring your noise maker of choice and an XLR, quarter-inch or RCA cable to join.

video jam: multi-user live video synthesis. Generating an immersive visual environment, in the SHARE tradition, in which multiple participants are able to jointly compose the video output. Try out and learn about new VJ wetware. As with the audio, walk-in sets are encouraged. Bring your clips or camera or laptop/amiga and VGA, S-Video, or RCA cables to join

8pm, free —

Tonight’s featured guests are Emil de Waal, Bruce Tovsky & Richard Garet

Emil de Waal: drums, percussion, electronics and laptop is one of the most heavily engaged drummers in Danish music, and has toured internationally and appeared on 150 releases since his debut in 1986. Emil de Waal is also known as a band-leader, programmer, composer and arranger. Since 2004, Emil de Waal+ has released three albums with his “Emil de Waal+” project that have been appraised by reviewers a.o. in British “The Wire”. Emil de Waal+ has toured in China, US, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark with diverse guests such as Wayne Horvitz, Danny Frankel, Erik Sanko, Bruce Tovsky, Andy Green, Kato Hideki, Hasse Poulsen and Yan Jun.
http://myspace.com/emildewaal
http://emildewaal.com

Bruce Tovsky:
Multifaceted media artist Bruce Tovsky’s 30 year career cuts a broad swath across disciplines, from his skills as a recording engineer and producer of bands like Liquid Liquid, the seminal 80’s downtown NYC cult band, to his successful career editing and designing award-winning TV commercials, documentaries and music videos, to his evocative video/sound works that are extensions of his visual arts practice. His multimedia works have drawn acclaim in festivals, museums and galleries in the USA, Europe, Japan and around the world. Tovsky collaborated extensively with choreographers during the 80’s and 90’s, scoring and creating sound and video design for works by artists such as Muna Tseng, Cydney Wilkes and Charles Dennis at venues like The Kitchen, PS122, The Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center and elsewhere. Since the early 2000’s he has been associated with Issue Project Room, both as performer and curator, and he has recorded and produced many of the shows he was involved in, most recently recording and producing the amazing collaboration between Genesis P-Orridge and Tony Conrad that was recently released on vinyl by Dias Records and received a glowing review in the UK music magazine The Wire. His 30 year associtaion with Liquid Liquid continues to this day, with his 2009 production of Domino’s UK release of the definitive reissue of their entire output, including rare bonus tracks from his archive.
http://www.skeletonhome.com

Richard Garet: Richard Garet’s video works investigates the possibilities found in today’s technology to create moving image. These works examine process, color, motion, digital glitches, RGB phenomena, afterimage, and the sensory gaps between the eye and the mind. The techniques employed to interact with the work intend to push the boundaries of digital moving image and emphasize the media, digital permutations, and software processing as a pure and fundamental artistic gesture. Additional methods utilized are image scanning, analog and digital processes to treat light and image, film degradation, film decay, and rigorous and repetitive systems of digital corruption.

Garet has collaborated with artists such as: Andy Graydon, Gill Arno, Ben Owen, Gil Sansón, and André Goncalves through the EA collective; and with: Asher, Brendan Murray, Bruce McClure, Bruce Tovsky, Shimpei Takeda, Sawako Kato, Chika Iijima, Wolfgang Von Stürmer, Zimoun, Zach Layton, and Bonnie Jones. His sound compositions have been published on the following labels: And-Oar, Non Visual Objects, Winds Measure Recordings, Unframed Recordings, Con-V, Leerraum, and White_Line Editions. Additionally Garet currently directs the independent media label Contour Editions publishing works that explore the various possibilities of sound and light. Garet also co-curates with Louky Keijsers Koning, the monthly performance event LMAKseries, which integrates film, video, sound art, and media performance into the gallery’s mission at LMAK Projects in the L.E.S, NYC.

http://www.share.dj/share/event_info.php?eventID=665

———

Share @ Issue Project Room @ The (OA) Can Factory
232 3rd Street, 3rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11215

direction/map:
http://issueprojectroom.org/contact
http://is.gd/ljow

SHARE is always 100% FREE!! (no admission!)

Show up early!!! and stay late!!

http://share.dj/share
http://facebook.com/sharenyc
http://issueprojectroom.org

Biography: 

Initially inspired by the guitarists of the 60’s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, James Blackshaw writes long-form pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar that are heavily influenced by minimalist composers and European classical music and which use drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody to create instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and emotionally charged. 

