News of my activities, upcoming performances, and site updates.
April 24, 2015
I’m wrapping a year of teaching at the College William & Mary and working on a piece for the Australian Broadcasting Company. More details soon!
April 8, 2015
ohrenhoch der Geräuschladen, a Berlin gallery devoted to sound and listening, premieres Atmen Zwischen Linien (für Eric Garner) (“Breathe Between the Lines (for Eric Garner)”) as part of their Sound Activism program on Sunday, April 12 and Sunday April 19 in a continuous loop from 2 pm to 9 pm. Admission is free; find the gallery at Weichselstrasse 49 in Berlin-Neukölln.
April 3 , 2015
Upcoming compact disc release! To the Cooling Tower, Satsop is a solo 45 minute exploration and improvisation in a tunnel beneath an aborted nuclear power station.
Most of the giant, duct-like passageway is a perfect tube, yet random debris, pools of water, boxy alcoves, turns, and the occasional vestibule enrich a soundscape where sounds near and far reverberate and smear. Echo coagulates into a palpable essence. Set for release on May 15, this album is the second in a series devoted to improvisational architecture by GD Stereo.
February 12, 2015
Earlid, a new curated site devoted to adventurous sound and listening, unveils the complete Silences Normalized From The Complete Organ Works Of Olivier Messiaen Disc 2 along with works by Daniella Cascella and one of my long-standing idols (since I heard her work on MusicWorks disc 59) Kathy Kennedy. I culled Silences… from a single disc found in one of the many collections of organ works by the renowned French composer; only Earlid has the complete version.
View from my laptop at Paine Hall, just before the show
January 10, 2015
On Friday, January 16, I join the New England Phonographers Union for a short set to close the Hearing Landscape Critically conference at Harvard University. The performance is free, 8 pm, at Paine Hall on the Harvard campus; for a map check this pdf and find the venue in the upper left corner.
Septermber 14, 2014
The complete version of Silences normalized from the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen (Disc 2) will debut September 21 at the Helicotrema Festival in Milan. I answered a few questions for their program notes. Here’s an excerpt:
Septermber 7, 2014
Soundproof, a weekly radio show devoted to soundscape composition and other audio arts on Australia’s Radio National, commissioned a new version of N30: Who guards the Guardians? – a radiophonic document of police and other law enforcement transmissions captured during the protest against the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle on November 30, 1999. The image at left is a rubber bullet collected at N30 compared to an average index finger. Listen and/or download.
April 21, 2014
New found soundscape:
Below the written pitches of Brian Ferneyhough’s Superscriptio for solo piccolo
April 7, 2014
The Wire published my essay (with sound clips) Towards Activist Sound. The bibliography links to several seminal writings on phonography, field recording, and the soundscape by R. Murray Schafer, Hildegard Westerkamp, ultra-red, and other favorites!
February 26, 2014
I’m honored to help celebrate Fair Use Week announcing the summer release by Alterity 101 of
No Sound Is Stolen: Fair Use Music 1983-2013.
This retrospective of my music made from other music includes an early (1983) work for two turntables, the return of the out-of-print Three Camels for Orchestra and Sylvian’s Wood, and many unreleased pieces, including Thrill (wedding version) and Ahmad & Miles.
The duplicator compelled us to remove one of the tracks but the album includes a download code to get the censored piece. This preview below has a good chunk of the album for listening and downloading:
January 1, 2014 – Summary of 2013
Thrill: A Love Song at the Andrews Gallery, College of William & Mary, January 17-31
Remote at Franklin Street Works, Stamford, Connecticut, January 24-March 24
Live at Occupy Wall Street N15 M1 S17 at the Megapolis Audio Art Festival, New York, April 19-21
Lecture, “Sound Art, Negative Space, and the Non-Site,” Western Washington University, April 22
Thrill: A Love Song at the Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival, April 24-28
of silences intemporally sung at the Spor Festival, Aarhus, Denmark, May 9-12
Paper presentation, “Praxis and Protest Symphonies,” Sound Diaries Symposium at Oxford Brookes University, June 3
Four Protest Symphonies at the Urban Ranch Project, June 15-23
Interviewed about field recordings and Activist Sound by Ear Room, August 6
Live performance at the Third Practice Festival, Richmond, Virginia, November 2
Live at Occupy Wall Street N15 M1 S17 (excerpt) at “Resonances Music, Affect and the City,” Berlin, November 7
Paper presentation, “Collectively Improvised Soundscapes,” Symposium of Acoustic Ecology, University of Kent, November 9
Paper presentation & Artist Talk, “Roots of Activist Sound,” at SFMA Intonarumori with Hearing Modernity at Harvard, November 18
Thrill at the Last Friday Listening Room concert series, UCSD, November 22
Live performance at the Andrea Clearfield Salon, Philadelphia, November 24
The release of Phonopolis: Urban Field Recordings vol. 1 on Masters Chemical Society, December 1
excerpts from Phonopolis, vol. 1
More releases coming up in 2014: the fabled Seattle Phonographers Union LP (Prefecture Records); Fair Use Music 1983-2013 (in the proofing stage, from Alterity 101); To the Cooling Tower (GD Stereo, which released my Favorite Intermissions album) ; and another SPU release (our first performance and our live sets heard on KUOW in Seattle) from banned production.
