Some New Prints by me and Emily Tortalia. These were used as small Christmas gifts. Colors are not as vibrant as in the flesh but after the scanner treatment they now sort of look like washed out double exposures.
-Z
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Some New Prints
Some New Prints by me and Emily Tortalia. These were used as small Christmas gifts. Colors are not as vibrant as in the flesh but after the scanner treatment they now sort of look like washed out double exposures.
-Z
Saturday, December 12, 2009
***SHOW TONIGHT**
***AT L'ESCO MTL 4467 ST-DENIS***
***PAY WHAT YOU CAN!!!! SHOW STARTS AT 9PM***
***WITH POSTCARDS AND THE HOA HOA'S***
***THE HOA HOA'S RECORD RELEASE SHOW***
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
*SOLO DEBUT EP ON DIVORCE RECORDS*
Tim Crofts performing my piece "Buddha Box 1.0"I just released a solo EP on Divorce Records as a part of the FREEWAVE series; a series free download-able EPs. You can donate to the label if you wish, all proceeds go the label and to the artists. Other artists featured are Mess Folk and Husband & Knife. The EP is a single 15min solo piano piece that I wrote for my friend Tim Crofts. Tim Crofts is a lecturer, improviser, and performer living in Halifax. He regularly performs with the SuddenlyListen concert series, the Upstream Music Ensemble, and his own group Zakugaku. Be sure to check him out and get to know him because you'll learn so much about music talking with him.
Here's what Divorce said about the EP!
Buddha Box was performed in a university concert hall last spring as part of Zachary Fairbrother’s thesis recital in modern composition. I am not sure what the usual crowd looks like for these events, but I saw a lot of cosmic kids tripping in the soft seaters, waiting for their man Fairbrother be born as a professional composer. A special day. This piece involves a grand piano, singing bowls, Buddha machines, various effects and piano treatments. It starts and ends in the most delicate ambient webs, but somewhere in the middle it’s like the piano is on fire and rocketing through space. Quite overwhelming, at the time. Includes a pdf of the score and a photo by Jacobo Garcia.
***GET IT FOR FREE HERE***
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Omon Ra - The Spirit of Jerry Garcia Playing the Rolling Stones AVL-04
Omon Ra, photo by Jacobo GarciaThe past two years have easily been the best years of my life. I've made lots of very close friends, traveled lots of ground, and made large leaps artistically. The biggest part of my life for the past two years has easily been my musical project Omon Ra, formed with who would become my closest and best friend, Daniel Miller. I think that our friendship transcends into the recordings and the music and art we created is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. We moved through many styles from quiet psych-folk, to psych-punk blowouts, to free improvisations and drone worship; we both grew tremendously as people and as musicians.
But alas, for some reason I have moved to a different city. I needed to grow, I was feeling claustrophobic and frustrated within Halifax, the sleepy little coastal town, and I needed to leave. I miss it a lot, I think about going back, but I can't not now, maybe never, who knows. Me and Dan had hopes of keeping the band going, traveling to France in the new year. But due to financial circumstances, aka the difficulty of finding proper employment in Montreal, and the fact that our growing ideas needed to leave the abstract, we began playing and recording with different groups, all with mutual friends however. Dan teamed up with the members of the Ether and Friendly Dimension, to form his new group "OmmaCobba and The East Side Marijuana Band." And I teamed up with fellow east coast ex-pats Matthew Wilson and Chris D'eon, as well as my good friend Emily Robb, to form what I have called (in tribute to Krautrock band Amon Düül II), Omon Ra II. These new formations have yielded new musical directions and the old Omon Ra is no longer. For the mean time we will focus on our respective groups until sometime in the future, when perhaps, hopefully, me and Dan will collaborate again, and who knows how that project will take shape.
We would like to thank all the people that supported that group and hope you will continue to support our new endeavors, as they are both sonic continuations of the creative-embryo that was Omon Ra.
In celebration I have uploaded one of the two, last Omon Ra records we hoped to release, The Spirit of Jerry Garcia Playing the Rolling Stones. This record was recorded over fall to spring last year, it was our longest time spent recording an album. We acquired some new technology when recording and is easily our best sounding most ambitious record. Most of the songs are Daniel's and I would try to do my best to add some tasty licks, keyboard tricks, and harmonies to the wonderful pieces. My only contributions other than the collaborative tracks, were "Children of the Alien Avatar" and "Eurydice". There are many good moments to this record and we arranged it to really fit the flow the music; to help the listener get in the world of the record. This album gives a good idea of where Dan is taking his music with his new group. The art was kindly done by our friend Andrew McCgregor. One of our last shows was a freely improvised collaborative set with Gown, Andrew's project.
Album artwork by Andrew McCgregor aka Gown
Daniel jamming his new project. Photo by Jennica Lounsbury.
Speaking of his new group, Dan kindly sent me a song from their upcoming album, Faster Acid Sun, Burn Burn. There are a lot of bands doing the whole Spacemen 3, krautrock, homage thing right now, but this is easily one of the best I have heard. I have posted the epic title track, clocking in over 12 minutes, which features bass, drums, guitars, chants, clarinets, and saxes. The piece moves through Warlock-esq rock n' roll with Contortions approved horn squeaks and skonks over top, to spacey Cluster-like ambiance, to Boredoms friendly drum jams. This is some very promising music. I understand the record will be available soon with artwork from Ether front-man Luke Corrigan. They are also playing a couple of shows in Halifax back to back in early December, the first on 11th at the Khyber Club with Rich Aucoin, and the 13th at Reflections with the Friendly Dimension. Check out the track!
In the next couple days I will post some more Omon Ra material, please check back!
Thanks!
Here's the album.
http://rapidshare.com/files/310253066/The_Spirit_Of_Jerry_Garcia_Playing_The_Rolling_Stones.zip
-Z
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Games by Ryan Kirk
Reposted from Ryan Kirk's Blog, Nayr Krik.
Great blog! Ryan has some very interesting muses and points. A multifaceted musician and writer, Kirk creates music centered around mythology and is an avid drone-practitioner. Kirk can play many instruments including french horn, trumpet, guitar, and piano. He is a very interesting, thoughtful, and thorough writer of both prose and music. Please enjoy this wonderful essay he posted! Thanks for sharing Ryan!
-Z
_______________________________
"A game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context." (Clark C. Abt)
I have always been fascinated by games. Whether board, video, role-playing, abstract, or sport, games have always managed to suck me in and in many cases to distract me from other more pressing matters. I’ve been thinking about them quite a bit lately and so I’ve decided to share some of my experiences, observations, and ideas relating to games.
Games can be based around three different methods; skill, strategy, and chance. Although in practice most games somehow blend two or more of the above. Even a game as simple as dice, though it may appear to be all chance involves some kind of strategizing and decision-making. And games that appear on the surface level to be all about skill, like hockey or football actually involve a fair amount of strategy and large scale planning.
My own history interacting with games, and most likely yours, goes back to the earliest days of my childhood. Beginning with simple games like catch, musical chairs, and tag, children learn to interact with one another in specific social contexts. In a way games become social rituals for children that determine appropriate behaviours and modes of interaction and establish hierarchies and pecking orders. They also often encourage conditioning and development of the body and motor skills as well as encouraging a healthy psychological state by facilitating play and learning.
As well as those simple children’s games, I was also exposed to traditional boardgames in my home. We always played the staples, snakes and ladders, parchisi, checkers, and then when I was a bit older some of the more complicated ones like chess, Scrabble, and Risk. Risk was always my favourite. I was a typical kid and loved playing with army men and G.I. Joes and watching old war movies that would play on television during the day. So I guess the idea of controlling whole armies over continents and ultimately the world really appealed to me. I played all kinds of boardgames and cardgames throughout my childhood and they have a special place in my memories. But then videogames came onto the scene.