Born in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released six solo studio albums, one live recording and has also appeared on numerous compilations in the last five years. “O True Believers” (2006, Important Records/Bo’weavil Recordings), “The Cloud of Unknowing” (2007, Tompkins Square) and “Litany of Echoes” (2008, Tompkins Square) have received huge critical acclaim from printed and online publications including Pitchfork, Billboard, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar Magazine. “The Cloud of Unknowing” was also listed as one of the 50 best albums of 2007 by The Wire (no. 24) and Pitchfork (no. 34). 

He has toured extensively in Europe, US and Japan and currently resides in Hastings, England. 

Selected Press: 

“… A veritable solo symphony that’s as schooled in uncommon beauty as it is in complex 20th century composition… Blackshaw writes high drama into instrumental music with subtlety and charm, speaking on sentiments and stories without requiring a single lyric… Blackshaw seems fully settled, engaging his pieces and ideas with the unflinching belief of Tony Conrad in 1964 or Steve Reich in 1965… The Cloud of Unknowing carves out a new, peerless space altogether– one that puts Blackshaw at the top of his class.” – Grayson Currin, Pitchforkmedia.com 

“In the tradition of “American Primitive” guitarists within which he’s often grouped, James Blackshaw cuts rather an odd figure. Neither American, nor primitive, nor as Litany of Echoes begins, even playing the guitar, the English musician is all about upending the expectations we might have from his instrument. Whereas kindred spirits like John Fahey and Robbie Basho looked East for their Raga-inspired guitar diversions, Blackshaw instead sounds more East-Coast: his long-distance guitar tunes recalling NY minimalism, or Sonic Youth, as arranged for chamber orchestra. Mesmerising stuff, and proof that less is often more.” – John Robinson, Uncut Magazine 

“There’s an indecent ease to James Blackshaw’s guitar playing. His fingerpicking mantras are as melodic as a music box, gliding through dizzying tempos like clockwork… Such is the silky control he exherts over his instrument, Blackshaw often sounds more like a court harpist than a backwoods strummer.” – Derek Walmsey, The Wire 

“The hypnotic arpeggios at the heart of James Blackshaw’s acoustic guitar playing reflect strong influences from outside the precincts of folk music: minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Terry Riley, and some of their precursors, like Erik Satie. Mr. Blackshaw, a British autodidact still in his mid-20s, fingerpicks his 12-string Guild with an immersive focus befitting such heady allusions. At its best, his sumptuous new album, Litany of Echoes, conveys a stark and ancient feeling, like something handed down through the ages….” – Nate Chinen, The New York Times 

“Twenty-seven-year-old Brit James Blackshaw has lately emerged as a major force in the world of instrumental guitar, his epic, austere compositions and unpretentious 12-string technique perching him somewhere between John Fahey and Robbie Basho… Downright beautiful stuff.” – Jonathon Cohen, Billboard Magazine 

“The most gem-like overlooked album this year is neither hairy nor scary; rubber-necking into the great unknown isn’t high in its priorities. But it is preternaturally beautiful. O True Believers by 24-year-old guitarist James Blackshaw features 10 fingers and 12 strings and, frankly, urinates all over whatever will be the Mercury Prize’s token folk nominee next year. Blackshaw is British, but virtually no one has heard of him outside the US folk underground; he deserves ticker-tape parades. His style derives from the Takoma school founded by John Fahey, but that is all detail. Blackshaw’s got it all: skills to hyperventilate for, and instinctual loveliness in spades.” – Kitty Empire, The Observer 

“One of the best and most original instrumentalists in the new, acoustic renaissance” – David Fricke, Rolling Stone Magazine

Initially inspired by the guitarists of the 60’s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, James Blackshaw writes long-form pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar and piano that are heavily influenced by minimalist composers and European classical music and which use drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody to create instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and emotionally charged.

Born in London in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released six solo studio albums, one live recording and has also appeared on numerous compilations in the last five years. “O True Believers” (2006, Important Records/Bo’weavil Recordings), “The Cloud of Unknowing” (2007, Tompkins Square) and “Litany of Echoes” (2008, Tompkins Square) have received huge critical acclaim from printed and online publications including Pitchfork, Billboard, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Onion, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar Magazine. “The Cloud of Unknowing” was also listed as one of the 50 best albums of 2007 by The Wire (no. 24) and Pitchfork (no. 34). His latest album, “Litany of Echoes” was listed as Uncut Magazine’s 13th Best Album of 2008.