December 1, 2013
Here’s what I’m working on for 2014: A surround-sound eight channel installation version of Live at Occupy Wall Street N15 M1 S17; the first installment of my Tunneling series, To the Cooling Tower, an exploration of underground tunnels at a shuttered nuclear power plant; and, (fingers crossed) live documentation of my 2012 performance at the Whitney Biennial.
Last month I performed at the Third Practice Festival in Richmond, Virginia; check out my complete live performance on soundcloud.
Finally released: Phonopolis: Urban Field Recordings vol. 1 is out on Masters Chemical Society along with albums by Matt Shoemaker and Nerve Net Noise.
November 19, 2013
On Sunday, November 24 at 7 pm I’m pleased to offer a short solo performance at the famed Andrea Clearfield Salon in Philadelphia!
At Noon Friday November 22, Thrill will be part of the Last Friday Listening Room series of concerts at UCSD; also on the program John Oliver, Hans Tutschku, Jef Chippewa, and more!
November 15, 2013
On Monday November 18, I’m giving a free artist talk/demo in Boston on “Phonography and Protest” at Intonarumori, a School of the Museum of Fine Arts series in collaboration with Harvard’s Hearing Modernity seminar. Catch me from 12:30-2 pm in the East Seminar Room (which is right next to the Alfond Auditorium) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
November 5, 2013
Last weekend, I played a short set at the Third Practice Festival in Richmond, Va; you can listen to the performance here or at the live section of my site.
October 25, 2013
I have a busy November ahead, including solo performances at the Third Practice Festival at 2 pm Nov 2 in Richmond, Va; a Noontime lecture/performance Nov 18 at SMFA’s Intonarumori, a series in tandem with Harvard’s Hearing Modernity seminar; and a solo performance at the famed Andrea Clearfield Salon Sunday, Nov 24 in Philadelphia!
And I’m told by Timm at Masters Chemical Society that the long-promised album Phonopolis: Urban Field Recordings vol. 1 is back from duplicator and will be out in a few weeks.
August 27, 2013
Earlier this month I was interviewed by one of my favorite blogs, Ear Room. Topics include the politics of sound, recording at protests & demonstrations, and my futile beginnings making field recordings.
After a bit of travelling and recording in some acoustically unusual places, I’m back home teaching Computer Music & Electroacoustics as well as Composition & Sound Art at the College of William & Mary.
I’m also working on piece for string quartet & electronics with the criminally dull working title of “kind of a string quartet.”
Later this year I’m performing and presenting in Boston and Philadelphia (details coming soon).
June 1, 2013
I’m speaking as part of the Sound Diaries Symposium at Oxford Brookes University on June 3! For the opening panel, “Social Relations Explored Through Sonic Praxis,” I’ll discuss my protest symphonies.
May 4, 2013
Of silences intemporally sung will be part of the Spor Festival of sound art in Aarhus, Denmark (May 9-12) on a program with its originating work, Luigi Nono’s landmark quartet, Fragmente-Stille, an Diotima.
April 24, 2013
My installation Thrill: A Love Song will have its West Coast debut at the Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival – click on BEAF schedule for information – this weekend
April 21, 2013
I just returned from the performing the 4 channel quadraphonic version of Live at Occupy Wall Street N15 M01 S17 at the Megapolis Audio Art Festival in New York. Time to take a breath!
March 22, 2013
I’m performing and participating in the Megapolis Audio Art Festival in New York, April 19-21. I will debut Live at Occupy Wall Street (still a provisional title, sorry!). Of silences intemporally sung will be part of the Spor Festival of sound art in Aarhus, Denmark (May 9-12) on a program with its originating work, Luigi Nono’s landmark quartet, Fragmente-Stille, an Diotima.
Summer means new albums: Phonopolis: Urban Field Recordings vol. 1 will be released by Masters Chemical Society sometime in the summer.
Lastly, I hope to have news very soon about the West Coast debut of Thrill: A Love Song.
February 28, 2013
I’m finishing Live at Occupy Wall Street (provisional title) which will debut at festivals in Richmond and New York later this Spring. Look for Fair Use Music 1983-2013, a collection of music made from recordings of other music sometime in the summer.