I got my first Gameboy for Christmas when I was six or seven. It came with Kirby and I was hooked from the start. From there I got a few other classics like Mario and Zelda and then a year or two later my brother and I got a Super Nintendo and a little colour TV to play it on for Christmas. Super Mario World consumed my childhood. I played it incessantly and even today I will once and awhile hook up the old Nintendo and it instantly takes me back to the countless hours I spent as a kid trying to reach %100.
From that point on videogames mostly dominated my gaming experiences. I tried my hand a few sports, but never really took to any of them, and unfortunately my obsession with videogames stopped my board gaming short. Which brings me to the downside of some forms of gaming, specifically videogaming. At certain points in my preteens and early teen years I became so obsessed with games that I would relegate school work, physical activity, and socializing just to get further ahead in the games. It wasn’t all bad, and some of my friends played videogames, so there were social times of playing together. Overall though I would say there were far more hours spent playing them alone in my room. There was also the frustration they posed. There would be points where instead of having fun I would get so angry I would throw the controller at the floor. Fortunately I grew out of that pretty fast. By the time I finished high school I was only playing videogames sporadically. I had found other activities that interested me more and used my time in more productive ways. I still don’t feel that videogames are bad, but they can become addictive in ways that I never experienced with social games or boardgames.
These days I’m pretty busy and don’t have much time for games. But when I do I tend to prefer boardgames and cardgames. I find that videogames are too time consuming. A boardgame can start and end in an hours time and it allows you to game in a social way. Whereas my experience with videogames tends to be that an hour just wets your appetite and that generally it’s more difficult to videogame socially. My favourite games these days are mostly strategy and abstract. Games like chess, checkers, backgammon, Risk, and Diplomacy. Diplomacy takes the interactive element of gaming to the extreme, I’ve only played it once but would love to try it again. I also enjoy a few cardgames; poker, cribbage, and crazy eights.
These days I also see elements of gaming and play in other activities I enjoy. One that rings especially true to me is music making. Although in many cases music exists as more than just a pastime or fun activity, it still involves elements that are shared by games. There are often multiple independent agents involved, and there is usually a common goal of some kind as well as a limiting context and the same elements of chance, strategy, and skill figure in. Take for example a symphony orchestra; the members are all working towards the goal of realizing the piece being performed, the conductor and performers use strategies to ensure a successful performance, the players need skill to actually perform the parts when they come up, and as far as chance, well things can always go wrong. It’s even plainer to see in improvisation.
Artists like John Zorn even explicitly compose game pieces. Where players can compete and there is a conductor who establishes rules and divides players into sub-ensembles or teams. In some cases there are even point systems. Free improvisation also incorporates a large component of game and play. Within the performances there can be room for competition and subversion. Music like John Cage’s Book of Changes draws explicitly on chance through the use of dice, a tool common to many games.
I find games interesting because they seem like such a natural human activity. Boardgames date from the earliest known civilizations in Mesopotamia, and in many cases are not that far off from contemporary games like chess. They’re a productive pastime that encourage socializing and stimulate your mind. Games can offer you an escape from the everyday world, yet in familiar and comfortable ways, either through simulating a situation or encouraging roleplaying. After all, who doesn’t want to conquer the world, especially when the leaders you’re competing with are all your best friends?
-Ryan Kirk
Great blog! Ryan has some very interesting muses and points. A multifaceted musician and writer, Kirk creates music centered around mythology and is an avid drone-practitioner. Kirk can play many instruments including french horn, trumpet, guitar, and piano. He is a very interesting, thoughtful, and thorough writer of both prose and music. Please enjoy this wonderful essay he posted! Thanks for sharing Ryan!
-Z
_______________________________
"A game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context." (Clark C. Abt)
I have always been fascinated by games. Whether board, video, role-playing, abstract, or sport, games have always managed to suck me in and in many cases to distract me from other more pressing matters. I’ve been thinking about them quite a bit lately and so I’ve decided to share some of my experiences, observations, and ideas relating to games.
Games can be based around three different methods; skill, strategy, and chance. Although in practice most games somehow blend two or more of the above. Even a game as simple as dice, though it may appear to be all chance involves some kind of strategizing and decision-making. And games that appear on the surface level to be all about skill, like hockey or football actually involve a fair amount of strategy and large scale planning.
My own history interacting with games, and most likely yours, goes back to the earliest days of my childhood. Beginning with simple games like catch, musical chairs, and tag, children learn to interact with one another in specific social contexts. In a way games become social rituals for children that determine appropriate behaviours and modes of interaction and establish hierarchies and pecking orders. They also often encourage conditioning and development of the body and motor skills as well as encouraging a healthy psychological state by facilitating play and learning.
As well as those simple children’s games, I was also exposed to traditional boardgames in my home. We always played the staples, snakes and ladders, parchisi, checkers, and then when I was a bit older some of the more complicated ones like chess, Scrabble, and Risk. Risk was always my favourite. I was a typical kid and loved playing with army men and G.I. Joes and watching old war movies that would play on television during the day. So I guess the idea of controlling whole armies over continents and ultimately the world really appealed to me. I played all kinds of boardgames and cardgames throughout my childhood and they have a special place in my memories. But then videogames came onto the scene.
I got my first Gameboy for Christmas when I was six or seven. It came with Kirby and I was hooked from the start. From there I got a few other classics like Mario and Zelda and then a year or two later my brother and I got a Super Nintendo and a little colour TV to play it on for Christmas. Super Mario World consumed my childhood. I played it incessantly and even today I will once and awhile hook up the old Nintendo and it instantly takes me back to the countless hours I spent as a kid trying to reach %100.
From that point on videogames mostly dominated my gaming experiences. I tried my hand a few sports, but never really took to any of them, and unfortunately my obsession with videogames stopped my board gaming short. Which brings me to the downside of some forms of gaming, specifically videogaming. At certain points in my preteens and early teen years I became so obsessed with games that I would relegate school work, physical activity, and socializing just to get further ahead in the games. It wasn’t all bad, and some of my friends played videogames, so there were social times of playing together. Overall though I would say there were far more hours spent playing them alone in my room. There was also the frustration they posed. There would be points where instead of having fun I would get so angry I would throw the controller at the floor. Fortunately I grew out of that pretty fast. By the time I finished high school I was only playing videogames sporadically. I had found other activities that interested me more and used my time in more productive ways. I still don’t feel that videogames are bad, but they can become addictive in ways that I never experienced with social games or boardgames.
These days I’m pretty busy and don’t have much time for games. But when I do I tend to prefer boardgames and cardgames. I find that videogames are too time consuming. A boardgame can start and end in an hours time and it allows you to game in a social way. Whereas my experience with videogames tends to be that an hour just wets your appetite and that generally it’s more difficult to videogame socially. My favourite games these days are mostly strategy and abstract. Games like chess, checkers, backgammon, Risk, and Diplomacy. Diplomacy takes the interactive element of gaming to the extreme, I’ve only played it once but would love to try it again. I also enjoy a few cardgames; poker, cribbage, and crazy eights.
These days I also see elements of gaming and play in other activities I enjoy. One that rings especially true to me is music making. Although in many cases music exists as more than just a pastime or fun activity, it still involves elements that are shared by games. There are often multiple independent agents involved, and there is usually a common goal of some kind as well as a limiting context and the same elements of chance, strategy, and skill figure in. Take for example a symphony orchestra; the members are all working towards the goal of realizing the piece being performed, the conductor and performers use strategies to ensure a successful performance, the players need skill to actually perform the parts when they come up, and as far as chance, well things can always go wrong. It’s even plainer to see in improvisation.
Artists like John Zorn even explicitly compose game pieces. Where players can compete and there is a conductor who establishes rules and divides players into sub-ensembles or teams. In some cases there are even point systems. Free improvisation also incorporates a large component of game and play. Within the performances there can be room for competition and subversion. Music like John Cage’s Book of Changes draws explicitly on chance through the use of dice, a tool common to many games.