Blackshaw has recently signed to Michael Gira’s (Swans/Angels of Light) Young God Records label and his seventh studio album is to be released in May 2009.

Collaborations have included a duo with Dutch lutenist Jozef van Wissem, performing under the name Brethren of The Free Spirit, live work with Andria Degen’s Pantaleimon,, a live improvisation with Japanese co-founder of The Boredoms Seiichi Yamamoto and work on the new Anok Pe Current 93 album.

He has toured extensively in Europe, US and Japan, playing approximately 200 shows since 2005 in a broad range of environments from sold-out 1,000 capacity venues supporting Jose Gonzalez to intimate church shows and institutions such as The Douglas Hynde Gallery in Dublin and The ICA in London. He has featured on National Public Radio in the US, BBC Radio 2 and performed live on VPRO television in The Netherlands.

*The Apestaartje and Incunabulum labels present 2 nights of music focusing on the use of traditional instrumentation (lute, acoustic guitar etc) and styles (Baroque Music, Folk forms etc) in combination w/ contemporary experimental practices and adaptations.

james blackshaw + mountains + byron westbrook

James Blackshaw

James Blackshaw

Initially inspired by the folk/classical guitarists of the 60’s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, James Blackshaw writes long-form pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar that are heavily influenced by minimalist composers and European classical music and which use drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody to create music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and emotionally charged.

Born in London, England in 1981, Blackshaw has so far released five solo studio albums, one live recording and has also appeared on numerous compilations. “O True Believers” (2006, Important Records/Bo’weavil Recordings) and “The Cloud of Unknowing” (2007, Tompkins Square) received huge critical acclaim from printed and online publications including Pitchfork, The Wire, The Observer, The Times, Uncut, The Rolling Stone, Magnet and Acoustic Guitar Magazine. “The Cloud of Unknowing” was also listed as one of the 50 best albums of 2007 by The Wire (no. 24), Pitchfork (no. 34) and Uncut.

Blackshaw has toured the UK, Europe, Japan and U.S, most of Jose Gonzales, and has also played with Espers, Brightblack Morning Light, Sir Richard Bishop, Simon Finn, Marissa Nadler, Josephine Foster, Glenn Jones and many more. He has improvised live with Seiichi Yamamoto (ex-Boredoms) and recently released a collaboration with composer/lutist Jozef Van Wissem under the moniker “Brethren of The Free Spirit”.

www.jamesblackshaw.com
www.myspace.com/jamesblackshaw

Mountains

Mountains is an ongoing collaboration between Apestaartje co-founders Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp. Having worked in parallel and often overlapping contexts within their respective solo projects, ‘Mountains’ was created as an outlet for live performance. They have released two critically acclaimed albums and toured throughout the US and Europe performing everywhere from festivals, art galleries, and museums to basements, hippie communes, churches, and rock clubs. Mountains has performed with Fennesz, Tony Conrad, Greg Davis, Minamo, Tape, Nicholas Collins, Carsten Nicolai, Lichens, Supersilent, Alog, etc. They have also been included in several exhibitions, most notably at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. There current performances utilize acoustic instruments and objects played through a series of both analog and digital electronics to create an extremely gradual and hypnotic listening experience. ‘Mountains Mountains Mountains’, a new LP only release will be out on the Catsup Plate label in early 2008. “Infinite sheets of grainy sound build and renew themselves to immensely pleasing effect.”

www.staartje.com
www.myspace.com/apestaartjemountains

Byron Westbrook

Byron Westbrook is a composer/sound artist living in Brooklyn, NY. He performs solo under the name CORRIDORS using a system of multiple amplifiers and video projections to create a dynamic space within a space using sound and light. He has performed with Sawako, Tony Conrad, Lichens, Anette Krebs, Soft Circle among others. He has also collaborated with Rhys Chatham in the drone metal group Essentialist (Table of the Elements), as well as performed in the ensembles of Phill Niblock, Chatham, Glenn Branca, and Jonathan Kane.

This performance will premiere a multi-channel sound piece called *68 Footsteps (x8)*, which explores the use of an acoustic guitar to unify dissimilar location recordings broadcast within a space.

www.byronwestbrook.com

8pm $10