February 8, 2013
My sound work Remote is part of the exhibition “Your Content Will Return Shortly,” which explores how contemporary artists harness the in-between moments of our television experiences. Curated by Terri C. Smith, the exhibition is on view from January 24 – March 24, 2013, at Franklin Street Works in Stamford, Connecticut.
Thrill: A Love Song is now closed, but the College of William & Mary produced an elegant short documentary about the installation.
January 17, 2013
My installation Thrill: A Love Song is running at the Andrews Gallery at the College of William & Mary. Showcasing an unsettling yet seductive version of “You’re My Thrill” sung by four singers – Josephine Howell, Kelley Johnson, Dawn Clement, and Greta Matassa – the installation runs January 17-31, 2013 Monday through Friday 10 am-5 pm.
January 5, 2013
I have several releases slated for 2013, including Phonopolis: Urban Field Recordings volume 1 (Masters Chemical Society), a retrospective of sampling/sound collage/plunderphonic pieces, No Sound Is Stolen: Fair Use Music 1983-2013 (Alterity 101), and a live EP by the Seattle Phonographers Union slated for banned production. Also in the works: a sequel to Favorite Intermissions, Intermissions at the Opera.
December 3, 2012
Favorite Intermissions is part of the exhibition Sounds Like Silence at the Hartware MedienKunstVerein in Dortmund, Germany, along with many works which explore forms of silence by John Cage, People Like Us, Bruce Nauman, and many others. The exhibition has an accompanying, eponymous CD and a short guide in English (pdf).
November 10, 2012
I contributed Live at Occupy Wall Street, May Day 2012 to “Ethnology of Crisis,” a month-long exhibition at Brandon LaBelle’s errant bodies space in Berlin which ran November 12-30. This work is one section of a larger work to debut late Spring 2013.
My work appeared in tandem with When we make sounds about something we believe in, who listens? by Ylva Bentancor with Gustavo Bentacor and Mike Majkowski; Jeremy Woodruff’s Can we re-tune the economy with sound?; and participants from the graduate seminar collaborate on “Sights and Sounds of the Crisis.”
October 22, 2012
I resonated smoke alarm chirps, slurring glockenspiels, wind, and rain through metallic surfaces for molting, a moody piece for choreographer Joan Gavaler, who premieres the work at Dancevent (Oct 25-27 at the College of William & Mary).
September 25, 2012
Two of my pieces are on new compilations! An excerpt of SF Variations appears on Sounds Like Silence, a catalog of silences released by Gruenrekorder. Also, part 1 of Silences normalized from the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen is on El Peligro Rojo, a 3-inch CD as well as a free download, from Mute Sound.
August 28, 2012
Follow me on twitter – once a day I post something interesting to read or hear.
August 2, 2012
I have several albums in the works including Phonopolis: Urban Field Recordings, vol. 1, a sequel to Favorite Intermissions, Intermissions at the Opera (provisional title), and an as yet not-titled Moog record excavating pieces I made in the late 70s (when I was barely a teenager) and combining them with works made recently and in the 80s.
July 26, 2012
Since spring of 2011 I’ve been bidding farewell to my oddball collection of instruments through donations, gifts, and unexpected manifestations. Take a listen to my proposed SoundCloud Fellowship application to help me continue the process!
July 6, 2012
I’m currently cooking up new projects, mainly making pieces for an upcoming album and creating objects for installations & an exhibition or two.
July 1, 2012
Tomorrow, I begin teaching an experimental music class at the College of William & Mary! On the docket: various forms of sound synthesis and field recording along with EVP, vocoding, aural illusions, and more.
June 30, 2012
I performed in New York at The Invisible Dog (51 Bergen Street in Brooklyn) in collaboration with video artist Chika Iijima. Audio coming soon!
May 3, 2012
I presented Wallingford Food Bank on May 2 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York as part of A Survey is a Process of Listening, a 2012 Whitney Biennial residency organized by Arika.
March 14, 2012
My article “The flap-o-phone, a site-specific turntable” will appear in the next issue of eContact! along with revised instructions (with photos!) for the flap-o-phone. If you need revised directions now, contact me.
March 8, 2012
Cyclic Defrost reviewed my album Perforate Silence, which you can stream or download free from Spectropol.
March 7, 2012
I just finished a short piece, “Hymn Tone (to the memory of Maryanne Amacher),” for a pledge premium compact disc for Miniature Minotaurs on WFMU. I can’t wait to hear the entire disc as it has tracks by a slew of compelling sound artists including Bonnie Jones, Jon Rose, Nate Wooley, and Olivia Block.
March 2, 2012
This site has been completely revised and revamped with more for the ears and eyes. I checked my archive and this is my first site overhaul since 1998 (gasp!). It was long overdue. Let me know what you think!
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