I find games interesting because they seem like such a natural human activity. Boardgames date from the earliest known civilizations in Mesopotamia, and in many cases are not that far off from contemporary games like chess. They’re a productive pastime that encourage socializing and stimulate your mind. Games can offer you an escape from the everyday world, yet in familiar and comfortable ways, either through simulating a situation or encouraging roleplaying. After all, who doesn’t want to conquer the world, especially when the leaders you’re competing with are all your best friends?
-Ryan Kirk
Santo & Johnny - ST
"Sleep Walk" has been draggin' around my head the last week. It's a beautiful instrumental ballad penned by the Italian-American brother duo of Santo and Johnny Farina. This track, reached number 1 on Billboard's Top 40 back in 1959. When was the last time an instrumental hit was a number one?
A bit about the brothers. The brothers came from Brooklyn and Santo was introduced into playing slide guitar from his father, who after being stationed in Oklahoma, heard the steel guitar and became entranced. He wanted his boys to learn this spooky-weepy instrument. Playing locally, the brothers played weddings, parties, and clubs, before they recorded a couple of demos and ended up signing a song writers contract with a publishing company. This led to them penning the track "Sleep Walk."
And what a dreamy track it is. Santo is an amazing slide guitar player, his slide guitar techniques are far ahead of any rock guitarist at the time. The haunting voice of the the steel guitar is in drenched reverb, with sparse-spacious accompaniments, allowing the beautiful melody to breath easily and gracefully. Santo is an incredibly tasteful player, using the full register of the steel guitar to create very textured weeps, giving the instrument a vocal, human like quality.
A pat on the back must go out to the producer and arranger of this record. The album has beautiful string arrangements that reference the likes of Ravel and Debussy. The dreamy-lethargic harmonies and rhythms of the impressionists, lends itself perfectly to the sounds of Santo. Highlights include, "Tenderly" and "Slave Girl," as well as the rendition of the Duke Ellington classic "Caravan." This whole record plays like a soundtrack, with the "Sleep Walk" theme coming in and out of songs. I wouldn't go as far to say this record is concept record, but the cohesiveness of it all is hard to ignore and is quite striking for a record from 1959; this whole record is like a dream and with the nostalgic sounds found, it is almost like stepping back in time, to a very familiar yet strange era, tapping into the depths of your subconscious. This music has a very strong visual affect!
I highly recommend this dreamy, fun, at times melancholy, record. Fans of kitsch, old American rock, the French impressionists, Hawaiian sounds, guitar heroes, and good music should not miss out on this classic!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Omon Ra Prints
Me and my friend Emily (check out her blog) started screen printing this week. Here is what we did!
-Z
-Z
The Friendly Dimension Blogged on WFNU
I should have posted this a long time ago.
Reposted from the WFMU blog
________________________________
Reposted from the WFMU blog
________________________________
Countervailing Pressures
I've always coasted on symbolic ways of thinking, so I'll start with one such handy conceit: Mindless Corporate Technocracy vs. Punk Luddism, in which never the twain, being way past mutually-exclusive, shall meet. And yeah, while not necessarily the whole story, this cultural narrative, in which the scary technophiliac forces of the oppressor butt up against the raw spiritedness of a gnarly creative population, is, according to me, a fine one. It allows we brave folks on the side of the creators to, in short, keep going--creating, and facilitating creativity--for to falter in this battle is to let the monolithic Powers That Be take the advantage, and we surely can't let that happen.
But things change, yessir, and symbolic histories, invigorating though they may be, only get us so far. The FMA itself is, certainly, no tendril of a creeping corporate overlord, but it sure is technologically-oriented, and so fits nowhere in this one-or-the-other type of schema. Though its embrace of left-of-center human expression is quite in keeping with Ned Ludd, the largely mythical leader of the Industrial-Revolution-renouncing Luddites, smashing a bunch of stocking frames to protest society's increasing dehumanization, its technological basis flies in the face of that clan's organizing principle. So what's to be done?
Well, it just so happens a handy new narrative is cropping up, a natural outgrowth of the FMA's propensity for highlighting new sounds: we're getting a fine number of tape labels--those bastions of the underground through which small runs of cassettes by great bands are produced, sell out, and are never heard from again--to upload their wares, for technologically perpetuity, to the Free Music Archive. While analog and digital are not exactly Luddism and Technocracy, the leap being taken is still a pretty big one, and it's real exciting. Two particularly rad small-run labels from Montreal typify these new FMA additions: Campaign for Infinity, whose FMA page boasts releases by an ever-increasing host of great bands (among them Grand Trine and The Pink Noise, both subjects of past FMA blog posts), and Pasalymany Tapes, which kindly provides us with releases from such bands as the venerable AIDS Wolf. Yeah, we've a new frontier on our hands, one in which the relentlessly truth-seeking creative component of the cultural equation is finding expression through the powerful means of technology all without losing an iota of humanity, as proven by the beautiful song by The Friendly Dimension reproduced below. Indeed, mindless monoliths had better look out, for the game's dimensions have changed.
The Friendly Dimension - "Just Your Game" (02:35)
By Mark Iosifescu
By Mark Iosifescu
Mix by Chris D'eon
Avant-Lard has been Mr. D'eon heavy lately and we like it! I asked Chris to come up with a mix to feature his extensive knowledge of electronic and pop music. It also features quite a few tracks by Chris himself. So here it is, the exclusive Avant-Lard mix from Chris D'eon!
-Z
PLAYLIST
chris d'eon - artificial jurisprudence
fingers inc - another side
clarence g (drexciya) - data transfer
metro - brownstone express
wajd - civic planning
chris d'eon -
loose ends - hangin' on a string
chris d'eon - the girl from köln is gone
s.o.s. band - even when you sleep
chris & cosey - hazey daze
unknown - tashi laso, at the top of lucky valley (bhutanese)
cabaret voltaire - arm of the lord
cabaret voltaire - james brown
wajd - ashqabat
zed bias - been here before
dem 2 - destiny
indo - r u sleeping (bump & flex vocal mix)
a.c. marias - just talk
chris d'eon - mix nov 2009 by wajd
-Z
PLAYLIST
chris d'eon - artificial jurisprudence
fingers inc - another side
clarence g (drexciya) - data transfer
metro - brownstone express
wajd - civic planning
chris d'eon -
loose ends - hangin' on a string
chris d'eon - the girl from köln is gone
s.o.s. band - even when you sleep
chris & cosey - hazey daze
unknown - tashi laso, at the top of lucky valley (bhutanese)
cabaret voltaire - arm of the lord
cabaret voltaire - james brown
wajd - ashqabat
zed bias - been here before
dem 2 - destiny
indo - r u sleeping (bump & flex vocal mix)
a.c. marias - just talk
chris d'eon - mix nov 2009 by wajd
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Troy Richter Interviews Chris D'eon
Chris D'eon is a musician from Dartmouth Nova Scotia. Chris seems capable of just about any music he sets his mind too. In years past he played classical piano, tackling the technical romantic masters of Rachmaninoff and Liszt, before moving on to the industrial noise band Dead Hookers, (it's important to note that Chris has since renounced this band), in between he composed on his own and played in bad high school funk bands. Recently, Chris has moved to Montreal and has been dividing his time between dubstep inspired techno and weird ethno-folk-pop, all the while lending his talents on bass to Omon Ra II and co-running a tape label with myself and fellow maritime ex-pat Matthew Wilson called Numbers Station. He recently put out a tape on the aforementioned label and has received some very good reviews. The tape could almost be seen as an anthology with recordings that date from when he was seven years old, to high school, to now, yet remaining cohesive in its extremely idiosyncratic nature.
Chris was interviewed by Troy Richter. I have had the pleasure of working with Troy over the last couple of years, writing, recording, and performing with him on multiple occasions. Mostly helping with his Friendly Dimension project. He has earned himself a cult like status most notably for being the front man to the now defunct, minimal punk band Gilbert Switzer, whose influence may not be fully realized until later, as you can hear their signature sound ripple through the young bands of the punk underground of Montreal and beyond. Currently Troy reads and watches lots of movies, favorites include Argento horror movies, and then philosophizes about them in his poetry, which as he puts it tries to "unite the personal with the universal." Troy did this interview on his own free will and offered to donate it to Avant-Lard. And we are very grateful he did!
-Z
Making music, definitely. performing is secondary to actually making the music. The creation is the most important part of the musical process to me, and performing is only one of many ways to distribute that music.
2. Is your music strictly traditional? Do you ever mix your influences together?
I totally mix them together, but usually not intentionally. Generally when I start making a tune I think "okay, i'm going to make a ____ tune", whatever the style or aesthetic may be, but once I start putting the pieces together, the pieces seem to have come from all kinds of places, and by the time it's finished, it doesn't sound anything like what I wanted to make. A lot of the time the music that I was exposed to as a child seeps in subconsciously into the tunes I make, and sometimes the stuff I've learned in the past comes in without my noticing. So I'll try and write a pop song, but it comes out sounding like Kurdish music. I'd also like to mention that I really, really hate world fusion music.
3. Your Myspace wallpaper is really pretty, what is it?
Thanks-- I think it's an arabesque design from a really old book on interior design?
4. What's your favorite science fiction movie and why?
To be honest I don't know very much about movies, so I can't really think of that many science fiction movies that I know and like to begin with, but I did read lots of Isaac Asimov as a kid. The Foundation trilogy is really great, and of course the Robot stories. I really like science fiction that asks moral questions that will be applicable in the future. Especially now that we're starting to make frightening leaps in scientific progress like controlling rats' and monkeys' minds with microchips, and making computers that learn by themselves, some of the ethical issues raised in old science fiction like that are actually going to be totally relevant.
5. What's the biggest difference between Montreal and Halifax?
I don't completely know yet as I've lived here less than a year, but one difference is that drivers don't stop for any pedestrians here. Motorists are awful here, and they're allowed to turn right on a red light, so every time I try to cross the street there are cars coming at me from my right and left.
6. What is your favorite memory from your trip to India last year?
I think the best decision I could have made was to move into the dip tse chok ling monastery. Every day for two months I woke up at 6am to the sound of monks reading sutras and guru pujas. The monastery is on the side of a mountain in the himalayan foothills so every morning I could look over the valley while the sun came up over the himalayas, and watch the monkeys run around the trees below. I think I needed that Isolation from the world for a while. A few months of peace and quiet in a far away place can really shake off any unwelcome djinn.
Chris D'eon somewhere in India.
Cute photo of Troy I cropped from a picture from facebook. I believe it's China O'brien's.
Chris was interviewed by Troy Richter. I have had the pleasure of working with Troy over the last couple of years, writing, recording, and performing with him on multiple occasions. Mostly helping with his Friendly Dimension project. He has earned himself a cult like status most notably for being the front man to the now defunct, minimal punk band Gilbert Switzer, whose influence may not be fully realized until later, as you can hear their signature sound ripple through the young bands of the punk underground of Montreal and beyond. Currently Troy reads and watches lots of movies, favorites include Argento horror movies, and then philosophizes about them in his poetry, which as he puts it tries to "unite the personal with the universal." Troy did this interview on his own free will and offered to donate it to Avant-Lard. And we are very grateful he did!
-Z
____________________________________________________
1. What gives you the biggest buzz, performing music in front of people or composing/creating music?
Making music, definitely. performing is secondary to actually making the music. The creation is the most important part of the musical process to me, and performing is only one of many ways to distribute that music.
2. Is your music strictly traditional? Do you ever mix your influences together?
I totally mix them together, but usually not intentionally. Generally when I start making a tune I think "okay, i'm going to make a ____ tune", whatever the style or aesthetic may be, but once I start putting the pieces together, the pieces seem to have come from all kinds of places, and by the time it's finished, it doesn't sound anything like what I wanted to make. A lot of the time the music that I was exposed to as a child seeps in subconsciously into the tunes I make, and sometimes the stuff I've learned in the past comes in without my noticing. So I'll try and write a pop song, but it comes out sounding like Kurdish music. I'd also like to mention that I really, really hate world fusion music.
3. Your Myspace wallpaper is really pretty, what is it?
Thanks-- I think it's an arabesque design from a really old book on interior design?
4. What's your favorite science fiction movie and why?
To be honest I don't know very much about movies, so I can't really think of that many science fiction movies that I know and like to begin with, but I did read lots of Isaac Asimov as a kid. The Foundation trilogy is really great, and of course the Robot stories. I really like science fiction that asks moral questions that will be applicable in the future. Especially now that we're starting to make frightening leaps in scientific progress like controlling rats' and monkeys' minds with microchips, and making computers that learn by themselves, some of the ethical issues raised in old science fiction like that are actually going to be totally relevant.
5. What's the biggest difference between Montreal and Halifax?
I don't completely know yet as I've lived here less than a year, but one difference is that drivers don't stop for any pedestrians here. Motorists are awful here, and they're allowed to turn right on a red light, so every time I try to cross the street there are cars coming at me from my right and left.
6. What is your favorite memory from your trip to India last year?
I think the best decision I could have made was to move into the dip tse chok ling monastery. Every day for two months I woke up at 6am to the sound of monks reading sutras and guru pujas. The monastery is on the side of a mountain in the himalayan foothills so every morning I could look over the valley while the sun came up over the himalayas, and watch the monkeys run around the trees below. I think I needed that Isolation from the world for a while. A few months of peace and quiet in a far away place can really shake off any unwelcome djinn.
Chris D'eon somewhere in India.
Cute photo of Troy I cropped from a picture from facebook. I believe it's China O'brien's.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
OmmaCobba & The Eastside Marijuana Band
Check out Dan's new digs with some good friends of mine, Denis Kirens from Fascism, Matt Donnelly aka Dead Dog and drummer of The Ether, and eternal hipster Jacobo Garcia on the sax.
The songs continue in Dan's idiosyncratic song writing style with lush, spacious arrangements, reverbed vocals, and ad-hoc percussion jams. Drone on! Those in Halifax keep on the look out for them live!
http://www.myspace.com/ommacobba
-Z
TONIGHT!
FRIENDSHIP COVE, MONTREAL QUEBEC!
DOORS OPEN AT 8PM
PC WORSHIP - http://www.myspace.com/pcworshipp
(NYC - SHDWPLY records, members gary war + teeth mountain)
HOLY COBRAS - http://www.myspace.com/holycobras
(OTTAWA - Telephone Explosion, Campaign for Infinity)
TONSTARTSSBANDHT - http://www.myspace.com/tonstartssbandht
(MTL - Psychic Handshake, Dœs Are & Black Cheeks)
OMON RA - http://www.myspace.com/theyproject
(MTL - NEW LINEUP! - Fixture records, Divorce records, Campaign for Infinity)
w\ DJ BWAGG
PWYC $5-$10
DOORS @ 8PM
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"PC Worship is the music making project of Justin Frye (Teeth Mountain, Gary War) who lives in Brooklyn, NY. This is a collection of recordings made between 2006-09 and represents an era of collective output with many other local musicians. This particular collection was recorded on a TEAC four-track reel-to-reel tape machine, a handheld cassette recorded and various computers. Although Frye spearheads this project, the live show can range from a solo performance to members in the double digits. The sound is all over the board, containing elements of free jazz, grunge, psychedelic punk and pop to create a wash of consonant and disorienting sound." - Insound description of "NYC STONE AGE"
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Numbers Station and a Chris D'eon Review on Weird Canada
Myself and my friends and creative partners, Chris D'eon and Matt Wilson have decided to launch a tape label, since putting out music is so fun. Chris took it upon himself to make the first release, and what an epic release (some of the recordings are from when he was 7 years old!!!) that is perfectly matched for tape. Here's what I posted on the Numbers Station blog and check out the review!
-Z
__________________________________________________
Re-posted from Numbers Station
Wow our first very small release gets an amazing endorsement already! Good things are brewing for this winter! Congrats to Chris and his hard work, this release is truly amazing and unique. I doubt you find a release that synthesizes such desperate genres into a cohesive embryo. This release is best realized on tape. With the at times slack and jangly sounds of tape, it give this music a depth, character, and atmosphere that is just not possible on any other medium. Buy this record now, its a certified trip, but not the one you might expect!
-Zachary Fairbrother
__________________________________________________
Re-posted from Weird Canada
Chris d’eon’s debut cassette is an incredible 60-minute multi-genre psychedelic-meets-minimal-techno Tour de Force that will absolutely astonish, bewilder, and bewitch anyone curious enough to catch its spell. Weaving within currents of basemental panned-vocals, reverberated folk and Chicago-house-meets-Boards-of-Canada minimalia, wa al-’asr threatens all norms in genre synthesis and track sequencing. Chris d’eon has shown an incredible knack for branding every species of sound with his personal phantasms; every wavelength tinged with the unabashedly cosmic dark-age strata. As such, there is a brilliant vision ensconced inside wa al-’asr’s easter-folk and electro meanderings that is unquestionably rebellious; why try to push boundaries when committing every stream of consciousness to tape does the job for you. Let the world figure it out and they’ll fail miserably. Thankfully there are sadists like myself who enjoy trying. Amazing. Brilliant. Wonderful.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Matthew Duffy and Ryan Kirk - To the Storm/Offering/Taurus/Awake
Two of my favorite people and respected peers Matthew Duffy and Ryan Kirk have began collaborating together and we are all are better for it. This is a very focused performance from a house show involving poetry, samples, loops, guitars, and references to Stockhausen. Here's what Ryan says on his blog about the performance,
We mostly exchanged rough cut recordings of vocal lines and poems over e-mail taking turns making transcriptions of parts of them and turning them into melodic heads that could be improvised on and around. Then we added in the melodic line of Taurus from the Karlheinz Stockhausen composition Zodiac. Both of us are Taurus', so it seemed appropriately cosmic.
The show took place in a loft in Halifax during a Halloween party and the musics very spooky indeed. Ryan's guitar playing is somewhat like Bill Frisell's at times but with a very anxious vibrato. The composition sort of reminds me of Marianne Faithfull's record Strange Weather, in which Frisell lends his talents. It's similar to that record in terms of vibe, something to listen too during strange weather perhaps, and in the production in terms of the space each of the players allows each other. Of course Kirk and Duffy are only a two piece and not a small chamber orchestra, but through the use of samples and the distance and patience that they each give each other, they achieve similar moments. This is a visceral performance but it is well thought out. Matthew Duffy's vocal delivery and performance is the best I have ever heard from him. His ideas and skills seem to be coming into fruition. He goes through a wide range of emotions throughout the performance, sometimes reciting bizarre poetry, to wide-vibrato-crooner-like singing, to desperate and tortured screaming. His Clarinet playing is the best I've heard as well, very sparse, which is perfect for this musical landscape, he carves out strange melodies and phrases to accompany the guitar.
Excellent performance, I only wish I was there. These two are known for very ritual inspired performances, and I'm sure with the visual and performance aspect of this piece, the work would only be stronger. If there are any pictures or videos please send them my way!
Here's Ryan's blog on the show!
http://rapidshare.com/files/300527338/To_the_Storm_Offering_Taurus_Awake.mp3
-Z
Ryan Kirk
Matthew Duffy and friend
We mostly exchanged rough cut recordings of vocal lines and poems over e-mail taking turns making transcriptions of parts of them and turning them into melodic heads that could be improvised on and around. Then we added in the melodic line of Taurus from the Karlheinz Stockhausen composition Zodiac. Both of us are Taurus', so it seemed appropriately cosmic.
The show took place in a loft in Halifax during a Halloween party and the musics very spooky indeed. Ryan's guitar playing is somewhat like Bill Frisell's at times but with a very anxious vibrato. The composition sort of reminds me of Marianne Faithfull's record Strange Weather, in which Frisell lends his talents. It's similar to that record in terms of vibe, something to listen too during strange weather perhaps, and in the production in terms of the space each of the players allows each other. Of course Kirk and Duffy are only a two piece and not a small chamber orchestra, but through the use of samples and the distance and patience that they each give each other, they achieve similar moments. This is a visceral performance but it is well thought out. Matthew Duffy's vocal delivery and performance is the best I have ever heard from him. His ideas and skills seem to be coming into fruition. He goes through a wide range of emotions throughout the performance, sometimes reciting bizarre poetry, to wide-vibrato-crooner-like singing, to desperate and tortured screaming. His Clarinet playing is the best I've heard as well, very sparse, which is perfect for this musical landscape, he carves out strange melodies and phrases to accompany the guitar.
Excellent performance, I only wish I was there. These two are known for very ritual inspired performances, and I'm sure with the visual and performance aspect of this piece, the work would only be stronger. If there are any pictures or videos please send them my way!
Here's Ryan's blog on the show!
http://rapidshare.com/files/300527338/To_the_Storm_Offering_Taurus_Awake.mp3
-Z
Ryan Kirk
Matthew Duffy and friend
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Derek Bailey Documentary on Improvisation
Over the Edge is a four part documentary by guitarist Derek Bailey. Derek Bailey is an experimental musician that focused on freely improvised musics. Taking where free jazz left off, Bailey expanded the musical vocabulary even further beyond in the ideas of structure, rhythm, harmony, and sound. He further blurred the boundaries of genre and collaborated with many artists from wildly different backgrounds and training, trying to find a common thread or language, for an arena for which any person is able to engage and participate in a musical world.
This documentary explores improvisation as the common theme that ties all musical expression together; from the sacred to the secular, the popular to the classical, folk to experimental, Bailey focuses on radically diverse music from all over world, from all different times, and sows together a musical story in which improvisation is the muse for all music.
This documentary is a based on a book that he wrote on Improvisation, check it out!
I found this documentary on the wonderful Ubu website. A site dedicated to documenting all things avant-garde. Unfortunately however, they only have two of the episodes uploaded, one and three, so if you know where I can find two and four, please let me know! Thank you and I hope you enjoy the documentary as much as I do!
-Z
I: Passing it on
Broadcast 2 February 1992 this programme featured: Douglas Ewart at Haynes School in Chinatown, Chicago; improvisation in Mozart with Robert Levin, piano and the Acadamy of Ancient Music with Christopher Hogwood; John Zorn and Cobra; improvisation in religious and devotional music and communities with: Naji Hakim - organ improvisations in Paris; Gaelic psalm singing on the Scottish Isles of Harris and Lewis; and Indian singing with Pundit Hanuman Misra.
III: A liberating thing
Broadcast 16 February 1992, concentrating on jazz based and free improvisation. With Max Roach at the Harlam School of the Arts; Butch Morris conducting (with, among others, Shelley Hirsch); Sang-Won Park and Korean music; Max Eastley's sound sculptures; Derek Bailey (solo and fleetingly with Phil Wachsmann, Steve Noble and Alex Ward); Steve Noble and Alex Ward duo; Nashville musicians including Buddy Emmons; Eugene Chadbourne.
This documentary explores improvisation as the common theme that ties all musical expression together; from the sacred to the secular, the popular to the classical, folk to experimental, Bailey focuses on radically diverse music from all over world, from all different times, and sows together a musical story in which improvisation is the muse for all music.
This documentary is a based on a book that he wrote on Improvisation, check it out!
I found this documentary on the wonderful Ubu website. A site dedicated to documenting all things avant-garde. Unfortunately however, they only have two of the episodes uploaded, one and three, so if you know where I can find two and four, please let me know! Thank you and I hope you enjoy the documentary as much as I do!
-Z
I: Passing it on
Broadcast 2 February 1992 this programme featured: Douglas Ewart at Haynes School in Chinatown, Chicago; improvisation in Mozart with Robert Levin, piano and the Acadamy of Ancient Music with Christopher Hogwood; John Zorn and Cobra; improvisation in religious and devotional music and communities with: Naji Hakim - organ improvisations in Paris; Gaelic psalm singing on the Scottish Isles of Harris and Lewis; and Indian singing with Pundit Hanuman Misra.
III: A liberating thing
Broadcast 16 February 1992, concentrating on jazz based and free improvisation. With Max Roach at the Harlam School of the Arts; Butch Morris conducting (with, among others, Shelley Hirsch); Sang-Won Park and Korean music; Max Eastley's sound sculptures; Derek Bailey (solo and fleetingly with Phil Wachsmann, Steve Noble and Alex Ward); Steve Noble and Alex Ward duo; Nashville musicians including Buddy Emmons; Eugene Chadbourne.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
OM - A Concert Review
This band rules. When they came to Montreal a couple of weeks ago they totally melted my brain. I had the perfect glow going, a little weed and some beers, and when they launched into their set, the rumble of the bass rendered any ear plugs useless and committed your body to the drone of illumination.
Wow!
Me and my friend Matt could not conceal our joy. We were totally ecstatic.
I woke up the next day, I felt like I had taken a really heavy drug. The sound was a powerful psychedelic. After their set the crowd stood in a daze, taking long seconds to realize what had happened.
Walls of bass fuzz, parallel motion, sparse drums, shaker.... so loud the sound moves over you like a wave of water and you're at the mercy of its awesome power... don't resist, relax and become it.
Om fucking slayed!
Check out their side of their split release with Current 93. Great intro to this awesome band. True psychedelic music, no gimmicks.
-Z
http://rapidshare.com/files/299143470/Om___Current_93__2006__Inerrant_Ways_of_the_Infallible_Sun__Blackship_Shrinebuilder__2.zip
Monday, October 26, 2009
Omon Ra/Chris D'eon Split Reviewed in The Wire
I have been reading The Wire for the last few years. I remember picking it up and then having to pick up my brains off the floor. It quickly became a very important publication for me. I learned so much from this magazine and continue to do so, so it's a very big honor to be reviewed in the Wire, and by Byron Coley nonetheless!
P.S. Check out our good friends Husband and Knife's review as well! Also on Divorce Records.
-Z
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Metaphysical Properities of Hair
Hair, it's a beautiful thing. It can make us attracted to one another, it can be the difference of getting that job or not, or in my case, keeping the job, it can help us identify with certain groups, partake in certain rituals, and in some cases even save your life.
Hair is a uniquely human thing, sort of an evolutionary anomaly, and with no real purpose anymore, given the fact that we have clothing to cover ourselves. What it acts now as, is a natural ritual, a way to signify coming of age. It also has a very mystical quality because of this ritual; it gives us individuality or joins us in a group, and it gives divine inspiration.
A Hasidic Jew, notice the long uncut sideburns know as "Payots."
Religions know the power of the hair. You don't have to look very deep into any of the major religion to see followers following sacred rites with regard to their hair-dos. Perhaps hair helps us get into a higher plane of thinking, it might help us get in touch with the "creator," or the muse. As Joseph Campbell states (I know, I am bringing him up a lot lately), elites, shamans, artists, are among the people said to have heard the scriptures. That the artists function in society is to mythologize the environment and the world. That they come from an "elite experience" because they are "particularly gifted," and "whose ears are open to the song of the universe." Or as Anthony Braxton says about music and improvisation, it puts us in direct contact with the creator.
Perhaps hair, helps us "hear" the song of the universe.
Sacred dreadlocks...
A few years ago I had long hair, it was a large commitment upon myself. You go through many bad stages or trials of faith, days where you hair looks horrible and miss-shaped, foolish dye-jobs, girls thinking you're weird, and unemployment. But through it all you're left with an amazing mop and when you're in the business of rock music, like I am, nothing feels better than to be rocking out with head full of long hair!
But in moment of weakness, I cut my hair, and I no longer wore the mark of a rocker, my clothes got more boring, my music got more boring and I had lower self confidence. I found when I was playing guitar on stage and had no idea what to do with myself, I felt naked and awkward; I was giving a bad performance. Thus I didn't perform. The ritual of performing rock music had changed for me, it was no longer as sacred.
About two years ago I vowed to grow my hair long again. I missed it, the feeling of it. I know it can be bothersome, getting hair stuck under the straps of your book-bag, it blowing in your face, its slimy feeling in the shower, taking forever to dry, knots! But I just didn't feel myself without it. When I vowed to grow my hair things turned up, I founded my band Omon Ra and I began writing music that I actually liked and people seemed interested. Was it the hair? Maybe, it's influence can't be denied.
Now thinking of all the famous musicians of the last 50 years, what would they have been if they didn't hair their hair? Elvis without his greaser haircut, how would you have approached him? Would his hips have had the same magical allure? The Beatles without their revolutionary mop? My parents said their hair styles were as revolutionary as the music. Hendrix without his beautiful fro? If he just had a crew cut his mystique would surely not be as magical, maybe you would have never even heard of him.
So the next time you get a hair cut (or tell me or someone to get a hair cut) think of this, it is not merely a $10, a little of the top, boring old nuisance, you are playing with a powerful metaphysical tool! Why do you get the haircut you do and what's it doing for you?
Hair it is a very important to me, it does a lot. I hope it becomes important to you!
-Z
Here is a collection of some awesome doos....
Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple looks very cool rocking out with long hair.
King Buzzo's famous Side-Show Bob-esq haircut. How does this hairstyle define his music?
Slash with signature hair and top hat - extension of the metaphysical tool.
As important as having a head full of lush hair is the absence of hair. What does this symbolically represent?
My friend Chris D'eon pictured with his beautiful long locks, he hasn't cut his hair in years. Ask him what hair does for him?
Phil Spector loves hair so much that he bought this amazing frizz-wig! Yes it's a wig, check out his mugshots!
Hair is a uniquely human thing, sort of an evolutionary anomaly, and with no real purpose anymore, given the fact that we have clothing to cover ourselves. What it acts now as, is a natural ritual, a way to signify coming of age. It also has a very mystical quality because of this ritual; it gives us individuality or joins us in a group, and it gives divine inspiration.
A Hasidic Jew, notice the long uncut sideburns know as "Payots."Religions know the power of the hair. You don't have to look very deep into any of the major religion to see followers following sacred rites with regard to their hair-dos. Perhaps hair helps us get into a higher plane of thinking, it might help us get in touch with the "creator," or the muse. As Joseph Campbell states (I know, I am bringing him up a lot lately), elites, shamans, artists, are among the people said to have heard the scriptures. That the artists function in society is to mythologize the environment and the world. That they come from an "elite experience" because they are "particularly gifted," and "whose ears are open to the song of the universe." Or as Anthony Braxton says about music and improvisation, it puts us in direct contact with the creator.
Perhaps hair, helps us "hear" the song of the universe.
Sacred dreadlocks...A few years ago I had long hair, it was a large commitment upon myself. You go through many bad stages or trials of faith, days where you hair looks horrible and miss-shaped, foolish dye-jobs, girls thinking you're weird, and unemployment. But through it all you're left with an amazing mop and when you're in the business of rock music, like I am, nothing feels better than to be rocking out with head full of long hair!
But in moment of weakness, I cut my hair, and I no longer wore the mark of a rocker, my clothes got more boring, my music got more boring and I had lower self confidence. I found when I was playing guitar on stage and had no idea what to do with myself, I felt naked and awkward; I was giving a bad performance. Thus I didn't perform. The ritual of performing rock music had changed for me, it was no longer as sacred.
About two years ago I vowed to grow my hair long again. I missed it, the feeling of it. I know it can be bothersome, getting hair stuck under the straps of your book-bag, it blowing in your face, its slimy feeling in the shower, taking forever to dry, knots! But I just didn't feel myself without it. When I vowed to grow my hair things turned up, I founded my band Omon Ra and I began writing music that I actually liked and people seemed interested. Was it the hair? Maybe, it's influence can't be denied.
Now thinking of all the famous musicians of the last 50 years, what would they have been if they didn't hair their hair? Elvis without his greaser haircut, how would you have approached him? Would his hips have had the same magical allure? The Beatles without their revolutionary mop? My parents said their hair styles were as revolutionary as the music. Hendrix without his beautiful fro? If he just had a crew cut his mystique would surely not be as magical, maybe you would have never even heard of him.
So the next time you get a hair cut (or tell me or someone to get a hair cut) think of this, it is not merely a $10, a little of the top, boring old nuisance, you are playing with a powerful metaphysical tool! Why do you get the haircut you do and what's it doing for you?
Hair it is a very important to me, it does a lot. I hope it becomes important to you!
-Z
Here is a collection of some awesome doos....
Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple looks very cool rocking out with long hair. 
King Buzzo's famous Side-Show Bob-esq haircut. How does this hairstyle define his music?
Slash with signature hair and top hat - extension of the metaphysical tool. 
As important as having a head full of lush hair is the absence of hair. What does this symbolically represent?
My friend Chris D'eon pictured with his beautiful long locks, he hasn't cut his hair in years. Ask him what hair does for him?
Phil Spector loves hair so much that he bought this amazing frizz-wig! Yes it's a wig, check out his mugshots!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Les Kapital Industrea #2 for Download
Here is the second edition of Les Kapital Industrea, the magazine operated and edited by Matthew Duffy. Hope you enjoy, lots of great articles by some very interesting people!
http://rapidshare.com/files/294880959/Binder1.pdf
-Z
http://rapidshare.com/files/294880959/Binder1.pdf
-Z
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Quasar Sax Playing Vivier
Gladly, people seem to have dug the Claude Vivier recordings I posted. Here is the Quasar Sax Quartet playing an arrangement of the composition Pulau Dewata. Quasar Sax are a saxophone quartet from Montreal, they are one of the premier saxophone quartets in the world along with The Rova Saxophone Quartet.
-Z
-Z
A Couple of Miles Davis Records
I haven't uploaded a record in a while and I was sort of struggling to figure out what to upload. I don't know why found it such a struggle but nothing sort of clicked. I wanted to get out of this funk, so, while perusing my itunes playlist and I came across an album that my friend Jacobo had shown me about five years ago. The album, Miles Davis's Agartha, had a particular effect on my guitar playing, the wailing, fuzzed out guitars of Pete Cosey really blew my mind. His playing really resonated with me, it was like, if you can imagine, an expressionist take on Hendrix, like if all of Hendrix's playing attributes were heightened, the tones and fuzz are more wild, more visceral, even less tamed. In fact the whole album is like this. The band weaves in and out of cosmic jungle jams; at times it's sloppy, it's crazy, but it's always trippy. It's no strange fact that Miles Davis was a huge Hendrix fan, he compared his improvisation skills to that of John Coltrane, and wanted his subsequent guitarists to emulate Jimi's playing style. The Miles Davis bands of the late 60's and early 70's might have sounded like the late Jimi Hendrix's bands had left the songs behind and proceeded to straight jam. It's a Hendrix band on amphetamines along with acid, double the rhythm section, and keep the break neck speeds and jamming going and going.
Miles Davis had a great number of psychedelic jazz-fusion records in the 1960's and 70's, including of course, Bitches Brew, Water Babies, On the Corner, and In a Silent Way. Another interesting album is before Miles went electric, Miles Smiles. This is when you can begin to hear the influence of rock and street music within Miles' music. The young band features Wayne Shorter on Sax, Herbie Hancock on piano, and the rhythm section of Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums, laying down some very funky grooves, at times it's almost four to the floor. These recordings are much tighter and focused than the later more visceral fusion recordings. This style of acoustic funky-jazz reached its apex with the album Filles de Kilimanjaro, before Miles dived full on into the age of electricity and never looked back.
I hope you enjoy these records as much as I have, they are an ever-constant flow of inspiration for me, and I can only hope you will begin to hear the genius of Miles Davis, easily one of the most important musicians of all time.
-Z
http://rapidshare.com/files/292532904/Miles_Smiles.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/292526257/Agharta.zip
Miles Davis had a great number of psychedelic jazz-fusion records in the 1960's and 70's, including of course, Bitches Brew, Water Babies, On the Corner, and In a Silent Way. Another interesting album is before Miles went electric, Miles Smiles. This is when you can begin to hear the influence of rock and street music within Miles' music. The young band features Wayne Shorter on Sax, Herbie Hancock on piano, and the rhythm section of Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums, laying down some very funky grooves, at times it's almost four to the floor. These recordings are much tighter and focused than the later more visceral fusion recordings. This style of acoustic funky-jazz reached its apex with the album Filles de Kilimanjaro, before Miles dived full on into the age of electricity and never looked back.
I hope you enjoy these records as much as I have, they are an ever-constant flow of inspiration for me, and I can only hope you will begin to hear the genius of Miles Davis, easily one of the most important musicians of all time.
-Z
http://rapidshare.com/files/292532904/Miles_Smiles.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/292526257/Agharta.zip
Friday, October 9, 2009
Post-Modernism?!?
Today's ever changing musical environment finds an interesting pairing. I am just wondering what the target audience was? Perhaps it's a brave move or just stupid.
It certainly pushes the edges of taste.
PS. Nice shred-tar Lou.
-Z
It certainly pushes the edges of taste.
PS. Nice shred-tar Lou.
-Z
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Hassan-I-Sabbah X at Casa Del Popolo
Video of Hassan-I-Sabbah X from the September 10th show with Nick Kuepfer and Elfin Saddle. Footage by Jennica Lounsbury.
-Z
Monday, October 5, 2009
THANK YOU
Photo by China O'BrienThank you too those able to attend the Omon Ra show this past weekend as a part of the PopMontreal Festival. Dan was riding with Mr. James Klassen and their van broke down in Quebec city a day before the show. Seeming hopeless and the that the Spirit of Jerry Garcia had finally left, Daniel and James arrived with 20 minutes to spare before our set! And alas we played, our first show in months and it went off without a hitch!
Thanks to Andy March for putting us on the bill, Chris D'eon and Matt Wilson for playing with us, the Pop Winds for letting us use their space, to all the people that rocked out, and to JMZ for getting to the gig on time!!!
Thank you!
:)
-Z
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Myth and the Modern World
People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we are seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have the resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.
- Joseph Campbell
I used to really hate religion and not see a point to it; that all it did was create war and opiate the masses. I believed that would should live in a totally atheistic society that's completely modern. But such views are shallow and childish. I have been reading lots of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, both are very in-tune with reading symbols, archetypes, and mythology. They've opened my eyes to the fact that these myths and symbols give our experience over to the the "rapture of being alive." They are the cosmic keys to our creation and times.
With today's technology and advances, and further plunges in secularism, it is ever more important to remember these myths. The myths and stories are as part of our world as the plants, trees, and animals. They grew out of our collective experiences of birth, growing older, coming to sexual maturity, and ultimately death, the one thing we all face. These myths, like our environments, are being destroyed, and like destroying our home, we are killing ourselves by forgetting these myths. It's hard to say what the fallout of these myths will be, only time will tell, but to me, these myths connect me to the magic of the universe, you begin to see the synchronicity of time and the elements, and how "all things are Buddha things." It puts me in touch with the "creator." I am not suggesting religious conversion, nothing of the sort. But to read and appreciate these stories and to open our mind to a higher plane of thinking, as they are just apart of our existence as breathing.
Campbell mentions this story, which I think is a good myth, on the importance of myth.
Of course, we moderns are stripping the world of its natural revelations, of nature itself. I think of that pygmy legend of the little boy who finds the bird with the beautiful song in the forest and brings it home. He asks his father to bring food for the bird, and the father doesn't want to feed a mere bird, so he kills it. And the legend says the man killed the bird, and with the bird he killed the song, and with the song, himself. He dropped dead, and was dead forever.
If we forget these myths, what part of ourselves are we killing? We are no doubt killing apart of character, our humanity, our sanity.
Those interested should pick up a copy of Joseph Campbell's book "The Power of Myth," it's a very entertaining read and you might find yourself being captured by the magic of Mythology. The book is based on a T.V. series featuring him being interviewed by Bill Moyers. What amazes me is how poetic this guy talks off the cuff. It's incredible how beautiful and immaculately he speaks.
-Z
- Joseph Campbell
I used to really hate religion and not see a point to it; that all it did was create war and opiate the masses. I believed that would should live in a totally atheistic society that's completely modern. But such views are shallow and childish. I have been reading lots of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, both are very in-tune with reading symbols, archetypes, and mythology. They've opened my eyes to the fact that these myths and symbols give our experience over to the the "rapture of being alive." They are the cosmic keys to our creation and times.
With today's technology and advances, and further plunges in secularism, it is ever more important to remember these myths. The myths and stories are as part of our world as the plants, trees, and animals. They grew out of our collective experiences of birth, growing older, coming to sexual maturity, and ultimately death, the one thing we all face. These myths, like our environments, are being destroyed, and like destroying our home, we are killing ourselves by forgetting these myths. It's hard to say what the fallout of these myths will be, only time will tell, but to me, these myths connect me to the magic of the universe, you begin to see the synchronicity of time and the elements, and how "all things are Buddha things." It puts me in touch with the "creator." I am not suggesting religious conversion, nothing of the sort. But to read and appreciate these stories and to open our mind to a higher plane of thinking, as they are just apart of our existence as breathing.
Campbell mentions this story, which I think is a good myth, on the importance of myth.
Of course, we moderns are stripping the world of its natural revelations, of nature itself. I think of that pygmy legend of the little boy who finds the bird with the beautiful song in the forest and brings it home. He asks his father to bring food for the bird, and the father doesn't want to feed a mere bird, so he kills it. And the legend says the man killed the bird, and with the bird he killed the song, and with the song, himself. He dropped dead, and was dead forever.
If we forget these myths, what part of ourselves are we killing? We are no doubt killing apart of character, our humanity, our sanity.
Those interested should pick up a copy of Joseph Campbell's book "The Power of Myth," it's a very entertaining read and you might find yourself being captured by the magic of Mythology. The book is based on a T.V. series featuring him being interviewed by Bill Moyers. What amazes me is how poetic this guy talks off the cuff. It's incredible how beautiful and immaculately he speaks.
-Z
Friday, September 25, 2009
The Friendly Dimension EP on Campaign for Infinity
Last winter and spring me and my buddy Troy would get together every now and then and write and record some songs. The whole thing started when Troy mentioned to me he was writing some songs and I, anxious to record and collaborate, asked him if he would like to come to my place and record. Things went well and Troy was happy with the sound and direction, and thus the project took on the name "The Friendly Dimension." The first song we recorded was a Gun Club cover called "House on Highland Hill." The recordings really followed suit after this song, we did a darker more melancholy take on the original song and the following recordings and originals all had this vibe. The recording sessions were very stripped down, usually no more than two acoustic guitar tracks, a shaker for percussion, and usually two vocal tracks with lots of reverb, to give the recordings lots of depth.
Thankfully my friend Brett Wagg offered to release the recordings on his tape label, Campaign for Infinity. You can listen to all the tracks minus the Gun Club track at the WFMU Free Music Archive. I will hopefully have some available at the Omon Ra show for PopMontreal and at the Divorce Records Table at the record fair. I'll post details on this as it approaches, for now just take a look at the pictures and have a listen!
Sounds are found HERE
Check out the Campaign for Infinity Blog and Myspace.
-Z
Thankfully my friend Brett Wagg offered to release the recordings on his tape label, Campaign for Infinity. You can listen to all the tracks minus the Gun Club track at the WFMU Free Music Archive. I will hopefully have some available at the Omon Ra show for PopMontreal and at the Divorce Records Table at the record fair. I'll post details on this as it approaches, for now just take a look at the pictures and have a listen!
Sounds are found HERE
Check out the Campaign for Infinity Blog and Myspace.
-Z
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Omon Ra Live at Zoobizarre June 1st, 2009
Weird krautrock-tribal-dronoise-jam in 26mins of straight sound. Daniel Miller, Chris D'eon, Devon Welsh (The Pop Winds); percussion and vox. Zachary Fairbrother fuzzwahtar and vox made up this version of Omon Ra. Be sure to check us out at PopMontreal this year for something completely different than this performance. We be playing at "Le Cagibi" on Thursday October 1st, with Play Guitar and Fall Horsie as a part of the Youth Club Records showcase, Whooo! We'll be on stage at 10pm.
Filmed by Austin Milne
The other bands that played with us were Dirty Beaches and Ultrathin
-Z
Filmed by Austin Milne
The other bands that played with us were Dirty Beaches and Ultrathin
-Z
Monday, September 21, 2009
Land Otter Man - Origin is the Creator - AVL - 03
A couple years back I did a doom/metal/ambient/drone inspired project under the moniker of The Land Otter Man. I had access to the electro-acoustic studios at Dal at the time, so I got to use all sorts of really cool synths, including an ARP 2600! For those unfamiliar with that particular synthesizer, it's the one used to create the voice of Star Wars R2D2. Most of the stuff is created in the studio or at home using Ableton Live. I play guitars, percussion, synths, radios, mixers, and drum machines, to paint a pretty black picture. Drone-Aggedon is a piece recorded live in my friend Ryan's bedroom with him on French Horn and Keyboards and my other buddy Dan on percussion. Origin is the Creator uses the Arp 2600 to create some pretty tense drones. It's 5 tracks clocking at just over an hour, space and doom out!
Perhaps I was pretty depressed when I was making this music, it certainly sounds like it. There is no artwork.
-Z
http://rapidshare.com/files/283160710/Origin_is_the_Creator.zip
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Anthony Braxton - Creative Orchestra Music
Back in the mid 70's Anthony Braxton did a series of landmark albums for the Arista label. Most of the records saw him exploring the limits of a piano-less jazz quartet, but a couple of them saw Braxton writing for some extraordinary ensembles. These recordings have since be compiled into a box set and if I had the $200 to cover the cost, I would for sure buy it! The recording posted here features Braxton composing for big band. Braxton is not afraid to explore many musical styles; over the course of his long career he has played in many radically different situations. That being said, he never lacks focus, and nothing comes across as contrived. Braxton has the ensemble playing through blindingly fast be-bop-esq tunes, skewed marching band music, to more spacious and experimental compositions that explore complex harmonies. This record is absolutely brilliant and is a great introduction to Braxton's vast musical output. Listen to on repeat!
-Z
Grip it HERE
-Z
Grip it HERE
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